Daguerreotype of the Custis, eldest son of Robert and Mary Lee wearing a West Point uniform. He attended West Point from 1850-1854 and graduated first in his class while his father was superintendent.

Custis Lee served in the US Army Corps of Engineers from the time of his graduation until the beginning of the Civil War. Soon after his father resigned his commission on April 20, 1861, Custis Lee also resigned and accepted a commission in the Army of Virginia. By the end of the war he had been promoted to major general in the Confederate States Army.

Metal plate, leather and gilt case. H 9.7, W 7.8 cm
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, ARHO 2338