Our Duty Under General Lee An address delivered to the Sons of Confederate Veterans By Chaplain / 1st Lt. Cmdr. Michael R. Tubbs This January 19th we celebrate the Birthday of one of the noblest Christian warriors to ever bless our Southland with his footsteps. This man, this myth, this legend is, of course, none other than our own beloved Robert Edward Lee. Interestingly, his Birthday is officially recognized by the state of Florida as a holiday. But you won’t hear much, if anything about this great man on your nightly news or radio broadcasts. You probably won’t see much if anything mentioned about him in your local paper. There won’t be any great proclamations made by the President of the United States or other leaders of the nation or state about this man. No. All of this special attention will be saved for someone less deserving. Someone who sought to tear down and reshape the culture and heritage which gave birth to and formed this mighty man, General Lee. After studying the life of General Lee I could only come to one conclusion. This man was a gift from God, a peculiar treasure delivered to the Southern people to be emulated. To this day, not even the enemies of the South, those who hate us and the so-called “rebellion” we led in our quest for Southern Independence, can find fault with the life, the religious faith, or the military exploits of this great man. Aside from Jesus Christ, our King and Savior, I can think of no other man I would want my sons to emulate than Robert E. Lee. One of the important lessons this great Commander left us with revolves around the subject of duty. General Lee’s personal motto was the same as that of West Point, “Duty, Honor, Country”. One of his most famous quotes was, “Duty is the sublimest word in our language; you can never do more than your duty, you should never wish to do less.” The General provided us with many examples to follow. Lee was born at Stratford House, Westmoreland County, Virginia on 19 January, 1807. His parents were Ann Hill (Carter) Lee and “Light Horse” Harry Lee, a hero of the American Revolution, a former governor of Virginia and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Members of his family had signed the Declaration of Independence. His family knew the meaning of selfless duty and imparted this trait to a young Robert. In 1825, at age 18, Lee received an appointment to West Point Military Academy. Four years later he graduated second in his class without a single demerit. It has been said that nobody had graduated without demerits up until that point and no one has done so to this day. A classmate of Robert’s was Jefferson Davis who would later become the President of the CSA. When Robert graduated West Point the U.S. was at peace and he was assigned to what was considered the very prestigious Army Corps of Engineers. During this time Lee helped in surveying coastal defenses around Savannah and Brunswick and it has been said that he even had a hand in determining the location of the nearby Yellow Bluff Fort on the banks of the St. Johns River near New Berlin. In 1831 Robert was wed to Mary Anna Randolph Custis who was a great granddaughter of Martha Washington, another family who knew the meaning of duty. As Mary was an only child she inherited Arlington House on the Potomac across from Washington City. Here, her and Robert raised seven children. During the Mexican War, Lee was one of General Winfield Scott’s chief aids in the march from Veracruz to Mexico City. As a staff officer he led personal reconnaissances in front of the main force looking for passable terrain and building bridges to move the Army’s heavy guns and equipment forward. Lee was promoted to Major after the battle of Cerro Gordo in April, 1847. Lee also fought at Contreras, Churubusco and was later wounded at the battle of Chaputepec. By the end of the war he had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. General Winfield Scott would later describe Lee as “The very best soldier in the field” and “the greatest military genius in America”. The war with Mexico ended with the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hildago in 1848. In 1852 Lee was appointed superintendent of West Point where he is considered one of the best superintendents in that institution’s history. In 1855 Lieutenant Colonel Lee was sent to the Texas frontier to join the US 2nd Cavalry commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. Here he fought against the Apaches and the Comanche to protect White settlers in the area. This was a difficult time for Lee being separated from his family for long periods. During this time his wife became increasingly ill and he traveled to be with her as often as he could. As a man of duty he tried to balance his duty to his family and his country as best he could. In 1859 Lee was called upon to put down an insurrection led by the notorious serial axe-murderer, John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Aided by secret Abolitionist societies in the North, Brown had planned to incite Southern slaves to murder their masters. Lee led a company of US Marines and local militia against Brown and his followers who were finally killed or captured at a firehouse. Brown was later hanged and became a martyr to the North. By late 1860 the dark clouds of war were brewing on the horizon. It was becoming obvious that the United States contained two nations, one of which desired separation from the other. In early 1861 General Winfield Scott, the top Army commander of the United States asked Abraham Lincoln to put Colonel Lee in a high command position. Being a devout Christian, his Christian duty always turned Lee to God for guidance. Spending almost an entire night on his knees in prayer, Lee had been led to a decision by morning. Colonel Lee’s first duty was to his home state of Virginia and with her, the South. As we all know, this duty would take precedence over his love of the Union. God’s will be done. Today such a decision may be hard for many Americans to understand, even Southerners. There was a time when we would say, “The united States ‘are’” rather than, “the United States ‘is’”. Our love was for our native state first and foremost. Our state was our country and the federal government in Washington DC was merely our servant. It was not representative of an all powerful world Empire as it is today. My, how times have changed. In addition to his love of his native state, Lee also began to understand the long range implications of what was about to happen. He understood the political and social forces maneuvering behind the scenes and realized that the very nature of government and the Christian faith was about to change in the United States. These forces can best be summed up in a quote by one of the South’s most notable Christian