Mansion once home to Robert E. Lee reopens with new emphasis on those enslaved there
By Matthew Barakat
George Floyd hologram displayed over site of Confederate statue
The project is a collaboration between the George Floyd Foundation and Change.org, traveling to five U.S. sites mirroring the route of the 1961 Freedom Rides.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The Virginia mansion where Robert E. Lee once lived that now overlooks Arlington National Cemetery is open to the public again, after a $12 million rehabilitation and reinterpretation that includes an increased emphasis on those who were enslaved there.
The National Park Service opened Arlington House to the public on Tuesday for the first time since 2018. The mansion and surrounding grounds had been expected to reopen in 2019, but delays and the coronavirus pandemic extended the closure.
SUMMARY
William Lee was the enslaved valet of George Washington for nearly two decades. Purchased by Washington in 1768, when he was at least sixteen years old, Lee was assigned to household work at Mount Vernon and accompanied Washington when he traveled, including during the American Revolution (1775–1783). The war made Lee, who often rode alongside Washington, well-known to both American and British soldiers. Although Lee was initially taken to New York at the start of Washington’s first presidential term in 1789, old injuries to his knees limited his mobility. Lee appears to have married twice and had at least one child, whose identity is unknown. In 1790 he was sent back to Virginia and assigned to make shoes for the plantation. Washington valued Lee’s service and loyalty. In his 1799 will, he ordered that Lee be freed immediately at his death and provided a $30 annual pension. As a free man, Lee remained at Mount Vernon until his own death, which sources suggest to have
Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, who was using McLeanâs house as his headquarters, wrote:
â⦠of this artillery fight was the destruction of the dinner of myself and staff by a federal shell that fell into the fire-place of my headquarters at the McLean House.â
The Confederates won the First Battle of Bull Run due in large part to General âStonewallâ Jackson holding his ground like a âstonewall,â resulting in his nickname.
With momentum on their side, Confederate troops could have pursued the fleeing and exhausted Union army 20 miles into Washington and promptly won the war.
Instead, a heavy downpour of rain turned roads into mud pits and the pursuit was called off.
The attempt would fail. The thief likely made off with the bones of a Washington relative and was caught soon afterward. The great man’s remains, as far as anyone knows, have not left Mount Vernon since the day he died, and history has largely forgotten the episode.
The details remain sketchy. Neither the year of the attempt, the name of the thief nor the actual bones stolen are known for certain.
But the reports of theft caused a bit of a sensation when details leaked into the newspapers of the day. Congress soon was asking that Washington’s body be driven 18 miles north to be entombed in the Capitol as part of the celebration of his 100th birthday, Feb. 22, 1832.
George Washington remains stayed at Mount Vernon despite thief attempt, Congress washingtontimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtontimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.