Posted on 01/15/2011 2:24:43 PM PST by BigReb555
Young people will get a school holiday in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King whose birthday is January 15th. But, will anyone tell them that January 19th is also the birthday of Robert E. Lee?
(Excerpt) Read more at cumminghome.com ...
Wednesday, January 19, 2011, is the 204th birthday of General Robert E. Lee.
Young people will get a school holiday in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King whose birthday is January 15th. But, will anyone tell them that January 19th is also the birthday of Robert E. Lee?
Booker T. Washington, America’s great Black-American Educator wrote in 1910, quote “The first white people in America, certainly the first in the South to exhibit their interest in the reaching of the Negro and saving his soul through the medium of the Sunday-school were Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.” unquote
During Robert E. Lee’s 100th birthday in 1907, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., a former Union Army Commander and grandson of United States President John Quincy Adams, spoke in tribute to Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee College’s Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia. His speech was printed in both Northern and Southern newspapers and is said to had lifted Lee to a renewed respect among the American people.
Robert E. Lee-Stonewall Jackson Day events are planned for Saturday, January 15, 2011, in Lexington, Virginia that includes a Memorial at Lee Chapel featuring Guest Speaker Kenny J. Rowlette with topic: Opposites In Command—The Legendary Partnership of Lee and Jackson. For additional information go to: http://leejacksonday.webs.com/
And the Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans will sponsor their 24th Annual Robert E. Lee birthday celebration on Saturday, January 22, 2011, in the Legislative Chambers of Georgia’s Old Capitol in Milledgeville, Georgia that will begin with a parade to the Old Capitol at 10:45 AM.
Many more events are planned for Robert E. Lee…. who was born at “Stratford” in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. The winter was cold and fireplaces were little help for Robert's mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee.
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.
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.
General Winfield Scott offered Robert E. Lee command of the Union Army in 1861, but he refused. He said, “I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children.”
Lee served as adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and then commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia.
After four terrible years of death and destruction, General Robert E. Lee met General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, and ended their battles.
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 at 9:30 on the morning of October 12, 1870, at Washington-Lee College.
He is buried in a chapel on the school grounds with his family and near his favorite horse, Traveller.
President Theodore Roosevelt described General Robert E. Lee as "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth."
I’m here!
One of my granddaughters is going to Washington & Lee next fall.
Robert E. Lee is no hero. Like Jefferson Davis, Lee is a traitor to the United States of America. Period!
Suck it.
“Take a day off school or work this Monday to commemorate the birthday of Robert E. Lee!”
If I win the lottery I will put this up on billboards all over America in time for Robert E. Lee day in 2012.
I would have liked to have seen you say that to US Grant. Or Sherman for that matter. You would have got a swat across the backside of your head for the reward from them.
If Abe Lincoln was half the man and statesman he gets credit for, there wouldn’t have been a war, (The War of Northern Aggression) and 625,000 men would not have lost their lives destroying one another and half of America.
If Robert E. Lee was a traitor, then so was George Washington.
My friend, George Washington and Robert E. Lee both fought for freedom and were great Americans.
We should remember all our American History!
Most idiotic posts I have ever seen here.
...Robert E. Lee died in 1870...
My grandma (Minnie Lee Wheeler) was born in 1900 and she was named after Robert E. Lee.
My mama was raised by her grandparents who often spoke to her of the war and her confederate grandfather.
I visit his grave at least once a year.
When I was growing up, my mama taught me all about federal and yankee hatred (and she’s still living at age 90).
You think about for a minute when you think about the “democrats” and “the south”.
Just stop for a moment and think about it.
This is not “ancient history”.
It was not all that long ago...
We didn't think of the name because of Robert E. Lee but when my wife suggested “Rosalee” I said heck yea Robert E. Lee.
A Traitor?......really??? If that was the case.....why wasn’t he hanged as such?
I believe it is probably because the Federal government had way overstepped it’s bounds by using such force to bring the Union back together and it knew it. The overreach would not have stood up to Constitutional scrutiny.
It was a terrible time in our country’s history for sure.....but I believe Slavery was on it’s way out just due to our country’s inevitable progression,
Robert E. Lee was a man who loved his country as it had been originally founded.....much like Patriots of today....
Just my opinion of course.....
BTW.....I am a Northerner...with at least 2 forbears fighting for the Union.....
Lee was a loyal patriot of his native state of Virginia. In those days, loyalty to your state held primacy over that towards the Federal Union, which was supposed to serve the interests of the states, not the other way around...
Amen. I am still wanting to visit his grave for the first time!
Don’t make me go all zombie on your ass.
Texas state employees celebrate Confederate Heros Day on Lee’s birthday.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.