The Republican press hailed the choice of Arlington. Days after resigning from the U.S. Army on April 20, 1861, to take command of Virginian forces. Edwin M. Stanton, June 15, 1864. Both sides agreed on a price of $150,000, the property's fair market value. The Scandalous History of Arlington National Cemetery They established a tidy village of tents, stoked fires for breakfast and scuttled over the mansion's broad portico with telegrams from the War Office. As the Army had occupied Arlington since 1861 and the U.S. Government had legally purchased the property at public auction in January 1864, it emerged as a logical choice. Loyalist newspapers applauded the birth of Arlington National Cemetery, one of 13 new graveyards created specifically for those dying in the Civil War. To the west of Arlington House, tall grass and low native plants led down a slope into a natural area of close-growing trees the Custises called "the Grove. Meigs cast about for a new graveyard to accommodate the rising tide of bodies. Memorial Bridge with the Arlington National Cemetery and Arlington House in the background Arlington Memorial Bridge from Washington, D.C. Why Preserve the Reconciliation Monument in Arlington Cemetery Shot in the head during the Battle of the Second Wilderness, Packard had miraculously survived his journey from the Virginia front to Washington's Columbian College Hospital, only to die there. The building is 500 feet (150m) west of Arlington House. Washington D.C: US Department of the Interior, 1985. [1] Herbert Mitgang, ed. Arlington, VA, Box 7, NM-81, Entry 576. The most prominent features of the house are the 8 massive columns of the portico, each 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter. Settling in Lexington, Virginia, Lee took over as president of Washington College, a struggling little school deep in the Shenandoah Valley, and encouraged old comrades to work for peace. Emily Goodman Updated: May 24, 2023 Arlington National Cemetery honors those who have fought for our country's freedom and is also steeped in a treasure trove of rich history. On June 17, the National Republican reported: The 'powers that be' have been induced to appropriate two hundred acres, immediately around the house of General Lee, on Arlington Heights, for the burial of soldiers dying in the army hospitals of this city. If Lee and other Confederates escaped punishment because of pardons or paroles, Meigs hoped that Congress would at least banish them from American soil. The structure was dedicated on May 15, 1920, and since then every U.S. president has visited the amphitheatre during his tenure. Arlington National Cemetery: Tomb of the Unknowns. The four burials took place in Section 27 (pictured), the oldest section of the cemetery: Private William Henry Christman, 67th Pennsylvania Infantry: first military service member interred at Arlington . The cemetery conducts between 27 and 30 funerals every weekday. In his original proposal to Secretary Stanton, Meigs specified: I have visited and inspected the grounds now used as a Cemetery upon the Arlington Estate. The project will repair the earthquake-damaged foundation, and add new interior lighting and a modern climate-control system. To relieve the desperate situation, the Army started burying soldiers along the northern border of the Arlington estate, approximately one half mile from the mansion-headquarters, in May of 1864. The last autumn of the war produced thousands of new casualties, including Lt. John Rodgers Meigs, one of the quartermaster's four sons. Guide to Visiting Arlington National Cemetery | washington.org ANC is open daily from 8am-5pm. Describing the hospitals, Washington journalist Noah Brooks wrote: Maimed and wounded. Their graves, anchoring Row 1, Section 1 of the cemetery, far outnumbered those of any Lee relatives on the estate. [24] Meigs ordered that additional burials commence immediately on the grounds of Arlington House in mid-June. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In May 1864, one month prior to its establishment as a national cemetery, the first military burials took place at Arlington National Cemetery. [8] Edwin M. Stanton to Quartermaster Gen. Montgomery Meigs, June 15, 1864. A few weeks later, the petition died quietly in committee, attended by no debate and scant notice. But he encouraged the lawyer to research the case quietly and to coordinate his efforts with Francis L. Smith, Lee's trusted legal adviser in Alexandria. [14] Although unwilling to leave Arlington House, Mary Custis Lee believed her estate would soon be occupied by Union Army soldiers and left to stay with relatives on May 14, after being warned by her young cousin William Orton Williams, who was then serving as aide to General Winfield Scott. Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army Montgomery C. Meigs proposed using 200 acres (81ha) of the Arlington Estate as a cemetery. He became caught in a three-hour . [51] At a public hearing on July 11, 2013, the National Capital Planning Commission approved the site and building plans for the project. Civil War Arlington National Cemetery was owned by General Lee and confiscated for back taxes B By Bethaney Phillips Updated on Apr 21, 2023 3 minute read SUMMARY Arlington National Cemetery is a well-known tourist spot in which soldiers and civilians alike can pay their respects. Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh. In correspondence, her husband referred to the place as "our dear home," the spot "where my attachments are more strongly placed than at any other place in the world." On July 16, 1862, the United States Congress passed legislation authorizing the purchase of land for national cemeteries for military dead. She died in Lexington five months later, at age 65. Working in Scott's office, he had no doubt heard about the Union Army's plans for seizing Arlington, which accounts for his sudden appearance there. Mary Lee, stuck in Richmond because of the fighting and her deteriorating health, dispatched her cousin Philip R. Fendall to pay the bill. On March 4, 1925, the 68th United States Congress enacted Public Resolution 74, which authorized the restoration of the Lee Mansion in the Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. On April 12, 1861, Confederate troops had fired on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, prompting a number of states from the Deep South to join in rebellion. Arlington National Cemetery: Facts | HISTORY The surrounding hills were soon lumpy with breastworks, and massive oaks were felled to clear a line of fire for artillery. The Washington. The cemetery is situated directly across the Potomac . While the Lees worked to reclaim Arlington, Meigs urged Edwin Stanton in early 1866 to make sure the government had sound title to the cemetery. The Fields of the Dead, with their seemingly endless lines of plain stones, follow a pattern adopted in 1872 for use in all national cemeteries. ", The undefended estate changed hands without a whimper. Arlington Memorial Bridge History - U.S. National Park Service Upon George Washington Parke Custis's death in 1857, he left Arlington Estate to Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee for her lifetime when it would then go to her eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee. Mary Lee felt a growing outrage. As fighting intensified, Washington hospitalsin many cases, converted churches, public halls, or governmental buildingswere flooded with wounded soldiers, brought up the Potomac from battlefields in Virginia and elsewhere.[1]. The house has two kitchens, a summer and a winter. For 30 years, Arlington House was home to the Lees. Originally built to be a living memorial to George Washington, in 1864 the grounds were taken over by the federal government to serve as a burial site for Civil . The Old Post Chapel at Fort Myer before a service at Arlington National Author of. "Its evil would be liable to fall not only upon disloyal but upon the most loyal citizens. They shared this home with Mary's parents. In 1831 Lee married Custiss only daughter, Mary Ann Randolph, who inherited the Arlington estate upon her fathers death in 1857. Rather than disinter the more than 16,000 people buried at Arlington, however, the U.S. Congress purchased the land the following year for $150,000. As the war had heated up in June 1862, Congress passed a law that empowered commissioners to assess and collect taxes on real estate in "insurrectionary districts." Freedmans Village, a community for more than 1,000 freed slaves, was constructed on part of the property in 1863 and continued to operate until 1890, when the land was rededicated as a military installation. There, a contingent of. / 38.868649; -77.066259. [12] Meigs got his wish and the Cemetery became a permanent feature at Arlington. He died as president of Washington College in 1870. Terms of Use [10] They joined some 15,000 other Civil War casualties who had already been laid to rest at Arlington. On June 15, 1864, the Arlington House property and 200 acres of surrounding land were designated as a military cemetery as Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs wanted to ensure that Lee could not return to the site. Appropriating the homestead was perfectly in keeping with the views of Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, Gen. William T. Sherman and Montgomery Meigs, all of whom believed in waging total war to bring the rebellion to a speedy conclusion. Avoiding her inflammatory suggestion that Arlington be cleared of graves, he asked instead for an admission that the property had been taken unlawfully and requested compensation for it. On December 4, 1882, Associate Justice Samuel Freeman Miller, a Kentucky native appointed by President Lincoln, wrote for the 5 to 4 majority, holding that the 1864 tax sale had been unconstitutional and was therefore invalid. The house has two kitchens, a summer and a winter. He was. [7] Memorandum, Quartermaster Gen. Montgomery Meigs, April 12, 1873. [49][50] The final EA stated that, of the 905 trees to be removed, 771 trees were healthy native trees that had diameters between 6 and 41 inches. They spent much of their married life traveling between United States Army duty stations and Arlington, where six of their seven children were born. "The prospect does not look promising," he reported to Mary. As soon as U.S. Attorney General Charles Devens heard about the suit, he asked that the case be shifted to federal court, where he felt the government would get a fairer hearing. His body was committed to the earth with no flags flying, no bugles playing and no family or chaplain to see him off. They presented the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross to the deceased before interment. Arlington National Cemetery | Washington DC "I am very anxious about you," he had written her on April 26. The grounds are undulating, handsomely adorned, and in very respect admirably fitted for the sacred purpose to which they have been dedicated. