Arlington National Cemetery was established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s wife. The property was repossessed for the burial of Union dead. Today, it houses 290,000 graves, including those from each of the United States’ battles. It also features notable sites, such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater. It is visited by four million people each year and can be accessed via two train stations.
Arlington National Cemetery is a military cemetery located in Arlington, Virginia. It was established on the grounds of Arlington House during the American Civil War for the burial of war dead. Prior to its use as a cemetery, the estate was owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s wife, Mary Anna Lee. After General Lee resigned his commission from the United States Army, the property was repossessed for the burial, largely, of the Union dead. After the war, the heir to the property, Custis Lee, sued the US government, and in 1882 the Supreme Court ruled that the government should legally purchase the right to the land for a sum of $150,000.
Deaths related to the American Civil War meant that previous military cemeteries and hospitals were too small to accommodate the number of war dead. In 1864, General Montogmoery C. Meigs suggested seizing 200 acres (0.81 km2) of Lee’s Arlington estate for that purpose. Meigs’s suggestion was immediately adopted with the interment of Union Private William Henry Christman of the 67th Pennsylvania Infantry, the first of what would become 16,000 by war’s end.
Today, Arlington National Cemetery houses 290,000 graves and occupies 624 acres (2.53 km2) of the Arlington estate. Among the 290,000 are the fallen from each of the battlefields the United States has fought in, from the Civil War (1861-1865) to the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cemetery also contains the graves of non-military dead, most notable of which are John F. Kennedy, his two sons, his wife, and his brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
The Arlington National Cemetery estate not only houses the graves of war dead, but features a number of other notable sites. These include the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (or Tomb of the Unknowns), the Arlington Memorial Ampitheater, the Netherland Carillon, the USS Maine Memorial and the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is the site dedicated to those who have fallen in war but have never identified their remains. Buried are the Unknown Soldiers from WW1, WW2, the Korean War, and the Unknown Soldier from the Vietnam War, who was later unearthed when he was identified as Michael J. Blassie.
Located across the Potomac River, Arlington National Cemetery is visited by four million people each year. Access to the cemetery is via two train stations, the Arlington Cemetery Station and the Blue Line subway station.
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