theologians, the Reverend James Henley Thornwell. Thornwell said, “The parties in this conflict are not merely abolitionists and slave-holders – they are atheists, socialists, Communists, red republicans, Jacobins on the one side and the friends of order and regulated freedom on the other. In one word, the world is the battleground, Christianity and atheism the combatants, and the progress of humanity is at stake.” Try to find that quote in your children’s Yankee-printed school text books. These things the Southern people knew as did Colonel Lee. From the time Lee graduated West Point in 1829 until he turned down an offer to head United States forces in 1861, he had spent 32 honorable years of service in the United States Army. He was a wounded war hero. He served under the Stars and Stripes. How many veterans of today cold do what Robert E. Lee did in 1861? How many veterans of today could take up arms and lead troops against the flag of the United States? Robert E. Lee could. He could because he was on the side of righteousness. Lee understood his duty and that duty was to his faith, his people and his state. As members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans most of us are intimately familiar with the many battles and campaigns of the War for Southern Independence. We could talk all night and into the morning of the details of Lee’s warrior exploits. His actions can be best summed up in such superlatives as “Brilliant”, “Bold”, and “Audacious”. The mighty Army of Northern Virginia has been described as containing the “finest light infantry the world has ever seen”. Who here can not be thrilled by retellings of the Seven Day Battles or Second Manassas, Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania or Cold Harbor? Some of Lee’s victories can only be described as “Biblical”, replicating the exploits of Joshua, Gidion or David with so few fighting against so many. It is little known but General Lee’s Headquarters flag carried the design of the Ark of the Covenant in the arrangement of its stars in the blue canton. As the ancient Israelites carried the Ark into battle through victory after victory, so, too did the Army of Northern Virginia. Its faith in the Lord of Hosts rewarded time and time again. Lee’s Christian character always gave credit of victory to the Lord. But, alas, we fought too hard, for too long with too little against too many. Who can not be moved to tears with the stories of Sharpsburg, or Gettysburg and finally Appomattox Court House? Independence for the Southern people was put on hold but Lee’s West Point classmate, President Jefferson Davis spoke prophetically that, “A question settled by violence or in disregard for the law remains unsettled forever”. Additionally, Davis said, “The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form.” General Lee lost nearly everything he had after the war for Southern Independence. His home at Arlington had been confiscated by the federal government and the grounds used by federal troops as a cemetery in spiteful revenge. Living in rented or donated homes, he suffered under the humiliation of living under the conditions of his parole. Unable to speak publicly against the atrocities being committed against his Southern people with the threat of Treason charges hanging over his head, he told former Confederate soldiers to “go home and be good Americans”. In private, however he once told governor Stockdale of Texas, “Governor, if I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in this right hand.” In the fall of 1865 Lee was offered the presidency of Washington college in Lexington, Virginia. He accepted and over the next 5 years he transformed the college into one of the first in America to offer courses in business, journalism and Spanish. He instituted an honor system which was simple, “We have but one rule, and it is that every student is a gentleman.” Lee remained the president of Washington college for 5 years until his death in 1870. The college was renamed Washington and Lee in his honor. In April of 1870 Lee traveled by boat to Brunswick, Georgia and on to Cumberland Island to visit his father’s grave site and pay what he knew would be his last respects. Lee traveled through Florida along the St. Johns river as far South as Palatka where he stayed at the home of his former Chief Commissary officer, Colonel Cole and, as he wrote in a letter home, “ate oranges from the trees”. Heading back North he stopped in Jacksonville overnight where the crowds were so determined to lay eyes on their beloved general that they almost capsized a boat rushing to one side to view him. There, in Jacksonville the last image of General Robert E. Lee was captured in a photo only 6 months before his death. On Wednesday, 28 September, 1870 Lee suffered from a stroke at Washington college. 2 weeks later, on 12 October, a little after 9:00 AM he succumbed to the effects of Pneumonia and passed from this earth. In a memorial address, Senator Benjamin Hill of Georgia proclaimed of General Lee, “He was a foe without hate, a friend without treachery, a soldier without cruelty, and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices, a private citizen without wrong, a neighbor without reproach, a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guile. He was a Caesar without ambition, Frederick without his tyranny, Napoleon without his selfishness, and Washington without his reward. He was as obedient to authority as a servant and royal in authority as a king. He was as gentle as a woman in life, pure and modest as a virgin in thought, watchful as a Roman vestal submissive to law as Socrates, and grand in battle as Achilles.” Later, Winston Churchill called Lee “one of the greatest Americans who ever lived”. Let us consider this example of purity in manhood as displayed by General Robert E. Lee. Let his example be our goal. May his name resound in our halls. May the glory of his exploits echo in the ears of our children. May his piety and strength guide our young men. There are so many aspects of our daily lives that could be guided by the example of this great man. As members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans we are charged with vindicating the righteous Cause of our forefathers. I often compare myself with my ancestors in gray to see if I am doing enough for our Cause and I am ashamed. They did so much for us, for the South, for ordered Christian liberty. General Lee sacrificed nearly all his worldly possessions for what he knew to be right. What are you willing to do? Let not his sufferings and loss be in vain. Long live Robert E. Lee in the spirit of the Southern people! God Save the South
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 04:03:09 +0000
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