Part 1

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Stewart L. Udall, _Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_

_HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER SIX_

This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents.

CUSTIS-LEE MANSION _The Robert E. Lee Memorial_ VIRGINIA

_by Murray H. Nelligan_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES No. 6 WASHINGTON, D.C., 1950 (_REVISED 1962_)

_The National Park System, of which Custis-Lee Mansion is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and enjoyment of its people._

_Contents_

_Page_ History of Arlington to 1861 1 Arlington from 1861 to 1865 24 Arlington from 1865 to the Present 26 Guide to the House and Grounds 28 Visitor Service and Facilities 46 Administration 47 Suggested Readings 48

Ever since it was built more than a century ago, the Custis-Lee Mansion has dominated the scene across the river from the National Capital. An outstanding example of a Greek Revival building of the early nineteenth century, its dignity and strength, simplicity and steady grace, now make it a most appropriate national memorial to one of America’s greatest men, Robert E. Lee.

Built by his father-in-law, George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of General Washington, the mansion was for many years a principal repository of many objects associated with George Washington. As such, it greatly influenced Robert E. Lee when the building was his home. Like him, it experienced the vicissitudes of war and came to be associated with his fame. Now it is maintained by the Nation in his honor, and in the years to come will serve as a constant reminder of his nobility and greatness.

Many years have passed since General Lee lived in the home at Arlington. But so real are the memories evoked by its historic atmosphere, it seems little more than yesterday that he left it for the last time. A visit to the Custis-Lee Mansion gives a deeper, more personal understanding of the life and worth of the man to whose memory it is now dedicated.

_History of Arlington to 1861_

ANCESTRY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS. George Washington Parke Custis was born April 30, 1781. His mother was Eleanor (Calvert) Custis, a granddaughter of the sixth Lord Baltimore; his father, John Parke Custis, the only son of Martha Washington by her first marriage. John Parke Custis grew to manhood at Mount Vernon, married Eleanor Calvert in 1774, and died of camp fever in 1781 while serving as aide to General Washington at Yorktown. His death left four children fatherless, so the two youngest, George Washington Parke Custis and his sister Eleanor, were adopted by the Washingtons and taken to Mount Vernon to be raised as their own.

HIS EARLY LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. Only 6 months old when he was taken to live at Mount Vernon, it was a remarkable experience for a boy as sensitive and gifted as young Custis to grow up on terms of intimacy with General Washington, whose affection the fatherless lad reciprocated with the deepest love and respect. As far as public duties would allow, the General supervised the training and education of the boy, who acquired from him the interests and ideals which established the pattern of his life. “It is really an enjoyment to be here to witness the tranquil happiness that reigns throughout the house,” wrote a guest at Mount Vernon in 1799, “except when now and then a little bustle is occasioned by the young Squire Custis when he returns from hunting, bringing in a ‘valiant deer’, as he terms it, that Grandpa and the Colonel will devour: nice venison I assure you.”

GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS MOVES TO ARLINGTON. Custis was 18 when the General died in 1799. Mrs. Washington did not long survive her husband, and when she died, early in 1802, Custis moved to “Mount Washington,” as he first called the Arlington estate. This was a tract of nearly 1,100 acres that Custis’ father had bought in 1778 with the intention of establishing a family seat convenient to Mount Vernon, but in 1802 the only tangible remains of his brief ownership were the flourishing willows he had planted along the Potomac.

“ARLINGTON HOUSE” BEGUN. When Custis moved into a cottage built by the former owners of the property, Arlington consisted mostly of woodland and virgin oak forests, with a few cleared fields near the river. His first concern was to get the fields under cultivation, using for the purpose the mules and farm equipment he had purchased at the sales held that year at Mount Vernon to settle the legacies of the several Washington heirs. Equally urgent was the need to build a house worthy of the furnishings and mementoes which he had inherited or bought at the Mount Vernon sales, some of which were deteriorating badly in their temporary quarters. To this end, he seems to have obtained building plans from George Hadfield, a gifted young architect, who had come from England in 1795 to take charge of the construction of the Capitol.

Influenced by the contemporary vogue for classical architecture, Custis wanted his house to be in the new style, and the architect’s finished design was a simplified Greek Doric portico balanced by extended wings, the whole of such sturdiness as to show to advantage when viewed from across the river. Since ornamentation would be lost at such a distance, the architect largely dispensed with it, relying on good proportions to give beauty to his creation. Rooms would be large and have high ceilings and tall windows, and their severely plain walls would be perfect for displaying the many portraits Custis possessed. Having the rooms open into each other would give extensive vistas, framed by pleasing semicircular arches.

