Details
LEE, ROBERT E., General, C.S.A. Autograph letter signed ("R E Lee") to D. Barnes, "Near Cartersville" [Virginia], 23 August 1865. 1 page, 4to, on lined stationery, very light discoloration at folds. [With:] Autograph letter signed "Your affectionate Son D. Barnes" to D. Barnes, "Hd.Qrs., Sykes' Division, Camp near Falmouth, Va.," 13 March 186[3-5], 4 pages, 4to, a chatty letter to his father, giving news of camp and closing "our Co. will have to go on 3 days picket guard at 7 a.m."
MISSING IN ACTION: FOUR MONTHS AFTER APPOMATTOX, LEE EXPRESSES SYMPATHY FOR AN ANXIOUS YANKEE FATHER SEARCHING FOR HIS SOLDIER SON: "I HOPE HE IS SAFE & MAY SPEEDILY BE RESTORED TO YOU"
In a clear, elegant hand, Lee replies to a father's desperate request for news of his son, a soldier who had failed to return from the carnage of the War Between the States. The former Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate army replies in dignified but sympathetic terms: "I have just rec[eive]d your letter...making inquiries concerning your son. I regret I can give you no information on the subject, nor have I the means of pursuing any. If any rolls of Confederate troops now exist, they are beyond my reach. The rolls of paroled soldiers are in the custody of the U.S. officers. If I knew the reg[imen]t to which he belonged, or the name of his commander, I might ascertain something of him. I hope he is safe & may speedily be restored to you..."
Barnes is likely to have been one of the thousands of soldiers, Union and Confederate, who were missing in action in the late stages of the war. The fate of the son is not documented. After his surrender to Grant at Appomattox on 9 April 1865, Lee was charged with treason by a Federal court; although nothing came of these charges, Lee's American citizenship was not restored until 1976, during the Ford administration.
MISSING IN ACTION: FOUR MONTHS AFTER APPOMATTOX, LEE EXPRESSES SYMPATHY FOR AN ANXIOUS YANKEE FATHER SEARCHING FOR HIS SOLDIER SON: "I HOPE HE IS SAFE & MAY SPEEDILY BE RESTORED TO YOU"
In a clear, elegant hand, Lee replies to a father's desperate request for news of his son, a soldier who had failed to return from the carnage of the War Between the States. The former Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate army replies in dignified but sympathetic terms: "I have just rec[eive]d your letter...making inquiries concerning your son. I regret I can give you no information on the subject, nor have I the means of pursuing any. If any rolls of Confederate troops now exist, they are beyond my reach. The rolls of paroled soldiers are in the custody of the U.S. officers. If I knew the reg[imen]t to which he belonged, or the name of his commander, I might ascertain something of him. I hope he is safe & may speedily be restored to you..."
Barnes is likely to have been one of the thousands of soldiers, Union and Confederate, who were missing in action in the late stages of the war. The fate of the son is not documented. After his surrender to Grant at Appomattox on 9 April 1865, Lee was charged with treason by a Federal court; although nothing came of these charges, Lee's American citizenship was not restored until 1976, during the Ford administration.