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A Birthday Tribute to Robert E. Lee
NewsMax ^ | Jan. 19, 2003 | Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

Posted on 01/18/2003 9:06:10 PM PST by stainlessbanner

All that 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

The men and women who serve our nation in its armed forces are true American heroes. Gen. Robert E. Lee served this country valiantly and will always be a hero among the people. This article is dedicated to all the great people who have served and are presently serving to keep their country free. God bless them all!

Many commemorations will be held throughout the country to honor and pay tribute to Gen. Robert E. Lee on his birthday, Jan 19. In the past, memorials have been held in the Capitol in Washington, D.C., where Statuary Hall is located.

When the War Between the States ended, many Americans worked hard to rebuild this nation. No one worked harder than Robert E. Lee.

"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished."

Gen. Lee was offered and accepted a position as president of a financially troubled institution of higher learning – Washington College in Lexington, Va. This school, which has become one of the best schools in the nation, was named after the father of our country and first president, George Washington.

After Robert E. Lee's death on Oct. 12, 1870, Washington College was renamed Washington-Lee College in his honor.

At 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 12, 1870, Gen. Lee died of a heart attack on the college campus.

That evening, five cadets of the college were selected to stay the night with his body, which was removed on the 13th to the college chapel, where he lay in state to be buried on the 14th.

The buildings of Washington-Lee College and the town of Lexington were draped in black and the cadets were required to wear badges made from black crepe for six months.

Many people came from near and far to pay final respects to Lee on the Oct. 14. A funeral procession made its way from the school grounds to the town and back. The school brass band led the procession, playing the death march, and artillery cannons were fired in respect.

Robert E. Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807, at "Stratford" in Westmoreland County, Va. Robert was the son of "Light Horse Harry" and Ann Hill (Carter) Lee. He grew up in a place where people still remembered George Washington and the heroes of the Revolutionary War.

Lee was educated at the schools of Alexandria, Va., and he received an appointment to West Point Military Academy in 1825. He graduated second in his class and without a single demerit.

While serving as 2nd Lieutenant of Engineers at Fort Monroe, Va., Lee married Mary Ann Randolph Curtis. The Lees had seven children, three of whom served the Confederacy.

Lee was appointed Superintendent of West Point in 1852.

Believing in his family and friends, he turned down an offer by President Abraham Lincoln to command all armies of the Union and resigned his Army command when the state of Virginia seceded from the Union. He offered his sword to President Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy.

He commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and in 1865, was given command of all Confederate forces.

On Aug. 5, 1975, 110 years after Gen. Lee's formal application, President Gerald Ford signed Senate Joint Resolution 23, restoring posthumously the long-overdue full rights of citizenship to Gen. Robert E. Lee. (www.ford.utexas.edu/library/speeches/750473.htm)

A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson now lives near the historic town of Kennesaw, home to the locomotive "The General" from the War Between the States. He believes that this country needs to get back to its original Constitution and began writing when he realized that the history of our forefathers and mothers is being forgotten.

Calvin Johnson may be reached at Dix414036@aol.com.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: american; americanhero; confederate; csa; dixie; dixielist; general; lee; relee
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1 posted on 01/18/2003 9:06:10 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: All

Look into my eyes! You Vill not Succeed !


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2 posted on 01/18/2003 9:07:43 PM PST by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: *dixie_list; thatdewd; canalabamian; Sparta; treesdream; sc-rms; Tax-chick; PAR35; condi2008; ...
Post your favorite General Lee quote, story, or wisdom.

I'll start off with a classic (respectfully)

A farmer in his pickup truck in Alabama was driving across a
bridge when he noticed a man standing on the rail of the
bridge ready to jump to his death in the river below. The
farmer stopped his truck ran up to the man and said, "Hey
fellow, why are you doing this?"

The man replied, "Well, I have nothing to live for."

The Alabama farmer replied, "Well, think of your wife and
children!"

The jumper replied, "I have no wife or children."

The Alabama farmer then said, "Well, then think of your
mother and father!"

The man replied, "Mom and Dad passed on many years back."

The Alabama farmer then said, "Well, think of General
Robert E. Lee!"

The would-be jumper replied, "Who?"

With that the Alabama farmer said, "Well then go ahead,
jump!"

3 posted on 01/18/2003 9:09:24 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: stainlessbanner
Thanks for the ping, Stainless. Happy Birthday General Lee!
4 posted on 01/18/2003 9:12:14 PM PST by TomServo
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"As he stood there, the embodiment of a line of heroic and patriotic fathers and worthy mothers, it was thus I first saw Robert E. Lee...he used no stimulants, was free from even the use of tobacco, and...he was absolutely stainless in his private life...he had been a model youth and young man...I had before me the most manly and entire gentleman I ever saw."
-Alexander Stephens

The Life of Robert E. Lee for Young Gentlemen by J.G. de Roulhac Hamilton


5 posted on 01/18/2003 9:14:56 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: stainlessbanner
But weren't all Confederates evil baby-raping racists?
/sarcasm

If you though Trent got flack try praising General Lee in public.
6 posted on 01/18/2003 9:17:09 PM PST by Bogey78O (It's not a Zero it's an "O")
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To: stainlessbanner
I was delightfully excited to learn that R.E. Lee was a born-again Christian. Yes, even spirit filled people will fight for the greater good of God's plan.
7 posted on 01/18/2003 9:20:49 PM PST by griffin
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To: stainlessbanner
"With that the Alabama farmer said, "Well then go ahead, jump!"

