General Robert E. Lee
Compiled by D. A. Sharpe
General Robert E. Lee was born
January 9, 1807 at Stratfort Hall, Lexington, Virginia. His parents were Henry Lee III and Anne
Carter Hill. Lee is the husband of the great granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, whose second
husband, President George Washington, is my 27th cousin, six times removed.
Lee's obituary in the New York Times
of October 13, 1870 read:
"Intelligence was received last
evening of the death at Lexington, Va., Of Gen. Robert E. Lee, the most famous
of the officers whose celebrity was gained in the service of the Southern
Confederacy during the late terrible rebellion. A report was received some days
ago that he had been smitten with paralysis, but this was denied, and though it
was admitted that he was seriously ill, hopes of his speedy recovery seem to
have been entertained by his friends. Within the last two or three days his
symptoms had taken an unfavorable turn, and he expired at 91/2 o'clock
yesterday morning of congestion of the brain, at the age of sixty-three years,
eight months and twenty-three days.
"Robert Edmund Lee was the son
of Gen. Henry Lee, the friend of Washington, and a representative of one of the
wealthiest and most respected families of Virginia. Born in January 1807, he
grew up amid all the advantages which wealth and family position could give in
a republican land, and received the best education afforded by the institutions
of his native State. Having
inherited a taste for military studies, and an ambition for military
achievements, he entered the National Academy at West Point in 1825, and
graduated in1829, the second in scholarship in his class. He was at once commissioned Second
Lieutenant of engineers, and in 1835 acted as assistant astronomer in drawing
the boundary line between the States of Michigan and Ohio. In the following year
he was promoted to the grade of First Lieutenant, and in 1836 received a
Captain's commission. On the
breaking out of the war with Mexico, he was made Chief-Engineer of the army
under the command of Gen. Wool. After
the battle of Cerro Gordo, in April, 1847, in which he
distinguished himself by his gallant conduct, he was immediately promoted to
the rank of Major. He displayed
equal skill and bravery at Contreras, Cherubusco and Chapultepec, and in the
battle at the last-mentioned place received a severe wound. His admirable
conduct throughout this struggle was rewarded before its close with the
commission of a Lieutenant Colonel and the brevet title of Colonel. In 1852 he
was appointed to the responsible position of Superintendent of the Military
Academy at West Point, which he retained until 1855. On retiring from the
charge of this institution, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second
Calvary, and on the 16th of March,1861, received the commission of Colonel of
the First Calvary.
"Thus
far the career of Col. Lee had been one of honor and the highest promise. In every service which had been
entrusted to his hands he had proved efficient, prompt and faithful, and his
merits had always been readily acknowledged and rewarded by promotion. He was regarded by his superior
officers as one of the most brilliant and promising men in the army of the
United States. His personal
integrity was well known, and his loyalty and patriotism was not doubted. Indeed, it was in view of the menaces
of treason and the dangers which threatened the Union that he had received his
last promotion, but he seems to have been thoroughly imbued with that
pernicious doctrine that his first and highest allegiance was due to the State
of his birth. When Virginia
joined the ill-fated movement of secession from the Union, he immediately threw
up his commission in the Federal Army and offered his sword to the newly formed
Confederacy. He took this step,
protesting his own attachment to the Union, but declaring that his sense of
duty would never permit him to "raise his hand against his relatives, his
children, and his home." In
his farewell letter to Gen. Scott, he spoke of the struggle which this step had
cost him, and his wife declared that he "wept tears of blood over this
terrible war."
"He resigned his commission on
the 25th of April 1861, and immediately betook himself to Richmond, where he
was received with open arms and put in command of all the forces of Virginia by
Gov. Letcher. On May 10, 1861,
he received the commission of a Major-General in the army of the Confederate
States, retaining the command in Virginia, and was soon after promoted to the
rank of General in the regular army. He
first took the field in the mountainous region of Western Virginia, where he
met with many difficulties, and was defeated at Greenbrier by Gen. J. J.
Reynolds on the 3d of October, 1861. He was subsequently sent to take
command of the Department of the South Atlantic Coast, but after the disabling
of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at the battle of Fair Oaks, in the Spring of1862, he
was recalled to Virginia, and placed at the head of the forces defending the
capital, which he led through the remainder of the campaign of the
Chickahominy. He engaged with
the Army of the Potomac under his old companion-in- arms, Gen. McClellan, and
drove it back to the Rappahannock.
"He afterward, in August, 1862 attacked the Army of Virginia, under Gen. Pope,
and after driving it back to Washington, crossed the Potomac into Maryland,
where he issued a proclamation calling upon the inhabitants to enlist under his
triumphant banners. Meantime
McClellan gathered a new army from the broken remnants of his former forces,
and met Lee at Hagerstown, and,after a battle of two
days, compelled him to retreat. Reinforced by "Stonewall" Jackson, on
the 16th of September, he turned to renew the battle, but after two days of
terrible fighting at Sharpsburg and Antietam, was driven from the soil of
Maryland. Retiring beyond the
Rappahannock, he took up his position at Fredericksburg, where he was attacked,
on the 13th of December, by Gen. Burnside, whom he drove back with terrible
slaughter. He met with the same
success in May,1868, when attacked by Hooker, at Chancellorsville. Encouraged
by these victories, in the ensuing Summer he determined to make a bold invasion
into the territory of the North. He met Gen. Meade at Gettysburg, Penn., on the
1st of July, 1863, and after one of the most terrible
and destructive battles of modern times, was driven from Northern soil.
