The national cemetery at Memphis, Tennessee, was established in 1867. The cemetery, then comprising an area of 32.62 acres, was at that time about seven miles northeast of the city of Memphis. The site for the cemetery was chosen by a board of officers consisting of Chaplain William R. Earnshaw, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel A.W. Wills, assistant quartermaster, and Brevet Major G.W. Marshall, assistant quartermaster, The first superintendent of the national cemetery at Memphis was John F. Carl, a discharged corporal of Company A, Fourth Regiment of Artillery, who was appointed on 6 August 1867. The 1869 report of Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas, Inspector of National Cemeteries, indicates that Superintendent Carl was attentive to his duties, and that he had the cemetery in good order.