Confederate Stockade Cemetery

Confederate Stockade Cemetery is a VA national cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. VA lists it as closed to new burials. Burial is free for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependent children.

Source: National Cemetery Administration (cem.va.gov), retrieved May 2026

History of Confederate Stockade Cemetery

Confederate Stockade Cemetery is located on Johnson's Island in Sandusky Bay, Ohio, approximately four miles from the city of Sandusky. The rectangular plot is enclosed with an iron fence, highlighted by an iron archway at the entrance closest to the water's edge.

In 1862, a prisoner-of-war camp opened on Johnson's Island, the first facility to be constructed by the Union solely for the purpose of imprisoning Confederates. Almost exclusively used for the confinement of Confederate officers, the prison also held a small number of enlisted men, some of whom are buried in the cemetery. A majority of the interments on Johnson's Island are Confederate officers.

From the early summer of 1862 until the end of the Civil War, Johnson's Island served as the primary stockade for Confederate Officers. Separating captured officers from enlisted men was based upon the view that officers were gentlemen, worthy of more humane conditions, and to prevent officers from organizing enlisted men to escape or to create disturbances.

The Confederacy continued to lose officers as the war progressed, contributing to the importance the officers imprisoned in the Confederate Stockade. In 1864, Confederate agents in Canada planned to liberate the prisoners on Johnson's Island by hijacking the U.S.S. Michigan from Sandusky Bay, and using the gunboat to overwhelm the prison guards. The plan was thwarted when word of the scheme was leaked to Union authorities. Afterward, federal forces constructed two additional fortifications on the island, Fort Hill and Fort Johnson, in case of another attempt. In addition, all generals and field-grade officers held at Johnson's Island were transferred to eastern prisons.

In the initial years following the Civil War, the federal government did not administer Confederate cemeteries. This policy changed in 1878, when Congress appropriated $1,500 for “care and protection of the Confederate cemetery on Johnson's Island, Ohio…provided that before any expenditure is made, the title of the land upon which the cemetery is located shall be transferred to the United States.” This marked the first time that the federal government appropriated funds to maintain a Confederate cemetery. Despite this act, the owner of the island, Mr. L.B. Johnson, refused to sell the land. In 1904, the United Daughters of the Confederacy purchased the cemetery from Mr. Johnson, eventually donating it to the U.S. government in 1931.

Johnson's Island Civil War Prison site, including Confederate Stockade Cemetery, was designated as a National Historic Landmark in June 1990.

Monuments and Memorials There are four memorials at Confederate Stockade Cemetery.

On June 8, 1910, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a statue, approximately 19' tall, to commemorate the Confederate dead. Sculpted by Moses Ezekiel, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and a Confederate veteran, the bronze figure titled “The Lookout” stands atop a granite base.

Installed in 1925, the granite and bronze Mack-Hauck memorial commemorates Alice Davenport Mack and Elizabeth Morrison Houck, two members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy who contributed to the preservation of the Confederate cemetery at Johnson's Island.

Also installed in 1925, the granite and bronze Mary Patton Hudson memorial commemorates the woman who spearheaded the effort of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to purchase Johnson's Island.

In 2003, the United Daughters of the Confederacy installed a pair of granite memorials commemorating Confederate POWs in a rededication ceremony. The memorials document the use of ground penetrating radar, through which a total of 267 individual remains were discovered in the cemetery.

Directions

From the East (Cleveland, Ohio): Take Interstate 90 West toward Toledo, Ohio. Merge onto OH-2 West for 43 miles. Merge onto OH-269 North toward Lakeside/Marblehead for ½ mile. Turn slight right onto Danbury Road ¼ mile. Turn left onto East Bay Shore Road for four miles. At East Bayshore Road turn right (east, name will change to Bayshore) and travel east 5.9 miles to Gaydos Drive. Turn right to access the Johnson's Island Causeway. $2 fee required. On the island, go straight at the stop sign, then bear left.

