Mercersburg - Zion Union Cemetery

Our tour begins in Mercersburg, PA.  Located on Zion Union Lane, the Zion Union Cemetery is one of several African-American sites within the town.  It is the largest private burial site of soldiers from the famous 54th Massachusetts who fought in the Civil War.   


The Zion Union Cemetery, located in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, is the final resting place of at least thirty-eight African-American Civil War veterans.  The inspiring story of this community's heroic response to answer President Abraham Lincoln's call to arms can instruct all citizens about the importance of freedom and the costs that it sometimes takes to preserve it.  The African-American men and women of the Mercersburg area, who numbered approximately four hundred and twenty in the 1860 census, had already displayed their bravery and sacrifice in establishing this area as a stop on the Underground Railroad prior to the war; now the men had an opportunity to fight for their country and help to bring a halt to slavery.  Eventually eighty-eight men from this community served, many of them in the famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African-American regiment formed in the north.


Other Information
* The Mercersburg Historical Architectural Review Board produced a brochure of famous sites one can visit while in town.  It is extremely informative and provides some extensive historical information on the cemetery. 

* The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) placed a marker at the location of the cemetery in November 2009.  The text reads: In 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment was among the first Civil War combat units open to African Americans.  Troops from Pennsylvania made up more than 20 percent of the acclaimed unit.  Mercersburg was second only to Philadelphia in mustering volunteers from the Commonwealth.  The valor shown by the regiment improved regard for Black soldiers and helped spur recruiting.  Of 38 USCT Civil War veterans buried here, 13 served in the 54th Mass.


* A list of the names of those soldiers who are buried at the cemetery can be found here.