Emmanuel Dabney
12-21-2007, 10:22 AM
Robert E. Lee's love letters to and from his fiancee Mary Custis have been published in the latest Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 115, No. 4, 2007.
The fifteen letters range from 1830-31 and are mostly those that Lee wrote to his fiancee but a few are from her mother and Miss Custis herself.
The letters include statements that may not be how we imagine the Lees but remember at this time they were both in their early 20s.
A letter from Mary Custis dated September 20, 1830 noted how she wished for Lee. (page 516)
November 11 1830, Lee noted his love sickness wishing his intended could "be with me in that dark, confimed and crowded little cabin." (page 520)
Most interesting in a May 13th 1831 letter he wrote to Mary that if he could not get a furlough he would "take it. For I declare I cannot wait any longer. And He [the General] & his Uncle Sam may go to--France--For what I care." (page 540)
The letters were found in the Mary Custis Lee trunk which had been deposited by the general's daughter in an Alexandria bank and was discovered in 2002. The letters are now in the Virginia Historical Society's collection.
The fifteen letters range from 1830-31 and are mostly those that Lee wrote to his fiancee but a few are from her mother and Miss Custis herself.
The letters include statements that may not be how we imagine the Lees but remember at this time they were both in their early 20s.
A letter from Mary Custis dated September 20, 1830 noted how she wished for Lee. (page 516)
November 11 1830, Lee noted his love sickness wishing his intended could "be with me in that dark, confimed and crowded little cabin." (page 520)
Most interesting in a May 13th 1831 letter he wrote to Mary that if he could not get a furlough he would "take it. For I declare I cannot wait any longer. And He [the General] & his Uncle Sam may go to--France--For what I care." (page 540)
The letters were found in the Mary Custis Lee trunk which had been deposited by the general's daughter in an Alexandria bank and was discovered in 2002. The letters are now in the Virginia Historical Society's collection.