Rare find in Longwood library archives unearths buried treasure: Robert E. Lee letters

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Tucked away at the bottom of a pile of nondescript letters in an archival box in the basement of Greenwood Library was a hidden treasure: an envelope bearing the name of one of the most recognizable figures in U.S. history. Gen. Robert E. Lee. The two notes within, written in an elegant hand on lined paper and signed “R.E. Lee,” date from before and after the Civil War—which ended up taking Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia through Farmville in its closing days. The first, dated April 26, 1845, is addressed to Capt. Henry Brewerton, who was also working as a captain in the Army Corps of Engineers. A dark orange wax seal appears near both margins on the outside of the letter. At the time, Lee was the post engineer at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a member of West Point’s board of visitors. The second letter, dated Nov. 10, 1868, endorses a letter of recommendation for Washington College student William M. Thornton. Written just two years before Lee’s death, the ....