Florence National Cemetery Annex

Florence National Cemetery is located in Florence County in the city of Florence, SC.

The land for Florence National Cemetery was appropriated, and later purchased, from the estate of a local resident about a quarter-mile from the POW camp. Original interments were made in two separate burial grounds, one containing 416 remains and the other approximately 2,322 remains. Interments at the larger site were made in 16 trenches; in 1865, this site was designated a national cemetery and the remains from the smaller burial ground were dug up and reinterred there. Remains were also disinterred from the surrounding region of Darlington, Cheraw and the Marion Districts and transferred to Florence National Cemetery. The wooden headboards marking the trench graves were replaced by 2,167 marble "unknown" head blocks measuring 6 x 6 inches square and set approximately six inches apart. In 1955, all but five of these markers were replaced with 32 upright marble headstones at each end of the trenches.

Florence National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Monuments and Memorials
A carillon was donated by the American Veterans as part of their international living memorial program, which began shortly after World War II.

Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Recipients receive the Medal of Honor from the President on behalf of Congress. It was first awarded during the Civil War and the eligibility criteria, medal design, and recognition on a recipients' grave marker have all evolved over time. There are 435 Medal of Honor recipients interred at VA national cemeteries including 6 double recipients.

» Medal of Honor recipients interred or memorialized here:

Chief Boatswain's Mate James Elliott Williams (Vietnam). James Elliott Williams, a native of South Carolina, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1947, and retired in 1967 as one of the most highly decorated sailors in U.S. Navy history, having received the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Navy and Marine Corps Medal among other commendations. Williams received the Medal of Honor in 1968 for actions in the Mekong Delta, Republic of Vietnam. On October 31, 1966, Williams' patrol was attacked and during the three-hour battle, he exposed himself to the enemy to direct the counter-fire. Williams' patrol took out 65 enemy boats and, that day, defeated guerilla forces. He died October 13, 1999, and is buried in Section F, Site 177.

Other Burials
Florena Budwin was the bride of a captain from Pennsylvania. After Captain Budwin joined the federal forces, his bride disguised herself as a man and donned a uniform, hoping to find her husband. She was captured near Charleston, SC in 1864 and sent to Florence in the autumn of that year. After arriving at the stockade with thousands of other Union troops, she took sick as the rations were meager and medical supplies scarce. While the camp physician was making a routine examination, he found that one of his patients was a woman. She was moved to separate quarters and given food and clothing by the sympathetic women of Florence. When she recovered, she told a most remarkable story of how she had donned a federal uniform so as to serve by the side of her husband, that her husband has been killed, and that she was captured. After Florena grew strong, she stayed on at the prison as a nurse, and her devotion for her husband was bestowed on the hundreds of soldiers who were suffering from lack of food and medicine. A few months later, she fell sick a second time and did not recover. She died on January 25, 1865 (Section D, Site 2480).