Though clay for bricks and choice timber were at hand on his estate, Custis lacked the money necessary to build his house all at once. Therefore he followed the common practice of building the wings first, and the main section later. The north wing was built about 1803, and was evidently intended to be one great banquet room. By 1804, the south wing was completed, containing an office and a large room for entertaining. In that year Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh. To provide living quarters for himself and his bride he had the north wing partitioned into three small rooms. With a kitchen and laundry in the basement, the young couple had the essentials of living at “Arlington House,” as Custis named his new home, after the old family seat on the Eastern Shore. At this point, work seems to have been stopped. A visitor reported in 1811, “I was struck, on entering the grounds of Mr. Custis, at Arlington, ... with several of the most picturesque views. This seat is on a superb mount, and his buildings are begun in a stile of superior taste and elegance.”

ARLINGTON AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. While building his house, Custis inaugurated an annual fair designed to improve agricultural practices in general, and particularly the breeding of fine-wooled sheep. Beginning in 1803, Custis invited the local gentry each spring to exhibit their best sheep and homespun cloth at Arlington Spring, near the edge of the river. After prizes had been awarded, the fair would close with patriotic speeches and a great dinner under the tent which had been used by Washington during the Revolution.

By breeding the native stock on his farms with the imported stock he had acquired from Mount Vernon, Custis himself developed a hardy race of fine-wooled sheep, known as the “Arlington Improved.” Because the wool of this breed could be woven into finer cloth than hitherto possible, the Arlington sheep were widely diffused throughout the country. Custis also sought to correct the primitive agricultural methods which had already caused much land in his State to be abandoned because of soil erosion. He advocated the establishment of a National Board of Agriculture with functions like those of the Department of Agriculture today, and he offered one of his outlying properties for use as an experimental breeding station. So popular was the Arlington Sheepshearing, as it was commonly called, that the idea was quickly adopted elsewhere. Though economic conditions forced Custis to discontinue the event after 1812, it was one of the primary sources of the great program of agricultural improvement in effect today.

BIRTH OF MARY ANNA RANDOLPH CUSTIS. Mary Anna Randolph Custis, born in 1808, was the only one of the four Custis children to survive the first year of infancy. Upon her the parents centered their affections and hopes. The mother’s natural piety and devotion to her family were deepened by the loss of her other children, while the father’s warm and generous nature was such that in later years she could not recall ever having received an unkind word from him.

CUSTIS AND THE WAR OF 1812. During the War of 1812, the British blockade of the Chesapeake deprived Custis of much of the income from his other estates, so it is doubtful if any building was done at Arlington at this time. Convinced that Napoleon threatened the liberties of mankind more than England, Custis strongly opposed the war. For this reason he was chosen to deliver the funeral oration for General Lingan, a veteran of the Revolution who was murdered by the same Baltimore mob which almost killed Robert E. Lee’s father, “Light-Horse Harry” Lee. Nevertheless, Custis followed the example set by George Washington during the American Revolution by forbidding the managers of his plantations to furnish supplies to the British; and when British troops approached the National Capital in 1814, Custis fought in the ranks at the battle of Bladensburg.

“ARLINGTON HOUSE” COMPLETED. After the war, Custis resumed work on his house, and the large center section and great portico were to have been finished in 1817. “A house that any one might see with half an eye,” as Robert E. Lee later described it, could not fail to attract attention, and “Custis’ Folly” is first mentioned by a traveler in 1818. Although the interior was never completed as planned and the rear was left unstuccoed, “Arlington House” was soon considered one of the handsomest residences about Washington. One early writer describes it as “a noble-looking place, having a portico of stately white columns, which, as the mansion stands high, with a back ground of dark woods, forms a beautiful object in the landscape.”

THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON KEPT ALIVE AT ARLINGTON. “Arlington House” now became the successor of Mount Vernon as the “Washington Treasury,” as Custis termed it. His collection of Washington relics was the largest in existence, and it filled the halls and rooms of the mansion. The owner of these relics welcomed all who wished to view them, and he never tired of entertaining his guests with tales of his early years at Mount Vernon. Many distinguished men visited Arlington at one time or other—Sam Houston, Daniel Webster, and Andrew Jackson, to name a few. One of the most notable was General Lafayette, who twice was a guest there when he toured the United States in 1824 and 1825. Custis spent much time with the venerable marquis, and used the wealth of reminiscenses he gained from the old soldier to write the delightful _Conversations With Lafayette_, which was published in a local newspaper in 1825. Encouraged by their favorable reception, he then began his own _Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington_, which proved equally popular and were widely reprinted in the newspapers of the period.

