George Washington Custis Lee

George Washington Custis Lee (September 16, 1832 – February 18, 1913), also known as Custis Lee, was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee, of the Lee Family of Virginia, and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee. His grandfather, George Washington Parke Custis was the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (the wife of George Washington). He served as a Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War, primarily as an aide-de-camp to President Jefferson Davis, and succeeded his father as president of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

Early life George Washington Custis Lee was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia. He was educated at numerous boarding schools to prepare him in his father's footsteps. He was educated at the classical school of Reverend George A. Smith in his younger years. He then entered the mathematical school of Benjamin Hallowell. Lee was then accepted to West Point at 17.

Custis Lee was then commissioned in the Corps of Engineers, as his father before him. In 1877, seven years after his father's death, Custis Lee sued in a case with assistance from Robert Lincoln that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court to regain title to the family mansion, was decided in his favor by a 5–4 vote, in 1882. Lee won both the house and the surrounding the mansion, but was less interested in retaining the estate than gaining a cash compensation for its value. In 1883, Lee sold Arlington House back to the United States Government for $150,000. In 1897, Lee resigned as president of Washington and Lee University. He then moved to the home of his late brother, Major General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee's Ravensworth Mansion. He never married, and had no children.