[his two coloured servants] send their respects to all....

"Truly and affectionately,

"R. E. Lee."

From the same place, on Christmas Day, he writes to my mother:

"I cannot let this day of grateful rejoicing pass, dear Mary, without
some communication with you. I am thankful for the many among the
past that I have passed with you, and the remembrance of them fills
me with pleasure. For those on which we have been separated we must
not repine. Now we must be content with the many blessings we receive.
If we can only become sensible of our transgressions, so as to be fully
penitent and forgiven, that this heavy punishment under which we labour
may with justice be removed from us and the whole nation, what a
gracious consummation of all that we have endured it will be!

"I hope you had a pleasant visit to Richmond.... If you were to see
this place, I think you would have it, too. I am here but little
myself. The days I am not here I visit some point exposed to the
enemy, and after our dinner at early candle-light, am engaged in
writing till eleven or twelve o'clock at night.... AS to our old home,
if not destroyed, it will be difficult ever to be recognised. Even
if the enemy had wished to preserve it, it would almost have been
impossible. With the number of troops encamped around it, the change
of officers, etc., the want of fuel, shelter, etc., and all the dire
necessities of war, it is vain to think of its being in a habitable
condition. I fear, too, books, furniture, and the relics of Mount
Vernon will be gone. It is better to make up our minds to a general