Robert E. Lee Birthday Celebration

The John K. McNeill Camp #674

Georgia Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans

GASCV Seal courtesy of "Shotgun Graphics" www.southerncause.com

Invites you to join us in a celebration and
commemoration of the birthday of
Robert E. Lee
Beloved Southern Gentleman, Educator and General

January 19
and request to observe a legal holiday 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.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is an historical, patriotic, and educational organization, founded in 1896, dedicated to preserving the Confederate soldier's and sailor's memory, and presenting the motives for his
sacrifice. Our official publication is Confederate Veteran magazine.

For more information call the International SCV office at 1-800-380-1896, visit our web page at www.scv.org or write to us at P.O. Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402-0059. For more information on the John K. McNeill Camp, visit our web pages at www.scv674.org or write to us at P.O. Box 1353, Moultrie, Georgia 21776-1353.