Mt. Olivet Cemetery Confederate Circle, Nashville, Tennessee. Photograph by J. Andrew McGill.

  • Title: Mt. Olivet Cemetery Confederate Circle, Nashville, Tennessee. Photograph by J. Andrew McGill.
  • Date: ca. 1870
  • Description: A park-like setting contains a stone obelisk topped with a uniformed soldier, surrounded by a paved circular walkway with two flags bearing the Confederate "stars and bars" planted on the lawn on either side of the walkway entrance. Various tombstones and a small mausoleum are also visible in the vicinity.
  • Historical Note: Nashville's Mount Olivet Cemetery was established in 1856 to address overcrowding and the encroachment of the city on the older City Cemetery. The Confederate Circle at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville was created in 1869 as part of a reinterment project designed to honor approximately 1500 Confederate soldiers who died in and around Nashville during the Civil War. Members of the Ladies Memorial Society, including Sarah Childress Polk and other notable matrons, purchased a prominent location on a hill within the existing cemetery. Officials and dignitaries attended the dedication of the new burial ground on 9 May 1869, which was declared the local "Decoration Day" in Nashville. The program also encompassed a visit to decorate graves at the old City Cemetery, from which some of the dead were transferred. A central obelisk made of Vermont granite is topped by a nine-foot statue of a Confederate soldier. Thirteen rows of graves surround the obelisk: the first six rows contain graves of Confederate soldiers from outside Tennessee the seventh row contains graves of unknown soldiers; and the outer rows are for Tennesseans. Among those buried in Confederate Circle is architect and engineer Adolphus Heiman.
  • Institution: Mt. Olivet Cemetery
  • Publisher: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
  • URL: http://cdm15838.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/shades
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