Following graduation from West Point, Robert E. Lee commenced what would become a thirty-year career in the U.S. Army. His deployments carried him across the nation and beyond its borders: he served in Georgia, Virginia, Washington, St. Louis, New York, Mexico, Baltimore, and West Point. After duty as superintendent at the Military Academy, Lee transferred from the corps of engineers to a newly formed cavalry unit assigned to Texas. His frequent separations from his wife and children often caused Lee periods of discontentment.

Fort Pulaski, Cockspur Island, Georgia (1829–31) "I have been all day out in the mud and water, examining the injuries done [by the gales], and marking out the repairs to be made. . . . So much for Engineering – But Oh! Cousin you don't know how much I have thought of you within the last four days. . . . And would even now give the world if you were here on this desolate and comfortless Island. . . ." —Robert E. Lee, Cock Spur Island, to Mary Randolph Custis (later Mrs. Lee), 11 November 1830

Fort Monroe, Virginia (1831–34) "I suppose I must continue to work out my youth for little profit and less credit & when old be laid on the shelf." —Robert E. Lee, Fort Monroe, to his brother Charles Carter Lee, 20 August 1834

St. Louis, Missouri (1837–40) "I made known to Robert E. Lee . . . the great obligations the authorities and citizens generally were under to him, for his skill and labor in preserving the harbor." —John Fletcher Darby, former mayor of St. Louis, 1880

Fort Hamilton, New York (1841–46) "In the event of war with any foreign government I should desire to be brought into active service in the field with as high a rank in the regular army as I could obtain. If that could not be accomplished without leaving the Corps of Engineers, I should then desire a transfer. . . ." —Robert E. Lee to Col. Joseph G. Totten, 17 June 1845

Lee's Service in the Mexican War (1846–48) "Goodbye my dear Mary. Teach my children to be good & virtuous & not to forget me. Give much love to our dear family & friends. I hope we shall all meet again on earth, or the world above." —Robert E. Lee, Vera Cruz, to Mrs. Lee, 12 April 1847

Lee's Service in the Mexican War (1846–48) "It is true we bullied her [Mexico]. Of that I am ashamed, as she was the weaker party. . . ." —Robert E. Lee, City of Mexico [Mexico City], to Mrs. Lee, 13 February 1848

Fort Carroll, Maryland (1848–52) ". . . . My days are spent pretty much at Fort Carroll (Sollers Point); My thoughts are engrossed with driving piles & laying stone. . . . Poor subjects for a corres-pondence with young ladies. If it was not for my heart Markie, I might as well be a pile or stone myself. . . . " —Robert E. Lee, Fort Carroll, to his cousin Markie Williams, 10 May 1851

Superintendent at United States Military Academy, West Point, New York (1852–55) "The climate is as harsh to me as my duties & neither brings any pleasure." —Robert E. Lee, West Point, to Anna Fitzhugh, 23 April 1854

Texas (1856–57) "We are on the best of terms with our neighbors, the Comanchees, & I am happy to believe that there is no love lost between us. I see more of them than I desire." —Robert E. Lee to Eliza Stiles, 24 May 1856 "The separation from my dear wife & children is very grievous to me, & I do not know how long I can stand it. I fear it will eventually drive me from the service." —Robert E. Lee to Edward Vernon Childe, 7–9 January 1857

Images: Cockspur Island and Fort Pulaski, 1830 (National Archives and Records Administration); William Edward West, Robert E. Lee in the Dress Uniform of a Lieutenant of Engineers, 1838 (Washington and Lee University); Robert E. Lee, Map of the Harbor of St. Louis, 1837 (Stratford Hall); Fort Hamilton Polka Redowa, 1852 (New-York Historical Society); Robert E. Lee to Mrs. Lee, 12 April 1847 (Virginia Historical Society); Carl Nebel, Battle of Cerro Gordo, 1847 (Virginia Historical Society); Robert E. Lee to Markie Williams, 10 May 1851 (Huntington Library); George Catlin, View of West Point, 1827 (West Point Museum Art Collection, United States Military Academy); George Catlin, Comanche Warriors, with White Flag, Receiving the Dragoons at Their Village, 1834–35 (Smithsonian American Art Museum)