Notes+for+Letter+to+his+Son

You must study to be frank with the world. Frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do, on every occasion, and take it for granted that you mean to do right. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot; you would wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at the sacrifice. Deal kindly but firmly with all your classmates; you will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to others what you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one, tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his back. Robert E. Lee (seated) is pictured shortly after the War. On the left of the picture is his son, General George Washington Custis Lee, and on the right is his chief of staff, Colonel Walter H. Taylor We should live, act, and say nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only for the best as a matter of principle, but it is the path of peace and honor. In regard to duty, let me, in conclusion of this hasty letter, inform you that nearly a hundred years ago there was a day of remarkable gloom and darkness -- still known as "the dark day" -- a day when the light of the sun was slowly extinguished, as if by an eclipse. The Legislature of Connecticut was in session, and as its members saw the unexpected and unaccountable darkness coming on, they shared in general awe and terror. It was supposed by many that the last day -- the day of judgment -- had come. Some one, in the consternation of the hour, moved an adjournment. Then there arose an old Puritan legislator, Davenport, of Stamford, and said that, if the last day had come, he desired to be found at his place doing his duty, and therefore moved that candles be brought in, so that the House could proceed with its duty. There was quietness in that man's mind, the quietness of heavenly wisdom and inflexible willingness to obey present duty. Duty, then, is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things like the old Puritan. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less. Never let your mother or me wear one gray hair for any lack of duty on your part. This poem expresses Lee's ||
 * A Letter to His Son**
 * A Letter to His Son**

Early life and career Robert E. Lee was born at [|Stratford Hall Plantation], in [|Westmoreland County, Virginia], the fifth child of [|Revolutionary War] hero [|Henry Lee] ("Light Horse Harry") and Anne Hill (née Carter) Lee. Lee's parents were members of the Virginia [|gentry] class. Lee's paternal ancestors were among the earliest settlers in Virginia. His mother grew up at [|Shirley Plantation], one of most elegant homes in Virginia. His maternal great-great-grandfather, [|Robert "King" Carter], was the wealthiest man in the colonies when he died in 1732. Robert's father died when Robert was 11 years old leaving the family deeply in debt. The family lost their home to creditors and Robert grew up in a series of houses in [|Alexandria, Virginia]. Robert attended Alexandria Academy, where the curriculum included [|Greek], [|Latin], [|algebra], and [|geometry]. Lee was considered a top student and excelled at mathematics. His mother, a devout Christian, oversaw his religious instruction at Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria. He entered the [|United States Military Academy] in 1825. When he graduated in 1829, second in his class of 46, not only had he attained the top academic record, but he had no demerits. He was commissioned as a [|brevet] second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. 

[[|edit]] Engineering, family
Lee served for just over seventeen months at [|Fort Pulaski] on Cockspur Island, [|Georgia]. In 1831, he was transferred to [|Fort Monroe] at the tip of the [|Virginia Peninsula] and played a major role in the final construction of Fort Monroe and its opposite, Fort Calhoun. Fort Monroe was completely surrounded by a [|moat]. Fort Calhoun, later renamed [|Fort Wool], was built on a man-made island across the navigational channel from [|Old Point Comfort] in the middle of the mouth of [|Hampton Roads]. When construction was completed in 1834, Fort Monroe was referred to as the "[|Gibraltar] of [|Chesapeake Bay]." While he was stationed at Fort Monroe, he married [|Mary Anna Randolph Custis] (1808–1873), the great-granddaughter of [|Martha Washington], at [|Arlington House], her parents' home just across from [|Washington, D.C.] The 3rd U.S. Artillery served as honor guard at the marriage. They eventually had seven children, three boys and four girls: [|George Washington Custis], [|William H. Fitzhugh], Robert Edward, Mary, Annie, Agnes, and Mildred. All the children survived him except for Annie, who died in 1862. Lee served as an assistant in the chief engineer's office in Washington from 1834 to 1837, but spent the summer of 1835 helping to lay out the state line between [|Ohio] and [|Michigan]. In 1837, he got his first important command. As a [|first lieutenant] of engineers, he supervised the engineering work for [|St. Louis] harbor and for the upper [|Mississippi] and [|Missouri] rivers. His work there earned him a promotion to [|captain]. In 1841, he was transferred to [|Fort Hamilton] in New York Harbor, where he took charge of building fortifications. There he served as a [|vestryman] at St. John's Episcopal Church, Fort Hamilton.

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