American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Ink and watercolor on paper, 6 3/8 x 4 7/8 in. Signed lower left, "T.D.D., June 1865," and captioned in lower margin, "One of Virginia's Noblemen. Drawn Expressly for Mr. D.B. Lucas." Housed in 9 x 7 3/4 in. frame with his business card/label attached on reverse side identified to the "Law Office of Daniel B. Lucas, Charles Town, Jefferson County, West Virginia." (Some soiling, staining to margins, small hole and chip near top right edge/corner of paper; some chipping and areas of surface loss to frame.)

The studio photograph of Lee taken in early 1864 by J. Vannerson of Richmond, VA, likely served as the inspiration for this ink and watercolor portrait.

Daniel B. Lucas (1836-1909) was a lawyer, Confederate officer, poet, member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, and ultimately justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court. Prior to the Civil War, Lucas moved to Richmond, VA. He served with Confederate General Henry A. Wise in the Kanawha Valley campaign in 1861. In January 1865, he escaped from Virginia through the Union blockade and ventured to Canada where he attempted to aid in the defense of Confederate Captain John Y. Beall, who had been accused of spying and guerrilla warfare in the North. In February 1865, Beall was convicted and executed on Governor’s Island, NY. Following Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Lucas wrote the poem, ‘‘The Land Where We Were Dreaming,’’ which is considered one of the earliest works to romanticize the lost cause of the Confederacy. Lucas remained in Canada until after the war, then returned to West Virginia where he resumed practicing law starting in 1870. He was later elected to the West Virginia Legislature (1884-1887) and appointed justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1889-1893). (Information obtained from the West Virginia Encyclopedia, 2 May 2024).