History of Arlington to 1861 (continued)

WAR WITH MEXICO, 1846 TO 1848. Because war with Mexico seemed imminent when Lee went back to Fort Hamilton in the spring of 1846, Mrs. Lee and the children remained at Arlington. Hostilities began in May, and in August Lee was ordered to report for service in Mexico. Returning home, he spent a few days at Arlington arranging his affairs, then said goodbye to his family. Twenty-two months passed before he saw it again, months of anxiety for those waiting at home, relieved only by his long and frequent letters, such as the one he wrote to his two eldest sons the day before Christmas, 1846: "I hope good Santa Claus will fill my Rob's stocking to-night: that Mildred's, Agnes's, and Anna's may break down with good things. I do not know what he may have for you and Mary, but if he only leaves for you one half of what I wish, you will want for nothing!"

The war ended early in 1848, and seeing many of the returning volunteers enjoy Mr. Custis' hospitality at Arlington Spring must have made the Lees more impatient for the return of their own hero. When Lee finally arrived in Washington he missed the carriage sent for him, and so procured a horse to ride home. None of those anxiously watching for a glimpse of the carriage noticed the lone horseman ascending the hill, and not till "Spec," Lee's dog, rushed out joyfully barking did they realize their soldier was home. Great was the excitement as he greeted them in the hall, and his mistaking a friend's little boy for his own added to the hilarity. "Here I am again, my dear Smith," Lee wrote to his brother the next day, "perfectly surrounded by Mary and her precious children, who seem to devote themselves to staring at the furrows in my face and the white hairs in my head . . . I find them too much grown, and all well, and I have much cause for thankfulness and gratitude to that good God who has once more united us."

A view of "Arlington House" made in 1853 by the historian-artist Benson J. Lossing.
From the original water color in the Lee Mansion.

THE LEES AT ARLINGTON, 1848 TO 1849. The summer of 1848 was a happy one at Arlington, for Lee was on duty in Washington and was promoted to brevet colonel, so that hereafter he would be titled "Colonel Lee." Toward the end of the year he was assigned to supervise the construction of a new fort in Baltimore, but soon after officially taking over the project, he returned to Arlington. This was the winter that a guest at Arlington observed Lee's face in quiet repose as he read to his family assembled about the table one night, and thought to herself: "You certainly look more like a great man than any one I have ever seen."

Mrs. Lee and her mother made an equally favorable impression on a lady who visited Arlington the next spring. "We had tea in the Washington teacups, and Mrs. Lee took me into the tangled neglected gardens, full of rose-buds, and allowed me to pick my fill of the sweet dainty Bon Silene variety, which she told me blossomed all winter. What a view that was! . . . Mrs. Lee had the face of a genius: a wealth of dark hair, carelessly put up, gave her fine head the air of one of Romney's portraits. She was most lovely and sympathetic. Her mother, Mrs. Custis, was a woman full of character,"

THE LEES AT BALTIMORE, 1849 TO 1852. Lee was home for a short time during the summer of 1849 to recuperate from a touch of fever, and in the autumn his family joined him at Baltimore. There they lived through 1851, coming home for Christmas and occasional visits. Seldom was the family together, however, for their eldest son, Custis, entered West Point in 1850, and usually some of the children were at Arlington with their grandparents.

Mrs. Custis kept the absent ones informed as to what was going on at Arlington. "Your Grandfather is seized with a spirit of improvement lately," she wrote to the lad at West Point in 1851. "He is making new steps to the Portico (the old ones having so decayed as to be unsafe) and intends paving it with octagon brick tiles which are now being burned in the vast brick kilns in Washington." Later, she reported that the steps were finished and the portico floor about to be laid.

Though 70 and often unwell, Mr. Custis' activity seldom flagged. A polished and effective speaker, with a gift for being able to enter into the spirit of an occasion, he was well-liked for his personal charm and unassuming manner. He was fond of children, and a great favorite with the young Lees. Conscious of his advancing years, Custis increased the output of his Recollections of Washington, that his personal knowledge of the General might not be lost. In this he was encouraged by the Lees, who also approved his renewed interest in scientific agriculture. While strongly advocating the establishment of a department of agriculture in the National Government, Custis applied the latest methods of fertilizing and cultivation to his own farms so that the land inherited by his grandchildren would be fertile, rather than worn-out like that of so much of his native State.

Christmas in 1851 was typical of the many happy ones celebrated at Arlington, and, telling his son at West Point about it, Lee wrote: "[We] found your grandfather at the Washington depot, Daniel and the old carriage and horses, and young Daniel on the colt Mildred. Your mother, grandfather, Mary Eliza, the little people, and the baggage, I thought load enough for the carriage, so Rooney and I took our feet in our hands and walked over. . . . The snow impeded the carriage as well as us, and we reached here shortly after it. The children were delighted at getting back, and passed the evening in devising pleasure for the morrow. They were in upon us before day on Christmas morning, to overhaul their stockings. . . . I need not describe to you our amusements, you have witnessed them so often; nor the turkey, cold ham, plum-pudding, mince pies, etc., at dinner." "Rooney" was the Lee's second boy, William Henry Fitzhugh.

George Washington Parke Custis in his old age.
From the photograph by Mathew Brady in the collection of Frederick H. Meserve, New York.

THE LEES AT WEST POINT, 1852 TO 1855; DEATH OF MRS. CUSTIS. Lee took command of West Point in September 1852, where he was shortly joined by his family. Mrs. Custis had been well when they left, so the telegram which came in April telling of her critical illness was entirely unexpected. Mrs. Lee started for home at once, but on arrival found her beloved mother dead and her father prostrated by his loss. She at once took charge of the household and herself conducted the morning worship which had been forgotten in the sorrow and confusion. After breakfast she selected a spot for her mother's grave among the trees a short distance from the house. For years, Lee had called Mrs. Custis "Mother," and his grief at her death was almost as great as Mrs. Lee's. By now the religious convictions instilled in him by his mother had been matured by his own experiences and the example of those at Arlington, and soon after his return from West Point at the end of the term, he and two of his daughters were confirmed at Christ Church, Alexandria.

Hoping to divert Mr. Custis, the Lees took him back with them to West Point. But not even a trip to Niagara Falls with his son-in-law could keep him from worrying about his beloved Arlington, and he soon returned home. To ease his loneliness, the Lees came home on brief visits in the spring and summer of 1854.

LEE IN TEXAS, 1855 TO 1857. Early in 1855, Lee was assigned to a cavalry regiment being organized for service on the frontier. Before leaving for his new station he made arrangements to have the large unfinished room off the main hall, at Arlington, made into a drawing room and to have a hot-air furnace installed to heat the house. The "Big Room," as it was called, when finished was very handsome with its marble mantel-pieces and crystal chandelier, and Mrs. Lee and the girls were proud of its appearance when they showed it to Lee on his return for the holidays.

Much of his leave was given over to straightening out the finances of Mr. Custis' other farms, for the old gentleman was now 75 and, though active in improving his lands and crops, needed the assistance of his son-in-law in managing his business affairs. Lee returned to Texas in February 1856, and was unable to be home for Christmas that year. His loneliness is apparent in the letter he wrote to Mrs. Lee: "The time is approaching when I trust many of you will be assembled around the family hearth at dear Arlington, to celebrate another Christmas. Though absent, my heart will be in the midst of you, & I shall enjoy in imagination & memory, all that is going on. May nothing occur to mar or cloud the family fireside, & may each be able to look back with pride & pleasure at their deeds of the past year, & with confidence & hope to that in prospect. I can do nothing but hope & pray for you all."