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Posted on 01/18/2003 9:06:10 PM PST by stainlessbanner
All that 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
The men and women who serve our nation in its armed forces are true American heroes. Gen. Robert E. Lee served this country valiantly and will always be a hero among the people. This article is dedicated to all the great people who have served and are presently serving to keep their country free. God bless them all!
Many commemorations will be held throughout the country to honor and pay tribute to Gen. Robert E. Lee on his birthday, Jan 19. In the past, memorials have been held in the Capitol in Washington, D.C., where Statuary Hall is located.
When the War Between the States ended, many Americans worked hard to rebuild this nation. No one worked harder than Robert E. Lee.
"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished."
Gen. Lee was offered and accepted a position as president of a financially troubled institution of higher learning – Washington College in Lexington, Va. This school, which has become one of the best schools in the nation, was named after the father of our country and first president, George Washington.
After Robert E. Lee's death on Oct. 12, 1870, Washington College was renamed Washington-Lee College in his honor.
At 9:30 on the morning of Oct. 12, 1870, Gen. Lee died of a heart attack on the college campus.
That evening, five cadets of the college were selected to stay the night with his body, which was removed on the 13th to the college chapel, where he lay in state to be buried on the 14th.
The buildings of Washington-Lee College and the town of Lexington were draped in black and the cadets were required to wear badges made from black crepe for six months.
Many people came from near and far to pay final respects to Lee on the Oct. 14. A funeral procession made its way from the school grounds to the town and back. The school brass band led the procession, playing the death march, and artillery cannons were fired in respect.
Robert E. Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807, at "Stratford" in Westmoreland County, Va. Robert was the son of "Light Horse Harry" and Ann Hill (Carter) Lee. He grew up in a place where people still remembered George Washington and the heroes of the Revolutionary War.
Lee was educated at the schools of Alexandria, Va., and he received an appointment to West Point Military Academy in 1825. He graduated second in his class and without a single demerit.
While serving as 2nd Lieutenant of Engineers at Fort Monroe, Va., Lee married Mary Ann Randolph Curtis. The Lees had seven children, three of whom served the Confederacy.
Lee was appointed Superintendent of West Point in 1852.
Believing in his family and friends, he turned down an offer by President Abraham Lincoln to command all armies of the Union and resigned his Army command when the state of Virginia seceded from the Union. He offered his sword to President Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy.
He commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and in 1865, was given command of all Confederate forces.
On Aug. 5, 1975, 110 years after Gen. Lee's formal application, President Gerald Ford signed Senate Joint Resolution 23, restoring posthumously the long-overdue full rights of citizenship to Gen. Robert E. Lee. (www.ford.utexas.edu/library/speeches/750473.htm)
A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson now lives near the historic town of Kennesaw, home to the locomotive "The General" from the War Between the States. He believes that this country needs to get back to its original Constitution and began writing when he realized that the history of our forefathers and mothers is being forgotten.
Calvin Johnson may be reached at Dix414036@aol.com.
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I'll start off with a classic (respectfully)
A farmer in his pickup truck in Alabama was driving across a
The man replied, "Well, I have nothing to live for."
The Alabama farmer replied, "Well, think of your wife and
children!"
The jumper replied, "I have no wife or children."
The Alabama farmer then said, "Well, then think of your
mother and father!"
The man replied, "Mom and Dad passed on many years back."
The Alabama farmer then said, "Well, think of General
Robert E. Lee!"
The would-be jumper replied, "Who?"
With that the Alabama farmer said, "Well then go ahead,
jump!"
-Alexander StephensThe Life of Robert E. Lee for Young Gentlemen by J.G. de Roulhac Hamilton
Most Excellent.
I agree. Imagine standing up for the Constitution of these United StateS. Whyever General Lee didn't go peacefully into abe's vision of a sickened take care of everyone, we know what's best for you centralized government, I'll never know.
May God bless the descendants of General Lee and all those who carry on the cause.
