Arlington National Cemetery: The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier

“War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed”(IVN). These words were said by William Mckinley the 25th president of the United States. This means that we should not wage war when war should not be waged. We should try all possibilities in search for a solution to peace. When we get involved in warfare that could have been avoided lives are lost. After these lives have passed they are honoured at Arlington National Cemetery, one of the most famous U.S. military resting place. People from all over the globe come to see Arlington Cemetery and the many people that have pledged their lives to the United States. War heroes, the Eternal Flame, The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier, and former presidents are all located there.

Arlington hasn’t always been a cemetary it used to be the home of George Washington and his wife Martha Dandridge.

Before George Washington she was married to Daniel Parke Custis and they had four children but only two survived. George Washington then adopted Martha and John Parke Custis. John Parke Custis grew up, married and started a family. Later on he received a money inheritance from his biological father and used this money to buy 1,100 acres of land which was located in Virginia. When John Parke Custis died in the Revolutionary War he left behind four children so, to help raise them George Washington adopted the two youngest, George Washington Parke Custis and Eleanor Parke Custis. When George Washington Parke custis got older he then inherited the 1,100 acres and built the mansion that is still standing there today. Some people are actually able to go in and explore their home today. George Washington Parke Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh and they had a child named Mary Anna Randolph Custis. She then bewedded Robert E. Lee, who lived with her and her parents for the next 30 years. He loved this house more than anything which overlooked Washington DC. He said, “Anyone with half an eye could see it”(Ashabranner 28). Robert E. Lee was an army officer and led U.S. troops for multiple

years.
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected president and he wanted to get rid of slavery but the South was not having it so, the South separated from the North and decided to fight so they could have slaves. Mary Anna Randolph Custis’ parents had passed away so they left the mansion to her. Their house was beginning to fall apart so Robert E. Lee took a leave of absence from the army to help fix it up.

Robert E. Lee had said, “I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, children, my house”(Ashabranner 29). He then decided to fight with the South. Not a week later after he resigned from the North he became general of the Confederate army. Robert E. Lee and Mary decided that they were gonna move since their home was on the North's territory. Robert E. Lee had moved a month before his wife did. After they both moved the Union troops came and used the house as their headquarters. In 1863 U.S. Congress passed an act to collect taxes on property so, when it was time Mary to pay the taxes she was in a wheelchair so she sent a relative to turn the money in but the tax collector would not accept it because they said it had to be Mary to turn it in. Commissioners then sold Robert and Mary’s house saying that the taxes weren’t paid. The U.S. government then bought the 1,100 acres at an auction for 26,800 dollars. Soon after the government bought the house there was a need for cemeteries for soldiers killed in battle. General Montgomery Meigs was in charge of finding new places for the cemeteries and he thought that Arlington land was the perfect spot for cemetery sites. The first military burial to

take place at Arlington estate was on May 13, 1864 by General Meigs orders. The first person to be buried was Private William Christman. After William Christman was buried General Meigs submitted a proposal to declare the Arlington house and the 200 acres surrounding a military cemetary. The papers were signed on June 15, 1864. General Meigs did not just chose Arlington house as a military cemetery because it is the perfect spot he chose it so that he could get revenge on Robert E. Lee. He knew that Robert would never return and live there. Also, General Meigs insisted that some graves be dug in Mrs. Lee’s rose garden. 2,111 skeletal remains were all thrown in a circular stone pit that was ten feet deep and twenty feet in diameter that was located in Mrs. Lee’s rose garden. This vault was sealed in September 1866 and above it there was a large monument to honor those unknown soldiers who gave their lives during the Civil War. By the end of 1864 over 7000 graves were dug in another area known as the field of the dead and in time there was over 16000 burials at Arlington House. After the war Lee wanted to move back home but he couldn’t because of the thousands of graves, he then moved to Lexington Virginia. The question of ownership for Arlington house came after the Lee’s had died. Their eldest son George Washington Parke Custis Lee sued the U.S. government claiming his right of inheritance. The legal battle lasted five years and the Supreme court finally declared that the U.S. government was trespassing and that George Lee owned everything. Since it was disrespectful to remove the bodies George accepted a payment of 150,000 dollars from the government (Ashabranner). In 1883 the U.S. became the legal owner of Arlington house. In time Robert’s house was restored to its original condition and in 1955 it was designated as a permanent memorial to Robert E. Lee. It is now visited by millions of people each year. Arlington cemetery began as an act of revenge but it now has become a symbol of national unity and a shrine to all American heroes.