That he was the son of Light Horse Harry Lee and Anne Carter, and was born at Stratford, the Carter ancestral home in Westmoreland, Virginia, the nineteenth of January, 1807, are well-known statistics. Miss Emily V. Mason, in her “Popular Life of General Lee,”[1] gives the following account of his early life: When he was but four years of age, his father removed to Alexandria the better to educate his children, and there are many persons yet living in that old town who remember him at that early age. From these sources we are assured that his childhood was as remarkable as his manhood for the modesty and thoughtfulness of his character, and for the performance of every duty which devolved upon him.... At this period General Harry Lee was absent in the West Indies in pursuit of health, and he died when Robert was eleven years of age.... His mother was also an invalid, and Robert was her devoted cavalier, hurrying home from school to take her for her drive, and assuming all the household cares, learning at this time the self-control and economy in all financial concerns which ever characterized him.... General Lee used to say that he was fond of hunting when a boy—that he would sometimes follow the hounds on foot all day. This will account for his well-developed form, and for that wonderful strength which was never known to fail him in all the fatigues and privations of his after life. It was natural that the son of Light Horse Harry should desire to enter the army, and he was doubtless also inspired to take this step by a desire to relieve his mother of the expense of his maintenance and education. “At West Point,” says General Fitzhugh Lee,[2] “he had four years of hard study, vigorous drill, and was absorbing strategy and tactics to be useful in after years. His excellent habits and close attention to all duties did not desert him; his last year he held the post of honor in the aspirations of cadet life—the adjutant of the corps. He graduated second in a class of forty-six and was commissioned second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. It is interesting to note that his eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, also entered the Military Academy twenty-one years after his father, was also the cadet adjutant, graduated first in his class and was assigned to the Engineer Corps.” Of still greater interest is the graduation, in 1902, of his greatnephew, Fitzhugh Lee, Jr., who, on his graduation, was appointed special aide to Mrs. Roosevelt. Lee’s first assignment to duty was at Fortress Monroe, where he remained four years. [Illustration: COLONEL R. E. LEE About the time of the Mexican War]