My dear sir Wednesday
I am as happy as my worn ole body will permit. But yr presence would give me additional delight. Do come & [illegible] here tomorrow & bring yr good young captain.
You will be pleased with my new friends. We dine at 2 & you must land on the west side on sight of the house. By enquiry you will be told exactly how & where.
By the boat send me my gun watch a tin box & my trunk of cloaths with my two mattresses & cot. Take half the nuts & send or rather leave in Alexandria for my son as you pass, 12 to plant & send a small bag with [illegible] for letters. The steward knows. Lastly write & tell me all yr hopes & prospects as to going home & whether you have heard from [illegible]
always yrs H L
Mr Caustens[1]
St Marys
Note: This letter is undated, but was written not long before Light Horse Harry Lee's death in 1818 in Georgia.
Source: The Archives of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Papers of the Lee Family, Box 2, M2009.129, Jessie Ball duPont Library, Stratford Hall
Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2016 April 21
[1] James Hyman Caustens (1788-1874) was a native of Baltimore. He was also a veteran of the War of 1812 and later worked as a lawyer and as a counsel for the governments of Chili and Ecuador.
