Robert E. Lee Autograph Letter Signed.

LEE, Robert E.

$9,800.00

Item Number: 138161

Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Robert E. Lee as President of Washington College. One page, addressed to L.H. Kimball Esq of 17 West 24th New York the letter reads, “Washington College, Lexington Va; 1 Dec 1869 My dear Sir, Your letter of the 29th has been received. I thank you in the name of the Faculty for the desire you express that the College should possess so interesting a work of art as Greenough’s bust of Calhoun. As the production of a celebrated artists and the likeness of a distinguished statesman its possession by the College would be peculiarly desirable and its acquirement would be rendered more pleasing by the relief that would be thus afforded to its ultimate possessor, who has been so distinguished for his accomplishments and liberality. But the condition of the College is such as to require all its amiable funds to be applied to the extension and enlargement of its Course of instruction to meet the wants of the Community and I know of none of its friends who have contributed to its support upon whom I could call for aid in pursuing the bust in question. I need not add that if any of its friends should think proper to present it to the College, that it would be highly prized and greatly valued. I am very respectfully your obedient servant R.E. Lee.” Following the conclusion of the American Civil War in 1865, Lee became president of Washington College (later Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia; in that position, he supported reconciliation between North and South.The Trustees used his famous name in large-scale fund-raising appeals and Lee transformed Washington College into a leading Southern college, expanding its offerings significantly, adding programs in commerce and journalism, and incorporating the Lexington Law School. Lee was well liked by the students, which enabled him to announce an “honor system” like that of West Point, explaining that “we have but one rule here, and it is that every student be a gentleman.” To speed up national reconciliation Lee recruited students from the North and made certain they were well treated on campus and in town. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable signed by and entirely in the hand of one of the greatest military commanders in history.

Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign following the wounding of Joseph E. Johnston. He succeeded in driving the Union Army of the Potomac under George B. McClellan away from the Confederate capital of Richmond during the Seven Days Battles, although he was unable to destroy McClellan's army. Lee then overcame Union forces under John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August. His invasion of Maryland that September ended with the inconclusive Battle of Antietam, after which he retreated to Virginia. Lee won two of his most decisive victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville before launching a second invasion of the North in the summer of 1863, where he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg by the Army of the Potomac under George Meade. He led his army in the minor and inconclusive Bristoe Campaign that fall before General Ulysses S. Grant took command of Union armies in the spring of 1864. Grant engaged Lee's army in bloody but inconclusive battles at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania before the lengthy Siege of Petersburg, which was followed in April 1865 by the capture of Richmond and the destruction of most of Lee's army, which he finally surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House. After his death in 1870, Lee became a cultural icon in the South and is largely hailed as one of the Civil War's greatest generals. As commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, he fought most of his battles against armies of significantly larger size, and managed to win many of them. Lee built up a collection of talented subordinates, most notably James Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and J. E. B. Stuart, who along with Lee were critical to the Confederacy's battlefield success.