Lebanon National Cemetery is located on the outskirts of the community of Lebanon in Marion County, Ky. In September 1861, Colonel John M. Harlan from Springfield, Ill., established Camp Crittenden at Lebanon and began recruiting the 10th Kentucky Infantry regiment. From November of that year, Lebanon had become the primary staging center for General George H. Thomas’ Mill Spring camp. The town remained an important Union supply depot during the Civil War, as well as a major center for Union hospitals. Even after the fighting moved south during the last two years of the war, at least one military hospital continued to operate in town. During the same period, Lebanon was a major recruiting camp for "colored troops." Over 2,053 men were recruited, the overwhelming majority of whom had been slaves in the region. Official records indicate the U.S. government first obtained the land for the cemetery in 1862, but it was not designated a national cemetery until 1867. The original interments were the scattered remains of Union soldiers from Lebanon and the surrounding countryside. There were 865 total original interments including 281 unknowns. The original triangular tract is bounded by a stonewall and it contains an 1870s lodge occupied by the superintendent and the remains of a rostrum. In 1984, a donation of 3.4 acres brought the cemetery to 5.8 acres. An additional donation of 9 acres brought the cemetery to its current size. The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.