THE ARLINGTON ESTATE IN 1860
March 1950 MEM LM 7000
[High-resolution Map]

LEGEND 1. “Arlington House” 2. Ice House 3. Stable 4. Outbuilding 5. Grave of Mary Randolph 6. Custis Graves 7. Gravel Pit 8. Slave Cabins 9. Chapel 10. Barn 11. Overseer’s House 12. Apple Orchard 13. Arlington Spring 14. Slave Cemetery 15. Road to Long Bridge

Arlington from 1861 to 1865

ARLINGTON OCCUPIED BY THE FEDERAL ARMY. Mrs. Lee had been gone only a few days when the Federal Army crossed the river and occupied the heights opposite the National Capital. Overnight, what had been a quiet country estate was transformed into a vast military encampment. New roads were cut through the woods and much of it felled to open fields of fire for the earthen forts being built a short distance west of the house. Guards were posted to protect the house, and when the commanding general learned that many articles nevertheless were being stolen, he sent the Washington relics, which had been stored in the cellar, to the Patent Office for safekeeping, and then established his headquarters inside the mansion. Inevitably, the estate suffered greatly, though strong efforts were made to prevent wanton destruction, particularly of the fine old trees.

LEE BECOMES THE HERO OF THE SOUTH. While Arlington was blighted by grim war, its former master was engaged in mobilizing the defenses of his native State. Before long he was military adviser to the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, and successively commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and general in chief of all the Confederate armies. The qualities developed by his years in the army and his home life were the same that now made him the military champion of the South and its greatest hero. His self-discipline rarely deserted him, and his deep religious beliefs gave him a humility and simplicity sufficient to withstand the greatest discouragements. Even though the odds were against him, his splendid presence on the field of battle and his kindliness and courtesy to all regardless of rank won him the devotion of his officers and men, while his brilliant military leadership gave hope and fighting spirit to the entire South. Always he was the knightly Christian gentleman, humane and magnanimous whether in victory or defeat.

East front of “Arlington House” in 1864. From the photograph by Brady in the National Archives.

Robert E. Lee in the full dress of a Confederate General. From the original photograph made in 1863 by Minnis and Cowell, Richmond. U. S. Army Signal Corps photograph.