DEAR FRIENDS &
PATRIOTS,
PLEASE CELEBRATE THE LIFE
OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN PATRIOT THIS MONDAY, JANUARY 16TH, 2006.
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT LEE. FLY YOUR CONFEDERATE FLAGS
IN HONOR OF LEE.
GOD SAVE THE SOUTH!
CELEBRATE
AND HONOR
THE BIRTHDAY OF
Robert E. Lee
Beloved Southern Gentleman,
Educator and General
January 19, 2006
and request to observe a
legal holiday on Monday January 16, 2006 in General Lee's honor!
The
Wisdom of General Robert E. Lee
(The
following fact sheet is prepared by the Education Committee of
the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) for
distribution to educational personnel, librarians, civic groups,
press officials and others interested in promoting an
understanding of Confederate History and Heritage. The
fact sheet may be freely copied and distributed without
permission or notice if published, please credit the Sons of
Confederate Veterans.)
No
finer example of a Southern gentleman and leader exists whose
positive impact was so great during and after the War. His superb
character as a Christian gentleman stood out in his life as a man,
husband, father, citizen, soldier, and a leader. These qualities
greatly impressed such notable men as Winston Churchill and
Theodore Roosevelt. Fortunately General Lee
left a wealth of sayings and personal wisdom of which only a
fraction is present here in this educational sheet.
LEE
AS OTHERS SAW HIM:
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."
Prime
Minister Winston Churchill wrote of Lee: "His noble presence
and gentle, kindly manner were sustained by religious faith and an
exalted character." Of his army, Churchill observed: "It
was even said that their line of march could be traced by the
bloodstained footprints of unshod men. But the Army of Northern
Virginia 'carried the Confederacy on its bayonets' and made a
struggle unsurpassed in history."
War-era
Georgia Senator Ben Hill eloquently expressed a lasting Lee
tribute: "He possessed every virtue of other great commanders
without their vices. He was a foe without hate; a friend without
treachery; a victor without oppression, and a victim without
murmuring. He was a public officer without vices; a private
citizen without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy and a man
without guile. He was a Caesar without his ambition; Frederick
without his tyranny; Napoleon without his selfishness, and
Washington without his reward. He was obedient to authority as a
servant, and loyal in authority as a true king. He was gentle as a
woman in life; modest and pure as a virgin in thought; watchful as
a Roman vital in duty; submissive to law as Socrates, and grand in
battle as Achilles!"
LEE
-HIS OWN WORDS & WISDOM
We
can learn from the character of a man through his own words.
General Robert E. Lee's wisdom and thoughts on various topics:
Character:
As a general principle, you should not force young men to do their
duty, but let them do it voluntarily and thereby develop their
characters.
Choices:
I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than
to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.
Conduct:
We have only one rule here (at Washington College) to act like a
gentleman at all times.
Defeat:
We may be annihilated, but we cannot be conquered.
Determination:
We had, I was satisfied, sacred principles to maintain and rights
to defend, for which we were in duty bound to do our best, even if
we perished in the endeavor.
Dreams:
All I ever wanted was a Virginia farm, no end of cream and fresh
butter and fried chicken-not one fried chicken, or two, but
unlimited fried chicken.
Duty:
Do your duty. That is all the pleasure, all the comfort, all the
glory we can enjoy in this world.
Education:
The education of a man or woman is never completed until they die.
Faith:
I trust that a kind Providence will watch over us, and
notwithstanding our weakness and sins will yet give us a name and
place among the nations of the earth.
Farewells:
After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage
and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to
yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. With an unceasing
admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a
grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for
myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.
Forgiveness:
Abandon your animosities, and make your sons Americans.
Honesty:
The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the
just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is
honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.
Honor:
A true man of honor feels humble himself when he cannot help
humbling others.
Integrity:
There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done-the
honor of the integrity of principle.
Loyalty:
If the Union is dissolved, the government disrupted, I shall
return to my native state and share in the miseries of my people.
Save in her defense, I will draw my sword no more.
Patriotism:
These men are not an army-they are citizens defending their
country.
Perseverance:
We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us
wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to
prevent our falling into greater disasters.
Promotion:
What
do you care about rank? I would serve under a corporal if
necessary!
Purpose:
I am glad to see no indication in your letter of an intention to
leave the country. I think the South requires
the aid of her sons now more than at any period in her history. As
you ask my purpose, I will state that I have no thought of
abandoning her unless compelled to do so.
Regrets:
If I had taken General Longstreet' s advice on the eve of the
second day of the battle of Gettysburg ...[then] the Confederates
would today be a free people.
Union
Atrocities: I have never witnessed on any previous occasion such
entire disregard of the usage of civilized warfare and the
dictates of humanity.
