Posted on 01/19/2014 5:51:53 AM PST by BigReb555
“Here I greet you in the shadow of the statue of your Commander, General Robert E. Lee. You and he left us memories which are part of the memories bequeathed to the entire nation by all the Americans who fought in the War Between the States.”
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
You might enjoy this article.
Considering how the all powerful national government thing worked out, it seems to me that Lee fought on the correct side.
That pretty well describes me, though I've been very disappointed in my state lately. I'm ready to 'donate' the Northern part of my state to Maryland or DC. The ever expanding .gov is polluting our state politically. I'm sure the folks in Richmond enjoy all of that tax revenue though.
From a noted writer and historian (ask if you any curiosity at all):
” I desire to make known to the reader not only the renowned
soldier, whom I believe to have been the greatest of his age, but to give some insight into the character of one whom I have always considered the most perfect man I ever met.
”He was opposed to secession, and to prevent it he would
willingly sacrifice everything except honor and duty, which
forbid him to desert his State... Nothing would induce him
to have any part in the invasion of his own State, much as
he abhorred the war into which he felt she was rushing. His
love of country (Virginia), his unselfish patriotism, caused
him to relinquish home, fortune, a certain future, in fact
everything for her sake.”
0n Lee turning down the offer of command of the Union army to side with Virginia and the Confederacy
” He spoke bitterly of none - a remarkable fact, as at that
time men on both sides were wont to heap the most
violent terms of abuse upon their respective enemies.”
On the character and Christian nature of Lee
” Where else in history is a great man to be found whose
whole life was one such blameless record of duty nobly
done? ... The most perfect gentleman of a State long
celebrated for its chivalry, he was just, gentle, and
generous, and child-like in the simplicity of his
character.”
On the character of Lee
” I have met many of the great men of my time, but Lee
alone impressed me with the feeling that I was in the
presence of a man who was cast in a grander mould,
and made of different and of finer metal than all other
men. He is stamped upon my memory as a being apart
and superior to all others in every way: a man with whom
none I ever knew, and very few of whom I have read, are
worthy to be classed.”
On the greatness of Lee
” When all the angry feelings roused by Secession are
buried with those which existed when the Declaration of
Independence was written, when Americans can review
the history of their last great rebellion with calm impartiality, I believe that all will admit that General Lee towered far above all men on either side of that struggle: I believe he will be regarded not only as the most prominent figure of the Confederacy, but as the great American of the
nineteenth century, whose statue is well worthy to stand
on an equal pedestal with that of Washington, and whose
memory is worthy to be enshrined in the hearts of all his
countrymen.”
Robert E. Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807, at “Stratford” in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
Robert’s mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee, named her son “Robert Edward” after her two brothers.
Robert E. Lee’s father was Henry Lee III also known as Light-Horse Harry Lee.
Henry Lee was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and later became Governor of Virginia.
Robert E. Lee was educated in Alexandria, Va., and received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York in 1825. He graduated in 1829, second in his class.
Robert E. Lee’s first assignment was to Cockspur Island, Georgia, to supervise the construction of Fort Pulaski.
In 1831, Robert E. Lee married Mary Anna Randolph Custis. Robert and Mary had grown up together. Mary was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, a grandson of Martha Washington, and an adopted son of George Washington.
In 1836, Lee was appointed to first lieutenant.
In 1838, Captain Lee fought in the War with Mexico and was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec.
In 1852, he was appointed superintendent of West Point, and is considered one of the best superintendents in that institution’s history.
In 1862, General Winfield Scott offered Robert E. Lee the command of the Union Army, but Lee refused. He would, instead, command the legendary Army of Northern Virginia for the Confederacy during the War Between the States.
On September 28, 1870, Lee suffered a stroke and died two weeks later on October 12, 1870, in Lexington, Virginia. His last words were reported to be, “Strike the tent.”
Lee was buried underneath Lee Chapel on the grounds of Washington and Lee University in a crypt that includes many of his direct family members: the General himself, his wife Mary, his seven children, and his parents Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and Anne Carter Lee.
In 1870, during Lee’s funeral procession, his beloved horse, Traveler followed behind the wagon bearing the General’s casket, his saddle and bridle were draped with black crepe. In 1871, not long after Lee’s death, Traveler also died, and he is buried a few feet away from the crypt where his master’s body rests.
John McCain
Rank Captain
Battles/wars
Vietnam War
Awards
Silver Star
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Navy Commendation Medal
John McCain's a perfect example. Even though John McCain served our country well...he’z still wrong headed in his thinking.
Just sayin.
He was a gentleman of class and honor. Most people these days have no idea what this means.
Because he was fighting against a northern aggression that wanted central control from D.C. The north won and voila, here we have our current situation.
