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THE DETERIORATION OF VIRTUE By:
Al Cronkrite "These people delight in destroying
the weak and those who can make no defense; it just suits them!"
Robert E. Lee To have a hero in our time is a mockery in
itself, and considering a man from a dysfunctional family for the honor of
being one of our greatest heroes is additionally ironic. Robert E. Lee is such a man. His father, Harry Lee, of distinguished lineage, graduated from
Princeton University in 1773. He was a Revolutionary War hero and an
adroit horseman ("Light Horse Harry"). He signed the Declaration
of Independence, was a Congressman and Governor of the State of Virginia,
a colonel in the Revolutionary army and later a general, a writer, a
friend of the rich and famous, the sire of two families, a pauper,
spendthrift, and an inmate in two debtors prisons. Harry Lee had served under President George
Washington in the Revolutionary War and following his death in 1799, fell
on hard times. His son, Robert, was born in 1807 and shortly after his
birth Harry Lee was forcibly removed from the home and taken to the
Montross debtors prison. While in prison he wrote a history of the
Revolutionary War. Out of prison in 1810, the family moved to Alexandria
where financial support came from his father in law. In 1812 he was badly
beaten and permanently disabled in a Baltimore riot. In the summer of 1813
he left the family to recover in the West Indies. He never returned. Harry
Lee died in 1818 on Cumberland Island, Georgia, at the home of the
daughter of his former commander, Nathanael Green. The Lee family was impoverished during
Robert’s childhood. With his father and older brothers away, he became
head of the household at the age of 12. He was an exemplary child who
cared for and endeared himself to his mother, Ann Carter Lee. He inherited sterling qualities from both
sides of the family. He was handsome and possessed with rare physical
strength and endurance. With a vivid sense of duty, a gentle spirit, and a
meticulous and prudent demeanor he showed great promise. His elder brother, Charles Carter Lee, had
studied at Harvard. Money was not available for Robert to follow so
instead he embarked on a military career by attending West Point. Robert E. Lee’s life was punctuated by a
stream of superlatives. In 1829, he was graduated second in his class from
West Point and was without a single demerit. In his Senior year he lead
the Cadet Corps. In 1831 as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army,
he married the daughter of an adopted grandson of President George
Washington. Following several years working as an Engineer, at the
beginning of the Mexican-American War in 1846, General George Winfield
Scott asked that Captain Lee be assigned to his Command. Though his flawless performance as an
engineer had involved a number of years and several noted projects, prior
to the Mexican-American war his advancement had been slow. He was a remarkable warrior. General Scott
attributed his own success in the Mexican War to the, "skill, valor
and undaunted energy of Robert E. Lee" and called him, "the
greatest military genius in America". In an unprecedented outpouring
of adulation, every general officer with whom he personally served made
special mention of him in their reports: "I want to record my
particular admiration for Captain Lee"; "in whose skill and
judgment I have the utmost confidence"; "his gallantry and
conduct deserve the highest praise"; "intrepid coolness and
gallantry". In a speech at the Lee Memorial meeting in 1870 Jefferson
Davis said of Lee, "He came from Mexico crowned with honors, covered
with brevets, and recognized, young as he was, as one of the ablest of our
country’s soldiers". During the War he was breveted to the rank of
Colonel. Thirty six years had passed since Light Horse
Harry Lee’s son had matriculated at West Point. During this long period
of time, he patiently dispensed distinguished service to the Army of the
United States. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln through Secretary Francis Blair
and General George Scott offered him the command of the Union Army. He
replied that though he detested slavery, was opposed to secession and to
deprecating war, he would take no part in the invasion of the Southern
States. Robert E. Lee resigned from the Army of the
United States and returned to Virginia where in 1862 he assumed command of
the Army of Northern Virginia. Victories over McClellen, Pope, Burnside,
and Hooker followed. His tenure with the Confederacy was, however, not
without a downside. In 1861 an abortive incursion into West Virginia
created a niche in his reputation which postponed his deserved elevation
to General and resulted in extensive labor for President Jefferson Davis
in the field of engineering and building defenses for the Confederate
States. It was not until 1865 on the eve of the Southern surrender that
Lee was elevated to Commander-in-Chief. After the War in 1866 he wrote, "All
that the South has ever desired was that the Union as established by our
fathers should be preserved, and that the government as originally
organized should be administered in purity and truth." Six months
later he wrote, "I had no other guide, nor had I any other object
than the defense of these principles of American liberty on which the
constitutions of the several States were originally founded, and unless
they are strictly observed I fear there will be an end of Republican
government in this country." In describing Robert E. Lee and the character
of his life, words that are no longer used in relation to our society
resonate with grief. Words like faith in God, stately bearing, dignity
without stiffness, courtliness with women, Christian humility, self
control, self denial, and kindness. Lee abhorred Total War as it was practiced by
the Union Army. It was inconceivable to him that women, children, and the
elderly might be involved in the conflict. Rape, pillaging, murder, and
the atrocities attendant to an illegitimate victory were not allowed in
his Army. Robert E. Lee could not have released the atomic bombs on Japan.
His character would not have allowed it. Ann Carter Lee said of her son as he left for
West Point, "How will I get on without Robert? He is both a son and
daughter to me". In our day, he would have been a candidate for a
foster home or the abomination of Freudian counseling. Can you imagine a man like William Jefferson
Clinton being satisfied to serve the country quietly following the
adulation Lee received after the Mexican-American War? Lee was bound by
duty and honor. He was a man that could be trusted to produce his best
efforts whether abounding or being abased. Could a man whose integrity required the
sacrifice of both the money and fame that command of the Union forces
would have brought, could that man have desecrated the highest office of
the land and then lied about his conduct? What would the men of that
generation have thought of fifty United States Senators who breached their
oath of office to exonerate a guilty President? Can you imagine a man of Lee’s courtliness
facing the vituperation of the National Organization for Women, the
profanity of the ACLU, the homosexual rights movement, rampant
pornography, or the charade we call Democracy? How alien he was to our nihilistic culture.
How hard to imagine his character in the youth of today. The Civil War was indeed a blow to the
Republic. Lee’s prophetic statement about the end of Republican
government has been substantially fulfilled. Terrorism known as
"Total War" became standard, Federal Government reigned supreme
and its roots have ever since been moistened with tyranny. Northern victory set the stage for a
pervasive harshness which was fostered by agnostic enlightenment. Lee was
criticized for his failure to return total war to the North and Northern
history was written to enforce the maxim that might makes right. Christian
virtue which characterized the life of Robert E. Lee was replaced by faith
in a mighty humanistic army. During the Confederate invasion of
Pennsylvania, Lee summarized what we, today, have lost, "It must be
remembered that we make war only upon armed men and that we cannot take
vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering
ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the
atrocities of our enemies, and offending against Him to whom benevolence
belongeth, without whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in
vain". |