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Robert E. Lee died in 1870. The rifles barked their last salute, "Taps" sounded over the tawny hills and soldiers eased Montgomery C. Meigs into the ground at the heart of the cemetery he created. He was returned with solemn honors to Washington, where Lincoln, Stanton and other dignitaries joined his father for the funeral and burial in Georgetown. 18 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting Arlington National Cemetery Email . The bridge, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at a cost . [44] The property transfer, which involved 12 acres (4.9ha) of NPS land, was intended to enable the Cemetery to increase its space for burials. [3] Meanwhile, Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs set about the task of identifying an appropriate place for a new, official cemetery. National Museum of the United States Army In 1862 the government enacted legislation to collect property taxes (which property owners were required to pay in person) on lands held by the Confederacy. [7], Custis began constructing Arlington House on his land, hiring George Hadfield as architect, who constructed a mansion exhibiting the first example of Greek Revival architecture in America. To his elder brother Smith Lee, who had served as an officer in the Confederate navy, the general admitted that he wanted to "regain the possession of A." The people of the entire nation will one day, not very far distant, heartily thank the initiators of this movement. Many original residents of Freedmen's Village stayed on after the war, raising children and grandchildren in the little houses the Army had built for them. National Archives, RG 92: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Records relating to functions: Cemeterial, 1829-1929. When the sun rose that morning, the place was teeming with men in blue. 22101, Download the official NPS app before your next visit, Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial. The north and south wings were completed in 1804. [58] The Park Service held a rededication ceremony after it had completed the renovation and returned the furnishings to the House. In July 1877, the matter landed in the lap of Judge Robert W. Hughes of the U.S. 700 George Washington Memorial Parkway Treason charges were filed against him but quietly dropped, almost certainly because his former adversary, Grant, interceded on Lee's behalf with President Andrew Johnson. [33] The War Department then began to restore Arlington House, and the Department of the Army continues to manage over half of the original plantation's 1,100 acres (450ha), as Arlington National Cemetery. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Jim Webb penned an op-ed Friday in the Wall Street Journal urging lawmakers to reconsider plans to . [41] In 1831, Selina married Thornton Gray, a fellow Arlington slave, and eventually had eight children who grew up at Arlington. [8] Custis intended the mansion to serve as a living memorial to George Washington and a place for his collection of George Washington artifacts. Asserting ownership of the property, Lee asked the Circuit Court of Alexandria, Virginia, to evict all trespassers occupying it as a result of the 1864 auction. This approach negated Lee's role and presence at Arlington. She made an eerily accurate prediction: "I fear that this will be the scene of conflict & my beautiful home endeared by a thousand associations may become a field of carnage.". The name Arlington was chosen to reflect the presence of the Arlington House.[32]. A jury found in favor of Custis Lee,[27] leading to extensive appeals by both parties. If the sons of such adversaries could bury past arguments, perhaps there was hope for national reunion. The court, by a 54 majority, found that the estate had been "illegally confiscated" in 1864 and ordered it returned. National Park Service officials said they are likely to close Arlington House and the slave quarters for several months in 2016, during which most of the work will be done. By the end of 1864, some 40 officers' graves had joined his. How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be - Smithsonian Magazine Its design included elements similar to those of George Washington's house at Mount Vernon. Meigs added others as soon as conditions allowed. She lingered for several days, sitting for hours in her favorite roost, an arbor south of the mansion. While the petition languished for months in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Meigs worried that it would "interfere with the United States' tenure of this National Cemeterya result to be avoided by all just means." [56], From 2007 through 2013, Arlington House underwent its first renovation since 1925. Meigs stayed on, too, serving as quartermaster general for two decades, shaping the look of the cemetery. [8] The mansion was built using materials on site, though the building was interrupted by the War of 