Even more successful were the dramas Custis wrote at this time, based on heroic episodes in the Nation’s past or on inspiring contemporary achievements. _The Indian Prophecy_ used an incident in Washington’s early life as its theme and established a vogue for Indian plays which lasted over 50 years; while the _Rail Road_ was the first one written on that subject in America. Others dramatized such events as the battle of Baltimore and the launching of a new warship. For 10 years his dramatic pieces were staged from Boston to Charleston and did much to develop a distinctive American drama.

A man of culture, Custis used all of his abilities to perpetuate the memory of Washington. He erected the first monument on the President’s birthplace in 1816, wrote poems to celebrate his greatness, and painted colorful battle pictures in which the great General was the central figure. An accomplished orator, he was tireless in advocating the principles of freedom for which Washington had fought, and planned to do with his slaves as his foster father had done—free them after they had been prepared to shift for themselves. Although he never held an elective office, his influence was considerable and for the good.

HOME LIFE AT ARLINGTON. An equal source of inspiration at “Arlington House” was the religious atmosphere of its home life. Mrs. Custis was a devout Episcopalian, noted for her simplicity and piety. It was she who influenced Robert E. Lee’s Sunday school teacher, Bishop William Meade, to enter the ministry. Diligent where her husband was inclined to be easy-going, Mrs. Custis was one with him in making Arlington free from ostentation.

Kept unspoiled by her parents’ example, Mary Custis was given the education deemed necessary for a young lady of her position, and as soon as she was old enough herself taught the children of nearby families and family servants. Though an only child, she never lacked companionship, for usually the house overflowed with relatives and their children. The Custises, too, often went visiting, especially to “Ravensworth,” formerly the home of Mrs. Custis’ father and now owned by her only brother. Here Mary must have played as a child with Robert E. Lee, for he and his mother were also related to the Fitzhughs and often visited at their estate. The Lees were familiar with Arlington as well, for Robert was a favorite with the Custises from boyhood. He and Mary Custis are said to have planted some of the trees in the vicinity of the house when they were young.

POCAHONTAS! OR, THE SETTLERS OF VIRGINIA,

A NATIONAL DRAMA, IN THREE ACTS.

Performed at the Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, twelve nights, with great success.

WRITTEN BY GEORGE WASHINGTON CUSTIS, ESQ. Of Arlington House. Author of the Rail Road, Pawnee Chief, &c. &c.

PHILADELPHIA EDITION. © ALEXANDER, PR. ::::::: 1830.

MARRIAGE OF MARY CUSTIS AND ROBERT E. LEE. Childhood friendship turned to love by the time Lee graduated from West Point and was assigned to duty in the Corps of Engineers. Whenever possible he was at Arlington courting Mary Custis, and in the summer of 1830 they became engaged.

The evening of the wedding, June 30, 1831, was one of steady rain, but nothing could affect the warmth and happiness inside the friendly portals of Arlington. The ceremony was formal and elaborate as befitted the union of two of the most prominent families of Virginia. The happy couple, surrounded by pretty bridesmaids and uniformed groomsmen, made a picturesque scene.

THE LEES AT FORT MONROE, 1831 TO 1834. Wedding trips not being customary at that time, the young married couple stayed at Arlington until it was time for them to go to Fort Monroe where Lee was stationed. At Christmas they returned home, and, because of the bad weather, Mrs. Lee remained there till spring. Furniture and choice provisions from the Custis farms helped to make the Lee’s quarters at the fort more homelike, while Mrs. Custis’ frequent letters lessened her daughter’s homesickness, as did the whimsical, chatty ones her father wrote regularly to his “Dr Son & Daughter.” In September of 1832, their first child was born there, a son named George Washington Custis Lee, after his grandfather. Christmas that year at Arlington was especially happy because of the new baby (known familiarly as “Custis” Lee), and because Lee was unexpectedly able to be there. The following year passed much the same way.

