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21 - Recollections And Letters Of General Robert E. Lee by Robert E. Lee, Jr. · Recollections And Letters Of General Robert E. Lee

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty one of Recollections and Letters of General Robert E.
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  Speaker 1: Lee by Robert E. Lee Junior. This LibriVox recording is
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Chapter twenty one. Failing health, the
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  Speaker 1: General declines lucrative positions in New York and Atlanta. He
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  Speaker 1: suffers from an obstinate cold, local gossip. He is advised
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  Speaker 1: to go south. In the spring of eighteen seventy, desires
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  Speaker 1: to visit his daughter Annie's grave. After General Lee had
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  Speaker 1: accepted the presidency of Washington College, he determined to devote
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  Speaker 1: himself entirely to the interest and improvement of that institution.
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  Speaker 1: From this resolution, he never wavered and offer that he
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  Speaker 1: should be at the head of a large house to
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  Speaker 1: represent Southern commerce, that he should reside in New York,
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  Speaker 1: and have placed at his disposal an immense sum of money.
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  Speaker 1: He declined, saying, I am grateful, but I have a
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  Speaker 1: self imposed task which I must accomplish. I have led
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  Speaker 1: the young men of the South in battle. I have
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  Speaker 1: seen many of them die on the field. I shall
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  Speaker 1: devote my remaining energies to training young men to do
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  Speaker 1: their duty in life. To a request from some of
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  Speaker 1: his old officers that he should associate himself with a
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  Speaker 1: business enterprise in the South as its president. He replied
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  Speaker 1: with the following letter, Lexington, Virginia, December fourteenth, eighteen sixty nine.
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  Speaker 1: General J. B. Gordon, President Southern Life Insurance Company, Atlanta, Georgia.
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  Speaker 1: My dear General, I have received your letter of the
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  Speaker 1: third instant, and am duly sensible of the kind feelings
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  Speaker 1: which prompted your proposal. It would be a great pleasure
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  Speaker 1: to me to be associated with you Hampton, B. H. Hill,
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  Speaker 1: and the other good men whose names I see on
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  Speaker 1: your list of directors, But I feel that I ought
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  Speaker 1: not to abandon the position I hold at Washington College
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  Speaker 1: at this time or as long as I can be
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  Speaker 1: of service to it. Thanking you for your kind consideration,
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  Speaker 1: for which I know I am alone indebted for your
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  Speaker 1: proposition to become president of the Southern Lafe Life Insurance Company.
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  Speaker 1: And with kindest regards to missus Gordon, and my best
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  Speaker 1: wishes for yourself, I am very truly yours. R. E. Lee.
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  Speaker 1: His correspondent, shows that many like propositions were made to
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  Speaker 1: him the Christmas of sixty nine. Neither my brother nor
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  Speaker 1: myself was with him, knowing of our plans in that respect.
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  Speaker 1: He wrote before the holidays to Fitz You, wishing us
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  Speaker 1: both the compliments of the season and a pleasant time
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  Speaker 1: in the visits we were going to make Lexington, Virginia.
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  Speaker 1: December eighteenth, eighteen sixty nine. My dear fitz You, I
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  Speaker 1: must begin by wishing you a pleasant Christmas and many
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  Speaker 1: many happy New Years. And may each succeeding year bring
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  Speaker 1: to you and yours increasing happiness. I shall think of you,
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  Speaker 1: and my daughter and my grandson very often during the
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  Speaker 1: season when families are generally united, and though absent from
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  Speaker 1: you in person, you will always be present in my mind,
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  Speaker 1: and my poor prayers and best wishes will accompany you
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  Speaker 1: all wherever you are. Bertus will be remembered, and I
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  Speaker 1: hope that the festivities of Brandon will not drive from
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  Speaker 1: his memory the homely board at Lexington. I wish that
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  Speaker 1: he will enjoy himself and find some one to fill
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  Speaker 1: that void in his heart as completely as he will
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  Speaker 1: the one in his system. Tell tab that no one
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  Speaker 1: in Petersburg wants to see her half as much as
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  Speaker 1: her papa, And now that her little boy has his
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  Speaker 1: mouthful of teeth, he would not appear so lonesome as
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  Speaker 1: he did in the summer. If she should find in
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  Speaker 1: the burg a ducky to take his place, I beg
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  Speaker 1: that she will send him up to me. I duly
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  Speaker 1: received your letter previous to the twelfth instant, and requested
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  Speaker 1: some of the family who were writing about that time
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  Speaker 1: to inform you what I last wrote. I could not
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  Speaker 1: find it on my table and did not refer to it.
