Lee, Robert E.

[thea_447]

It will give me great pleasure to do everything I can to relieve him and serve the country, but I do not see either advantage or pleasure in my duties. --General Lee writing in a letter to his wife about his replacing General Joseph Johnston, who had been wounded at Seven Pines, 1862

What do you care about rank? I would serve under a corporal if necessary! --General Lee's response to a subordinate eager for promotion

[thea_447]

But what care can a man give to himself in time of war? It is from no desire of exposure or hazard that I live in a tent, but from necessity. I must be where I can speedily attend to the duties of my position, and be near or accessible to the offices with whom I have to act. --General Lee, in a letter to his wife, Sept. 18, 1864

Our enemy is very cautious, and he has become so proficient in entrenching that he seems to march with a system already prepared. He threatens dreadful things every day, but, thank God, has not expunged us yet. --General Lee on General Grant at Petersburg

[thea_447]

Attention, Texas Brigade! The eyes of General Lee are upon you. Forward, march! --General Maxcy Gregg at the Wilderness in 1864

This army achieved today on the plains of Manassas a signal victory over the combined forces of Generals McClellan and Pope. --General Lee to President Davis on the victory at Second Manassas, 1862

(I have used this quote before long ago on some thread I can't readily find, but it is so unique a look into Lee's humor that I will quote it again.)--"All I ever wanted was a Virginia farm, no end of cream and fresh butter and fried chicken-not one fried chicken, or two, but unlimited fried chicken." --General Lee bantering with Mary Boykin Chesnut and friends just after First Manassas

[thea_447]

I believe I may say, looking into my own heart, and speaking in the presence of God, that I have never known one moment of bitterness or resentment. --Robt. E. Lee, commenting on his feelings toward the North after the war

I have fought against the people of the North because I believed they were seeking to wrest from the South its dearest right. But I have never cherished toward them bitter or vindictive feelings, and I have never seen the day when I did not pray for them. -- Robt. E. Lee


(Message edited by johan_steele on September 06, 2004)

[thea_447]

Whatever happens, know this, that no men ever fought better than those who have stood by me. --Robert E. Lee, Clover Hill, 1865


I have done the best I could do for you. Go home now, and if you make as good citizens as you have soldiers, you will do well. Goodbye, and God bless you all. --Lee's last words to his troops at Appomattox, 1865

[thea_447]

There is no sacrifice I am not ready to make for the preservation of the Union save that of honor. --Robert E. Lee to his wife, Mary Custis Lee, January 1861


My interference in battle would do more harm than good. I have then to rely on my brigade and division commanders. I think and work with all my power to bring the troops to the right place at the right time; then I have done my duty. As soon as I order them forward into battle, I leave my duty in the hands of God. --Robert E. Lee

[hoosier]

"Stop! Stop! If we go to ciphering we shall be whipped beforehand."

Robert E. Lee, interrupting Gen William Whiting as the latter was in the process of a mathematical demonstration that McClellan would inevitably take Richmond.

[unionblue]

Colonel Robert E. Lee met with Francis Blair Sr. in his home on Pennsylvania Avenue and told him, "I come to you on the part of President Lincoln to ask whether any inducement that he can offer will prevail on you to take command of the Union army?"

Lee responded "Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four million of slaves in the South I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native state?"

Unionblue

[larry_cockerham]

Originally Posted by unionblue

Colonel Robert E. Lee met with Francis Blair Sr. in his home on Pennsylvania Avenue and told him, "I come to you on the part of President Lincoln to ask whether any inducement that he can offer will prevail on you to take command of the Union army?"

Lee responded "Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four million of slaves in the South I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native state?"

Unionblue

Neil, the part about "how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native state?" sums up my argument/discussion with you that slavery wasn't the only rationale behind getting tangled up in this mess. Soldiers weren't all that excited about slaves they didn't own.

[unionblue]

"The relation of master and slave, controlled by humane laws and influenced by Christianity and enlightened public sentiment is the best that can exist between the white and black races while intermingled as at present in this country."

Robert E. Lee to Andrew Hunter, Jan. 11, 1865, in OR, ser. 4, vol. 3, pp.1012-3.

Unionblue