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!
I would ask for a refund on that MBA. I minored in economics, and I understand perfectly that exporters must be compensated for their products. If the Southern states exported 250 million in products, that money, or products in that value must be returned to them. Protectionist tariffs reduce the amount they receive, whether the product is delivered to a warehouse in New York or Charleston.
I wouldn't bend over and take it like you seem to desire.
Let me rephase this in some fashion that might seep through - suppose the UN declares that the US leaving that organization is illegal, and demands that our armed forces - which have served under the blue banner - will wage war on Americans. Will you fight for or support the UN?
Looking back, we can see how his choice prolonged the war and made it more costly than it otherwise could have been.
So in other words, you'd to surrender, instead of fighting for your God given rights?
And why is it so hard to accept that virtually all that return was in money, which was not subject to tariff?
Protectionist tariffs reduce the amount they receive, whether the product is delivered to a warehouse in New York or Charleston.
Yes, if the southern plantation owners operated on a barter economy but they didn't. Why would they subject themselves to that risk? It makes more sense to sell the crop to a middle man once harvested. Let someone else find an overseas buyer and take on the risk of shipping the cotton accross the Atlantic. Why put you entire income for the year on a boat yourself? What if it sinks?
There is no doubt that the south accounted for the overwhelming majority of exports in the mid-19th century. But a dollar exported from the south did not automatically translate into a dollar imported by the south, far from it. So I would ask, yet again, just what it was that you believe the south imported in such vast quantities that the tariff hit them so badly?
So let me see if I have this straight. You have no more loyalty to the United States as you would have for the UN? Is that what you're saying?
And Sherman spoke well of Grant too:
"General Sherman remarked:
'General Grant is a great general, I know him well. He stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk; and now, sir, we stand by each other always"
Which was Sherman's way of saying don't believe everything you read in the newspapers. The drunk beat Bobby Lee and the crazy guy beat Johnston and Hood, so they must have been doing something right.
BTW, I'm reading "Days of Glory: The Army of the Cumberland, 1861-1865" by Larry J. Daniel. You would probably enjoy it, if only for some of the descriptions of Sherman made by some of his peers during his brief, disasterous tour as commander.
He probably overestimated the dollar amount of damage done. Just like the southron supporters have been doing on a much larger scale for the last 140 years. But I digress.
Georgia and the Shenandoah Valley were vital to the southern war effort. They provided vast quantities of supplies to the confederate armies. The Union command belatedly came to the conclusion that removing them as a source of those supplies would shorten the war. The actions of Sherman in Georgia and Sheridan in the Valley were severe, no doubt about that. War is a harsh undertaking and, as I have pointed out on innumerable occasions, civilians generally wind up taking it in the shorts. That has been the way throughout history, and probably always will be. Rebellions seem to incite even more hatred than wars between nations, and again, it's been that way throughout history. During the American rebellion, China was in the middle of the Taiping Rebellion which took the lives of between 20 and 30 million people. Look at rebellions in Spain, in Russia, China, India, in any country you care to name and I suggest that in none of them was the life and property of the opponents respected as much as it was during the American Civil War, that none of them had as few civilian casualties, and in none of them was the consequence of loosing as mild as it was in the United States.
a)Should have been destroyed
Walt, the poster you addressed can respond, but destruction of the Union was never a goal. We just thought downsizing was in order.
How can you claim destruction of the United States was not the goal? The south seceeded 11 states - 1/3 of the nation - and took the property with them. Their goal was dissolution of the United States.
If you really wish the Confederacy had won, if you believe they were right, how can you fly the U.S. flag?
Ignoring the logical fallacy of the question (a negative cannot be proved.)
Dissolving the union that was, in no way implies the destruction of union that remained. All Abe needed to say was "Fare thee well."
I admit to being mostly absent on the thread; but, whence this "destruction of the United States"?
I s'wan, it sho' sound like Walt. Lawd a mucy.
The destruction of Britain was a goal of Nazi Germany.
You are still not answering the question.
If you really wish the Confederacy had won, if you believe they were right, how can you fly the U.S. flag?
The states either never developed or let go of the the signs of sovereignty -- armies, navies, embassies, treaty making power, postal services, tariffs, distinctive units of currency, established religions. This, and much that was written and said at the time, indicates that the framers of the Constitution were concerned with forming a more perfect union, rather than a league of sovereign states. That's not the case with the United Nations.
So in other words, you'd to surrender, instead of fighting for your God given rights?
So if everybody was jumping off a bridge, you'd do the same? If the country or a large part of it goes crazy one may not be able to avoid joining in the madness, but it's not something to celebrate. If you feel that some "state's rights" were lost, much of the blame rests with those who rashly abused whatever state perogatives there were in defense of an unworthy cause.
And all Jeff Davis needed to NOT say was, "Fire". Time was on his side, he could allowed supplies to be landed at Sumter, by summer Lincoln would have been the only person in the North not recognizing an independent confederate states. But instead he initiated a war and lost everything.
"Shame on you. You questioned the patriotism of an entire State."
You really are a bit thick headed. I did no such thing. "Jersey" was a reference to your name, and I did not question your patriotism.
"Moving on, are you saying then that you see the preservation of the Union as a good thing? That you are glad the Confederacy was defeated?"
Preservation of the Union is a good thing, but at the cost of the concept of a limited government....a bad thing.
I am not glad or sad about the demise of the confederacy any more than I am glad or sad that I have two hands and two feet. It is fact and part of who we are as Americans.
I am glad to be an American, as are all of those who admire and respect Gen. Lee.
I will not repudiate the cause of states rights for which the confederacy fought (see 10th amendment), nor will I pine for it's return.
I will honor the veterans.....the Americans that fought on both sides. I will continue to admire R.E. Lee & Stonewall Jackson, not just because of their ties to my home town and alma mater, but because they are truly great generals and Americans who fought with honor.
Wrong. SC moved before Davis was elected president. SC acted as a sovereign nation-state. Lincoln's refusal to meet with SC envoys and his refusal to uphold Buchannan's agreement of a truce on hostilities at Sumter was a clear sign of war.
Charleston was a ready to ignite for months. Lincoln dropped the match.
I was not refering to the post where you OBVIOUSLY meant my name. I was refering to a different post.
Today, you will find no more patriotic an area than the South, and probably more American flags per capita than NJ.
Lemme get this straight. If Davis had just stood fast, Lincoln would NOT have invaded the South?
Is that what you are saying?
Wrong. The Feb 4 assembly of the Southern delegates argued two names for their confederacy of states:
The intent was to show concurrance of the Constitution and to show the northern states were the violators - not the southern states.
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