Confederate Memorial (Arlington National Cemetery)
Arlington National Cemetery was established in June 1864 as a cemetery for Union (United States of America) Civil War dead. The first military burial at Arlington (a white soldier, William Henry Christman) was made on May 13, 1864, close to what is now the northeast gate in Section 27. However, formal authorization for burials was not given by Major General Montgomery C. Meigs (Quartermaster General of the United States Army) until June 15, 1864.
Spanish–American War Memorial (Arlington National Cemetery)
At its April 1900 National Council meeting in Washington, D.C., the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America voted to seek to place a memorial to Spanish–American War dead at Arlington National Cemetery. The genesis of this effort is unclear, but a committee to consider "the subject of a tablet at Arlington in memory of the officers, soldiers, and sailors of the Spanish–American War" was appointed some time prior to the biennial National Council meeting. Winifred Lee Brent Lyster, wife of Dr. Henry Francis LeHunte Lyster of Michigan and a relative of Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee, conceived of and was the primary advocate for the memorial. The Memorial Committee proposed a bronze tablet bearing the name of all those who died (from whatever cause) during the war, and that this tablet be erected before the National Council meeting in May 1902. The National Council approved a motion to have a tablet erected, but left the design and content up to a committee (to be appointed by the chair), which was given the power to act on the resolution.