"I am of Virginia and all my professional life I have studied of Lee and Jackson" General Douglas MacArthur
"Always take care of the poor horses." -Robert E. Lee
"I felt so elated when I found myself in the ancient Dominion that I nodded to all the trees I passed."
-Robert E. Lee on his return home in 1840.
"Lee had one intimate friend - God." Gamaliel Bradford
"Go manfully to work, put your own shoulder to the wheel and be sure to cultivate those articles necessary for the support of yourself and family." R.E. Lee to one of his sons
"...the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it." Robert E. Lee to Lord Acton regarding the Confederacy's loss and the resulting centralization of power.
"Private and public life are subject to the same rules." Robert E. Lee
"If you have any fault to find with anyone, tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his back." Robert E. Lee's advice to his eldest and good advice for all Christian gentleman.
"The dominant party cannot reign forever, and truth and justice will prevail at last." R.E. Lee
"I did only what my duty demanded. I could have taken no other course without dishonor." R.E. Lee on why he fought.
More good quotes by Lee and others here
The Soul of Lee
The Soul of Lee, by Randolph H. McKim, has never been reprinted (until now). First published in 1917, this volume, in the author’s words, emphasizes Lee’s “character as a man.” McKim served as a field chaplain in the Army of Northern Virginia and also wrote the very popular A Soldier’s Recollections: Leaves from the Diary of a Young Confederate, published in 1910. McKim also served as Rector of Christ Church in Alexandria, the church of George Washington and the church where Lee first made public his faith in Christ. This book examines “the soul of Lee” in his formative years, as well as the years during and after the War and includes a chapter entitled, “Lee’s Spiritual Life” – a true delight!
LEE's DEFINITION OF A GENTLEMAN"The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman. The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly-the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.
The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others." --Robert E. Lee
**********************************ROBERT E. LEE by Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943)
The man was loved, the man was idolized,
The man had every just and noble gift.
He took great burdens and he bore them well,
Believed in God but did not preach too much,
Believed and followed duty first and last
With marvellous consistency and force,
Was a great victor, in defeat as great,
No more, no less, always himself in both,
Could make men die for him but saved his men
Whenever he could save them was most kind
But was not disobeyed was a good father,
A loving husband, a considerate friend.
Pretty silly talk for someone who gets their "handle" from a satanist.
I'm glad Lee recognized the evil of his actions and tried to atone for his sins before his death. May God have mercy on his soul but I fear he burns in hell.
I have come to see, through looking for the truth, that the Republic, which I treasure, could not survive the wound inflicted upon it in 1861 - 65 by the Northern Aggression. The Republic is either long dead (on a pessimistic day) or just barely still alive, and not for long. If the Republic still lives it is alive only in the hearts of a few.
Robert Edward Lee gave the preservation of the Republic everything he had. I don't idolize him, but respect him greatly. His men, who in war came to know him best (except for his family, of course) loved him nearly to a man. Soldiers in war become highly accurate judges of the character of their commanders.
This should win the day's prize for sycophancy, though it looks like a tough contest.
Homeschooled very well actually, in the North, where I was taught that that the North won the cival war, and from that victory emerged the great nation we know of today. Where am I wrong ? What were you taught ?
The beginning of this process was my going to the war in Viet Nam. I was willing to go because I believed it to be my Country's war. After leaving the Service (I survived literally by a series of God's miracles) I watched the war go to hell. By 1976 or so I became extremely interested in how and why the war had been so completely mismanaged. You see, I had been raised to have great respect for the government in Washington.
I went through what I could find on the war's early planning, and found, amongst other things, that General MacArthur, on his deathbead, had pleaded with LBJ to change his Viet Nam policy, saying it would lead to disaster, and that the Army chief of staff, named Johnson as I remember, sat outside the White House for an hour trying to decide if he should go in and hand LBJ his resignation over LBJ's Viet Nam policy. He never went in. These events occurred in '63 and '64.
