Moberly, Missouri’s Oakland Cemetery features monuments of the Civil War. This war that lasted from 1861-1865, was between the Union (the northern United States) and the Confederates (the southern United States). This was the deadliest of all American wars, with about 620,000 people killed. Many people were unaccounted for, and it has been argued that casualty number could be almost 200,000 higher.

The first limestone monument, dedicated in 1901, is a that of a Confederate soldier and it was intentionally placed facing south. Eight small tombstones mark the confederate soldiers that are buried beside this monument included seven male soldiers and one woman. Throughout the cemetery are small, weathered stone tombstones from dating back as far as the last century. The second limestone monument, dedicated one year later, is of a Union soldier and was placed facing the Confederate statue about 50 yards away. A third statue of President Abraham Lincoln was being sculpted out of marble in Italy. In 1914, WWI broke out in Europe and the statue’s delivery was delayed. It was officially dedicated in 1915 and placed in the center of the two statues, which represent opposing sides of the Civil War.