Picking My Brain

Our first stop this trip was to Arlington National Cemetery. The day was great, just warm enough that we didn’t need to wear jackets, but just cool enough that it was comfortable to be doing extensive walking around outside. Here’s the story of how Arlington came to be, plus some interesting facts about Arlington today.

Arlington was established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Robert E. Lee’s wife Mary Anna Custis Lee, a descendant of Martha Washington. The mansion located on the property, Arlington House, was built in 1802 as a memorial to George Washington by his adopted grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. Custis was Martha Washington’s grandson by her first marriage.

Custis and his wife, Mary Lee Fitzhugh, lived at Arlington for the rest of their lives and were buried together on the property. Their graves are on either side of a tree, marked off by impressive headstones and set apart by a wrought iron fence. Their only child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis married her childhood friend ans distant cousin, Robert E. Lee.

According to Custis’ will, Mary Anna was given the right to inhabit and control the estate for the rest of her life. The will also stated that upon her death, ownership of the estate would pass to her eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee. So despite him having lived there, Robert E. Lee never actually owned the estate. He instead acted as executor of the estate.

Lee and his wife lived at Arlington until 1861 when the state of Virginia ratified an alliance with the Confederacy and seceded from the Union. Lee was away serving in the military, and anticipated loosing the estate. He wrote to his wife and instructed her to leave for someplace safer.

Proving Lee’s suspicions correct, federal troops crossed the Potomac River and took up positions around Arlington. After the occupation, military installations were erected in several locations around the estate. The property was then confiscated by the federal government when property taxes brought against the estate were not paid in person by Mrs. Lee. Arlington was put up for public sale in 1864 and was bought by a tax commissioner for “government use, for war, military, charitable and educational purposes.”

Arlington National Cemetery was established by Brig. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, who commanded the garrison at Arlington House, when he appropriated the grounds June 15, 1864, for use as a military cemetery. His intention was to render the house uninhabitable should the Lee family ever attempt to return.

Traditionally, American military cemeteries developed from the duty of commanders on the frontier and in battle to care for their casualties. When Civil War casualties overflowed hospitals and burial grounds near D.C., Meigs proposed that 200 acres be taken for a cemetery. A stone and masonry burial vault in the rose garden, 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and containing the remains of 1,800 Bull Run casualties, was among the first monuments to Union dead erected under Meigs’ orders. By the end of the war, 16,000 graves were located on the Arlington grounds. Meigs himself was later buried within 100 yards of Arlington House with his wife, father and son.

Lee and his wife as title holder, ever attempted to publicly recover control of Arlington and never returned. They were buried at Washington University (later renamed Washington and Lee University) where Lee had served as president.

In 1870 Lee and Mary Anna’s son George Washington Custis Lee brought an action for ejectment in court, claiming that the land had been illegally confiscated and that according to his grandfather’s will, he was the legal owner. In 1882 the U.S. Supreme Court returned the property to George Washington Custis Lee, stating that it had been confiscated without due process.

In 1883, the Congress purchased the property from Lee for $150,000. It became a military reservation, and from then on continued as a military cemetery.

Funerals are currently held at Arlington every day of the week, regardless of the weather, excluding weekends. Approximately 25 funerals occur each day at Arlington. Current projections state that at that rate, the cemetery will be full by 2025.

In order to be buried at Arlington, there is certain criteria that must be met. That list is too long for me to list here, but you can read it here.

The Memorial Amphitheater (the photos above with Ben and myself) has hosted state funerals and Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. Ceremonies are also held for Easter. About 5,000 people attend these holiday ceremonies each year. The amphitheater was the result of a campaign by Ivory Kimball to construct a place to honor America’s soldiers. The cornerstone contained 15 items including a Bible and a copy of the Constitution. Interesting to probably nobody but me, Woodrow Wilson laid the cornerstone for the building in 1915. My Great-Uncle Woody (formally known as Woodrow Wilson Conley) is named after Woodrow Wilson and is buried at Arlington.

Well, I hope you’ve learned some interesting facts about Arlington. It’s a beautiful place and honors many great heroes. Next in the series will be a posting on The Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Take a look at the rest of my photos from Arlington in the meantime!