From the West (Toledo, Ohio): Take Interstate 280 South towards Cleveland, Ohio. Take OH-2 exit number 7. Stay straight onto Dearborn Avenue ¼ mile. Turn left onto Navarre Avenue OH-2 for 40 miles. Merge onto OH-269 North toward Lakeside/Marblehead. Turn slight right onto Danbury Road ¼ mile. Turn Left onto East Bay Shore Road for four miles. At East Bayshore Road turn right (east, name will change to Bayshore) and travel east 5.9 miles to Gaydos Drive. Turn right to access the Johnson's Island Causeway. $2 fee required. On the island, go straight at the stop sign, then bear left.

Flowers and grounds rules

Contact the cemetery for information regarding the floral/grounds policy.

Education and visiting programs

More than half of VA's national cemeteries originated with the Civil War and many are closed to some burials. Other sites were established to serve World War veterans and they continue to expand. Historic themes related with NCA's cemeteries and soldiers' lots vary, but visitors should understand "Why is it here?" NCA began by installing interpretive signs, or waysides, at more than 100 properties to observe the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011–2015). Please follow the links below to see the interpretive signs for Confederate Stockade Cemetery.

A National Cemetery System Confederate Stockade Cemetery

Who can be buried at Confederate Stockade Cemetery?

VA national cemeteries accept a veteran who didn't receive a dishonorable discharge, a service member who died on active duty or in training, the veteran's spouse or surviving spouse (even if they remarried), and minor or, in some cases, unmarried adult dependent children. National Guard and Reserve members qualify under narrower rules. You can ask VA for a pre-need eligibility decision in advance; it does not reserve a gravesite.

What does burial here include at no cost?

• A gravesite in any VA national cemetery with available space
• Opening and closing of the grave
• A government-provided burial liner
• A government-provided headstone or marker
• Perpetual care of the gravesite

Veterans also receive a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate (presented to the next of kin at the burial) and military funeral honors, which include the playing of Taps and two uniformed service members who present the flag. The committal service is held at a committal shelter, not at the grave, and lasts about 20 minutes. National cemeteries have no viewing facilities, so the funeral itself is held elsewhere.

How do you schedule a burial at Confederate Stockade Cemetery?

1. Gather the veteran's DD214 or other discharge papers, and the deceased's details (Social Security number, dates of birth and death, relationship to the veteran).
2. Fax the discharge papers to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 866-900-6417, or email them to [email protected] with the deceased's name in the subject line.
3. You or the funeral director call 800-535-1117 (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET) to request Confederate Stockade Cemetery and a date. National cemeteries hold burials Monday through Friday.

VA lists Confederate Stockade Cemetery as closed. Ask the scheduling office what, if anything, can still be arranged here, and about open national cemeteries nearby.

Where is the Confederate Stockade Cemetery burial schedule?

VA posts a daily burial schedule for every national cemetery. Search it for Confederate Stockade Cemetery to see the committal services planned there. It only lists burials whose families agreed to publish them. To change or cancel a burial that's already scheduled, contact Confederate Stockade Cemetery directly at 330-335-3069.

Headstone, flag and burial allowance

• Government headstone or marker: tell the scheduling office which headstone, marker, niche cover or medallion you want when you schedule the burial.
• Burial flag: VA Form 27-2008.
• Burial allowance: For a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2026, VA pays up to $1,032 toward burial and funeral costs and $1,032 for a plot; for a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, the burial allowance is up to $2,000. Claim it with VA Form 21P-530EZ. All benefits

After the funeral: survivor benefits and the estate

A surviving spouse, child or parent may qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), a tax-free monthly VA benefit, for example when the death was service connected (VA Form 21P-534EZ). The veteran's estate is settled under Ohio law; our sister site ProbateUS explains how probate works in Ohio and lists each county's probate court. For the rest of the paperwork, from Social Security to bank accounts, DeathUS has a step-by-step checklist of what to do when someone dies.

Nearest cemeteries

The three veterans cemeteries closest to Confederate Stockade Cemetery, by straight-line distance:

• Ohio Veterans Home Cemetery, Sandusky, OH: 4 mi, open for burials
• Woodland Cemetery Soldiers' Lot, Cleveland, OH: 55 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
• Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, Seville, OH: 57 mi, open for burials