Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Oct. 15, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF11362 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Barbara Salazar Torreon; Clayton M. Levy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) is a military cemetery
administered by the Office of Army Cemeteries. Located in
Arlington County, Virginia, the cemetery was created in
1864 during the Civil War from 200 acres of plantation land
that once belonged to George Washington Parke Custis,
step-grandson of the first U.S. President. Custis bequeathed
his estate to his daughter who had married U.S. Army 1
st Lt.
Robert E. Lee in 1831. At the start of the Civil War in 1861,
the Custis Lee family fled the property. The Union Army
then occupied and fortified the estate to help defend the
nation’s capital. In 1863, the Freedman’s Village was
established on the southern portion of the property to assist
former slaves transitioning to freedom by providing shelter,
medical care, education, and training. The first military
burial took place on May 13, 1864, for Private William
Henry Christman, a Union soldier from Pennsylvania. Two
unknown Union soldiers were later interred on May 15,
1864, the first of nearly 5,000 unknown soldiers now
resting in ANC. On June 15, 1864, the War Department
officially designated the burial site as a military cemetery.
By the end of the Civil War, the grounds contained the
graves of 6,000 Union soldiers. On March 3, 1883, the U.S.
government purchased the property for $150,000 after years
of legal wrangling with the Custis Lee family. Currently,
there are approximately 400,000 veterans and their eligible
dependents buried at Arlington Cemetery.
