Prior to the Civil War, deceased military personnel were buried at either the Soldiers' Cemetery in Washington, D.C., or Virginia's Alexandria Cemetery. But in May of 1864, these sites were quickly overcrowding, soldiers were still dying in the masses and a new cemetery was needed.
Enter Montgomery C. Meigs, the Union quartermaster in charge of the new cemetery. A southerner by birth, Meigs opposed secession, sided with the Union, and hated Robert E. Lee for not doing the same. The new cemetery, he decided, would need to be a plot high in elevation, aesthetically pleasing, and with a clear view of the District of Columbia. All of these requirements, he discovered just so happened to be met by Robert E. Lee's nearby abandoned Arlington House.
In converting the property into a cemetery, Meigs made it his personal goal to fill it with so many bodies, it would be completely unlivable for Lee upon his return. At first, he simply lined the flower garden with plots of dead officers. Once he realized the house was still inhabitable, Meigs ordered even more dead soldiers be sent there, with orders that they be scattered in various locations about the property. His plan was a success, as Lee never even attempted to return.
Today, with over 400,000 gravestones, what's now known as Arlington National Cemetery stands as a military mecca for honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
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