Lt. Robert E. Lee’s Marriage

On June 30, 1831, Mary Ann Randolph Custis, only child of the Custis family at Arlington, became the wife of Robert E. Lee, a young lieutenant in the U. S. Army, just 2 years out of West Point. The ceremony took place under a floral bell hung in the archway between the family dining room and parlor. The wedding party remained at Arlington in festivity and merriment until July 5, when the groom’s fellow officers, their leaves ending, were forced to say good-by. Some of the bridesmaids lingered until the end of the week.