Wood National Cemetery

The Soldiers Home Cemetery, designed by Thomas Van Horne, was established at the Northwestern Branch in 1871; prior to that time, the Home buried its soldiers in private cemeteries in the Milwaukee area. There are two sections of cemetery at the Northwestern Branch. The main section of the cemetery, about 36 acres, is west of the historic campus and physically divided from it by the railroad line, but clearly visible from the western area of the historic core. Another five acre section is west of the building complex. The cemetery holds a 1900 reception building and a 1928 comfort station. The granite Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument was erected in 1903 In 1937 the name was changed to the Wood Cemetery, in honor of General George Wood. In 1973, it became a National Cemetery.

The most prominent monument on the cemetery’s grounds is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Located at the northeast corner of the cemetery.

Gettysburg Address Monument just west of the intersection of Gen. Mitchell Blvd. and Juneau Avenue

Gettysburg Address

Cast-iron tables inscribed with stanzas of Theodore O'Hara's Bivouac of the Dead

were fabricated at the War Department’s Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, in 1881-82. At the Northwestern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteers, Milwaukee, the tablets were originally installed on wooden posts. In 1941 these tablets were refurbished and set in stone

General Kilbourn Knox was appointed governor (promoted to general) of Milwaukee’s Soldiers' Home to succeed General Jacob Sharpe, who resigned voluntarily, due to impaired health from a war wound. Sharpe had been in charge for nine years. Knox’s appointment became official on May 1, 1889.

General Knox died on April 17, 1891, at the age of 48. Before his death, he expressed a desire to be buried on the Home grounds and this wish was granted three days later. The Rev. E.P. Wright, Home chaplain, presided over the funeral service in the Home Chapel, attended by 1200 veterans. General John C. Black of Chicago made a brief address.