LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece

ROBERT E. LEE.

THE LEE MANSION AT ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

LEE AT THE CLOSE OF THE MEXICAN WAR

THE ROBERT E. LEE MONUMENT

FACING PAGE

24

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ROBERT E. LEE

CHAPTER I

ROBERT LEE'S BOYHOOD

Nor every young man of seventeen is strong enough to carry his mother about in his arms and yet suffer no harm from it. But young Robert Lee did it many a time: and his erect, well-knit frame bore the strain without the slightest illeffects. His mother was an invalid; her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Harry Lee, had fought in the American Revolution under General George Washington. He had been known as "Light Horse Harry," and his soldiers had formed "Lee's Legion," a command of mixed cavalry and infantry famous for their activity and daring.

But this distinguished friend of George Washington, after several years of illness, had died six years before; and his widow had devoted herself to the care of her children, five in number. Perhaps her grief over the death of her husband,

together with her anxiety about her little family, had impaired her health: at least we know that she became unable to move about unaided; and fortunate indeed she was in her stalwart young son, Robert, who made her his especial care.

Passers-by on Orinoco Street, Alexandria, Virginia, must have been tenderly interested when they saw Robert, hurrying home after school, the Alexandria Academy, or perhaps Mr. Hallowell's school, next door, — bring out his mother in his arms, and place her carefully in the ancient yet comfortable old family coach.

The faithful young son was not only loving and tender in spirit, but in his physical frame he was distinctly attractive. A little above the average height of boys of his age, his abundant dark hair curled slightly; and his clear, frank, hazel eyes, which were set wide apart in his broad, high forehead, indicated that breadth of judgment which he afterward evinced as Commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army. His mouth was full and emotional; it hinted at that great human tenderness which won him such numbers of personal friends and such loyalty throughout his army. Yet, beneath expressive eyes and mouth, could be noted the firm jaw and resolute chin which suggested his indomitable will that will by

which he always governed his own strong desires and passions, and, in his brilliant military career, overcame obstacles which would have defied most

men.

The boy knew well how much his dear mother enjoyed those long drives in the ponderous old coach; indeed, that was about her only form of diversion. So Robert, greatly as he loved boyish sports, and he easily excelled in them, resolutely put them all aside, many a time, when they conflicted with these little journeyings with his invalid mother.

For her part she gratefully recognized the selfsacrificing spirit of her athletic, handsome son, as he insisted on being her escort; doubtless she gave him a goodly share of her "mother love," and probably she confided in him even more freely and fully than in her other children.

"Are you quite comfortable, mother?" he asked, regularly, after he had settled her among the cushions of the big coach. And when, sometimes, the damp, chill wind blew up from the river, he laughingly produced newspapers which he had brought, and, with his pocketknife, deftly made curtains to keep out the drafts of air that circulated freely through the cracks and crevices of the old-fashioned vehicle. It was his aim not