Camp Butler National Cemetery
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Camp Butler National Cemetery
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| Location | 5063 Camp Butler Rd, Clear Lake Township, Sangamon County, near Springfield, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 39°50′02″N 89°33′27″W / 39.8338°N 89.5575°WCoordinates: 39°50′02″N 89°33′27″W / 39.8338°N 89.5575°W |
| Area | 39.2 acres (15.9 ha) |
| Built | 1865 |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements |
| MPS | Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS |
| NRHP reference # | 97000891 |
| Added to NRHP | August 15, 1997 |
Camp Butler National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located a few miles northeast of Springfield and a few miles southwest of Riverton, a small town nearby to Springfield, in Sangamon County, Illinois. It was named for Illinois State Treasurer at the time of its establishment, William Butler. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it occupies approximately 53 acres (21 ha), and is the site of 19,824 interments as of the end of 2005. Camp Butler National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
During the Civil War, Camp Butler was the second largest military training camp in Illinois, second only to Camp Douglas in Chicago. After President Lincoln's call for troops in April, 1861, the U.S. War Department sent then Brigadier-General William T. Sherman to Springfield, Illinois to meet with Governor Richard Yates for the purpose of selecting a suitable site for a training facility.
Since Governor Yates was unfamiliar with the land around Springfield, the state capital of Illinois, he enlisted the aid of then-State Treasurer William Butler, who along with Oziah M. Hatch, Secretary of State of Illinois, took a carriage ride with William T. Sherman to examine land about 5 and 1/2 miles northeast of downtown Springfield. An area near Riverton, Illinois (then known as "Jimtown", short for Jamestown) was selected, and named in honor of William Butler. A Union training facility was officially established there on August 2, 1861. By the war's end, over 200,000 Union troops would pass through Camp Butler.
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