Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870 to William Fitzhugh (Rooney) Lee

GLC05979

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GLC#
GLC05979
Type
Letters
Date
April 24, 1864
Author/Creator
Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870
Title
to William Fitzhugh (Rooney) Lee
Place Written
Camp Orange, Virginia
Pagination
2 p. : Height: 25.4 cm, Width: 20.3 cm
Primary time period
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
Sub-Era
The American Civil War

General Lee offers condolence to his son Rooney on the death of his wife, Charlotte Wickham, from tuberculosis. Although Lee mourns her death, he maintains that "we cannot indulge in grief however mournful yet pleasing." Lee experienced a series of profound personal loss during the war; along with the death of his daughter-in-law, his daughter Annie and two of his grandchildren also died. But Lee's dedication to duty remained firm, and was demonstrated in his advice to his bereaved son. He urged Rooney to return to his brigade, reminding him that "Our Country demands all our thoughts, all our energies. To resist the powerful Combination now forming against us, will require every man at his place."

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