Clouds of Glory

69 In any case, Lee returned to work: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 69.

70 After the boy’s birth: Ibid., 71.

71 It was not just a question of neatness: Ibid.

71 “The spirit is willing”: Ibid.

72 While she was away: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 18.

72 At that time, Lee owned: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 72.

73 “an extended mock love affair”: Ibid.

73 Whereas the portrait of Mary Custis: Ibid.

73 When Harriet gave birth: Ibid.

73 “How I did strut along”: Ibid., 73.

73 “As for the daughters of Eve”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 118.

74 Owing to Talcott’s frequent absences: Ibid., 119.

75 When he took command of the army of Italy: Sir Edward Cust, Annals of the Wars of the Nineteenth Century (London: John Murray, 1863), Vol. 3, 260.

78 As a result Mr. Schneider: A. L. Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee (New York: J. M. Stoddard, 1886), 25.

78 The original boundary line: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 82.

79 “But why do you urge”: Ibid., 82–83.

79 The apparent harshness: Ibid., 83; Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 134.

79 In the heroic medical tradition of the day: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 83.

79 Eventually two large “abscesses”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 134.

80 “I have never seen a man”: Ibid.

80 “The country looks very sweet”: Ibid., 136.

81 “they wanted a skillful engineer”: Ibid., 138.

82 The immediate problem facing Lee: Ibid.

83 Lee’s responsibilities included: Ibid.

83 “the dearest and dirtiest”: Ibid., 139.

83 His aide and companion on the long trip: Ibid., 140.

84 “The improved condition of the children”: Ibid., 141.

85 The problem to which he gave the most immediate attention: Wikipedia, “Mississippi River,” 10.

85 When the river was high: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 89.

85 He had planned to survey: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 143.

86 “in full costume”: Elizabeth Pryor, Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters (New York: Viking, 2007), 114.

87 His solution to the problems: See Stella M. Drumm, “Robert E. Lee and the Mississippi River,” Missouri Historical Society, Vol. 6, No. 2, February 1929.

88 “The commerce thus made available”: Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee, 28–29.

89 By July 1838, “Lee had pushed”: Drumm, “Robert E. Lee and the Mississippi River,” 146.

89 On the way home Lee encountered: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 148.

90 Even so, the Lees left their daughter Mary: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 91–92.

90 Lee boasted that the boys: Ibid., 93.

90 They spent a month: Ibid.

91 Saint Louis was by no means: Pryor, Reading the Man, 111; Mary P. Coulling, The Lee Girls (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Blair, 1987), 11; Harnett T. Kane, The Lady of Arlington: A Novel Based on the Life of Mrs. Robert E. Lee (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1953), 91.

91 Although the Lee family: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 94.

91 “brats squalling around”: Coulling, The Lee Girls, 10.

92 One observer comments on Lee’s diligence: Drumm, “Robert E. Lee and the Mississippi River,” 170.

92 She was also pregnant: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 158.

93 “his family was increasing”: Ibid., 157.

94 Typically, Lee’s correspondence: Drumm, “Robert E. Lee and the Mississippi River.”

94 He plunged into Gratiot’s defense: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 158.

94 The improvements Lee had made: Pryor, Reading the Man, 116.

94 Fortunately, common sense prevailed: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 174.

95 After an extended journey: Ibid., 178.

96 The race was won: Pryor, Reading the Man, 122.

96 It may be true: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 185.

98 He took care to praise: Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 102.

98 “I receive poor encouragement”: Ibid., 103.

99 “He seemed to be weighted down”: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 188.

99 Mary and the children: Ibid., 191.

101 “appointed as a member”: Ibid., 194.

101 “horror at the sight of pen”: Ibid.

101 It was neither interesting nor demanding: Ibid., 197.

101 “adventuresome young man”: Ibid., 196.

101 In a piece of surgery: Ibid.

101 “We must endeavor to assist her”: Coulling, The Lee Girls, 13.

101 In any event, Lee was the most admirable: Freeman, Robert E. Lee, Vol. 1, 196.

102 required a “tight rein”: Ibid.

CHAPTER 4 The Perfect Warrior—Mexico, 1846–1848

104 “Generally, the officers”: Christopher Conway and Gustavo Pellon, The U.S.-Mexican War: Binational Reader (Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett, 2010), 153.

104 “The Southern rebellion”: Joan Waugh, U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009), 203.

104 “better satisfied”: Robert E. Lee to Mary Lee, May 12, 1846, Debutts-Ely Papers, Library of Congress; Elizabeth Pryor, Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Papers (New York: Viking, 2007), 158.

104 The “Texans”: Wikipedia, “Mexican-American War,” 3.

105 Provocation was not long in coming: Ibid., 14, n12.

106 “the Sharpening of Swords”: Pryor, Reading the Man, 158.

106 “If he were left at Fort Hamilton”: Douglas Southall Freeman, Robert E. Lee: A Biography (New York: Scribner, 1934), Vol. 1, 202.