LEE, ROBERT EDWARD (ante), 1807-70; son of col. Henry Lee of Westmoreland co.,'" Va.; b. June 19, 1807; distinguished by the ability of the service rendered against his country as gee. and commander-in-chief of the armies of the confederate states. I113 graduated with honor at West Point in 1829; was lieut. in the engineer corps 1829-34; from 1834-37 assistant to chief engineer at Washington; in 1835 assistant in running the boundary line between Ohio and Michigan ; 1837-41 superintending engineer of the improvements on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; made rapt. in 1838; in 1842 super intendent of the construction and repair of the defenses of the harbor of New York,' assistant engineer at Washington, and member of the board of Atlantic coast defenses.
On the opening of war with Mexico in 1846, Lee was made chief engineer under gen. Scott, was in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Churnlaisco, and Chepultepec, and wounded in the latter. From 1852-55 he was superintendent of the West Point military academy. On the formation of a new cavalry regiment in 1855 Albert Sidney Johnston was made col., Robert E. Lee lieut.col., Hardee and Thomas majors, "Van Dorn and Kirby Smith captains. Thomas is the only one of the number who was true to the national flag when the slave states rose against it. Lee was serving with this regiment in Texas in 1857, when on leave he returned to Washington, where, thrum• his mar riage with Mary Custis, great-granddaughter of Martha Custis, wife of Washington. he at that time came into possession of the Arlington estate near Washington. In Oct., 1859, lie was ordered to suppress the John Brown raid at Harper'S Ferry. From Feb. to Dec., 1860, he commanded the army department of Texas. In Mar., 1861, he )vas called to Washington by gen. Scott, with whom, during the most of the critical weeks when the secession movement was advancing with tempestuous rapidity at the south, lie continued in the most confidential relations as an officer of the United States and a friend. On April 18, while the secession act was pendihg in the 'Virginia legislature,
he informed gen.. Scott that lie must resign and go with his state if it seceded. The next day, before Virginia's secession at had passed, be cast the influence of Ins name into the scale of secession; sent in his resignation to gen. Scott, in a letter filled with grateful recognition of the general's friendship and the kindness of all his superiors in the service throughout his life, but without a word to indicate love of country. Ile but expresses the deep pain a man may.feel at being obliged to take one side or another in a' family quarrel—in parting with sonic dear friends to take side with others. The letter closes with this often quoted expression—" Save in defense of my native state I never again desire to draw my sword." How suicidal and absurd was that state alle giance, time has shown, A letter to his sister, a lady with a higher ideal of patriotism, shows the strange fact that he "recognized no necessity for this state of things." Exert ing a wide :influence by the native nobility of his character, and devotion to duty. he cast his fortunes with the most violent and determined defenders of human slavery as a divine institution, and became their great military reliance. It is an interesting question as to what mental idiosyncrasy induced a man of Lee's mold to take the step which made him the military hero of the most causeless of wars. The letter written to his sister, on the day when he resigned his commission, shows how little Lee's judgment led him, and how entirely he gave himself up to social considerations and the " states rights" theory. The letter is as follows: