[Memorial Day Special] How a House of War Became a Place of Honor: The Story of Arlington

On this episode of Our American Stories, Arlington National Cemetery is the nation’s most iconic military burial ground, but its origins are more surprising than you might think. Elliott Drago of the Jack Miller Center shares the little-known story behind its founding, rooted in the Civil War, and what it means for the country today—a powerful reminder around Memorial Day.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories.
The show where America is the star and the American
people coming to you from where the West begins in
Fort Worth, Texas, an all show long. We're celebrating Memorial Day.
The nation's most prominent military burial ground, Arlington National Cemetery,

(00:31):
has an unexpected beginning. You're to tell the story is
Elliot Drago from the Jack Miller Center. Let's take a listen.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
A long dead Civil War soldier made news recently when
an urn containing his ashes was discovered sitting on a
shelf in a Cincinnati cemetery. This man, Isaac C. Hart,
enlisted in New Bedford, massachuse Eustis as a private in
eighteen sixty one and served in the infantry until eighteen
sixty four, when he was promoted to captain of the

(01:07):
second United States Colored Cavalry. As a white officer leading
black soldiers, Hart knew he might face torture from the Confederates.
If captured, his men could face worse. The Confederates had
promised to execute on the spot or sell into slavery,
and he captured black soldier. Luckily, the second suffered light casualties.

(01:27):
Hart himself survived the war and afterward moved to Cincinnati,
where he died in nineteen thirteen. For the past one
hundred and ten years, his ashes went unclaimed until his
great great niece received a phone call Captain Hart's remains
had been rediscovered, and so on April twenty seventh, twenty

(01:48):
twenty three, Isaac C. Hart was buried with full military
honours at Arlington National Cemetery for his service to the
country in the Civil War, overlooking Washington d C. Arlington
National Cemetery today serves as the final resting place for
approximately four hundred thousand Americans. What many may not realize, however,

(02:09):
is that the history of Arlington National Cemetery stretches back
to the founding of the United States. Originally known as
Arlington House, the land that became the nation's cemetery was
once owned by George Washington's stepson, John Parke Custis. Cussis
envisioned Arlington House as a memorial to the nation's first president,
complete with Washington memorabilia and family heirlooms. Reflecting the tension

(02:33):
of freedom and slavery in the early Republic, enslaved black
Americans built Arlington House and toiled on the grounds for decades,
as Custis desired that the property also function as a
working plantation. By eighteen fifty seven, one hundred and ninety
six enslaved black Americans lived and worked at Arlington House.

(02:54):
Americans might be surprised to learn who inherited Arlington House
that year. Mary Anna Randolph Custis, the wife of none
other than Robert E. Lee. After Virginia seceded from the
Union in May eighteen sixty one, Lee and his family
abandoned the house, allowing Union soldiers to capture the property
and surround it with military forts designed to protect Washington,

(03:16):
d c. And Astonishing. One third of Civil War battles
were fought within one hundred miles at the Capitol. As
casualties began to mount, local cemeteries filled capacity, enter Union
Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Miggs. Miggs, who served under Robert E.

(03:37):
Lee prior to the Civil War and once considered him
a friend, viewed Lee's defection to the Confederacy as unforgivable.
When presented with the opportunity to pay Lee back for
his treachery, Miggs successfully lobbied for Arlington to become a
national Cemetery, a move designed to prevent lee from ever
returning at war's end. On May eleventh, eighteen sixty four,

(04:01):
Private William Christman became the first soldier buried at Arlington.
A month later, the Union Army set aside two hundred
acres of the property as a military cemetery. By eighteen
sixty five, almost sixteen thousand soldiers would be buried at Arlington,
with Meigs ordering that a tomb for over two thousand
unknown soldiers be placed in the Estates Acclaimed Rose Garden.

(04:26):
Between the burial of William Chrisman in eighteen sixty four
and Isaac C. Hart, thousands of Americans ordinary in their
lives but extraordinary in their deeds, have been laid to
rest at Arlington National Cemetery. There's an old saying that
children cannot serve parents beyond the grave. That said, we

(04:47):
can and must honor the previous generations in ways that
help us better appreciate the sacrifices they made to preserve
our freedom. We must study and recognize not only their
lives and what they fought for, but the larger implicated
contexts of their world and ours, The depths of each
person's life including their hopes, dreams, and actions, can and

(05:09):
will inspire us if we take the time to consider
what unites us as human beings and Americans. Arlington National
Cemetery deserves our attention because the thousands of ordinary Americans
interred there are like us, yet of accomplished great and
extraordinary things. How can we repay this debt and emulate

(05:30):
these men and women, in part by bringing our founding
ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness into
fruition through the hard work of understanding our history. This
is the type of civic education we pursue and celebrate
at the Jack Miller Center. Arlington's motto Honor, Remember, Explore
reminds Americans that the conflicts to preserve a nation conceived

(05:53):
in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men
are created equal required courage, confidence, and a tremendous amount
of work. We honor those who died for our country
by remembering their sacrifices and exploring ways in which we,
too can perform the difficult yet life affirming work that
brings us ever closer to realizing our nation's founding ideals.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Had a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to
Elliot Drago from the Jack Miller Center. And the Center
is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers dedicated to
educating the next generation that America's founding principles and history.
To learn more of visit Jackmillercenter dot org. That's Jackmillercenter

(06:42):
dot org. And by the way, those three words honor, remember, explore,
you could say in some ways those are the three
words of our American Stories. And my goodness, By eighteen
sixty five, sixteen thousand Civil War soldiers were buried in Arlington,
one third of Civil War battles having been fought one
hundred miles within DC. And by the way, that line,

(07:06):
children can't serve parents beyond their grave, well that just
strikes well close to home. It's the young who die
in war and the parents who bury them. And that
is the biggest reason why we must remember and honor
those who paid the ultimate price in the service of
our country. The story of Arlington National Cemetery. Here on

(07:27):
our American Stories. This is Lee Habib, host of our
American Stories. Every day we set out to tell the
stories of Americans past and present, from small towns to
big cities, and from all walks of life doing extraordinary things.
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(07:47):
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