"Soon after this, a new
character appeared on the battlefields of Virginia, and Gen. Lee found it
expedient to gather his forces for the defense of the Confederate capital
against the determined onslaughts of Gen. Grant. In the Spring and Summer of 1864,
that indomitable soldier gradually inclosed the City of Richmond as with a
girdle of iron, which he drew closer and closer with irresistible energy and
inexorable determination, repulsing the rebel forces whenever they ventured to
make an attack, which they did several times with considerable vigor. In this
difficult position, holding the citadel of the Confederacy, and charged with
its hopes and destinies, Lee was made Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the
South. He held out until the
Spring of 1865, vainly endeavoring to gather the broken forces of the
Confederacy, and break asunder the terrible line which was closing around them. After a desperate and final effort at
Burkesville, on the 9th of April, 1865, he was
compelled to acknowledge his defeat, and surrendered his sword to Gen. Grant on
the generous terms which were dictated by that great soldier.
"Lee retired under his parole
to Weldon, and soon after made a formal submission to the Federal Government. Subsequently, by an official
clemency, which is probably without a parallel in the history of the world, he
was formally pardoned for the active and effective part he had taken in the
effort of the Southern States to break up the Union and to destroy the
Government. Not long after his
surrender, he was invited to become the President of Washington University, at
Lexington, Va., and was installed in that position on the 2d of October 1865.
"Since that time
he devoted himself to the interests of that institution, keeping so far as
possible aloof from public notice, and by his unobtrusive modesty and purity of
life, has won the respect even of those who most bitterly deplore and reprobate
his course in the rebellion."
About the Christian faith of Robert
E. Lee, light is shed through this website:
Robert E. LeeÕs
piety, morality, and compassion were apparent to all who crossed his path. As
one historian has written, ÒRobert Lee was one of the small company of great
men in whom there is no inconsistency to be explained, no enigma to be solved.
What he seemed, he wasÑa wholly human gentleman, the essential elements of
whose positive character were two and only two, simplicity and
spirituality.Ó
A Òlow churchÓ
Episcopalian all his life, Lee received religious training at home. He observed
that his mother, who influenced him greatly, was Òsingularly pious from love to
Almighty God and love of virtue.Ó His father, ÒLight Horse HarryÓ Lee, had won
fame in the Revolutionary War.
Lee daily read the
Bible and prayed, and these lifelong practices were not greatly altered during
the war. Unlike his Union counterpart, General Grant, he was noted for
self-denial and self-control.
President Franklin
Roosevelt once declared, ÒWe recognize Robert E. Lee as one of our greatest
American Christians and one of our greatest American gentlemen.Ó But Lee
described himself as Ònothing but a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone for
salvation.Ó
Another source
describing the Christian faith of Robert E. Lee is:
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Lee_Religious_Views.htm
In studying Robert E. Lee for over
10 years, it has become crystal clear to me that Robert E. Lee was a devoted
follower and humble servant of Jesus Christ. The teachings of Christ and
the words of the Holy Scriptures shine forth in the walk and life of Robert E.
Lee. Robert E. Lee was a man of Prayer and Devotion. In addition, his own
writings demonstrate his profound faith. There is extensive documentation that
Robert E. Lee was a man of faith, and a man of prayer.
"I,
therefore, can anticipate for you many years of happiness and prosperity, and
in my daily prayers to the God of mercy and truth I invoke His choicest
blessings upon you."Excerpt from a Letter from Robert E. Lee to his son dated 1867
"The President of the Confederate States has, in the name of the people, appointed August
21st as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. A strict observance of the
day is enjoined upon the officers and soldiers of this army. All military
duties, except such as are necessary, will be suspended. The commanding
officers of brigades and regiments are requested to cause divine services,
suitable to the occasion, to be performed in their respective commands.
Soldiers! we have sinned against Almighty God. We have forgotten His signal
mercies, and have cultivated a revengeful, haughty, and boastful spirit. We have not remembered that the defenders
of a just cause should be pure in His eyes; that 'our times are in His hands,'
and we have relied too much on our own arms for the achievement of our
independence. God is our only refuge and our strength. Let us humble ourselves
before Him. Let us confess our many sins, and beseech Him to give us a higher
courage, a purer patriotism, and more determined will; that He will hasten the
time when war, with its sorrows and sufferings, shall cease, and that He will
give us a name and place among the nations of the earth.
"R. E. Lee, General."
These insights into
the thoughts and beliefs of Robert E. Lee tell us of the reality of his
Christian faith.
Composed by:
Dwight Albert (D. A.) Sharpe
805 Derting Road East
Aurora, TX 76078-3712
817-504-6508