Est. 1865 · Established 1865 on land adjacent to the Confederate Florence Stockade prison · Holds approximately 2,300 Union POWs in 16 mass burial trenches · Burial site of Florena Budwin — widely recognized as the first woman interred in a national cemetery · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places · Administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs
Florence National Cemetery was established in 1865 on federal land adjacent to the Florence Stockade, the Confederate prisoner-of-war camp that had operated from September 1864 through February 1865. The stockade held between 12,000 and 18,000 Union prisoners at various points, with no shelter provided against the elements. Disease, malnutrition, and exposure killed approximately 2,300 men during the camp's five-month operation.
After the war, the United States government formally established the national cemetery to honor the Union dead. The mass burial trenches from the stockade period were preserved in place and are now marked and interpreted for visitors. A walking path connects the trench sites and provides context through interpretive signage.
The most historically notable individual grave is that of Florena Budwin. According to her Wikipedia entry and historical records, Budwin had enlisted in the Union Army disguised as a male soldier alongside her husband. Captured with him, she was imprisoned at Andersonville and later transferred to Florence. Her sex was discovered after she fell ill; the camp physician provided medical attention. She died at Florence in February 1865. She is widely recognized as the first woman interred in a national cemetery, a distinction documented in the cemetery's own VA records and multiple historical sources.
Florence National Cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The grounds are publicly accessible.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_National_Cemetery
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florena_Budwin
- https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/florence.asp
Blue orb floating over Florena Budwin's grave markerMoaning sounds from the direction of the mass burial trenchesFigure in dark dress seen moving through the cemetery after dusk
Regional accounts of paranormal activity at Florence National Cemetery document three recurring phenomena. The first is a blue orb reported hovering over Florena Budwin's grave marker — a specific location within the cemetery grounds. The Pee Dee Electric Cooperative's local news outlet documented this report in a piece on haunted Pee Dee region sites, noting that the orb has been observed by multiple independent visitors.
The second phenomenon is auditory: moaning or low sounds described as rising from the vicinity of the mass burial trenches. The trenches hold the remains of approximately 2,300 men who died in the Florence Stockade during the winter of 1864–65 under conditions of severe deprivation. Whether the sounds have a natural acoustic explanation — the depression of the trench lines affecting wind movement — has not been investigated formally.
A third account describes a figure in dark dress seen moving within the cemetery after dark. The figure is not assigned a specific identity in the accounts that have documented it. Visitors independently note a qualitative heaviness to the atmosphere at the trench sections that they describe as distinct from the rest of the grounds.
Notable Entities
Florena Budwin
