America Remembers Robert E. Lee

NewsMax ^ | 1/19/05 | Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

[Godebert]

That's mine too. Happy birthday to your wife and General Jackson.

[Tax-chick]

We loved "Guns of the South"! Is Douglas Southall Freeman still alive?

[NCLaw441]

My boy/girl twins are 13 years old tomorrow. Congrats to your son.

[KoRn]

Proud he was from the state of VA!

[Tax-chick]

Congratulations to Mrs. CD! "Deo Vindice Christian School" will be celebrating Lee-Jackson Day for the rest of the week :-).

Book recommendations on Lee? I can't believe that with everything on my shelves, I don't have a biography of General Lee! I have "The Lees of Virginia," which is fascinating in a "products of inbreeding" sorta way, but nothing on the General personally.

[Tax-chick]

Happy birthday to your twins! My oldest daughter is 13 ... *interesting* age :-).

[CurlyBill]

Wow... so you're the one who actually equates Republicans of the 1860's to those of today? You feel they were the same? Please explain!

[don-o]

Well look at it from another perspective: With the death of States-Rights, came a corrupt Federal System we are having problems with TODAY......

Give that man a

Big Ceegar!

That is what keeps me interested in American history...those who do not learn...and whatnot.

[jjmcgo]

There were many reasons for the Civil War but to a great extent the sides fought for different reasons, not always clear to their opponents, then and now.
The only commonality was the basic reason for the war. One side wanted to preserve the Union and the other wanted to go its own way.
All who fought and died fought for what they thought was right. Or, they were conscripted.
I wish we could have frozen a long time ago our thoughts and conclusions about the Civil War. Its teaching has been and continues to be corrupted.

[KoRn]

[JCunningham]

We live with history for much longer than most people realize. Slavery was a historic mistake that haunted our nation from its founding to the current day. The Constitution of the United States set forth a wondrous governing agreement that we lost a great deal of as a consequence of the Civil War. That Lee would stay with Virginia, based upon his interpretation that the northern states were overreaching their rights under the constitution, is entirely honorable. That slavery was abolished is certainly good. However, Lee apparently mightily disagreed with the methods used to accomplish the objective.

The damage of the Civil war seems still apparent in many areas of the south. Lexington, Virginia, seemed impoverished to me in many ways. The pre-war development seemed rich in comparison to the post-war development in some respects.

I have no doubt that Robert E. Lee would have made an excellent president. Perhaps he could have met the necessary moral objectives (abolition of slavery) and kept the provisions of the constitution in place while doing so.

There is little doubt in my mind that the loss of "limited, enumerated powers of the federal government" in favor of the immense federal behemoth and politicization of the judiciary is the offspring of the civil war.

So is it possible that slavery was wrong and Lee was right, both, simultaneously?

[henderson field]

Most of the people who mock Lee are non-combatants, cowards and traitors.

[wagglebee]

One of my history professors in college (Hampden-Sydney, a fine conservative college in Virginia) wrote a book where he makes the case that Lee made a huge error trying to invade the north. Had he simply defended the south and not lost (as Washington did in the Revolution), the Union would have eventually gotten tired of the cost (in terms of money and lives) and offered a cease fire. Lee felt that a victory in the north was necessary to gain the recognition of France and England; however, historical sources indicate that he was about to get it anyway, but Gettysburg ended any chance.

[stainlessbanner]

Virginia Gentlemen has some good reads - I have never ordered from them, but they have a great selection.

[Ancient_Pistoll]

Is Douglas Southall Freeman still alive?

He passed away in 1953.

[Tax-chick]

Bummer. I was born in 1966.

[Constitution Day]

Awww, how cute!

Sorry, but I really have no advice on a bio of Lee from a living author.

A speaker at my recent SCV meeting discussed Douglas Southall Freeman, the most famous biographer of Lee.
I have only read his multi-volume bio in the abridged version, years ago.
In fact have never read another author's take on this great man! I'll have to put it on my 'to read' list.