2,111 unknown

as it originally appeared in 1866

150 years ago this month the Civil War Unknowns Monument was sealed at Arlington National Cemetery. Although Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs intended the monument to honor Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers were probably also included because all the skeletons were unidentifiable. Wikipedia also says that one of the reasons Arlington was chosen for the national cemetery was to make it impossible for Robert E. Lee to ever move back into his old house. Today Arlington House is The Robert E. Lee Memorial.

According to the October 3, 1866 issue of The New-York Times the remaining household effects from the Lee mansion were delivered to General Lee’s representative by order of President Johnson on October 1, 1866:

… It appears that nearly everything of any value had been stolen. Many valuable heirlooms, including some of the family portraits had been purloined. The portraits were taken from the frames, packed in boxes, and stored in the upper loft of the mansion for safety in 1861. These boxes had been broken open, and everything of real value taken away, and the letters and private papers of Gen. LEE scattered over the loft

D.C. from Arlington House c1838

“Brig. Gen. Gustavus A. DeRussey (third from left) and staff on portico of Arlington House” (c1864, Library of Congress)

DC from Arlington House November 2005

Sean McCue’s November 2005 photo is licensed by Creative Commons