View source for Fort Smith National Cemetery

{{Short description|Historic veterans cemetery in Sebastian County, Arkansas}}
{{Infobox NRHP
  | name = Fort Smith National Cemetery
  | nrhp_type =
  | image =Fort Smith National Cemetery Jan2011.jpg
  | caption = Fort Smith National Cemetery in 2011
  | location= 522 Garland Ave. and S. 6th St., [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]]
  | coordinates = {{coord|35|22|57|N|94|25|43|W|source:GNIS|display=inline,title}}
  | locmapin = Arkansas#USA
  | map_caption = Location in [[Arkansas]]##Location in United States
  | built = 1867
  | architect =
  | architecture =
  | added = May 20, 1999
  | area = {{convert|21.7|acre}}
  | mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64500016|title=Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS}}
  | refnum = 99000578<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
'''Fort Smith National Cemetery''' is a [[United States National Cemetery]] located at Garland Avenue and Sixth Street in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]], [[Sebastian County, Arkansas]]. It encompasses {{convert|22.3|acre}}, and as of the end of 2005, had 13,127 interments.

== History ==
Fort Smith was a frontier fort first established in 1817, by Maj. [[William Bradford (major)|William Bradford]] as a post to prevent hostilities between the [[Cherokee]]s and the [[Osage Nation|Osage]]. Despite the strategic importance of the post, the army closed it after a severe outbreak of disease which had taken the lives of several of the men stationed there by 1824. The initial interments were made in the area during this time.

In 1838, a new fort was constructed on the site, including an officer's quarters where General [[Zachary Taylor]] lived from 1841 until 1845. At this time, the original post cemetery was repaired, expanded, and improved.

[[File:Fort smith park map.jpg|thumb|left|Fort Smith National Cemetery is in western Fort Smith, Arkansas, south of [[Fort Smith National Historic Site]]]]
On April 23, 1861, as the [[American Civil War]] was beginning, the post was abandoned by the U.S. Army forces stationed there; it was then subsequently occupied by a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] garrison. During this occupation, nearly 400 Confederate soldiers died and were buried at the fort's cemetery. On September 1, 1863, the fort was then retaken by [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces. In 1867, the post cemetery officially became a National Cemetery when many of the remains from soldiers who had been interred on nearby battlefields were exhumed and reinterred at Fort Smith. The cemetery includes more than 1,400 unmarked graves, many of them of Union and Confederate soldiers.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url=https://www.arkansasheritage.com/docs/default-source/national-registry/SB0215-pdf|title=NRHP nomination for Fort Smith National Cemetery|publisher=Arkansas Preservation|accessdate=2015-04-13}}</ref>

== Noteworthy monuments ==
* A memorial to Unknown Confederate Dead, made of marble. It also commemorates Brigadier General [[James M. McIntosh]], who died at the [[Battle of Pea Ridge]] and Brigadier General [[Alexander E. Steen]], who was killed at the [[Battle of Prairie Grove]].
* A Vietnam Veterans memorial, constructed of granite and bronze, erected in 1998.
{{-}}

== Notable interments ==
[[File:FT. SMITH NATIONAL CEMETERY.jpg|thumb|upright|Grave of Isaac C. Parker, the "Hanging Judge"]]
* [[W. H. H. Clayton]] (1840–1920), lawyer and judge in post-Civil War Arkansas
* Brigadier General [[William Orlando Darby]] (1911–1945{{KIA}}), [[World War II]] veteran, leader of ''Darby's Rangers''
* [[Jack Fleck]] (1921–2014), World War II Navy veteran and professional golfer
* [[Richard C. Gatlin]] (1809–1896), Civil War Confederate general
* [[James M. McIntosh]] (1828–1862{{KIA}}), Civil War Confederate brigadier general
* [[Isaac C. Parker]] (1838–1896), [[U.S. representative]], frontier [[judge]] known as "The Hanging Judge"
* [[Hal Smith (catcher)|Hal Smith]] (1931–2014), United States Air Force veteran and MLB catcher
* [[Alexander E. Steen]] (1827–1862{{KIA}}), Missouri State Guard (Confederate) general

==See also==
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Sebastian County, Arkansas]]
* [[List of cemeteries in Arkansas]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/ National Cemetery Administration]
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/ftsmith.asp Fort Smith National Cemetery]
* [http://interment.net/data/us/ar/sebastian/ftsmithnat/index.htm Fort Smith National Cemetery List of Burials]
* {{HALS |survey=AR-3 |id=ar1143 |title=Fort Smith National Cemetery, 522 Garland Avenue, Fort Smith, Sebastian County, AR |photos=42 |cap=3}}
* {{GNIS|type=retired|56687}}
* {{Find a Grave cemetery}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

[[Category:Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas]]
[[Category:Historic American Landscapes Survey in Arkansas]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Fort Smith, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Culture of Fort Smith, Arkansas]]
[[Category:United States national cemeteries]]
[[Category:Arkansas in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Sebastian County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Sebastian County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Cemeteries established in the 1860s]]