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)
Choosing a site for the memorial was not difficult. The Army Quartermaster Corps controlled Arlington National Cemetery, and in March 1901 Lyster asked the Quartermaster General, Brigadier General Marshall I. Ludington, for permission to erect the memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Permission was granted, provided the federal government bore none of the cost. It is unclear just when the society obtained the pre-determined 1899 site, however. The Secretary of War had chosen the site in early 1899, and the existing memorial was already located there. Obtaining the site for the Society memorial was not a foregone conclusion. The record is clear, however, that Justine Van Rensselaer Townsend, President of the National Society of Colonial Dames, approached Secretary of the War Root directly and secured the existing location for the Society's memorial.