USA > Virginia > Arlington County > Arlington County > Historic Arlington. A history of the National cemetery from its establishment to the present time > Part 7
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In all these cases identification was impossible. When in the sharp conflict of armies one gave way and retreated the other fol- lowed fast without much heed for the brave fellows who had dropped from the company's rolls. In such cases, unless buried by some unselfish Samaritan, the bodies lay in the bleaching sun and rain, the flesh torn away by the carrion fowls, until only the fiercely grinning skull and brightly-polished frame of bone re- mained. In many cases, to the glory of the Union army be it said, skeletons with U. S. accontrements were found in the abatis of rebel earthworks, where they had been carried by the impetus of some wild charge and left by their comrades when they fell death-stricken by the fierce fire from above.
The collection of these scattered remains was certainly not a pleasant duty. Day after day the party, in charge of Col. Lud- ington, went carefully over the ground that had been occupied by the contending armies, finding at times clustered groups of com- plete skeletons, and again searching closely through wide fields only to find a pierced skull, or a few mere fragments. Some crimson- flowered vine clambering in rank luxuriance along the zig-zag fence-lines into some wild, lonely nook in the gloomy pineries would, if followed back to earth, be found rioting in the rich mold
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whose fertility was derived from near-lying, unburied bodies of the country's loyal dead.
As far as possible, the bones belonging to one individual were collected and shipped to Arlington in small wooden cases about. two feet long by a foot square. Often a body would be repre- sented by a skull or thigh-bone ; again by nearly a full comple- ment.
When the work was finished, 2,111 oblong wooden cases, repre- senting this number of human beings, had been placed in the vault at Arlington. Afterwards a granite sarcophagus of simple but impressive beauty was placed over this vault, and is to-day one of the most interesting objects at Arlington. It bears the simple inscription :
Here lie the bones of 2,111 unknown soldiers. Their remains could not be iden- tified, but their names and deaths are recorded in the archives of their country, and its grateful citizens honor them as of their noble army of martyrs. May they rest in peace.
Besides this work Col. Ludington and Capt. John R. Hynes also were assigned, as stated before, the task of removing to Arlington the dead bodies disinterred in Maryland within a circuit of thirty-five miles from Washington. A numbered list of these exhum- ations was prepared by Capt. Hynes, who also made a great number of sketches of the various localities whence the bodies were taken. Figures were marked on the sketches to correspond with those on the lists, the latter giving in each case the location of the body as reinterred at Arlington. The lists and sketch-books were placed on file in Washington on the completion of the work and led to the identification of many of these bodies, particularly in the case of those marked " unknown." In all cases, whether the bodies were known or unknown, the locality from which they were removed, together with the date of removal, was placed upon the headboards.
The total number of bodies of United States soldiers buried in the department of Washington under the charge of Col. Luding- ton in this year was 5,287, of which number 4,180 were finally identified. The total number of interments in the department of Washington at this time was as follows :
1. United States Military Asylum, 5,717 graves.
2. Harmony National Cemetery, 3,251 graves.
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3. Battle Cemetery, 40 graves.
4. Union Cemetery, 1,012 graves.
5. Arlington, 9,795 graves.
6. Alexandria Cemetery, 3,601 graves.
Total number of graves 23,416.
During the years 1866, '67, '68, '69, and '70 the work of the cemeterial branch of the Quartermaster-General's office was car- ried steadily forward, and the report for the latter year shows that but little remained to be accomplished. The labors of this divis- ion were virtually completed. Occasionally bodies were found after this lapse of years, but they were few in number and were removed as soon as discovered to the nearest national cemetery.
Plans for beautifying the cemeteries by planting shrubs and orna- mental trees were carried into effect during this year. At Arling- ton and four other cemeteries handsome arched gateways were erected, and the Arlington cemetery was also improved by the construction of a stone wall entirely enclosing the portion set aside for burial purposes at that time.
During the year the interments of Union dead throughout the country numbered 315,555 ; of this number, 143,446 being un- identified.
Prior to 1869 twenty-one volumes of the Roll of Honor, con- taining the record of 255,655 of deceased Union soldiers, were published, and in this year four volumes were added containing the record of 77,300 graves.
