LEE. Fate seemed to have done its
worst. The beloved wife and the two dear children who had made his home
at the "White House" a paradise had died in 1863, while he was held as a
prisoner and a hostage at Fort Lafayette and Fort Monroe. The place had
been occupied by Union troops; the mansion, with all its surroundings,
had been destroyed by fire, and, as has been well said by another, there
was "not a blade of grass left to mark the culture of more than a
hundred years." Had he been an ordinary man he would have sunk with the
load of sorrow and trouble which weighed him down. But he had a brave
heart, which defeat and affliction and disaster with united effort could
not conquer.
With the same noble spirit which had actuated his father, the elder Lee,
he threw aside his discouragement and took up the duties of life and
citizenship anew. He had made himself famous as a soldier; he now began
in earnest to cultivate the arts of peace. It was no easy task, for the
era of reconstruction immediately succeeded the war, and only those who
were actually under its ban can realize the burdens and hardships it
entailed upon an unfortunate people emerging from a disastrous
conflict.
He rebuilt and reestablished his home at the White House plantation.
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