POSHARD SPLEAKER AT NATIONAL CEMETERY

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, a candidate for Illinois governor, will be guest speaker at the annual Memorial Day service at Mound City National Cemetery.

Sharing the speaker's rostrum at the May 24 ceremonies will be Ben Flerlage, past commander of the Illinois Department of AMVETS.

The service, to start at 10 a.m., is sponsored by Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission Inc.

A presentation of colors and rifle and canon salutes will be conducted by the 1244th Transportation Unit, Illinois National Guard; 8th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company G; Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; and Camp 1659, Sons of the Confederate Veterans of the Civil War.

The POW/MIA Color Guard from Cape Girardeau will be on hand. Also present will be Maj. Fred DeField, a former Missouri representative.

Prior to the 10 a.m. ceremonies, miniature flags will be placed on each headstone in the cemetery.

The Mound City National Cemetery at Routes 51 and 37 just west of Mound City, was established as a burial place for those who died at Civil War military hospitals in Mound City and nearby Cairo. The hospitals were established in the two cities in 1861.

The first patients at the Mound City hospital were men wounded in the Battle of Belmont, Mo., in November 1861. Combat at Shiloh and Fort Donelson in 1862 sent more wounded to Mound City, and the death rate began to soar.

It wasn't until 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln authorized establishment of national cemeteries for solders "who shall die in the service of our country." A dozen cemeteries were established and the Mound City National Cemetery was among the first.

There are more than 2,600 "unknown" soldiers in the cemetery. More than 5,000 soldiers were buried at the Mound City during the first 10 years of its existence. Civil War soldiers from both the North and South are buried there.

Burials in the 12-acre cemetery have slowed during the past decade, ranging from 25 to 50 a year. Today, some 7,500 veterans and some of their spouses are interred there.

The cemetery commission is looking into expanding the cemetery. Officers of the commission say additional property is available adjoining the cemetery to permit burials far into the future.

The cemetery is excepted to reach its capacity between 2003 and 2020.

The commission is also working to halt the proposed destruction of the landmark lodge building on the cemetery grounds.

The lodge, erected in 1875 as an on-site cemetery superintendent home, is vacant. The cemetery is overseen by VA officials at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.

The Cemetery Preservation Commission hopes to have the lodge and cemetery placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

One of the most famous soldiers buried at Mound City is Brig. Gen. John B. Turchin, a Civil War officer known as the "Mad Russian." Also buried there is Turchin's wife, who gained fame during the Civil War by assuming command of Turchin's troops while he was sick.

Nadine Turchin was the first woman to command a U.S. military regiment. Mrs. Turchin accompanied her husband on his Civil War campaigns, serving as a nurse. She assumed command of his regiment when her husband became seriously ill during the early months of conflict in Tennessee.

She led the 19th Illinois Regiment into one of its fiercest battles during spring 1862, remaining in command for 10 days. The Turchins moved to Southern Illinois following the Civil War.