I58556: John BROCK (ABT 1750

Notes

Robert Edward Lee, General, b. 19th January, 1807; d. at Lexington, Va., 12th October, 1870; entered West Point, 1825; Brevetted Major for gallantry at Cerro Gordo, 1847, and Lieutenant Colonel for services at Contreras and Chapultepec, Mexico; resigned his commission in U. S. A. 20th April, 1861, and entered the Confederate service, and became the "Great Commander of the Confederacy," and earned the reputation of being one of the great military geniuses of the world; m. 30th June, 1831, Mary Anne Randolph CUSTIS, b. at " Arlington," Va., Ist October, 1808; d. at Lexington, Va., 5th November, 1873; dau. of George Washington Parke and Mary Lee (FITZHUGH) CUSTIS. (Vol 1. p. 316).

"Robert Lee's choice of a military career was dictated by financial necessity. There was no money left to send him to Harvard, where his older brother Charles Carter studied. Such circumstances led him to an appointment to West Point Military Academy. Robert, who led the Cadet Corps in 1829, graduated second in his class. In four years he received not a single demerit, and he became one of the most popular cadets in his class. When he returned as the Academy's superintendent years later, he won the same affectionate respect from the cadets for his compassion, sense of fairness and strong moral leadership.

On June 30, 1831, while serving as Second Lieutenant of Engineers at Fort Monroe, Virginia, he married Mary Ann Randolph Custis of Arlington. Mary was the only daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington and the adopted grandson of George Washington. Robert E. Lee shared his father's reverence for the memory of the General and that bond with the Father of our Country served as an inspiration throughout Lee's life.

The couple moved into Arlington, the Custis house across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., which would later become Arlington National Cemetery.

At the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846, Robert was ordered to Mexico as a supervisor of road construction. His skills as a cavalryman in reconnaissance, however, soon captured the attention of General Winfield Scott, who came to rely on Robert for his sharp military expertise. It was in Mexico that Lee learned the battlefield tactics that would serve him so well in coming years.

In spite of his flawless performance as an engineer and his brilliance as an officer, promotion came slowly for Robert Lee. His assignments were lonely and difficult, and he found the separation from his family hard to bear. His love of Mary and his ever-increasing brood of children were the center of his life.

The opportunity that won him enduring fame was one he would have preferred not to have taken. The Army of the United States had been his life's work for 32 years, and he had given it his very best. On April 18, 1861, he was finally offered the reward for his service.

On the eve of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, through Secretary Francis Blair, offered him command of the Union Army. There was little doubt as to Lee's sentiments. He was utterly opposed to secession and considered slavery evil. His views on the United States were equally clear - "no north, no south, no east, no west," he wrote, "but the broad Union in all its might and strength past and present."

Blair's offer forced Lee to choose between his strong conviction to see the country united in perpetuity and his responsibility to family, friends and his native Virginia. A heart-wrenching decision had to be made. After a long night at Arlington, searching for an answer to Blair's offer, he finally came downstairs to Mary. "Well Mary," he said calmly, "the question is settled. Here is my letter of resignation." He could not, he told her, lift his hand against his own people. He had "endeavored to do what he thought was right," and replied to Blair that "...though opposed to secession and a deprecating war, I could take no part in the invasion of the Southern States." He resigned his commission and left his much beloved Arlington to "go back in sorrow to my people and share the misery of my native state."

On June 1, 1862 Robert Edward Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia in the Confederate capital of Richmond. Not until February 1865 was he named Commander in Chief of all Confederate forces, but the leadership throughout the war was undeniably his. His brilliance as a commander is legendary, and military colleges the world over study his compaigns as models of the science of war. That he held out against an army three times the size and a hundred times better equipped was no miracle. It was the result of leadership by a man of exceptional intelligence, daring, courage and integrity. His men all but worshiped him. He shared their rations, slept in tents as they did, and, most importantly, never asked more of them than he did of himself.

On December 25, 1861, in the midst of war and with Arlington confiscated and occupied by Union troops, the lonely Lee wrote to Mary:

...In the absence of a home I wish I could purchase Stratford. That is the only place I could go to, now accessible to us, that would inspire me with feelings of pleasure and local love. You and the girls could remain there in quiet. It is a poor place, but we could make enough cornbread and bacon for our support and the girls could weave us clothes. I wonder if it is for sale and how much.
Sadly, circumstances prevented them from ever returning to Stratford.
Lee's legendary command of the Confederate forces came to an end at Appomattox, Virginia in April 1865. "There is nothing left for me to do," he said, "but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths."

With the war now over, Lee set an example to all in his refusal to express bitterness. "Abandon your animosities," he said, "and make your sons Americans." He then set out to work for a permanent union of the states.

Though his application to regain his citizenship was misplaced and not acted upon until 1975 - more than a century late - Lee worked tirelessly for a strong peace. With some hesitation he accepted the presidency of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, and there he strove to equip his students with the character and knowledge he knew would be necessary to restore the war-ravaged South. Lexington became his home, and there he died of heart problems on October 12, 1870. After his death, his name was joined with that of his lifelong hero, and Washington College became Washington and Lee University." In 1929, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association was incorporated as a non-profit organization and purchased Stratford. Stratford Hall Plantation now consists of 1,600 acres. It is governed by a Board of Directors representing 50 states and Great Britain. Operating funds come from admissions and sales, contributions, and endowment.

" Our greater Lee, Robert Edward, used to make his summer home at Chatham, that odd, colonial house just opposite Fredericksburg, then the residence of Fitzhugh. Stratford, where Lee was born, lies on the Potomac, near Wakefield, the birthplace of Washington. Mrs. Lee found the place too unhealthy for summer residence, and moved, with her children, up to the purer air of Chatham. The estate of Chatham adjoined the land of Mrs. Washington, where her son George broke the colt and barked the cherry tree."

