Arlington history revisited

Soldiers Magazine, July, 2004 by William R. McKern

I READ with interest Beth Reece's March story on Arlington National Cemetery. After reading her comments on the founding of the cemetery. I believe clarification is warranted.

Arlington National Cemetery was Robert E. Lee's home. George Washington Parke Custis, descendant of Martha Washington and adopted grandson of George Washington, began construction of Arlington House in 1802. Ownership eventually passed to his daughter Mary Anna Randolph Custis, wife of Robert E. Lee. After the start of the Civil War the federal government confiscated the property. In 1864 Arlington House was purchased by the government to he used for war, military, charitable and educational purposes.

In June 1864 the War Department appropriated the grounds of Arlington House for use as a military cemetery. inter ding to both honor t Ire Union dead and punish Robert E. Lee for joining the Confederacy. Among the first monuments was a vault containing the remains of 1,800 Union casualties of the battles of Bull Run.

The federal government dedicated Freedman's Village, a model community for freed slaves, in 1863. More than 1,100 freed slaves were given Arlington House land, where they fanned and lived during and after the Civil War.

Neither Robert E. Lee nor his wife ever attempted to recover control of Arlington House. After Lee's death in 1870 George Washington Custis Lee filed suit against the federal government. As Robert E, Lee's eldest son, he claimed the land had been illegally confiscated and that he was the legal owner, In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 5 to 4 to return the property to G.W.C, Lee, determining that it had been confiscated without due process. In March 1883 Congress purchased the property from Lee for $150,000. Freedman's Village was removed, but the military graves remained.

CPT William C7, McKern

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