LEE, HENRY, III ("Lighthorse Harry") Autograph letter to Colonel George De Neale in Alexandria, signed with initials.
Baltimore, Md.: 31 January, 1812. Single page on a folded sheet the address panel on the conjugate leaf with additional notations in the hand of another, including calculations, on one of the side panels. Usual folds, short edge tear, some marginal staining.
Lee was a General of note in the American Revolution, and was later the ninth Governor of Virginia and the father of Robert E. Lee. Bankrupted in the Panic of 1796-97, and personally impacted by the bankruptcy of Robert Morris, he spent a year in debtor's prison. In this letter, he writes that he has received Neale's letter "...yesterday. If you had ever mentioned to me its purport, I must have unequivocally told you, that I was compelled to go to the WI [West Indies] without delay. There I should have been but for unexpected incidents & there I shall proceed as soon as possible. It is entirely out of my power to execute yr. wish, however honorable to my feelings & agreeable to my heart..." Later this year, Lee was attacked by a mob that disliked his stand against the war of 1812, and was, along with several other men (one who was, in fact, killed) severely beaten. This left enduring injuries and he did indeed leave then for the West Indies to recuperate, though his health was at that point permanently compromised and he died on the return journey in 1818.

C The Collection of Jay I. Kislak sold to benefit the Kislak Family Foundation

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