National Cemetery Administration

Visitation Hours: Open daily from dawn to dusk.

Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays except Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Fort Harrison National Cemetery is closed to new interments. The only interments that are being accepted are subsequent interments for veterans or eligible family members in an existing gravesite. Periodically however, burial space may become available due to a canceled reservation or when a disinterment has been completed. When either of these two scenarios occurs, the gravesite is made available to another eligible veteran on a first-come, first-served basis. Since there is no way to know in advance when a gravesite may become available, please contact the cemetery at the time of need to inquire whether space is available.

Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.

A Veteran's spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.

Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, or were eligible for retired pay, may also be eligible for burial.

» Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery

Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.

For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule.

Cemetery Contact Information
Hampton National Cemetery manages this cemetery. Staff is available at Ft. Harrison National Cemetery for local assistance and can be reached at 804-795-2031. Otherwise, you may also contact Hampton National Cemetery at:
Phone: 757-723-7104
Fax: 757-723-0027

Military Funeral Honors
U.S. Air Force: 800-325-4986
U.S. Army: 804-734-6606
U.S. Coast Guard: 757-398-6390
U.S. Marine Corps: 866-826-3628
U.S. Navy: 866-203-7791

For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.

Our cemetery floral/grounds policy exists only to reflect the honor and respect we hold for our Nation's Veterans, by preserving the dignity and solemnity of their final resting place.

Fresh cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time. Artificial flowers are allowed from December 1st - March 1st and five days before and after Memorial Day. Floral containers are provided by the cemetery for public use for all fresh cut and artificial flowers.

Fresh cut or artificial floral arrangements taller than the headstone/marker must be laid on top of the grave, never affixed to or exceed the height of the headstone/marker and will be removed and disposed of when they become unsightly. Floral stands are not permitted at any time.

The cemetery will remove unsightly fresh cut and artificial floral arrangements on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.

Floral items or seasonable adornments cannot be secured to headstones or markers or exceed height of the headstone/marker at any time of the year. Unauthorized items will be removed by cemetery personnel and discarded.

Funeral arrangements may include 1 casket spray and up to 3 floral pieces accompanying the casket or urn at the time of the burial will be placed on the completed grave. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.

Potted plants may be placed on the grave 5 days before and 5 days after Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Hanukkah and Christmas.

Winter seasonal adornments are permitted on graves from December through January. Seasonal wreaths/grave blankets must be no larger than 2 feet by 3 feet. Cemetery will remove and dispose all seasonal items on last Friday in January.

Cemetery is not responsible for floral or seasonal arrangements after they have been placed on gravesites. Flowers are placed at your own risk and will not be replaced by the cemetery if damaged, lost, or stolen. Deer and other wildlife may eat the fresh flowers and arrangements.

To preserve the dignity and appearance of the cemetery, the following items are prohibited: Balloons, pinwheels, wind chimes, lights, statues, stuffed animals, alcoholic products, offensive items, permanent in-ground planting/pots, non-government supplied floral containers or other similar items inconsistent with the cemetery setting.

To maintain a safe environment for visitors and staff the following items are also prohibited: Breakable items of any kind, such as vigil lights, glass vases, decorative glass/plastic items, candles, explosives, weapons of any kind, ammunition, any objects that could become projectiles when caught in ground maintenance equipment such as rocks, coins or small durable objects. (While placement of rocks or coins on gravesite may reflect religious or military traditions, please remove from headstone or grave after personal visitation.)

Individual gravesite flag, no larger than 8" by 12", are permitted on graves placed by family and friends for private memorialization. The following military and military-related service flags are allowed: United States, Armed Services of the U.S (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public Health Service, American Merchant Marines, Army & Air National Guards, Prisoners of War/Missing in Action, Medal of Honor and Foreign Allies pertaining to the decedent. Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) gravesite flags are not permitted. Flags will be removed and retired when needed for grounds maintenance or when become unserviceable IAW Title 4 U.S.C. Chapter 1.

In order to preserve the dignity and honor of our Veteran's final resting place, please observe the following rules of behavior while visiting the cemetery grounds:

• Pets are not allowed on the cemetery grounds at any time. Service Animals are allowed.
• No soliciting.
• Recreational activities.
• Picnicking.
• Public gatherings of a partisan nature are prohibited, no unauthorized gatherings are permitted.
• Littering is not allowed, please use receptacles provided.
• Smoking is allowed in designated areas only.
• No cutting, digging or otherwise damaging the landscape.
• Boisterous activity, including the playing of loud music, is prohibited.
• Altering a headstone in any manner is prohibited. (i.e., marking, sitting on, placing objects upon, attaching photographs or keepsakes to, etc.)

These rules are covered by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 38 C.F.R. §1.218. All items placed on gravesites become the property of the US Government and will be disposed of under federal regulations.

Thank you in advance for respecting and observing our Floral/Grounds Policy. We want to ensure our Veterans and their eligible dependents have an honorable landscape to memorialize their final resting place in our National Shrine.

Fort Harrison National Cemetery is located in Henrico County, VA, seven miles south of Richmond. It is a small cemetery of 1.6 acres, which owes its existence to circumstances of the Civil War. After the Battle of Cold Harbor in the summer of 1864, which secured the Union's northern front during its Richmond campaign, General Ulysses S. Grant marched southeast in an effort to cut off the Confederate troops. To prevent General Robert E. Lee from shifting troops around Richmond, the Union made a surprise attack on Fort Harrison, a strategic Confederate stronghold overlooking the James River. Union soldiers captured it on September 29, 1864. Confederate attempts to retake Fort Harrison the next day were unsuccessful and the fort remained under Union control until the evacuation of Richmond in April 1865. During this period, it was temporarily renamed Fort Burnham in honor of Union General Hiram Burnham, who was killed at Chapin's Farm during the federal attack on Fort Harrison.

At the end of the war, a site near Fort Harrison was appropriated for use as a cemetery. This national cemetery contains the original interments of Union soldiers who died on the battlefields of Forts Harrison, and Gilmer, and from some 40 locations within a five-mile area surrounding the cemetery. The number of unknown dead at Fort Harrison far exceeds the known dead. As of July 1876, 239 of 814 interments were known, while 575 were unknown, including four Confederate prisoners of war.

The cemetery remains a picturesque walled site with a standard, Victorian stone lodge. Fort Harrison National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 1995.