Name/Title
LetterEntry/Object ID
2019.021.0024Scope and Content
This is a letter from Lt. Frederick Steele (Regimental Adjutant) writing for the Commanding officer at the Benicia Barracks (Major Washington Seawell) regarding establishing a new "burial ground". They want to wait for further information before confirming the new burial ground. He suggests that if it is confirmed they can then re-bury the bodies in the new burial ground.
The Benicia Army Cemetery was originally located at the arsenal near what is now the Camel Barn Museum. An 1856 map of the Benicia Military Reservation shows the "old burial grounds" to be less than a half-mile from the site of the current cemetery. It was probably moved to its present location when construction began on the arsenal in 1851. (excerpt from the U.S. Department of the Army pamphlet on the Army Cemetery.)Collection
Benicia Historical Museum Collection
