United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery

One of the original national cemeteries established by Congress, the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery is located on land granted Soldiers' Asylum in 1862. Abraham Lincoln is believed to have walked the grounds of the sixteen-acre while staying at his cottage at the adjacent Soldiers' Home, the modern day's Armed Forces Retirement Home - Washington. The cemetery received its first interment from the Battle of Second Manassas and filled with so many casualties in its first two years that it became evident more land would be required; this led to the establishment of Arlington National Cemetery, where all the Confederate interments from the Soldiers' Home were moved by an act of Congress in 1900. The cemetery now holds over 5, 000 casualties from the Civil War. Most notably, it is the final resting place of Maj. Gen. John Logan, the Commander of Grand Army of the Republic who is credited with writing the general order which established the practice of decorating graves on what has become Memorial Day.