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.
Arlington Memorial Amphitheater
Little additional work was done at Memorial Amphitheater until 1954. By then, settling of the amphitheater and entrance hall, cracking of walls and exterior marble, water damage, and other serious problems were beginning to affect the structure. Congress appropriated $15,000 for fiscal 1954 (which began June 30, 1953) for a year-long study of the problems. A preliminary estimate indicated that repairs would cost $179,000. But the finished study identified even more serious issues, almost all of which were caused by design deficiencies which did not take into account the seasonal expansion and contraction of the building's marble. Arlington National Cemetery officials were forced to ask Congress for $447,000 to repair the amphitheater and $179,000 to repair the entrance building. Congress approved the request.