Custis Lee Mansion 3

Custis Lee Mansion 3

An incident which probably occurred that winter illustrates the

seriousness with which Lee viewed his family responsibilities. He and

8-year-old Custis had gone for a walk one snowy day, the boy following

behind while his father broke the way. Preoccupied with ploughing

through the deep snow, the father failed to look behind for some time,

and when he did, saw that his little son was setting his feet carefully

in the tracks his father had made, while imitating his every movement.

“When I saw this,” Lee related afterwards, “I said to myself, ‘It

behooves me to walk very straight, when the little fellow is already

following in my tracks’.”

 

 

LEE AT FORT HAMILTON, N. Y., 1841 TO 1846. Lee did not return to St.

Louis until the summer of 1840, and then only to finish up his work and

return home. There his fifth child, a girl, was born the following

February. Soon after, Lee was sent to Fort Hamilton, N. Y., where he

remained on duty until 1846. During these years it was customary for his

family to be with him at New York during the summer and fall months and

at Arlington the rest of the year, where Lee usually passed the winter.

Two more children, a boy and a girl, were born in these years. Telling a

friend about the arrival of the boy, Lee wrote: “About a month ago a

young Robert E. Lee made his appearance at Arlington, much to the

surprise and admiration of his brothers and sisters. He has a fine long

nose like his father, but no whiskers.”

 

 

WAR WITH MEXICO, 1846 TO 1848. Because war with Mexico seemed imminent

when Lee went back to Fort Hamilton in the spring of 1846, Mrs. Lee and

the children remained at Arlington. Hostilities began in May, and in

August Lee was ordered to report for service in Mexico. Returning home,

he spent a few days at Arlington arranging his affairs, then said

goodbye to his family. Twenty-two months passed before he saw it again,

months of anxiety for those waiting at home, relieved only by his long

and frequent letters, such as the one he wrote to his two eldest sons

the day before Christmas, 1846: “I hope good Santa Claus will fill my

Rob’s stocking to-night: that Mildred’s, Agnes’s, and Anna’s may break

down with good things. I do not know what he may have for you and Mary,

but if he only leaves for you one half of what I wish, you will want for

nothing!”

 

The war ended early in 1848, and seeing many of the returning volunteers

enjoy Mr. Custis’ hospitality at Arlington Spring must have made the

Lees more impatient for the return of their own hero. When Lee finally

arrived in Washington he missed the carriage sent for him, and so

procured a horse to ride home. None of those anxiously watching for a

glimpse of the carriage noticed the lone horseman ascending the hill,

and not till “Spec,” Lee’s dog, rushed out joyfully barking did they

realize their soldier was home. Great was the excitement as he greeted

them in the hall, and his mistaking a friend’s little boy for his own

added to the hilarity. “Here I am again, my dear Smith,” Lee wrote to

his brother the next day, “perfectly surrounded by Mary and her precious

children, who seem to devote themselves to staring at the furrows in my

face and the white hairs in my head.... I find them too much grown, and

all well, and I have much cause for thankfulness and gratitude to that

good God who has once more united us.”

 

[Illustration: _Robert E. Lee in civilian dress, about 1850._]

 

 

THE LEES AT ARLINGTON, 1848 TO 1849. The summer of 1848 was a happy one

at Arlington, for Lee was on duty in Washington and was promoted to

brevet colonel, so that hereafter he would be titled “Colonel Lee.”

Toward the end of the year he was assigned to supervise the construction

of a new fort in Baltimore, but soon after officially taking over the

project, he returned to Arlington. This was the winter that a guest at

Arlington observed Lee’s face in quiet repose as he read to his family

assembled about the table one night, and thought to herself: “You

certainly look more like a great man than any one I have ever seen.”

 

Mrs. Lee and her mother made an equally favorable impression on a lady

who visited Arlington the next spring. “We had tea in the Washington

teacups, and Mrs. Lee took me into the tangled neglected gardens, full

of rose-buds, and allowed me to pick my fill of the sweet dainty Bon

Silene variety, which she told me blossomed all winter. What a view that

was!... Mrs. Lee had the face of a genius: a wealth of dark hair,

carelessly put up, gave her fine head the air of one of Romney’s

portraits. She was most lovely and sympathetic. Her mother, Mrs. Custis,

was a woman full of character.”

 

 

THE LEES AT BALTIMORE, 1849 TO 1852. Lee was home for a short time

during the summer of 1849 to recuperate from a touch of fever, and in

the autumn his family joined him at Baltimore. There they lived through

1851, coming home for Christmas and occasional visits. Seldom was the

family together, however, for their eldest son, Custis, entered West

Point in 1850, and usually some of the children were at Arlington with

their grandparents.

 

Mrs. Custis kept the absent ones informed as to what was going on at

Arlington. “Your Grandfather is seized with a spirit of improvement

lately,” she wrote to the lad at West Point in 1851. “He is making new

steps to the Portico (the old ones having so decayed as to be unsafe)

and intends paving it with octagon brick tiles which are now being

burned in the vast brick kilns in Washington.” Later, she reported that

the steps were finished and the portico floor about to be laid.

 

Though 70 and often unwell, Mr. Custis’ activity seldom flagged. A

polished and effective speaker, with a gift for being able to enter into

the spirit of an occasion, he was well-liked for his personal charm and

unassuming manner. He was fond of children, and a great favorite with

the young Lees. Conscious of his advancing years, Custis increased the

output of his _Recollections of Washington_, that his personal knowledge

of the General might not be lost. In this he was encouraged by the Lees,

who also approved his renewed interest in scientific agriculture. While

strongly advocating the establishment of a department of agriculture in

the National Government, Custis applied the latest methods of

fertilizing and cultivation to his own farms so that the land inherited

by his grandchildren would be fertile, rather than worn-out like that of

so much of his native State.

