Lee, Robert E.

Autograph letter signed ("R E Lee"), 4 pages (7 7/8 x 5 in.; 199 x 129 mm) on a bifolium, West Point, 27 February 1854, to Mrs. Anna Marie Fitzhugh, with the original autograph envelope, later docket; mottled discoloring, stamp neatly removed from envelope.

Taking time off from his duties as Superintendent of West Point, Lee writes a lengthy letter about family matters to the aunt of his wife, addressing her as "My dear Cousin Annie." He forwards a letter (not present) from his brother-in-law, the husband of his sister Mildred Lee Childe, and summarizes its content: "Childe ... writes me he is suffering much from rheumatism & seems to be depressed in spirits & his note to me of about as many lines as yours was principally taken up in directions about his will, provided he did not reach here." Childe was also under the burden of settling his mother's estate.

He reports that his wife, Mary, has not yet left for Arlington as planned because the younger children are sick with the whooping cough. Lee also reports philosophically on his nephew Fitzhugh Lee, who was then a cadet at West Point, referring to him by his family nickname: "Chudie is very well & has been doing better since the Examination—both in his studies & duties. He still seems however to be better pleased to avoid than to accomplish his duty, which though very natural is still to be regretted, & which I suppose time alone will cure. I hope he will be able to go on furlough this encampment & that it will be the means of developing new views & tactics that will operate to  his advantage on his return. He is a fine boy & will make I have no doubt a fine man. This is his period of thoughtlessness & idleness, and he is unable to realize the future benefit of present exertion. That is the way with nearly all of us."

With a few more bits of news, Lee brings his letter to a close, explaining, "My pen & eyes are so worn & torn during the day on official matters, that I am loth to [extert] them after hours." Having filled the four pages, Lee returned to the first to add his closing and signature along the left margin.