Lee Sketch made by a young Robert E. Lee

Stiles/Akin

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Atlanta, Georgia
This is a sketch made by a young Robert E. Lee while on his way to serve in the Mexican American War in the 1840s.

39947284_1789725754397731_6665871942987284480_n.jpg
 
That's quite impressive.

Professional officers received some training in art, because in those days before easy photography, they were expected to be able accurately to reproduce illustrations and diagrams of terrain, fortifications, and the like as part of their routine service. The expectations of Lee, as a military engineer, would have been higher still. Some officers (e.g., Henry Walke of the U.S. Navy) became very accomplished artists in their own right.

I have read that one of Lee's strengths was his great ability to see "over the hill," i.e., to get a picture in his own mind of the surrounding terrain and its military application. It's a great skill to have in a military officer.

This drawing by Edward Everett is from the same period.

1977-7_s.jpg
 
What a wonderful sketch! He apparently had great skill in drawing. He also made several sketches while stationed at Cockspur Island (1829-1831).

drawings-by-Lee.jpg
terrapin and alligator
These are the only two known to be in existence today and they are owned by the descendants of the Mackay and Minis families, friends he often visited in close-by Savannah.

Source: Robert E. Lee by Douglas Southall Freeman, volume I and https://www.nps.gov/fopu/learn/historyculture/robert-e-lee.htm
 
That's quite impressive.

Professional officers received some training in art, because in those days before easy photography, they were expected to be able accurately to reproduce illustrations and diagrams of terrain, fortifications, and the like as part of their routine service. The expectations of Lee, as a military engineer, would have been higher still. Some officers (e.g., Henry Walke of the U.S. Navy) became very accomplished artists in their own right.

I have read that one of Lee's strengths was his great ability to see "over the hill," i.e., to get a picture in his own mind of the surrounding terrain and its military application. It's a great skill to have in a military officer.

This drawing by Edward Everett is from the same period.

View attachment 201798
WOW! I never knew about the art training! That makes so much sense! :lee:
 
This is a sketch made by a young Robert E. Lee while on his way to serve in the Mexican American War in the 1840s.

View attachment 201791
I am new to this site and need some guiding. I have a drawing that I obtained over 40 years ago in Chadds Ford,Pa. The letter states the following:
This drawing was executed by General Robert E. Lee at his home Arlington, Va
It was brought from there by Captain Frank Medlar who was in charge of and remained there with his family after the United States Government confiscated it.
Yours respectfully,
H. Jones
4319 Haverford Ave.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Envelop addressed to J. S. Gans
2134 N. 18th
City
Will try to attach 2 photos(of older photo) that are not very good but gets the idea. I have done some research on Medlar and he was superintendent of cemetery 1864-66. Any comments welcome. How do I attach photos?
DSC_0789 (2).JPG
DSC_0789 (2).JPG

WOW! I never knew about the art training! That makes so much sense! :lee:
 
Thanks so much to all of you who posted examples of his art! Not sure I've ever seen any of his work before.

That's quite impressive.

Professional officers received some training in art, because in those days before easy photography, they were expected to be able accurately to reproduce illustrations and diagrams of terrain, fortifications, and the like as part of their routine service. The expectations of Lee, as a military engineer, would have been higher still. Some officers (e.g., Henry Walke of the U.S. Navy) became very accomplished artists in their own right.

I have read that one of Lee's strengths was his great ability to see "over the hill," i.e., to get a picture in his own mind of the surrounding terrain and its military application. It's a great skill to have in a military officer.

This drawing by Edward Everett is from the same period.

View attachment 201798
I always was fascinated by the West Point curriculum at this time. Even for those who, unlike Lee, didn't do well in their studies, it was an impressively wide range of subjects they were expected to learn, ranging from hard math and science for engineering to sketching to foreign languages, as well as various classes on military tactics.
 
I admire those who can draw so well. Most of my art is fabric, I have done some painting, but it is very folk art looking!
 
Thanks so much to all of you who posted examples of his art! Not sure I've ever seen any of his work before.


I always was fascinated by the West Point curriculum at this time. Even for those who, unlike Lee, didn't do well in their studies, it was an impressively wide range of subjects they were expected to learn, ranging from hard math and science for engineering to sketching to foreign languages, as well as various classes on military tactics.
I why Lee did not do well in his studies?
 
I why Lee did not do well in his studies?
Quite the opposite: Lee did very well in his studies. He graduated second in his class.
Lee's consistent good conduct and soldierly bearing now found their reward in these entries on the roll of general merit:

Mathematics (maximum 300) -- 286
French (maximum 100) -- 98½
Natural Philosophy (maximum 300) -- 295
Drawing (maximum 100) -- 97
Engineering (maximum 300) -- 292
Chemistry and Mineralogy (maximum 100) -- 99
Geography, Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy (maximum 200) -- 199
Tactics (maximum 200) -- 200
Artillery (maximum 100) -- 100
Conduct (maximum 300) -- 300
General Merit (maximum 2000) -- 1966½89

These credits put him at the head of the class in artillery and tactics and gave him equal place in conduct with Barnes, Burbank, Harford,
WP.gif
Kennedy, and Mason, who had received no demerits during the whole of their four years at the academy.90 In final class standing Mason was No. 1; Lee was No. 2; Harford, Joseph A. Smith, and James Barnes followed in order.91 Lee finished his fourth year, as he had all the others, with a place on the list of "distinguished cadets."92
Robert E. Lee, Douglas S. Freeman, Vol. I, p. 81
 
Interesting that Geography has been thrown in there with Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy :confused:

Can't really see the connection ...
 