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  Speaker 1: The mem says you excel her in counting if you
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  Speaker 1: do not in writing, but she does not think she
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  Speaker 1: is in your debt. I agree with you in your
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  Speaker 1: views about Smith's Island, and see no advantage in leasing it,
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  Speaker 1: but wish you could sell it to advantage. I hope
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  Speaker 1: the prospects may be better in the spring. Political affairs
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  Speaker 1: will be better, I think, and people will be more
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  Speaker 1: sanguine and hopeful. You must be on the alert. I
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  Speaker 1: wish I could go down to see you, but think
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  Speaker 1: it better for me to remain here. To leave home
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  Speaker 1: now and return during the winter would be worse for me.
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  Speaker 1: It is too cold for your mother to travel now.
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  Speaker 1: She says she will go down in the spring, but
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  Speaker 1: you know what an exertion it is for her to
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  Speaker 1: leave home and the inconvenience. If not the suffering is great.
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  Speaker 1: The anticipation, however, is pleasing to her and encourages hope.
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  Speaker 1: And I like her to enjoy it, though I am
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  Speaker 1: not sanguine that she will realize it. Mildred is probably
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  Speaker 1: with you and can tell you all about us. I
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  Speaker 1: am somewhat reconciled to her absence by the knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: the benefit that she will be to tab Tell the
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  Speaker 1: latter that she, Mildred is modest and backward in giving advice,
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  Speaker 1: but that she has minds of wealth on that subject,
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  Speaker 1: and that she tap Rab must endeavor to extract from
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  Speaker 1: her her views on the management of a household, children,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera, and the proper conduct to be observed toward
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  Speaker 1: husbands and the world in general. I am sure my
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  Speaker 1: little son will receive many wise admonitions, which he will
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  Speaker 1: take open mouthed. I have received a letter from your
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  Speaker 1: uncle Carter telling me of his pleasant visit to you,
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  Speaker 1: and of his agreeable impressions of his nephew and new niece.
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  Speaker 1: He was taken very sick in Richmond, and delayed there
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  Speaker 1: so long that he could not be present at William
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  Speaker 1: Kinnon's wedding, and missed the festivities at his neighbor Gillians
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  Speaker 1: and at Norwood. Indeed, he had not recovered his strength
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  Speaker 1: when Lucy wrote a few days ago, and her account
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  Speaker 1: makes me very uneasy about him. I am glad Rob
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  Speaker 1: has so agreeable a neighbor as General Cook, and I
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  Speaker 1: presume it is the North Carolina Brigadier footnote A Virginian
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  Speaker 1: son of General Saint George Cook of the Federal Army,
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  Speaker 1: who commanded a North Carolina Brigade in a pus Hill
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  Speaker 1: score a n. Virginia end note. When you go to Petersburg,
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  Speaker 1: present my kind regards to mister missus Bowling, Miss Melville,
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  Speaker 1: and all friends all here unite with me in love
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  Speaker 1: to you tab and the boy in which Mildred is included.
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  Speaker 1: Your affectionate father R. E. Lee, General William H. F. Lee.
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  Speaker 1: In a note written the day after acknowledging a paper
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  Speaker 1: sent to him to sign, he says, I wrote to
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  Speaker 1: you yesterday Saturday in reply to your former letter and
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  Speaker 1: stated the reasons why I could not visit you. Your
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  Speaker 1: mother has received Mildred's letter announcing her arrival in Richmond,
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  Speaker 1: and will write to her there. I can only repeat
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  Speaker 1: my love and prayers that every blessing may attend you
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  Speaker 1: and yours. We are as usual, truly and affectionately. R. E. Lee,
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  Speaker 1: General William H. F. Lee. The attack of cold from
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  Speaker 1: which my father suffered in October had been very severe.
