Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/412

 LEE

LEE

TKE t-te COATOF ARM5.

June 30, 1831, he was married at Arlington Honse, Va,., by the Rev. Mr. Keith, to Mary Ann Randolph, only daughter of George Washington Parke and Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis. and a de- scendant of Joliu Custis, who came to Virginia from Eng- land in the seventeenth cent- ury, and during Bacon's re- bellion, 1675-76, was commis- sioned a major-general of col- onial troops; and was ap- pointed collector of customs for the eastern shore of Vir- ginia in 1687. This alliance subsequently made Lee master of Arlington estate and of the "White House estate on the Pa- munky river. In September, 1831, he was ordered to duty on the defences at Hampton Roads, where he remained, 1831-35. He was promoted 1st lieutenant in 1835 and became assistant to the chief engineer of the army at Washington. He was commissioned captain of engineers in 1836 and made astronomer of a joint commission cre- ated by the legislatures of Oliio and Michigan to determine the boundary line between those states. In 1837-40 he was employed on the upper Missis- sippi in constructing levees above St. Louis, Mo., to reclaim submerged plantations and define the course of the river. He was on topographical duty in Washington, 18-40-41, and on fortifications in New York harbor, 1841-45. In January, 1846, he was ordered to report to Gen. Zachary Taylor on the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, Mexico, and he was made chief engineer on the staff of General Wool and took part in the engagement at Palo Alto, May 8, at Reseca de la Palma, May 9, and in the capture of Matamoras, May 18. On the change of base from the Rio Grande to Vera Cruz, Captain Lee was made chief engineer on the staff of General Winfield Scott and the com- bined U.S. army was landed in 75 surf-boats, 100 men in each boat, under the cover of the fleet of Commodore Conner, at Sacrificios, ten miles be- low Vera Cruz, March 9, 1847. On March 13, Captain Lee, supported by the Palmetto regiment of South Carolina and the 1st New York volun- teers, made a reconnoissance of the Mexican lines, designated the position of the assaulting batteries to be constructed of sand-bags within 1000 yards of the rock masonry walls of the city, and on March 22 he bore under a flag of truce a demand for the surrender of the castle and city. This being denied two days were given to remove the women and children, when, on March 25, the army and navy opened fire, and on March 29 the Mexican forces capitulated and the U.S. army oc- cupied the place. They were without means of transportation, the paroled Mexican army having

cleared the country of horses and mules. The situation was desperate as yellow fever threat- ened the place. In this emergency Captain Lee became responsible for the honesty of a Texan soldier, Col. Tom Kinnej', and the commanding general on his recommendation paid over to Kinney $50,000 in gold for 6000 mules to be de- livered within three days. The contract was car- ried out by bribing the paroled Mexicans, and the army moved toward the city of Mexico. On reaching Cerro Gordo Pass, April 14, 1847, the engineering skill of Lee surmounted the advan- tage of position and the Mexican army under Santa Anna was defeated, as it was at every stand through the vallej- to the city of Mexico. Contreras, Churubusco, Molina del Rey, Chapul- tepec, where he was slightly wounded, were a succession of victories due largely to his engi- neering skill, and on Sept. 13, 1847, at the head of the storming party, he planted the Palmetto flagof South Carolina on the wall of Mexico city, and in the triumphal entry into the ancient capital the next day Captain Lee rode at the right of General Scott at the head of his army of 10.000 men. In 1858 referring to this campaign General Scott said: "My success in the Mexican war was largely due to the skill and valor of Robert E. Lee. He is the greatest military genius in Amer- ica; the best soldier I ever saw in the field; and if opportunity offers he will show himself the foremost captain of his time." He was brevetted

ARLIAJ<,TOAJ HOU5£

major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of engi- neers for his services in this campaign and re- turned to his home in Arlington, Va. In the autumn of 1848 he was ordered to Baltimore where he engaged in constructing a system of defensive works; and he was superintendent of the U.S. Military academj-, 1852-55. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in February, 1855, and assigned to the 2d L^.S. cavalry. Col. Albert Sidney Johnston. The regiment was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Mo. , and in October was ordered to Fort Mason, Texas, but Lee was de- tained on court-martial duty until April, 1856, when he rejoined his regiment in Texas and was engaged in repressing Indian outbreaks until October, 1859. He then visited Arlington to