How Lee's Home Became a Cemetery
The government took a house for a ninety-two-dollar tax, then filled the garden with graves. A court said it had no right.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
"I would not stir from this house, even if the whole northern army were to surround it." Mary Custis Lee wrote that to her daughter on May 5, 1861. Ten days later she left, and the Union army moved onto the estate. She wrote to the general who took the house: "It never occurred to me Genl Sanford that I could be forced to sue for permission to enter my own house." During the war the government set a tax of ninety-two dollars and seven cents on the place, plus a penalty.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
Arlington House, inside Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. Reached on foot through the cemetery; cemetery rules apply. Check the park's alerts page or call 703 235 1530 for current hours.
Sources
- National Park Service: The Lees Leave Arlington
- National Park Service: Union Occupation 1861-1865
- National Park Service: Arlington House Historic Structure Report
- HistoryNet: Taking Back Arlington
- Wikipedia: Montgomery C. Meigs
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