Today is the birthday anniversary of Robert E Lee. Most Americans do not know that he is the father of the Corps (that’s pronounced Kore for you libs) Of Engineers. His ingenuity in building the locks and dams along the Mississippi are well-known to military historians.
What is not known, is that the man was a decent gentleman all of his life. He must have read George Washington’s famous book ‘Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior’. He was a most decent human being. Unfortunately, history has not been real kind to him.
Which brings me to my point. Since the recent movie on Lincoln came out, I’m not real positive that Hollyweird knows squat one about Lincoln or Gen Lee.
Of Reconstruction Gen. Lee said: “If I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in my right hand.”
Lincoln on the other hand, had views that you’re not going to find in your history books or in a movie. However, Mark Alexander over at Patriot Post has a few thoughts on the subject of Lincoln and Gen Lee and the Civil War.
Here are a few excerpts from the essay:
Mark Alexander – Our Founders upheld the individual sovereignty of the states, even though the wisdom of secessionist movements was a source of debate from the day the Constitution was ratified. Tellingly, Alexander Hamilton, the utmost proponent of centralization among the Founders, noted in Federalist No. 81 that waging war against the states “would be altogether forced and unwarrantable.” At the Constitutional Convention, Hamilton argued, “Can any reasonable man be well disposed toward a government which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself?”
– And –
Lincoln’s war may have preserved the Union geographically (at great cost to the Constitution), but politically and philosophically, the constitutional foundation for a voluntary union was shredded by sword, rifle and cannon.
You can read the whole essay here.