Adjacent to Fort Mott, it is governed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and administered by the Washington Crossing National Cemetery.

Originally purchased by the federal government to build a battery to protect the port of Philadelphia, the land became a cemetery by 1863 for Confederate prisoners of war who died while in captivity at Fort Delaware.

One hundred and thirty five Union soldiers who died while serving as guards at the prison camp are also buried here.

Confederate prisoners interred at the cemetery totaled 2,436 and all are in a common grave as can still be seen as a huge pit in the north western corner of the site near the monument.

It was officially made a National Cemetery on October 3, 1875, by request of Virginia Governor James L. Kemper, who criticized the poor maintenance of the Confederate grave sites.