During the year 1870 the work of improving Arlington was continued, many interments being made. At the close of the fiscal year 15,932 graves were located within the enclosed grounds.
During the year 1871 many improvements in the grounds at Arlington were mapped out and carried into effect. A large and imposing entrance gate of Seneca stone was erected. A “ sylvan grove " of maples was planted in the southwest portion of the grounds, on the plan of a Gothic cathedral, with arched avenues leading away in all directions.
In the year 1872 the Quartermaster-General decided upon the form of headstone now in use, and for the first time the plain plank headboards were removed and the substantial slabs of gran- ite and marble that now mark each soldier's grave were placed in all the cemeteries.
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From this time on until the year 1892 the history of Arlington is too uneventful, aside from the legal battle for its possession, to deserve a detailed chronicle. As the years passed, the white headstones increased in number and the city of the dead grew in population. No great changes came, however. A wide section was set aside for the burial of the officers of the army and navy, to the west of the mansion, and only lately two interments have been made on the sloping lawn in front of the house. These graves contain the bodies of Gen. Sheridan and Admiral Porter, and it has always been the hope of the American people that the body of Grant would rest with these at Arlington. Within a year the stone wall enclosing that portion of Arlington set aside for burial purposes has been moved and run further to the south so as to enclose the old earthworks known as Fort McPherson.
This addition will give nearly 100 acres more for burials. The land is entirely clear, the great forest belt that extended along the plateau having been cut away, both to the west and south, when Forts Whipple and McPherson were established.
During the past summer the laboring force at Arlington, under the superintendence of landscape gardener Rhodes, has trans- formed the old dismantled earthwork south of the cemetery proper into a fair semblance of the sturdy structure that stood there during the war. Moat, bastions, and parapet cleanly clad in velvety turf, with sharp angles and smooth flat surfaces rising from the surrounding sward, will bring back to every soldier and veteran of the late war long dead memories of the days when behind every such embankment lay massed troops and heavy pieces of ordnance ready for the terrible earnest work before them.
Fort McPherson redivivus is far handsomer than the old Fort McPherson, designed for purely utilitarian purposes. The lines of the latter in their mathematical accuracy have not been dis- turbed, but sodded slopes now face the invader where in time of war there was only the bare yellow clay, revetted in places by plank- ing and timbers. The sharp edges of the bastions, too, are out- lined with a care and delicacy that, while adding to the beauty of the place, detracts in some sense from the feeling of realism in- duced by a sight of this restored relic of the time of Washington's greatest danger. The fort, however, will be an object-lesson to
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the thousands who visit it and will in all probability form one of the objects of greatest interest to the average visitor.
Superintendent J. A. Commerford has entire charge of the national cemetery at Arlington, having been appointed to his present position about six years ago by the War Department. Superintendent Commerford has a force of fourteen laborers con- stantly employed on the grounds, and has, besides, the direction of the operations of the special force that for some time past has been at work on the restoration of Fort MePherson. Landscape gardener D. H. Rhodes has charge of the floral display, and under the direction of the superintendent supervises all work connected with improvements on or about the grounds. Nearly all the work- men employed are ex-Union soldiers. One of them, however, is an old negro, Wesley Norris, one of the slaves of Mr. Custis, who was born on the estate and often accompanied his master on his long hunting expeditions. He was one of the squad of slaves that bore the body of the first master of Arlington House to his lonely grave in the deep grove west of the mansion, now marked by a crumbling stone shaft.
CHAPTER VII.
THE GOVERNMENT'S TITLE TO ARLINGTON AND HOW OBTAINED-IN- TERESTING LEGAL DOCUMENTS.
The story of the passage of the Arlington estate from the posses- sion of the Lees to that of the United States Government is not the least interesting portion of the story of this historic old place. In the very first days of the war, as already shown, it was occupied by the Union forces and never after ceased to be occupied and used by the United States. In January, 1864, the Government secured what was deemed a good title to the estate by purchase at a sale in accordance with the provisions of the direct tax-act. August 5, 1861, the Government, in order to raise sufficient funds to carry on the war, passed "An act to provide increased revenues from imports to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes." Section 8 of this act provided for the levying of a direct tax upon the United States annually of $20,000,000, apportioned among the several States. Virginia's share of the direct tax amounted to $937,550.663.
