Posted on 01/18/2005 5:57:53 PM PST by wagglebee
All the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our Forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth.
--Robert E. Lee
Why do Americans continue to remember their past?
Perhaps it is because it was a time when truth was spoken. Men and women took their stand to give us the freedoms we now enjoy. God bless those in military service, who do their duty around the world for freedom.
The Hall of Fame for great Americans opened in 1900 in New York City. One thousand names were submitted, but only 29 received a majority vote from the electors. General Robert E. Lee, 30 years after his death, was among those honored. A bust of Lee was given to New York University by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Let America not forget January 19, 2005, the 198th birthday of General Robert E. Lee.
Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford House, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. The winter was cold and fireplaces were little help. Robert's mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee, was suffering from a severe cold.
Ann Lee named her son Robert Edward after her two brothers.
Robert E. Lee undoubtedly acquired his love of country from those who had lived during the American Revolution. His father, "Light Horse" Harry, was a hero of the revolution and served as governor of Virginia and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Members of his family also signed the Declaration of Independence.
Lee was educated in the schools of Alexandria, Virginia. In 1825, he received an appointment to West Point Military Academy. He graduated in 1829, second in his class and without a single demerit.
Robert E. Lee wed Mary Anna Randolph Custis in June 1831, two years after his graduation from West Point. Robert and Mary had grown up together. Mary was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington and the adopted son of George Washington.
Mary was an only child; therefore, she inherited Arlington House, across the Potomac from Washington, where she and Robert raised seven children.
Army promotions were slow. In 1836, Lee was appointed to first lieutenant. In 1838, with the rank of captain, Lee fought valiantly in the War with Mexico and was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec.
He was appointed superintendent of West Point in 1852 and is considered one of the best superintendents in that institution's history.
President-to-be Abraham Lincoln offered command of the Union Army to Lee in 1861, but Lee refused. He would not raise arms against his native state.
War was in the air. The country was in turmoil of separation. Lee wrestled with his soul. He had served in the United States Army for over 30 years.
After an all-night battle, much of that time on his knees in prayer, Robert Edward Lee reached his decision. He reluctantly resigned his commission and headed home to Virginia.
Arlington House would be occupied by the Federals, who would turn the estate into a war cemetery. Today it is one of our country's most cherished memorials, Arlington National Cemetery.
President John F. Kennedy visited Arlington shortly before he was assassinated in 1963 and said he wanted to be buried there. And he is, in front of Robert E. Lee's home.
Lee served as adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and then commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia. The exploits of Lee's army fill thousands of books today.
After four terrible years of death and destruction, General Robert E. Lee met General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, and ended their battles. He told his disheartened comrades, "Go home and be good Americans."
Lee was called Marse Robert, Uncle Robert and Marble Man. He was loved by the people of the South and adopted by the folks from the North.
Robert E. Lee was a man of honor, proud of his name and heritage. After the War Between the States, he was offered $50,000 for the use of his name. His reply was "Sirs, my name is the heritage of my parents. It is all I have and it is not for sale."
In the fall of 1865, Lee was offered and accepted the presidency of troubled Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The school was renamed Washington and Lee in his honor.
Robert E. Lee died of a heart attack at 9:30 on the morning of October 12, 1870, at Washington-Lee College. His last words were "Strike the tent." He was 63 years of age.
He is buried in a chapel on the school grounds with his family and near his favorite horse, Traveller.
A prolific letter writer, Lee wrote his most famous quote to son Custis in 1852: "Duty is the sublimest word in our language."
On this 198th anniversary let us ponder the words he wrote to Annette Carter in 1868: "I grieve for posterity, for American principles and American liberty."
Winston Churchill called Lee "one of the noblest Americans who ever lived." Lee's life was one of service and self-sacrifice. His motto was "Duty, Honor, Country."
God Bless America!
In case you did not get the memo:
"When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."
I agree that Sherman was up there. After all, there were many great leaders on both sides of the conflict. I feel that the first three I mentioned were the most crucial. Of course, it had to do with their position as well as their character.
Blair's offer forced Lee to choose between his strong conviction to see the country united in perpetuity and his responsibility to family, friends and his native Virginia. A heart-wrenching decision had to be made. After a long night at Arlington, searching for an answer to Blair's offer, he finally came downstairs to Mary. "Well Mary," he said calmly, "the question is settled. Here is my letter of resignation." He could not, he told her, lift his hand against his own people. He had "endeavored to do what he thought was right," and replied to Blair that "...though opposed to secession and a deprecating war, I could take no part in the invasion of the Southern States." He resigned his commission and left his much beloved Arlington to "go back in sorrow to my people and share the misery of my native state."
