Part 2

The war ended early in 1848, and seeing many of the returning volunteers enjoy Mr. Custis’ hospitality at Arlington Spring must have made the Lees more impatient for the return of their own hero. When Lee finally arrived in Washington he missed the carriage sent for him, and so procured a horse to ride home. None of those anxiously watching for a glimpse of the carriage noticed the lone horseman ascending the hill, and not till “Spec,” Lee’s dog, rushed out joyfully barking did they realize their soldier was home. Great was the excitement as he greeted them in the hall, and his mistaking a friend’s little boy for his own added to the hilarity. “Here I am again, my dear Smith,” Lee wrote to his brother the next day, “perfectly surrounded by Mary and her precious children, who seem to devote themselves to staring at the furrows in my face and the white hairs in my head.... I find them too much grown, and all well, and I have much cause for thankfulness and gratitude to that good God who has once more united us.”

THE LEES AT ARLINGTON, 1848 TO 1849. The summer of 1848 was a happy one at Arlington, for Lee was on duty in Washington and was promoted to brevet colonel, so that hereafter he would be titled “Colonel Lee.” Toward the end of the year he was assigned to supervise the construction of a new fort in Baltimore, but soon after officially taking over the project, he returned to Arlington. This was the winter that a guest at Arlington observed Lee’s face in quiet repose as he read to his family assembled about the table one night, and thought to herself: “You certainly look more like a great man than any one I have ever seen.”

Mrs. Lee and her mother made an equally favorable impression on a lady who visited Arlington the next spring. “We had tea in the Washington teacups, and Mrs. Lee took me into the tangled neglected gardens, full of rose-buds, and allowed me to pick my fill of the sweet dainty Bon Silene variety, which she told me blossomed all winter. What a view that was!... Mrs. Lee had the face of a genius: a wealth of dark hair, carelessly put up, gave her fine head the air of one of Romney’s portraits. She was most lovely and sympathetic. Her mother, Mrs. Custis, was a woman full of character.”

THE LEES AT BALTIMORE, 1849 TO 1852. Lee was home for a short time during the summer of 1849 to recuperate from a touch of fever, and in the autumn his family joined him at Baltimore. There they lived through 1851, coming home for Christmas and occasional visits. Seldom was the family together, however, for their eldest son, Custis, entered West Point in 1850, and usually some of the children were at Arlington with their grandparents.

Mrs. Custis kept the absent ones informed as to what was going on at Arlington. “Your Grandfather is seized with a spirit of improvement lately,” she wrote to the lad at West Point in 1851. “He is making new steps to the Portico (the old ones having so decayed as to be unsafe) and intends paving it with octagon brick tiles which are now being burned in the vast brick kilns in Washington.” Later, she reported that the steps were finished and the portico floor about to be laid.

Though 70 and often unwell, Mr. Custis’ activity seldom flagged. A polished and effective speaker, with a gift for being able to enter into the spirit of an occasion, he was well-liked for his personal charm and unassuming manner. He was fond of children, and a great favorite with the young Lees. Conscious of his advancing years, Custis increased the output of his _Recollections of Washington_, that his personal knowledge of the General might not be lost. In this he was encouraged by the Lees, who also approved his renewed interest in scientific agriculture. While strongly advocating the establishment of a department of agriculture in the National Government, Custis applied the latest methods of fertilizing and cultivation to his own farms so that the land inherited by his grandchildren would be fertile, rather than worn-out like that of so much of his native State.

Christmas in 1851 was typical of the many happy ones celebrated at Arlington, and, telling his son at West Point about it, Lee wrote: “[We] found your grandfather at the Washington depot, Daniel and the old carriage and horses, and young Daniel on the colt Mildred. Your mother, grandfather, Mary Eliza, the little people, and the baggage, I thought load enough for the carriage, so Rooney and I took our feet in our hands and walked over.... The snow impeded the carriage as well as us, and we reached here shortly after it. The children were delighted at getting back, and passed the evening in devising pleasure for the morrow. They were in upon us before day on Christmas morning, to overhaul their stockings.... I need not describe to you our amusements, you have witnessed them so often; nor the turkey, cold ham, plum-pudding, mince pies, etc., at dinner.” “Rooney” was the Lee’s second boy, William Henry Fitzhugh.

