Partial handwritten letter by Robert E. Lee, unsigned (the conclusion clipped off), one page, 7.5 x 7.75, August 5, 1869. Letter written from Lexington, Virginia, concerning a proposed Gettysburg memorial, in full: "Absence from Lexington has prevented my receiving until today your letter of the 26th ulto: enclosing an invitation from the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association to attend a meeting of the officers engaged in that battle at Gettysburg, for the purpose of marking upon the ground by enduring memorials of granite the position & movements of the Armies on the field. My engagements will not permit me to be present, & I believe if there I could not add anything material to the information existing on the Subject. I think it wiser moreover not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of Civil strife & to commit to oblivion the feelings it engendered." Annotated along the left edge by his eldest son and executor, George Washington Custis Lee: "The handwriting of Genl. R. E. Lee, G. W. C. Lee, Ex'r." In fine condition, with toning to the corners, a short tear to the left edge, and a trimmed bottom edge.
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