America’s Most Sacred Military Cemetery Used to Be This Confederate General’s Mansion

Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia

Arlington National Cemetery wasn’t always a cemetery at all. The land once belonged to the family of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, complete with a grand mansion overlooking the Potomac River.

After Lee joined the rebellion, the U.S. government seized his property and made a bold decision that changed everything.

This is how it turned into America’s greatest tribute to military service.

George Washington’s Step-Grandson

George Washington Parke Custis owned this huge 1,100-acre piece of land he inherited from his father, who died fighting at Yorktown.

Martha and George Washington raised young Custis like their own son after that.

Custis built Arlington House between 1802 and 1818 to honor George Washington.

He hired an English architect named George Hadfield to design the fancy mansion on a hill overlooking the new capital city.

Almost 100 slaves worked the corn and wheat fields and took care of the big house.

Robert E. Lee Lived Here for Thirty Years

Robert E. Lee knew Mary Anna Custis, the daughter of Parke Curtis, when they were kids and married her at Arlington House on June 30, 1831, two years after finishing at West Point.

They lived here for thirty years and had six of their seven children born in this house.

Lee quit the U.S. Army on April 20, 1861, and left for Richmond the next day to lead Virginia’s soldiers.

He told his wife to pack up and leave because Union troops were coming. The Lee family left their home and never came back.

Union Soldiers Took Over the Property

Mary Lee ran away from Arlington on May 17, 1861, after hiding family treasures in the ground.

Union troops moved in on May 24 because they wanted the high ground with its great view of Washington D.C.

The government took the house when Lee didn’t pay a $92.07 tax bill in person. A new 1862 law said people in Confederate areas had to show up themselves to pay taxes.

The army built two forts called McPherson and Whipple on the land to protect the capital.

A Town for Freed Slaves Grew Where Lee Once Lived

Government officials built Freedman’s Village in May 1863 on part of Arlington, officially opening it on December 4.

This community was for slaves who ran away or got their freedom during the Civil War.

It started as tents but grew into 50 small houses around a pond. The village had schools, churches, a hospital, dining hall, and laundry.

Black soldiers protected people living there from their old owners. The famous speaker Sojourner Truth lived here in 1864, teaching people and helping them get jobs. Over 1,100 people lived there.

The First Soldier Buried Here Died From Sickness

General Montgomery Meigs officially made Arlington a national cemetery on June 15, 1864.

The first person buried was William Henry Christman, a Pennsylvania farmer who joined the army but died from measles before he could fight. He was buried on May 13.

Meigs purposely had soldiers buried in the flower garden right next to the mansion to make sure the Lees wouldn’t want to come back.

By December 1864, over 7,000 soldiers were buried here. That number grew to 16,000 Civil War burials total.

The Supreme Court Gave Arlington Back to Lee’s Family

In 1882, the Supreme Court said the government was wrong to take the property when they wouldn’t accept Lee’s tax payment from someone else.

Instead of digging up thousands of graves, Lee’s son George sold the land to the government for $150,000 in 1883.

Robert Todd Lincoln, President Lincoln’s son who worked as Secretary of War, handled buying it back for the government.

Freedman’s Village closed in 1900 after being there for 37 years. Today Section 27 has nearly 3,800 graves of former slaves and village people..

America’s Unknown Soldier Got a Special Tomb

Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier opened on November 11, 1921, on Armistice Day.

A sergeant named Edward Younger picked one of four identical coffins with unidentified American soldiers from France.

The ship USS Olympia brought the coffin to America in fall 1921.

Workers put a two-inch layer of French dirt under the coffin and finished the marble tomb in 1932. Two architects named Lorimer Rich and Thomas Hudson Jones designed it from Colorado marble.

Words carved on it say: “Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known But to God.”

Guards Watch the Tomb Every Single Day

Since April 6, 1948, soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Regiment called “The Old Guard” have watched the tomb 24 hours a day, every day of the year, no matter what the weather does.

Guards spend six hours getting their heavy wool uniforms perfect and must learn 35 pages of facts about Arlington Cemetery.

The guard walks exactly 21 steps south, turns east for 21 seconds, then north for 21 seconds. The number 21 stands for the 21-gun salute.

Guards carry M14 rifles and Sig Sauer pistols. The Tomb Guard badge is super rare in the Army, with only 868 given out by December 2023

Jackie Kennedy Started the Flame That Never Goes Out

President John F. Kennedy got shot and killed on November 22, 1963, shocking everyone.

At his funeral three days later, his wife Jackie Kennedy lit the Eternal Flame that still burns today from a 5-foot round granite stone.

An architect named John Carl Warnecke designed the final memorial that was finished on July 20, 1967.

The place uses granite stones from near the Kennedy family home in Cape Cod. Workers planted grass and clover in the cracks to make it look like a field in Massachusetts.

The flame has a special burner that lights itself back up if weather puts it out, costing about $200 each month to keep going.

Presidents and War Heroes Are Buried Here

Only two U.S. Presidents are buried at Arlington: John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft, who was also Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Famous generals include John J. Pershing who led soldiers in World War I, George C. Marshall who created the Marshall Plan, Jimmy Doolittle who led the first bombing of Tokyo, and Pierre-Charles L’Enfant who designed Washington D.C.

Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts Dick Scobee and Michael Smith are here too.

James Parks was born as a slave on this land, worked digging graves at the cemetery after getting his freedom, and got full military honors when he died in 1929.

Visiting Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery sits across the Potomac River from Washington D.C., giving a commanding view of the nation’s capital.

Special ceremonies draw thousands of visitors on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, often attended by top government officials.

The Changing of the Guard ritual at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier happens every hour from October through March and every half hour from April through September.

Read More from This Brand:

• Union Troops Once Came Within 7 Miles of Capturing the Confederate Capital at This Historic Virginia Park
• This Simple Tomb Honors Unidentified American Soldiers — It’s Been Guarded Every Minute Since 1937
• 12 Historic Battlefields in Virginia to Learn American History