LEE ON DUTY AT WASHINGTON, 1834 TO 1837. In the autumn of 1834, Lee was transferred to Washington and with his family made his home at Arlington. Sometimes his work kept him away overnight, but usually each morning and afternoon he was to be seen riding between his office and home. Lee disliked the office work which kept him in the city until the middle of 1837, but life at Arlington was most pleasant. Mrs. Lee’s parents idolized their little grandson, and for them Lee felt a growing respect and affection. Custis was the nearest link to the first President, and associating with him and living in the presence of so many of the General’s personal belongings made Washington very close and real to the young engineer, an example and influence that steadily entered his soul.

Lee fitted easily into the quiet way of life at Arlington. Mrs. Lee and her mother cared little for formal social affairs, preferring to be out of doors gardening or riding about the estate when not entertaining visitors. Mr. Custis was usually busy with his farm, and since he liked to hunt, he might often be seen walking or riding about the estate with his gun and dogs; evenings he spent with his family by the hearth, or retired to his study to work on his literary efforts. Each morning and evening the family and servants gathered for prayers, and grace was said before each meal. On Sundays the family usually drove into Alexandria to church, or held services at home if the roads were bad. Mrs. Lee, like her father, was an amateur artist, an interest shared by her husband who also occasionally assisted Mr. Custis in his business affairs or put his engineering experience to use in making improvements.

Troubles there were, of course. Lee was away on a mission to Ohio and Michigan when his second child, a daughter whom they named Mary, was born in the summer of 1835. When he returned, he found his wife so seriously ill that she was unable to walk for months. This was the first of a series of illnesses which were to make her an invalid much of her life.

Though this experience saddened Lee at the time, it made his home the more dear to him. It was about this time that he wrote to a friend: “The Country looks very sweet now, and the hill at Arlington covered with verdure, and perfumed by the blossoms of the trees, the flowers of the Garden. Honey-Suckles, yellow Jasmine, &c. is more to my taste than at any other season of the year. But the brightest flower there blooming is my daughter.... [I] hurry home to her every day.”

THE LEES AT ST. LOUIS, 1838 TO 1839. In 1837 another son was born, and although Lee had received orders to report to St. Louis he was able to remain at Arlington until he was assured the mother and baby were doing well. Christmas he was home again, remaining there till spring so Mrs. Lee and the two boys could return with him to St. Louis. Little Mary stayed behind with her grandparents, which may have compensated them somewhat for the absence of her parents the following Christmas.

Now a captain, Lee brought his family home in the spring of 1839 for Mrs. Lee to await the arrival of their fourth child, though he could not remain for the event. Early in July, he heard a new daughter had joined the family circle, but not until Christmas did he get to see her.

An incident which probably occurred that winter illustrates the seriousness with which Lee viewed his family responsibilities. He and 8-year-old Custis had gone for a walk one snowy day, the boy following behind while his father broke the way. Preoccupied with ploughing through the deep snow, the father failed to look behind for some time, and when he did, saw that his little son was setting his feet carefully in the tracks his father had made, while imitating his every movement. “When I saw this,” Lee related afterwards, “I said to myself, ‘It behooves me to walk very straight, when the little fellow is already following in my tracks’.”

LEE AT FORT HAMILTON, N. Y., 1841 TO 1846. Lee did not return to St. Louis until the summer of 1840, and then only to finish up his work and return home. There his fifth child, a girl, was born the following February. Soon after, Lee was sent to Fort Hamilton, N. Y., where he remained on duty until 1846. During these years it was customary for his family to be with him at New York during the summer and fall months and at Arlington the rest of the year, where Lee usually passed the winter. Two more children, a boy and a girl, were born in these years. Telling a friend about the arrival of the boy, Lee wrote: “About a month ago a young Robert E. Lee made his appearance at Arlington, much to the surprise and admiration of his brothers and sisters. He has a fine long nose like his father, but no whiskers.”

WAR WITH MEXICO, 1846 TO 1848. Because war with Mexico seemed imminent when Lee went back to Fort Hamilton in the spring of 1846, Mrs. Lee and the children remained at Arlington. Hostilities began in May, and in August Lee was ordered to report for service in Mexico. Returning home, he spent a few days at Arlington arranging his affairs, then said goodbye to his family. Twenty-two months passed before he saw it again, months of anxiety for those waiting at home, relieved only by his long and frequent letters, such as the one he wrote to his two eldest sons the day before Christmas, 1846: “I hope good Santa Claus will fill my Rob’s stocking to-night: that Mildred’s, Agnes’s, and Anna’s may break down with good things. I do not know what he may have for you and Mary, but if he only leaves for you one half of what I wish, you will want for nothing!”