Graduation and Marriage

Shortly after his graduation he returned to Virginia to find his mother very ill, much worse then when he last saw her, nursing her until her death on July 10, 1829. She was buried at Ravensworth Plantation and was later moved in 1913 (along with her husband Henry Lee) to Lexington, Virginia after the Lee family crypt was established at Washington & Lee University. In August 1829, Robert Lee received orders to report to Cockspur Island in Georgia to help with the building of fort Pulaski there. In April of 1831 he was transferred to Old Point for another engineering project. As this time in history, the US Corps of Engineers was overwhelmed with projects in order to quickly build up the fortifications of the fledgling nation. On June 30, 1831 Robert married Miss Mary Anna Randolf Custis, daughter of George Washington Parke Custis who was the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. At the death of G. W. P. Custis' parents he had been adopted by George Washington. He built a grand home on a hill over looking the Potomac river, which is now known as Arlington House in the middle of Arlington National Cemetery. Miss Custis' mother was kin of the Lee family, Mrs. Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis. After the traditional wedding and wedding visits the young couple settled into married life at Fort Monroe while the groom worked on Fort Calhoun on the water.