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!
Great post, w.
Thank you for this post. Gen. Lee was indeed one of the finest Americans to ever live. It is a shame that all that our schools teach about him is his service to the Confederacy. While that service was great and honorable, his legacy is much greater than that.
I predict this thread will ... oh, nevermind.
Happy Birthday, Dear General Robert E. Lee. You are missed!
Had Virginia not seceded from the Union, General Lee would be remembered today as one of the most beloved presidents in American history.
Indeed.
BTTT
I believe you're right...
BTTT
In early 2004, I visited Virginia Military Institute, which adjoins Washington and Lee University. My son was being recruited to the soccer program there. While my son was involved with the coach and players, I found Robert E. Lee's house on campus at W&L. It is still occupied. I talked to some of the locals there and found that fresh hay and water were kept in the horse stall, prepared for Lee's return, for 130 years after his . This tradition was stopped in 2000, as I recall. The sense of greatness and history is palpable.
Yo Mama obviously never taught you manners. Thanks for getting on my "watch list."
"Because he was calm when others were frenzied, loving when they hated, and silent when they spoke with bitter tongue, they shook their heads and said he was a superman or a mysterious man. Beneath that untroubled exterior, they said, deep storms must rage; his dignity, his reserve, and his few words concealed sombre thoughts, repressed ambitions, livid resentments. They were mistaken. Robert Lee was one of the small company of great men in whom there is no inconsistency to be explained, no enigma to be solved. What he seemed, he was--a wholly human gentleman, the essential elements of whose positive character were two and only two, simplicity and spirituality." Douglas S. Freeman in R.E. LEE
One of my ancestors, a Sir Richard Earles, emigrated from England in the early 1600's and established a plantation in Westmoreland County, Va. I don't know exactly when this was, but there is a record of him being married in 1641. Some of my ancestors would have been neighbors of Harry Lighthorse Lee and also of George Washington's family, Washington having been born in Westmoreland County, as well.
Another one of my ancestors...my great-great grandfather, one Joab Anderson Oakes, was an officer in the Virginia Militia, and a hero of the Confederacy. He was with Lee at Appomatox. His own mount having been shot out from under him, he rode home on Lee's horse after the surrender.
I was born and raised in Kentucky, but now live in southern Maryland, not far from Westmoreland County...I hunt ducks in the Potomac River, within eyeshot of my ancestral home....but I haven't been there yet. I suppose I ought to go for a visit.
I shall do it as soon as the azaleas bloom in the spring.
God bless General Lee. (That's just a formality; I'm sure He has, and General Jackson, too!)
Tomorrow is my youngest son's 1st birthday, and he couldn't share a date with a better man!
Stainless, I'd like to get James a biography of General Lee for a birthday present (he'll appreciate it eventually :-). Which book would you recommend?
Some of us care to think he fought on the RIGHT side!
Lee and another man were walking and met a Black man who politely greeted Lee and Lee greeted him in a gracious manner. Lee's friend questioned whether he should show such courtesy to a slave.
Lee answered, "should I have poorer manners than him?"
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