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  Speaker 1: Rapid exercise on horseback or on foot produced pain and
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  Speaker 1: difficulty in breathing. After he was considered by most of
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  Speaker 1: his friends to have gotten well over it, it was
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  Speaker 1: very evident to his doctors and himself that there was
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  Speaker 1: a serious trouble about the heart, and he often had
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  Speaker 1: great weariness and depression. He complained, but little was often
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  Speaker 1: very bright and cheerful, and still kept up his old
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  Speaker 1: time fun and humor in his conversation and letters. But
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  Speaker 1: his letters written during this year to his immediate family
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  Speaker 1: show that he was constantly in pain and had begun
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  Speaker 1: to look upon himself as an invalid. To Mildred, who
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  Speaker 1: was in Richmond on a visit to friends, he writes
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  Speaker 1: jokingly about the difficulty experienced by the family in finding
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  Speaker 1: out what she meant. In a letter to him, Lexington, Virginia,
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  Speaker 1: January eighth, eighteen seventy, My precious life, I received your
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  Speaker 1: letter of the fourth. We held a family counsel over it.
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  Speaker 1: It was passed from eager hand to hand, and attracted
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  Speaker 1: wondering eyes and mysterious looks. It produced few words, but
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  Speaker 1: a deal of thinking, and the conclusion arise that I
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  Speaker 1: believe unanimously was that there was a great fund of
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  Speaker 1: amusement and information in it, if it could be extracted.
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  Speaker 1: I have therefore determined to put it carefully away till
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  Speaker 1: your return, seize a leisure day and get you to
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  Speaker 1: interpret it. Your mother's commentary, in a suppressed soliloquy, was
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  Speaker 1: that you had succeeded in writing a wretched hand. Agnes
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  Speaker 1: thought that it would keep this cold weather her thoughts
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  Speaker 1: running on jellies and oysters in the storeroom. But I,
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  Speaker 1: indignant at such aspersions upon your accomplishments, retained your epistle
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  Speaker 1: and read, in an elevated tone, an interesting narrative of
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  Speaker 1: travels in sundry countries, describing gorgeous scenery, hair breadth escapes,
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  Speaker 1: and a series of remarkable events by Flood and Field,
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  Speaker 1: not a word of which they declared was in your letter.
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  Speaker 1: Your return, I hope will prove the correctness of my
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  Speaker 1: version of your annals. I have little to tell. Gayety continues.
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  Speaker 1: Last night there was a cadet hawk night before a
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  Speaker 1: party at Colonel Johnston's, the night preceding a college combasazione
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  Speaker 1: at your mother's. It was given in honor of Miss
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  Speaker 1: Maggie Johnston's visit of a few days to us. You
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  Speaker 1: know how agreeable I am on such occasions, but on
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  Speaker 1: this I am told I surpassed myself. On New Year's Day,
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  Speaker 1: the usual receptions many of our friends called. Many of
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  Speaker 1: my ancients as well as juniors, were present, and all
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  Speaker 1: enjoyed some good Norfolk oysters. I refer you to Agnes
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  Speaker 1: for details. We are pretty well. I think I am better.
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  Speaker 1: Your mother and sisters as usual. Custus busy with the
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  Speaker 1: examination of the cadets, the students preparing for theirs. Cadet
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  Speaker 1: Cook who was so dangerously injured by a fall from
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  Speaker 1: his window on the first It is hoped now will recover.
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  Speaker 1: The Missus Pendleton were to have arrived this morning, and
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  Speaker 1: Miss Ella Hennenburger is on a visit to Miss Campbell.
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  Speaker 1: Miss Lizzie Letcher still absent. Messrs Anderson Baker, W. Graves,
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  Speaker 1: Norman Strickler and Webb have all been on visits to
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  Speaker 1: their sweethearts and have left without them. Missus Smith is
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  Speaker 1: as usual. Gus is as wild as ever. Footnote. Missus
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  Speaker 1: Smith and Gus were the names of two of the
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  Speaker 1: pet cats of my sister. Gus was short for Gustavus Adolphus.
