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Preferred Citation

Robert E. Lee   letter to Charles Carter Lee  , 1863 March 24, Accession #11424, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This letter was given to the University of Virginia Library from Dr. and Mrs. William Nelson, Denver, Colorado, September 3, 1998.

Alternative Form

A facsimile, a typed transcription and a summary of the letter have been mounted together and shelved under call number Broadside 1998.L44

Scope and Content Information

In this March 24, 1863 letter to his older brother Charles Carter Lee  , General Robert E. Lee  , commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, writing from his Fredericksburg headquarters, discusses recent military events, family members, and several prominent Confederate officers. ( Lee  , who had been ill, had just returned from consultations with Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, March 12-18, 1863.) 1 He speculates on forthcoming movements of the Army of the Potomac under the command of General Joseph Hooker, 2 describes the battle of Kelly's Ford [March 17, 1863, Kelleysville, Virginia], mourns the death of artillerist Major John Pelham (" I do not know how I can replace the gallant Pelham"), praises the leadership of his nephew General Fitzhugh Lee   at Kelly's Ford, and mentions varied estimates of the strength of Union forces as reported by his scouts and General James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart [commander of Lee's   cavalry corps].

Lee   also makes passing references to a Mrs. Taylor [Mrs. W. P. Taylor, a relative], General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, Union attacks against Charleston, South Carolina, and several family members including his sister-in-law "Sis" Lucy and niece Mildred (wife and daughter of Charles Carter) and his own son, George Washington Custis Lee  , whom his praises as "a fine boy." He concludes with a seriocomical request that his brother's family and farmers should go to the fields and raise corn ("We are in great need, both man [&] beast") else he "shall have to call for aid upon our glorious women."

1 Emory M. Thomas, Robert E. Lee  : A Biography (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995), 277.
2 Two months after this letter Lee   defeated Hooker in what many historians consider as his most brilliant battle--Chancellorsville.

Transcription of Letter

Camp Fred[erick]s[burg, Virginia] 24 March '[18]63
My dear brother Carter: i
I have rec[eive]d your letter of the 18th & will endeavor to forward the enclosure to Mrs. Taylor. ii I do not Know where she is now. When last at her house on the Rapp[ahannock] R[iver] the enemy Seemed to be preparing to cross very near it. Whether it was a feint or a reality I Could not tell, but recommended they should make arrangements to evacuate if necessary & I have heard they proposed going to their Country house in the [forest?]. Genl. Jackson iii is quite near me & her residence is not near him. The weather has been very unfavorable to those exposed to it, & the roads are nearly impassable. Genl. Hooker iv Seems to be prepared for a move Somewhere, & this day [week] the indications were he was Coming over, He threw his Cav[alr]y over Kellys ford, & brought his inf[antr]y to the U. S. ford [U. S. Ford] just below the mouth of Rapidan [River], but the former was so roughly handled by your nephew Fitz that it had to retire at night, & the latter Stuck to their position. v The reports from within their lines are that the Cav[alr]y was to [have] Swept around to the Central and Fred[erick]s[burg] R.R.'s Burning depots & cut us up generally Under cover of which their inf [antr]y was to Cross, but that we

[second page of letter]
had forestalled them & they changed their minds. I presume it will be repeated in some shape the next fine day. As far as I learn Fitz Lee   & his Brigade behaved admirably, & though greatly outnumbered Stuck to the enemy with a tenacity that Could be shaken off. The report of our scouts north of the Rappa[hannock] R[iver] place their strength at 7000. Stuart vi does not put it so high, while Fitz did not have with him more than 800. But I grieve over our noble dead! I do not know how I can replace the gallant Pelham. vii So Young So true So brave. Though stricken down in the dawn of manhood, his is the glory of duty done! Fitz had his horse shot under him but is safe. The news from the west is favourable & at the South the blow is still impending over Charleston. viii When it falls it will be heavy, but if we do our duty I trust we shall not be crushed. "Through God we shall do great acts; & it is He that shall tread down our enemies." ix Give much love to Sis Lucy & "Mildred & them." x Tell them I wish I Could get there. You must take them all out in the fields & raise us quantities of Corn. We are in great need, both man & beast. Set all the farmers to work. If they do not do better I shall have to call for aid upon our glorious women. I was glad to have seen George xi in Richmond. He has become a fine boy.
Your affect[iona]te brother [signed]R. E. Lee  

i Charles Carter Lee   (1798-1871), Lee's   older brother, a farmer in Powhatan County  , Virginia. Douglas Southall Freeman, R. E. Lee  : A Biography (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934), 4: 160.
ii Mrs. W. P. Taylor, Lee's   "kinswoman," resided at "Hayfield." Freeman, ibid, 2: 486-487.
iii Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863), killed two months later at the battle of Chancellorsville.
iv Major General Joseph Hooker (1814-1879), appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac by President Lincoln, January 26, 1863. Lee   defeated him at Chancellorsville in May 1863.
v Their nephew, Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee   (1835-1905). General Lee   is referring to the battle of Kelly's Ford [Kelleysville, Virginia], March 17, 1863. For a brief account of this battle, see Mark Mayo Boatner III, The Civil War Dictionary (New York: David McKay Co. Inc., 1959), 451; for Confederate military reports and accounts, see Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee's   Lieutenants: A Study in Command (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1943), 2: 458-466 and U. S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of The Union and Confederate Armies (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Series I, part 1, vol. 25: 58-63.
vi Major General James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (1833-1864).
vii Confederate artilleryman Major John Pelham (1838-1863), a member of the Stuart Horse Artillery killed at the battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia, March 17, 1863. William Woods Hassler, Colonel John Pelham: Lee's   Boy Artillerist (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1960); Philip Mercer, The Life of the Gallant Pelham (Macon, Georgia: J. W. Burke Company, 1929).
viii Charleston, South Carolina, had withstood several naval attacks during the first two years of the war and was besieged April 7, 1863 to February 18, 1865 when it finally fell to Union forces.
ix King James Version of the Holy Bible, New Testament, Psalm 60: 12 and Psalm 108: 13: "Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies."
x "Sis Lucy" is most likely in reference to Lucy Taylor Lee   (?-?), wife of Charles Carter Lee   and General Lee's   sister-in-law. Paul C. Nagel, The Lees   of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 245. Mildred "Powhattie" Lee   (?- ?) was General Lee's   niece and the daughter of his brother Charles. Freeman, R. E. Lee  , 4: 344.
xi Colonel (later major general) George Washington Custis Lee   (1832-1913), first child and son of General Lee . During this time George was a member of President Jefferson Davis's staff in Richmond.