Arlington National Cemetery

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Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery, established during the American Civil War, is the final resting place for more than 250,000 American military servicemen. It is located in Arlington County, Virginia, not far from the Pentagon and across the Potomac River from Washington DC. It is also the location of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which houses three anonymous service members from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. It is a major tourist site near Washington, DC, with approximately 4 million visitors annually.

There are specific eligibility requirements that need to be met for interment in the cemetery. Active military, retired military who served active duty and were honorably discharged, recipients of the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross (Navy Cross or Air Force Cross), Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star and Purple Heart, former prisoners of war and the president or former president are some of those who are eligible.[1]

Arlington National Cemetery is an active military cemetery, with almost 100 funerals taking place weekly.[2]

History

The estate was originally owned by George Washington Parke "Wash" Custis, the step-grandson of President George Washington, and his wife, Mary Lee Fitzhugh, whose only child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, married Robert E. Lee on June 30, 1831. Under the terms of Custis's will, Mary Anna was granted use and control of the estate during her lifetime, with the title going to Robert and Mary Lee's eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, upon her death. Lee never owned the estate outright, but managed it after his father-in-law's death in 1857 until the beginning of the American Civil War.[3]

Lee, who had joined the Confederacy as a major general in April 1861, worried about his wife remaining in the house, which overlooked Washington, D.C., and wrote to her in May 1861 recommending that she leave the estate.

"War is inevitable, and there is not [sic] telling when it will burst around you... You have to move and make arrangements to go to some point of safety which you must select. The Mount Vernon plate and pictures ought to be secured. Keep quiet while you remain, and in your preparations... May God keep and preserve you and have mercy on all our people."[3]

After Virginia's succession, Union Brigidier General Irvin McDowell and his troops surrounded Arlington. When Mary Anna Lee was unable to pay the property taxes in person, the federal government confiscated the estate and put it up for auction on January 11, 1864. It was purchased by a tax commissioner for "government use, for war, military, charitable and educational purposes."[3]

Union soldier William Henry Christman was the first serviceman to be interred on May 13, 1864. The 200 acre cemetery was officially designated on June 15, 1864, by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. By the end of the war there were more than 16,000 soldiers buried. The land was chosen by Montgomery C. Meigs, the quartermaster general of the United States Army, who wanted to ensure that Lee was unable to return to his home after the war.[3]

Freedman's Village, reportedly located near the current Memorial Amphitheater, was established on December 4, 1863. Over 1,100 freed slaves lived and farmed there during and after the war.[3] The village, run by the Freedman's Bureau for most of its existence, lasted more than thirty years, providing homes, a school, medical care, a training center and religious services for the former Arlington slaves as well as other freed slaves. The school began with approximately 150 students and had over 900 pupils at the peak, including both children and adults. The training center taught blacksmithing, carpentry, shoe making, tailoring and wheelwrighting. There was a 50-bed hospital named Abbott Hospital in the village, as well as a place that took care of the elderly and infirmed. The villagers were given notice on December 7, 1887 that they had 90 days to move out of the village.[4]

The Lees never attempted to regain their property after the Civil War; however, their son George Washington Custis Lee filed suit in 1870 in circuit court, claiming the land had been taken illegally and per his grandfather's will, he was the rightful owner. In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the estate had been confiscated without due process and returned ownership to Custis Lee. Congress purchased it for $150,000 on March 3, 1883, and it became a military reservation.[3]

Arlington1.jpg

Other Facts

There are more than 3,800 former slaves buried in the cemetery. Their headstones have the word "Civilian" or "Citizen" on them.

Two former Presidents are buried in the cemetery: William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy.

Four former United States Supreme Court Chief Justices are buried in the cemetery: William Howard Taft, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, and William Rehnquist. Eight U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices are also interred at Arlington: Hugo Black, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Potter Stewart, Thurgood Marshall, William O. Douglas, Arthur Goldberg, William Brennan, and Harry A. Blackmun.

Captain Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the architect and planner who designed the layout of Washington, D.C., was re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery on April 28, 1909. He is buried in Section 2-S 3.[5]

Boxer Joe Louis is also buried there.

See also

References

  1. Establishing eligibility
  2. Visitor information
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Historical information: Arlington House
  4. Freedman's Village
  5. American Revolutionary War Veterans

Resources

Arlington National Cemetery

Rick Atkinson, "The Nation's Cemetery," National Geographic (June 2007): 127-137.