![]() This allowed the cannon to withstand higher pressures, making them stronger, safer, and more reliable, while also greatly increasing the lifespan of the cannon. Rodman invented the construction method used in producing these cannons, which involved casting the cannon barrels around an air- or water-cooled core, ensuring that the barrel cooled and hardened first. Three Civil War-era cannons mark his gravesite. Brigadier General Rodman, the “Father of Rock Island Arsenal,” was an officer during the Civil War and was the arsenal’s commanding officer from 1865 to 1871. The Rodman gravesite features a large obelisk monument within a wrought-iron fenced enclosure. Rodman and his wife, Martha Ann, and Colonel David Matson King and his wife, Marguerite. This walkway terminates at the gravesites of Brigadier General Thomas J. Interspersed with the memorials are seven cast-iron plaques with verses from Theodore O’Hara’s poem Bivouac of the Dead. The walkway features over 30 monuments, including memorials to Pearl Harbor survivors, Mexican American War veterans, female veterans, American Veterans (AMVETS), and other local veterans organizations. On either side of the entrance are two large cast-iron tablets bearing the text of the 1867 Act to Protect and Establish National Cemeteries, and General Orders No. The memorial walkway is located near Section 1. National Cemetery Administration, History Program Women Veterans Memorial, Rock Island National CemeteryĬourtesy of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Since arsenal personnel oversaw the cemetery, there was never a need to construct a superintendent’s lodge on site. The original rostrum was constructed in 1875 but removed sometime after 1950, and featured wood and brick construction with a tin roof. The only buildings on the site are an administration building, constructed in 1971, west of the central flagpole, and a committal service shelter, constructed in 1987, between the entrance and the flagpole along the cemetery’s main drive. The remaining sections of iron fence and one of the gateway arches mark the entrance to the memorial walkway other pieces are located at various locations of Arsenal Island. The pickets on the iron fence evoke tree branches with attached leaves, while the gateway arches resemble tree trucks. The cemetery’s first fence was made of light wood pickets, later replaced by a highly decorative cast-iron fence. ![]() From this entrance, the new central axis runs southwest, terminating at the cemetery’s flagpole. The new entrance consists of an iron gate flanked by limestone ashlar walls, evoking the historic architecture of the arsenal. The cemetery has been expanded greatly to the north and west, with a new main entrance constructed in 1993. Originally, two intersecting avenues divided the space into four sections-three for burials and one to accommodate the rostrum. Here the cemetery was laid out on a 1.2-acre, rectangular parcel. Thus, the Army relocated the 136 interments in the cemetery to high ground at the southeastern tip of the island. However, it lay in the path of a planned expansion at the western side of the island. The Arsenal’s first cemetery provided a final resting place for the guards of the prison camp. Colored Infantry, whose recruits were mainly composed of former Kentucky slaves, took over the guard duty. The first guards at the camp were a regiment of “Gray Beard” volunteers, consisting of men over the age of 45, including at least one man in his 80s. Army organized a camp on the island for Confederate prisoners of war, holding 8,594 inmates at its peak in early 1864. In July 1862, just over a year into the Civil War, Congress established an arsenal on the island. Though the Federal Government closed the facility in 1836, it retained possession of the island. The fort also served as a headquarters for operations during the Blackhawk War of 1832. ![]() The first military installation on Rock Island was Fort Armstrong, constructed in 1816 to defend the upper Mississippi Valley from British traders. A memorial walkway within the cemetery showcases more than 30 monuments dedicated to these veterans. Today, the national cemetery is the final resting place for veterans of the Civil War, Mexican War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf and Iraq. Prisoners of war who died during their incarceration lie buried in an adjacent but separate cemetery-now the Rock Island Confederate Cemetery. The island was also the site of a major prison for captured Confederate soldiers. Rock Island National Cemetery, located on the grounds of the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, began as a post cemetery for one of the most important supply depots for the Union armies of the Mississippi Valley.
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