Robert E. Lee to Lafayette McLaws, 31 July 1862
Hd Qrs Dep N. Va.
31st July 1862
General,
Your letter asking for a leave of absence for thirty days is received.
I fully appreciate your desire to visit your family, and would very gladly comply with your request, could I do so consistently with the exigencies of the service.
Your claim to the small indulgence you ask only increases my regret that I am not at liberty to follow my own inclinations in the matter.
But at this time I regard your presence with your command as very important, not only in the work of organizing and preparing it for active service, but to meet an emergency that may arise at any moment, in the present posture of affairs, requiring the best efforts of all, and rendering it impossible to spare you from the Army.
I am General, very respectfully
Your obt Servt
R E Lee
Genl Comdg
Maj. Gen L McLaws,
Commandg D
[overleaf]
Letter from Genl Lee
declining to allow furlough
30th July 1862
15224
DATABASE CONTENT
(15224) | DL1620 | | Letters | 1862-07-31 |
Tags: Furloughs, Homesickness, Pride
People - Records: 2
- (627) [recipient] ~ McLaws, Lafayette
- (1874) [writer] ~ Lee, Robert Edward
SOURCES
Robert E. Lee to Lafayette McLaws, 31 July 1862, DL1620, Nau Collection