Military traditions played an important role at Arlington. Custis intended his home to be a memorial to General Washington. Among his most prized pieces of the “Washington Treasury” were Washington’s tents from the American Revolutionary War. Custis often used the tents during festivals at his home. He greatly admired the veterans of the Revolution and featured them in his epic paintings. Custis often hosted veterans at Arlington, including the much-revered Marquis de Lafayette.
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Robert E. Lee and the Lee Family
The Civil War
Arlington National Cemetery

George Washington Parke Custis served in the Federal Army in 1799, prior to an anticpated war with France that never occured. He was commissioned as a lieutenant. Custis served for several months and earned the rank of Brevet Major before his discharge. Custis served in the militia at the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814, during the War of 1812. His experiences during that war led to his advocacy for a professionally trained, standing army. He allowed his estate to be used for military training and sponsored a competition for marksmen.

Robert E. Lee and the Lee Family
In 1831, Lt. Robert E. Lee became a member of the Arlington household when he married Mary Custis. Lee, an 1829 graduate of West Point, was from a distinguished military family. His father, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, was a celebrated cavalry officer during the Revolutionary War and was well acquainted with General Washington. His account of his wartime military service, Memoirs of War in the Southern Department of the United States, is still in print.

Army service took Robert E. Lee throughout the country, including posts in Georgia, Louisiana, New York, Texas, Maryland, and Missouri. Although Mrs. Lee and the children sometimes accompanied him, long separations were common. Lee was away from his family for nearly two years while serving in the Mexican War. He distinguished himself during the conflict. Lee’s combat performance during the Battle of Chapultepec resulted in the rank of Brevet Colonel. When Lee returned to Arlington after the war, he had been away so long that he did not recognize his youngest son, Robert E. Lee, Jr.

During the 1850s, the Lee men were active in the army. From 1852-1855, Robert E. Lee was Superintendent of West Point. In 1859, he commanded the military forces sent to subdue John Brown and his raiders at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. In 1854, George Washington Custis Lee, the oldest son, known as Custis or Boo to the family, graduated at the head of his class and entered the Army Corps of Engineers. William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, the second son, known as Rooney, was unable to secure a desired appointment to West Point. He entered the army in 1857. After several years of campaigning in the West, Rooney left the military to marry his cousin, Charlotte Wickham.

The Civil War
The Civil War [1861-1865] brought irrevocable changes to Arlington. It was here that Lee made the difficult decision to resign from the United States Army after more than thirty years of service. After writing his resignation letter, he left for Richmond. On April 23, Lee assumed command of Virginia’s military forces. After the Lee family left Arlington in May, 1861, Union forces occupied the estate.

Slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia in 1862. The following year, seventeen acres of the Arlington estate were converted into a village for freed slaves. It became known as Freedmans Village.

In 1864, Mrs. Lee lost Arlington for failing to pay her property taxes in person. The Federal Government purchased the estate when the property was put up for auction. That same year, Arlington was put to use as a national cemetery for Union war dead.

The Civil War was especially hard on the Lee women. Annie died of typhoid fever in 1862 while living in North Carolina. That same year, Charlotte Lee, Rooney’s wife, lost both her infant children. After she witnessed the capture of her gravely-wounded husband, Charlotte succumbed to tuberculosis the day after Christmas, 1863. Agnes Lee was devastated by the loss of her sweetheart, Orton Williams, when the US Army executed him as an enemy spy.

Arlington National Cemetery
For many years, Arlington House served as the headquarters of Arlington National Cemetery. In 1925, Congressman Louis Convers Cramton, the son of a Union veteran who had fought against Lee, sponsored legislation to have the mansion restored to its pre-Civil War appearance. Cramton wanted to recognize Lee’s efforts to help heal the nation’s wounds after the war. “There was no man in the South who did more by example to help bring about our reunited country,” Cramton declared.