The marker lists the person buried here as an "Unknown Soldier" (not an unknown civilian or citizen, or just plain unknown).
It is possible that he was identified as a Union soldier only because he was wearing a uniform. However, it is also possible that his name was originally known, but lost because of the decay of the wooden markers originally placed on all of the graves in this cemetery.
This unknown U.S. soldier is buried in a circular area, surrounded by the cemetery drive, at the heart of Alexandrina National Cemetery. Of the 21 soldiers buried in row 5 of the circle, the names of only nine are known. The identified soldiers in this row hailed from five states of the Union and died between 1861 and 1864; thus we have virtually no clues about the unknowns in the row. They may have died in battle or of disease or by accident, in Alexandria or elsewhere; they may originally have been buried in this cemetery or transferred here from a mass battlefield grave—or from another cemetery.
"Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God."
—Text on the tomb of the World War I unknown at Arlington National Cemetery, a few miles north of Alexandria National Cemetery
It is possible that he was identified as a Union soldier only because he was wearing a uniform. However, it is also possible that his name was originally known, but lost because of the decay of the wooden markers originally placed on all of the graves in this cemetery.
This unknown U.S. soldier is buried in a circular area, surrounded by the cemetery drive, at the heart of Alexandrina National Cemetery. Of the 21 soldiers buried in row 5 of the circle, the names of only nine are known. The identified soldiers in this row hailed from five states of the Union and died between 1861 and 1864; thus we have virtually no clues about the unknowns in the row. They may have died in battle or of disease or by accident, in Alexandria or elsewhere; they may originally have been buried in this cemetery or transferred here from a mass battlefield grave—or from another cemetery.
"Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God."
—Text on the tomb of the World War I unknown at Arlington National Cemetery, a few miles north of Alexandria National Cemetery
The marker lists the person buried here as an "Unknown Soldier" (not an unknown civilian or citizen, or just plain unknown).
It is possible that he was identified as a Union soldier only because he was wearing a uniform. However, it is also possible that his name was originally known, but lost because of the decay of the wooden markers originally placed on all of the graves in this cemetery.
This unknown U.S. soldier is buried in a circular area, surrounded by the cemetery drive, at the heart of Alexandrina National Cemetery. Of the 21 soldiers buried in row 5 of the circle, the names of only nine are known. The identified soldiers in this row hailed from five states of the Union and died between 1861 and 1864; thus we have virtually no clues about the unknowns in the row. They may have died in battle or of disease or by accident, in Alexandria or elsewhere; they may originally have been buried in this cemetery or transferred here from a mass battlefield grave—or from another cemetery.
"Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God."
—Text on the tomb of the World War I unknown at Arlington National Cemetery, a few miles north of Alexandria National Cemetery
It is possible that he was identified as a Union soldier only because he was wearing a uniform. However, it is also possible that his name was originally known, but lost because of the decay of the wooden markers originally placed on all of the graves in this cemetery.
This unknown U.S. soldier is buried in a circular area, surrounded by the cemetery drive, at the heart of Alexandrina National Cemetery. Of the 21 soldiers buried in row 5 of the circle, the names of only nine are known. The identified soldiers in this row hailed from five states of the Union and died between 1861 and 1864; thus we have virtually no clues about the unknowns in the row. They may have died in battle or of disease or by accident, in Alexandria or elsewhere; they may originally have been buried in this cemetery or transferred here from a mass battlefield grave—or from another cemetery.
"Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God."
—Text on the tomb of the World War I unknown at Arlington National Cemetery, a few miles north of Alexandria National Cemetery
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