Most Excellent.

8 posted on 01/18/2003 9:22:07 PM PST by Bedford Forrest
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To: griffin
Yes, even spirit filled people will fight for the greater good of God's plan.

Lee fought bravely, but for a horrible cause. Rommel was also a good general, but I wouldn't include him in any divine BS.
9 posted on 01/18/2003 9:23:50 PM PST by Belial
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To: stainlessbanner
To our greatest American Field General:

10 posted on 01/18/2003 9:25:45 PM PST by BenLurkin (Socialism is immoral.)
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To: Belial
Lee fought bravely, but for a horrible cause.

I agree. Imagine standing up for the Constitution of these United StateS. Whyever General Lee didn't go peacefully into abe's vision of a sickened take care of everyone, we know what's best for you centralized government, I'll never know.

May God bless the descendants of General Lee and all those who carry on the cause.

11 posted on 01/18/2003 9:28:59 PM PST by billbears
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To: stainlessbanner
Perhaps America's finest soldier:

R. E. Lee when he was a young officer.
12 posted on 01/18/2003 9:29:33 PM PST by BenLurkin (Socialism is immoral.)
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To: billbears
May God bless the descendants of General Lee and all those who carry on the cause

They're hard to identify, since most of them hide under the sheets.
13 posted on 01/18/2003 9:34:09 PM PST by Belial
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"You cannot barter manhood for peace." Robert E. Lee

"I am of Virginia and all my professional life I have studied of Lee and Jackson" General Douglas MacArthur

"Always take care of the poor horses." -Robert E. Lee

"I felt so elated when I found myself in the ancient Dominion that I nodded to all the trees I passed."
-Robert E. Lee on his return home in 1840.

"Lee had one intimate friend - God." Gamaliel Bradford

"Go manfully to work, put your own shoulder to the wheel and be sure to cultivate those articles necessary for the support of yourself and family." R.E. Lee to one of his sons

"...the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it." Robert E. Lee to Lord Acton regarding the Confederacy's loss and the resulting centralization of power.

"Private and public life are subject to the same rules." Robert E. Lee

"If you have any fault to find with anyone, tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his back." Robert E. Lee's advice to his eldest and good advice for all Christian gentleman.

"The dominant party cannot reign forever, and truth and justice will prevail at last." R.E. Lee

"I did only what my duty demanded. I could have taken no other course without dishonor." R.E. Lee on why he fought.

More good quotes by Lee and others here

 

14 posted on 01/18/2003 9:36:23 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: stainlessbanner
Deo Vindice
15 posted on 01/18/2003 9:36:59 PM PST by jgilbert63
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To: griffin
I just found a new book you might be interested in - it's on my list:

The Soul of Lee

The Soul of Lee, by Randolph H. McKim, has never been reprinted (until now). First published in 1917, this volume, in the author’s words, emphasizes Lee’s “character as a man.” McKim served as a field chaplain in the Army of Northern Virginia and also wrote the very popular A Soldier’s Recollections: Leaves from the Diary of a Young Confederate, published in 1910. McKim also served as Rector of Christ Church in Alexandria, the church of George Washington and the church where Lee first made public his faith in Christ. This book examines “the soul of Lee” in his formative years, as well as the years during and after the War and includes a chapter entitled, “Lee’s Spiritual Life” – a true delight!

16 posted on 01/18/2003 9:40:54 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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"Keep steady in the view of the great principles for which you contend. The safety of your homes and the lives of all you hold dear depend upon your courage and exertions. Let each man resolve to be victorious, and that the right of self government, liberty and peace shall find him a defender."
---General Robert E. Lee to his men, 1861

"I saw in States' Rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy . . . I deemed that you [i.e., Lee] were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization; and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo." -Lord Acton to General Lee
17 posted on 01/18/2003 9:47:57 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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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 humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others." --Robert E. Lee

**********************************

ROBERT E. LEE by Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943)

The man was loved, the man was idolized,
The man had every just and noble gift.
He took great burdens and he bore them well,
Believed in God but did not preach too much,
Believed and followed duty first and last
With marvellous consistency and force,
Was a great victor, in defeat as great,
No more, no less, always himself in both,
Could make men die for him but saved his men
Whenever he could save them was most kind
But was not disobeyed was a good father,
A loving husband, a considerate friend.

 


18 posted on 01/18/2003 9:50:16 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: Belial
"They're hard to identify, since most of them hide under the sheets."

Pretty silly talk for someone who gets their "handle" from a satanist.

19 posted on 01/18/2003 10:02:37 PM PST by lawdog
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To: Belial
You, sir, are a troll.
20 posted on 01/18/2003 10:29:49 PM PST by The Grammarian (Or a devil, if one went by FReepnames.)
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