1812, and material shortages after the British burned the American capital city. Due to the growing importance of the cemetery as well as the much larger crowds attending Memorial Day observances, Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs (who was Quartermaster General of the United States Army) decided a formal meeting space at the cemetery was needed. According to the certificate of sale, Arlington's new owner intended to reserve the property "for Government use, for war, military, charitable and educational purposes.". Their argument turned upon the legality of the 1864 tax sale. The Memorial Display room, between the amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknowns, . [42] While Selina is credited with saving the heirlooms and treasures of Arlington House, her children later on are credited with helping to restore the home as well as provide accurate details about the layout of the home, personal stories of the Lee family, and help preservationists in the early twentieth century. Meigs joined his family in January 1892, age 75, after a brief bout with the flu. [55] In 2009, the Park Service published reports that described the history of the slave quarters and the findings of the excavations, as well as proposals for the restoration of the quarters. Within weeks, Mary Lee petitioned Congress to examine the federal claim to Arlington and estimate the costs of removing the bodies buried there. Selina Norris Gray, the daughter of Leonard and Sally Norris, was a second-generation Arlington slave. The mansion was built on the orders of George Washington Parke Custis, the step-grandson of George Washington and grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. A farmer newly recruited into the Army, Christman never knew a day of combat. The younger Custis decided to build his home on the property in 1802 following the death of Martha Washington and three years after the death of George Washington. Mary Lee died in 1873, having visited the house only one more time, a few months before her death. "[11] About 60 feet (18m) west of the flower garden, "the Grove" contained tall elm and oak trees which formed a canopy. Font Size: A former Democratic Virginia senator made a plea to preserve the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, arguing that from the time it was first commissioned, it was a symbol of national healing. The auction took place on January 11, 1864, a day so cold that blocks of ice stopped boat traffic on the Potomac. "The impolicy of such a provision of law is as obvious to me as its unconstitutionality," Hughes wrote. The Arlington National Cemetery is 639 ac (259 ha) in size and sits across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. If possible, his wife felt an even stronger attachment to the property. Congress quickly appropriated the funds. Arlington National Cemetery was, initially, a big middle finger to Robert E. Lee. Lee (Smith Lee) in a recent visit to Arlington, remarked to the Superintendent, that the house could still be made a pleasant residence, by fencing off the Cemetery, and removing the officers buried around the garden.[9]. The government appealed the verdict to the Supreme Courtwhich ruled for Lee again. But then it became the prize in a legal and bureaucratic battle that would continue long after the guns fell silent at Appomattox in 1865. Arlington National Cemetery - Home The Custis family extensively developed the Arlington estate. Like others who would join him at Arlington, he was felled by disease; he died of peritonitis in Washington's Lincoln General Hospital on May 11. Original at National Archives, Records of the War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General, National Cemeterial Files. It could abandon an Army fort on the grounds, roust the residents of Freedmen's Village, disinter almost 20,000 graves and vacate the property. An informal flower garden was planted beneath the trees and maintained by the Custis daughters before 1853.[12]. United States of America. [12] After Robert E. Lee and his wife died in the early 1870s, their oldest son, Custis Lee, brought suit against the U.S. Government in attempt to regain title to the estate. "The Quartermaster Corps of the Army designed and constructed this chapel at Fort Myer and also built the new entrance gateway to the National Cemetery, completed in 1935. . With muffled drums marking time and guidons snapping in the chill wind, the funeral procession passed Mary Lee's garden and came to a halt on Meigs Drive. As was his habit, Meigs included his name on the arch; it was chiseled into the entrance column and lettered in gold. ", By this time, he almost certainly knew that Arlington would be lost. [25], In April 1874, Robert E. Lee and Mary Custis Lee's eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, filed suit against the United States government in a Virginia circuit court to regain the property. The land had been consecrated by the remains buried there and could not be given back to the Lees, he insisted, striking a refrain he would repeat in the years ahead. Too upset at its condition, she refused to enter and left after just a few moments. Arlington National Cemetery--Civil War Era National Cemeteries: A [16][21], During the Civil War, Union Army troops cut down many of the trees on the Arlington estate, especially those to the north and east of Arlington House in and near Fort Whipple, which was north of the house and Arlington Springs near the Potomac River. It was a disaster for Mary Lee, but the debate helped to elevate Arlington's status: no longer a potter's field created in the desperation of wartime, the cemetery was becoming something far grander, a place senators referred to as hallowed ground, a shrine for "the sacred dead," "the patriot dead," "the heroic dead" and "patriotic graves.". He was compensated $150,000 in exchange for the property, thereby ending any legal claim the Lees had on Arlington. