Cemeteries

Since the mid-19th century, there have been changes in the treatment and disposition of the bodies of war dead. Previously, the casualties of war were most often buried en masse as practically as possible in the rush of battle, and individual dead who could be returned from war found rest in family burial plots or communal and church cemeteries. At the time of the Second Industrial Revolution, however, the technologies of transportation and the science of medical preservation of bodies, combined with the large numbers of dead in the U.S. Civil War, led to an ability to aggregate the dead into respectful cemeteries of those fallen in common cause. The American example was followed by similar experiences in Europe. This entry explores the development of ...