General Ulysses S. Grant's Terms of Surrender:
"This is an image of the original copy of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Terms of Surrender. The amazing part of the surrender was the civility of Lee and Grant. Without their vision of the "larger picture" - a return to peace and unity - there would have been much more bloodshed and prolongment of hostilities with no effect on the final outcome of the war.
This document was donated to Stratford in 1955 by Charles Marshall, son of Colonel Charles A. Marshall, Lee's military secretary.

Head Quarters of the Armies of the United States
Appomattox C.H. Va. Apl 9th 1865
Gen. R. E. Lee
Comd'g C.S.A.
General,

In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of N. Va. on the following terms to wit;

Rolls of all the officers and men be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands -

The arms, artillery and public property to be parked and stacked and turned over to the officer appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side arms of the officers nor their private horses or baggage. This done each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority as long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside--
Very Respectfully
U. S. Grant
Lt. Gen"

Statue Of Confederate General Erected General Returns 141 Years After Battle

POSTED: 4:47 p.m. EDT June 6, 2003

SHARPSBURG, Md. -- Gen. Robert E. Lee returned to Sharpsburg Friday -- 141 years after the Battle of Antietam.

A 24-foot high statue of the Civil War general was erected Friday. The statue, which depicts Lee astride his horse, Traveller, rises above the same road Lee traveled as he prepared for battle. A descendant of Lee worked to erect the statue as part of an effort to balance the number of memorials to Union and Confederate forces.

I will leave you with a quote, made by Gen'l. R.E. Lee's bodyservant through the WBTS, the Rev. Wm. Mack Lee. In case the fact slipped your mind, the Rev. Lee was a black man. He wrote these words decades after the WBTS in his autobiography "History of the Life of Rev. Wm. Mack Lee - Body Servant of General Robert E. Lee". In this work, the Rev. Lee wrote in part ...."There never was one, born of a woman greater than Robert E. Lee in my judgment. All of his servants were set free 10 years before the war, but they all remained on the plantation until after the surrender."

President Gerald R. Ford's Remarks Upon Signing a Bill Restoring Rights of Citizenship to General Robert E. Lee
August 5, 1975

Governor Godwin, Senator Byrd, Congressman Butler, Congressman Harris, Congressman Satterfield, Congressman Downing, and Congressman Daniel, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

I am very pleased to sign Senate Joint Resolution 23, restoring posthumously the long overdue, full rights of citizenship to General Robert E. Lee. This legislation corrects a 110-year oversight of American history. It is significant that it is signed at this place.

Lee's dedication to his native State of Virginia chartered his course for the bitter Civil War years, causing him to reluctantly resign from a
distinguished career in the United States Army and to serve as General of the Army of Northern Virginia. He, thus, forfeited his rights to U.S.
citizenship.

Once the war was over, he firmly felt the wounds of the North and South must be bound up. He sought to show by example that the citizens of the South must dedicate their efforts to rebuilding that region of the country as a strong and vital part of the American Union.

In 1865, Robert E. Lee wrote to a former Confederate soldier concerning his signing the Oath of Allegiance, and I quote: "This war, being at an end, the Southern States having laid down their arms, and the questions at issue between them and the Northern States having been decided, I believe it to be the duty of everyone to unite in the restoration of the country and the reestablishment of peace and harmony."

This resolution passed by the Congress responds to the formal application of General Lee to President Andrew Johnson on June 13, 1865, for the restoration of his full rights of citizenship. Although this petition was endorsed by General Grant and forwarded to the President through the Secretary of War, an Oath of Allegiance was not attached because notice of this additional requirement had not reached Lee in time.

Later, after his inauguration as President of Washington College on October 2, 1865, Lee executed a notarized Oath of Allegiance. Again his application was not acted upon because the Oath of Allegiance was apparently lost. It was finally discovered in the National Archives in 1970.

As a soldier, General Lee left his mark on military strategy. As a man, he stood as the symbol of valor and of duty. As an educator, he appealed to reason and learning to achieve understanding and to build a stronger nation. The course he chose after the war became a symbol to all those who had marched with him in the bitter years towards Appomattox.

General Lee's character has been an example to succeeding generations, making the restoration of his citizenship an event in which every American can take pride. In approving this Joint Resolution, the Congress removed the legal obstacle to citizenship which resulted from General Lee's Civil War service. Although more than a century late, I am delighted to sign this resolution and to complete the full restoration of General Lee's citizenship.

NOTE: The President spoke at 2:12 p.m. at Arlington House, Arlington, Va. Arlington House, formerly known as the Custis-Lee Mansion, was the home of General Lee. As enacted, S.J. Res. 23 is Public Law 94-67 (89 Stat. 380).

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My Southern Family

John BROCK

ABT 1750 - ____

ID Number: I58556

Sources

Prudence CASEY

ABT 1810 - AFT 1860

ID Number: I12123

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John ECHOLS

ABT 1690 - 1750

ID Number: I97252

Notes

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Josephine Elizabeth HIGGINBOTHAM

7 Mar 1829 - ____

ID Number: I93931

Notes

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Gen. Robert Edward LEE of the C.S.A.

19 Jan 1807 - 12 Oct 1870

ID Number: I20807

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ARTHUR MAINWARING

ABT 1520 - 4 Sep 1590

ID Number: I74477

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John TENANT

ABT 1719 - ____

ID Number: I49273

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Catherine WILLIAMSON

ABT 1685 - ABT 1751

ID Number: I45952

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