Robert E. Lee papers

Descriptive Summary
Title: Robert E. Lee papers
Creator: Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870
Inclusive Dates: 1778-1872
Bulk Dates: 1861-1864
Language(s): English
Extent: 0.25 Linear Feet 18 folders in Vault Box 3
Collection Number: ms302a
Repository: Hargrett Library

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Collection Description

Historical Note

Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War.

For further information see "Robert E. Lee" at Encyclopaedia Britannica online.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of papers relating to Robert E. Lee and the Lee family from 1838-1872. The bulk of the collection (1861-1864) contains correspondence from Lee regarding military activities of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The letters discuss troop movements; supplies for troops; battle strategies for Elk Mountain, the Huntersville campaign, Cheat Mountain (W. Va.), and Dalton (Ga.); an exchange of prisoners (1862); casualty estimates at the battle of Fredericksburg; and reinforcement needs. Correspondees include Joseph E. Brown, Howell Cobb, and Henry Rootes Jackson. The collection also includes handwritten copies of 18th century land grants and indentures of John Parke Custis and a letter of Mary Custis Lee dated January 1872, Arlington (Va.) pertaining to proof of purchase of Arlington and the validity of her title to the property.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged roughly in chronological order.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Robert E. Lee papers, ms 302a, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Finding Aid Publication

Finding aid prepared on: 2019.

General Notes

This collection has been digitized and is available online as part of America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia.

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Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

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Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

box

folder

Request box

VB3

14

Receipt, 1838 October Access Online

Receipt for supplies and services in connection with engineering work performed for the War Department on the Mississippi River

 

VB3

15

Letter (handwritten copy), 1861 May 26 Access Online

Copy of letter from Lee to Governor Joseph E. Brown of Georgia referring to ill-equiped Georgia troops

 

VB3

16

Letter, 1861 July 16 Access Online

Letter from Lee to General Henry Rootes Jackson assigning to Jackson the command of the "available troops of the North Western Army" to defend Cheat Mountain pass and other strategic points

 

VB3

17

Note (handwritten copy), 1861 July 21 Access Online

Copy of note to Major M. G. Harmon discussing plans for the Elk Mountain and Huntersville campaign

 

VB3

18

Letter, 1861 July 23 Access Online

Letter from Lee to General Henry Rootes Jackson informing him of supplies shipment mix-up and approving the arrangement of troops for the North Western Army

 

VB3

19

Note, 1861 August 1 Access Online

Note from Lee to General Jackson instructing to send a regimen of infantry and a field battery to Huntersville

 

VB3

20

Letter, 1861 August 24 Access Online

Letter from Governor John Letcher of Virginia to President Jefferson Davis concerning furloughing of Colonel George W. Hull's Highland Militia

 

VB3

21

Letter, 1861 September 8 Access Online

Letter of encouragement to the Army of the North West, directed to General H. R. Jackson, Monterey Line.

 

VB3

22

Special orders, 1861 September 14 Access Online

Special orders sent to General H. R. Jackson redirecting the Army of the North West from its reconnaisance at Cheat Mountain and Valley River to its former position.

 

VB3

23

Letter, 1862 March 24 Access Online

Letter to General Howell Cobb of Goldsborough, North Carolina, in which Lee intercedes on behalf of Miss Sevilla Mason concerning an agreement with Cobb.

 

VB3

24

Telegraph dispatch, 1862 April 29 Access Online

Telegraph dispatch to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown informing him that the troops at Chattanooga will defend Dalton.

 

VB3

25

Letter, 1862 July 10 Access Online

Letter to Secretary of War G. W. Randolph, discussing the plans for exchange of prisoners since General Howell Cobb, the designated commissioner to meet with General Wool, the Union Army representative, was then in ill health.

 

VB3

26

Telegraph dispatch, 1862 December 15 Access Online

Telegraph dispatch to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown, informing him of battle with the enemy and estimated numbers of casualties, including the death of General T. R. R. Cobb.

 

VB3

27

Letter, 1868 June 19 Access Online

Letter to Mrs. Emily Miller of Washington, D. C., pertaining to the character of John Parke Custis and the purchase of Arlington.

 

VB3

28

Letter (Mary Custis Lee), 1872 January 22 Access Online

Letter from Mary Custis Lee to Emily V. Miller pertaining to proofs of purchase of Arlington and the validity of her title to the property.

 

VB3

29

Indenture (handwritten copy), 1778 Access Online

Indenture between Gerard and Jane Alexander and John Parke Custis.

 

VB3

30

Memorandum (handwritten copy), undated Access Online

Memorandum between Gerard Alexander of Fairfax County and Robert Adams for John Park Custis, pertaining to the sale of property (Arlington) on 25 December 1778 for 11,000 pounds.

 

VB3

31

Receipt (handwritten copy), 1778 December 25 Access Online

Receipt in full for 11,000 pounds Virginia currency from John Park Custis for tract of land lying on the Potomac River (Arlington) from Gerard Alexander.