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.
List of memorials and monuments at Arlington National Cemetery
Owing to space constraints, Arlington National Cemetery does not permit the construction of large memorials or monuments without an act of Congress. The cemetery does, however, encourage the donation of trees ("living memorials") and permits small memorial plaques to be placed before these plantings. As of 2011, there were 142 such memorial plaques in the cemetery.