The land around Winchester National Cemetery was used for burials as early as 1862, but after the Civil War additional land was appropriated by the federal government and it was officially dedicated on April 8, 1866. The land was not legally transferred to the U.S. government until Dec. 1, 1870, when the landowner, Jacob Baker, was paid $1,500 for the 4.89-acre (1.98 ha) tract and the deed was signed and executed.[4]
There are 14 monuments to Union regiments, corps, and states that either are represented by some of the soldiers buried in the cemetery and/or had participants in the 3rd Battle of Winchester. The oldest monument dates to 1864 and was erected for the 38th Massachusetts Infantry. The monuments are as follows:
a Massachusetts Monument features a bronze soldier atop a granite base (erected by the State of Massachusetts in 1907)
a Pennsylvania Monument (erected in 1890 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
two monuments for the 8th Vermont Infantry (one of these was erected in 1885 by Herbert E. Hill)
a monument to the 6th Army Corps (erected shortly after the Civil War).
There are also two "monuments," typical to National Cemeteries created for reinterred Union soldiers. They are both seven feet, six inches (152 mm) in height, and are made of an original cast iron seacoast artillery tube, secured by a concrete base. One is located on each side of the flagpole. There is no inscription on either monument.
An upright historical marker typical of those erected by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources is also near the opening of the cemetery, with a focus on the Third Battle of Winchester.
