The nation's oldest Civil War memorial, which had sat deteriorating in Louisville's Cave Hill National Cemetery for more than 140 years, will be moved permanently to a Louisville museum to protect it.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has decided to house the monument at the Frazier International History Museum.

The monument commemorates the 13 soldiers of the 32nd Indiana Infantry who died in the Battle of Rowlett's Station near Munfordville. Most of the remains were eventually moved to Cave Hill in 1867, and the Bloedner Monument, carved by a fellow soldier, was moved there too.

The monument was removed from the cemetery last December and professionally conserved to stop further damage.

A new monument with an interpretive sign will be placed at Cave Hill next year.