Although the land ceded to the capital by Virginia was returned to the state in 1846, Arlington National Cemetery remains very much a part of the DC experience, so we have included it in our trail around the capital. The history of the cemetery starts with Arlington House, built on land acquired in 1802 by George Washington Parke Custis. He was the adopted grandson of George Washington and the house was intended to be a memorial to the first president. Custis’ daughter Mary married Robert E. Lee in 1831, who became a Confederate General in the Civil War. The house and its grounds were confiscated by the Union government in 1864, returned to the family in 1882 after a court challenge, then sold back to the government in 1883.
Lines of Graves
The history of the National Cemetery starts with the Civil War. Robert E. Lee did not want Virginia to secede from the Union, but when this happened in 1861 he decided that his loyalty lay with his state. He turned down an offer of command of the Union Army and resigned to join the Confederate Army. The Union Army was in control of Washington DC, just over the river, so he persuaded his wife Mary to leave Arlington. Union troops arrived soon afterwards and built Fort Myer in the grounds. The Union commander, Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs, appropriated the mansion and 80 hectares (200 acres) of the grounds in 1864 for use as a military cemetery. The cemetery has now grown to 252 hectares (624 acres) and over 300,000 are interred there.
Horse Drawn Caisson
Caissons are wagons that were used during the Civil War to transport ammunition, but as casualties mounted they became the only practical means of recovering the dead from the battlefield. The tradition established during the Civil War is still continued at Arlington for burials with full military honours.
Changing the Guard, Tomb of the Unknowns
In common with many other nations, the USA has tombs of unknown soldiers to symbolise the bravery and sacrifice of all who gave their lives in war. In 1921 an unknown U.S. World War I soldier exhumed in France was re-interred here. In 1956 unknowns from World War II and the Korean War were also interred. An unknown from the Vietnam War was interred here in 1984 but was exhumed in 1998 for DNA testing. The tests identified the body which has been re-interred elsewhere and the Tomb of the Vietnam Unknown has been left empty.
Grave of John F Kennedy
The most famous grave in Arlington National Cemetery is that of President John F. Kennedy. Everyone old enough at the time to understand the event remembers vividly the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963. At the request of his widow Jacqueline, he was buried at Arlington rather than in his home state of Massachusetts. At the funeral on November 25 she lit the eternal flame by his grave. Over the next few years it became clear that the grave site could not cope with the number of visitors so in 1967 a new grave site was built a short distance away and President Kennedy was re-interred there. The picture shows the grave and eternal flame. Jacqueline Kennedy was buried next to the President in 1994, and part of her plaque is visible on the right. Atop the hill in the background is Arlington House, otherwise known as the Custis-Lee Mansion. It is maintained by the National Park Service as a memorial to Robert E. Lee.
Arlington National Cemetery
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Memorial Amphitheater
Next to the Tomb of the Unknowns is the Memorial Amphitheater, which was dedicated in 1920. It replaced a smaller Amphitheater built in 1874 that still stands behind Arlington House. The Memorial Amphitheater is used for annual Easter, Memorial Day and Veterans Days ceremonies. It has also hosted the state funerals of many famous Americans.
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© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2023
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