Article about a recently discovered letter, Mary Curtis Lee, the eldest daughter of Robert E. Lee, describes how her father wrested with the decsision to resign his commission in the U.S. Army and side with the South. Her words fundamentally alter the story of Lee’s fateful choice. Lee biographers have long claimed that his decision to leave the Army was an inevitable one, driven by the pull of relatives, state and tradition. However, as his daughter shows us, in the end the decision was highly personal, made in spite of family differences and the military conventions he revered.