I why Lee did not do well in his studies?
Sorry if my original post was unclear. I was posting in a hurry and on the sly. :wink:

The point I was making was less about Lee and more about other West Pointers. That's why I said for those unlike Lee.

Lee certainly had an excellent academic record and was a superb student--there's no disputing that.

But even for the folks who had poor class standing (like the infamous goat who finished last every year), I think it's impressive that they still managed to graduate, considering the varied range of classes and subjects they needed to pass. By West Point standards they were not good students, per se, but how many folks even today would be making top marks in al their classes in such a range of subjects? I was always a good student with good grades and probably would have been all right in certain subjects, but I'd be lying if I claimed I would have pulled out top grades in the entire curriculum that they had to pass.

I think it puts everyone's West Point grades in context and makes the accomplishments of those who were at the top of the class (like Lee) even more impressive.
 
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Interesting that Geography has been thrown in there with Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy :confused:

Can't really see the connection ...
Some of the combos are so odd!

On West Point's website, you can see the old registers for every year. Some of the ones closer to the war include the book lists. I've had fun looking at them (old course catalogs are a hobby of mine).

http://digital-library.usma.edu/cdm/search/collection/p16919coll3

In any event, some of the names on the classes are very misleading! One was "Natural and Experimental Philosophy" which sounds like a philosophy class, but the textbooks are for stuff like mechanics, optics, acoustics, and even astronomy!
 
Thanks so much to all of you who posted examples of his art! Not sure I've ever seen any of his work before.
I definitely haven't, but have seen the work of Ulysses S. Grant. Until Andy post his explanation above, I had always wondered why 'art' was even a subject, but now it all makes sense.

makes the accomplishments of those who were at the top of the class (like Lee) even more impressive.
All I can think is what a great loss he must have been to the Union side when he tendered his resignation.

One was "Natural and Experimental Philosophy" which sounds like a philosophy class, but the textbooks are for stuff like mechanics, optics, acoustics, and even astronomy!
:confused:

Thanks for the link to the book lists btw!
 
The following are the "schedules" from Freeman's biography:

The first year classes were Maths and French and
Military instruction was limited in Robert's first year to what a private soldier would have received at an active army post under a good company-officer. Drill, however, ate up the little time that French and mathematics left.
p. 56-59

Second year:
Lee and his class plunged into more advanced mathematics — calculus, analytical and descriptive geometry and difficult conic sections, with instruction chiefly by Professor Davies. A course in perspective, shades and shadows was included with the mathematics.10 French was continued, with Gil Blas the text, followed late in the session by Voltaire's Histoire de Charles XII, as suited for the education of a soldier.11 The one added academic study was free-hand drawing of the human figure.
p. 63

In third year
he entered on scientific studies that were entirely new to him. Mathematics was dropped. Drawing was continued and was given a higher credit. It called for two hours' work each week-day afternoon and included landscape and topography. Chemistry and "natural philosophy" — physics in modern academic terminology — became his major studies for the year.40
The course in "natural philosophy," had a valuation of 300 on the merit roll, three times as much as the year's work in chemistry. Taught only to men of the second class, it covered the elements of mechanics, experimental physics, light, heat, magnetism, electricity, and astronomy.41
[...]
In military study, Lee's class passed that year through the school of the battalion, learned the duties of sergeants, and was drilled in the exercise and manoeuvres of artillery pieces.
p. 68-69

In fourth year
was crowded all the technical military training, together with a second course in chemistry and a hurried, superficial survey of geography, history, ethics, and moral philosophy.
p. 75
 
I liked this passage best: Drawing
was under the tutelage of Thomas Gimbrede, an amiable Frenchman, a good miniaturist, and a competent engraver, who was not altogether without the blessed quality of humor. It was Mr. Gimbrede's custom to give each class of beginners an introductory lecture, in the course of which he endeavored to prove to unbelieving third-classmen that every one could learn to draw. His proof was: "There are only two lines in drawing, the straight line and the curve line. Every one can draw a straight line and every one can draw a curve line — therefore, every one can draw."12
p. 63

Gimbrede should have taught Stonewall Jackson - maybe then he would have succeeded in drawing. :D
 
Until Andy post his explanation above, I had always wondered why 'art' was even a subject, but now it all makes sense.
It always cracks me up that James McNeill Whistler was an otherwise terrible student at West Point but always aced the art classes. :D

I could have sworn I read that Pickett was okay at the drawing side of the curriculum, but I can't find that anywhere now. Maybe I imagined it?


:confused:

Thanks for the link to the book lists btw!
I can't remember what year they added them, but they seem to always be in the back when they finally showed up! Definitely some interesting reading!
 
"It was Mr. Gimbrede's custom to give each class of beginners an introductory lecture, in the course of which he endeavored to prove to unbelieving third-classmen that every one could learn to draw. His proof was: "There are only two lines in drawing, the straight line and the curve line. Every one can draw a straight line and every one can draw a curve line — therefore, every one can draw."

Much as I would like to believe this, I think it takes a particular eye and talent to be able to pull this off with any degree of competence. Stick figures being my speciality, I think Mr. Gimbrede would have his work cut out with me! It's the same as writing. Everyone can learn to write, but to be a writer requires more than the ability to construct a sentence. Still, you need to start somewhere, and have people willing to believe that you can do it. Mr Gimbrede was obviously the guy to lead the way.
 
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