On April 24, after occupying Alexandria, Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sanford and his Union troops occupied the town of Arlington. At Arlington was the Custis-Lee mansion overlooking the Potomac River. Built by George W.P. Custis, adopted son of George Washington, it was then the residence of Custis' son-in-law, then Brig. Gen. Robert E. Lee of the Virginia state forces. Sanford made the home his headquarters in order to protect it from any possible future vandilism. It later became the military headquarters of McDowell’s division and was open to the public and hundreds tramped at will through its apartments.

Arlington National Cemetery was established by Brig. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, who commanded the garrison at Arlington House, appropriated the grounds June 15, 1864, for use as a military cemetery. His intention was to render the house uninhabitable should the Lee family ever attempt to return. A stone and masonry burial vault in the rose garden, 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and containing the remains of 1,800 Bull Run casualties, was among the first monuments to Union dead erected under Meigs' orders. Meigs himself was later buried within 100 yards of Arlington House with his wife, father and son; the final statement to his original order.

Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell and his staff at his HQ, Arlington, Virginia, 1862 ~ Today

Correct responces:
Hansjoerg Horisberger
(Switzerland)

Links to More information -
Arlington National Cemetry
Arlington House R. E. Lee Memorial

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