This reading lead me to the Bay of Pigs. Concisely, JFK caused the invasion to fail by insisting on plan changes that left the freedom fighters totally exposed to Russian supplied armor and artillery, and also by refusing to neutralize the Cuban air force, which neutralization was part of the plan and absolutely necessary. At the time I was shocked at such malfeasence by these two Presidents. This lead me to a more general study of history, because I could see I had not been adequately instructed in the topic.
Further study, fairly continuously (I have read certainly over a thousand books dealing with US history)since then, showed that the malfeaseance I had found in recent times was nothing new at all. Instead, malfeaseance in the federal government, or at least amazing feats of idiocy by the federal government, were the rule instead of the exception. I found Will Roger's observation, that "we are lucky we don't get the government we pay for" increasingly true as my studies progressed.
By about 1985, I read the Constitution of the United States again for the first time since high school, and for the first time with the mental powers of an adult. The Constitution is written in the plainest imaginable language, I found. And you know what? Almost all of the Federal laws and spending are not authorized by the Constitution, and the Constitution is a numbered list of things the Federal Government may do. All other activity is unconstitutional. For instance, interpreting the Constitution is not an allowed function of the Federal Judiciary. As far as I can see, this power is restricted to the States and People under the 9th and 10th amendments.
The Framers wrote the Constitution for a Republic with carefully seperated, countervailing powers so that too much power could not be concentrated in one place, or in too few hands. The fundimental check and balance on the Federal Government was intended to be the power of the States. This is never, never said in the official version of history, but can be clearly seen if you go look for it. As an example, until the "Civil War" any one State had more military power in the State's own militia than did the Government in Washington. This is why the "Civil War" was fought with State regiments, not US Army units.
The war destroyed all that, and now the central governenment reigns supreme. The Republic is gone, and the future of our freedoms very dark. It is a terrible shame.
I apologize for the spelling. It certainly isn't what it used to be.
It was, in Texas v. White in 1869. The Supreme Court found that unilateral secession as practiced by the southern states was not Constitutional.
The ties to earth are taken, one by one, by our Merciful God to turn our hearts to Him and to show us that the object of this life is to prepare for a better and brighter world. May we all be there united to praise and worship Him forever and ever!
And on top of that, imagine the sheer AUDACITY of defending one's homeland from invasion! The impudent punk!
You, sir, are not just a fool, but a d*mned fool. Lee opposed slavery completely--before, during, and after the Civil War, on moral grounds:
Robert E. Lee letter dated December 27, 1856:
"I was much pleased the with President's message. His views of the systematic and progressive efforts of certain people at the North to interfere with and change the domestic institutions of the South are truthfully and faithfully expressed. The consequences of their plans and purposes are also clearly set forth. These people must be aware that their object is both unlawful and foreign to them and to their duty, and that this institution, for which they are irresponsible and non-accountable, can only be changed by them through the agency of a civil and servile war. There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil. It is idle to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it is a greater evil to the white than to the colored race. While my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more deeply engaged for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their further instruction as a race, and will prepare them, I hope, for better things. How long their servitude may be necessary is known and ordered by a merciful Providence. Their emancipation will sooner result from the mild and melting influences of Christianity than from the storm and tempest of fiery controversy. This influence, though slow, is sure. The doctrines and miracles of our Saviour have required nearly two thousand years to convert but a small portion of the human race, and even among Christian nations what gross errors still exist! While we see the course of the final abolition of human slavery is still onward, and give it the aid of our prayers, let us leave the progress as well as the results in the hands of Him who, chooses to work by slow influences, and with whom a thousand years are but as a single day. Although the abolitionist must know this, must know that he has neither the right not the power of operating, except by moral means; that to benefit the slave he must not excite angry feelings in the master; that, although he may not approve the mode by which Providence accomplishes its purpose, the results will be the same; and that the reason he gives for interference in matters he has no concern with, holds good for every kind of interference with our neighbor, -still, I fear he will persevere in his evil course. . . . Is it not strange that the descendants of those Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the Atlantic to preserve their own freedom have always proved the most intolerant of the spiritual liberty of others?"
Must have changed his mind, huh?
Robert E. Lee Birthday Bump!
