Arlington National Cemetery - Arlington - TravBuddy

The cemetery is the main US military cemetery today where soldiers who have served honourably in the US army can be buried if they do follow some pretty strict criteria's. The cemetery were created in 1864 when the confiscated estate of Robert E Lee's family were used as a war cemetery for Union troops to prevent Lee from ever returning to his former home.

At the end of the Civil War 16.000 soldier were buried at the site and it could never again be used as a private residence. Instead it was used as a national cemetery and is well know for this till this day. The most notable of the graves is probably the grave of John F Kennedy which is situated a bit up the hill towards the Arlington House.

On the hill you will see many graves of ordinary soldiers as well as high ranking officers. And on top of the hill is the Arlington House which you can also visit on your trip to Arlington Cemetery. The main house is the old home of Robert E Lee and should have furniture as well. But the furniture is currently missing because of ongoing restorations of the house. Along with the house are some old slave quarters where you can see a bit about the history of the slaves at the estate.

From the house you will be able to have possibly the best view of the National Mall in all of Washington when you look down along the Mall with the Lincoln Memorial down to the Washington Memorial and then finally at the end of the Mall the Capitol Hill.