Lincoln Group to Tour Historic Congressional Cemetery

Connecticut Senator Uriah Tracy died in Washington on July 19, 1807. He was the first person to be buried in the newly established Washington Episcopal Parish Burial Ground of Christ Church. Members of Congress thereafter were often buried or held there temporarily in the public vault and so the name Congressional Cemetery was adopted. There are now over 70,000 individuals buried there. Their stories are American history in microcosm, all in 35 acres of the nation’s capital. Still an active burial ground, it is the only place in Washington where individuals can be buried at a site directly on Pierre L’Enfant’s 18th century city plan.

A significant part of that history is about the Civil War. Congressional Cemetery is the final resting place for over 600 Union and 100 Confederate soldiers. Generals lie next to privates, and brothers who fought on opposite sides rest only a few feet apart. There…