Some may consider it insensitive to post an article about Robert E. Lee in this time when his role in US history is often challenged. There are citizens in Lee County, Florida, where I spend time in the winter, who would like to have the large portrait of him in Confederate uniform removed from the County Chambers. This article deals with a little known early contact Lee had with his namesake county in between his service with the US Army in the Mexican-American War and his later leadership role with the Confederacy. At the time he was a US Army Captain of Engineers and a Brevet Colonel.

Below is a link to the guest blog which I prepared for the Punta Gorda History Center to mark the 170th anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s 1849 visit to Charlotte Harbor with a U.S. Army Board of Engineers survey team.

http://puntagordahistorycenterblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/170th-anniversary-of-robert-e-lees.html