Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-12-05

form that his men should put up
clean and snappy appearance. Here
Is letter which he wrote on April
-. 1777, to his colonel, Theoderick
Bland, who. by the way. was kins-
man of Capt. Lee:
for my men to be furnished with caps and boots
prior to my appearance at headquarters. You
know. my dear colonel. that. justly. our Of
fcer's reputation depends not only the dis
cipline. but appearance of his men.
Could the articles mentioned he allowed my
troop their appearance into Morris morris
carelessness as their captain and ] have
vanity enough to hope would assist in procur-
ing srdoe credit to the colonel Of the
the condition of my troop; my sole object is
the credit Of the regiment.
This was a pretty free and easy way
Of writing to the colonel, and toward
the close of the letter Capt. Lee hap
pened to recall that it was the regi-
mental and not the company spirit
that moved him to ask for caps and
boots, and then he splashed a little
dab of fiattery on the colonel with, Il
have vanity enough to hope would
assist in procuring some little credit
to the colonel of the regiment"
Henry seems to have gone cross
lots to get those caps and boots. Not
word does he say about making out
requisition in triplicate Cor is it
Quadruplicate?) for new issue of
caps and boots, nor does he say any
thing about board of survey to help
him get rid of the old property. How
ever, Henry got the caps and boots.
When Capt. Henry Lee wrote this
| letter. Col. BANDS cavalry regiment
had Joined Washington's army, and
Lee was about to make his first ap-
pearance at headquarters. Writing
of his kinsman. Edmund Jennings,
Lee said: His appearance must have
been such as he desired. or his sub
sequent behavior must have been sue
cessful. for he appears to have won
| the esteem and affection of Washing
ton very early in the war. It is GER
tain that he was frequently employed
by his command on confidential mis-
| sions, and in hazardous expeditions.
He was favorably noticed by Wash
ington throughout the war. At one
| time Gen. Washington wrote to Lee:
! You may in future. and while on
Eyour present command, mark your
letters Private" This to an officer
only twenty-three years old surely in
dicated confidence and esteem"
| So it did. AS the Rambler noted in
previous narratives on the old Lee
Fairfax-Hayden property of Freestone
Point, Capt. Lees mother. Lucy
Grymes, was the first and perhaps the
only woman with whom George
Washington was infatuated. That
probably counted for something. Capt
Lees father was a prominent and
wealthy man of good family and good
abilities, and these Lees of Freestone
Point were neighbors of the Washing
tons Of Mount Vernon and the Masons
of Gunston Hall. and had been neigh
bors of the Fairfaxes Of Belvoir.
Gov. Patrick Henry. who gave young
Henry Lee his commission as a cap
tain. was friend of the family. and
the regiment to which he was as
signed was commanded by his rela-
tive. Col. Bland. That made things
easy for Capt. Lee. but in spite of
all this there is no doubt that Capt.
Lee was a creditable officer. and that
he was worthy of the confidence and
esteem Of the commanding officer of
probably numerous Capts. Jones.
Smith, Johnson and Robinson who
were equally worthy Of recognition.
confidence and esteem, and who had
to work very much harder to get it.
and perhaps many of them never got
it. Even now the right kind of fam
lily names and press agents are great
aids to success in the military pro-
fession. the art Of society. and in
many other lines Of work or lines of
leisure.
Edmund Jennings Lee became SO en-
thusiastic in telling Of the success of
Capt. Henry Lee. but without enter
ing too deeply into specifications of
that success. that he wrote: '1n fact, his
extreme youth seems to have been the
sole reason why the due rank was not
awarded his military merit. He was
too youthful to be elevated over the
heads of officers much his senior in
years. though probably inferior in
military talent"
Once Capt Henry Lee and ten of
his men were surrounded in house
by detachment of British cavalry.
This detachment is said to have num-
bered 200 men, but this in all proba-
bility would seem to be an exag-
geration. or. if they were 200 strong.
their offensive would seem to have
the American report. thew 'desisted
and sheered OFF, after a loss of two
killed and four wounded. 1t is said
that the British attached so much
importance to capturing Capt. Lee
that. ascertaining that he was near.
surround his headquarters secretly.
1t would seem reasonable that in the
theater of war the British would seek
to capture any American officer and
his escort. 1t may be that they did
not know the name Of the officer. and
that captain by the name of Jones
would have been acceptable to them.
That they should want to surround
his "headouarters" secretly would also
seem to be quite natural. AS they
wanted to make a capture. it is not
likely that they would send engraved
cards announcing their intention to
surround him and his men.
The Americans seem to have sus-
tanned no loss According to the ac-
count, the ten Americans manned
the windows of the house and sue.
ceeded in beating off the assailants."
Capt. Lee reported. "The contest was
very warm. The British dragons.
trusting to their vast superiority IN
numbers, attempted to force their way
into the house. In this they were
baffled by the bravery OF my men.
After having left two kllled ana -FOUR
wounded. they desisted and sheered
on" At this distance the affair does
not seem to have been of magnitude
and imnortance, but 1t must have
bean then so considered. for Gen.
Washington sent the following let
ter to Capt. Lee:
Nv Dear Lee: Although l have given you
nv thanks in general orders OF this day for
the late instance of your gallant behavior. !
cannot resist the inclination feel to repeat
them again in this manner. needed no fresh
nrrof Of your merit to bear YOU in remem-
brance. waited only for the proper time ana
al. shall also think Of and will reward the
merit Of Lindsay when an opening presents. as
far rs can consistently, and I shall NOT Tor
get the corporal whom Won have recommended
fo INV notice OHpr my sincere thanks to the
that no one felt pleasure more sensibly or re-