LEE, ROBERT E., General, C.S.A. Autograph letter signed ("R E Lee"), as Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Cavalry, to Major P. V. Hagner, Arlington, Alex[andria] P[ost] O[ffice], Va., 23 May 1859. One page, 8vo . LEE ORDERS SADDLES FOR HIS CAVALRY "My dear Major, I thought Housings had been adopted by the Board. I knew I voted against it. If not adopted, I do not wish any. I will have the hasp plates in the bit as you suggest [here Lee has drawn a small sketch]--The 2 enveloped by the C [the insignia of the 2nd Cavalry] different from that of the men. The pommel pouches must have covers of course, to secure their contents--I wish them light & seemly." In 1857 Lee had been commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Cavalry and sent to West Texas, where he served, with several lengthy interruptions due to the onset of his wife's crippling arthritis, until 1861. This brief letter is indicative of Lee's fastidiousness and the extent of his involvement in the minutiae of equipping his troops. Always particular about his riding gear, he had his own saddles specially designed in a "peculiar form which he preferred to all others" ( A.L. Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee , 1983 edn., p. 132 note).
LEE, ROBERT E., General, C.S.A. Autograph letter signed ("R E Lee"), as Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Cavalry, to Major P. V. Hagner, Arlington, Alex[andria] P[ost] O[ffice], Va., 23 May 1859. One page, 8vo . LEE ORDERS SADDLES FOR HIS CAVALRY "My dear Major, I thought Housings had been adopted by the Board. I knew I voted against it. If not adopted, I do not wish any. I will have the hasp plates in the bit as you suggest [here Lee has drawn a small sketch]--The 2 enveloped by the C [the insignia of the 2nd Cavalry] different from that of the men. The pommel pouches must have covers of course, to secure their contents--I wish them light & seemly." In 1857 Lee had been commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Cavalry and sent to West Texas, where he served, with several lengthy interruptions due to the onset of his wife's crippling arthritis, until 1861. This brief letter is indicative of Lee's fastidiousness and the extent of his involvement in the minutiae of equipping his troops. Always particular about his riding gear, he had his own saddles specially designed in a "peculiar form which he preferred to all others" ( A.L. Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee , 1983 edn., p. 132 note).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
