know that you will unite with me in thanks to Almighty God, who
has so often sheltered him in the hour of danger."

Then came the news that the young General had been captured by
Federal troops who surrounded the house to which he had been removed,
and again Lee sought, in the midst of all his cares, to cheer his
daughter-in-law who was herself becoming ill.

"I can see no harm that can result from Fitzhugh's capture except
his detention.... He will be in the hands of old army officers
and surgeons, most of whom are men of principle and humanity. His
wound, I understand, has not been injured by his removal, but is
doing well. Nothing would do him more harm than for him to learn
that you were sick and sad. How could he get well? So cheer up
and prove your fortitude.... You may think of Fitzhugh and love
him as much as you please, but do not grieve over him or grow sad."

But the young wife grew steadily worse and, when her life was
despaired of, Custis Lee offered to take his brother's place in
prison, if the authorities would allow him to visit his dying wife.
But, when this was refused and news of her death reached Lee, he
refrained from all bitterness.

"...I grieve," he wrote his wife, "...as a father only can grieve
for a daughter, and my sorrow is heightened by the thought of the
anguish her death will cause our dear son, and the poignancy it
will give to the bars of his prison. May God in His mercy enable
him to bear the blow...."

It was in the midst of such severe afflictions that Lee conducted