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.
Arlington National Cemetery mismanagement controversy
As part of the ongoing investigation into the cemetery's mismanagement, the United States Army Corps of Engineers conducted a comprehensive investigation of Arlington's buildings, facilities, infrastructure, roads, and other systems between July 2010 and June 2011. The Corps discovered that, for roughly the past 20 years, ANC managers conducted maintenance and repair only when systems were on the verge of "catastrophic failure". This diverted funds away from a preventive maintenance program, which was never implemented.