SourceSource: Farmers Almanac, Vol 190, 2007
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Our National Cemetery started without the owners' consent
HISTORY REVEALED
Arlington National Cemetery is one of the most sacred pieces of land in America. Most people in the U S know about this historic place, and many make special trips to visit the cemetery(it receives over 4 million visitors a year). But what very few people know is that this very revered site, the final resting place for thousands of historical figures and heroes, began without the consent of the property owner. It was conceived out of spite, and to make sure the property owner would never return to his rightful home.
The centerpiece of Arlington is the antebellum mansion known as the Custis-Lee Mansion.
Construction was begun on this historic house in 1802, by Martha Washington's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. In 1804, Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh, and they lived at Arlington until her death in 1853 and his in 1857. The Custis' only child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, married her distant cousin, Robert E Lee in June 1831.
When Mary's father died, his will gave control of the property to her. Years later, when Mary died, the title passed to the oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee.
Mr and Mrs Robert E Lee enjoyed living at the 1100-acre estate overlooking our nation's capitol, but in April 1861, Virginia joined the Confederate States in their secession. Lee, being from Virginia, chose to fight for Virginia and the South.
In May, he wrote to his wife and asked her to leave the estate for safer quarters. Once abandoned, Arlington was occupied by the U S Army.
A year later: property taxes of $92.07 were due. A new law required taxes to be paid by the owner in person. Since neither Lees were in the area, this simply wasn't possible. When the taxes weren't paid, the government officially took the property at a public auction in January 1865.
AN ACT OF JEALOUSY
Several months earlier, however, Brig. Gen. Montgomery Meigs came up with a plan to ensure that the Lees would never return to their family home, Gen Meigs hatred and, some say, jealousy of General Lee was well known, and Meigs delighted in burying Union soldiers in Lee's front yard in May 1864. Next, Meigs excavated Mrs. Lee's rose garden to bury the remains of 1,800 Union soldiers killed at the battle of Bull Run in 1862. By the end of the Civil War, over 11,000 Union Soldiers were buried at Arlington.
The Lee's never returned to Arlington and always regretted the loss of their home. After his parents' death, George Washington Custis Lee filed suit, claiming Arlington had been illegally confiscated by the U S government. In 1882, the U S Supreme Court agreed with Mr. Lee and the property's title was restored to him. Within just a few months, Congress authorized the purchase of Arlington from Robert E Lee's oldest son for $150,000.
Exactly 50 years after Gen Meigs buried the first Union soldiers in Robert e Lee's front yard, President Woodrow Wilson dedicated a special memorial to the Confederate dead at Arlington.
Conceived out of spite and planned so that Robert E Lee would never return to his property, today the Custis-Lee Mansion is perfectly preserved. The best laid plans of Gen Meigs, who is buried at Arlington, couldn't stop the perpetual memorial to Robert E Lee.