Posted on 01/19/2005 5:41:26 AM PST by meandog
Celebrate today the birth of a great American: Gen. Robert E. Lee
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
KENNESAW, Ga.--Why do Ameri- cans continue to remember their past?
Maybe, 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 in 1900, but only 29 received a majority vote from the electors. Gen. 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 today, Lee's 198th birthday.
Lee was born at Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County on Jan. 19, 1807. The winter was cold and fireplaces were little help. Robert's mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee, was also 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, "Lighthorse" 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.
Robert E. Lee was educated in Alexandria. In 1825, he received an appointment to West Point Military Academy. He graduated in 1829, second in his class and without a single demerit.
Lee wed Mary Anne 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 very soul. He had served in the Army for more than 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 went to Arlington shortly before he was assassinated in 1963 and said he wanted to be buried there. And he is, in front of 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.
After four terrible years of death and destruction, Lee met Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, and the two ended the Civil War. Lee 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.
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. The school was later renamed Washington and Lee in his memory.
Lee died of a heart attack at 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 12, 1870, at Washington 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 one of his sons 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."
2005
Rather than defending slavery, I would argue that he was defending States' rights of self determination. You may have noticed that the Constitution spells out exactly that form of govt.
If Lee had taken command of the Union Army, things after the war would have gone a lot better for the South.
Just my theory... I bounced it off of a colleague (the Dean for Research at SIU-C and a man with a Ph.D. in history) and was met with a resounding "EXACTLY RIGHT!!"
Just my theory... I bounced it off of a colleague (the Dean for Research at SIU-C and a man with a Ph.D. in history) and was met with a resounding "EXACTLY RIGHT!!"
"Today marks what would have been Robert E. Lee's 198th birthday."
Lee's childhood babysiter, Helen Thomas, said "Where are my pills? George Bush stole my pills!"
> I would argue that he was defending States' rights of self determination.
I would argue that the *peoples* right of self determination is more important. And being enslaved *really* works against that.
> Would you call G. W. Bush (or yourself) a traitor?
Depends. In your hypothetical, did GWB (or you) take an oath of allegience to the UN?
And also, the South didn't just seccede, they also launched a war. It was a mind-bogglingly stupid decision, ranking right up there with Pearl Harbor. The amazing thing was that the War Of Southern Aggression was as successful for the South as it was; as with Vietnam (and possibly Iraq in the future), the US had the overwhelming superiority in might and right, but was undermined by protestors and some poor military leadership.
Well said.
I am no student or expert on Robert E. Lee.
Still, I was in Savannah the other day and there was a conflict of some sorts concerning a portrait of the General. It seems that the Mayor decided to remove a couple of portraits from the city hall and this sparked some controversy which was reflected in the local newspaper's letters section.
I learned that Robert E. Lee was never a slaveholder, and that those slaves owned by his wife were released before Lee entered into the Civil War.
I never knew these things before and I was surprised to learn them. There were other claims made by writers of letters and I found the subject to be thought provoking. I intend to learn more about the man.
He defended his home state against what he considered an invading army.
Think of it this way:
I have the bitterest disagreement with my nation's position on abortion. That doesn't change the fact that I love my country and will - and have - defended her. I would imagine Lee felt much the same way. He was, as someone else pointed out, mildly opposed to slavery personally - which was a fairly progressive opinion to hold at the time. He was far more concerned with the fact that his native state was being invaded.
Thanks for adding to the discussion.
Not.
Happy Birthday General Lee...I am proud to be in the college classroom to teach the truth of that war and American patriots like you.
Deo Vindice!
Happy Birthday General Lee...I am proud to be in the college classroom to teach the truth of that war and American patriots like you.
Deo Vindice!
> He defended his home state against what he considered an invading army.
The South probably shouldn't have started the war, then.
Maybe, maybe not...but either way, it wasn't R.E. Lee's call, was it?
Perhaps not. But as you say, you're opposed to abortion: consider a weird hypothetical. The UN declares abortion to be illegal, world-wide. Would you not only defend the US but lead the military in an aggressive war against the UN based on this one policy?
(The analogy is readily admitted to be a bit lame...)
Lee could easily have led the *US* forces, which would have been far better for both the US *and* Virginia... and his own soul.
Glad someone said it.
Textbook example of cognitive dissonance.
From the looks of it, the same one you use as a napkin.
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