Last portrait in uniform, in Richmond, several days after Appomattox.
I must admit, as a descendent of both Northerners and Southerners in that conflict, I get nervous that so many here in FreeRepublic do NOT admire this great American.
Posted on 10/10/2010 2:24:00 PM PDT by BigReb555
The American flag, which Robert E. Lee had defended as a soldier, flew at half mast in Lexington, Virginia.
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
The United States Army, and the United States Navy, and the United States Government, do choose to honor him, along with of lots of other Confederates.
You want to run cover for these two despicable creatures, have at it. Just stop your whining already.
Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan!
(in THE SANTA FE TRAIL).
Marse Robert was a man of honor. It’s a sign of maturity and the unique gift of the USA that so bitter a Civil War could be transcended by the people on both sides. They were all Americans. At least that’s my humble opinion.
If I were around, I would help you. Lee surrendered, I didn’t.
Lincoln had his good points.
Your animus toward youth may be well intentioned, but your superior attitude leaves you vulnerable to criticism of your utter lack of grammar, capitalization and punctuation rules. sd
Haha, that’s right.
Interesting times they lived in, imagine the
conflict of loyalty and duty.
Quote: “I’m not jumping on people who want to honor him. I understand those who honor him, and I don’t hold a grudge against them. I personally just choose not to do so.”
That’s your opinion, and no one was asking you to honor him.
For all the angst many have about Lee (because of the way the war is presented in schools), consider this: Grant had reverence and great respect for Lee, as shown in his memoirs and personal account of the surrender at Appomattox. Perhaps you will find Grant’s opinion easier to trust than opinions in textbooks and internet postings about Lee 140 years later.
BnBlFlag. I was refering to your post before it was deleted.
Last portrait in uniform, in Richmond, several days after Appomattox.
I must admit, as a descendent of both Northerners and Southerners in that conflict, I get nervous that so many here in FreeRepublic do NOT admire this great American.
The partnership of Lee and Jackson kept the Confederacy alive, even though its fortunes were fading from the very beginning in the West. Lee represented the Episcopalian elite of the lowlands, while Jackson represented the more Presbyterian culture of the highlands. Both were great men, and neither fought primarily to preserve slavery. They fought to defend their state against imperialist Federal forces.
Gimme a break. Benedict Arnold betrayed the Revolutionary cause because he was miffed that his brilliant conduct at Saratoga was not appreciated. Robt. E. Lee voluntarily gave up the command of the Union forces for idealistic principles, namely that State sovereignty was more important than allegiance to a “Union” to which his State and its people had voluntarily shed their attachment, just as Washington et al. shed theirs to the British empire for which they had fought. There is no comparison whatsoever between Lee and Arnold.
Grant was a decent human being. That’s more than can be said for some of his subordinates, like Sheridan and Sherman, who waged total war against civilians. Sheridan and others like Custer later continued their tactics by waging genocidal warfare against Native Americans. Thankfully, the vainglorious Custer finally got his comeuppance.
Loyalty and patriotism were understood in those days in this priorty: 1)Family, 2)State, 3)Nation.
When Lee’s state, Virginia, reluctanty, but lawfully, voted to secede from the Union, he felt he had no choice, though he was against secession, but go with them. Wars of one part of the government (the states) vs. another, (the federals) do that....and gentlemen of good conscience, loyal Christians too, can disagree on which way to go.
Similarly in the American War of Independence,where the colonial legislatures chose to rebel against the English Crown, although we as patriotic Americans are loath to admit it, there were good men on both sides—Patriot, and Tory.
Please see my post above.
If Stonewall had not been literally “wasted” by his own men accidentally, perhaps some crucial battles may have ended up differently.
I took a tour/course of the major battlefields of the war, and our professor, who also happened to be a very successful pastor, speculated that since God willed for the Union to win—Stonewall Jackson had to die. Jackson really wasn’t even hurt that bad (compared to many) though he lost his leg...and probably an infection killed him (in this era before antiseptics...), as he died a couple weeks after the friendly fire incident.
I recall standing in the little 2 room house where Jackson died...it has a strange peaceful aura about it still, in my opinion.
I honor the Stars and Stripes, but I also honor the Confederate flag who fought tyranny and aggression against the civilians in the South. Today, we are trying to keep our country from falling in to the quagmire of open tyranny from our politicians. When we have people of our nation so deeply divided as ours, then we have no time to argue the past, we learn from it the reasons why it happened. The Northern soldiers died valiantly to their cause, and so the the Southern Soldiers, died valiantly. They both were my kinfolk, great-great grandfather, and their sons, both North and South......I have both to honor, and to fight for.
If I could meet General Lee, I would give him my best salute. He was a great soldier, a born soldier and he deserves to be honored by all who understand that simple principal.
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