Poplar Grove National Cemetery Poplar Grove National Cemetery is near Petersburg , Virginia , and is managed as part of Petersburg National Battlefield . A Nation ' s Need . In July 1862 , Congress passed legislation giving the President of the United States the authority to purchase land for the establishment of cemeteries " for the soldiers who shall die in the service of their country . " This legislation effectively began the National Cemetery system . A soldier ' s burial . At Petersburg , implementation of this system did not begin until 1866 . During the Siege of Petersburg , Union soldiers who were killed in battle were hastily buried near where the fighting took place , some in single shallow pits , others in mass graves . Identification was as simple as a name carved on a wooden headboard , if there was time to leave even that . Most of these soldiers were not given a proper burial , save what their comrades could provide by saying a few words over them . Some units , like the IX Corps , had small cemeteries near their filled hospitals for soldiers who died while in their care . A final resting place . In 1866 , Lt . Colonel James Moore began his survey of the Petersburg area to locate land for a National Cemetery . Eventually , a farm just south of the city was chosen . This tract of land had been the campground for the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers . During the war they constructed a Gothic - style , pine log church called Poplar Grove . With the cemetery now established , work began to move approximately 5 , 000 Union soldiers from nearly 100 separate burial sites around Petersburg . Bodies were moved from nine Virginia counties , reaching as far west as Lynchburg , Virginia . About 100 men comprised the " burial corps . " With ten army wagons , forty mules , and twelve saddle horses , these men began their search and recovery mission . One observer noted , " a hundred men were deployed in a line a yard apart , each examining half a yard of ground on both sides as they proceeded . Thus was swept a space five hundred yards in breadth . . . In this manner the whole battlefield was to be searched . When a grave was found , the entire line halted until the teams came up and the body was removed . Many graves were marked with stakes , but some were to be discovered only by the disturbed appearance of the ground . Those bodies which had been buried in trenches were but little decomposed , while those buried singly in boxes , not much was left but bones and dust . " Remains were placed in a plain wooden coffin ; if there was a headboard , it was attached to it . The burial corps worked for three years until 1869 . In that time they reinterred 6 , 718 remains , of which only 2 , 139 bodies were positively identified . Much the same fate was suffered by the nearly 30 , 000 Confederate dead buried at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg . Of them , only about 2 , 000 names are known . " Where Valor Proudly Sleeps " . Places like Poplar Grove National Cemetery reflect the tragedy that befell the United States during the Civil War . Each simple headstone is a poignant reminder of the human cost of war . In 1933 responsibility of the cemetery was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service ( NPS ) . Poplar Grove is one of fourteen National Cemeteries administered by the NPS . It is closed for burials , but visitors are invited to walk the grounds , which are open daily .