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ward General Scott was testifying before a court of inquiry, and he made this statement; "In the Mexican campaign, Captain Robert E. Lee, of the Engineer Corps, accomplished the greatest feat of physical and moral daring which was performed, to the best of my knowledge, by any individual in our army."

What was that daring deed? Fortunately we have a record of it, in considerable detail.

General Scott's forces had become somewhat scattered, as the army came up toward Contreras ; and it was necessary for him to communicate with them, and to find some direct route by which to join them. Between Scott's division and the main body lay what was called "La Pedregal," a stretch of country heaped with masses of volcanic rock, so difficult to cross that Santa Anna gave little attention to guarding it, saying that he did not believe even a goat could make its way across it. General Scott says in his report: "Seven of our officers had tried to get across this piece of lavastrewn country, unsuccessfully. Then Captain Lee, of the Engineers, volunteered to make the attempt. He made it, and at midnight he returned, bearing a message from the separated brigades, under General Smith."

Captain Lee not only succeeded in making the

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From a daguerreotype taken at the close of the Mexican War.

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journey across this wild, waste region, leaping from rock to rock, risking his life on his sure-footedness, but he returned over that rock-strewn area in almost complete darkness and wholly alone, with the risk of encountering enemies, or of slipping into one of the many chasms which beset his path.

General Scott called this the most daring feat of the war; he added it to the already long list of brilliant achievements which he generously loved to rehearse in connection with his gallant Virginia officer. Indeed, General Scott said plainly that the capture of Mexico City, on September 14th, 1847, was, in a considerable degree, due to the efforts of Colonel Robert E. Lee.

CHAPTER VII

IN COMMAND AT WEST POINT

AFTER the Mexican War was ended, Colonel Lee returned to his home in Arlington. We may be sure that the reunion of the family in the old Custis homestead was a very happy one. His son, Captain Robert E. Lee, Jr., has described the meeting, although at that time he was but a child of three or four, whom his father had not seen for more than two years. "Young Robert" narrates how he had been dressed in his best for the occasion, and, with the rest of the family, he eagerly awaited the arrival of the distinguished soldier. Young Robert tells us that he had a little friend staying with him, a child of about his own age. When Colonel Lee, in his round of greetings, came upon these two tiny individuals, he exclaimed eagerly, "Where is my little boy?" And, in the excitement of the moment, mistaking the children, he kissed the little playmate. In the soldier's mind the picture of his child had grown misty during his two years' absence, yet the child felt the mistake deeply. It was his first conscious

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