LEE, Robert E. (1807-1870). Autograph letter signed (''R.E. Lee'') to S. Cooper, Louisville, 16 May 1855.

LEE, Robert E. (1807-1870). Autograph letter signed ("R.E. Lee") to S. Cooper, Louisville, 16 May 1855.

Three pages, 254 x 202mm, bifolium with integral transmittal leaf (small square excised on second leaf, not affecting text). Housed in a custom clamshell case.

Lee details plans for quartering of troops in his new cavalry command. On April 12, 1855, new appointed Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee received orders to repair to Louisville, Kentucky, and to take command of the new Second Calvary. It was the first time in his 26-year military career that Lee assumed direct command of troops. Lee must find permanent headquarters for his troops, and strongly recommends Cooper against sending the cavalry to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions: "But I do not think it would conduce to the health of the Garrison, especially in hot weather to crowd men into a small space, G if the chosen or other epidemic should break out among them, it would add to the difficulty, as the Hospital is a small one storied building."

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