From DC North, January 2004:

The idea of a home for retired soldiers is an old one. In 1827 the Secretary of War recommended to President John Quincy Adams the founding of an "Army Asylum." A congressional committee took up the issue the following year. In 1833 Secretary of War Lewis Cass wrote in his annual report that "after devoting the best of his life to the service of his country," the old soldier was "thrown on the charity of the community." Cass suggested that "an inconsiderable deduction from the pay of each" enlisted soldier would provide for "those discharged soldiers who are unable to procure the means of support."

Congress studied similar proposals for many years, but failed to act decisively. It was the bold actions of the Army's long-time General-in-Chief Winfield Scott that jump-started the Soldiers' Home. General Scott was keenly interested in the welfare of the enlisted man and a proponent of "a retreat or asylum for the worn-out or decayed rank and file of the army." In 1848 General Scott wrote a check to the Bank of America for $100,000, endorsing it, "the Bank of America will place the within amount to the credit of the Army Asylum, subject to the order of Congress."

That sum was the lion's share of an amount of money acquired by General Scott in a dubious, although apparently historically common manner. "On the capture of Mexico City," the General wrote in an 1849 letter to Major Robert Anderson, "I levied a contribution upon the inhabitants of $150,000, in lieu of pillage, to which the city, by the usages of war was, under the circumstances liable." In 1848 Scott wrote to the Secretary of War, "I hope you will allow the draft [for $100,000] to go to the credit of an Army Asylum, and make the subject known…to the Military Committees of Congress."

In early 1851 U.S. Senator from Mississippi Jefferson Davis pushed through the legislation that had previously and consistently failed. On March 3, 1851 President Millard Fillmore signed the law creating the Soldiers' Home. It provided benefits for "every soldier…who shall have served or may serve honestly and faithfully twenty years…and every soldier… whether regular or volunteer, who shall have suffered by reason of disease or wounds incurred in the service and in the line of his duty, rendering him incapable of further military service."

The legislation provided for other funds to support the Home, such as fines levied by courts-martial and a 25 cent monthly pay deduction from enlisted personnel, with their consent. Homes were established in Louisiana, Mississippi and Kentucky, but those were short-lived. After considering many parcels of land, including part of Mount Vernon, the Home's Board decided to buy the farm of George W. Riggs, founder of Riggs National Bank. That land purchase included the neighboring tract of Charles Scrivener, 58 acres called Mount Joliet. Riggs' farm was about 198 acres, and the purchase was made for $58,111.75. The Riggs farmhouse was located along Rock Creek Church Road near where Upshur Street intersects today.

Life was hardly carefree for early "inmates" at the "Asylum." Reveille (wake-up) was at 5 AM, breakfast at 6. If a resident wanted to leave the grounds, he would have to see the sergeant right after breakfast, obtain a pass from the Deputy Governor, and wear his uniform, a dark blue frock coat and trousers. Residents marched in formation to meals and stood retreat (the daily flag-lowering ceremony) in uniform at sunset. Supper was at 6 PM and lights out at 9.

Just after completion of the buildings in 1857, General Scott invited the President and Secretary of War to make the "Asylum" their summer home. President Buchanan accepted and reported to his niece that he slept much better there than at the White House. Thus began a tradition of Presidents summering at Anderson Cottage, the former Riggs farmhouse. (That tradition ended with Grover Cleveland, who kept a summer house on the high ground across town, in an area that became known as Cleveland Park.)

The Lincoln family spent long periods from June to November at Anderson Cottage escaping the suffocating humidity and intense political pressure of the White House. It was here that President Lincoln wrote the second draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. In July 1864 Lincoln rode a short mile from the cottage to Fort Stevens, on Georgia Avenue, to witness the attack by Confederate troops under General Jubal Early. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton insisted that Lincoln return not to the cottage, but to the White House, for his safety.

In 1872 the Soldiers' Home purchased Harewood, the adjacent 191-acre country estate of William Wilson Corcoran, the former partner of George Riggs and founder of the Corcoran Gallery. Subsequent purchases brought the total acreage of the Home over 500.

The Soldiers' Home ran a dairy farm on the site of the Harewood estate, but that function ended in the 1950s when the land was given over to hospital construction and street extension. As the automobile age hit full stride after World War II, the huge tract that the Soldiers' Home possessed presented a major obstacle to traffic in the north central portion of the city. North Capitol Street was extended along the eastern side of the Home and Irving Street was extended across the south side. Both streets were built as highways, and where they meet is the city's only cloverleaf, a dreadful waste of land and concrete from the road-crazy 1950s.

Today that former dairy farm is the site of the Washington Hospital Center (west of First Street NW) and the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Hospital (between first Street and North Capitol Street). Private housing was built east of North Capitol Street, at the corner of Michigan Avenue.

After the Air Force was separated from the U.S. Army in 1947, the Soldiers' Home became the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home. Women were first admitted in 1954. The Home is now officially known as the Armed Forces Retirement Home - Washington.

More information on the history of the Soldiers' Home can be found in Colonel Paul R. Goode's The United States Soldiers' Home (1957) and Eba Anderson Lawton's History of the Soldiers' Home. (1914). A new account of Lincoln's sojourn can be found in Matthew Pinsker's Lincoln's Sanctuary (2003). Questions or comments about this article, past articles, or any Washington history subject, may be directed to dchistory@hillrag.com.