VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR March 3, 1849 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Douglas McKay, Secretary NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Conrad L. Wirth, Director Reprint 1953 16—52238-7 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE In this Mansion, which became his home when he married Mary Custis, Robert E. Lee wrote his resignation from the United States Army in April 1861, to join the cause of Virginia and the South. The Lee Mansion National Memorial, or Arlington House, as it was formerly known, distin

George Washington Parke Custis, builder of Arlington House, was the grandson of Martha Washington and the foster son of George Washington. When Martha Dandridge Custis became the wife of Col. George Washington she was a widow with two children, Martha Parke Custis and John Parke Custis. Martha Parke Custis died in her teens without having been married, but John Parke Custis married Eleanor Calvert of Maryland in 1774, and upon his death at the close of the Revolutionary War left four children. T

The extent of the front of the Mansion, with its two wings, is 140 feet. The wings are identical, except that in the north wing the space corresponding to the state dining room in the south wing was divided into small rooms for the temporary accommodation of Mr. and Mrs. Custis while the house was being built and was never changed. The central portion is divided by a wide central hall. A large formal drawing room with two fine marble fireplaces lies south of this hall, while to the north of it c

One of the most pleasant incidents in the history of Arlington House was the visit in 1824 of General Lafayette, whose reverence for the memory of Washington matched that of his host. It is related that on entering he commented on the iron lantern in the hall, which he remembered at Mount Vernon. The view from the portico he pronounced unrivaled, entreating Mrs. Custis never to sacrifice any of the fine trees. General Lafayette returned again to Arlington House in 1825 as the guest of the Custis

On June 30, 1831, Mary Ann Randolph Custis, only child of the Custis family at Arlington, became the wife of Robert E. Lee, a young lieutenant in the U. S. Army, just 2 years out of West Point. The ceremony took place under a floral bell hung in the archway between the family dining room and parlor. The wedding party remained at Arlington in festivity and merriment until July 5, when the groom’s fellow officers, their leaves ending, were forced to say good-by. Some of the bridesmaids lingered un

Much of Mrs. Lee’s married life was spent at the home of her girlhood, sometimes with her husband, sometimes awaiting his return from the Mexican War, or other distant tours of duty. Six of the seven Lee children were born here. By the will of George Washington Parke Custis, who died in 1857, the estate of Arlington was bequeathed to his daughter for her lifetime, and afterward to his eldest grandson and namesake, George Washington Custis Lee. The state drawing room Never a thrifty farmer and an

Following the news of the secession of Virginia, news which he had hoped never to hear, Colonel Lee, on April 20, 1861, resigned his commission in the U. S. Army. Monday morning, April 22, at the request of the Governor of Virginia, he departed for Richmond. Mrs. Lee remained at Arlington engaged in the work of dismantling her home and sending family possessions to a place of safety. She had not completed this task, when, on May 24, the seizure of lands between Washington and Alexandria by Feder

Situated on the line of fortifications guarding Washington, Arlington estate soon became an armed camp, and, after the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, was used as a field hospital. In 1864, at a tax sale, the United States acquired title to Arlington for $26,800. Upon the death of Mrs. Lee in 1873—General Lee having died in 1870—Custis Lee took steps to recover his property, as under the will of his grandfather, George Washington Parke Custis, he became entitled to Arlington. His case was

For years after the war, the Mansion stood an empty shell—an office for the superintendent of the cemetery and a place for his tools. By act of Congress, approved March 4, 1925, the Secretary of War was empowered to undertake the restoration of Arlington House to the condition in which it existed prior to the War Between the States and to procure for it, when possible, furniture known to have been in the Mansion, replicas of that furniture, or other pieces of a style suitable to the first half o

Lee Mansion National Memorial is located in Arlington National Cemetery. Bus service is available via Arlington Memorial Bridge to the main cemetery gates. Automobiles use the same approach but may drive the short distance through the cemetery to parking facilities near the Mansion. Visiting hours are as follows: October through March, 9 a. m. to 4:30 p. m.; April through September, 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. There is a small admission charge, which is waived for children and educational groups....

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 Edward J. Kelly, Superintendent, National Capital Parks, Interior Building, Washington 25, D. C. Lee Mansion