Robert E. Lee's wife, Mary Anna, inherited their home known as Arlington House from her parents upon their death. The Lee's left their home when the Civil War started. Knowing they'd be imprisoned if they returned to pay taxes on the house, the property was seized by the Federal govenment for non payment of taxes. Brigadier General Montgomery Meigs considered Lee a traitor for defecting to the Confederacy and to make sure the Lee's never returned turned Mrs. Lee's rose garden into a cemetery. To date over 250,000 now rest in peace at Arlington Cemetery. Mrs. Lee was the great-granddaughter by adoption of George Washington.
