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Robert E. Lee (Volume 2, Episode 10, Part 1)

December 22, 2017 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Robert E. Lee, Valiant Hero or Misguided Traitor?

Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807. He was the son of Henry Lee III and Anne Carter, Henry and Ann’s fifth child.

Lee was initially assigned to assist in the construction of a fort on the Savannah River, 12 miles from the city of Savannah, Georgia itself. But construction was unsuccessful and it would be sixteen years before Fort Pulaski was completed. Long before that, Lee would be fortuitously reassigned to Fort Monroe, near present day Hampton, Virginia. He visited Mary Custis at her family home, Arlington House, which overlooked the Potomac and Washington, DC. Lee’s initial proposal to Mary Custis was accepted by her and her mother but her father, George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of George Washington and the grandson of Martha Washington was initially opposed. Not only was Robert E. Lee from a family with limited financial resources, “Light Horse” Harry Lee’s questionable business practices had brought the hint of scandal to the entire Lee clan.

Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, Photo Taken Only Weeks Before His Death

From a leadership perspective, Lee would also be forced to face the reality of the loss of Stonewall Jackson. Initially thought to be able to recover from his gunshot wounds inflicted by friendly fire, Jackson contracted pneumonia and died on May 10. Lee was uncharacteristically emotional in a letter to his son, Custis: “It is a terrible loss. I do not know how to replace him. Such an executive officer the sun never shone on. I have but to show him my design and if it can be done, it will be done.”

Lee and Jackson Commemorative Stamp, With Lee’s Ancestral Home, Stratford Hall

Both of Lee’s parents emanated from two of Virginia’s most aristocratic families. Henry Lee III was a Revolutionary War cavalry officer who earned the nickname “Light Horse” for his equestrian ability during combat. His mother’s family lived at Shirley, one of the oldest and most profitable tobacco plantations in the state of Virginia. At the time of their marriage, Henry Lee was Virginia’s governor and would also serve the state as a member of the US House of Representatives. However, by the time of Robert E. Lee’s birth, his father had suffered significant economic setbacks forcing the family to abandon the Lee ancestral home of Stratford Hall.

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Robert E. Lee (Volume 2, Episode 10, Part 2)

December 22, 2017 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Robert E. Lee: Valiant Hero or Misguided Traitor?

Arlington House, Occupied By Federal Troops, 1864

George Parke Custis was kicked out of Princeton, left St. John’s College of Annapolis after only one semester and made a living renting out all of the various plantation properties that he had inherited. By comparison to the industrious and spartan Robert E. Lee, Custis was an indolent patrician who lived on the wealth of his ancestors. Eventually, understanding that his daughter was enthusiastic about marrying Lee, Mary Custis’ father agreed to the marriage of his only child, which took place at Arlington House on June 30, 1831.

Lee immediately realized that the attack was not only a failure but a disaster. On his horse Traveller he is said to have galloped forward and greeted his defeated troops by saying “It is my fault.” Of Pickett’s 6,000 men, 3,000 were casualties including all 15 regimental commanders. Other units suffered similarly bringing casualties to approximately 6,500 suffered in less than an hour. Lee quickly became concerned that Meade might follow with a counterattack but when he ordered General Pickett to prepare his division for such an eventuality, Pickett is said to have replied, “General Lee, I have no division.”

Lee’s disappointment in his defeat at Gettysburg was so profound that he submitted his resignation to Jefferson Davis. Lee indicated that he was to blame for the loss at Gettysburg and he questioned whether he could continue to meet the physical demands of military command. Davis emphatically rejected Lee’s offer of resignation, telling him that replacing would be an impossibility.

Lee did not live long enough to observe the post war reality of race relations, especially in the southern United States, but, based on the attitudes that both he and his wife expressed during their lifetime, he would not have found them problematic.

Washington and Lee University Commemorative Stamp

General Lee not even sure as to what he would do with the rest of his life. He was 58 years old but other than the military he had no other occupation. He must have considered it fortunate when the rector of Washington College in Lexington, VA offered him the presidency of the school. Besides a salary which included a percentage of tuition, Lee was promised a residence. In exchange he would administer the school and be asked to teach a course in philosophy. Robert E. Lee accepted the position.