THE LEES AT WEST POINT, 1852 TO 1855; DEATH OF MRS. CUSTIS. Lee took command of West Point in September 1852, where he was shortly joined by his family. Mrs. Custis had been well when they left, so the telegram which came in April telling of her critical illness was entirely unexpected. Mrs. Lee started for home at once, but on arrival found her beloved mother dead and her father prostrated by his loss. She at once took charge of the household and herself conducted the morning worship which had been forgotten in the sorrow and confusion. After breakfast she selected a spot for her mother’s grave among the trees a short distance from the house. For years, Lee had called Mrs. Custis “Mother,” and his grief at her death was almost as great as Mrs. Lee’s. By now the religious convictions instilled in him by his mother had been matured by his own experiences and the example of those at Arlington, and soon after his return from West Point at the end of the term, he and two of his daughters were confirmed at Christ Church, Alexandria.

Hoping to divert Mr. Custis, the Lees took him back with them to West Point. But not even a trip to Niagara Falls with his son-in-law could keep him from worrying about his beloved Arlington, and he soon returned home. To ease his loneliness, the Lees came home on brief visits in the spring and summer of 1854.

LEE IN TEXAS, 1855 TO 1857. Early in 1855, Lee was assigned to a cavalry regiment being organized for service on the frontier. Before leaving for his new station he made arrangements to have the large unfinished room off the main hall, at Arlington, made into a drawing room and to have a hot-air furnace installed to heat the house. The “Big Room,” as it was called, when finished was very handsome with its marble mantelpieces and crystal chandelier, and Mrs. Lee and the girls were proud of its appearance when they showed it to Lee on his return for the holidays.

Much of his leave was given over to straightening out the finances of Mr. Custis’ other farms, for the old gentleman was now 75 and, though active in improving his lands and crops, needed the assistance of his son-in-law in managing his business affairs. Lee returned to Texas in February 1856, and was unable to be home for Christmas that year. His loneliness is apparent in the letter he wrote to Mrs. Lee: “The time is approaching when I trust many of you will be assembled around the family hearth at dear Arlington, to celebrate another Christmas. Though absent, my heart will be in the midst of you, & I shall enjoy in imagination & memory, all that is going on. May nothing occur to mar or cloud the family fireside, & may each be able to look back with pride & pleasure at their deeds of the past year, & with confidence & hope to that in prospect. I can do nothing but hope & pray for you all.”

DEATH OF MR. CUSTIS. Life at Arlington and for the father far away in Texas flowed on quietly during 1857. Although badly crippled by rheumatism, Mrs. Lee was able to manage the household and spend much time in her garden, while her father occupied himself as usual. But in the fall a telegram came to Lee, telling him of Mr. Custis’ death on October 10th. Letters from the family told him more of the sad event: how Mr. Custis had been ill of pneumonia only 4 days, how he had steadily failed, and how on the last day, after embracing his weeping daughter and grandchildren and asking to be remembered to his son-in-law, had passed away while his rector said the prayers for the dying. His last wish had been to be buried by the side of his wife, and to that spot his coffin had been borne by the family servants, followed by the Lees and a host of relatives and friends.

LEE BECOMES MASTER OF ARLINGTON. It was a saddened household to which Lee returned as soon as he could, made more so because Mrs. Lee’s illness had progressed to where she was almost incapable of getting about the house. He found it necessary to take an extended leave in order to take on the management of Mr. Custis’ properties and, as his executor, to carry out the terms of his will. This provided that after outstanding debts had been paid and legacies given each of the Lee girls, the farms were to go to the boys, although Mrs. Lee would have possession of Arlington until her death, after which it would pass to Custis Lee. All the slaves were to be freed within 5 years.

A large debt had to be paid off before anything else could be done, and Lee applied himself to making the farms as productive as possible by putting more land under cultivation and planting larger crops. For a time, it seemed that it would be impossible for him ever to discharge his obligations satisfactorily, but he could still hide his discouragement from his children, as when in the autumn of 1858 he came upon one of his daughters saying a tearful goodbye to a friend, and said cheerfully to the weeping girls: “No tears at Arlington, no tears.” Fortunately, by the summer of 1859 he could see some improvement in the situation, although much remained to be done.

