Remembering Two Great Americans

EverVigilant.net ^ | 01/19/2006 | Lee R. Shelton IV

[sheltonmac]

You probably won't find anything special printed on your calendar for the 19th and 21st of January. In case you are wondering, those are the respective birthdays of Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

As a nation we have already honored Martin Luther King, Jr., and will commemorate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln next month, but Lee and Jackson are especially dear to my heart. They were great men who embodied the inspiring courage, uncompromising honesty, principled conviction and moral fortitude we no longer see in our leaders today.

Both Lee and Jackson were men of action who fought valiantly to defend their homes and families. Jackson made it clear that if it were up to him, the South would "raise the black flag" and show no quarter to the enemy invading their homeland. They realized that while war was sometimes necessary, it should never be entered into lightly. As Lee put it, "It is good that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it."

Lee and Jackson were Southern gents through and through. Consider Lee's Definition of a Gentleman:

The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.

The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly—the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.

The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past.

A true man of Honor feels humble himself when he cannot help humbling others.

Jackson's wife, Mary Anna, wrote of her husband that he "was a great advocate for marriage, appreciating the gentler sex so highly that whenever he met one of the 'unappropriated blessings' under the type of truest womanhood, he would wish that one of his bachelor friends could be fortunate to win her."

Both Lee and Jackson believed in principle over pragmatism. Lee once said, "I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity." Jackson summed it up this way: "Duty is ours; consequences are God's."

Jackson never lived to see the fall of his beloved South, but Lee was gracious even in defeat. When approached by those who wished to remain bitter after surrendering he said, "Abandon your animosities and make your sons Americans." It was his position that "we must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed since the war began that I have not prayed for them."

Above all, Lee and Jackson were men of God. Lee loved to pray. He would be sure to let people know that he was praying for them, and he felt encouraged when he was remembered in their prayers. Once, upon hearing that others had been praying for him, he remarked, "I sincerely thank you for that, and I can only say that I am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and that I need all the prayers you can offer for me."

Jackson was the epitome of a life devoted to prayer. No matter was too insignificant that it did not warrant communion with the Father: "I have so fixed the habit in my mind that I never raise a glass of water to my lips without asking God's blessing, never seal a letter without putting a word of prayer under the seal, never take a letter from the post without a brief sending of my thoughts heavenward. I never change my classes in the lecture room without a minute's petition for the cadets who go out and for those who come in."

Jackson had an intimate knowledge of the sovereignty of God and rested in the promises of his Heavenly Father. Following the loss of his first wife, Ellie, who died almost immediately after giving birth to a stillborn son, he wrote to his sister-in-law, "I have been called to pass through the deep waters of affliction, but all has been satisfied. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord. … I can willingly submit to anything if God strengthens me." It was this unshakeable faith that taught him "to feel as safe in battle as in bed."

The more I see what passes for leadership today in our government, in our churches and in our homes, the more I am convinced that we need men like Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson. I guess it's time for me to watch Gods and Generals again.

[TexConfederate1861]

Well, don't kid yourself. My ancestors were poorer than dirt. They were also LOYAL Southrons who supported their state, and the Confederacy.

[Flavius Josephus]

I spit on the butcher grant.

[Flavius Josephus]

When Iworked for the state in the 80s we got CHD off. Then along came MLK day. For a while they combined the two... (chuckle)

[TexConfederate1861]

Now your lack of Texas History has undone you.I can't speak about Tennessee, but the Texas Hill Country provided very few troops for the Union, nor did Texas for that matter. One group of Germans who TRIED to join up, got killed for their pains at Comfort, Texas.

[Flavius Josephus]

I've come to believe that Lincoln's rule was the start of a long path that led us to where we are today in terms of big government. Things are more like they are today than they've ever been before.

[exdem2000]

He fought the fight to finish,
And his soldier's work is done;
Lee ever stands immortal!
Freedom's model of a son.

As in the day of battle,
Or on his great retreat,
The center of attraction;
We come, our Lee to meet.

We've tried to mould his features,
To clothe him with a form;
To hold him up for men to see
How much he can adorn.

He came not home triumphant,
But a hero he did come;
With honor pure, unsullied,
And a love excelled by none.

No pathway strewn with flowers
Welcomed Lee back from the war,
But an anguish for his country
And the ruined homes he saw.

He, who could stand undaunted
'Midst the crash and clang of arms,
Grew grander when, disabled,
Leading comrades to their farms.

For he tread the path of duty,
And he won respect and fame,--
The proudest wreath of laurels
That a mortal man can claim.

'Tis not the smoke of battle,
The carnage, or the flame;
But we hold our Lee close to us,--
We love to call his name.

And we tell all we know of him;
And the nation yet unborn
Shall learn to know and love him
Like the fathers that have gone.

[Badray]

Gods and Generals bump

[linda_22003]

Just curiosity: why the misspelling of "Southern"?

[robowombat]

Yes, my father's people counted themselves lucky to have both a cow and a horse. When the war came my great/great gf enlisted in the cavalry and of course had to bring his own equine. That was a real hardship for his family. My mother's people had money, land, and probably slaves. They were unionists, well at least until a couple federal requisitioning parties visited them. They still bought exemption for their sons who sat out the war and then joined the Republican party during reconstruction (Only it was called the Readjuster Party and was run by an ex_rebel Major General, Mahone, the guy who crushed the crater attack.) Go figure, life is full of paradoxes.

[TexConfederate1861]

It is Southern idiom, so to speak. (Sounds more genteel) too!

[SC33]

"Well known facts. Poor southern whites understood that the war was being waged by the rich planters (with many exemptions) and the poor were fighting it. It's a complex issue but glorifying the Confederacy and its supporters both in the North and Sought makes no sense."

I could make the same argument about the Union, It is well-known that a great many northerners may not have supported the South's cause, but most were indifferent. I'm sure many Union soldiers would happily have allowed the South to secede. Just as you say about the South, elitist Northerners insisted on fighting the war, and poor northerners fought it.

[linda_22003]

Well, that's a matter of opinion, but it did seem deliberate, so I thought I'd ask. Thanks.

[eleni121]

That is the great Sherman not Grant. This is the great Grant.

[kenavi]

God Bless "Marse Robert" and "Stonewall" Jackson.

They fired on U.S. first.

[Moose4]

Virginia did the same thing for a while...the third Monday in January was "Lee-Jackson-King Day." I'm not sure if it still is, or if the pressure groups finally succeeded in getting the Lee-Jackson dropped from the holiday. Lee-Jackson Day (a state holiday) had traditionally been the third Monday in January for many years before, so the two holidays were logically combined.

}:-)4

[Clemenza]

The Germans in the Hill Country were largely pro-Union.

[TexConfederate1861]

Well, poor people fought on BOTH sides for what they thought was right. One of mine was a rancher from Central Texas. No slaves or cotton there! :)

[eleni121]

Yup...see my post #49

[PzLdr]

Grant conducted the most brilliant campaign ever waged on U.S soil, the Vicksburg campaign. The manuevering alone was worth the price of admission. But for a couple of inferior subordinates, a couple of his moces in the Wilderness-Petersburg campaigns would have ended the war a lot sooner. Cold Harbor was a bad mistake. Even Grant admitted it.But he could afford attrition, and Lee couldn't [having suffered a higher percentage of losses per army in all but two of his battles]. Kind of like sending 15,000 men accross a mile and a half of open field under enemy artillery to attack uphill.

[derllak]

Lol! Good point!