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
That so?
I reckon you don't fly the United States flag then huh?
Amen.
LOL!
You go boyo!
The flag of an army bent on the destruction of my home, the United States.
The army of my country won that war. I fly it's flag proudly.
Forced to agree here.
Probably so. However, in the analogy you gave, add the idea that UN troops invaded the US to enforce their beliefs. Which would be more important - defending the sovereignty of the US or possibly ending abortion? It becomes a terrible, heartwrenching decision. It's the same decision Lee faced. He chose to defend the sovereignty of his state. History has proven that although he chose the losing side, his motives were honorable and just.
I don't get it.
Why is it there wer emore abolitionist societies South of the Mason dixon than up North? And why don't the damyankees talk about the the free blacks who owned slaves?
or about the blacks who fought for the South.Or tell the truth about the numeration of slaves (three fifths?) My
understanding was that count was dreamed up by Yankees who feared a loss of power should the South count all
slaves as the South wanted to. Yankees didn't want slaves
counted at all.The three fifth solution was the compromise.
There seems a great deal you don't get-cherry
The abolitionist movement was a North Eastern, Protestant movement. The printing and distribution of abolitionist material in the south was prohibited. Simply possessing a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was illegal in most of the south.
And why don't the damyankees talk about the the free blacks who owned slaves?
Even if this was true, it is irrelevant. Slavery is wrong, period. Whether North or South. The truth is this is a red herring designed to direct attention away from the main point - that being that Chattel slavery was a southern institution (isolated incidents elsewhere notwithstanding) and was the reason for the secession.
or about the blacks who fought for the South.
Largely myth built on a handful of cases.
Or tell the truth about the numeration of slaves (three fifths?) My understanding was that count was dreamed up by Yankees who feared a loss of power should the South count all slaves as the South wanted to. Yankees didn't want slaves counted at all.The three fifth solution was the compromise.
The South fought John Adams and the other anti-Slavery Northerners at the Constitutional convention for weeks when they wanted to abolish slavery then and there at the founding. Then, after they argued for weeks that slaves were "property" and not people, and convincing Adams 7 Co. that there would be no nation if he kept pushing the abolition of slavery, they had the gall to insist that their "property" count towards representation in congress.
The 3/5th of a person was yet another acquiescence to southern obstruction. They had no choice if they wanted a ratified Constitution.
I politely asked a question for clarification. I see you want to be rude and vulgar. I should have expected as much.
If Stonewall Jackson had lived. You would be taking your hat off to Dixie before football games. God bless Robert E.Lee a great American.
The day this nation dies is the day the world's light is snuffed.
Amen.
Oh, come now. The federalist papers had made very clear that the threat of disbanding would paralize democracy. The Articles of Confederation were soluble. The US Constitution was not.
Because the victors write the history books.
Following that logic, the deaths of the 1200 or so American servicemen in Iraq is the fault of George W. Bush.
The biggest problem I have is aggressive, innacurate, deliberatly provacative terms like "war of Northern Agression" or claims that slavery was not the cause.
Deal in reality first and then we can rationally discuss beefs and proper recognitions.
And the deaths of 480,000 were FDR's fault. 12,000 were Washington's fault.
EXCELLENT! Bravo.
And the losers write the myths.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.