I’m guessing from your graphic that you think the war was about slavery?
My 4 year old is smart enough to figure out that wasn’t the case.
Slavery is what was sold to the public to gain popular support, just like we see today, not much has changed in that time.
“I wonder who will emerge as the heroes in the next war between the states?”
Interesting thought. I don’t think it will be secession this time around. You don’t have to secede to nullify the Federal govt. But it will be the Southern and some Western states who do through state sovereignty. The Northeast and most of the Midwest is just too progressive. They will sit by and do nothing. Its going to get very interesting in the next couple of years.
re: “The war had only an iota to do with slavery, but everything to do with the rights of the states and the Constitution.”
I have nothing but the utmost respect for Robert E. Lee, one of our truly great Americans and military leaders.
However, your statement above is simply not true. The Civil War, the 2nd War for American Independence, etc. WAS indeed over the issue of slavery.
South Carolina seceded from the Union when Lincoln won the election. Several other Southern states seceded before Lincoln was ever inaugurated. Lincoln had done nothing officially as president - yet the majority of the states that comprised the Confederacy had already seceded. Why?
Because Lincoln was adamantly opposed to allowing slavery to be introduced into the territories that would one day become states. This was the whole point of the “Lincoln-Douglas” debates a few years before in 1856.
Lincoln had repeatedly said that where slavery already existed, he, as president, had no Constitutional authority to intervene. But, because slavery was a moral wrong, he would oppose it’s being even contemplated in the territories.
This was why the South seceded when he was elected. They knew that as more and more territories became states, and were added as “free” states, they would one day be outnumbered and outvoted in Congress, and thus they saw that as a threat to their economic and cultural welfare.
I used to side with Lincoln on not allowing secession. He saw it as a threat to the existence of the United States. For, if a state could simply vote itself out of the Union whenever they felt like it - what’s to stop that from happening at anytime? What’s to keep that from turning the United States into another Europe?
While I still agree somewhat with Lincoln’s assessment as to the threat of secession, I also feel that the issues over which the South seceded were not on the high moral ground. All the issues of contention they had with the North could be dealt with, and even found wide support for their views from future new states - except the issue of slavery.
On the other hand, I’m coming to the position that Lincoln should have just let the South go. After all, secession, at least to me, should be a viable possibility when the federal government consistently violates the restraints placed upon it by the Constitution. That’s what we did in the Revolution against Britain - we seceded from them.
Also, whether one agrees with the South’s reasons for seceding, they were united in their determination to leave the Union. The people of their states had voted to leave the Union in a totally legal election called by their respective states. Once the South seceded, Lincoln, in my opinion, should have honored South Carolina’s demand to remove U.S. troops from Fort Sumpter.
I understand Lincoln’s fear that secession could destroy the nation, but the high cost of forcing the South back into the Union was, in my opinion, not worth all the death and destruction. We are still dealing with fallout from that war today. Had Lincoln allowed the South to leave in peace, I think that eventually many of those states would have voluntarily returned for economic reasons. I think slavery would have also eventually been removed as the South as well.
So, while I have the utmost admiration for Lee and the Southern fighting men, and that there were many reasons that the average non-slave owning Southerner fought, the overall aggravating cause of the contention between the North and the South, was slavery.
I think if the South had seceded, then emancipated their slaves, they would have won their bid for independence. But, that’s just my opinion.
The North fought the war over money. Plain and simple. When the South started Secession, Lincoln was asked, “Why not let the South go in peace?” To which he replied, “I can’t let them go. Who would pay for the government?” Sensing total financial ruin for the North, Lincoln waged war on the South. The South fought the War to repel Northern aggression and invasion.
Lincoln needed the cotton taxes. Its nothing new. The govt is always about the taxes.
A lost-cause myth that cannot stand up to the facts. Here's a review of the evidence on the subject.
http://www.marinersmuseum.org/blogs/civilwar/?p=2873
The most obvious fact is that the CSA congress finally agreed to black soldiers to be enlisted only on March 13, 1865. The Yankees were quite literally at the gates of Richmond, and the law allowing black soldiers was passed only after the personal plea of RE Lee.
Revealingly, Lee requested that black slave soldiers be freed on enlistment. Even with Lee's request and the obvious desperate nature of the situation, the CSA Congress could not bring themeselves to free even blacks who fought for them. They passed the law without such provision.
Lincoln kept the Octopus out. Southern sympathizer Wilson is who brought it in with the Federal Reserve. That's where that started.
And he damn near whupped ‘em.
Re your #29, oh8: Isn’t that one of the supposed reasons we own guns? To defend against tyranny? It’s a pretty big theme on FR.
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