G.A.R. Veterans

Location: Section 45

Dedicated on Memorial Day of 1892, this lot was reserved for Civil War veterans who were active members of Worcester's Post 10, Grand Army of the Republic. There are over 1,400 veterans of the Civil War buried in Hope Cemetery including many members of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first African American regiment to serve for the Union during the Civil War. This unit was commanded by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a former Worcester minister. Interred here also are 11 men who died while held as prisoners of war in Confederate prisons, including 5 who died at the infamous Andersonville Prison in Georgia and 2 women who served as army nurses. The impressive tripod of gigantic cannon and pyramid of cannon balls were acquired from the Charlestown Navy Yard to "stand as a symbol of the horrors of war."