Should they select that, their whole army & c. will land at the White House. To
be enveloped in it would be extremely annoying & embarrassing, and I believe hundreds would delight in persecuting you all
for my … sake … I think it better, therefore, that you should all get out of the way.” 4 It was time for Mrs. Lee to move again. On her way out of her son’s house, she posted a note on the door:
Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his wife, now owned by her descendants.
A Grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington 5
With her daughters Annie and Mildred in tow, Mrs. Lee made her retreat, this time to a friend’s house in Hanover County, a
few miles to the northwest of the Pamunkey River estate. It was not long before McClellan’s army took over the White House
plantation, transforming it into a bustling depot. The old farm became, in the words of a correspondent traveling with the
army, “a fair rival of New York, Philadelphia, or Boston in the extent of its coastwise commerce. Steam and sail vessels continually arriving and departing, extensive wharves, with
cargoes constantly unloading, … and all the hubbub and confusion of a large port.” 6 The estate’s pine forests were cut for lumber, which workers hammered into coffins—much in demand, not because of fighting
but because typhoid fever, yellow fever, and other diseases had joined McClellan’s march up the peninsula. 7
Amid his preparations, McClellan still found time for chivalry. He ordered his troops to respect Rooney Lee’s White House
property—and he meant it. As his predecessor Irvin McDowell had done at Arlington, McClellan established his headquarters
outside and posted guards around the house to discourage scavengers. 8 When one of his officers shot a Lee family pig, McClellan confined the soldier to his tent until he wrote a letter of apology. 9 And when advancing Federals overtook Mrs. Lee again, surrounding her new sanctuary in Hanover County, McClellan had her brought
to his headquarters, offered his condolences, issued traveling papers, and dispatched her through his lines for Richmond.
Her carriage traveled under a flag of truce. 10
The fraternity of officers who had studied at the U.S. Military Academy and fought the Mexican War together was still capable
of such gestures. But a growing number of hard-liners in the Union war effort—among them Montgomery Meigs, William T. Sherman,
and Edwin M. Stanton—had little use for such gallantry. In Secretary Stanton’s view, total war would bring the crisis to a
speedy conclusion. 11 His brand of realism would trump McClellan’s gentlemanly code as the war dragged on and the bloody reality of the conflict
became apparent.
Meanwhile, Mary Custis Lee made it safely through the blue ranks and into Confederate territory, where her husband was waiting
to greet her. He was shocked by her transformation. In the fifteen months since he had seen her, she had become, at age fifty-three,
an old lady. She would soon be confined to a wheelchair. 12 Lee settled her in Richmond, where she remained through most of the war, and went out to face Gen. George McClellan, whose
troops were pressing close to the Confederate capital—so close, in fact, that by the end of May, Union soldiers could hear
the city’s church bells pealing in the dusk.
The chimes were soon interrupted by the bark of muskets and the wallop of artillery, which ushered in a furious season of
fighting for control of Richmond. The first of these battles, known as Seven Pines or Fair Oaks, opened on May 31, 1862, producing
11,000 casualties in a single day. One of those casualties would change the course of the war: when Confederate Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston was severely wounded that evening, Robert E. Lee took his place as field commander of Confederate forces in Northern
Virginia, an assignment he would keep for the rest of the
be enveloped in it would be extremely annoying & embarrassing, and I believe hundreds would delight in persecuting you all
for my … sake … I think it better, therefore, that you should all get out of the way.” 4 It was time for Mrs. Lee to move again. On her way out of her son’s house, she posted a note on the door:
Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his wife, now owned by her descendants.
A Grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington 5
With her daughters Annie and Mildred in tow, Mrs. Lee made her retreat, this time to a friend’s house in Hanover County, a
few miles to the northwest of the Pamunkey River estate. It was not long before McClellan’s army took over the White House
plantation, transforming it into a bustling depot. The old farm became, in the words of a correspondent traveling with the
army, “a fair rival of New York, Philadelphia, or Boston in the extent of its coastwise commerce. Steam and sail vessels continually arriving and departing, extensive wharves, with
cargoes constantly unloading, … and all the hubbub and confusion of a large port.” 6 The estate’s pine forests were cut for lumber, which workers hammered into coffins—much in demand, not because of fighting
but because typhoid fever, yellow fever, and other diseases had joined McClellan’s march up the peninsula. 7
Amid his preparations, McClellan still found time for chivalry. He ordered his troops to respect Rooney Lee’s White House
property—and he meant it. As his predecessor Irvin McDowell had done at Arlington, McClellan established his headquarters
outside and posted guards around the house to discourage scavengers. 8 When one of his officers shot a Lee family pig, McClellan confined the soldier to his tent until he wrote a letter of apology. 9 And when advancing Federals overtook Mrs. Lee again, surrounding her new sanctuary in Hanover County, McClellan had her brought
to his headquarters, offered his condolences, issued traveling papers, and dispatched her through his lines for Richmond.
Her carriage traveled under a flag of truce. 10
The fraternity of officers who had studied at the U.S. Military Academy and fought the Mexican War together was still capable
of such gestures. But a growing number of hard-liners in the Union war effort—among them Montgomery Meigs, William T. Sherman,
and Edwin M. Stanton—had little use for such gallantry. In Secretary Stanton’s view, total war would bring the crisis to a
speedy conclusion. 11 His brand of realism would trump McClellan’s gentlemanly code as the war dragged on and the bloody reality of the conflict
became apparent.
Meanwhile, Mary Custis Lee made it safely through the blue ranks and into Confederate territory, where her husband was waiting
to greet her. He was shocked by her transformation. In the fifteen months since he had seen her, she had become, at age fifty-three,
an old lady. She would soon be confined to a wheelchair. 12 Lee settled her in Richmond, where she remained through most of the war, and went out to face Gen. George McClellan, whose
troops were pressing close to the Confederate capital—so close, in fact, that by the end of May, Union soldiers could hear
the city’s church bells pealing in the dusk.
The chimes were soon interrupted by the bark of muskets and the wallop of artillery, which ushered in a furious season of
fighting for control of Richmond. The first of these battles, known as Seven Pines or Fair Oaks, opened on May 31, 1862, producing
11,000 casualties in a single day. One of those casualties would change the course of the war: when Confederate Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston was severely wounded that evening, Robert E. Lee took his place as field commander of Confederate forces in Northern
Virginia, an assignment he would keep for the rest of the
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