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!
Invoking Godwin's law here.
I don't care if the called themselves the United Pinheads of States Rights, the effect was the same.
They attempted to dissolve the indissoluble. Even your hero Lee, who this thread was started to honor, said that secession was treason. That the Union was indissoluble.
The Confederacy was a bunch of squabbling children. South Carolina and Georgia BOTH threatened to secede FROM THE CONFEDERACY!
The Confederaxy would have dissolved into a cottection of Balkin-like states eventually. The United States of America was threatened, no different than if the states were attacked today by Mexico. There were many loyal Americans in the south who did NOT want to secede.
And...wrong again!
The point was not Nazi's and you know it, but just had to play the "gotcha" card.
I'll use Germany instead. Hell, I'll use WWI Germany and France. Sorry to rob you of your debate point.
Thanks. I just pinned you down. You posted the same old stuff you always do - find some new material.
I post to share and educate. You can rob all my posts, I don't copyright.
Are you going to post some source material or the same old cut and paste rehash?
"Today, you will find no more patriotic an area than the South, and probably more American flags per capita than NJ."
Your thick-headedness has never been more apparent!
Where in the above quote does it say that NJ is not patriotic? I simply observe that it is not possible for them to be more patriotic than the south....AS patriotic is possible, not more.
Unlike you, Jersey, I don't feel the need to question anyone else's patriotism. You clearly learned nothing from your time in the South.....fortunately, most of the folks I know that are moving here from New Jersey (more than a few!) appreciate the South.
You should probably stick close to the turnpike, though.
I'll source it for you. Not that you'll look.
J.L.M Curry, "Civil History of the Government of the Confederate States, with some Personal Reminiscences", p42,44
I'll trust primary source material over your slanted opinion of American history.
Great post.
Southern New Jersey isn't bad in some places.
"The Confederaxy would have dissolved into a cottection of Balkin-like states eventually. The United States of America was threatened...."
Jersey, Jersey, Jersey......we'll never know, will we?
It is equally plausible that the North, understanding their folly and the limitations of federal power written into the constitution would have come around to the correct (constitutional) way of thinking and later reaffirmed the 10th amendment and reconciled with the South without war.
As it was, they revoked the 10th amendment and government hasn't stopped growing since, nor will the federal government stop growing until it is forced to do so, probably under another threat of secession or equally dramatic event.
This thread is about American history. Not applicable.
Aha! So they were on their own?
But, but, but, I thought you were saying Lincoln was just invading his own country and asking countrymen to attack one another, not that he was invading separate sovereignties! Which was it?
Balkanized like 1861 New York City Mayor Fernando Wood openly advocating secession to remain a neutral party in dealing with north and south.
North Carolina issues Ordinance of Secession 20 May 1861
Virginia issues Ordinance of Secession 17 April 1861 (ratified 23 May, 1861)
"Balkanized like 1861 New York City Mayor Fernando Wood openly advocating secession to remain a neutral party in dealing with north and south"
You have an impressive command of historical events, and an ability to pointedly articulate them. Do you teach history (other than here)?
Incoming FReepmail
>So that the people would be equipped to be in a well regulated militia
So if it read "well educated children, being necessary to the prosperity of a capitalist nation, the right of the people to possess and read books, shall not be infringed." you'd argue that only kids could have books, eh?
What part of "the right of the people to..." don't you understand? (Look up dependent and independent clauses in a grammar book [though by modern standards, there's admittedly an extra comma after "arms" it doesn't change the meaning.])
I don't know what delusion you are operating under as to who I am but your wrong.
You claimed I was employing a fallacy of logic. You used gibberish like "proving a negative" when I asked "How can you claim destruction of the United States was not the goal?". So to prove your lack of understanding of logic I asked you if it was illogical to suggest that Germany's goal was the destruction of England (then I switched to France when you employed the Godwin's law red herring).
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