[CIVIL WAR] 1866 G.W.C. Lee ALS re: Privations of the War

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Day 2: The American Civil War

By Fleischer's Auctions

Apr 25, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-04-25 09:00:00 2026-04-25 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Day 2: The American Civil War https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/fleischers-auctions/day-2-the-american-civil-war-22127
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• Lot Description

  ...I came out of the war with nothing but the clothes I had on my back...

   

  Autograph letter signed by George Washington Custis Lee (1832-1913), to [Henry B. Davidson]. Lexington, Virginia, 18 March 1866. 2 pages, 4to. 

   

  An early post-war letter written by Robert E. Lee's eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee (1832-1913). In other letters addressed to "Jola," by Lee, the recipient is identified as Confederate General Henry Brevard Davidson (1831-1899). The two likely became friends during their time at West Point - Davidson graduating in 1853, a year before Custis graduated first in the Class of 1854. Though unexplained, perhaps "Jola" is an affectionate schoolboy nickname.

   

  During the war, Lee served as a Confederate general and aide-de-camp to President Jefferson Davis. After the war, he followed his father to Lexington, Virginia, and took a post as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute. Here he writes of the state of the school and his meager compensation: "I have been here since October acting the part of a Prof.; but as the Institute was burned by Hunter and entirely destroyed, the number of cadets has been few, and my pay correspondingly small - about $300.00 up to this time. The Legislature has passed the Bill for paying the amenities due the Institute, and I am in hopes of getting some little money after a time. As it is, I am so much better off than so many of our people, that I have no right to complain; but ought [to] be thankful."

   

  He writes with great empathy to Davidson, expressing his concern for his present circumstances: "I am indeed sorry to learn that you have had such a hard time since the cessation of hostilities; but hope they will soon be at an end, and that you will get the whole of the money due you. Like you, I came out of the war with nothing but the clothes I had on my back, with the exception of a few odd articles that were left in my trunk in Richmond." 

   

  Closing his letter, he renews his promise of assistance: "If I do get any money, you know how much pleasure it will give me to divide [it] with you; and you must therefore keep [me] informed of your wants, that I may have the pleasure of applying them as far as [it is] in my power."

   

  Interestingly, Lee mentions that he is forwarding a "letter from California" along with his own missive. Two years later, Davidson would relocate from Tennessee to California, where his fortunes would improve, working as an inspector of public works, a civil engineer, a railroad agent, and deputy Secretary of State of California.  

   

  [Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Reconstruction] [West Point, United States Military Academy at West Point] 

  Condition

  Request Condition Report

  Separations along old folds. Residue to verso from previous mounting. 

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