1 00:00:03,500 --> 00:00:04,500 You've heard of Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC, but about 20 minutes 2 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:05,500 away is the much smaller Alexandria National Cemetery. 3 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:06,500 And don't let its size fool you. 4 00:00:06,500 --> 00:00:07,500 There's a lot of history there, and we went there for a recent livestream. 5 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:08,500 Take a look. 6 00:00:08,500 --> 00:00:09,500 Hello and welcome to Military Times Live. 7 00:00:09,500 --> 00:00:10,500 I'm Daniel Woolfolk in Alexandria, Virginia. 8 00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:11,500 We have a very special livestream for you today. 9 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:12,500 We're really excited to be in Alexandria National Cemetery. 10 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:15,450 Now you might be thinking, hey, is this Arlington National Cemetery? 11 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:16,450 It's not. 12 00:00:16,450 --> 00:00:19,700 There are actually several national cemeteries, as we're gonna learn here in a little bit, 13 00:00:19,700 --> 00:00:24,130 but it really, it has so much history and we're lucky enough to have Jennifer Perunko 14 00:00:24,130 --> 00:00:28,810 with us, who's a historian for the Department of Veterans Affairs, who is gonna show us 15 00:00:28,810 --> 00:00:31,500 around and tell us a little bit about the cemetery. 16 00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:33,039 Jennifer, welcome. 17 00:00:33,039 --> 00:00:34,039 - Thank you for having me. 18 00:00:34,039 --> 00:00:35,039 I appreciate it. 19 00:00:35,039 --> 00:00:37,560 - I'm glad to have you, thank you. 20 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,739 This cemetery is in Alexandria, Virginia. 21 00:00:39,739 --> 00:00:42,690 Can you talk a little bit about the history of it? 22 00:00:42,690 --> 00:00:43,690 - Sure. 23 00:00:43,690 --> 00:00:46,950 We are on the southern end of Alexandria. 24 00:00:46,950 --> 00:00:52,610 We are actually, during the Civil War, would've been outside the city boundaries. 25 00:00:52,610 --> 00:00:56,910 As you come into the cemetery, you'll notice a lot of city cemeteries on each side of the 26 00:00:56,910 --> 00:00:58,610 road. 27 00:00:58,610 --> 00:01:03,700 Those cemeteries were initially used to bury soldiers who died here in Alexandria. 28 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:09,090 Alexandria had a fair number of hospitals, where Union soldiers from the Civil War would 29 00:01:09,090 --> 00:01:10,930 be brought and cared for. 30 00:01:10,930 --> 00:01:21,600 They also had a, out at the seminary, and towards Fairfax, they also had a rest area 31 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:27,640 where they might've left the hospitals and gone out there to recuperate. 32 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:34,770 So the government initially were burying in some of the city cemeteries and it was becoming 33 00:01:34,770 --> 00:01:44,600 a problem and taking up room, so they sought land next to those cemeteries from Alexandria 34 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:50,509 and they leased about 5.5 acres right here where we're standing, to start interring the 35 00:01:50,509 --> 00:01:51,930 Union soldiers. 36 00:01:51,930 --> 00:02:01,930 After Lincoln was assassinated, and the hunt was on for those responsible for the assassination 37 00:02:01,930 --> 00:02:10,130 of President Lincoln, a group of firemen from here in Alexandria were on a boat south in 38 00:02:10,130 --> 00:02:15,370 the Potomac by Blackstone Island. 39 00:02:15,370 --> 00:02:16,430 It was dark. 40 00:02:16,430 --> 00:02:22,620 Another vessel was coming up the Potomac, bringing troops back for more. 41 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:25,170 It struck the boat the firemen were on. 42 00:02:25,170 --> 00:02:34,980 They were on picket duty, looking for the men who assassinated Lincoln and that boat 43 00:02:34,980 --> 00:02:42,090 sunk, losing about 25 men and four of them are buried right here. 44 00:02:42,090 --> 00:02:48,349 They initially had a larger monument that was referred to as The Firemen's Monument. 