Robert E. Lee Patriotic Letter Signed With Rank: "The time is now near at hand when every good man should be at his post"

A 1p letter signed with rank by Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), the Confederate commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, as "R E Lee / Genl" at center right. The letter is displayed in a floating mount protected by an acetate sheet to the right of a high-quality photo reproduction of a portrait of Lee wearing his Confederate grays. The two pieces are professionally matted side by side in a cream, gilt-edged mat measuring 20.5" x 15.375" x 1."

Lee's letter was issued from the Headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia somewhere along Virginia's Rapidan River on March 21, 1864. Inscribed in the hand of Charles Marshall (1830-1902), General Lee's aide-de-camp and military secretary since March 1862. Heavily toned, with expected folds, chipped edges, isolated loss affecting a few words of text, and minor discoloration, else very good to near fine. The original transmittal cover, also engrossed by Marshall, is affixed to the letter at lower left. The letter measures measuring 7.875" x 9.875."

General Lee sent this letter to "Mrs Bettie Land" of Edgefield District in western central South Carolina (today's Edgefield County.) Evidently, Mrs. Land had requested a leave of absence for her unnamed husband, citing pressing business affairs back home. General Lee regretfully denied Mrs. Land's request for a furlough. In justifying his rejection, General Lee explained that bloody Spring offensives just in the offing required all the available Confederate forces he could muster.

In full:

"Hd Qers Army N. Va
21st March 1864

Mrs Bettie Land
Ninety Six, SC

Madam,

Your letter of the 14th inst. is received. I regret that the exigencies of the service will not allow me to comply with your request. The time is now near at hand when every good man should be at his post, and I hope that your husband's affairs can be arranged without his personal attendance. If he and his fellow soldiers will display as I doubt not they will, the patriotic spirit that animates yourself, I trust th: day is not far distant when they may all return to the homes which it is now their first duty to defend.

Very respectfully
Your obt. servt.

[signed] R E Lee
Genl."

Lee said: "The time is now near at hand when every good man should be at his post." He was right in trying to preserve the integrity of the Army of Northern Virginia, especially at that particular time, when the Confederates fully expected assaults and invasions from Union forces with the advent of Spring. In early May 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant did indeed launch his Overland Campaign, part of a large-scale, aggressive effort to sever enemy supply lines and encircle the Confederate capital at Richmond.

The Army of Northern Virginia was more than twice outnumbered by Union forces in the Armies of the Potomac, Shenandoah, and James in 1864. This inequity was exacerbated by battles which felled thousands of soldiers at a time.

The carnage of Civil War battlefields had disturbed participants and observers alike, and the sheer scale of the military engagements was massive. The Spring of 1864 was a period of peak engagement, when a battle sometimes happened at intervals as frequent as every few days. In five major battles from early May to mid-June 1864--including the Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Resaca, New Market and Cold Harbor--there were nearly 30,000 Confederate casualties. Bettie Land's husband could simply not be spared.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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