Everyone has heard of Arlington National Cemetery, one of the two cemeteries in the National Cemetery System operated by the U.S. Army. It was established in May 1864 on an estate in Virginia confiscated by the federal government from Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
It now comprises 639 acres. Nearly 400,000 people are buried at the cemetery, with two dozen funerals held each weekday and six to eight services on Saturday.
Most people know of the more famous residents there, including Supreme Court justices, military generals, politicians, astronauts, explorers, former presidents, and others prominent in history textbooks. But what of the other heroes buried at Arlington, the ones who are not household names? Many of them have fascinating stories waiting to be told.
There are highly unusual ones, like that of Air Force Major Troy Gilbert, the only person laid to rest at Arlington three different years; Constance Bennett, the stage and screen actress; and Dashiell Hammett, the detective novelist. But most of the heroes behind the headstones are less well-known men and women of all colors and backgrounds and experiences.
Here is a sampling of who they are:
• John Lincoln Clem: At age 10, during the Civil War, he was the drummer boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry, and, two years later, after heroic acts during the Battle of Chickamauga, he was made a sergeant, earning him the distinction of being the youngest soldier to ever fight in the U.S. Army.
• British Field Marshal Sir John Dill, who died during World War II, is one of the very few foreign soldiers buried at Arlington, and his statue is one of only two equestrian ones in the cemetery.
• Grace Murray Hopper: A computer pioneer who helped develop early programming languages. She is credited with coining the phrase “computer bug” 60 years ago, and in the 1950s she predicted that computers would go from room size to desktops. At the time of her death — on New Year’s Day 1992 — Rear Admiral Hopper was the highest-ranking woman buried at Arlington.
• William Franklin Knox: He charged up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt, fought in World War I, was publisher of the Chicago Daily News, ran for vice president of the United States, and was secretary of the Navy during World War II until dying in office in April 1944.
• James Parks: The only person buried at Arlington also born on the property. He was the son of slave parents living on the estate when it was owned by George Washington Custis. Parks bridged the time of when Arlington went from George Washington to Robert E. Lee … who is not buried in the cemetery.
• Daniel Sickles: Soon after being elected to Congress, he killed Barton Key, son of the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Francis Scott Key, for sleeping with his wife. He was acquitted, thanks to the first time an insanity defense was successful.
When the Civil War began, he was appointed a general. During the Battle of Gettysburg, he led an ill-advised charge that cost him his command, and his leg. The latter remains on display at the Walter Reed Medical Center.
He returned to Congress in 1893 and, four years later, was awarded the Medal of Honor. He died in 1914, at 94.
• Mary Edwards Walker: The first and thus far only female winner of the Medal of Honor, of the 3,400 recipients since 1862. Because of that achievement, let’s give her story a bit more attention.
Born in Oswego, New York, in November 1832, Walker grew up in a progressive household with parents who encouraged independence, education and justice, especially for women’s rights. No surprise, then, that she became determined at a young age to defy traditional feminine standards.
From the nonconforming clothes she wore to the work she performed, Walker often encountered criticism because she was everything a 19th century woman was not. In 1855, she graduated with honors from Syracuse Medical College, the only female medical doctor in her class.
Dr. Walker joined private practices for a few years before the Civil War broke out in 1861. Eager to sign up as a surgeon for the Union Army, she traveled to Washington, D.C., where she met with disapproval simply because she was a woman.
But instead of packing her bags and returning home, Dr. Walker decided to seek other options by traveling from hospital to hospital to volunteer her services. She was offered the role of a nurse but declined, knowing she had the credentials to be a surgeon.
Once again, she tried to volunteer for the Union Army. It had no female surgeons — but this time she was allowed in. All she asked for in lieu of money was a place to sleep.
Dr. Walker served in many battles where she treated the severely wounded in makeshift hospitals, beginning with the first major clash of the war, Bull Run, in 1861. Later, she continued working unpaid at the Patent Office Hospital in Washington, as well as near the Union front lines, including at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
In 1863, Dr. Walker was finally appointed to a paid position as the first female surgeon of the Union Army and served as a civilian-contracted assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry. Here, Dr. Walker frequently crossed battle lines into enemy territory to treat civilians who hadn’t received medical care in a long time. This act alone put her at great risk, especially because Dr. Walker would often be on her own.
In April 1864, while on one of her journeys to help others, Dr. Walker was captured by Confederate troops and arrested for spying, although she never admitted to any espionage. She was sent to several female military prisons for the next four months. Her health declined severely, ultimately damaging her lungs and eyes so badly that she couldn’t practice surgery again. Eventually, Dr. Walker gained freedom through a prisoner exchange.
After the war ended, she requested to be a commissioned officer to validate her years of service. However, up to this point, there was no precedent for commissioning a woman.
Thus, President Andrew Johnson instead awarded Dr. Walker the Medal of Honor in November 1865. She wore it every day until her death on February 21, 1919, age 86.
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