The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-07-17
ARLINGTON.
A PEACEFUL SPOT WHERE RE-
POSE OVER 10000 SOLDIERS.
The Place Consecrated to the Past
The Mansion Of Robert e. Lee
An Estate Beloved of Nature
Faithful Old Slaves.

Adelightful ride of three miles, through
historic Georgetown, past old buildings
in which George Washington dined,
under the shadow of the famous college,
over Aqueduct Bridge and the beautiful
Potomac, past Fort Meyer, where the
signal service prognosticators are trained
with military precision and discipline,
and we are at the gates of Arlington, says
a correspondent. 1t is like entering a
new world. Behind lie commerce, wealth,
ambition, politics, the present, the future.
Once in Arlington you live in the past,
and the past alone. The road winds
amc 7g the oaks, elms, naples, magnoias,
many kinds of evergrcens, arbor vite and
thousands of Towering shrubs. The air
is laden with the perfume of flowers, the
sward is green and restful, the shade
cooling. But the marvellous beauties of
nature, here spread with lavish hand, are
as nothing compared to the real Airing
ton. These natural attractions are but
the fair and graceful body. Arlington
possesses soul.
Under the sward repose the remains of
1928 soldiers. Four thousand four
hundred and forty nine of these are un-
known. Vast as are these figures. one
can easily believe them true, for on either
side the long, regularly formed rows of
small, white headstones extend, perspec-
tives of green between lines of white rs
far as vision can reach. The grounds are
perfectly kept. There is no grave that
has become sunken, and none is marked
by an elevation of the ground. Smooth
and even is the surface everywhere. Walk
among these stones and in ten minutes
one may see such typical American names
as Sherman, Whittier, Spaulding, Jack
son, Lee, Buchanan, Lawrence, Sheridan,
Grant, Randolph, Allen.
One of the Jacksons bears the initials
gu. s. G." and near by, oddly enough,
is an "Andrew Grant" Not far away is
"George Washington" and within a
stones throw two other Washingtons-
ga" and "J." Plenty of good Irish
names may be seen, too, and German as
well, significant of the valiant part borne
in the struggle by the sons Of these
countries. Silent witnesses of wars
havoc are all these stones, but more es-
pecially the ones occasionally come upon
marked "a Leg" or Gan ARM" A few
of these unidentified members were
honored with separate burial, but in one
great pit were Thrown the bones of 2111
unknown soldiers, gathered after war
from the fields of Bull Run and the route
to the Rappahannock. Over them is a
cannon surmounted monument bearing
the inscription:
"Their remains could not be identi-
fed, but their names and deaths are re-
corded in the archives of their country,
and its grateful citizens honor them rs OF
their noble army of martyrs. May they
rest in peace"
Frequently one notes the name of a
woman, and on inquiry is surprised to
learn that the remains of several hundred
| women repose here in honor. But in
this there is nothing inappropriate, and
! on the records all go down as ''soldiers, u
for they were the wives of officers who
fell in battle, or nurses in the field hos
! pitals. Surely these women who kept
the homes and comforted the wounded
and dying may fittingly be included with
| those of whom the roadside tablet sings
On flames eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
The biyouac Of the dead.
Driving through the cemetery these
i iron tablets with raised letters of white
are seen by the way. Hundreds of thou
J sands of visitors have seen and admired
them-never did poet have better set
ting for his verses but few know thu
origin of the lines. They were writer
by Theodore 'O'Hara, gifted Irish
Kentuckian soldier and scholar, and read
by him on the occasion of the unveiline
of a monument to the dead of the Mexi
can war at Frankfort, Ky, many year
ago. As one enters Arlington by tn
west gate nearly the whole of this beau
tiful poem is shown him, verse by verse
as he drives along.
By the roadside stand many pretty
,, monuments of officers and heroes. But
Of greater interests than any other Object
within the tract Of 1130 acres is Airing
ton House, o massive structure with
great portico of doric columns. Hero
; Robert E.. Lee was we'd in 1881 to Mrs.
Curtis, granddaughter of George Wash
ington, and here he lived, when not away
in his country's service, for thirty years
The old house stands just as it stood
seventy-fve years ago. Though stripped
of its antique furniture and invaluable
relics of Washington its precious mem
ories still cling to it-nemories which
all the fortunes of war and tragedies o1
fate cannot take away from it. a veal
or two ago its outer walls had become
much faded, but have recently been
painted their old yellow color.
The servants quarters, the detanseo
kitchen and other outbuildings are pre-
served intact. In part of the hases
now lives the family Of the officer in
charge of the cemetery, and the hall and
southern parlors are given up to the USE
of the public. A register is kept, il
! which 10, 900 visitors record their name:
each year, and on the walls hang maps
of the cemetery, the diagram showing
every grave and the names of oil the
known dead.
A magnificent estate was this o.
General Lee Step out on the porticC