On June 7, 1862, an act was passed providing for the collection of the direct taxes in the insurrectionary districts within the United States. It had been ascertained long before this that it was impossible to collect the taxes, levied by the direct tax act, in the States at this time in open rebellion. This act provided that when, by reason of insurrection in any State, the civil authority became obstructed and the act providing for the collection of the direct tax could not be peacefully executed, the tax apportionment should be charged or apportioned in each insurrectionary district upon all lands and lots of ground according to the enumeration and valuation of the last assessment preceding the breaking out of the war. The act provided further for the sale of all such tracts or parcels of land in order to secure the payment of this tax, and set forth at great length the manner in which such sale should be conducted. Commissioners were appointed whose duty it should be to apportion the assessments and conduct the sales according to the provisions of the act. A final section of the bill read as follows :
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And provided further, That at such sale any tracts, parcels, or lots of land which may be selected under the direction of the President for Government use for war, military, naval, revenue, charitable, educational, or police purposes, may at said sale be bid in by said commissioners, under the direction of the President, for and struck off to the United States.
On the 6th of February an act was passed to amend " An act for the collection of direct taxes in the insurrectionary districts." This act, based upon the failures and mistakes of the former act, con- tained detailed and specific instructions as to the manner in which such sales should be conducted.
Under the provisions of these acts and the amendments thereto the sale of the Arlington estate on the 11th of January, 1864, was advertised in the Virginia State Journal from the 21st of Novem- ber, 1863, the date of the first insertion, until the day preceding the sale. In January, 1864, Arlington was occupied by two forts, with full garrisons and thousands of tents. In consequence, the Secretary of War recommended to the President that the estate be purchased by the U. S. Government for military purposes. President Lincoln acted on this recommendation, and on the 11th of January, 1864, the estate of 1,100 acres was put up at public sale, and after but little competition was bid in and struck off to the United States by the order of the President, acting in accord- ance with the provisions of the act cited above. The amount of the Government's purchasing bid was $26,100. The estate had been assessed the year previous to the breaking out of the war at $34,100.
The three commissioners for Virginia who had charge of the sale of the Arlington estate were John Hawxhurst, Gilbert F. Watson, and A. Lawrence Foster. By reason of some remissness the certificate of this tax sale was not made out until September 26, 1866, the year after the war closed.
From this time on the Government held possession under the tax-sale title. In May, 1864, burials of Union soldiers were made on the place and shortly after it was established as a national cemetery.
Neither Gen. Lee nor his wife, Mary Custis Lee, made any at- tempt to regain possession of the Arlington property. They were but life tenants and had no title to the property, which had been devised by George Washington Parke Custis to his grandson,
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George Washington Custis Lee, by the terms of his will, which read as follows :
WILL OF G. W. P. CUSTIS.
In the name of God, amen. I, George Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington House, in the county of Alexandria and State of Virginia, being sound in body and mind, do make and ordain this instrument of writing as my last will and testament, revoking all other wills and testaments whatever. I give and bequeath to my dearly beloved daughter and only child, Mary Ann Randolph Lee, my Arlington House estate, in the county of Alexandria and State of Virginia, containing eleven hundred acres, more or less, and my mill on Four-Mile Run, in the county of Alexandria, and the lands of mine adjacent to said mill, in the counties of Alexan- dria and Fairfax, in the State of Virginia, the use and benefit of all just mentioned during the term of her natural life, together with my horses and carriages, furni- ture, pictures, and plate, during the term of her natural life.
On the death of my daughter, Mary Ann Randolph Lee, all the property left to her during the term of her natural life I give and bequeath to my eldest grandson, George Washington Custis Lee, to him and his heirs forever, he, my said eldest grandson, taking my name and arms.
I leave and bequeath to my four granddaughters, Mary, Ann, Agnes, and Mil- dred Lee, to each ten thousand dollars. I give and bequeath to my second grand- son, William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, when he shall be of age, my estate called the White House, in the county of New Kent and State of Virginia, containing four thousand acres, more or less, to him and his heirs forever.
