History of the Life of Rev. Wm. Mack Lee Body Servant of General Robert E. Lee Through the Civil War - Cook from 1861 to 1865.

£950 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

This self-published autobiography of William Mack Lee (1835-1932) makes clear his relationship to the Confederate General Robert E. Lee: “An’ nobody could see Marse Robert without seein’ me furst. An’ they had to tell me who they wuz an’ whar they cum from and what brigade they commanded. Yassah, I wuz his cook, too; he raised me from a baby an’ I stayed wid him durin’ the whole war, all de time he wuz at Petersburg, an’ till de surrender.” He was with Lee at the first and second Bull Run, first and second Manassas, and “was there at the fire of the last gun for the salute of the surrender of Sunday, April 9, 9 o’clock A.M. at Appomatix.” Questions about the authenticity of this account have been raised by Kevin M. Levin whose discussion also cites Confederate Veteran magazine, which published an article in its September 1927 issue (p.324) debunking Lee’s claims and states “He has evidently read the life of the great general and talked about him until he has convinced himself of an association which never existed. He is not the first who has profited by claims too absurd to be given credence.” The article goes on to point out of some of the historical inaccuracies. A notice in the Greensboro Patriot from 8 November 1920 records Lee in action. “Uncle William” Mack Lee, ‘Marse’ Robert E. Lee’s body servant throughout the war between the states, announces that he is ‘home from the Confederate reunion and in good health and spirits and with more money that I have ever had before’

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