him that really give his sweet expression. Sitting for a picture was
such a serious business with him that he never could "look pleasant."

In 1855 my father was appointed to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the
Second Cavalry, one of the two regiments just raised. He left West
Point to enter upon his new duties, and his family went to Arlington
to live. During the fall and winter of 1855 and '56, the Second Cavalry
was recruited and organised at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, under the
direction of Colonel Lee, and in the following spring was marched to
western Texas, where it was assigned the duty of protecting the settlers
in that wild country.

I did not see my father again until he came to my mother at Arlington
after the death of her father, G. W. P. Custis, in October 1857. He
took charge of my mother's estate after her father's death, and
commenced at once to put it in order--not an easy task, as it consisted
of several plantations and many negroes. I was at a boarding-school,
after the family returned to Arlington, and saw my father only during
the holidays, if he happened to be at home. He was always fond of
farming, and took great interest in the improvements he immediately
began at Arlington relating to the cultivation of the farm, to the
buildings, roads, fences, fields, and stock, so that in a very short
time the appearance of everything on the estate was improved. He often
said that he longed for the time when he could have a farm of his
own, where he could end his days in quiet and peace, interested in
the care and improvement of his own land. This idea was always with
him. In a letter to his son, written in July, '65, referring to some
proposed indictments of prominent Confederates, he says:

"...As soon as I can ascertain their intention toward me, if not