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  Speaker 1: End note. We catch our own rats and mice now
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  Speaker 1: and are independent of cats. All unite in love to you,
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  Speaker 1: your affectionate father. R. E. Lee, Miss Mildred Lee. A
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  Speaker 1: month later, he writes again to his daughter in the
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  Speaker 1: same playful strain, and sends his remembrance to many friends
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  Speaker 1: in Richmond, Lexington, Virginia. February two, eighteen seventy, My precious life,
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  Speaker 1: your letter of the twenty ninth Ultimo, which has been
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  Speaker 1: four days on the road, reached me this morning, and
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  Speaker 1: my reply, unless our mails whip up, will not get
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  Speaker 1: to you before Sunday or Monday. There is no danger, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: of our correspondence becoming too brisk. What do the young
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  Speaker 1: girls do whose lovers are at Washington College or the Institute?
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  Speaker 1: Their tender hearts must always be an a lacerated and
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  Speaker 1: bleeding condition. I hope you are not now in that category,
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  Speaker 1: for I see no pining swains among them whose thoughts
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  Speaker 1: and wishes are stretching eagerly toward Richmond. I am glad
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  Speaker 1: you have had so pleasant a visit to the Andersons.
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  Speaker 1: You must present my regards to them all, and I
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  Speaker 1: hope that missus Allen and Mary will come to see
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  Speaker 1: you in the summer. I am sure you will have
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  Speaker 1: an agreeable time at brook Hill. Remember me to all
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  Speaker 1: the family and tell miss Bell to spare my friend Wilkins.
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  Speaker 1: He is not in a condition to enjoy the sufferings
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  Speaker 1: which she imposes on her. Richmond abose, besides his position,
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  Speaker 1: entitles him to tender treatment. I think it time that
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  Speaker 1: you should be thinking of returning home. I want to
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  Speaker 1: see you very much, and as you have been receiving
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  Speaker 1: instruction from the learned Pig, I shall expect to see
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  Speaker 1: you much improved. We are not reduced to apply to
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  Speaker 1: such instructors at Lexington. Here we have learned professors to
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  Speaker 1: teach us what we wish to know, and the Franklin
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  Speaker 1: Institute to furnish us lectures on science and literature. You
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  Speaker 1: had better come back if you are in search of
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  Speaker 1: information on any subject. I am glad that miss Nanny
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  Speaker 1: Wise found one occasion on which her ready tongue failed her.
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  Speaker 1: She will have to hold it in subjection. Now I
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  Speaker 1: should like to see Miss Bell under similar circumstances, provided
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  Speaker 1: she did not die from suppressed ideas. What an awful
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  Speaker 1: feeling she must experience if the occasion should ever come
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  Speaker 1: to her to restrain that active member. Although my friend
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  Speaker 1: Wilkins would be very indulgent, I think you would want
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  Speaker 1: her to listen sometimes. Miss Pendleton has just been over
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  Speaker 1: to give us some pleasing news. Her niece, Miss Susan Mead,
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  Speaker 1: Philip's daughter, is to be married next month to a
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: mister Brown of Kentucky, who visited her two years ago
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  Speaker 1: upon the recommendation of the Reverend Charles Page, found her
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  Speaker 1: a school girl and has waited until she became a woman.
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  Speaker 1: He is rich, forty nine and has six children. There
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: is a fair start in the world for a young woman.
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  Speaker 1: I recommend her example to you. We are all as usual,
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  Speaker 1: and missus Smith is just the same. Miss Maggie Johnston,
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  Speaker 1: who has been staying with us occasionally for a few
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  Speaker 1: days at a time, is now on a visit to us.
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  Speaker 1: There is to be an anniversary celebration of the societies
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  Speaker 1: of the Institute on Friday, and a student's party on Monday.
