As his school days drew to a close, it became necessary for Lee to
determine his future calling. But the choice of a career, often so
perplexing to young men, presented no difficulty to "Light Horse
Harry's" son. He had apparently always intended to become a soldier
and no other thought had seemingly ever occurred to any member of his
family. Appointments to the United States Military Academy were far more
a matter of favor than they are to-day, and young Lee, accompanied by
Mrs. Lewis (better known as Nellie Custis, the belle of Mount Vernon
and Washington's favorite grandchild), sought the assistance of General
Andrew Jackson. Rough "Old Hickory" was not the easiest sort of person
to approach with a request of any kind and, doubtless, his young visitor
had grave misgivings as to the manner in which his application would be
received. But Jackson, the hero of the battle of New Orleans in the
War of 1812, only needed to be told that his caller was "Light Horse
Harry's" son to proffer assistance; and in his nineteenth year, the boy
left home for the first time in his life to enroll himself as a cadet at
West Point.
Very few young men enter that institution so well prepared for military
life as was Lee, for he had been accustomed to responsibility and had
thoroughly mastered the art of self-control many years before he stepped
within its walls. He was neither a prig nor a "grind," but he regarded
his cadetship as part of the life work which he had voluntarily chosen,
and he had no inclination to let pleasure interfere with it. With his
comrades he was companionable, entering into all their pastimes with
zest and spirit, but he let it be understood, without much talk, that
attention to duty was a principle with him and his serious purpose soon
won respect.
Rigid discipline was then, as it is to-day, strictly enforced at West
Point, and demerits were freely inflicted upon cadets for even the
slightest infraction of the rules. Indeed, the regulations were so
severe that it was almost impossible for a cadet to avoid making at
least a few slips at some time during his career. But Lee accomplished
the impossible, for not once throughout his entire four years did he
incur even a single demerit--a record that still remains practically
unique in the history of West Point. This and his good scholarship won
him high rank; first, as cadet officer of his class, and finally, as
adjutant of the whole battalion, the most coveted honor of the
Academy, from which he graduated in 1829, standing second in a class of
forty-six.
Men of the highest rating at West Point may choose whatever arm of
the service they prefer, and Lee, selecting the Engineer Corps, was
appointed a second lieutenant and assigned to fortification work at
Hampton Roads, in his twenty-second year. The work there was not hard
but it was dull. There was absolutely no opportunity to distinguish
oneself in any way, and time hung heavy on most of the officers' hands.
But Lee was in his native state and not far from his home, where he
spent most of his spare time until his mother died. Camp and garrison
life had very little charm for him, but he was socially inclined and,
renewing his acquaintance with his boyhood friends, he was soon in
demand at all the dances and country houses at which the young people of
the neighborhood assembled.
Among the many homes that welcomed him at this time was that of Mr.
George Washington Parke Custis (Washington's adopted grandson), whose
beautiful estate known as "Arlington" lay within a short distance of
Alexandria, where Lee had lived for many years. Here he had, during
his school days, met the daughter of the house and, their boy-and-girl
friendship culminating in an engagement shortly after his return from
West Point, he and Mary Custis were married in his twenty-fifth year.
Lee thus became related by marriage to Washington, and another link was
formed in the strange chain of circumstances which unite their careers.
A more ideal marriage than that of these two young people cannot be
imagined. Simple in their tastes and of home-loving dispositions, they
would have been well content to settle down quietly to country life in
their beloved Virginia, surrounded by their family and friends. But the
duties of an army officer did not admit of this, and after a few years'
service as assistant to the chief engineer of the army in Washington,
Lee was ordered to take charge of the improvements of the Mississippi
River at St. Louis, where, in the face of violent opposition from the
inhabitants, he performed such valuable service that in 1839 he was
offered the position of instructor at West Point. This, however, he
declined, and in 1842 he was entrusted with the task of improving the
defenses of New York harbor and moved with his family to Fort Hamilton,
where he remained for several years. Meanwhile, he had been
successively promoted to a first lieutenancy and a captaincy, and in his
thirty-eighth year he was appointed one of the visitors to West Point,
whose duty it was to inspect the Academy and report at stated intervals
on its condition. This appointment, insignificant in itself, is notable
because it marks the point at which the trails of Grant and Lee first
approach each other, for at the time that Captain Lee was serving as an
official visitor, Ulysses Grant was attempting to secure an assistant
professorship at West Point.