during the civil war, people invented tricks to capture or to make life hard for americans that fought on the other side of the war. the government assessed taxes on properties and insisted that the owners appear in person to pay them. if the plantation owner did not come, the government would sell the land. the government bought arlington at tax sale in 1864 for $26,800. mrs. lee did not show up in person, but rather had sent an agent to pay the $92.07 in property taxes that were owed for the land. the government turned away her agent, refusing to accept the tax payment. in 1874, custis lee, heir under his grandfather's will passing the estate in trust to his mother, sued the united states claiming ownership of arlington. after the u.s. supreme court ruled 5-4 in lee's favor in "united states v. lee", deciding that arlington had been taken illegally, congress returned the land to him. the next year, custis lee sold it back to the government for $150,000. custis lee and robert todd lincoln, secretary of war and son of president lincoln, were both present when the property was officially turned over to the government.