In the hot summer of 1862, while the Civil War was raging in Virginia, a big storm was brewing for one brave woman. Mary Custis Lee, the wife of General Robert E. Lee, stood on the porch of her home in Arlington, not knowing that her life was about to change forever. With the sounds of cannon fire in the distance and Union soldiers approaching her house, Mary faced an invasion that would test her strength and courage. As the soldiers searched for information about her husband, she became a symbol of bravery—doing everything she could to protect her family during such dangerous times.
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In 1862, as the Civil War raged through Virginia, a significant event captured the attention of the Northern press: the capture of Mary Custis Lee, the wife of General Robert E. Lee. On June 2, 1862, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Lee and her two daughters were taken near Hanover Courthouse, just twenty miles from Richmond. This incident sent shockwaves through both the Confederacy and the Union, highlighting the personal toll of a war that had already claimed countless lives.
Mary Custis Lee was not just a general’s wife; she was a woman of strength and resilience, deeply rooted in her family’s legacy. As the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, she embodied the spirit of a bygone era, yet her life was now embroiled in a conflict that threatened to tear apart everything she held dear. The capture was not merely a military maneuver; it was a profound personal tragedy that underscored the chaos of war.
When the Civil War erupted, Mary Custis Lee found herself far from her beloved Arlington estate, residing at the White House on the Pamunkey River. As the Army of the Potomac advanced up the Virginia Peninsula, she was in the midst of packing to move to the home of Edmund Ruffin in Marlborough, Hanover County. It was there, at White House—her son Colonel Fitzhugh Lee’s residence—that the Union Army arrived.
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