Born 203 years ago today near the present-day town of Montross, Virginia (in the same county as George Washington), Robert Edward Lee was a distinguished West Point graduate, a respected U.S. Army Colonel, and one of history's most celebrated Generals -- no matter what his detractors say.Consequent to the secession of States, Robert E. Lee was Abraham Lincoln's first choice to command the Federal Army. Colonel Lee declined, preferring to side with his home State, which eventually abdicated despite his personal wish for Virginia to remain with the Union.
In the end Lee garnered universal respect, even among his most impassioned adversaries. Not the least among them was Ulysses S. Grant, whose lieutenants personally saluted Lee upon his formal surrender at Appomattox. General Lee returned the extolment, in part, by discouraging his fellow secessionists from pursuing a guerrilla campaign to continue the war, advocating instead the reconciliation of the North and South.
So much more can, and has been, said about this man. Yet I will leave it as this:
"He was a foe without hate; a friend without treachery; a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression, 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; a man without guile. He was a Caesar, without his ambition; Frederick, without his tyranny; Napoleon, without his selfishness; and Washington, without his reward."
-- Benjamin H. Hill [1823-1882], U.S. and Confederate Senator (D-Georgia), referring to General Robert E. Lee during an address before the Southern Historical Society in Atlanta, GA; February 18, 1874
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