Robert E. Lee Chapel on the Campus of Washington and Lee University

In late September, Lee prepared for the beginning of Washington College’s 1870-1871 academic year. On September 28, at a meeting of the directors of his local church, Lee’s last official act was to agree to make up the remaining $55 of the rector’s salary out of his own pocket. He walked home and when he got to the dinner table, he was unable to lead his family in grace or even speak at all. They sat him down and called a doctor, Lee clearly afflicted by some traumatic event which turned out to be a massive stroke. Robert E. Lee lingered for two weeks, lying quietly in a bed in the main room of his home surrounded by family. He died quietly on October 12, 1870, aged 63. His glorification began immediately with a name change of Washington College to Washington and Lee University, Lee having initiated both law and business schools as part of the school’s curriculum.

Robert E. Lee will always remain a complex and fascinating figure of historical prominence. Hopefully, the pendulum which initially swung too far in favor of insensitive adulation will eventually swing back from strident, out of context vilification to a more sensible middle ground

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Podcast Book and Music Information and Purchase

Robert E. Lee (Volume 2, Episode 10) Podcast Book And Music Information

December 22, 2017 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Two books were essential during the recording of this podcast: Robert E. Lee: A Biography by Emory M. Thomas

Robert E. Lee: A Biography

Also, Lee: The Last Years, by Charles Bracelen Flood

Lee: The Last Years

Music used during the intro and outro included:

The Return To War, by The Art Of Escapism

And:

In Shadows, by William Ross

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Harriet Tubman (Volume 2, Number 2)

July 21, 2016 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Harriet Tubman, righteous heroine

Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross in the eastern shore region of Maryland in 1822. Her exact date of birth remains unknown. Both of her parents were slaves, Harriet (Rit) Green and Ben Ross.

The summer of 1859 also brought a resumption of John Brown’s plan for rebellion. He was already gathering assets in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in anticipation of his planned attack on the Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. His plan was to seize the arsenal and armory, incite local slaves to join his rebellion and spread a slave revolt as effectively as possible. Brown was fanatically opposed to slavery with an opposition rooted in a deep religious fervor. He considered himself a divine instrument intent on imposing punishment on those conducting the sinful practice of slavery. Based on his interaction with Harriet Tubman, Brown fully expected her to join his effort. He repeatedly attempted to contact her to no avail but he did meet with Frederick Douglass in Chambersburg. When Douglass realized that Brown was intent on attacking a federal arsenal he told him that “he was going into a perfect steel trap, once in, he would not get out alive.”

St. Gaudens Panel Commemorating 54th Volunteer Massachusetts Regiment, Monument is situated on the Northeast Corner of the Boston Common.

Harriet Tubman also aided in the celebrated 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment in its participation in the attack on Fort Wagner in Charleston Harbor on July 19, 1863. The 54^th was one of the first African-American regiments assembled during the Civil War. Commanded by a white abolitionist, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the 54^th was in the vanguard of the assault on Fort Wagner, a heavily fortified beachhead that was part of the defensive infrastructure protecting the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. After a lengthy bombardment, the Regiment began a frontal assault on the fort. Despite heavy losses, the 54^th was able to briefly seize part of the south wall but heavy hand-to-hand combat and artillery fire pushed the unit back. Other Union regiments also attempted to breach the fort around its perimeter but were repulsed with terrible losses. An estimated 1,500 hundred Union troops were killed, wounded or captured. The 54^th lost over two hundred and fifty men. Robert Gould Shaw was killed in the initial storming of the fort and buried in a common grave with his fellow black soldiers. While the grave was eventually washed away by storms and the remains of these soldiers disappeared, the heroic story of Gould Shaw and his men has been immortalized in the film “Glory.”

William Seward, US Senator and Secretary of State

Five days after the armistice at Appomattox, President Lincoln was assassinated and Harriet’s benefactor Secretary of State William Seward was incapacitated by an assailant involved in the same plot. Although Seward would survive and even attempt to help Tubman in her attempts to receive back pay, she eventually decided to head back to her home in Auburn, NY.