THE OFFICERS Of the Home are sick or disabled soldiers of the late war. Service was held here to the profound satisfaction of the sick and wounded, and it was a delightful little meeting, one that I shall ever remember.

The men who were able to walk gathered in the beautiful and spacious reading-room, adorned with flower-plants, and decorated with pictures. THE HOSPITAL Was visited in the afternoon at 3 o'clock. One visitor noted the inhabitants and the atmosphere of the home when visiting in 1878: Beyond the gentle hills and headstones and over the horizon, you might glimpse a large old brick soldiers' home building which was built to house disabled Union veterans from the Civil War. Except for the sounds of birds, there is a solemn quiet. The more than 100 acres of cemetery landscape is bathed with sunshine today, as there are few trees to shade visitors and mourners.

Upon entering Dayton National Cemetery, the hilly landscape is dotted with uniform marble headstones, all in neat rows with the Dayton Soldiers Memorial standing tall and proud in the center. On the pedestal are the words 'To our fallen Comrades' and 'These were honorable men in their generation.'…'¹ It was unveiled on the 12th of September, 1887, by the President of the United States, with grand ceremonies and in the presence of 25,000 people. 'Their comrades, officers and men have erected there a beautiful monument of Peru white marble, fifty feet high, and surmounted with a splendid figure of a private soldier.

More than 3000 of the disabled veterans who were residents of the Central Home since its establishment have died and been buried with military honors in the grove west of the Hospital, which had been tastefully laid out for a cemetery. This lesson is part of the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program.

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