 

[Illustration: _A view of “Arlington House” made in 1853 by the

historian-artist Benson J. Lossing._ From the original water color

in the Lee Mansion.]

 

Christmas in 1851 was typical of the many happy ones celebrated at

Arlington, and, telling his son at West Point about it, Lee wrote: “[We]

found your grandfather at the Washington depot, Daniel and the old

carriage and horses, and young Daniel on the colt Mildred. Your mother,

grandfather, Mary Eliza, the little people, and the baggage, I thought

load enough for the carriage, so Rooney and I took our feet in our hands

and walked over.... The snow impeded the carriage as well as us, and we

reached here shortly after it. The children were delighted at getting

back, and passed the evening in devising pleasure for the morrow. They

were in upon us before day on Christmas morning, to overhaul their

stockings.... I need not describe to you our amusements, you have

witnessed them so often; nor the turkey, cold ham, plum-pudding, mince

pies, etc., at dinner.” “Rooney” was the Lee’s second boy, William Henry

Fitzhugh.

 

[Illustration: _George Washington Parke Custis in his old age._ From

the photograph by Mathew Brady in the collection of Frederick H.

Meserve, New York.]

 

 

THE LEES AT WEST POINT, 1852 TO 1855; DEATH OF MRS. CUSTIS. Lee took

command of West Point in September 1852, where he was shortly joined by

his family. Mrs. Custis had been well when they left, so the telegram

which came in April telling of her critical illness was entirely

unexpected. Mrs. Lee started for home at once, but on arrival found her

beloved mother dead and her father prostrated by his loss. She at once

took charge of the household and herself conducted the morning worship

which had been forgotten in the sorrow and confusion. After breakfast

she selected a spot for her mother’s grave among the trees a short

distance from the house. For years, Lee had called Mrs. Custis “Mother,”

and his grief at her death was almost as great as Mrs. Lee’s. By now the

religious convictions instilled in him by his mother had been matured by

his own experiences and the example of those at Arlington, and soon

after his return from West Point at the end of the term, he and two of

his daughters were confirmed at Christ Church, Alexandria.

 

Hoping to divert Mr. Custis, the Lees took him back with them to West

Point. But not even a trip to Niagara Falls with his son-in-law could

keep him from worrying about his beloved Arlington, and he soon returned

home. To ease his loneliness, the Lees came home on brief visits in the

spring and summer of 1854.

 

 

LEE IN TEXAS, 1855 TO 1857. Early in 1855, Lee was assigned to a cavalry

regiment being organized for service on the frontier. Before leaving for

his new station he made arrangements to have the large unfinished room

off the main hall, at Arlington, made into a drawing room and to have a

hot-air furnace installed to heat the house. The “Big Room,” as it was

called, when finished was very handsome with its marble mantelpieces and

crystal chandelier, and Mrs. Lee and the girls were proud of its

appearance when they showed it to Lee on his return for the holidays.

 

Much of his leave was given over to straightening out the finances of

Mr. Custis’ other farms, for the old gentleman was now 75 and, though

active in improving his lands and crops, needed the assistance of his

son-in-law in managing his business affairs. Lee returned to Texas in

February 1856, and was unable to be home for Christmas that year. His

loneliness is apparent in the letter he wrote to Mrs. Lee: “The time is

approaching when I trust many of you will be assembled around the family

hearth at dear Arlington, to celebrate another Christmas. Though absent,

my heart will be in the midst of you, & I shall enjoy in imagination &

memory, all that is going on. May nothing occur to mar or cloud the

family fireside, & may each be able to look back with pride & pleasure

at their deeds of the past year, & with confidence & hope to that in

prospect. I can do nothing but hope & pray for you all.”

 

 

DEATH OF MR. CUSTIS. Life at Arlington and for the father far away in

Texas flowed on quietly during 1857. Although badly crippled by

rheumatism, Mrs. Lee was able to manage the household and spend much

time in her garden, while her father occupied himself as usual. But in

the fall a telegram came to Lee, telling him of Mr. Custis’ death on

October 10th. Letters from the family told him more of the sad event:

how Mr. Custis had been ill of pneumonia only 4 days, how he had

steadily failed, and how on the last day, after embracing his weeping

daughter and grandchildren and asking to be remembered to his

son-in-law, had passed away while his rector said the prayers for the

dying. His last wish had been to be buried by the side of his wife, and

to that spot his coffin had been borne by the family servants, followed

by the Lees and a host of relatives and friends.

 

[Illustration: _Mrs. Robert E. Lee._ This engraving was probably

made from a photograph taken sometime after 1865.]

 

 

LEE BECOMES MASTER OF ARLINGTON. It was a saddened household to which

Lee returned as soon as he could, made more so because Mrs. Lee’s

illness had progressed to where she was almost incapable of getting

about the house. He found it necessary to take an extended leave in

order to take on the management of Mr. Custis’ properties and, as his

executor, to carry out the terms of his will. This provided that after

outstanding debts had been paid and legacies given each of the Lee

girls, the farms were to go to the boys, although Mrs. Lee would have

possession of Arlington until her death, after which it would pass to

Custis Lee. All the slaves were to be freed within 5 years.