182 He had called Mrs. Custis “Mother”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 328.
183 “May God give you strength”: Lee, Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 18–19.
183 It is surely no accident: Paul Nagel, The Lees of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 252.
184 “inculcating those principles”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 325.
184 “You must not infer”: Ibid., 341.
184 Lee considered discharging cadets: Ibid., 344, n24.
184 His pride in inspecting the first graduating class: Ibid., 329.
184 She brought several of the familiar: Mary P. Coulling, The Lee Girls (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Blair, 1987), 40.
185 The grounds and gardens: Ibid., 34.
185 The board of visitors: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 347.
186 Again and again small detachments: Ibid., 348–49.
186 “with his dying breath”: Ibid., 350.
187 Lee gained nothing: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 159.
188 The sheer tedium: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 362.
189 “These people give a world”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 364.
189 “Yesterday I returned”: Ibid.
191 “my feelings for my country”: Robert E. Lee to Mary Lee, August 4, 1856, Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 367.
191 “I saw nothing”: Ibid.
191 Mildred, who was four years younger: Nagel, The Lees of Virginia, 233.
191 That Edward Childe: Ibid., 234.
191 “The news came to me”: Robert E. Lee to Mary Lee, August 11, 1856, Jones, Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 80.
194 “I was much pleased”: Robert E. Lee to Mary Lee, December 27, 1856, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.
196 “I have been out four days”: Robert E. Lee to Mary Lee, June 29, 1857, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.
197 “In the day, the houses”: Robert E. Lee to Annie Lee, August 8, 1857, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.
197 “adds more than years”: Nagel, The Lees of Virginia, 258.
198 “I can see that”: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 174, quoting a letter from Robert E. Lee to A. S. Johnston, Howard-Tilton Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
199 He had already had the thankless task: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 164.
199 Each of these places: Ibid., 175.
200 “I can see little prospect”: Pryor, Reading the Man, 262.
201 Custis generously sent his father: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 384.
203 Slaves were no longer needed: Lisa Kraus, John Bedell, and Charles LeeDecker, “Joseph Bruin and the Slave Trade,” June 2007, 1–5, 17.
204 “the general impression”: Pryor, Reading the Man, 260.
205 The Lees themselves complained: Ibid., 268.
206 “were apprehended and thrown into prison”: Pryor, Reading the Man, 260.
208 Although these letters: Robert E. Lee to Custis Lee, July 2, 1859, Jones, Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 102.
208 After Norris’s account appeared: Pryor, Reading the Man, 272; Robert E. Lee to E. S. Quirk, April 13, 1866, quoted in Michael Fellman, The Making of Robert E. Lee (New York: Random House, 2000), 67.
209 far from being unusual: Pryor, Reading the Man, 273.
209 “by the French Minister at Washington”: Ibid., 261.
210 His military career: Freeman, Robert E. Lee: A Biography, Vol. 1, 393.
210 He left Arlington: Ibid., 405.
CHAPTER 6 1861—“The Thunder of the Captains and the Shouting”
211 “The thunder of the captains”: Job 39:25.
211 “He was a United States officer”: Douglas Southall Freeman, Robert E. Lee: A Biography (New York: Scribner, 1934), Vol. 1, 404.
212 “gain the affection of your people”: Emory Thomas, Robert E. Lee (New York: Norton, 1995), 178.
213 From San Antonio: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 388.
213 His chief concern: Ibid., 405.
213 Another of Lee’s concerns: Ibid., 407.
214 Lee was perfectly willing: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 407.
214 “For the attainment of this object”: Reverend J. William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee: Soldier and Man (New York: Neale, 1906), 112.
214 “A divided heart”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 411.
215 “You know I was very much”: Robert E. Lee to Annie Lee, August 27, 1860, quoted in Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 184
215 This was not exactly a midlife crisis: Ibid., 185.
215 “leave politics to the politicians”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 412.
215 Many of Lee’s own officers: Ibid., 413.
216 “Politicians,” Lee concluded: Robert E. Lee to Major Van Dorn, July 3, 1860, Debutts-Ely Collection, Library of Congress.
217 Four days after Lincoln’s election: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 413.
217 “Let me tell you”: Wikipedia, “Sam Houston,” 5.
217 “I hope, however, the wisdom”: Robert E. Lee to Custis Lee, December 14, 1860, Jones, Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 118–19.
219 “hold on to specie”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 417.
219 “to suffer these Views”: Ibid., 418.
220 “a man’s first allegiance”: Ibid.
220 replied abruptly: Ibid.
