The History of Arlington National Cemetery
The land on which Arlington is located has a long and historic weave. It was originally owned by the Custis family and eventually was passed along to George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of George Washington. G.W.P. Custis began building what is now called "The Custis-Lee Mansion" in order to have a facility in which to store momentoes of his adopted father, George Washington. Many of Washington's prized possessions, including his battle tents from the Revolutionary War, were maintained and displayed here for years and the rich and powerful were frequent visitors to the estate. When Custis died, he willed the property to his daughter, Mary. She eventually married a young Army officer, Robert E. Lee, and Arlington became their home until the outbreak of the Civil War.
How Did Arlington Become A Cemetery?
Arlington was for many years the estate of Colonel Robert E. Lee. Lee had graduated at the top of his class at West Point and had faithfully served his nation as an Army Officer throughout the Mexican War and then in Engineering and Cavalry assignments throughout our young nation. At the onset of the Civil War, after first refusing the command of all Union forces, he volunteered his services to his home state of Virginia. During the course of the war, his former estate was seized by the Union Army, which made it a headquarters. In 1864, with Union dead piling up throughout the Washington area, the search for a suitable site for a military cemetery resulted in a recommendation from Major General Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (the Union Quartermaster General) that Lee's former estate be converted to a burial ground. Meigs, a Southern native, had remained loyal to the Union and reportedly hated Lee for his service to the Confederate cause. Out of the death and destruction of the Civil War, and from this personal hatred, was born Arlington National Cemetery.
*** They rode with Custer ***
The Battle of the Little Big Horn, which took place on June 25, 1876 and which resulted in the virtual destruction of elements of the Seventh United States Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, is one of the most famous in American history.
A number of the men who took part in that battle, or who were assigned to the Seventh Cavalry at the time, are buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Brief biographies of these American fighting men can be viewed through the simple click of your mouse on the names below.
Courtesy of the National Archives
"June 25th, 1876 General Custer, his two brothers his nephew and all his men (7th cavalry) were
killed." Copyrighted 1889 by Kurz & Allison, art publishers, 76 & 78 Wabash Ave. Chicago, U.S.A."
Albert Trorillo Siders Barnitz, Captain, Not Involved In Little Big Horn - Retired Of Wounds Received
Frederick William Benteen, Captain (Later Brigadier General)
Edward Davern, Sergeant
John Dolan, Corporal
Winfield Scott Edgerly, Lieutenant (Later Brigadier General)
Ernest Albert Garlington - Later Brigadier General & Medal of Honor Winner
Frederick Henry Gehrmann, Private, 7th US Cavalry
Francis Marion Gibson - Captain, Rescue Party Of 7th Cavalry
Edward Settle Godfrey - Brigadier General, Medal of Honor Recipient
Luther Rector Hare - Brigadier General - With Reno At The Battle
David W. Lewis - Sergeant, 7th US Cavalry
Clement A. Lounsberry, Colonel - Civil War, Newapaperman In Dakota, Reported On Custer
Edward Gustave Mathey, Lieutenant Colonel, In Command Of The Pack Train
Thomas Mower McDougall, Major - Pack Train Escort & Hilltop Fight
Donald McIntosh - First Lieutenant, Killed-In-Action At Little Big Horn
Lewis Merrill, Major & Brevet Brigadier General
Fred Myers - Private, Medal of Honor
Thomas O'Neill, First Sergeant - Valley & Hilltop Battles
Michael Vincent Sheridan, Brigadier General
Joseph Green Tilford, Brigadier General
Is it only war heros who are laid to rest at Arlington?
What will happen when there is no longer space at Arlington National Cemetery?
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