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VA National Cemetery

Culpeper National Cemetery

305 U.S. Avenue · Culpeper, VA 22701

Open for burial

Culpeper National Cemetery is a VA national cemetery in Culpeper, Virginia. VA lists it as open for burials. Burial is free for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependent children.

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

History of Culpeper National Cemetery

During the Civil War, the capital of the Confederacy and the federal government lay barely 100 miles apart, and Culpeper was located roughly midway between them. As a result of its strategic geographical location, both Union and Confederate armies occupied the region around Culpeper, VA, during the conflict. Confederates encamped and patrolled the region to thwart Union efforts to attack the Confederate capital of Richmond. The Union Army was ever-present to defend Washington, D.C., and federal supply lines, as well as to attack Richmond.

From 1862–1865, numerous battles waged throughout the region, including the Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862, and the Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 through May 6, 1863. So great was the loss of life on both sides during these encounters that many scholars consider these battles to be the fiercest fighting of the war. Afterward, many soldiers died of wounds in field or military hospitals. Most were buried where they fell or were interred in make-shift graves around encampments, hospitals or the battlefield.

After the war, a reburial program was initiated by the federal government and carried out by the office of the quartermaster general. The objective was to locate the remains of all Union soldiers and reinter them in national cemeteries. As a result of the National Cemetery Act of 1862 and the number of scattered Union dead in the vicinity, Culpeper National Cemetery was established in 1867.

Land for the original six-acre cemetery was purchased from Edward B. Hill of Culpeper for $1,400. In 1872, a Second Empire Victorian-style caretaker's lodge designed by Quartermaster Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, was constructed on the property. A tool house, brick perimeter walls, and a flagstaff were most likely constructed during the 1870s as well. H.W. McCray of Washington, D.C., constructed a decorative brick rostrum with iron posts and a tin roof in December 1905.

During the 1930s, the cemetery was improved through several Depression-era federal make-work programs. In 1934, the original tool house was demolished and replaced by a new brick garage-tool-comfort station erected by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) at a cost of $8,000. Another CWA project in May 1934 included repairs to the lodge, raising and realigning 912 headstones, and constructing a concrete driveway and walk. In 1936, a Works Project Administration project accomplished the realignment and re-setting of 402 headstones. The old flagstaff was removed and replaced with a new one in 1938 and in December 1939 a brick and slate-roof oil house was constructed.

The cemetery operated without major improvements until November 17, 1972, when it closed to new interments. On September 1, 1973, in execution of the National Cemetery Act of 1973, the cemetery was transferred from the U.S. Army to the Veterans Administration's new National Cemetery System. In 1975, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Burton-Hammond Post 2524, donated an additional 10.5 acres for cemetery use. Another small tract was purchased in 1978 and a brick administration building was constructed on the property. The cemetery re-opened January 16, 1978.

Culpeper National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Monuments and Memorials The granite Maine Monument is a memorial to the 10th Maine Volunteer Infantry in honor of 22 of their fallen comrades who perished in the Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862. It was erected in the late 19th or early 20th centuries.

The Massachusetts Monument was erected in 1893 by surviving members of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry. The granite monument was erected in honor of fellow comrades who died in the Battle of Cedar Mountain.

In 1902, the State of New York erected a large granite monument in memory of the 28th New York Volunteer Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 12th Corps, Army Corps of the Potomac. Many in the regiment were killed at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.

The Ohio Monument is a granite and bronze structure erected by the 7th Ohio Regimental Association. It pays tribute to officers and soldiers of the 7th Ohio Regiment who died in the Battle of Cedar Mountain.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania erected the Pennsylvania Monument in 1910, dedicated to its officers and soldiers buried at the cemetery. The monument is one of at least four under NCA management that were commissioned by the State of Pennsylvania during the post-Civil War period. The other Pennsylvania monuments are located at Winchester and Cold Harbor national cemeteries in Virginia, and Salisbury National Cemetery, NC.

A memorial dedicated to the Civil War Unknowns buried in the cemetery was erected in 1988.

