He Corresponded With Whistler’s Mother

One of some interesting facts about Robert E. Lee corresponded with Whistler’s mother. James McNeill Whistler was a cadet at West Point's Military Academy while Lee served as its superintendent, and he was a very subpar one at that. Lee took a genuine interest in the boy, as he always did with those under his care, even though he ultimately had to expel the "moody and insolent" Whistler from the school after he failed his chemistry class ("If silicon were a gas, I would have been a major general some day," Whistler sarcastically remarked later).

He updated Whistler's mother on his health and emphasized the need for the youngster to be attentive in his efforts in a number of letters to her. The iconic portrait was painted in 1871 by Whistler, who graduated from the Academy and went on to become a well-known artist. Naturally, Whistler rose to fame as an artist after graduating from the Academy, creating the portrait known as "Whistler's Mother" in 1871.