45 00:02:48,349 --> 00:02:57,650 We're not entirely sure when that one went away, but then around 1922, a group dedicated 46 00:02:57,650 --> 00:03:01,819 this new monument to these four men. 47 00:03:01,819 --> 00:03:08,330 So along with being one of the first national cemeteries, it is also known as being the 48 00:03:08,330 --> 00:03:11,989 first cemetery where Black and white soldiers were buried together. 49 00:03:11,989 --> 00:03:19,540 One of the hospitals here in Alexandria, L'Ouverture Hospital, named after the Haitian revolutionary 50 00:03:19,540 --> 00:03:24,560 was the main hospital that treated the US colored troops. 51 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:34,110 as well as other Black freemen and enslaved persons who had made it here to Alexandria 52 00:03:34,110 --> 00:03:35,230 and behind Union lines. 53 00:03:35,230 --> 00:03:41,390 - Can you tell us a little bit about that story, about the freedmen and where Alexandria 54 00:03:41,390 --> 00:03:42,939 plays a role, partly because- 55 00:03:42,939 --> 00:03:44,200 - Plays a role, yes. 56 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:45,200 - Of geography. 57 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:54,159 - Once the Emancipation Proclamation came into effect on January 1st, 1863, men, women, 58 00:03:54,159 --> 00:04:06,569 children, those who could escape from the South and make it over the lines here, were 59 00:04:06,569 --> 00:04:10,750 kept safe here in Alexandria. 60 00:04:10,750 --> 00:04:13,000 As a matter of fact, the population boomed. 61 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:21,190 It basically added 5,000 residents to Alexandria after the Emancipation Proclamation came into 62 00:04:21,190 --> 00:04:22,190 effect. 63 00:04:22,190 --> 00:04:23,190 - Oh wow. 64 00:04:23,190 --> 00:04:29,650 - So there were quite a number of Black men, women, children. 65 00:04:29,650 --> 00:04:35,340 They even, the federal government appointed a superintendent of what they called contraband, 66 00:04:35,340 --> 00:04:42,120 which is how they referred to the formerly enslaved men, women, and children. 67 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:49,630 His name was Reverend Gladwell, and he plays a role in the story of how the USCT troops 68 00:04:49,630 --> 00:04:52,710 ended up here in this cemetery. 69 00:04:52,710 --> 00:05:01,190 He had said that all the USCT, all the Black men, soldiers who passed away here in Alexandria 70 00:05:01,190 --> 00:05:05,900 should be buried in the freedman and contraband cemetery. 71 00:05:05,900 --> 00:05:12,280 He got the governor, the military governor here in Alexandria to agree with him. 72 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:20,000 However, the assistant quartermaster, a man by the name of Captain Lee, said those weren't 73 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:21,000 his orders. 74 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,760 His orders were that all soldiers should be buried here in this cemetery. 75 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:30,600 And he was able to bury some of the Black soldiers here, but then all that changed and 76 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:37,620 Gladwell had even interfered in the course of such an internment. 77 00:05:37,620 --> 00:05:47,410 When men were bringing over a deceased soldier, the funeral cortege was stopped by other soldiers 78 00:05:47,410 --> 00:05:55,639 and the body in the casket was taken by Gladwell and moved instead of being buried here. 79 00:05:55,639 --> 00:05:56,639 - No, wait- 80 00:05:56,639 --> 00:05:57,870 - Was taken down- 81 00:05:57,870 --> 00:05:59,230 - Intercepted during the funeral procession? 82 00:05:59,230 --> 00:06:00,230 - During the funeral. 83 00:06:00,230 --> 00:06:01,810 - Jennifer, thank you for joining us. 84 00:06:01,810 --> 00:06:03,910 That is a lot of information. 85 00:06:03,910 --> 00:06:06,340 I've been intrigued by this story for a while. 86 00:06:06,340 --> 00:06:11,000 So we were really fortunate to have you here, and I'd like to say a quick thank you to the 87 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,509 Department of Veterans Affairs, who set this up today.