View source for Fort Scott National Cemetery

{{Short description|Historic veterans cemetery in Bourbon County, Kansas}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Fort Scott National Cemetery
| nrhp_type    = hd
| nocat        = yes
| image        = Fort Scott National Cemetery, SW from lodge 1.jpg
| caption      =
| location     = 900 East National Ave., [[Fort Scott, Kansas]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|37|49|15|N|94|41|37|W|source:GNIS|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = Kansas#USA
| built        = 1842
| architect    =
| architecture =
| added        = October 15, 1966
| area         = {{convert|6.7|acre}}
| refnum       = 99000835<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2009a}}</ref>
}}

'''Fort Scott National Cemetery''' is a [[United States National Cemetery]] located in [[Fort Scott, Kansas|Fort Scott]], in [[Bourbon County, Kansas]]. Administered by the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs]], it encompasses {{convert|21.8|acre}}, and as of 2021, had more than 8,000 interments. It is one of three national cemeteries in Kansas (the other two being [[Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery|Fort Leavenworth]] and [[Leavenworth National Cemetery|Leavenworth]]).

== History ==
Fort Scott was established in 1842, on what was known as Military Road, between [[Fort Leavenworth, Kansas]] and [[Fort Gibson, Oklahoma]]. It was named for Lieutenant General [[Winfield Scott]]. During the initial years, a small plot on the west side of the fort was used as a cemetery. In 1861, a new plot was purchased, and named Presbyterian Graveyard as it was maintained by the Presbyterian Church. During the [[American Civil War]], it was used to inter soldiers who died in battles near in the area. The plot and an adjacent tract of land became Fort Scott National Cemetery on November 15, 1862. One of the twelve original [[United States National Cemeteries]] designated by [[Abraham Lincoln]], it has the distinction of being listed as U.S. National Cemetery #1.<ref name="first">{{cite web |url=http://www.fscity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=224 |title=City of Fort Scott Official Website |accessdate=16 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305045026/http://www.fscity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=224 |archive-date=5 March 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

At the end of the Civil War, the original fort cemetery interments were moved into the National Cemetery; as well, at the close of the [[Indian Wars]], many frontier posts, such as Fort Lincoln, were abandoned and had their cemeteries transferred to Fort Scott.

The cemetery also contains the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|Commonwealth war graves]] of two [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] officers of [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort Scott National Cemetery, with casualty list |url= https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2073065/fort-scott-national-cemetery/ |publisher= [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] |accessdate= 17 December 2016}}</ref>

Fort Scott National Cemetery was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1999.

==Commemorative monuments==
[[File:Fort Scott National Cemetery, 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers monument 1.jpg|thumb|alt=Stone marker inscribed "In memory of the soldiers of the 1st Regiment Kansas Colored Volunteers who gave their lives in battle May 18, 1863 near Sherwood, Missouri", followed by 15 names; after which "Second Kansas Volunteer Battery", followed by three more names|First Kansas Colored Volunteers monument]]

A large sandstone boulder marks the grave of [[Eugene Fitch Ware]], and his wife Jeannette Huntington Ware.  Ware served in the Union Army during the Civil War, eventually reaching the rank of captain.  He was subsequently admitted to the bar, and served two terms in the Kansas state legislature.  He was noted in his time as an author and poet, writing under the pseudonym "Ironquill".  Shortly before his death in 1911, he asked that the boulder, whose natural beauty appealed to him, be used as his grave marker.<ref name=nomform>[http://www.kshs.org/resource/national_register/nominationsNRDB/Bourbon_FortScottNationalCemeteryNR.pdf "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Fort Scott National Cemetery".]  [https://www.kshs.org/ Kansas Historical Society.]  Retrieved November 17, 2017.</ref><ref>[https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/eugene-ware/16536 "Eugene Ware".]  [http://www.kshs.org/ Kansas Historical Society.]  Retrieved November 17, 2017.</ref>

A gray granite monument commemorates the [[1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored)|First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry]], which was based at Fort Scott during the Civil War.  The regiment was recruited as a Kansas state unit in August 1862, and mustered into federal service in January 1863, following the [[Emancipation Proclamation]].  The monument lists the names of soldiers killed in a May 18, 1863 fight near Sherwood, Missouri.<ref name=nomform/><ref>[https://www.nps.gov/fosc/learn/historyculture/firsttoserve.htm "First to Serve".]  [https://www.nps.gov/ National Park Service.]  Retrieved November 17, 2017.</ref>

==See also==
* [[United States National Cemetery System]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Fort Scott National Cemetery}}
* [http://kansastravel.org/fortscottnationalcemetery.htm Fort Scott National Cemetery] – photo tour
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/ National Cemetery Administration]
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/ftscott.asp Fort Scott National Cemetery]
* {{HALS |survey=KS-3 |id=ks0216 |title=Fort Scott National Cemetery, 900 East National Avenue, Fort Scott, Bourbon County, KS |photos=37 |cap=4}}
* {{HALS |survey=KS-3-A |id=ks0237 |title=Fort Scott National Cemetery, Rostrum, 900 East National Avenue, Fort Scott, Bourbon County, KS |dwgs=2 |link=no}}
* {{GNIS|type=retired|474784}}
* {{Find a Grave cemetery}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

[[Category:Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Bourbon County, Kansas]]
[[Category:United States national cemeteries]]
[[Category:Kansas in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Historic American Landscapes Survey in Kansas]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Bourbon County, Kansas]]
[[Category:Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in the United States]]
[[Category:1862 establishments in Kansas]]
[[Category:Cemeteries established in the 1860s]]