Few people are aware of this Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. It was not until 1898 when President McKinley raised the matter, that it was discussed that the federal government should assume responsibility for the care of graves of Confederate dead. In 1900 the Federal government agreed to reinter the Confederate dead buried in gravesites scattered in Washington-area cemeteries into a consolidated Confederate section of Arlington Cemetery. Nearly 30,000 Confederates are buried in national cemeteries in the North.