Lee Girls' Chamber

nnie, Agnes and Mildred Lee shared this sunny bedchamber which looks today much the way it looked in 1861 when the Lees evacuated Arlington House at the start of the Civil War.

	View of Lee Girls' Chamber from Upper Hall. Click on picture to view QuickTime movie of the room. (283 KB) QuickTime plug-in is required and can be downloaded free at the QuickTime Web site.

A Union officer sketched this room shortly after the Lee family fled and the Union Army occupied the house. That sketch, entitled “Roughing it at Arlington,” is the only known surviving interior view of Arlington House and depicts a Union officer—presumably the artist—sitting at the desk in the Girls' Chamber. Many artifacts now on display in the room are visible in the drawing.

In this room, Agnes often wrote in her journal. She detailed the Lee's family life during the 1850s, in the decade before the Civil War. The journal, which had been in the possession of a Lee family descendent, was published several years ago and offers a fascinating look into life at Arlington during the 1800s.

	Charlie Morgan's 1861 sketch of the Lee Girls' Chamber, "Roughing it at Arlington." Morgan was a Union officer stationed at Arlington during the Civil War and, presumeably is the soldier lounging back with his feet on the desk.

Among the original pieces in this room are the riding crop and the statue of the three graces which sits on the mantel.

Continue the Tour

Click on the room you would like to visit next. To go to another floor, use the menu below the floorplan.