Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses, and as of 2014, had more than 7,000 interments. It is one of three national cemeteries in Kansas (the other two being Fort Leavenworth and Leavenworth).HistoryFort Scott was established in 1842, on what was known as Military Road, between Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. It was named for Lieutenant
General Winfield Scott. During the initial years, a small plot on the west side of the fort was used as a cemetery. In 1861, a new plot was purchased, and named Presbyterian Graveyard as it was maintained by the Presbyterian Church. During the American Civil War, it was used to inter soldiers who died in battles near in the area. The plot and an adjacent tract of land became Fort Scott National Cemetery on November 15, 1862. One of the twelve original United States National Cemeteries designated by Abraham Lincoln, it has the distinction of being listed as U.S. National Cemetery #1.At the end of the Civil War, the original fort cemetery interments were moved into the National Cemetery, as well, at the close of the Indian Wars, many frontier posts, such as Fort Lincoln, were abandoned and had their cemeteries transferred to Fort Scott.