Vengeance:
It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and
that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have
suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose
abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemies.
Select
Readings on Robert E. Lee: Douglas
Southall Freeman, RE. Lee (1934) and A. L. Long, Memoirs of Robert
E. Lee (1887), Robert E. Lee Jr., (1904) The Recollections and
Letters of Robert E. Lee,
- Robert E. Lee
- (January 19, 1807-
October 12, 1870)
-
Robert E. Lee was born on
January 19, 1807 at Stratford, Virginia. Robert was the fourth
child of a Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light Horse
Harry" Lee and Ann Hill Carter Lee. Young Robert, the son,
was raised mostly by his mother. From her he learned patience,
control, and discipline. As a young man he was exposed to
Christianity and accepted its faith. In contrast to the strong
example of his mother Robert saw his father go from failed
enterprise to failed enterprise. In part the young Robert was led
to try harder and succeed.
Robert was
accepted to the United States Military Academy and graduated 2nd in
his class. But perhaps greater than his academic success was his
record of no demerits while being a cadet which today has still not
been equaled. Following his graduation Lee, like most top classmen,
was given a commission as an engineer. Lt. Lee helped build the St.
Louis waterfront and worked on coastal forts in Brunswick and
Savannah. It was during this time he married Mary Custis the
granddaughter of George Washington and Martha Custis Washington.
In 1845 the War between
U.S. and Mexico erupted. General Winfield Scott, overall U.S. Army
commander, attached Captain Robert E. Lee to his staff. Lee was
entrusted with the vital duties of mapping out the terrain ahead,
dividing the line of advance for the U.S. troops, and in one case
leading troops into battle. Lee was learning skills he would need
16 years later. There in Mexico Lee also met, worked with, and got
a chance to evaluate many of those he would later serve with and
against; James Longstreet, Thomas J. Jackson, George Pickett, and
U.S. Grant.
Following the Mexican War
Lee returned to service as an army engineer. He spent most of this
time near Washington D.C. and moved into Custis mansion (now
overlooking the Arlington Cemetery). Thus was Colonel Lee was
available for duty to put down a believed rebellion at Harper
Ferry, Virginia the site of a United States Arsenal. Colonel Lee,
and a young aide Lt. JEB Stuart, and a detachment of U.S. marines,
were rushed by train to Harper's Ferry where they were able to
capture radical abolitionist John Brown and his followers.
Brown's attempt seemed to
confirm all the worst fears of the south and when Abraham Lincoln
was elected President South Carolina seceded and was quickly
followed by 6 more deep southern states: Georgia, Florida, North
Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The old
warrior General Winfield Scott asked Colonel Robert E. Lee to take
command of the United States Army to put down "the
rebellion".
Lee, however, offered his
services to the newly elected President of the Confederate States
of America, Jefferson Davis. Mr. Davis accepted them and Lee was
made a general in CSA service. At first General Lee was more or
less advisor to President Davis and the Secretary of War.
Lee went on to serve the Confederate States of America
until the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse April 9, 1865. He was
one of the most beloved leaders of the CSA.
Following the war Lee returned
as a paroled prisoner at Richmond. Lee was almost tried as a
traitor following the hysteria and anti-southern hatred resulting
from the assassination of Lincoln. No substantial charges
could be brought against Lee, but he was left with his citizenship
revoked and in effect with his civil rights being suspended for
the rest of his life.
Lee devoted the remainder of
his life to setting an excellent example of conduct for the
southerners. He refused a number of offers and promotional
schemes which would have given substantial financial rewards
for himself and his family. Instead he took the post of
President of Washington University at Lexington, VA, where he
served until his death in 1870. The school was later renamed
Washington and Lee.
Upon the surrender of the
Southern army at Appomattox, the conditions of the terms for that
surrender allowed the Confederate soldier to return home after
taking an oath not to take up arms against the United States. Many
general officers and high-ranking officials were stripped of their
citizenship, requiring them to sign an amnesty oath before a
notary public.
Robert E. Lee, had to wait five
months before he could apply for his citizenship. Now serving as
president of the Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, Lee
would sign the amnesty oath on October 2, 1865. But Lee would die
a man without a country, still awaiting word from Washington about
his citizenship.
One hundred years after Lee's
oath was sent to Washington, a clerk came across it while sorting
through papers at the National Archives. By an act of Congress and
with the endorsement of President Gerald Ford, Lee's citizenship
was restored on July 22, 1975. It is believed an employee may have
purposely misplaced it in 1865, thinking Lee did not deserve to be
an American
-
- General Lee's Headquarters
Flag
- Army of Northern Virginia
- Confederate States of America
-
-
- Read the text of the speech "He
stood in the Shadow of Greatness"
commemorating General Lee's birthday in Atlanta. GA, 19 January
1999.
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