Happy Birthday, beloved General!
I've never noticed you letting taste stand in your way in the past. But be that as it may, let's go over the 'root hog' quote.
From "Lincoln's Yarns and Stories", by Colonel Alexander K. McClure:
"Among the stories told by Lincoln, which is freshest in my mind, one which he related to me shortly after its occurrence, belongs to the history of the famous interview on board the River Queen, at Hampton Roads, between himself and Secretary Seward and the rebel Peace Commissioners. It was reported at the time that the President told a "little story" on that occasion, and the inquiry went around among the newspapers, "What was it?"
The New York Herald published what purported to be a version of it, but the "point" was entirely lost, and it attracted no attention. Being in Washington a few days subsequent to the interview with the Commissioners (my previous sojourn there having terminated about the first of last August), I asked Mr. Lincoln one day if it was true that he told Stephens, Hunter and Campbell a story.
"Why, yes," he replied, manifesting some surprise, "but has it leaked out? I was in hopes nothing would be said about it, lest some over-sensitive people should imagine there was a degree of levity in the intercourse between us." He then went on to relate the circumstances which called it out.
"You see," said he, "we had reached and were discussing the slavery question. Mr. Hunter said, substantially, that the slaves, always accustomed to an overseer, and to work upon compulsion, suddenly freed, as they would be if the South should consent to peace on the basis of the 'Emancipation Proclamation,' would precipitate not only themselves, but the entire Southern society, into irremediable ruin. No work would be done, nothing would be cultivated, and both blacks and whites would starve!"
Said the President: "I waited for Seward to answer that argument, but as he was silent, I at length said: 'Mr. Hunter, you ought to know a great deal better about this argument than I, for you have always lived under the slave system. I can only say, in reply to your statement of the case, that it reminds me of a man out in Illinois, by the name of Case, who undertook, a few years ago, to raise a very large herd of hogs. It was a great trouble to feed them, and how to get around this was a puzzle to him. At length he hit on the plan of planting an immense field of potatoes, and, when they were sufficiently grown, he turned the whole herd into the field, and let them have full swing, thus saving not only the labor of feeding the hogs, but also that of digging the potatoes. Charmed with his sagacity, he stood one day leaning against the fence, counting his hogs, when a neighbor came along.
"'Well, well,' said he, 'Mr. Case, this is all very fine. Your hogs are doing very well just now, but you know out here in Illinois the frost comes early, and the ground freezes for a foot deep. Then what you going to do?'
"This was a view of the matter which Mr. Case had not taken into account. Butchering time for hogs was 'way on in December or January! He scratched his head, and at length stammered: 'Well, it may come pretty hard on their snouts, but I don't see but that it will be "root, hog, or die."'"
Taken in context, Lincoln's meaning is clear. He was responding to the southern representative Hunter's fear that without the slaves to harvest the crops and do the work then southern society would collapse that southern whites would starve. Reading the whole story it is clear that Lincoln is telling southern whites that it was time to "root hog, or die" and not blacks. The free ride was over, their captive supply of labor wasn't going to be there anymore. If work was to be done then whites had to do it, or pay for the services. They would have to cultivate. They had to adapt or suffer the consequences.
It also places many limits on the states.
Where does the line about habeus corpus fall? Gee...it's Article I...where things pertaining to the Legislative Branch are listed.
Look at Section 10, Clause 1 of Article I:
"No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility."
All restrictions on the states. Congress isn't even mentioned. Look at Section 8. It clearly states that Congress shall have the power, a clause missing in Section 9. Now look at the clause in question, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." Nowhere does it say that the writ can only be suspended through legislation. Nowwhere does it say that the President cannot suspend habeas corpus.
Obviously, because it's quite clearly listed with the Congressional powers (Article I), there's no need to "rule" on it.
Quite the contrary, only the Supreme Court can rule if Lincoln's actions were Constitutional. Not you, not me.
God Bless General Robert E. Lee and may he rest in Peace.
One addendum:
In response to one section in the above article, it was Robert E. Lee and the Lee family who donated his estate to the United States government.
Some historical accounts called it a donation and some have referred to it as tax bounty.
There is a report that during the Civil War, General Lee desired to pay Federal taxes to the US Government but was prevented from doing so because payment meant physically crossing over into Union territory.
Accordingly, General Lee accrued a tax debt, which became tax plus interest during the War years.
It has been reported that General Robert E. Lee was involved in the discussion and plans for a National Cemetery. General Lee then decided to donate the Lee estate for the purpose of creating such a National Cemetery.
The donation of the Lee estate to the Federal government in turn satisfied General Lee's tax obligations accrued during the war.