I give and bequeath to my third and youngest grandson, Robert Edward Lee, when he is of age, my estate in the county of King William and State of Virginia, called Romancock, containing four thousand acres, more or less, to him and his heirs forever.
My estate of Smith's Island, at the capes of Virginia, and in the county of North- ampton, I leave to be sold to assist in paying my granddaughters' legacies, to be sold in such manner as may be deemed by my executors most expedient.
Any and all lands that I may possess in the counties of Stafford, Richmond, and Westmoreland, I leave to be sold to aid in paying my granddaughters' legacies.
I give and bequeath my lot in square No. 21, Washington city, to my son-in-law, Lieut. Col. Robert E. Lee, to him and his heirs forever. My daughter, Mary A. R. Lee, has the privilege, by this will, of dividing my family plate among my grand- children, but the Mt. Vernon altogether, and every article I possess relating to Washington and that came from Mt. Vernon is to remain with my daughter at Arlington House during said daughter's life, and at her death to go to my eldest grandson, George Washington Custis Lee, and to descend from him entire and unchanged to my latest posterity.
My estates of the White House, in the county of New Kent, and Romancock, in the county of King William, both being in the State of Virginia, together with Smith's Island, and the lands I may possess in the counties of Stafford, Richmond, and Westmoreland counties are charged with the payment of the legacies of my granddaughters.
Smith's Island and the aforesaid lands in Stafford, Richmond, and Westmoreland only are to be sold, the lands of the White House and Romancock to be worked to raise the aforesaid legacies to my four granddaughters.
And upon the legacies to my four granddaughters being paid, and my estates
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that are required to pay the said legacies being clear of debt, then I give freedom to my slaves, the said slaves to be emancipated by my executors in such manner as to my executors may seem most expedient and proper, the said emancipation to be accomplished in not exceeding five years from the time of my decease.
And I do constitute and appoint as my executors Lieut. Col. Robert Edward Lee, Robert Lee Randolph, of Eastern View, Rt. Rev. Bishop Meade. and George Washington Peter.
This will, written by my hand, is signed, sealed, and executed the twenty-sixth day of March, eighteen hundred and fifty-five.
GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS. [SEAL. ] 26th March, 1855.
Witness :
MARTHA CUSTIS WILLIAMS.
M. EUGENE WEBSTER.
George Washington Custis Lee did not take the name and arms of Custis as required, so in order to quiet the claims of the other heirs and to secure to G. W. C. Lee the property devised to him by his grandfather Mrs. Lee left at her death the following will :
WILL OF MARY C. LEE.
In the name of God, amen. I, Mary Custis Lee, widow of General Robert E. Lee, do make, publish, and declare this as my last will and testament.
In compliance with the wishes expressed in the last will and testament of my deceased husband, Robert E. Lee, and by virtue of the power and authority therein conferred upon me, I appoint and direct as follows :
First. That owing to an arrangement between my children satisfactory to them, and my sons W. H. F. Lee and Robert E. Lee having in writing relinquished all benefit, present or prospective, in the estate of their father, Robert E. Lee, de- ceased, it is my will and desire, in view of said agreement and relinquishment that the said W. H. F. Lee and Robert E. Lee be excluded from any participation in the estate of said Robert E. Lee, deceased.
Second. It is my will and desire, and I do so appoint and direct, that all of the estate of the said Robert E. Lee shall, upon my decease, be equally divided be- tween my son G. W. Custis Lee and my three daughters, Mary, Mildred, and Agnes, share and share alike, each taking one equal fourth part.
Third. Should my son, G. W. Custis Lee, recover the estate called Arlington. situate in the county of Alexandria, Va., or be paid therefor by the Government of the United States, then, and in that event, it is my will and desire, and I s appoint and direct, that the one-fourth part of his father's estate given to him, the. said G. Custis Lee, in the foregoing clause of my will, shall pass and belong to mv three daughters above named, in equal portions.
I appoint my sons G. W. Custis Lee and W. H. F. Lee executors of this my last will and testament without security.
