This Memorial Day, we journey to a place where America’s story lives on: Arlington National Cemetery. Just recently, a long-forgotten Civil War hero, Captain Isaac C. Hart, was finally laid to rest there, over a century after his passing. Hart, a white officer who bravely led Black soldiers into battle, faced immense danger and the stark realities of the Civil War’s brutal stakes. His remarkable journey, from a shelf in a Cincinnati cemetery to a place of honor overlooking Washington D.C., reminds us that every stone at Arlington tells a deeply human tale of courage and commitment. It’s a powerful testament to the thousands of Americans, both known and unknown, who gave so much for our nation.
But the story of Arlington National Cemetery itself holds unexpected beginnings. This hallowed ground, now a cherished symbol of national sacrifice, didn’t start as a burial site. It was Arlington House, built by enslaved Black Americans on land once owned by George Washington’s stepson, and later inherited by Robert E. Lee’s wife. Only during the wrenching days of the Civil War did a Union general, Montgomery C. Meigs, make a pivotal decision: to transform Lee’s abandoned estate into a final resting place for Union soldiers. This bold act of defiance created the sacred space we honor today, a living monument to the extraordinary lives and profound sacrifices that continually shape our American ideals and ensure our freedom.
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
A long-dead Civil War soldier made news recently when an urn containing his ashes was discovered sitting on a shelf in a Cincinnati cemetery. This man, Isaac C. Hart, enlisted in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as a private in 1861 and served in the infantry until 1864, when he was promoted to captain of the Second United States Colored Cavalry. As a white officer leading Black soldiers, Hart knew he might face torture from the Confederates. If captured, his men could face worse. The Confederates had promised to execute on the spot or sell into slavery, and he captured Black soldier. Luckily, the Second suffered light casualties. Hart himself survived the war and afterward moved to Cincinnati, where he died in 1913. For the past 110 years, his ashes went unclaimed until his great-great-niece received a phone call: Captain Hart’s remains had been rediscovered, and so on April 27, 2023, Isaac C. Hart was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery for his service to the country in the Civil War, overlooking Washington, D.C. Arlington National Cemetery today serves as the final resting place for approximately 400,000 Americans. What many may not realize, however, is that the history of Arlington National Cemetery stretches back to the founding of the United States. Originally known as Arlington House, the land that became the nation’s cemetery was once owned by George Washington’s stepson, John Parke Custis. Custis envisioned Arlington House as a memorial to the nation’s first president, complete with Washington memorabilia and family heirlooms. Reflecting the tension of freedom and slavery in the early Republic, enslaved Black Americans built Arlington House and toiled on the grounds for decades, as Custis desired that the property also function as a working plantation. By 1857, 196 enslaved Black Americans lived and worked at Arlington House. Americans might be surprised to learn who inherited Arlington House that year. Mary Anna Randolph Custis, the wife of none other than Robert E. Lee. After Virginia seceded from the Union in May 1861, Lee and his family abandoned the house, allowing Union soldiers to capture the property and surround it with military forts designed to protect Washington, D.C. And, astonishingly, one-third of Civil War battles were fought within 100 miles at the Capitol. As casualties began to mount, local cemeteries filled capacity. Enter Union Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs. Meigs, who served under Robert E. Lee prior to the Civil War and once considered him a friend, viewed Lee’s defection to the Confederacy as unforgivable. When presented with the opportunity to pay Lee back for his treachery, Meigs successfully lobbied for Arlington to become a national cemetery, a move designed to prevent Lee from ever returning at war’s end. On May 11, 1864, Private William Christman became the first soldier buried at Arlington. A month later, the Union Army set aside 200 acres of the property as a military cemetery. By 1865, almost 16,000 soldiers would be buried at Arlington, with Meigs ordering that a tomb for over 2,000 unknown soldiers be placed in the estate’s acclaimed Rose Garden. Between the burial of William Christman in 1864 and Isaac C. Hart, thousands of Americans, ordinary in their lives but extraordinary in their deeds, have been laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. There’s an old saying that children cannot serve parents beyond the grave. That said, we can and must honor the previous generations in ways that help us better appreciate the sacrifices they made to preserve our freedom. We must study and recognize not only their lives and what they fought for, but the larger implicated contexts of their world and ours. The depths of each person’s life, including their hopes, dreams, and actions, can and will inspire us if we take the time to consider what unites us as human beings and Americans. Arlington National Cemetery deserves our attention because the thousands of ordinary Americans interred there are like us, yet of accomplished great and extraordinary things. How can we repay this debt and emulate these men and women, in part by bringing our founding ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness into fruition through the hard work of understanding our history. This is the type of civic education we pursue and celebrate at the Jack Miller Center. Arlington’s motto, “Honor, Remember, Explore,” reminds Americans that the conflicts to preserve a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal required courage, confidence, and a tremendous amount of work. We honor those who died for our country by remembering their sacrifices and exploring ways in which we, too, can perform the difficult yet life-affirming work that brings us ever closer to realizing our nation’s founding ideals.
Had a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to Elliot Drago from the Jack Miller Center. And the Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers dedicated to educating the next generation that America’s founding principles and history. To learn more, visit Jackmillercenter.org. That’s Jackmillercenter.org. And by the way, those three words—Honor, Remember, Explore—you could say in some ways, those are the three words of Our American Stories. And, my goodness. By 1865, 16,000 Civil War soldiers were buried in Arlington, one-third of Civil War battles having been fought 100 miles within D.C. And by the way, that line—’children can’t serve parents beyond their grave’—well, that just strikes well close to home. It’s the young who die in war and the parents who bury them. And that is the biggest reason why we must remember and honor those who paid the ultimate price in the service of our country. The story of Arlington National Cemetery. Here on Our American Stories. This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories. Every day we set out to tell the stories of Americans past and present, from small towns to big cities, and from all walks of life doing extraordinary things. But we truly can’t do this show without you. Our shows are free to listen to, but they’re not free to me. If you love what you hear, go to OurAmericanStories.com and make a donation to keep the stories coming. That’s OurAmericanStories.com.
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