Camp 18 Sept ’64
My dear Custis
I want you to try on the boots you shewed me the day I left Richmond & if you like them Keep them. If you do not send them to me by Conner. Please forward the enclosed letter to your mother. Genl Beauregard returned this morg from Wilmington. He states he found things better than he expected, Genls Whiting & Hébert[1] shewing no signs of Conduct attributed to them. Some parts of defences weak. Good artillerists wanting & I think from all I learn there is a want of organization in the field Arty & Infy. As soon as I get his written statement I shall go to work. I shall have a Conversation with him tomorrow in reference to the Subject the President desired.
Source: Transcribed from digital scan of original letter, Robert E. Lee Papers, 1749-1975, Rubenstein Library, Duke University
Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2022 June 28
[1] Louis Hébert (1820-1901), the son of a Louisiana sugar planter and graduate of the US Military Academy. Initially the colonel of the 3rd Louisiana regiment, he served at the battles of Wilson’s Creek in 1861 and Pea Ridge in 1862 and was captured at Vicksburg and eventually released. In the fall of 1863, he was assigned to command the heavy artillery at Fort Fisher and the surrounding area.
