McClellan Gate

Why a gate, here amidst the solemn rows of Arlington National Cemetery? This, my friends, is the McClellan Gate. It stands as a silent sentinel, a tribute to a general and a testament to the thousands who rest here. The McClellan Gate, constructed around 1871-1875, once served as a main entrance to Arlington. It was positioned along Arlington Ridge Road, then the cemetery’s eastern border. The gate, named for Major General George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, was built not as a memorial, but as a tribute. McClellan was still alive when the Seneca sandstone arch rose to its full 30-foot height. Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, the founder of Arlington National Cemetery, commissioned the gate. Meigs, a man of strong aesthetic sensibilities, also oversaw the design of other significant structures within the cemetery. The McClellan Gate’s design, with its Doric columns and Neoclassical entablature, echoes the style of other cemetery gates. Look closely at the gate. You’ll see “MCCLELLAN” inscribed in gilt letters at the top. Below it, another inscription reads, “Here Rest 15,585 of the 315,555 Citizens Who Died in the Defense of Our Country From 1861 to 1865”. The words of Theodore O’Hara’s poem, “Bivouac of the Dead,” adorn the architrave. On the east side, it reads: “On Fame’s Eternal Camping Ground Their Silent Tents Are Spread and Glory Guards With Solemn Round the Bivouac of the Dead”. The west side continues the poem: “Rest on Embalmed and Sainted Dead, Dear as the Blood Ye Gave; No Impious Footsteps Here Shall Tread on the Herbage of Your Grave”. Ironically, O’Hara, a Confederate soldier, was unaware of his poem’s use at Arlington. The McClellan Gate’s design proved influential, serving as a model for gates at other national cemeteries. Its existence also led to the wider use of O’Hara’s poem within Arlington and beyond. The McClellan Gate stands as a unique survivor. By 1932, with the construction of the Arlington Memorial Bridge and a new entrance, the Hemicycle, the gate became obsolete. The closure of Arlington Ridge Road in 1966 further isolated it. When the cemetery expanded eastward in 1971, the McClellan Gate became an internal feature. Other original gates were dismantled, but the McClellan Gate, perhaps due to its lack of historic marble or masonry, remained. Restored in the late 1990s, the McClellan Gate stands as a poignant reminder of the cemetery’s history and a testament to the enduring power of art and remembrance within these hallowed grounds.