Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial

Seeing the cemetery is a beautiful experience. A reminder of how people can be treated one way one day and then forgotten about the next. It was humbling and a Virginia history lesson.

Really wonderful history lesson here.

Very sobering experience. The monument is an excellent tribute. Tickets not necessary.

When the Civil War started and the Union took Alexandria many escaped slaves, called Contraband, poured into the city to escape their former masters. This overcrowding caused a high mortality rate. The soldiers seized a undeveloped plot of land and turned it into a cemetery. More than 1,700 Freedmen and Contrabands were buried here, Of course it was forgotten, built on, and many of the graves were destroyed. Rediscovered in 1996 it is now a monunment, From what I understand about 500 graves still exist and many of the markers on the ground had only 'Grave Of An Adult' on it. BUT the lists of names suggest more knowledge of who was buried. Mostly because many of their descendants were found. Oh, is that crow or a raven?

On a random walk noticed the Freedmans cemetary. It's an amazing piece of history and culture. Very happy that we saw this place. It's small but the history and reflection provided is worth a visit. They also have a listing of the people buried there and and nice little fact on if their descendants have been found.