The Portland daily press., 1868-03-26
AGRICoLA
A VISIT TO ARLINGTON.

AGRICoLA.
Our Heroic Dead
VISIT TO ARLINGTON.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Mar. %, 1858.
To the Editor of the Press:
1t is often surprising to remember that the
| men who control the eve,,ts-the out ward
life--of their own time, thereby control the
| ideas the inner life-of those who follow
them. So the literature ofa people reflects, not
the present but the past. During che Ameli-
can Revolution. the men who opposed 1t were
neither lew in numbers, low in station, nor
weak in influence. But fifty years later, the
glory of the great struggle had so thoroughly
mbued the whole literature of the country,
that it was difficult TO conceive that the To-
ries were ever either numerous, or respecta-
BILE.
have sometime wondered whether it will
be so with our second Revolution, which has,
at infinitely greater cost of blood and treasure,
but just realized the idea of the first. Will its
heroes, and their achievements, be the theme
of orators, and poets, and the groundwork of
A~AAAS eAN hAStoAJt iOl thC ACAl hUuuLS0
years? Will Lincoln, and Grant, and Sher-
man, be to our children, what Washington,
and Hamilton, and Warren, have been to us
Will the new battle f Ids take the place of
the old, as the inspiration of elcquence and
song, until tie uartoIs Of this day shall be
as thoroughly 6esIised as Arnold has always
been by us?
Whatever doubts have had on this subject
were all dispelled by visit to Arlington
Our recent wardid not surrass that of seventy
six more in its magnitude, then in the care
of the people for the soldiers while living, and
in regard for their memories when dead
There have been monuments in all ages in
honor of the rev great leaders in war, on
land, or sea. But such works of art in men,
ory OF the common soldiers as are springlng
up all over the North, and especially such
cemetries as those at Gettysburg, at the
Military Asylum in Washington, and this at
Arlington Heights, the world has never seen.
Here their remains are protected, their names
and deeds recorded, and their m emories en-
shrined.
Our route was by the way Of the Long
Bridge, which viii be memorable in the his
tory Of the war. / had never crossed it be-
fore; and it had double interest to me, as 1
recalled the story OF the slave girl, who, years
ago, in her attempt to escape when overtaken
here by her pursuers, threw herself from this
| bridge into the turbid waters of the Potomac,
| choosing d ath rather than bondage.
Our driver was smart, intelligent colored
man, who was a slave when the war COM
menced. He told us, in his own peculiar
styl,, of his escape from Alexandria and the
difficulties he encountered in reaching Wash.
inston while Mcclellan was in command
and fugitive slaves were not allowed within
our lines. But he finally reached Washing
ton and has ever since been taking care Of
himself in way that would do credit to any
| white man. And 1t is not little suggestive
to state that since have been here, the Pres
ident and his family attended the funeral oil
a colored man who had been in his employ
who has lett an estate valued at over one
hundred thousand dollars.
The Arlington estate formerly belonged tC
George Washington Parker Custis, the adopt
ed son of Washington. Upon his decease, q
lew years before the rebellion, the property
passed into the hands of Gen. Lee, who wa
connected with the family. 1t contains some
seven or eight hundred acres of land. OF this
two hundred and fifty acres have been en-.
closed as a National Cemetery" for soldiers
The remainder is to be divided into small lott
of five and ten acres each, and leased to th,
freedmen, several hundred of whom resid,
there. Their houses clustered together, ant
all white, composing the "Freedmen's VII
lage," though cheap, give to the place, as yol
approach 1t, a picturesque and beautiful ap
pearance.
The drive to the mansion, through wba
remains of the noble forest that surrounded
it, is bordered, portion OF the way, with th,
graves OF officers who died during the wal
Among the names noticed quite numbe
from Maine. The house is of the old Virgins
tyle, copied from the English, with broa,
hall running through the centre, portic'
in front, and two wings. 1t was commences
in 1905, and must have been much dilapidat
ed even before the war. The lower room
are open to the public, and look desolate an
dreary.
A short distance In the rear may be seel
low, oblong, granite monument, bearin
the following inscri Jtion, which tells its ow
sad story:
BENEATH THIS STONE
reEose the bodies of two thousand one hundred an
from the helds OF Bull Kun and the route to Il
Rappahannocs.
Their remains could not be identified: Int The
coun.r .ry, and its grateful citizens honor them
tnelf noble company OF martyrs. May they lest
peace.
: September 1866.
Still further back, is the largest of the tw
fields appropriated exclusively for burial, cor
< tanning, as the Superintendent informed m
i between thirty and forty acres. The other
' on the opposite side of the cemetery, neare
: the Potomac. Here are the remains OF n
i teen thousand niue hundred and eighty on
4 soldiers, who gave their lives for their coui
n try,-a large number,-and yet but sma
t fraction OF the great army OF the dead.
The graves here are arranged in doubl
il rows, with gravelled walks between crossin
II so as 20 Give access to each one. A whi
a board is placed at the head of each, on whic
q IL inscribed the name, rank, regiment an
e State. of the deceased, with The date OF b
r death,-except that occasionally one Is mar
+ ed .-unknown." These beadboards are
Is wood, and will soon decay; but the cover
1t ment proposes to replace them with ne
II ones, OF cast iron. The field here is slight
P uudulating; and as one stands in the mid
b of it, and looks upon these long lines
: graves, stretching away in the distance
d every side, he can realize, as never before, Il
r awful penalty our nation has paid for its lol
a years OF oppression.
l. At irregular intervals, near the crossin
t. are boards elevated on posts, on which q