JOHN BROWN’S RAID AND THE IMPENDING CRISIS. One morning in October 1859, a young lieutenant, J. E. B. Stuart, who had been a guest at Arlington several times, came with orders for Lee to report at once to the Secretary of War. There he learned of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry and was directed to take command of the forces being sent to quell the uprising. This was soon accomplished, and in a short while Lee was home again.

Affairs at Arlington were so encouraging that autumn, that Lee expected soon to rejoin his regiment in Texas. Therefore, he arranged to have his son, Custis, who was now in the Corps of Engineers, transferred to Washington where he could supervise the estate. Unlike many army officers, Lee had never been away long from his native State, and his months of hard work at Arlington had given him a sympathetic understanding of the problems faced by his kinsmen and fellow-planters and reaffirmed his belief that his first loyalty was to Virginia.

These were his views when he went to Texas in February 1860, and they remained unchanged as the discord between the North and South grew more intense. Uneasily, he observed the recklessness of the extremists on both sides, hoping always that the Union he loved would be preserved. Texas seceded in February 1861, and Lee, who had been ordered to report to Washington, arrived home at Arlington a month later. “I met Col. Robert E. Lee at Gen. Scott’s office,” one of his army friends wrote in his diary, March 5th. “He feels badly at the prospect.” Probably all that Lee could tell his old friend was that if Virginia seceded he must follow her, and that all he could do was to await developments.

LEE RESIGNS FROM THE UNITED STATES ARMY. While Lee watched, helpless, events moved rapidly. Fort Sumter was bombarded in April, and in a few days Lee heard that his own beloved Virginia had seceded. Great as was his pride in the Union, he did not believe that it should be preserved by force; moreover, he felt his first allegiance was to his State. Though his career be sacrificed and the lives and property of his children endangered, he believed he must do his duty as he saw it.

Arlington blazed with lights Friday night, April 19,1861, and was filled with relations and friends anxiously discussing the recent events. Finding it impossible to think about his problem amid the excitement, Colonel Lee went outside and paced back and forth under the trees while he pondered his future course. Still undecided, he returned to the house and went up to his bedroom. Downstairs, Mrs. Lee and the others waited anxiously. Overhead, they could hear Lee’s footsteps as he paced the floor, stopping only when he knelt to pray. It was after midnight when he finally arrived at a decision and sat down to write his resignation from the United States Army. That done, he came down with it in his hand to where his wife was waiting. “Well, Mary,” he said quietly, “the question is settled. Here is my letter of resignation, and a letter I have written to General Scott.”

THE LEES LEAVE ARLINGTON. Monday morning, Lee said goodbye to his family and left for Richmond. Before him were the long, hard years of a bitter war from which he would gain unfading glory. But never again would he be sheltered by the friendly roof of his old home at Arlington, and only once would he have a glimpse of it, and then from a passing train, several years after the war.

In view of the strategic location of Arlington, Lee urged his wife to go to a place of safety, but no preparations had been made to leave when word reached Mrs. Lee, early in May, that the Federal forces were soon to move into Virginia. Then all was excitement as the family portraits were taken from their frames and, with the plate and the most valuable Washington relics, sent off for safekeeping. Curtains and carpets were packed away in the attic, books and engravings put in closets, and the china stored in boxes in the cellar. Most of the furniture had to be left behind, but this Mrs. Lee trusted she could recover later. When everything was in order, it was time to say farewell to the weeping servants, and to leave her home for what was to be the last time.

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.

THE NATIONAL CEMETERY ESTABLISHED AT ARLINGTON, 1864. Early in 1862, the army moved away from Arlington for service in the field, but the mansion continued to be used as a headquarters. In 1864, the Government levied a tax on the Arlington estate. Because Mrs. Lee was unable to appear personally to pay the tax as stipulated, payment through her agent was refused and the property sold at public auction. In June of that year the first burials were made in 200 acres set aside as a national cemetery. Work was begun at once to restore the former natural beauty of the grounds, and by the end of the war almost all the scars caused by its military occupation had been erased. Only the long rows of white headboards gleaming among the trees and the desolate house now used only for the cemetery office bespoke the bitter strife that had wrought such a profound change at Arlington.

