ALS signed “R. E. Lee,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, July 13, 1857. Addressed from “Camp in Clear fork of Brazos,” a handwritten letter to John Dick, regarding the return of his son’s body to their home in Meadville, Pennsylvania. In full: “Having seen a statement in the papers that the letters that had reached Indianola from about the 20 to the 30 May, had all been lost in the mails shipped aboard the Steamer Louisiana, & as my letter to you of the 6 May, should have been at Indianola about that time, I have determined to forw’d to you a Copy that you might see why your letter of 10 Sept ‘56, had been so long unack’d –, should the original have been lost & that I had given such attention to your inquiries as I as able. I hope my letter of the 19th May reached you safely, & that you will have rec’d ere this the remains of your son, forw’d at that time to the Messrs Thorps, who were also written to. I made arrangements for their shipment from Indianola, & have heard of their safe passage through San Antonio.” Second Lt. George McGunnegle Dick was a West Point graduate, class of 1855, who died of disease at Camp Cooper in Texas on July 31, 1856, at the age of 25. In fine condition, with toning along the folds.
An interesting pre-Civil War letter from Lee, at the time a Lt. Colonel in the U. S. Army commanding the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and scouting the area near the Clear Forks of the Brazos River in Texas. Four years later, in 1861, Lee had to make the difficult decision to choose between an offer to command the Union Army or to resign and offer his services to the State of Virginia, his home state. Once Virginia succeeded from the Union, Lee became an advisor to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Later, after the wounding of Gen. Joseph Johnson, Lee became commander of all Confederate forces.
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