The guest speaker for the meeting was Camp 16 Commander and AL Division JAG Jay Hinton who spoke on Robert E. Lee. Campo 16 was formerly the John Pelham camp and is the oldest SCV camp in the Alabama Division. Jay posed the question, "Do we need Robert E. Lee today?" Is he more worthy of admiration that the Hollywood actors, NBA dribblers, and other entertainers who command a soapbox today? Lee's former home is Arlington House and it stands today as a memorial to Lee. The grounds are the Arlington National cemetery. Most states and locales still have streets and schools named for Lee and colleges too. Cities such as Leesville SC still carry his name. Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee still have state holidays commemorating Lee. When opinion polls or referendums are posed to the public, overwhelming numbers of citizens favor retaining the name of Lee on public properties.Washington College was subsequently renamed Washington-Lee University after his death. The CSS Lee was a Confederate warship. After the WBTS, an Indiana company constructed the steamship Robert E. Lee. Lee left many commemorations and monuments.
We all honor our forebears and especially Robert E. Lee for their honorable sacrifice. Lee followed his state of Virginia in secession and was named the Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia in 1862 and in February 1865 General in Chief of the Confederate Army. We honor Washington for leading a successful secession and fight for independence but just because Lee lost the War for Southern Independence does not mean he was on the wrong side of history. It should be noted that Washington sits atop his mount on the Great Seal of the Confederacy. In 1874 Benjamin Hill in addressing the Southern Historical Society said of Lee, "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, and a man without guile. He was a Caesar without his ambition; a Frederick without his tyranny; a Napoleon without his selfishness, and a Washington, without his reward.". Lee was the quintessential Confederate general. 1990s polls placed Lee as the most admired American in history above MLK, Washington and Lincoln. What would today's generation say?
Why remember the Confederate soldiers? As SCV members, we pledge to do so. But, the Confederate soldier taught us a number of lessons. They teach us about the constitutional priority of state sovereignty. Lee served the United States attending West Point and completing without any demerits and served in the Mexican War and as Commandant of West Point. He was not a secessionist but believed it a constitutional remedy although he favored diplomacy. It should be remembered that Northern states threatened secession seven times prior to the War Between the States. But when Lincoln called for troops to invade the South to collect his tariffs, Lee followed his state of Virginia in secession. Lee poured himself into his students both at West Point and later after the WBTS at Washington College. He was a devout Christian. A humble man, he refused an appointment as a Union Major General and likely Presidential candidacy after to follow his state and defend her. Lee provided an example of nobly dealing with loss and hardship. He provided a legacy of how to live and die well - it is said he attended a church meeting where he wrote a personal check to pay for a raise for the pastor and when returning home that night suffered a stroke which led to his death two weeks later. Jay explained that the refurbishment of the Lee statue removed from Montgomery's Lee High School is completed but Camp 16 has plans for a monument base and placing it in a park with a prominent location in Lee County. A fitting tribute to a man of superior legacy who we should all wish to emulate.
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