CAMP, PETERSBURG, July
5, 1864.
MY PRECIOUS LIFE:
I received this morning, by your brother, your note, and am
very glad to hear your mother is better. I sent out immediately to try and find
some lemons, but could only procure two — sent to me by a kind lady, Mrs.
Kirkland, in Petersburg. These were gathered from her own trees; there are none
to be purchased. I found one in my valise, dried up, which I also send, as it
may be of some value. I also put up some early apples, which you can roast for
your mother, and one pear. This is all the fruit I can get.
You must go to the market every morning and see if you
cannot find some fresh fruit for her. There are no lemons to be had here. Tell
her lemonade is not as palatable or digestible as buttermilk. Try and get some
for her — with ice it is delicious, and very nutritious. I hope she will
continue to improve, and be soon well and leave that heated city. It must be
roasting now. Tell her I can only think of her and pray for her recovery. I
wish I could be with her to nurse her and care for her. I want to see you all
very much, but cannot now see the day when we shall be together once more. I
think of you, long for you, pray for you; it is all I can do. Think sometimes
of your devoted father,
R. E. LEE
SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of
Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 317
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