_Arlington from 1865 to the Present_

LEE’S INFLUENCE HELPS TO RESTORE THE SOUTH AFTER THE WAR. The splendid leadership which Lee had given his people during the war did not cease at Appomattox. As president of Washington College (afterwards Washington and Lee University), he devoted himself to restoring the South culturally, economically, and politically. Magnanimous in peace as in war, he urged his countrymen to forswear hatred and make the best of their situation. By his advice and example he did much to bring about the true restoration of the Union, not by force, but by the immeasurably stronger bonds of reconciliation and a common loyalty.

For a time General Lee hoped to regain possession of Arlington for his wife, but he died in 1870 without having recovered it. Mrs. Lee died 3 years later, and her son Custis then took legal action to obtain his inheritance. In 1882, the case was finally decided in his favor by the Supreme Court of the United States, but since thousands of soldiers had been buried at Arlington, Custis Lee accepted the offer of the Government to buy the property for $150,000.

ARLINGTON BECOMES FAMOUS AS THE FORMER HOME OF GENERAL LEE. Originally “Arlington House” had been famous for its associations with George Washington; but after the Civil War it became even more widely known as the former home of General Lee. Though its rooms were empty, thousands from all over the country came to see it each year because of the universal admiration for its former master. It was in response to this sentiment that Representative Louis C. Cramton, of Michigan, sponsored the legislation passed by Congress in 1925 which authorized the restoration of the mansion as a national memorial.

RESTORATION OF THE MANSION. The project of restoring and refurnishing the mansion was begun by the War Department in 1928. Structural changes made since 1861 were removed and the house refurnished as nearly as possible as when occupied by the Lee and Custis families. The original furnishings having long since been scattered or lost, few could be returned to their old setting, but copies were made of furniture and portraits known to have been at Arlington and pieces appropriate to the period procured. By 1933, when the mansion was transferred to the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior, the major portion of the work had been finished. However, the work of restoring the mansion to its original condition is a continuing process, as structural changes based on historical research are made and more of the original furnishings are identified and acquired.

_Guide to the House and Grounds_

THE OLD ARLINGTON ESTATE. Arlington was but one of several estates totaling more than 15,000 acres owned by George Washington Parke Custis, father-in-law of General Lee. Since the former’s income was largely derived from two large farms on the Pamunkey River in New Kent County, Va., he kept Arlington mainly as a gentleman’s country estate after the English fashion. The greater part of Arlington was taken up by “the Park,” a virgin woodland of ancient oaks and beautiful groves of walnut, chestnut, and elm trees, extending from the Georgetown and Alexandria Road at the foot of the hill clear to the western edge of the estate.

On the level land lying between the road and Potomac River was “the Farm,” consisting of an orchard and several large cultivated fields and pastures. Here was grown most of the grain and vegetables required by the Arlington household and the large number of slaves, the surplus being sold in the Washington markets. In the southeast corner of the farm was the Arlington landing, where the barge which hauled produce to market was kept, as well as the schooner _Lady of the Lake_, used to carry goods to and from the distant farms. Here also docked the steamboats _Arlington Belle_ and the _G. W. P. Custis_, which annually ferried thousands from the city to the famed Arlington Spring, for half a century a favorite picnic spot for Georgetown and Washington residents. For their convenience the hospitable owner erected pavilions for dining and dancing, requiring only that no liquor be used. Custis considered himself primarily a farmer, and spent most of each day riding or walking about the estate supervising the work being done. After he died in 1857 and the management of the estate was taken over by Col. Robert E. Lee, the area under cultivation was considerably enlarged.

Arlington originally had been part of a tract of 6,000 acres granted in 1669 by Governor William Berkeley of Virginia to a ship’s captain, named Robert Howsing, in payment for transporting settlers to the colony. Howsing soon sold his grant to John Alexander, after whom Alexandria, Va., is named, reportedly for six hogsheads of tobacco. The land remained in the Alexander family until 1778, when John Parke Custis bought 1,100 acres from Gerard Alexander with the intention of establishing a family seat. He died, however, before he had done anything with the property, whereupon it passed to his son, George Washington Parke Custis, who developed it as described.