Notable Veterans in Lancaster Cemetery
Lt. Cornelius Van Camp
Lt Cornelius Van Camp was born in Lancaster, PA in 1833. He was a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and later went on to graduate from West Point Military Academy in 1855. He was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in the Second Cavalry Regiment and served as a topographical officer in adjutant. Under the command of Major Van Dorn, his regiment traveled from Texas into Native American Territory, today known as Oklahoma. Their regiment came upon a Comanche Indian Tribe, where they entered and attacked.
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Lt Van Camp was killed October 1858 in battle when a Comanche Indian fired an arrow through his heart. As many as 58 Comanche lives and 4 soldiers, including Van Camp, were lost in this battle. Lt Cornelius Van Camp’s body was buried where he fell, but later was retrieved in March the following year to be buried in Lancaster. He laid in state in Fencible Hall, which was located on the second floor of Fulton Hall known today as the Fulton Opera House. Lancaster newspapers recorded his funeral as the largest funeral ever, drawing more than 3,000 spectators to the Cemetery.
Major General John Fulton Reynolds
John Fulton Reynolds was born on September 20, 1820, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, one of eleven children. In 1837, he was nominated to the United States Military Academy at West Point by future President James Buchanan, a friend of Reynolds’s father. Reynolds graduated in 1841, finishing 26th in a class of 50.
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General Reynolds later went on to command a division at the Battle of Gettysburg. On the morning of July 1, 1863, as he was leading his forces towards Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Reynolds received a message that Confederate forces were almost there as well. Reynolds led his First Corps to McPherson Ridge, when he received a bullet through the neck. Reynolds died instantly. He was the highest-ranking soldier on either side killed at Gettysburg.
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The Grand Army of the Republic
The development of an organization of Union veterans was the postwar conception of Benjamin Franklin Stephenson of Springfield, Illinois, who had served a two-year enlistment period as surgeon of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry during the Civil War.
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The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) quickly became the preeminent veterans' organization formed at the close of the Civil War. Membership reached its peak in 1890, when over 400,000 members were reported. By then the GAR had well over seven thousand posts, ranging in size from fewer than two dozen members in small towns, to more than a thousand in some cities.
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The GAR's principal legacy to the nation is the annual observance of May 30 as Decoration Day, or more recently, Memorial Day. General John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the GAR, requested members of all posts to decorate the graves of their fallen comrades with flowers on May 30, 1868. This idea came from his wife, who had seen Confederate graves decorated by Southern women in Virginia. By the next year the observance became well established. Members of local posts in communities throughout the nation visited veterans' graves and decorated them with flowers, and honored the dead with eulogies. The pattern thus set is still followed to the present day. It was only after the first World War, when the aged veterans could no longer conduct observances, that the Civil War character of Decoration Day was replaced by ceremonies for the more recent war dead.
Honoring Revolutionary War Veterans
Lancaster Cemetery is home to individuals who lived through the founding of our nation. Current research has identified 81 possible Revolutionary War veterans buried here, with 22 confirmed. Explore the interactive map to view burial locations, read biographies, and see photos of headstones.
The Veteran Stone Project
In May of 2019, volunteers came to Lancaster Cemetery to hold a ceremony called A Rose For Every Stone. It was their mission to lay a rose on the stone of every US Veteran buried in the Lancaster Cemetery.
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The cemetery was much harder to navigate than anticipated. On that day, in May 2019, the volunteers left the cemetery with many flowers in hand - and veterans unrecognized.
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On that day, a promise was made that one day soon a rose will be laid on the stone of each and every US Veteran buried in Lancaster Cemetery
The Project
Veteran Stone Project: Phase 1
Phase 1 of the Veteran Stone Project began with "Stone Search Days." Over the course of 8 days, close to 75 volunteers gathered together to walk through and document every section of the cemetery for veteran stones. They looked to record names, information, and indicated dates of service on each headstone. We have put in over 1,200 hours of research and time in the cemetery searching for stones, markers, or some indication of service. That information was then compared to printed lists of who we believed was buried there.
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To date, we have confirmed the burials of over 1,447 veterans. 22 of which served in the Revolutionary War. Prior to the Veteran Stone Project, only 1 known soldier from the revolutionary war was believed to be buried in the entire cemetery. Through this project, we have located almost 1,000 of the 1,447 known veterans buried here.
Veteran Stone Project: Phase 2
Fundraising and stone restoration begin phase 2 of the Veteran Stone Project. After locating the veteran stones within the Cemetery, many stones were identified needing cleaned and repaired. While volunteers come to the cemetery regularly to clean stones at no cost, stone restoration begins at approximately $100 a stone. Funds are needed to start the second phase of the project.
Volunteer & Support
Lancaster Cemetery relies on volunteer support and donations to preserve, maintain, and restore the historic grounds. If you or your organization are interested in getting involved, please contact veterans@lancastercemetery.org.
