Woodhull Memorial Flagstaff
The Woodhull Memorial Flagstaff rises 90 feet above the south lawn of the Memorial Amphitheater and is one of only two flagpoles at Arlington National Cemetery. (The other stands in front of Arlington House.) Erected in 1924, the Woodhull Flagstaff commemorates Commander Maxwell Woodhull, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1832 until his death in 1863. During the Civil War, Woodhull commanded the USS Cimarron. On February 19, 1863, he was accidentally killed during a ceremonial gun salute in Baltimore. His son, Maxwell Van Zandt Woodhull, was a Union Army officer who rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general. Both men's names and dates of service are inscribed on the marble base of the flagstaff.
From one half-hour before the first burial service of the day until one half-hour after the last service, the flags on Woodhull Memorial Flagstaff and the Arlington House fly at half-staff.