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, who commanded the garrison at Arlington House and took over the grounds on June 15, 1864, for use as a military . Meanwhile, Northern newspapers such as the New York Daily Tribune trained their big guns on himlabeling him a traitor for resigning his colonel's commission in the Union Army to go south "in the footsteps of Benedict Arnold! [24] When Union officers bivouacked in the mansion complained and had the burials temporarily stopped, Meigs countermanded their orders and had another 44 dead officers buried along the southern and eastern sides of the main flower garden within a month. The same day, Stanton approved Meigs recommendation and instructed that part of the Arlington Estate, not exceeding two hundred acres be surveyed and laid out for the national cemetery.[4]. The 30-month project is intended to restore the mansion, buildings, and grounds to the way they looked in 1860. Published by Walker & Company. General correspondence and reports relating to national and post cemeteries (Cemetery file), 1865-c. 1914. [14] In May 1864, Union forces suffered large numbers of dead in the Battle of the Wilderness. Orton Williams was not only Mary Lee's cousin and a suitor of her daughter Agnes but also private secretary to General in Chief Winfield Scott of the Union Army. There being more than a thousand interments yet to be made, the views of the Quartermaster General can now be carried out., To underscore the urgency and importance of burying the dead close to the house, the Assistant Quartermaster closed his letter by relaying the following story: A brother of Genl. Custis Lee might have given up then and there if not for signs that the hard feelings between North and South were beginning to soften. [16][23] Meigs decided that a large number of burials should occur close to Arlington House to render it unlivable. The structure is mostly built of Imperial Danby marble from Vermont. Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial One afternoon in May 1861, a young Union Army officer went rushing into the mansion that commanded the hills across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. "You must pack up all you value immediately and send it off in the morning," Lt. Orton Williams told Mary Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee, who was away mobilizing Virginia's military forces as the country hurtled toward the bloodiest war in its history. Arlington National Cemetery - Background, Graves & Location - HISTORY His widow continued to obsess over the loss of her home. If the taxes were not paid in person, commissioners were authorized to sell the land. Omissions? "No man who ever took the oath to support the Constitution as an officer of our army or navyshould escape without loss of all his goods & civil rights & expatriation," Meigs wrote to his father. 2791-2792)", "Finding of No Significant Impact Millennium Project, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia", "Appendix J: Comments on Revised Millennium EA: Public Comment Period 12 March 2013 to 12 April 2013", "Army Corps says go ahead with Arlington cemetery expansion", "Commission Action: Millennium Project, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA (NCPC File Number 7457)", "Executive Director's Recommendation: Commission Meeting: July 11, 2013: Millennium Project, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA (NCPC File Number 7457)", "Dig May Tell Story Of Arlington Slaves: A Project To Restore The Historic Mansion In Virginia Could Uncover Artifacts", "Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial: North Dependency: Historic Structure Report", "Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial: South Dependency: Historic Structure Report", "Arlington House Revisited: Prominent landmark to undergo renovations as a means to preserve its rich history", "Furniture Exhibit Unveiled at Friendship Hill NHS", "Arlington House Furnishings at Friendship Hill", "Historic Arlington House Damaged in Earthquake", "Robert E. Lee's Arlington Mansion Gets $12 Million Donation From David Rubenstein", "Cultural Landscape Report: History: Volume 1", Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial official Web site, Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial at Google Cultural Institute, "Virtual Museum Exhibit: Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial", PBS Interview with Matt Penrod, Education Programs Manager at Arlington House, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arlington_House,_The_Robert_E._Lee_Memorial&oldid=1169241178, This page was last edited on 7 August 2023, at 23:14.
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