Posted on 01/19/2005 7:38:59 AM PST by Valin
The idol of the South to this day, Virginian Robert E. Lee had some difficulty in adjusting to the new form of warfare that unfolded with the Civil war, but this did not prevent him from keeping the Union armies in Virginia at bay for almost three years. The son of Revolutionary War hero "Light Horse" Harry Lee-who fell into disrepute in his later years attended West Point and graduated second in his class. During his four years at the military academy he did not earn a single demerit and served as the cadet corps' adjutant. Upon his 1829 graduation he was posted to the engineers. Before the Mexican War he served on engineering projects in Georgia, Virginia, and New York. During the war he served on the staffs of John Wool and Winfield Scott. Particularly distinguishing himself scouting for and guiding troops, he won three brevets and was slightly wounded at Chapultepec.
Following a stint in Baltimore Harbor he became superintendent of the military academy in 1852. When the mounted arm was expanded in 1855, Lee accepted the lieutenant colonelcy of the 2nd Cavalry in order to escape from the painfully slow promotion in the engineers. Ordered to western Texas, he served with his regiment until the 1857 death of his father-in-law forced him to ask for a series of leaves to settle the estate.
In 1859 he was called upon to lead a force of marines, to join with the militia on the scene, to put an end to John Brown's Harper's Ferry Raid. Thereafter he served again in Texas until summoned to Washington in 1861 by Winfield Scott who tried to retain Lee in the U. S. service. But the Virginian rejected the command of the Union's field forces on the day after Virginia seceded. He then accepted an invitation to visit Governor John Letcher in Virginia. His resignation as colonel, 1st Cavalry-to which he had recently been promoted-was accepted on April 25, 1861.
His Southern assignments included: major general, Virginia's land and naval forces (April 23, 1861); commanding Virginia forces (April 23 July 1861); brigadier general, CSA (May 14, 186 1); general, CSA (from June 14, 186 1); commanding Department of Northwestern Virginia (late July-October 1861); commanding Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida (November 8, 186 1-March 3, 1862); and commanding Army of Northern Virginia June 1, 1862-April 9, 1865).
In charge of Virginia's fledgling military might, he was mainly involved in organizational matters. As a Confederate brigadier general, and later full general, he was in charge of supervising all Southern forces in Virginia. In the first summer of the war he was given his first field command in western Virginia. His Cheat Mountain Campaign was a disappointing fizzle largely due to the failings of his superiors. His entire tenure in the region was unpleasant, dealing with the bickering of his subordinates-William W. Loring, John B. Floyd, and Henry A. Wise. After this he became known throughout the South as "Granny Lee. " His debut in field command had not been promising, but Jefferson Davis appointed him to command along the Southern Coast.
Early in 1862 he was recalled to Richmond and made an advisor to the president. From this position he had some influence over military operations, especially those of Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. When Joseph E. Johnston launched his attack at Seven Pines, Davis and Lee were taken by surprise and rode out to the field. In the confusion of the fight Johnston was badly wounded, and that night Davis instructed Lee to take command of what he renamed the Army of Northern Virginia. He fought the second day of the battle but the initiative had already been lost the previous day. Later in the month, in a daring move, he left a small force in front of Richmond and crossed the Chickahominy to strike the one Union corps north of the river. In what was to be called the Seven Days Battles the individual fights-Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, Glendale, White Oak Swamp, and Malvern Hill-were all tactical defeats for the Confederates. But Lee had achieved the strategic goal of removing McClellan's army from the very gates of Richmond.
This created a new opinion of Lee in the South. He gradually became "Uncle Robert" and "Marse Robert." With McClellan neutralized, a new threat developed under John Pope in northern Virginia. At first Lee detached Jackson and then followed with Longstreet's command. Winning at 2nd Bull Run, he moved on into Maryland but suffered the misfortune of having a copy of his orders detailing the disposition of his divided forces fall into the hands of the enemy. McClellan moved with unusual speed and Lee was forced to fight a delaying action along South Mountain while waiting for Jackson to complete the capture of Harpers Ferry and rejoin him. He masterfully fought McClellan to a stand still at Antietam and two days later recrossed the Potomac.
Near the end of the year he won an easy victory over Burnside at Fredericksburg and then trounced Hooker in his most creditable victory at Chancellorsville, where he had detached Jackson with most of the army on a lengthy flank march while he remained with only two divisions in the immediate front of the Union army. Launching his second invasion of the North, he lost at Gettysburg. On the third day of the battle he displayed one of his major faults when at Malvern Hill and on other fields-he ordered a massed infantry assault across a wide plain, not recognizing that the rifle, which had come into use since the Mexican War, put the charging troops under fire for too long a period. Another problem was his issuance of general orders to be executed by his subordinates.
Returning to Virginia he commanded in the inconclusive Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns. From the Wilderness to Petersburg he fought a retiring campaign against Grant in which he made full use of entrenchments, becoming known as "Ace of Spades" Lee. Finally forced into a siege, he held on to Richmond and Petersburg for nearly 10 months before beginning his retreat to Appomattox, where he was forced to surrender. On January 23, 1865, he had been named as commander in chief of the Confederate armies but he found himself too burdened in Virginia to give more than general directives to the other theaters.