221 “I will not, however”: Robert E. Lee in letter home, January 23, 1861, Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 420.
221 To Custis, he wrote almost in despair: Jones, Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 120–1.
221 On January 26 Louisiana seceded: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 426.
222 Rightly assuming that he would: Ibid., 425.
222 “On the right of the entrance”: Robert E. Lee to Agnes Lee, August 4, 1856, Debutts-Ely Collection, Library of Congress.
223 “I cannot be moved”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 429.
224 Though travel was excruciatingly difficult: Mary P. Coulling, The Lee Girls (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Blair, 1987), 76.
224 “I am told”: Ibid.
224 she returned at the end of the summer: Ibid., 77.
224 She was appalled: Ibid., 78.
224 Even when Mary Lee: Ibid., 80.
224 As state after state: Jones, Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 119–21.
225 He was determined to remain: Coulling, The Lee Girls, 90.
225 Mary Chesnut: C. Vann Woodward, ed., Mary Chesnut’s Civil War (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1981), 26.
226 On April 4: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 434.
226 “Now they have intercepted”: Woodward, Mary Chestnut’s Civil War, 45.
227 Two days later Fort Sumter surrendered: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 435.
227 Francis P. Blair had already: John Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln: A History (New York: Century, 1980), Vol. 4, 498.
228 Early in the morning: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 436.
228 “to enforce Federal law.” Ibid.
228 “I declined the offer”: Robert E. Lee to Reverdy Johnson, February 25, 1868, Robert E. Lee Jr., Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page, 1924), 27–28.
229 “There are times”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, A Biography, Vol. 1, 28n.
229 “I must say that I am”: John S. Mosby, Memoirs of John S. Mosby, Charles S. Russell, ed. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1917), 379.
229 “I am unable to realize”: Frances Scott and Anne C. Webb, Who Is Markie? The Life of Martha Custis Williams Carter, Cousin and Confidante of Robert E. Lee (Berwyn Heights, Md.: Heritage, 2007), 132.
230 “I have the honor”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 440.
230 “Save in defense”: Ibid., 442.
230 When he was done: Ibid.
230 “I know you will blame me”: Lee, Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 25–26.
231 “There is no man”: Michael Fellman, The Making of Robert E. Lee (New York: Random House, 2000), 90.
232 Never one to waste a minute: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 448.
232 “bald-headed, florid, and bottle-nosed”: Ibid., 463.
232 His letter to Lee: Ordinances Adopted by the Convention of Virginia in Secret Session in April and May, 1861, 9.
233 “Its foundations are laid”: Benjamin Quarles, The Negro in the Civil War (New York: Da Capo, 1953), 43.
234 “his official rank or personal position”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 70.
235 Lee was given a small office: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 191.
235 four members: Ibid., 464.
236 “I hope we have heard”: Mosby, Memoirs of John S. Mosby, 379.
236 Finally, the doors were opened: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 465.
237 The Federal arsenal: Ibid., 473.
237 the Norfolk Navy Yard: Ibid., 474.
238 “40,000 troops”: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 194.
239 Although both he and Custis: Coulling, The Lee Girls, 85.
239 “You have to move”: Ibid., 86.
239 In the morning he rode over: Ibid.
239 The silver of the Lee and Custis families: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 61; Edmund Jennings Lee, Lee of Virginia, 1642–1892 (Philadelphia, 1895), 409–10; Coulling, The Lee Girls, 87.
240 The dashing Lieutenant: Scott and Webb, Who Is Markie? 133.
240 There is no question: Coulling, The Lee Girls, 87.
240 even at Ravensworth: Lee, Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 30.
241 Her oldest son, Custis: Coulling, The Lee Girls, 89.
241 She went on at some length: Ibid., 88–89.
241 Sanford was sensible: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 195.
242 All homes would henceforth seem: Lee, Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee, 32.
242 Deep and sincere: Coulling, The Lee Girls, 89.
242 “last ten years”: Robert E. Lee to Mary Lee, April 30, 1861, Fitzhugh Lee, General Lee (New York: University Society, 1894), 93.
242 A flurry of complaints: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 196; Boston Daily Advertiser, May 4, 1861; New York Times, May 4, 1861.
243 Even Mary Chesnut: Woodward, Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, 70–71.
243 “FOR SALVATION OF OUR CAUSE”: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 197.
244 Not everyone who saw him: Woodward, Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, 116.
245 At first Lee refused: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 197, quoting the Richmond Whig of June 7, 1861.
246 “I was at once attracted”: Walter Herron Taylor, General Lee: His Campaigns in Virginia, 1861–1865 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994), 21–22.