seems to call for. The fabricator of that letter sets too high a standard of duty. Perhaps Lieutenant-Colonel Lee reflected that the Colonel of the regiment, Albert Sidney Johnston, an adopted son of Texas, and familiar (as Lieutenant-Colonel Lee was not) with the climate and conditions in Texas, could be relied on to see that the men were properly taken care of.
Be this as it may, the Second Cavalry, after many hardships (recorded in Colonel William Preston Johnston's Life of his father),[1] arrived at its destination, Fort Mason, Texas, on January 14, 1856, having left Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, for Texas, October 27, 1855, as we have seen. And when did Lieutenant-Colonel Lee leave Arlington for Texas? He had reported to the Adjutant-General, in Washington, on November 28, 1855, and was by him authorized to delay his journey to Texas.[2] His Memorandum Book records, on February 12, 1856, "left Alexandria on my way to Texas to rejoin my regiment." He was detained, however, by business connected with the estate of his father-in-law, G. W. Parke Custis; and on February 20, 1856, the record is: "At 3 P. M., continue my journey to Texas." This time he did not stop, and on March 25, 1856, he records that he arrived at Fort Mason, Texas, and reported to his Colonel, Albert Sidney Johnston.
In the face of the above facts, to what time in the year 1856 can the date of The Duty Letter be changed so that Lieutenant-Colonel Lee could have written: "I am just in the act of leaving home for New Mexico (Texas). My fine old regiment has been ordered to that distant region, and I must hasten to see that they are properly taken care of." When he did leave home for Texas, on February 20, 1856, his regiment had been there since January 14, 1856, more than a month. It had been ordered to Texas, October 27, 1855, nearly four months before Lieutenant-Colonel Lee started on his journey "to that distant region." Now change the date of The Duty Letter to February 20, 1856, and though Lieutenant-Colonel Lee was "in the act of leaving home for New Mexico (Texas)," it would be absurd