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  Speaker 1: Night and a dance at the College Hotel. Tomorrow night,
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  Speaker 1: your mother has an evening for some young students. Gaiety
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  Speaker 1: will never cease in Lexington, so long as the ladies
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  Speaker 1: are so attractive and the men so agreeable. Surprise parties
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: are the fashion. Now. Miss Lucy Campbell has her cousin,
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  Speaker 1: Miss Ella Hennenburger, staying with her, who assists her to
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  Speaker 1: surprise and capture two unwary youths. I am sorry to
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: hear of missus Zoole's illness. If you see her, present
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: me most kindly to her. Also to missus George Randolph,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: do beware of Vanilla creame recollect how far you are
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  Speaker 1: from home, and do not tamper with yourself. Our semiannual
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: examination has been in progress for a fortnight. We shall
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  Speaker 1: conclude on Saturday, which will be a great relief to me,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: for in addition to other things, I have to be
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  Speaker 1: six hours daily in the examination rooms. I was sorry
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  Speaker 1: that I could not attend to mister Peabody's funeral, but
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: I did not feel able to undertake the journey, especially
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  Speaker 1: at this season. I am getting better, I hope, and
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  Speaker 1: feel stronger than I did, but I cannot walk much
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  Speaker 1: farther than to the college, though when I get on
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  Speaker 1: my horse I can ride with comfort. Agnes accompanies me
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  Speaker 1: very often. I must refer you to her and your
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: mother for all local news. Give my love to fitz
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  Speaker 1: Hugh and tab and Robert when you see them, and
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  Speaker 1: for yourself keep in abundance. I have received letters from
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  Speaker 1: Edward and Blanche. They are very anxious about the condition
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: of political affairs in France. Lanche sent you some receipts
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: for creams et cetera. You had better come and try them.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Your affectionate father R. E. Lee, Miss Mildredly. The following
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: letter to his son Fitzhugh further shows his tender interest
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  Speaker 1: in his children and grandson. Lexington, Virginia, February fourteenth, eighteen seventy,
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  Speaker 1: My dear fits you. I hope that you are all well,
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  Speaker 1: and that you will not let anyone spoil my grandson.
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  Speaker 1: Your mother has written all the family in Lexington News.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: She gathers much more than I do. I go nowhere
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  Speaker 1: but to the college, and when the weather permits, I
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: write in the mountains. I am better, I think, but
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: still troubled. Mildred I hope is with you when she
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: gets away from her papa. She does not know what
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  Speaker 1: she wants to do. Tell her you have had a
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: fine winter for work, and later you will have a
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: profitable season. Custus is well and very retired. I see
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  Speaker 1: no alarming exhibition of attention to the ladies. I have
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: great hopes of Robert. Give much love to my daughter
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: tab and to poor little Life. I wish I could
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  Speaker 1: see you all. It would do my pains good. Poor
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: little Agnes is not at all well, and I am
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: urging her to go away for a while. Mary, as
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: usual affectionately your father R. E. Lee General W. H. F. Lee.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: After waiting all winter for the improvement in his health,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: my father, yielding at last to the wishes of his family,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: physician and friends, determined to try the effect of a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: southern climate. It was thought it might do him good
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: at any rate to escape the rigors of a Lexington March,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: and could do no harm. In the following letters to
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: his children, he outlines his plans and touchingly alludes to
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: the memory of his daughter Annie, who died in eighteen
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  Speaker 1: sixty two and was buried at Warrenton Springs, North Carolina, Lexington, Virginia,
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  Speaker 1: March twenty one, eighteen seventy, my dear daughter, The doctors
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: and others think I had better go to the south
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  Speaker 1: in the hope of relieving the effects of the cold
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  Speaker 1: under which I have been laboring all the winter. I
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: think I should do better here, and am very reluctant
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to leave home in my present condition. But they seem
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  Speaker 1: so interested in my recovery, and so persuasive in their uneasiness,
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  Speaker 1: that I should appear obstinate, if not perverse, if I
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  Speaker 1: resisted longer. I therefore consented to go, and will take
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  Speaker 1: Agnes to Savannah, as she seems anxious to visit that city,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: or perhaps she will take me. I wish also to
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: visit my dear Annie's grave before I die. I have
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  Speaker 1: always desired to do so since the cessation of active hostilities,
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: but have never been able. I wish to see how
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: calmly she sleeps away from us, all with her dear
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: hands folded over her breast, as if in mute prayer,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: while her pure spirit is traversing the land of the blessed.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: I shall diverge from the main root of travel for
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: this purpose, and it will depend somewhat upon my feelings
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: and somewhat upon my procuring an escort for Agnes. Whether
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: I go further south, I am sorry not to be
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: able to see you before I go, But if I return,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: I hope to find you here well and happy. You
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: must take good care of your mother and do everything
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  Speaker 1: she wants. You must not shorten your trip on account
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  Speaker 1: of our departure. Custus will be with her every day,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: and Mary is with her still the servants seem attentive.