The entire acreage of the Lee Estate donated by General Lee and the Lee Family, and according to General Robert E. Lee's wishes then became Arlington Cemetery.
The article said: "Arlington House would be occupied by the Federals, who would turn the estate into a war cemetery. Today it is one of our country's most cherished memorials, Arlington National Cemetery."
Take away slavery and the South and the western Union states were one vast agricultural region. Of course, take away slavery and you have no secession or Civil War to begin with. The US Constitution never assumed a totally homogeneous population in the first place. But founders like George Washington believed that union among diverse regions was vital to prevent the American states from becoming pawns in European power struggles. Whatever fears the Southern power structure had from the election of President Lincoln could easily be countered by the system provided by the Constitution. Instead they tried to destroy the Union and the continental strength which deterred outside interference. Not only that, but they wished to be the first to use Europeans against their fellow Americans which would have started a doleful pattern that would have reduced our nation to perpetual victimhood.
And talking about diverse nations, I'd say the Confederate cannon fodder small farmers had much more in common with the Union soldier farmers they were fighting against than the slave owning oligarchy whose economic interests they were protecting. Thus the presence of a significant Unionist element in the South who feared a tyranny from a central government in Richmond more than they feared any tyranny that could come from a central government in Washington.
Agree with that. I just took "I'll Take My Stand" off the shelf. Might be worth starting a thread on that sometimes.
Martha Dandridge was born on June 2, 1731 on a plantation near Williamsburg. At eighteen, Martha married Daniel Parke Custis, the wealthy owner of the 17,000 acre Custis plantation. Daniel died in 1757 when Martha was twenty-six. Their son, John Parke Custis, was three years old.
Sometime later, Martha met a young colonel in the Virginia Militia. His name was George Washington.
Martha married George on January 6, 1759. The marriage changed George from an ordinary planter to a wealthy landowner. George, Martha, John Parke (4), and younger sister Patsy (2) moved into Mt. Vernon.
George Washington died on December 14, 1799.
On May 22, 1802, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington died. She was laid to rest next to her husband at Mt. Vernon.
THE CUSTIS ESTATE
George Washington Parke Custis was a colonel in the United States Army. Born at Mount Airy, Maryland, on April 30, 1781, his parents were John Parke Custis and Eleanor (Calvert) Custis.
After his father died, young G.W.P. Custis was raised by his grandmother Martha and her second husband, George Washington at Mount Vernon. The Custis mansion, intended as a living memorial to George Washington, was owned and constructed by the first president's adopted grandson, G.W.P. Custis, son of John Parke Custis who himself was a child of Martha Washington by her first marriage and a ward of George Washington. His house, begun in 1802 but not completed until 1817, held a collection of Washington heirlooms.
George Washington Parke Custis considered calling the estate Mount Washington, but eventually adopted the name of the Custis family ancestral estate.
The mansion was built on an 1,100-acre estate that Custis' father, John Parke Custis, purchased in 1778. It was designed by George Hadfield, a young English architect who was for a time in charge of the construction of the Capitol. The north and south wings were completed between 1802 and 1804. The large center section and the portico, presenting an imposing front 43 meters (140 feet) long, were finished 13 years later.
In 1804, G.W.P. Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh. Their only child to survive infancy was Mary Anna Randolph Custis, born in 1808.
George Washington Parke Custis died on October 19, 1857. His wife, Mary Fitzhugh Custis, died on April 23, 1853. They were buried in a private lot on the estate.
On June 30, 1831, Mary Anna Randolph Custis married her husband Robert, son of a former three-time governor. For 30 years this mansion was their home, and six of their seven children were born there.
G.W.P. Custis left the estate to his daughter Mary for her lifetime, to be passed on to the her eldest son. The estate was in need of repair and Mary's husband Robert, as executor, oversaw the improvements.
THE CUSTIS ESTATE AND THE CIVIL WAR
Virginia adopted an Ordinance of Secession on April 17, 1861. On April 22, 1861, Robert left his beloved home, never to return. About a month later, Mary also left, managing to send some of the family valuables off to safety. Later, many of the remaining family possessions were moved to the Patent Office for safekeeping. Some items, however, including a few of the Mount Vernon heirlooms, had already been looted and scattered.
"It is better to make up our minds to a general loss. They cannot take away the remembrance of the spot, and the memories of those that to us rendered it sacred. That will remain to us as long as life will last, and that we can preserve," wrote Robert in a letter to Mary.
THE CUSTIS ESTATE WRONGFULLY SEIZED
In 1863 Congress levied a tax on all confiscated properties, but payment was rejected for the Custis estate.
A wartime law required that owners of property in areas occupied by Federal troops appear in person to pay their taxes.
