Fitzhugh Lee, General Lee

After the Treaty of Peace with Mexico, Lee was assigned to the important duty of constructing works for the defense of the harbor of Baltimore, and was so occupied until 1852, when he was made Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, from whose walls he had emerged as a cadet twenty-three years before. At West Point he was employed for three years in watching over the drill, discipline, and studies of cadets, who were one day to become officers of the army. The detail was a complimentary one, and the office of superintendent at that time, by law, could only be filled by engineer officers. His accustomed ability was displayed in these new duties, and the Academy received great benefit from a sagacious administration of its affairs. While so engaged, Mrs. Lee's mother-Mrs. Custisdied. She was a perfect type of the Christian woman: soft in manner, kind in heart, affectionate in nature, and refined and ladylike in everything. From West Point, April 27, 1853, Captain Lee writes to his wife: “May God give you strength to enable you to bear and say, ‘His will be done.’ She has gone from all trouble, care, and sorrow, to a holy immortality, there to rejoice and praise forever the God and Saviour she so long and truly served. Let that be our comfort and that our consolation. May our death be like hers, and may we meet in happiness in heaven.” And later, on the 10th of May, he says: “She was to me all that a mother could be, and I yield to none in admiration for her character, love for her virtues, and veneration for her memory.”