Confederate Stockade Cemetery

GPS Coordinates: 41.500668, -82.730029
County: Ottawa
Record count: 208

Ownership: National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Directions: Located at the north end of Johnson's Island, at the east corner of Johnson's Island Causeway and Memorial Shoreway Dr.

Background: Confederate Stockade Cemetery on Johnson's Island in Sandusky Bay, Ohio, originated as the burial ground for Confederate prisoners at the Union's first purpose-built Confederate prison camp, which opened in 1862. The facility primarily held Confederate officers, based on the belief that officers deserved more humane conditions and to prevent them from organizing enlisted men.

From summer 1862 until war's end, Johnson's Island served as the primary stockade for Confederate officers. In 1864, Confederate agents planned to liberate prisoners by hijacking the U.S.S. Michigan, but the plot was thwarted.

In 1878, Congress first appropriated $1,500 for Confederate cemetery maintenance, marking the first federal funding for such sites. The United Daughters of the Confederacy purchased the cemetery in 1904, donating it to the U.S. government in 1931. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990.

Burial Records

• Veterans Affairs Database, by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (208 records)

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