Given under my hand and seal this 9th day of June, A. D. 1873.
MARY CUSTIS LEE.
Witnesses :
A. M. LEE.
FRANCIS G. SMITH.
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By the provisions of these wills Mr. George Washington Custis Lee became the sole claimant to the Arlington estate, and took the first steps to secure possession, or at least a fair compensation for the loss of the estate, by filing in the circuit court of Alex- andria a suit in ejectment against Frederick Kauffman and R. P. Strong, parties occupying the ground as representatives of the Government. Mr. Kauffman was at that time superintendent of the national cemetery at Arlington, which contained not more than 200 acres. R. P. Strong was the commanding officer at Fort Whipple, now Fort Myer, then the home of the Signal Corps of the Army. These proceedings in ejectment also included about 200 negroes, residents of Freedman's village, who were permitted to hold small tracts of land on the Arlington estate in return for which privilege they were expected to work a certain number of hours each day at the fort. Early in the proceedings, however, an order was issued dismissing the suit against these negroes, as it was clearly shown that they were simply tenants of Comman- dant Strong.
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Action was commenced in the circuit court of Alexandria on the first Monday in May, 1877, but was, as soon as the declara- tion was filed, removed by writ of certiorari to the circuit court of the United States for the eastern district of Virginia, where all the subsequent proceedings took place.
After a long though interesting hearing a verdict in favor of the plaintiff was rendered.
Although the United States had not appeared as a party to the suit in the court below, the case was carried to the Supreme Court on a writ of error, based on the rejection of a suggestion submitted during the hearing in the inferior court by the Attorney-General moving the withdrawal of the action, inasmuch as the United States had established its claim to the land involved by a ten- years holding and a valid title conferred by the tax sale.
The appeal was heard during the October term of the Supreme Court, 1882, and was argued by Wm. D. Shipman, A. Ferguson Beach, and Wm. J. Roberts for the defendant, and Solicitor Westell Willoughby for the Government. The decision, which was rendered by Justice Miller, held briefly that the court below had no jurisdiction in the case, and the verdict, therefore, could not h~1d. The suit in ejectment against Strong and Kauffman, it
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was shown, was really a suit against the United States, and as a sovereign cannot be sued without his consent, the Supreme Court held that the lower court had acted without authority, inasmuch as it had no power to render judgment where it could not enforce execution.
This decision, however, granted the validity of the title of Mr. Lee to the estate and left the National Government in the posi- tion of holding possession of the estate involved by barring the claimant from further action in the courts. It was fully under- stood, however, that the Government could have no just title to the estate and the Secretary of War was in consequence directed by a resolution of Congress to ascertain upon what terms a valid title to the property could be secured. He accordingly conferred with Mr. Lee, who expressed his willingness to yield all claims to the Arlington estate and deed the same to the United States for the sum of $150,000.
On transmitting this information to Congress a clause was em- bodied in the general deficiency bill, passed March 3, 1883, ap- propriating the sum named. The clause carrying the appropria- tion reads as follows :
To enable the Secretary of War to remove all claims and pretensions in re- spect of the property in the State of Virginia known as Arlington, on which a ceme- tery for the burial of deceased soldiers of the United States has been established, and which property was taken by the United States for public use in the year anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-four, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; but this appropriation shall not be paid out of the Treasury until the Attorney- General shall be satisfied, and so certify to the Secretary of War, that the deed or deeds to be given to the United States to the end aforesaid will convey a complete title and contain covenants of general warranty and covenants against every man- ner of claim against or in respect of said property, whether in rem or in personam, and also against all and every claim for damages in respect of, or the use and oc- cupation of, said property, and also a release by every person entitled of all claim for and to the amount bid, or any part thereof, in behalf of the United States, on the tax sale of said property.
A deed to the property in question was promptly executed by Mr. Lee and presented to the Attorney-General for his approval. The latter, acting in accordance with the provisions of the act making the appropriation, examined closely into Mr. Lee's title to the Arlington property, and after assuring himself that the deed conveyed a complete warranty against every manner of claim against the property forwarded to the Secretary of War a lengthy
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