VA national cemetery
Knoxville National Cemetery
Knoxville, Tennessee
Location
939 Tyson Street NW
Knoxville, TN 37917
Visiting
- Address
- 939 Tyson Street NW, Knoxville, TN 37917
- Phone
- 423-979-3535
- Visiting hours
- Open daily from sunrise to sunset.
- Office hours
- This cemetery is administered by Mountain Home National Cemetery.
- Time zone
- Eastern Time
- Burial space
- Cremation Only
- Accessibility
- Not yet verified
- Official page
- cem.va.gov
Flowers and grounds policy, from the VA
Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.
Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.
Artificial flowers and potted plants will be permitted on graves during periods when their presence will not interfere with grounds maintenance. As a general rule, artificial flowers and potted plants will be allowed on graves for a period extending 10 days before through 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.
Christmas wreaths, grave blankets and other seasonal adornments may be placed on graves from December 1 through January 20.
Permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, breakable objects and similar items are not permitted on the graves. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments that are considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery or considered hazardous to cemetery personnel. For example, items incorporating beads or wires may become entangled in mowers or other equipment and cause injury.
Permanent items removed from graves will be placed in an inconspicuous holding area for one month prior to disposal. Decorative items removed from graves remain the property of the donor but are under the custodianship of the cemetery. If not retrieved by the donor, they are then governed by the rules for disposal of federal property.
Weapons Policy
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
General information, from the VA
Mountain Home National Cemetery administers this cemetery. Please contact them at the telephone number listed above.
Grave Location:
The grave location of your loved one is furnished on the map included in the burial document folder. There is a grave locator as you enter the main gate to assist weekend visitors who may not know the location of the gravesite.
Grave Marker:
A temporary grave marker is used to mark the grave following the interment. A permanent grave marker will be furnished free of charge by the Government without application from the family. Every effort is made to have the grave marker delivered and set within 60 days from the day of interment.
Flags:
The United States flag is flown over national cemeteries every day and is flown at half-staff on the morning of Memorial Day and during interments. Graves are decorated with small United States flags a few days before Memorial Day and are removed immediately after the holiday. Flags are not permitted at any other time.
Directions from Nearest Airport
The cemetery is located in the northern section of Knoxville. From the Knoxville Airport, travel Interstate 129 north approximately 12 miles to Interstate 275. Then travel north about two miles and exit at Baxter Avenue East to first stop light (Wray Street). Turn right and travel three blocks to cemetery.
Pay your respects
Visitors to veterans’ graves sometimes leave a coin on the headstone to show that someone came. You can leave a symbolic coin here. No money is involved, and nothing about you is published. About the custom, and what each coin is said to mean.
History
Reproduced from the VA National Cemetery Administration’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026. This is the VA’s text, unedited; it is not independent research by this site.
Knoxville National Cemetery is located in Knox County, in the northern section of the city of Knoxville, TN.
Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside established the cemetery during the Civil War after the siege of Knoxville and subsequent Battle of Fort Sander.
Capt. E.B. Chamberlain, the assistant quartermaster, was assigned the task of designing the national cemetery at Knoxville. The first interments were remains exhumed from Cumberland Gap, Concord and many other regional sites. Chamberlain's design and system for recording interments was so effective that, in 1866, Gen. E.G. Whitman, observed that the cemetery had been "the only burial ground of Union soldiers…originally laid out and conducted to the present time in a manner and on a system that render[ed] it suitable to be converted into a national cemetery without material alteration or change, or removal of a single body."
Knoxville National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Memorial and Monuments
The Union Soldier monument, known locally as the Tennessee or Wilder monument, is an unusual, large Gothic Revival-style memorial that was erected between 1890 and 1901.
Notable burials and memorials
Reproduced from the VA’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026, including Medal of Honor recipients where the VA lists them. Links lead to the VA’s own records. To correct an entry, contact the VA; to tell us our copy is out of date, report it.
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:
Sergeant Troy A. McGill (World War II). He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for service in the U.S. Army, Troop G, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, in recognition of an intrepid stand in the Los Negros Islands, Admiralty Group, March 4, 1944. McGill was buried in the Air Force Mausoleum Manila No.1, Philippine Islands; his remains were reinterred on January 25, 1951, in Section B, Site 6294.
Private Timothy Spillane (Civil War). He received the Medal of Honor while serving in the U.S. Army, Company C, 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry, for actions at Hatcher's Run, VA, February 5–7, 1865. Spillane died in 1901 and is buried in Section A, Site 3319.
Other Burials
Among those interred at Knoxville National Cemetery is Brigadier General Robert Reese Neyland, retired U.S. Army. While General Neyland was attending West Point Military Academy, he was an aide to the Commandant of West Point, General Douglas Macarthur. After he assumed his military duties he was assigned as an ROTC instructor at the University of Tennessee, where he also served as football coach. During World War II General Neyland was recalled to serve his country. He was elevated to the rank of Brigadier General at that time and was one of the top-ranking officers in the China-Burma-India field of operation. Brigadier General Robert Reese Neyland and his wife Ada are interred in Section X, Site 16A.
Group Burials:
We have several group burials in Knoxville National Cemetery:
13 are interred in Section X, Site 7, 8, 9 A/B from World War II.
5 are interred in Section X, Site 46 A/B from World War II.
3 are interred in Section X, Site 31 A/B from World War II.
6 are interred in Section X, Site 57 A/B from World War II.
4 are interred in Section X, Site 58 A from World War II.
19 are interred in Section C, Site 3255 war period is unknown.
US Confederate Soldier:
Captain George M. Coleman, Company D, 9th Kentucky Regiment, Civil War (Section D, Site 2538).
Nearby veterans cemeteries
Sources
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Find a Cemetery: all national cemeteries, and each cemetery’s own page. U.S. government work (public domain). Retrieved November 11, 2026. Used for: name, address, phone and burial-space status, hours, policies, history and notable burials.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Knoxville National Cemetery (official cemetery page). Retrieved November 11, 2026.
- Map position: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. VA National Cemetery Sites (dataset).