ROBERT E. LEE – THE NOBLEST AMERICAN
Congressional Record
PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 103d CONGRESS FIRST SESSION
Vol. 139 Washington, Thursday, January 21, 1993 No. 5 – Senate
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, Tuesday, January 19, marked the 186th anniversary of the birth of Robert E. Lee, the man whom Winston Churchill correctly, in my view, called the “Noblest American who ever lived and one of the greatest captains know to the annals of war.”
In an age when revisionist academics spend their careers tearing the lives of those who do not fit their politically tainted agendas, Robert E. Lee still stands as one of the most inspiring and beloved men in history of this country. But beyond the mythical general who struck with a thunderbolt on the battlefield and led the Army of Northern Virginia into legend, there was a gentle man of simplicity and perseverance who met each crisis and task with unquestioned faith in his Creator and unfailing devotion to his duty. For our times, Robert E. Lee the man is more the measure than the marble symbol of Lee the warrior which adorn so many shrines.
All of us, I suppose, have done some reading about Robert E. Lee, and in my case, looking at his life. I am reminded that at each turn, from his refusal to take command of the Union Army in 1861 to his heartwrenching decision to ask Grant for surrender terms in 1865, Robert E. Lee asked himself the same question over and over, “What is my duty as a Christian and a gentleman?” As his foremost biographer, Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman, noted, “he answered by the sure criterion of right and wrong and, having answered, acted.”
Robert E. Lee’s religious conviction was clearly expressed in his sense of honor and duty. He revealed this in a note he wrote to himself: “There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done – the honor of the integrity of principle.”
As Dr. Freeman records, Lee’s creed was no more sorely tested than in those dark hours when he faced the decision of whether to surrender his ragged but still defiant army. Robert E. Lee told his subordinates, “If it is right, then I will take the responsibility.” Lee subjected his decision to the belief that his God’s desire would work out for the benefit of all, including himself. Because of this he endured, despite facing insurmountable odds and even when he knew that the cause for which he fought was doomed.
Despite being born to greatness, Robert E. Lee was a man of simple humility. His sense of self-denial and basic decency prepared him for the terror of war and its equally devastating aftermath. He could have easily rode to victory at the head of Lincoln’s armies, but he denied himself a chance at glory.
Rather than surrender, he could have led his men into a guerrilla war which would have probably ended any chance for restoration of the Union. Instead of continuing the battle he chose to fight for tranquility. After Appomattox he dedicated his life to restoring peace to his country by imbuing southern youth with a sense of obligation and self-sacrifice, no vengeance and acrimony. He refused to get rich by letting others use his name. There were no speaking tours or self-serving memoirs blaming other men for the South’s defeat. He was satisfied to fill out his life with the presidency of a small Virginia college. Again he denied himself in order to be an example to us.
In one of his last public acts, he took a young child from his mother’s arms and in lifting him up said softly, “Teach him he must deny himself.” There is no greater testament to the man.
Mr. President, as we honor Robert E. Lee this week, I close with a passage from a distinguished southern essayist, Benjamin Harvey Hill:
He was a foe without hate, a friend without treachery, a soldier without cruelty, 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 guild. He was a Caesar without his ambition, a Frederick without his tyranny, a Napoleon without his selfishness, and a Washington without his reward.