Robert E. Lee's Birthday - Jan. 19

I will be otherwise engaged on the 19th so I have posted this a bit early.

January 19 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of a great man and a great American. We certainly could use a few men like Robert E. Lee around today - folks that understand faith, humility, loyality to what matters, duty and honor.

Chuck Baldwin recently posted a wonderful piece regarding two great men of honor and integrity with birthdays in January.
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by Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

Robert E. Lee, a man whose military tactics have been studied worldwide, was an American soldier, educator, Christian gentlemen, husband and father.

Robert E. Lee said, "All 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."

Tell your children that Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. The winter was cold and the fire places were little help for his mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee, who was also suffering from a severe cold.

Ann Lee named her son "Robert Edward" after her two brothers.

Robert E. Lee's love for his country undoubtedly came from his close association with those who had lived during the American Revolution. His father, "Light Horse" Harry Lee, was a Revolutionary War hero, Governor of Virginia and a member of the House of Representatives.

Lee was educated in the schools of Alexandria, Virginia. In 1825, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He graduated in 1829, second in his class and without a single demerit.

Lee was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of the United States Engineer Corps. His first assignment was at Cockspur Island, Georgia to supervise the construction of Fort Pulaski.

Robert E. Lee wed Mary Anna Randolph Custis on June 30, 1831. Robert and Mary grew up together. Mary was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. George and Martha Washington raised him as their own son.

Mary was the only child; therefore, she inherited Arlington House, located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. where she and Robert E. Lee raised seven children.

In 1836, Lee was appointed 1st Lieutenant. In 1838, with the rank of Captain, Robert E. Lee fought in the War with Mexico. His service in the war began under Gen. Wool but he was later reassigned to the staff of Gen. Winfield Scott. Gen. Scott wrote that Lee was "the best soldier I ever saw in the field."

Robert E. Lee was appointed Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1852.

Lee had served in the United States Army for nearly 32 years when he was offered command of the Federal Army at the outset of the War Between the States.

In a letter to his sister on April 20, 1861, Robert E. Lee said: "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty as an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I therefore, have resigned my commission in the army and save in the defense of my native state, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed".

Gen. Lee and his family left "Arlington House" at the beginning of the War Between the States. Lee served as advisor to President Jefferson Davis, and then commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia beginning on June 1, 1862.

After four years of death and destruction, Gen. Robert E. Lee met Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia on April 9, 1865, that ended their battles.

Robert E. Lee was called Marse Robert, Uncle Robert and Marble Man.

Lee was a man of honor, proud of his name and heritage, After the War Between the States, he was offered $50,000 for the use of his name. His reply was: "Sirs, my name is the heritage of my parents. It is all I have and it is not for sale."

In the fall of 1865, Robert E. Lee was offered and accepted the position of president of troubled Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The school was later renamed Washington and Lee College in his honor.

Gen. Robert E. Lee died of a heart attack at his Washington College home at 9:30 on the morning of October 12, 1870.

Lee is buried at the school's Chapel near his family and favorite horse "Traveller."

A prolific writer, Lee wrote his most famous quote to his son Custis in 1852: "Duty is the sublimest word in our language."

Sir Winston Churchill once remarked, "Lee was the noblest American who had ever lived and one of the greatest commanders known to the annals of war."

Lest We Forget A Great American Hero!

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But forget him we do - Not only did Lee never own slaves (he freed those he inherited from his father-in-law) He also never attended a communist rally and as far as historians can tell never cheated on his wife or in his school work.

We have other folks with national holidays that we cannot say the same for. Even in the South the tradition of celebrating this man and his life is falling out of fashion.

A society is judged by its heroes!