Right, freedom is so horrible a cause.
There. Isn't the truth so much better?
Last year I started a very serious, many times a day every day series of prayers, asking Our Lord to bring all Americans to repent of their sins and ask His forgiveness. On the fifth day, I recieved a clear reply. His will is otherwise. Only a remnant will live.
Lee writes:
The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their further instruction as a race, and will prepare them, I hope, for better things. How long their servitude may be necessary is known and ordered by a merciful Providence. Their emancipation will sooner result from the mild and melting influences of Christianity than from the storm and tempest of fiery controversy. This influence, though slow, is sure. The doctrines and miracles of our Saviour have required nearly two thousand years to convert but a small portion of the human race, and even among Christian nations what gross errors still exist! While we see the course of the final abolition of human slavery is still onward, and give it the aid of our prayers, let us leave the progress as well as the results in the hands of Him who, chooses to work by slow influences, and with whom a thousand years are but as a single day.
In other words, slavery is wrong, but we shouldn't take steps against it. We should leave the matter up to God and the work of time. And a thousand years of slavery would be as a day in the eyes of God. While this may be opposition to slavery "on moral grounds," it is not opposition to slavery by effective means. It amounts to an unlimited acceptance of slavery in practical terms and a renunciation of effective efforts to limit or end it. In practical and visible terms, it might be little different from the efforts of a kindly slave master to perpetuate the institution by making some of its abuses milder and less offensive.
He continues:
Although the abolitionist must know this, must know that he has neither the right not the power of operating, except by moral means; that to benefit the slave he must not excite angry feelings in the master; that, although he may not approve the mode by which Providence accomplishes its purpose, the results will be the same; and that the reason he gives for interference in matters he has no concern with, holds good for every kind of interference with our neighbor, -still, I fear he will persevere in his evil course. . . .
If not "exciting angry feelings in the master" was to be the rule by which abolitionists proceded there was little that they could do. Revealing or dramatizing the evils of slavery or trying to limit its expansion would "excite angry feelings in the master." And who is more the "master," in all senses of the word, than a person one can't speak frankly to for fear of angering him?
Imagine if we applied Lee's counsel to other political questions or to politics in general. When you consider all of the rhetoric of "Southern rights" and liberty surrounding the the rebellion, you can consider how different his advice to slavery's critics was from the conduct of its defenders and promoters. Contrast all the touchy feelings and demands of the secessionists that their own rights be respected with the idea that the slaves had no rights that need be respected, and their interests could best be passively left up to God to administer.
The counsel that one ought to allow Providence to work Its way over the centuries was hardly to be applied when the interests of slaveholders or "Southern rights" were concerned. When one truly cares about something, even if one is supremely pious and reverent, one does more than advocate leaving the matter up to God.
The antebellum Lee was not wholly inconsistent in advocating patience and quietude for slaves. He also opposed secession:
“Secession is nothing but revolution. The framers of our constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom, and forbearance in its formation, and surrounded it with so many guards and securities, if it was intended to be broken by every member of the Confederacy at will. It was intended for "perpetual union" so expressed in the preamble, and for the establishment of a government, not a compact, which can only be dissolved by revolution, or the consent of all the people in convention assembled. It is idle to talk of secession. Anarchy would have been established, and not a government, by Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and the other patriots of the Revolution. – Robert E. Lee, January 21, 1861
Later, he would break with his own advice, precisely because he cared about his native state more than he cared about his nation. And he chose an active path in this case because he cared about the matter more than he truly cared about ending slavery.
I can understand Lee's decision. It is always the case in Civil Wars, that when shooting starts, people go with emotion and side with the faction with which they have the strongest emotional ties.
Lee certainly had a difficult decision to make, and he undoubtedly showed many virtues. But the Lee myth, that glorifies him as a perfect "marble man," even to the point of making him an opponent of slavery in any real sense should be resisted, like other historically untrue myths.
The truth is great, billbears. But what you posted wasn't the truth. Texas v. White was a 5 to 3 decision.
free dixie,sw
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