Located on Rozier Street
(2 blocks west of State
Alton, Illinois
Approximately 300 prisoners and Union soldiers who died of smallpox were buried on a nearby island (once called Sunflower Island and currently under water) where a quarantine was set up. Those who were not buried on the island were interred in a special plot in North Alton, known today as the Confederate Soldiers' Cemetery. In 1905, the Sam Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was organized. It petitioned the Federal War Department for funds to put up a permanent marker commemorating these prisoners. Work on the 40 foot high granite column was completed in 1909. A tablet on the shaft reads "Erected by the United States to mark the burial place of 1,354 Confederate Soldiers who died here and at the Smallpox Hospital on the adjacent island while prisoners of war and whose graves cannot now be identified."
Visiting the Confederate Cemetery and Memorial
The Confederate Cemetery and Memorial can be seen at any time
The grounds are open from dawn to dusk
There is no charge to visit the Confederate Cemetery and Memorial.
Alton in the Civil War - Alton Prison
Focus on the Civil War era with records on the Confederate prisoners who died at the prison.
Explore the community of Alton area.
