January 19 —
Today in 1807, future Confederate General Robert Edward Lee is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the
son of Revolutionary War officer Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee III, who was Washington’s favorite general, and Robert was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy.
Lee holds the honor of being the officer in charge when he arrested radical abolitionist John Brown at the end of his raid on Harper’s Ferry. Assisting Colonel Lee in this duty was Lieutenant James Ewell Brown Stuart. These two would work together again in the near future. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia during most of the Civil War and his brilliant battlefield leadership earned him a reputation as one of the greatest military leaders in history as he consistently defeated larger Union armies. To many, he WAS the hope of the Confederacy, even more so than President Davis, but once the war was over, he moved immediately to embrace Reconstruction for the recovery of his people. Despite losing the war, he remains the most beloved general in American history.
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Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com