The property was confiscated by the federal government when property taxes levied against the estate were not paid in person by the owner, which was Mary. The property was offered for public sale on January 11, 1864, and was purchased by a tax commissioner for "government use, for war, military, charitable and educational purposes."
Brig. Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, who commanded a wartime garrison at the estate, appropriated the grounds June 15, 1864. Intending to render the house uninhabitable should the family ever attempt to return, Gen. Meigs ordered union dead to be buried as close to the home as possible. A stone and masonry burial vault in the rose garden, 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and containing the remains of 1,800 Bull Run casualties, was among the first monuments to Union dead erected under Meigs' orders. Meigs himself was later buried within 100 yards of the house with his wife, father and son.
Neither Mary, as title holder, nor Robert as executor, ever attempted to publicly recover control of the estate.
After the death of his parents, George Washington Custis brought an action for ejectment in the Circuit Court of Alexandria County, Va. As the eldest son, he claimed that the land had been illegally confiscated and that, according to his grandfather's will, he was the legal owner. In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, returned the property, stating that it had been confiscated without due process
On March 3, 1883, the Congress purchased the property for $150,000, and it became a military reservation.
AND NOW, THE REST OF THE STORY...
Today the mansion, conceived as a living memorial to George Washington, looks somewhat out of place. The effort begun by General Meigs continued and the mansion is now surrounded by hundreds of thousands of graves.
Originally envisioned as Mount Washington, the estate came to be named after the ancestral Custis estate, Arlington.
George Washington's descendant, Mary Anna Randolph Custis married her husband Robert Edward Lee.
The estate was unlawfully confiscated from the lawful owner, the wife of Robert E. Lee.
Ownership was returned to the Custis family by a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court rendered on December 4, 1882. U.S. v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196 (1882)
On March 3, 1883, the Congress purchased the property from George Washington Custis Lee for $150,000.
On March 4, 1925, restoration of the Mansion was authorized. On August 10, 1933, it was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service. On June 29, 1955, it was declared a permanent memorial to Robert E. Lee, with a name change to "Custis-Lee Mansion."
On June 30, 1972, the mansion was restored to its historic name, Arlington House.
It is the former estate of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Lee that became Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington House was their home.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
EPILOGUE
Augusta Academy was founded in 1749. In 1776, the name was changed to Liberty Hall. Four years later the school was moved to the vicinity of Lexington, where in 1782 it was chartered as Liberty Hall Academy by the Virginia legislature and empowered to grant degrees.
In 1796, George Washington saved the struggling Liberty Hall Academy when he gave the school its first major endowment- $20,000 worth of stock. The trustees promptly changed the name of the school to Washington Academy as an expression of their gratitude.
General Robert E. Lee accepted the position of president of the college in 1865. During his brief presidency, Lee established the School of Law. He also inaugurated courses in journalism, which developed by 1925 into The School of Journalism - now the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications. These courses in business and journalism were the first offered in colleges in the United States.
General Robert E. Lee died on October 12, 1870 and was buried on the university campus.
After Lee's death in 1870, the trustees voted to change the name to Washington and Lee University.
Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee died on November 5, 1873 at the age of 66. She is buried next to her husband on the Washington & Lee campus in Lexington, Virginia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Excuse ME. The Confederates started the war by firing on a United States fort - Sumter. Read your history books. I am certain they mention this detail.
And whic is it? "Never surrender" ala Washington or "We wuz outgunned!". Cannot have it both ways. More cognitive dissonance from Neoconfederates.
The North launched the war.
Most Union defenders see that as a plus - War of Northern Aggression.
Hello! The south launched the war! They seceded. They attacked numerosu United States vessles. They attacked the United States at Fort Sumter. This was the war of Southern Aggression.
I'm a traditionalist myself. I still prefer the original name, War of Southern Rebellion.
Anyone who uses any other variety is simply looking for a fight deliberately.
Well, for about two thirds of the south anyway.
In addition to the other refutations of your damnable lies and distortions about General Sherman, I would add that the "token resistance" Sherman encountered on his way through Georgia included the bloody Battle of Atlanta, which but for poor generalship on the Southern side might have been a Confederate victory.
"But Grant and Freeman spoke well of him."
Refresh my memory. Did he burn Grant's or Freeman's homes?
Are you suggesting that Freeman and Grant didn't know what they were talking about?
"More and more the truth is coming out, and the southron myths are being unmasked."
Actually, the truth has been out there for 140 years. Beginning in the 1870's, and reaching a pinnacle in the 1950's, northern-centric writers and historians have attempted to conceal and misdirect the facts. But the facts can still be found.
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