West Bedroom

Windows overlooking Oronoco Street

We end our tour of Robert E. Lee's Boyhood Home in the west bedroom. In this room, William Fitzhugh put up the numerous guests who enjoyed his hospitality. To the left is the corner of a trundle bed of a type used to accomodate such guests. As in each of the other four front rooms, on one wall there was a bell handle with which the guest might summon assistance should it be needed.

In the fateful year of 1812, the Lee's moved into this house and the United States entered one of the most controversial wars in its history. The two events together had disasterous consequences for the Lees. In July, Light-Horse Harry went to nearby Baltimore to help defend the rights of an anti-war publisher there whose plant had been burned. In so doing, he became a victim in what the Federalist press called the "Baltimore Massacre." Terribly wounded in the melee, Lee left his family in Alexandria while he sought to regain his health in the West Indies. He did not live to see them again. He died, March 25, 1818, after his attempted return, at Cumberland Island GA in the care of the family of his wartime commander, Nathanael Greene.

Thank you for joining us in this tour.