Saturday, September 1, 2012

Lee, Last of the Cavaliers



In a postwar letter to British Lord Acton, Robert E. Lee noted that the South would have desired “any honorable compromise to the fratricidal war which has taken place,” but that now the South had no choice but to submit to the results of the war. Being an optimist despite the desolation around him, he concluded the letter with “I trust that the Constitution may undergo no change, but that it may be handed down to succeeding generations in the form we have received it from our forefathers.”

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Lee, Last of the Cavaliers:

“People who are ignorant of history sometimes ask: “Was not Lee ungrateful to the United States that had educated him at West Point?” The truth is, there might never have been any West Point but for Virginia, for Washington planned it, and Jefferson carried out his idea of a great military academy; while the Lees, as the colonial leaders in Virginia, had served the country as burgesses, governors and military leaders, and signers of the Declaration, so that when Robert E. Lee was appointed a cadet at West Point through the influence of Gen. Andrew Jackson, it was in due recognition of what American owed the Lees, liquidating a debt of patriotism.

At the Academy, Lee’s high sense of duty made his course so honorable that he graduated without ever receiving a single demerit; and later, in the war with Mexico, fully repaid by his service all his obligations to his Alma Mater. He also served as Superintendent of West Point, where the dignity of his life added prestige to the institution and forever blessed the memory of those who, as pupils and professors, were associated with him. West Point today cherishes his name.

In 1902, when West Point celebrated the centenary of its usefulness, there was full recognition given to the Confederate roster, which numbered nearly one hundred and fifty distinguished generals, among whom were many Virginians – such as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, Custis Lee, Fitzhugh Lee, Joseph R. Anderson, Joseph E. Johnston, Jubal A. Early, George E. Pickett, Richard S. Ewell, Ambrose Powell Hill – each of whom received special eulogy.

In the toast on Alumni Day to the “Confederate Veteran,” the orator said: “How shall I speak to you of the great Lee, whom it was an education to know? Never elated and never depressed, but always calm in reliance upon his troops and upon himself, whose soldiers relied upon him and loved him unto death!...”

When the twilight began to gather for the great silence, General Lee met his end as he had lived, Christ’s faithful soldier and servant to life’s end. His last act was to lift his hand in benediction, as he sought to ask a blessing for the evening meal; then, stricken, he sank into his chair. The long years of usefulness, the heavy strain of responsibility, the great life work, were ended. The chastening touch of time had melted his strength into a tender glory that blended with a radiant splendor like a sunset on the Alps.

The force of his example was the beacon light of the ruined South. Here he was even more splendid in defeat than he had ever been in battle; and he fell like a soldier on a shield that knew no stain, surrendering his soul to his Captain, Christ, under whose colors he had fought ever since the days back at Christ Church, Alexandria, when he joined the Church militant. In Christ Church, Alexandria, at prayer, he decided the momentous question of resigning from the Union Army; and there to-day, are two modest marble tablets – the one to George Washington, vestryman; the other to Robert E. Lee, the Christian, whose chivalry made him the last of the Cavaliers.”

(The Restoration of Arlington Mansion, Mrs. William Lyne, Confederate Veteran, May, 1929, pp. 184-187)

13 comments:

  1. This is breathtaking to an adopted Virginian. Thank you. My wife and three children were born in Virginia and I will surely send this to them. Your blog is a National Treasure, Sir.

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  2. Two kids here in Aurora and one in Wenatchee WA, who is even now on his way up to Okanagan County to his 117 acre retreat just South of the Canadian Border.

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  3. to his 117 acre retreat just South of the Canadian Border.

    Sounds great. Too bad it's not warmer?

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  4. They keep asking me for a picture that I'm sure I had on one of your blogs of a spread open hog barbecued. I can't find it but I sure remember it. Is it retrievable?

    The Eastern half of Washington State is very much like the South in many respects. But 4300 feet elevation of Okanagan property is too cold for me.

    Yesterday I told the beautiful red-haired waitress at Joe's Crab Shack about the 38 pound Wahoo I caught off Ocracoke after landing at Billy Mitchell field in a private plane full of drunk IBM reps. I'm going to start a book of North Carolina Memories for my non-NC family. You have inspired me again, Brock.

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  5. It's at this link Horace: http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2012/02/nc-patcom.html

    Boy, it's taken all my life, but I've finally inspired someone!:)

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  6. Happiness is:
    Thirty minutes ago the doorbell rang. FedEX with a box of cookies from Crumb and Get It Cookie Company, Radford, VA. Way too good for the likes of Joe Biden. A dear secretary of thirty some years back who recently lost her 42 year old son, Chris, to kidney problems. I remember him as the sweetest little blond haired boy I ever saw. I am overcome.

    Thanks for the pig link. Those people in Washington State, friends and family, do things like Boomershoot and know Chris Byrne and Joe Huffman and have all my dutch ovens and I expect a pig to be cooked if I ever get back there.

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  7. I expect a pig to be cooked if I ever get back there.

    Amtrak round-trip runs $259 to $299.

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    1. I'll check that out. I love riding the train. Thanks.

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    2. That's round trip from Denver to Rocky Mount, but going back from Fayetteville makes it around $400.

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  8. But, I meant I expect my kids to cook one in Washington State. It'll build their character.

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  9. That's cheap enough and being in Rocky Mount and Fayetteville again would be well worth the price. But who am I kidding but myself? In the last week things have progressed to the point that I wouldn't be able to get to my feet on the train. Appointments this week with an Otorolaryngologist, a Neurologist, and a Gastroenterologist. Oh, yeah, and my Mexican doctor. The Committee That Rules Horace's Days and Nights has met and said, "fuggedaboudit." Like the hard man told the punk in Rubicon year before last, "You live in Colorado, go there and stay."

    When I heard that line I knew it to be a Message From the Universe to me.

    My thoughts and prayers will be with you guys and I'll be glad to contribute a case of beer or buy somebody a barbecue ticket. Feel free to Secede without me. Brock, you have my Secessionist Power of Attorney.

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    1. Hope things change, man and thank you for your contribution. We'll miss you as we secede, but you will do so on paper.:)

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