Wednesday, January 19, 2011, is the 204th birthday of General Robert E. Lee.
Young people will get a school holiday in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King whose birthday is January 15th. But, will anyone tell them that January 19th is also the birthday of Robert E. Lee?
Booker T. Washington, America’s great Black-American Educator wrote in 1910, quote “The first white people in America, certainly the first in the South to exhibit their interest in the reaching of the Negro and saving his soul through the medium of the Sunday-school were Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.” unquote
During Robert E. Lee’s 100th birthday in 1907, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., a former Union Army Commander and grandson of United States President John Quincy Adams, spoke in tribute to Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee College’s Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia. His speech was printed in both Northern and Southern newspapers and is said to had lifted Lee to a renewed respect among the American people.
Robert E. Lee-Stonewall Jackson Day events are planned for Saturday, January 15, 2011, in Lexington, Virginia that includes a Memorial at Lee Chapel featuring Guest Speaker Kenny J. Rowlette with topic: Opposites In Command—The Legendary Partnership of Lee and Jackson. For additional information go to: http://leejacksonday.webs.com/
And the Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans will sponsor their 24th Annual Robert E. Lee birthday celebration on Saturday, January 22, 2011, in the Legislative Chambers of Georgia’s Old Capitol in Milledgeville, Georgia that will begin with a parade to the Old Capitol at 10:45 AM.
Many more events are planned for Robert E. Lee…. who was born at “Stratford” in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. The winter was cold and fireplaces were little help for Robert's mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee.
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.
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.
General Winfield Scott offered Robert E. Lee command of the Union Army in 1861, but he refused. He said, “I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children.”
Lee served as adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and then commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia.
After four terrible years of death and destruction, General Robert E. Lee met General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, and ended their battles.
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 at 9:30 on the morning of October 12, 1870, at Washington-Lee College.
He is buried in a chapel on the school grounds with his family and near his favorite horse, Traveller.
President Theodore Roosevelt described General Robert E. Lee as "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth."
A day to honor a great American and an honorable Christian Gentleman. May God always bless his memory...
Some may not know this, but in photos Lee can be seen wearing the three stars of a Confederate States Army colonel, not a general, and he rarely wore any other rank insignia. In the CSA, the insignia of rank of general was three stars inside a wreath. There’s always been speculation as to why he did this — his inherent modesty, his recognition that colonel was the highest rank he earned from a legitimate government, his desire to wait until the Confederacy won the war and could legitimately confer higher rank, his recognition that three stars was the insignia of rank of a lieutenant general in the U.S. Army…. I’ve always thought modesty and honoring his previous rank were the reasons.
Arkansas’ Mayor of Marshall Jim Smithson proudly flew the Confederate Flag over City Hall this past weekend in honor of General Lee. When I called to thank him today I was told that I was the only positive feedback that he recieved. I was told they had numerous complaints from angry folks. I only wish I could do more to help than make a pitiful phone call.
Lee's reputation certainly was a triumph of good manners. If Lee had been cruder or ruder with less of the aura of saintly forbearance about him, he'd have been judged much more harshly by posterity. As it is, he's judged more on his presumed character than on the decisions he made and their effects. And the halo around Lee also influences how his subordinates, like Stonewall Jackson, are viewed.
So how many times are you planning on posting this same story?