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  Speaker 1: Good Bye, my dear child. Remember me to all friends,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: and believe me your affectionate father. R. E. Lee, Miss
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Mildred Lee, Lexington, Virginia, March twenty two, eighteen seventy. My
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: dear fits you. Your letter of the seventeenth instant has
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: been received. Lest I should appear obstinate, if not perverse,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I have yielded to the kind importunities of my physicians
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: and of the faculty to take a trip toward the South.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: In pursuance of my resolution, I shall leave here Thursday
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: next in the packet boat, and hope to arrive in
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Richmond on Friday afternoon. I shall take with me as
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: my companion Agnes, who has been my kind and uncomplaining nurse.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: And if we could only get down to you that evening.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: We would do so, for I want to see you,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: my sweet daughter and dear grandson. But as the doctors
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: think it important that I should reach a southern climate
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: as soon as practicable, I fear I shall have to
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: leave my visit to you till my return. I shall
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: go first to Warrenton Springs, North Carolina, to visit the
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: grave of my dear Annie, where I have always promised
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: myself to go, and I think if I am to
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: accomplish it, I have no time to lose. I wish
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: to witness her quiet sleep, with her dear hands crossed
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: over her breast as it were in mute prayer, undisturbed
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: by her distance from us, and to feel that her
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: pure spirit is waiting in bliss in the land of
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: the Blessed. From there, according to my feelings, I shall
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: either go down to Norfolk or to Savannah and take you,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: if practicable, on my return, I would ask you to
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: come up to Richmond, but my movements are unknown to myself,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: as I cannot know the roots, schedules, et cetera till
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: I arrive there. But I have promised not to linger
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: there longer than necessary, so I must avoid temptation. We
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: are all as usual. Your mother still talks of visiting you,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: and when I urge her to make preparations for the journey,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: she replies rather disdainfully, she has none to make. They
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: have been made years ago. Custus and Mary are well,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: and Mildred writes that she will be back by April first.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: We are having beautiful weather now, which I hope may continue.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: From your affectionate father r e Lee to his daughter Mildred,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: he writes again, giving her the minutest details as to
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: the roots home. This is very characteristic of him. We
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: were always fully instructed as to the best way to
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: get to Lexington, and indeed all the roads of life
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: were carefully marked out for us by him. Lexington, Virginia,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: March twenty three, eighteen seventy, My dear daughter, I wrote
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: to you the other day telling you of my intention
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: of going south and of my general plan as far
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: as formed. This morning your letter of the twenty first arrived.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: I hope you will get back comfortably and safely. And
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: if you can fall in with no escort, you had
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: better go as far as Alexandria. The first stage of
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: your journey, Aunt Maria, Cassius, Lee, the Smiths, etc. Would
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: receive you. If you wish to come by Goshen, you
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: must take the train from Alexandria on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: so as to reach us on any of those evenings,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: when you will arrive here about twelve o'clock at night.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: By taking the train from Alexandria on the alternate days Monday, Wednesday,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: or Friday, you will reach Staunton that evening by four pm,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: remain all night, and come over by daylight the following day.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: In the stage. By taking the train from Alexandria to
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Lynchburg Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, you will reach there the
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: same afternoon about four pm. Then go immediately to the
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: packet boat, and you will arrive here next morning. This
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: last is the easiest route and the best. If you
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: find no escort, tell all the conductors and captains that
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: you are my runaway daughter, and they will take care
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: of you. I leave tomorrow evening on the packet boat.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: I told you that Agnes would accompany me. Tell my
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: cousins Washington that Jane and Mary that I wish I
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: were going to see them. I should then anticipate some pleasure,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: But the doctor say I must turn my face the
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: other way. I know they do not know everything, and
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: yet I have often had to do what I was
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: told without benefit to myself, and I shall have to
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: do it again. Good Bye, my dear daughter, All unite
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: in love your affectionate father. R. E. Lee, Miss Mildred Lee.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter twenty one.