It may be said, by way of summing up all, that he was a full-blooded "West-Pointer" in appearance; the _militaire_ as distinguished from the civilian; and no doubt impressed those who held official interviews with him as a personage of marked reserve.

The truth and frankness of the man under all circumstances, and his great, warm heart, full of honesty and unassuming simplicity, became known only in the progress of the war.
How simple and true and honest he was, will appear from a letter to his son, G.W.Custis Lee, written some time before: "You must study," he wrote, "to be frank with the world; frankness is the child of honesty and courage.

Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right.

If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot: you will wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so, is dearly purchased at a sacrifice.