Fort Scott, KS
Fort Scott National Cemetery #1
900 East National Avenue
GPS coordinates, front gate: 37.821616,-94.695411
GPS coordinates, memorial: 37.822023,-94.692707
Take a photo of your rally flag with the above image.

Originally a Presbyterian Cemetery, the Fort Scott National Cemetery #1 was adopted for use by troops at Ft. Scott, built on the edge of the western frontier. When President Abraham Lincoln established the National Cemetery system on November 15th 1862, it started with 12 cemeteries and this cemetery was given the designation as #1. The Ft. Scott National Cemetery was actually in use 40 days before Arlington National Cemetery.

Kansas was part of the Union during the Civil War, however there are 13 Confederate troops buried at the cemetery. These men were buried in a single row that is at a diagonal to the Union graves as they were at "crossed purposes" to the Union.

The cemetery has 17 Indian soldiers buried in the northwest section (as you enter the gate they are on the left starting around the 4th row of vertical headstones). Young Chicken, Deer-In-Water and Sticks-out-Belly are among the names you will find in that area. These Indian soldiers were part of the 3 Indian Home Guard Regiments from the fort.

The memorial above is located beside the road in the loop by the caretakers home. It is the first memorial in the row of memorials for groups of servicemen whose bodies were not recovered. The 18 soldiers whose death is marked with this memorial were killed in a skirmish with confederates on 18 May, 1863. The confederates disposed of their bodies by putting them in a farm house and burning down the house.

The 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry was the first Colored Troops in the Union to engage the Confederate Army and suffered more casualties than any other Kansas Regiment. There are 63 Colored Troops buried in this cemetery (in Section I, which is to your right as you enter the cemetery)  The graves are marked with U.S.C.T.

The cemetery is open from dawn to dusk. Should you arrive when the gate is closed, then a picture at the front gate is acceptable.

Note: Garmin doesn’t have the cemetery in the correct location nor do they have the street names right in this area, so use the GPS coordinates above.

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Tour of Honor-Kansas is sponsored by Cindy Dietz from Kansas City.