Keokuk National Cemetery Annex

Until 1837, the sole inhabitants of the area that is now the town of Keokuk, IA, were members of the Sauk and Fox tribes. In 1837, however, the tribes agreed to a treaty that allowed limited settlement of white farmers. Shortly after the treaty went into effect, white settlers began to migrate into the area. But the greatest number of settlers did not arrive until 1842 when a second treaty compelled the Fox and Sauk to move farther west. The treaty would go into effect in May 1842, although white settlers had begun camping along the county border a month earlier. Subsequently, at one minute after midnight on May 1, anxious settlers rushed in to stake their land claims.

By the beginning of the Civil War, Keokuk was home to a population of approximately 13,000 people. Its location, at the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers, made an ideal location for the transportation of produce for the war. The first Civil War facility in Iowa was Camp Ellsworth, located near Keokuk, where troops were mustered as early as May 1861. More posts, including Camps Rankin, Halleck and Lincoln were established in 1861 and 1862. As the war progressed, five Army hospitals were established in the area to help care for the thousands of sick and wounded soldiers transported up the Mississippi River from Southern battlefields. Most of the original interments at Keokuk National Cemetery came from these hospitals.

The 2.75-acre Keokuk National Cemetery was originally a part of Oakland Cemetery until the city donated the land to the U.S. government in the mid 19th-century. According to an 1871 inspection report, just after the Civil War there were 627 interments; 600 known Union soldiers and 27 unknown soldiers. Not mentioned in the report were the remains of eight Confederate soldiers buried at the national cemetery, who died in Keokuk as prisoners of war.

In 1908, when the frontier post of Fort Yates, ND, was abandoned, the remains buried at this post cemetery were reinterred at Keokuk. Similarly, in 1948, 156 bodies removed from the post cemetery at Des Moines, IA, were reinterred here.

Keokuk National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Monuments and Memorials
The Unknown Soldiers monument was erected in 1912 by the Women's Corps of Keokuk in honor of 48 unknown soldiers buried at the cemetery. The monument is a large granite obelisk topped with the figure of a Union soldier standing at parade rest.

The American War Dads and Auxiliaries of Iowa erected a bronze wreath dedicated to Unknown Soldiers. Date of dedication is unknown.

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:

Private First Class John F. Thorson (World War II). He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for service in the U.S. Army, Company G, 17th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division, in recognition of courage and self-sacrifice in the attack on Dagami, Leyte, Philippine Islands, October 28, 1944. Thorson is buried in Section D, Site 71.

Other Burials

Born in Cork, Ireland, Michael Crowe (1849–1883) emigrated to New York as a young man and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1867. Initially Private Crowe served with the 34th Infantry as a wagoneer, then he transferred to the 7th Cavalry just before the Great Sioux War of 1876 in which Sioux and Cheyenne Indian tribes engaged federal troops to preserve their culture and lands in the Black Hills. On June 25–26, the 7th U.S. Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, took the offensive. In the infamous Battle of Little Bighorn, Custer and one-third of his men died. Crowe survived and remained in the army until his death in 1883. Pvt. Crowe was buried in the post cemetery at Fort Yates (ND), which was decommissioned in 1903; in 1908 his remains were reinterred in Keokuk National Cemetery (Section H, Site 796).

First Sergeant Columbus H. McCaa, Troop G, 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry – Date of Death July 6, 1946 (Section H, Site 1151). First Sergeant McCaa, a member of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, participated in the San Juan Hill Campaign.