Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee was the wife of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee and the last private owner of Arlington Estate. She was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis who was the grandson of Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington. Lee was a highly educated woman, who edited and published her father's writings after his death.
Mary Anna Custis Lee
Portrait of Mary Anna Custis by Auguste Hervieu (1830)
East front of Custis Lee Mansion with Union Soldiers on lawn
Engraving of Mary Anna Custis Lee, 1854
Robert Edward Lee was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, toward the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Northern Virginia—the Confederacy's most powerful army—from 1862 until its surrender in 1865, earning a reputation as a skilled tactician.
Lee in March 1864
Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Lee's birthplace
Lee Corner on Oronoco Street in Alexandria, Virginia, a property owned by Lee
Lee at age 31 in 1838, as a Lieutenant of Engineers in the U.S. Army