Arlington National Cemetery

Here, beneath the lofty oaks and elms, on hillsides and in shady del1s, under magnificent marble tombs and modest headstones, lie thousands upon thousands of America's heroic dead. The greatest admirals and generals and the humblest soldiers and sailors have been laid in their last resting places, with equal honors: to each a flag-draped coffin, a firing squad for the traditional three volleys, and the lingering bugle notes of Taps. "In the democracy of the dead, all men at last arc equal."

In front of the white marble amphitheater, looking toward the placid Potomac, as it flows seaward, is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, America's shrine and symbol of a nation's respect. Here sleep thousands of unknown soldiers: in one huge grave, under one monument, lie the remains of two thousand one hundred eleven, gathered from those bloody battlefields of Bull Run, the Wilderness, and the route to the Rappahannock.

Not far from the old mansion, still preserved in all its dignity of former generations, lie the master and mistress of Arlington. Beneath the modest marble shafts that mark their graves, inclosed within an iron fence, the last to die of the executors of George Washington's will, George Washington Parke Custis, and his consort, Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, are silent hosts to their country's illustrious dead.

During the lifetime of Mr. Custis most of the famous men of America had been entertained at Arlington House, save only Aaron Burr, whom he would never receive. Lafayette was an honored guest for some days, upon the occasion of his farewell visit to America, in 1824. Together they visited the tomb at Mount Vernon, where Mr. Custis presented the distinguished Frenchman with a ring containing a lock of Washington's hair: and Lafayette, the gallant brother-in-arms of our first Chief Executive, wept with emotion.

To Arlington, in his young manhood, came the handsome Robert E. Lee, lieutenant in the United States Army to woo the only child, daughter and heiress of its broad acres.

To-day, immediately in front of the portico of the mansion, is the tomb of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, that eminent French engineer who laid out the plan of the city of Washington for George Washington. His mortal remains were reclaimed from an obscure grave in a desolate, almost-forgotten cemetery and brought to Arlington to be reinterred with honors in a resting place overlooking the Capital City he labored so faithfully to beautify.

Close by sleep Phil Sheridan and Admiral David Porter. Indeed, reading the carved headstones in Arlington is like calling the roll of America's heroes: Admirals Schley, Sampson, "Fighting Bob" Evans, Peary; Generals Phil Kearny, Lawton, Miles, Leonard Wood, and hundreds of others from every State, from city, town, and hamlet. Doubtless there is no one cemetery in the world where more heroes of a nation lie buried. There are no "crosses, row on row," but simple…”