Established 1868 for Union dead, nearly 3,000 graves here include 500 soldiers buried without names — visitors describe apparitions of Confederate troops in autumn fog conducting dawn formations.
220 North 19th Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Research updated June 2026
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All Ages
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Free
Free public access. National Cemetery open daily during daylight hours.
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Wheelchair OK
Flat grassy cemetery with paved roads and paths
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Photos OK
Est. 1868 · Federal National Cemetery (established 1868) · Union Civil War Dead — Louisiana Campaigns · Approximately 500 Unidentified Soldiers · Consolidation of Remains from Plaquemine and Camden, AR · Active VA National Cemetery
Baton Rouge National Cemetery was established in 1868 as part of the post-Civil War federal effort to identify, consolidate, and properly inter Union dead from Southern battlefields. The cemetery at 220 North 19th Street was designated to receive soldiers killed in Louisiana campaigns, including those who fell at the August 5, 1862 Battle of Baton Rouge, one of the Civil War's more contested engagements in the Deep South.
Of the nearly 3,000 burials on the grounds, approximately 500 are interred without names — soldiers whose remains could not be identified during the recovery and reinterment efforts. Remains were gathered from multiple temporary burial sites, including Plaquemine, Louisiana, and Camden, Arkansas, before being relocated to the Baton Rouge cemetery.
The cemetery is administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration and remains an active cemetery for eligible veterans. The grounds are open to the public during daylight hours and are maintained to the VA's national cemetery standards.
Sources
The apparition accounts at Baton Rouge National Cemetery center on the perimeter road and the open sections of the grounds. Witnesses — primarily visitors arriving at dawn or dusk in autumn months — describe seeing figures in Confederate-era uniforms moving in measured lines along the road or standing in formation in the low morning fog. The accounts note period clothing and deliberate movement before the figures disperse or fade.
The detail that these apparitions appear to be Confederate troops is noteworthy given the cemetery's identity as a Union burial ground: none of the 3,000 interred soldiers were Confederate. This has led to speculation, repeated in local oral tradition and tourism accounts, that the spectral presences are drawn to the site by proximity to the August 1862 battle rather than by the burials themselves.
No formal paranormal investigation has been published for this cemetery. The accounts appear in local journalism covering Baton Rouge's haunted history and in visitor-submitted accounts to regional tourism publications.
Walk the grounds of this 1868 national cemetery containing nearly 3,000 graves, including approximately 500 unidentified Union soldiers whose remains were relocated from Plaquemine, Louisiana, and Camden, Arkansas. The cemetery's perimeter road and headstone rows are open for self-guided walking.
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