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> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> July 18, 2008

**VA Reburies War of 1812 General at Congressional Cemetery**

> ***Agencies Collaborate on Grave Restoration***
>
> WASHINGTON -- Descendants of a War of 1812 general officer who died in
> 1841 witnessed his re-interment during a ceremony July 17 at a
> historic gravesite administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs
> (VA).
>
> The remains of Maj. Gen. Alexander Macomb and his wife, Catherine,
> were placed in their underground burial vault, which partially
> collapsed and was recently repaired in Congressional Cemetery here.
>
> The ceremony began at the cemetery's chapel, where a box holding the
> remains was displayed in front, as in a traditional funeral*.* Along
> with family descendants in attendance were representatives of the
> Smithsonian Institution, the Army and the National Park Service.
>
> "This event is a dramatic collaboration among preservation
> organizations within agencies of the federal and District government,
> and with the private Congressional Cemetery, to ensure the proper
> rehabilitation of historic properties," said Secretary of Veterans
> Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. "I'm proud that VA's Construction Office
> and History Program stepped up to the challenge."
>
> Macomb was born in Detroit in 1782 and distinguished himself during
> the War of 1812. His success holding off a larger British force at the
> Battle of Plattsburgh, N.Y., earned him the rank of major general and
> a Congressional Gold Medal. Later, he attained the rank of commanding
> general. At his death in 1841, Macomb was buried with the highest
> military honors in a ceremony attended by President John Tyler,
> members of Congress and other dignitaries.
>
> **- More -**

**Congressional Cemetery Ceremony 2/2/2/2**

> Archaeologists from the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History
> excavated the site last month and temporarily housed the remains. In
> the excavation, Smithsonian archaeologists found most of Macomb's
> wooden coffin exterior had deteriorated, but a metal coffin liner
> still held his skeletal remains. Found on the coffin was a silver name
> plate with the text: "Alexander Macomb, Major General Commanding in
> Chief the Army of the United States, Born Detroit Michigan, Died at
> Washington, 25^th^ June 1841."
>
> In 1973, VA's cemetery system inherited from the Army the stewardship
> of more than 800 grave sites in the non-profit cemetery, most of them
> containing the remains of veterans. Included among the sites are 168
> above-ground stone cenotaphs that memorialize members of Congress who
> were buried in the mid-1800s, plus two monuments, one of them on
> Macomb's grave.
>
> The cenotaphs and monuments were restored by National Park Service
> stone masons and conservators in an ongoing project begun in 2006 at a
> cost to VA of \$1.75 million. Repair of the Macomb vault and monument
> -- a 13-foot-high marble obelisk crowned with a helmet \-- was
> estimated to cost \$24,000.
>
> Organizations involved in the Macomb tomb restoration included: the
> Park Service's Historic Preservation Training Center, the Museum of
> Natural History's Department of Anthropology, the District of Columbia
> Historic Preservation Office, VA's National Cemetery Administration
> and the Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional
> Cemetery.
>
> \# \# \#
>
> ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="4.0in" height="4.944444444444445in"}
>
> *Cutline for attached photo:*
>
> *Maj. Gen. Alexander Macomb.* Portrait by Thomas Sully, 1829. Image
> courtesy of
>
> West Point Museum Art Collection, U.S. Military Academy, West Point,
> NY.