The granite Armed Forces Monument was erected in November 1992 and officially dedicated on May 28, 2001. It was sponsored by American Legion Post 330 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2524 in honor of all men and women who served in the armed services.

Notable interments

The National Cemetery Administration lists these people of note buried at Culpeper National Cemetery, with section and site where recorded.

Sergeant Staunton Montgomery Brown (World War II).

Brown (1918–1944) was a native of Culpeper, VA. The third of eleven children, Staunton's parents were Lafayette and Nina May Brown, both of whom hailed from nearby Madison County. Lafayette was a farmer by trade and when it came time for "Gummie" as he was called, to register for the draft in 1940 he too listed his occupation as "farmer." Staunton was assigned to Company B, 116th Infantry Division, 29th Infantry Division. The 29th shipped out to England in September 1942 and began to train for the invasion of France. On June 6, 1944, Staunton and Company B were aboard the second wave of landing craft assaulting the Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach. Brown was killed almost immediately after the ramp of the landing craft dropped. He was buried in a temporary cemetery near Omaha Beach and the local community was stunned to hear of his loss. His parents published a note in the local newspaper thanking everyone for their love and support in the wake of such shattering news. Following the war, Staunton's remains were sent home, and he was reinterred on May 17, 1948. He now rests in Section A1, Site 1410.

Peer de Silva was born in San Francisco on July 26, 1917.

He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1941 and followed with intelligence training. He was a security officer for the Manhattan Project, responsible for the transfer of atomic weapons abroad. After World War II, he was assigned to the Army's Strategic Services Unit, precursor to the CIA, and began a long career in Cold War intelligence. He was honorably discharged as a lieutenant colonel in 1953. He served as a station chief at numerous locations throughout his career, including Saigon in 1963. Injuries sustained from a 1965 car bomb forced a reassignment to Washington, DC. He retired from the CIA in 1972 and authored a book about his career, posthumously published in 1978. He died August 13, 1978. .

Section G, Site 751

Rear Admiral John Marocchi was born in Bologna, Italy, on June 6, 1920.

He was two when his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Clarksville, TN. He graduated from Austin Peay State prior to appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy class of 1942 (which graduated in December 1941). He was severely wounded on USS Birmingham (CL-62) during the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II. Marocchi served in the Korean and Vietnam wars as an intelligence officer and played a role in the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Pueblo Incident. He completed Army Airborne training at age 42 and was one of the few Navy officers to earn parachute wings. He retired in 1975 as deputy director, National Security Agency. Marocchi died July 12, 2014. .

Section M, Site 83

Directions

Your service will take place in one of two locations, 305 U.S. Avenue or 501 East Chandler Street. Contact your funeral home or the Culpeper National Cemetery for the location of your service. The cemetery office is located at 305 U.S. Avenue.

From Interstate 95, take Route 3 west towards Culpeper. Once in Culpeper, turn right at third stop light onto Main Street. After first stoplight on Main Street, go to the second right and turn onto Stevens Street. Follow Stevens Street into the cemetery.

Flowers and grounds rules

Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.

Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.

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 Culpeper National Cemetery.

A National Cemetery System Culpeper National Cemetery

Who can be buried at Culpeper National 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 Culpeper National 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 Culpeper National Cemetery and a date. National cemeteries hold burials Monday through Friday.

Where is the Culpeper National Cemetery burial schedule?

VA posts a daily burial schedule for every national cemetery. Search it for Culpeper National 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 Culpeper National Cemetery directly at 540-825-0027.

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 Virginia law; our sister site ProbateUS explains how probate works in Virginia 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 Culpeper National Cemetery, by straight-line distance:

Funeral homes near Culpeper National Cemetery

A funeral director usually arranges the burial with the cemetery. These are the closest funeral homes by straight-line distance. Each one links to its full listing on FuneralUS, our funeral home directory.

  1. 0.4 mi from the cemetery
  2. 0.9 mi from the cemetery
  3. 1.2 mi from the cemetery
  4. 2.8 mi from the cemetery
  5. Johnson Funeral Home
    Locust Grove, VA
    14.9 mi from the cemetery
  6. 16.9 mi from the cemetery

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