LEE ROBERT E Autograph Letter Signed RELee to General Edward

Sale 2333 - Lot 15

Price Realized: $ 6,250

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 6,000 - $ 9,000

"I HAD ALWAYS LOOKED BACK UPON [THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG] IN SORROW & SADNESS" LEE, ROBERT E. Autograph Letter Signed, "RELee," to General Edward G.W. Butler, explaining the delay in replying to his Christmas letter by noting he has little time to do anything but maintain his regular duties, stating that he felt relieved when he saw the cheerful inhabitants of Petersberg, relating news of his family, expressing approval of General Hancock's administration of the district. With a postscript written vertically on first page additionally Signed, "R.E.L.," apologizing that he cannot get a copy of the book he seeks. 4 pages, 8vo, written on a single folded sheet, ruled paper; scattered staining affecting few words of text. With the original envelope. Lexington, 2 March 1868

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". . . My correspondence is very large & my time much occupied, so that I can do little else than perform the routine of my regular duties. I had . . . a very pleasant visit to Petersburg. I had suffered so much in body & mind when our lines enveloped it, on account of its good people, that, since the night I was obliged to abandon it, I had always looked back upon it in sorrow & sadness. But, I find the inhabitants bearing their afflictions so cheerfully & struggling so manfully to repair their fortunes, that a heavy weight has been lifted from my mind. I was very much pleased with my new daughter. . . . I became acquainted with her when the army was around Petersburg, & she frequently rode out to my camp to see me. I had, then, no idea that she would ever be nearer or dearer to me. . . . I think the young now require every stimulus to exertion & every tie to bind them to their country . . . . A poor young farmer can do but little by himself & I should be very glad if my son Robert could receive a proper helpmate & companion through life. . . .
"I am very glad that Judge Gaylord has conceived so good an opinion of Genl Hancock. He is the only one of the District Commanders who seems to have taken a right conception of his duties, & to understand the necessities of the country. . . ."