"New" Pics of Robert E. Lee

Nope - no dates. I am going to try and find some data to go with the pictures I really like, though. I'll post back here if I find anything. Alas, I have to get ready for work now :frown:.
 
I had seen the top two but not the bottom one. I believe the middle picture is Mexican War time frame. I cannot recall, but I believe that was a picture used in the Nat Geo program on Lee either right before or right after the Mexican War. It has been a while since I saw the program, so I could be suffered from a senior moment.
 
Pic # 1: This was a new one for me. But that's quite a case of "hat hair", I've never seen pics of him with hair that long. Also, you can see why he grew a mustache later, his top lip is rather thin.

By way of comparison, see this picture of a young Lt. Lee in the uniform of the U.S. Army Corps of Enginers:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/Images/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL*/1/frontispiece.jpg


Pic # 2: The middle picture looks similar to this one, which may be a re-touched picture which is generally credited as having been made about the time of the Mexican-American war:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL/1/13*.html#image.1

But note the similarity with the following picture of Robert E. Lee taken in Baltimore in 1861 (before the outbreak of the war): He is wearing the uniform of a Col. of Cavalry, but there is a "VA" on the cap, perhaps an alteration made after Virginia seceeded from the Union.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/Images/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL*/1/28/1861_photo.jpg

If the photograph in the original post shows him about the time of the Mexican-American war, he doesn't seem to have aged much in the thirteen years between that war and the outbreak of the Civil War - especially considering he did a couple of years or so as a cavalry commander on the Texas frontier.

Lee was, as you can see, considered quite handsome and when he was posted to duty in New York he became an instant hit and highly-sought guest at the various balls and other social gatherings. I've always thought Tom Selleck would make a great Robert E. Lee in movies, but I suspect we are past that point now, as Selleck is now some fifteen to twenty years older than Lee was at the start of the war.

Of course, Lee managed to age quite rapidly during the first year of the war - his hair turned gray, and he grew his beard out.
 
Pic # 1: This was a new one for me. But that's quite a case of "hat hair", I've never seen pics of him with hair that long. Also, you can see why he grew a mustache later, his top lip is rather thin.

By way of comparison, see this picture of a young Lt. Lee in the uniform of the U.S. Army Corps of Enginers:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/Images/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL*/1/frontispiece.jpg


Pic # 2: The middle picture looks similar to this one, which may be a re-touched picture which is generally credited as having been made about the time of the Mexican-American war:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL/1/13*.html#image.1

But note the similarity with the following picture of Robert E. Lee taken in Baltimore in 1861 (before the outbreak of the war): He is wearing the uniform of a Col. of Cavalry, but there is a "VA" on the cap, perhaps an alteration made after Virginia seceeded from the Union.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/Images/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL*/1/28/1861_photo.jpg

If the photograph in the original post shows him about the time of the Mexican-American war, he doesn't seem to have aged much in the thirteen years between that war and the outbreak of the Civil War - especially considering he did a couple of years or so as a cavalry commander on the Texas frontier.

Lee was, as you can see, considered quite handsome and when he was posted to duty in New York he became an instant hit and highly-sought guest at the various balls and other social gatherings. I've always thought Tom Selleck would make a great Robert E. Lee in movies, but I suspect we are past that point now, as Selleck is now some fifteen to twenty years older than Lee was at the start of the war.

Of course, Lee managed to age quite rapidly during the first year of the war - his hair turned gray, and he grew his beard out.
That and the fact that Tom Selleck is a monster in size comparison with Lee. I met Tom Selleck around 1989, he made me look small. The largest hands and head I have ever seen on a human being. He must wear a size 16 or so shoe as well, because his shoes were bigger than my size 14.

He is listed as 6'4" but was taller than me by at least an inch or two.
 
I like the picture of Lee with his son. Which son is it? Probably the oldest.
It's Rooney, the middle one. Notice how he is hiding his left hand. This is not long after he lost the first two fingers of that hand in an accident with some farm machinery. Look at photos of Rooney throughout his life and he is always concealing his left hand in some way, except for photos taken when he was in his last years of life and apparently quit giving a two-cents. :wink:

I've seen all these pics many times. Libraries and the internet for the win.
 
It's Rooney, the middle one. Notice how he is hiding his left hand. This is not long after he lost the first two fingers of that hand in an accident with some farm machinery. Look at photos of Rooney throughout his life and he is always concealing his left hand in some way, except for photos taken when he was in his last years of life and apparently quit giving a two-cents. :wink:

I've seen all these pics many times. Libraries and the internet for the win.

I love the stories behind the pictures! Thank you for sharing that story about Rooney!!
 
It was Dad who nursed him through it, too. Whenever anybody was sick and he was available, it was always Dad who sat up all night! :lee: (You could be a cat, too - one of the cats had a bad time delivering her litter and, sure enough, Lee sat up with her.)

There is one painting of Lee I saw several years ago in a magazine and have never seen since and it was one I'd love to find again! He was 18, in his new cadet uniform, ready to head off for school. What a knock-out! Curly dark brown hair, perfect features like his mom, mischievous dark eyes like old Lighthorse Harry. One good looking kid, that's for sure!
 
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