[2] The graves at Knoxville National Cemetery are arranged in a circular pattern, with each burial section separated by walkways.

The burial sections each form one quarter of the circle, with the headstones converging toward the middle, where there is a flagpole and cloth canopy.

A marker containing several lines from the Theodore O'Hara poem, Bivouac of the Dead, faces the graves in the northeast corner.

Not to be outdone, the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic formed a commission, headed by former Union Army officer and Knoxville Journal publisher William Rule (1839–1928), to raise money to build a monument of greater size at Knoxville National Cemetery.

[1] Undaunted, the GAR commissioners planned immediate reconstruction, using federal funds secured by Congressman Henry R. Gibson.

[2] The monument, built of locally quarried marble, represents a medieval fortress, with stained glass windows and an inner room and staircase.