Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
By early 1864, the military cemeteries of Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Virginia, were rapidly filling with war dead. Quartermaster General of the United States Army Montgomery C. Meigs proposed using of the Arlington estate as a cemetery. United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton approved the establishment of a military cemetery on June 15, 1864, creating Arlington National Cemetery. Meigs believed that since Lee had committed treason in deciding to fight against the Union, denying Lee use of the mansion after the war was a rough form of justice. Meigs decided that a large number of burials should occur close to Arlington House to render it unlivable. Officers were to be buried next to the main flower garden south of the house, and the first burial occurred here on May 17. Meigs ordered that additional burials commence immediately on the grounds of Arlington House in mid-June. When Union officers bivouacked in the mansion complained and had the burials temporarily stopped, Meigs countermanded their orders and had another 44 dead officers buried along the southern and eastern sides of the main flower garden within a month.
USS Maine Mast Memorial
In January 1913, the Corps of Engineers reported that enough funds were left over from salvage of the "Maine" to permit construction of the Arlington National Cemetery Memorial. The following month, shortly before the commemoration ceremonies at the "Maine" Memorial at Arlington, President Taft announced his preference for the establishment of the memorial in the field of the "Maine" dead rather than another location in the cemetery. Secretary of War Lindley Miller Garrison then placed the design project on hold to allow the CFA to consider placement of the memorial in relation to three other projects also approved for construction: The Arlington Memorial Bridge (which included a new drive to a new ceremonial gateway to the cemetery), Arlington Memorial Amphitheater, and a receiving vault and chapel. After discussions about the proposed location for the memorial, Wyeth submitted three designs to the CFA. In executive session, the commission made a recommendation to the Secretary of War. Acting Quartermaster General Henry Granville Sharpe recommended that Secretary of War Garrison accept Wyeth's design, and he did by June 30, 1913.