Lee returned to Richmond as a paroled prisoner of war, and submitted with the utmost composure to an altered destiny. He devoted the rest of his life to setting an example of conduct for other thousands of ex-Confederates. He refused a number of offers which would have secured substantial means for his family. Instead, he assumed the presidency of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia, and his reputation revitalized the school after the war. Lee's enormous wartime prestige, both in the North and South, and the devotion inspired by his unconscious symbolism of the "Lost Cause" made his a legendary figure even before his death. He died on October 12 1870, of heart disease which had plagued him since the spring of 1863, at Lexington, Va. and is buried there. Somehow, his application for restoration of citizenship was mislaid, and it was not until the 1970's that it was found and granted.
Source: "Who Was Who In The Civil War" by Stewart Sifakis
After 140 years there are still wounds that haven't healed and those that wave the bloody shirt are still with us. That we should never forget is good but it's more important that what we remember is true. Good and bad on all sides but men such as Robert E. Lee should be thought of in proper context of their times and by true measure of their spirit. He was one of the most vibrant men of the 19th century and for his memory and honor to be stained or tainted by ignorant remarks is not proper and something that falls beneath contempt.
Thanks for the reminder Valin.
Welcome to the continuum of history. Now, you were saying?
Slavery in America
The first slaves arrived in Virginia around 1619, and slavery existed in America for the next 250 years. Africans made up the largest number of migrants to the New World during the colonial era, especially during the eighteenth century. During the four centuries of the Atlantic slave trade, an estimated 11 million Africans were transported to North and South America.
In the United States, slaves had no rights. According to the Constitution, a slave was considered three-fifths of a person--so every 5 slaves were counted as 3 people. A slave could be bought and sold just like a cow or horse. Slaves had no say in where they lived or who they worked for. They had no representation in government. Slaves could not own property and were not allowed to learn or be taught how to read and write.
Even the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 did not end slavery. Slavery continued in the states that were part of the Union forces. Slavery came to an end in 1865 when the 13th Amendment was ratified after the end of the Civil War.
Amen, May God bless the memory of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Deliberately misquoting people does no honor to your cause. What Lincoln actually said, in context, was:
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 22, 1862.
Hon. Horace Greeley:
Dear Sir.
I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptable [sic] in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.
As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.
I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.
Yours,
A. Lincoln.
"If this war was about slavery I would fight for the South." - Ulysses S. Grant
I've seen this quote in several occasions, but never a date for it or the quote in context. I don't suppose you have that information, do you?
This war was not about slavery, even though your communist schools taught you so.
If this is an indication of your understanding of the times then it's easy to see where you come to that conclusion.
Lee-Jackson Day bump
He did a great thing at the end of the war by calling on Southerners to lay down their arms and not continue a bloody guerilla war.
Now I COULD be wrong, but I don't believe that's Robert E Lee. :-)
There's an old saying here that you're not a REAL FReeper until you've been flamed.
You probably also run around at Christmas time KMC1 tearing down nativity scenes?
Does it bother you when others wish to commemorate the birthday of a confederate military commander, a man of giant religious principle who "dwarfed" his union opponents on the southern battlefields?
I guess it really bugs you that everyone does not think like you and, within days of martin luther kings birthday are actually celebrating Robert E. Lee. What a queer!
Were Lee's views regarding slavery and how it should be abolished radically different from the views of the average Northener at the time?
Your comment is unworthy of even an uneducated Yankee, and you seem to know little or nothing about the Civil War. States rights was the main issue of the war, not slavery. What you should do is read a book on the Civil War and Robert E. Lee's role in that war before showing your ignorance in this forum.
Your comment is unworthy of even an uneducated Yankee, and you seem to know little or nothing about the Civil War. States rights was the main issue of the war, not slavery. What you should do is read a book on the Civil War and Robert E. Lee's role in that war before showing your ignorance in this forum.
It would depend on who you talked to. Abolition societies were well established in the North, but the average Northerner probably had no interest in ending slavery and no more liking for blacks than the southerners did.
Is it possible then that Lee's views regarding slavery were somewhat enlightened in comparison to most of the country's population?
Amen. Happy birthday, sir.
No one is 'still fighting the civil war' but there is such a thing a 'Southern Culture'. It has nothing to do with flags, dueling banjos or Jeff Foxworthy stereotypes. It's an attitude of gracious respect for another persons opinions and open hospitality towards guests as long as they deserve it. Your 'friendly advice' is soaked in the tone of condesension expected of hollow earth society members towards flat earth society folks. I take no resentment at it since I am mental and teasing me only tickles... I have to take my meds now and move on to the other offerings of Free Republic where I can take the posts seriously.
That it was good for blacks, ordained by God, and necessary for the South? Possibly. You tried to show that Lee was opposed to slavery. And I do not believe that the letter showed that.
Robert E. Lee wasn't a racist - and before you get on your Yankee high horse, might one remind you of the blacks hung from lampposts in NY, the racist/discriminatory policies in the North (against Blacks, Irish, Italians, etc) - you know the deal - glass house + stones...
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