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. General Robert E. Lee in 1865. From the original photograph by Mathew Brady in the National Archives. Ever since it was built more than a century ago, the Custis-Lee Mansion has d

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 yo

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 lea

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 rest

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

The mansion is located in Arlington National Cemetery and is reached by way of Arlington Memorial Bridge. Bus service is available via Arlington Memorial Bridge to the main gate of the cemetery. Automobiles use the same approach and may be parked near the mansion. Visiting hours, October through March, are from 9:30 a. m. to 4:30 p. m.; April through September, 9:30 a. m. to 6 p. m. There is a small admission charge, which is waived for children and educational groups....

Custis-Lee Mansion National Memorial is administered by the National Capital Parks of the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior. Other national memorials administered by the National Capital Parks are: The Lincoln Memorial, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Museum, and the House Where Lincoln Died. Communications should be addressed to the Superintendent, National Capital Parks, Interior Building, Washington 25, D. C....

Alexander, E. P. Military Memoirs of a Confederate. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, N. Y. 1907. Custis, George Washington Parke. The Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington. Derby and Jackson, New York, N. Y. 1860. Craven, Avery (Ed.). To Markie: The Letters of Robert E. Lee to Martha Custis. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1934. Fishwick, Marshall. General Lee’s Photographer. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N. C. 1954. Freeman, Douglas Southall. R. E. Lee:

(Price lists of National Park Service publications may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D.C.)...