Episode 2 of 3
First Burial at Arlington
- When
- 13 May 1864
- Where
- Arlington National Cemetery, near the northeast gate in Section 27
Private William Henry Christman of Pennsylvania was buried at Arlington Cemetery on 13 May 1864, before formal burial authorization.
On 13 May 1864, Private William Henry Christman of Pennsylvania was buried at Arlington Cemetery, close to what is now the northeast gate in Section 27. This burial took place even though Meigs did not formally authorize the establishment of burials until the following month, on 15 June 1864. One source dates the cemetery's establishment itself to 13 May 1864, the day of this first burial.
Sources
- Arlington National Cemetery Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.