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to Edward D. Townsend re: reports for duty before being offered command of army

Written as Colonel in the 1st Cavalry. Lee was informally offered command of all US armies but refused in order to defend Virginia. He resigned on the 20th (that document is reproduced in Freeman's biography of Lee).

GLC03717

to John MacKay re: birth of daughter Agnes, engineer business, officers marrying

Paper is overall darkened. With integral address panel on p. 4 (Lee has written on all panels which would have been folded out of view. Talks about Congress, General Winfield Scott, etc.

GLC03989

to Joseph E. Johnston re: moving part of his army to anticipate McClellan

Written as General, instructing Johnston to move to oppose McClellan during the latter's Peninsula campaign and to hold his present line. One full length black and white engraving of Lee included.

GLC03153

to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston

Discusses at some length T. J. ("Stonewall") Jackson's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. With full-page postscript, initialed by Lee.

GLC03156

to Earl Van Dorn

Lee adds a seemingly throw-away comment taking notice that the Secretary of War has appropriated more funds to the Western forts "I hope we shall be Comfortable while in the Union"

GLC03249

to Jefferson Davis

A detailed letter reporting the activities, maneuvers and current positions of the troops under his command. Lee concludes: "The army now occupies about the same positions as before the recent advance."Written at the Head Quarters of the Army of...

GLC03250

to John MacKay

Written as Captain of Topological Engineers working on the defenses of New York City harbor. Written in a playful manner typical of his other letters to MacKay, a close friend. Lee worries about MacKay's lingering illness and hopes the warm Gulf...

GLC03324

to Col. Samuel Cooper

Written as Colonel. Cooper was Adjutant General. Written two days before John Brown's execution.

GLC03326

to Rev. T. V. Moore re: crisis in southern affairs

Thanks Moore for a gift of wine and for his prayers. Lee offers sympathy for the capture of his sons. Of the wine, Lee writes "It was what the Surgeon thought I required...." Lee has signed twice, once in initials after the postscript.

GLC03398

[Order for Commander Thomas W. Brent to report to Savannah, GA]

Confederate naval commander Thomas W. Brent was ordered to leave his post in Mobile, Alabama and proceed to Savannah, Georgia for service. Signature by captain in charge Robert E. Lee.

GLC03079.03

[Order for Commander Thomas W. Brent to await orders for placement]

Confederate naval commander Thomas W. Brent was ordered to leave his post at Savannah, Georgia, and await further instruction from the department for his next placement. Stamp on bottom lefthand corner reads: "Quarter Masters Dept, Augusta. G.A."...

GLC03079.04

to Ambrose Powell Hill

Pendleton signs as Assistant Adjutant General, marking the document official. Contains the clerical signatures of General Robert E. Lee and John Archibald Campbell, Confederate Assistant Secretary of War. Pendleton informs Hill "Your letter of...

GLC03080

to Gen. John Stewart

Written as General, a few months after his transfer from Confederate South Eastern defenses. (Name is correctly Stewart.)

GLC02903

to Wade Hampton re: activities of union cavalry and defense of Richmond

GLC03033

to Ambrose E. Burnside

Lee writes a letter to Burnside discussing the fate of Capt. E. P. Lawton. Captain Lawton, apparently a Confederate being held in Alexandria and probably mortally wounded, had asked to be visited by his wife. Lee's letter acknowledges receipt of...

GLC01663

to Col. A. C. Moore

Lee writes a letter to Moore discussing preparations for the Battle of Cheat Mountain. Moore commanded the 29th Regiment of Va. Vols. The Battle of Cheat Mountain was Lee's first campaign of the war.

GLC01769

to Mrs. Grace Stevens

Mrs. Stevens's husband had been lost aboard the C.S.S. Ram. A very gracious letter.

GLC01882

to James A. Seddon re: disbanding company and reassigning officers

With docketing ANS of James Seddon, Confederate Secretary of State, on verso saying "I hope the Legislation of Congress will enable me to support your views. JAS."

GLC01957

to Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith re: military matters, Gen. Burnside

GLC01966

General Orders No. 9

One document by Robert E. Lee titled General Orders No. 9 dated April 10, 1865. Large, oversize copy of Lee's farewell to his troops composed the day after his surrender to Grant.

GLC10013

to Jefferson Davis

"I propose for your consideration sending two good brigades from this army to reinforce Genl. Jackson. These. . . will make him strong enough to wipe out Fremont. . ." Jackson will "sweep down north of the Chickahominy, cut up McClellan's...

GLC08374

to Edward George Washington Butler

Lee, President of Washington College, replies to a letter from General Butler. Acknowledges the receipt of a pamphlet entitled "Oaths, Amnesties, & Rebellions." Discusses the execution of Ferdinand Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, before a firing...

GLC05275

An act donating public lands to the several state & territories, which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture & the mechanic arts

A copy of the Morril Land Grant act, granting public lands to individual states for the building of agricultural colleges, written by Robert E. Lee. The act, passed in 1862, offered states 30,000 acres of public land per Congressman from that state...

GLC05926

to John Letcher re: urging concilatory attitude towards Yankees

Concening President's Johnson's Reconstruction Policy. Lee asks "to calm feelings which have too long existed... the interest of the state are... the same as those of the U. States" Written near Centreville, Virginia.

GLC06776

to Mary F. Jarvis

Lee, then president of Washington College, responds to an enquiry about whether or not a young man of Pennsylvania would be welcomed at the Virginia school. Although it was less than a year from the end of the Civil War and tensions were still...

GLC07005