Battleground National Cemetery, comprised of just one acre of land, is a military burial ground located along Georgia Avenue near Fort Stevens, in Washington, D.C. It is also one of the Nation?s smallest national cemeteries with two 6-pounder, smoothbore guns of Civil War vintage flanking the entrance. A flagpole surrounded by 14 regulation marble headstones marking the remains of the honored dead can be found in the center of the cemetery, while a marble rostrum built in 1914 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Stevens can be seen in the rear part of the property.

Battleground National Cemetery is aptly named since the cemetery grounds itself were part of the battlefield when Confederate troops attacked Washington, D.C. on July 11?12, 1864. Found near the entrance of the cemetery are monuments commemorating those units which fought at Fort Stevens ? 25th New York Volunteer Cavalry Monument, 98th Pennsylvania Volunteer Monument, 122nd New York Volunteer Monument, and 150th Ohio National Guard Monument. Within the cemetery grounds is a series of cast iron markers containing the words of a poem entitled "The Bivouac of the Dead," written by Theodore O'Hara in memory of those men who perished during the Mexican War.

The battle lasted two days and marked the defeat of General Jubal A. Early's Confederate campaign to launch an offensive action against the poorly defended nation's capital. The Battle of Fort Stevens resulted to a combined total casualty figure of over 900 killed or wounded during the conflict. Forty-one Union soldiers killed at the battle were buried at Battleground National Cemetery.

Established in 1864 shortly after the Battle of Fort Stevens, the cemetery is managed by the National Park Service, together with other components of Rock Creek Park. In 2005, the DC Preservation League listed the cemetery as one of the most endangered historic sites in Washington, D.C.