death, the ill health of his mother and the care of younger children
virtually made him the head of the family, so that he became unusually
mature and self-contained at an early age. Neither boy, however,
held aloof from the sports and pastimes of his schoolmates and
both were regarded as quiet, manly fellows, with no nonsense about
them, and with those qualities of leadership that made each in turn
the great military leader of his age.

Never has history recorded a stranger similarity in the circumstances
surrounding the youth of two famous men, but the facts which linked
their careers in later years are even stranger still.





Chapter III




Lee at West Point


As his school days drew to a close, it became necessary for Lee to
determine his future calling. But the choice of a career, often so
perplexing to young men, presented no difficulty to "Light Horse
Harry's" son. He had apparently always intended to become a soldier
and no other thought had seemingly ever occurred to any member of
his family. Appointments to the United States Military Academy