Posted on 01/18/2005 5:57:53 PM PST by wagglebee
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
Why do Americans continue to remember their past?
Perhaps it is 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, but only 29 received a majority vote from the electors. General 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 January 19, 2005, the 198th birthday of General Robert E. Lee.
Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford House, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. The winter was cold and fireplaces were little help. Robert's mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee, was 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, "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.
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 soul. He had served in the United States Army for over 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 visited Arlington shortly before he was assassinated in 1963 and said he wanted to be buried there. And he is, in front of Robert E. 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 today.
After four terrible years of death and destruction, General Robert E. Lee met General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, and ended their battles. He 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.
Robert E. 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, Virginia. The school was renamed Washington and Lee in his honor.
Robert E. Lee died of a heart attack at 9:30 on the morning of October 12, 1870, at Washington-Lee 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 son Custis 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."
God Bless America!
Happy Burthday General Lee!!!!
We could use more like you.
Thanks for the post.
Happy Birthday, General Lee.
"The natural disposition of most people is to clothe the commander of a large army whom they do not know, with almost superhuman qualities. A large part of the National army, for instance, and most of the press of the country, clothed General Lee with just such qualities, but I had known him personally, and knew that he was mortal; and it was just as well that I felt this." -- Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs.
True, but people want myths and heroes. And that puts people like Douglas Southall Freeman, who wasn't too scrupulous about separating fact from myth, in business. It's unfortunate, because the real, human Lee was more interesting than the marble icon that the folklorists have created. But myths endure in popular memory, and outlast the more restrained views of the academic historians.
Happy Birthday, General!
It was his father, "Light Horse" Harry Lee, who coined the immortal words about Washington that he was "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
---William Faulkner, Intruder in the Dust (1948), pp. 194-195.
(And doesn't take a Southron these days, either...)
I am galled at the lack of honor and respect accorded Lee by our nation's ruling elite. At Arlington--which is still rather delapidated--there is a pitiful little collection box asking visitors to contribute a few dollars so that the house might, one day, be restored.
We can spend billions of tax dollars to support social parasites, but nothing to restore the home of a man who stands as a pillar of American history.
Maybe. But if the South didn't get external help, I don't see how we could've held out against the North's far superior industrial and manpower edge, even with one of the all-time masters of defensive warfare (Lee) running things.
Lee was a fine military man and commander, no doubt about that. But I actually respect him much more as a man than a soldier, if that makes any sense. I suppose you can't really disentangle the two, though.
}:-)4
But up until fairly recently, the country did acknowledge his stature. Then the liberals and professional victims got a hold of things, and now, everything Southern in general (and Confederate in particular) must be torn down and destroyed.
I don't want to go back to 1860. But I will not stand for the slanders that pass for the "history" of the South these days. I'm proud of who I am and where I'm from, and no pointy-headed liberal "intellectual" is going to take that heritage away from me.
}:-)4
bttt
We visited Lee Chapel at W&L last fall. As we exited the lower level past Traveller's grave we noted a fresh apple left on his grave stone. Nice touch.
There were also a lot of pennies and other small change on the stone. Can anyone explain this?
Same for me and mine.
But let's don't "rest on our laurels", and get side-tracked now, for they're trying to re-write history, and have succeeded in many areas, as we speak.
And we are fighting little skirmishes right now and have been doing this for years.
We are still in a "war between the states"............. of the mind.
They've already sneaked, or slid into our colleges, universities, textbooks and schools. They own the msm and part of the judiciary. A lot of "big business". And only the Lord knows what else.
Being aware via FR helps.
I guess someone could argue your point tho I personally disagree with all of them. I particularly think Lincoln bears total responsibility for all the deaths of the War Between the States.
"Happy Birthday, Lee. Too bad you fought for the wrong side."
1) He is to be referred to as "General Lee", "Mr. Lee" - or at the very least "Robert E. Lee". It's simple, common courtesy that should be afforded a great man.
2) Do you also think that General George Washington "fought for the wrong side"?
The only difference in a revolution and a rebellion....is the outcome, my friend.
But the educational system does not have time to put you in their shoes, and therefore allows you to develop bias.
"His take on the matter was that secession was illegal."
The second, and probably most important and most widely taught fallacy.
He had a right to his opinion as President, but was not granted the authority by the United States Constitution to order a remedy for secession.
And why was that? Simply because there was no Federal law outlawing secession. The US Congress had attempted to pass that law in December of 1860, but it failed.
No law prohibiting secession meant that Lincoln was assuming the power of dictator....something the US Congress and the Courts tried to stop, but failed to do so.
"America remembers Robert E. Lee as a part of the rebel alliance and a traitor."
As I posted before - do you also believe that General George Washington was part of that same rebel alliance and a traitor?
By your logic, you would pretty much have to.
No kidding.
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