Lexington 19th April
I have not heard from you for a long time, my dear Miss Letty & was glad to see some one from Liberty who would give me some account of you all. We have had your Pastor & his daughter with us & have been much pleased with them both. I wish you could have come on at the same time & made us a visit then for as they have been in the church nearly all the time. I fear I should not have seen much of you, I was glad to hear of you still at the sweet old place where I can recall you all so vividly. You must miss Rosa so much will she not come & see you this summer? What do you hear of Kitty Dabney was there any truth in the report of her engagement to Von Borke. I wonder if he has ever recovered from his wound. The last I heard of him he had entered the Prussian reserve & was at the battle of Sadowa & how is your dear mammia? You must give her a great deal of love from us all & also to Miss Boywen & Lilly.
When I was at your house did I not give to some of your family a full length of Genl Lee in uniform. If you have it still I would esteem it a great favor if you would send it to me by the first safe opportunity as I am anxious to have a copy taken of it as the original was destroyed in the fire in Richmond. I will take great care of it & return it to you. Pictures of him taken during the war in a military dress are particularly valuable now, & I think I can have some good cartes de visite taken from it in which case I will send you one when I return it. I shall be glad to hear from you when you have time or inclination to write. I am so confined that I know but little of is transpiring in the outer world except through the medium of newspapers & they are very painful to read they contain so much to annoy and distress, it is hard to pray & wait for better times yet I trust they will come at last. The genl and Mildred unite with me in love.
Ever yours affectionately,
MC Lee
Source: The Archives of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Papers of the Lee Family, Box 4, M2009.404
Transcribed by Caitlin Connelly, 2016 May 23
