LEE
LEE
TKE t-te COATOF ARM5.
June 30, 1831, he was married at Arlington
Honse, Va,., by the Rev. Mr. Keith, to Mary Ann
Randolph, only daughter of George Washington
Parke and Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis. and a de-
scendant of Joliu Custis, who
came to Virginia from Eng-
land in the seventeenth cent-
ury, and during Bacon's re-
bellion, 1675-76, was commis-
sioned a major-general of col-
onial troops; and was ap-
pointed collector of customs
for the eastern shore of Vir-
ginia in 1687. This alliance
subsequently made Lee master
of Arlington estate and of the
"White House estate on the Pa-
munky river. In September, 1831, he was ordered
to duty on the defences at Hampton Roads,
where he remained, 1831-35. He was promoted
1st lieutenant in 1835 and became assistant to
the chief engineer of the army at Washington.
He was commissioned captain of engineers in 1836
and made astronomer of a joint commission cre-
ated by the legislatures of Oliio and Michigan to
determine the boundary line between those states.
In 1837-40 he was employed on the upper Missis-
sippi in constructing levees above St. Louis, Mo.,
to reclaim submerged plantations and define the
course of the river. He was on topographical
duty in Washington, 18-40-41, and on fortifications
in New York harbor, 1841-45. In January, 1846,
he was ordered to report to Gen. Zachary Taylor
on the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, Mexico,
and he was made chief engineer on the staff of
General Wool and took part in the engagement
at Palo Alto, May 8, at Reseca de la Palma, May
9, and in the capture of Matamoras, May 18. On
the change of base from the Rio Grande to Vera
Cruz, Captain Lee was made chief engineer on
the staff of General Winfield Scott and the com-
bined U.S. army was landed in 75 surf-boats, 100
men in each boat, under the cover of the fleet of
Commodore Conner, at Sacrificios, ten miles be-
low Vera Cruz, March 9, 1847. On March 13,
Captain Lee, supported by the Palmetto regiment
of South Carolina and the 1st New York volun-
teers, made a reconnoissance of the Mexican
lines, designated the position of the assaulting
batteries to be constructed of sand-bags within
1000 yards of the rock masonry walls of the city,
and on March 22 he bore under a flag of truce a
demand for the surrender of the castle and city.
This being denied two days were given to remove
the women and children, when, on March 25, the
army and navy opened fire, and on March 29 the
Mexican forces capitulated and the U.S. army oc-
cupied the place. They were without means of
transportation, the paroled Mexican army having
cleared the country of horses and mules. The
situation was desperate as yellow fever threat-
ened the place. In this emergency Captain Lee
became responsible for the honesty of a Texan
soldier, Col. Tom Kinnej', and the commanding
general on his recommendation paid over to
Kinney $50,000 in gold for 6000 mules to be de-
livered within three days. The contract was car-
ried out by bribing the paroled Mexicans, and
the army moved toward the city of Mexico. On
reaching Cerro Gordo Pass, April 14, 1847, the
engineering skill of Lee surmounted the advan-
tage of position and the Mexican army under
Santa Anna was defeated, as it was at every
stand through the vallej- to the city of Mexico.
Contreras, Churubusco, Molina del Rey, Chapul-
tepec, where he was slightly wounded, were a
succession of victories due largely to his engi-
neering skill, and on Sept. 13, 1847, at the head of
the storming party, he planted the Palmetto flagof
South Carolina on the wall of Mexico city, and in
the triumphal entry into the ancient capital the
next day Captain Lee rode at the right of General
Scott at the head of his army of 10.000 men. In
1858 referring to this campaign General Scott
said: "My success in the Mexican war was
largely due to the skill and valor of Robert E.
Lee. He is the greatest military genius in Amer-
ica; the best soldier I ever saw in the field; and
if opportunity offers he will show himself the
foremost captain of his time." He was brevetted
ARLIAJ<,TOAJ HOU5£
major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of engi-
neers for his services in this campaign and re-
turned to his home in Arlington, Va. In the
autumn of 1848 he was ordered to Baltimore
where he engaged in constructing a system
of defensive works; and he was superintendent
of the U.S. Military academj-, 1852-55. He was
promoted lieutenant-colonel in February, 1855,
and assigned to the 2d L^.S. cavalry. Col. Albert
Sidney Johnston. The regiment was stationed
at Jefferson Barracks, Mo. , and in October was
ordered to Fort Mason, Texas, but Lee was de-
tained on court-martial duty until April, 1856,
when he rejoined his regiment in Texas and was
engaged in repressing Indian outbreaks until
October, 1859. He then visited Arlington to
