Posted on 04/20/2011 8:30:28 AM PDT by Upstate NY Guy
Saturday, April 20, 1861
Robert E. Lee was revered by General Winfield Scott as “the best soldier I ever saw in the field.” Trusting Scott’s judgement, Lincoln... offered him command of the Union army. This offer, however, happened the day after Virginia seceded. Though Lee looked “upon secession as anarchy” and would be willing to sacrifice all the slaves in the South to save the Union, he couldn’t draw his sword “upon Virginia, my native state.”
It was two day later, on this date, from his home in Arlington, across the Potomac from the capital, that Lee officially resigned his post in the United States Army. He had spent 36 years with that army.
In a letter to his sister, composed after he tendered his resignation, he explained further: “Now we are in a state of war which will yield nothing. The whole South is in a state of revolution into which Virginia, after a long struggle....
(Excerpt) Read more at civilwardailygazette.com ...
I read the headline, and was ready for an article about Libya.
LOL. Same drama, different players.
God bless Lee
Gee, and here I thought the title referred to something more contemporary.
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