Pickett
Dear students, teachers, parents, church, community leaders, historians and folks everywhere,
January is the birthday month of War Between the States Generals; James Longstreet born on January 8, 1821, Thomas Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson born on January 21, 1824, George Pickett born on January 28, 1825 and
Thursday, January 19, 2012, is the 205th birthday of General Robert E. Lee, whose memory is still dear in the hearts of people everywhere.
Many events are planned around the nation that include….
The Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Robert E. Lee Birthday Celebration in Milledgeville, Georgia on Saturday, January 21, 2012, in the Old Legislative Chambers of the Old State Capitol Building at 11 AM. A Parade will begin at 10:45 AM from the Old Governor’s Mansion to the Old Legislative Chambers.
Did you know that….
During Robert E. Lee’s 100th birthday in 1907, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., a former Union Commander and grandson of US 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.
Who was Robert E. Lee?
Robert E. Lee, a man whose military tactics have been studied worldwide, was an American soldier, Educator, Christian gentlemen, husband and father.
Robert E. Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807, at ‘Stratford’ in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The winter was cold and the fireplaces were little help for Robert’s mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee, who suffered from a severe cold.
Ann Lee named her son ‘Robert Edward’ after two of her brothers.
Robert E. Lee undoubtedly acquired his love of country from those who lived during the American Revolution. His Father, ‘Light Horse’ Harry was a hero of the revolution and served three terms as governor of Virginia and as a member of the United States House of Representatives. Two members of his family also signed the Declaration of Independence.
Lee was educated at the schools of Alexandria, Va., and he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1825. He graduated in 1829, second in his class and without a single demerit.
Robert E. Lee’s first assignment was to Cockspur Island, Georgia, to supervise the construction of Fort Pulaski.
While serving as 2nd Lieutenant of Engineers at Fort Monroe, Va., Lee wed Mary Ann Randolph Custis. Robert and Mary had grown up together, Mary was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, the Grandson of Martha Washington and adopted son of George Washington.
Mary was an only child; therefore, she inherited Arlington House, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., where she and Robert E. Lee raised seven children.
In 1836, Lee was appointed to first Lieutenant. In 1838, with the rank of Captain, Robert E. Lee fought in the War with Mexico and was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec.
Lee was appointed Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1852.
Gen. Winfield Scott offered Lee command of the Union army to Lee on April 17, 1861, but he refused. He said, ‘I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children.’
The Custis-Lee Mansion ‘Arlington House’ would be occupied by Federals, who would turn the estate into a war cemetery. Today Arlington House is preserved by the National Park Service as a Memorial to Robert E. Lee. http://www.nps.gov/arho/
Lee served as adviser to President Jefferson Davis, and then on June 1, 1862, commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia.
After four years of death and destruction, Gen. Robert E. Lee met Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia and ended their battles.
In the fall of 1865, Lee was offered and accepted the presidency of troubled Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. It is today Washington and Lee University.
Lee was called Marse Robert, Uncle Robert and Marble Man.
Robert E. Lee died of a heart attack at 9:30 AM on the morning of October 12, 1870, at Washington College where he is buried at Lee Chapel.
Dr. Edward C. Smith, respected African-American Professor of History at American University in Washington, D.C., told the audience in Atlanta, during a 1995 Robert E. Lee birthday event, ‘Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee were individuals worthy of emulation because they understood history.’
On August 5, 1975, 110 years after Gen. Lee's application, President Gerald Ford signed Joint Resolution 23, restoring the long overdue full rights of citizenship to Gen. Robert E. Lee. Read more at: www.ford.utexas.edu/library/speeches/750473.htm
Lest We Forget!
Pickett
Thank you for posting and reminding us all about this.
Down here in St Augustine we’re having our Lees birthday dinner on the day.
Interesting how Longstreet’s and Pickett’s opinions of Lee changed after Gettysburg.....
Lee was good.
Forrest was great.
If someone asked for a short list of greatest Americans, Robert E. Lee would certainly be on it!
Having been military advisor to Confederate president Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee in May assumed of the Army of the Northern Virginia, just as Union troops approached the capital at Richmond.
Reluctantly, the general’s wife, Mary Custis Lee, abandoned her family home at White House Landing, the place where George Washington had once courted Martha Custis, her great grandmother.
Before Leaving, Mary tacked this note to the door.
“Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his wife, now owned by her descendents.
-A Grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington”
In deference to Lee - and perhaps to history - Union General McClellan camped on the lawn instead of in the house. But after he moved on the next day, a Federal soldier set fire to the building.
There is a long list of truly great men in American history. Lee is at the top of that list. As are men like Washington, Jackson (Stonewall), Jefferson, both Adams, Patrick Henry, Forrest, - hey wait a minute, aren't there any from the north? Ok, Adams - John, uh . . . Jonathan Edwards (?), uh . . . ok I'm open to suggestions.
On the other hand, Lincoln, though great in so many ways, somehow doesn't reach those heights. Don't get me wrong, Lincoln is great, but he just played havoc with our Constitution.
Oh well, for what it's worth: just another conflicted opinion.
The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?
Ah, I see that it’s zombie sockpuppet time again...
I like to think of Lee as the “Last Founding Father”, he would have been magnificent in 1776, but when his time came, America as he understood it had passed. He did what he saw as his duty (believe it right or wrong) with dignity and grace.
Wondering if any Freepers here know that there are two living grandsons of President John Tyler? Famous for the “accidency” of his presidency, when newly elected President Harrison died in office and the first test of constitutional succession was made, and the VP Tyler became President. A placeholder in history, the annexation of Texas happened during his 4 years. But for the sheer span of real time with real people— the fact his son by a second late marriage had two sons who survive today— really remarkable. Both are in their 80’s, one still living on the ancestral Tyler home, Sherwood Forest Charles Co. VA
April ‘11 article from Richmond:
The man took up arms against his own country. He killed fellow Americans, North and South. Lee was no great American.