In 1867 land adjoining the City Cemetery was purchased for the Confederate Cemetery. Confederate dead were located on the battlefields and farms throughout the area and reinterred in this new cemetery. Major J. Horace Lacy, dubbed by the Yankees as the most dangerous rebel in the county, single handedly raised money for the completion of the cemetery. His fund raising drive provided monies for the brick wall, the iron gate and the monument in the midst of the graves.

Initially the soldiers' graves were marked with cedar posts. By the late 1890's these posts were decayed and there was no money for permanent markers. Mrs. J. N. Barney, a member of the Ladies Memorial Association, made a patriotic plea to the legislatures throughout the South to provide money for these permanent markers. Georgia became the first state to do so and all the other southern states followed their lead. On June 10, 1890 Confederate Generals and Soldiers came to honor the graves of the soldiers now permanently marked by stones.

Every Memorial Day the Ladies Memorial Association holds a ceremony at 10 a.m. to honor these fallen soldiers. Each grave is marked with a Confederate flag.

The Heritage Center has extensive records on the Ladies Memorial Association and their dedication to the care and maintenance of the Confederate Cemetery.