Petersburg 23 Aug ‘64
Miss Mary Tinsley
I am extremely obliged to you for your letter of the 18th, conveying the invitation of your father & mother for my family to spend with them the coming winter, & feel all the gratitude which such an act of disinterested kindness is calculated to inspire. Mrs Lee, as you seem to be aware, is a great sufferer, & in addition to the pains of rheumatism she is just recovering from a severe attack of fever. She has been removed to Fluvanna county, where, owing to the attention of kind friends, she is regaining some strength. It would no doubt give her great pleasure to visit your father & mother, & I am sure she would enjoy much gratification in their society, but she can only be moved with pain, & is in no condition to travel. I will, however, forward your kind note, which will enable her fully to appreciate your motive & thoughtful consideration.
Begging you to present to your father & mother my sincere thanks, in which I know Mrs Lee & my daughters will heartily join, I am most gratefully
Yours
R E Lee
Source: Typescript copy, Lee Family Papers, 1732-1892, Mss1 L51 b 55, Section 13, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond
Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2018 September 12
