History of Antietam National Cemetery (page 12)

in trust for all the States that should participate as therein mentioned, and that the same should be devoted in perpetuity for the purpose of the burial and final resting place of the remains of the soldiers who fell at the battle of Antietam, or at other points north of the Potomac river, during the invasion of Lee, in the summer and fall of the year 1862, or who died thereafter in consequence of wounds received in said battles, or during said invasion; and that the grounds and property of said Cemetery should be forever free from the levy of any State, county or municipal taxes, and that the corporation thus formed should be released and exempted from the payment of any tax or taxes whatever that might be imposed by the then existing laws at the time of the passage of the Act. Strict provisions were also incorporated to prevent the mutilation or defacement of the tombstones and monuments, or the destruction or spoliation of the trees or shrubbery contained in the enclosure.

Under the liberal provisions of this generous charter the trustees, upon their organization, proceeded at once actively and energetically to the discharge of the sacred duties which devolved upon them, by making the necessary preparations for the enclosure in a suitable manner, the grading of the same preliminary to the removal of the dead, and the collection and arrangement of all the materials necessary thereto. To this end the Secretary was instructed to advertise for proposals and receive bids for the erection of a substantial stone wall around the grounds, and the President was requested to furnish all information as to the dimensions and materials to be used in building it. This was accordingly done, and a meeting of the Trustees was called for the purpose of examining and deciding upon any propositions which might be submitted, of which there were three, ranging in different amounts. But the funds at this period at the command of the Trustees being limited, and there being no regular plan for building the wall or grading of the grounds, it was thought