Quote of the Day May 24, 2012

Robert E. Lee

“I prefer your acts to speak for themselves, nor does your character or reputation require bolstering by out-of place expressions of my opinions.”  Robert E. Lee chides Jeb Stuart in a May 11, 1863 when Stuart apparently complains that Lee’s report on Chancellorsville does not give Stuart full justice for his actions there.   From Cavalryman of the Lost Cause by Jeffry D. Wert.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2008 page 232.  Originally from a letter from R.E. Lee- to JEBS, May 11 1863, Stuart Papers, Huntington Library.

Quote of the Day May 11, 2011

Lee fought with his back to the Potomac (shown here near Shepherdstown)

“in referring to criticisms that had been made on the great risks he had taken…that such criticisms were obvious but that the disparity of forces between the contending armies rendered the risks unavoidable.”  William Allan.  Lee discussing with William Allen the need for taking risks.  He was an ordnance officer in the ANV during the war and a faculty member at Washington College afterward and knew Lee there.  From Taken at the Flood Robert E. Lee & Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 by Joseph L. Harsh.  Kent:  The Kent State University Press, 1999 page 50.  Allan William.  The Army of Northern Virginia in 1862 by William Allan  (Dayton, Ohio:  Morningside House, 1984) page 200.

Quote of the Day April 17, 2012

Lee and Jackson's last meeting at Chancellorsville

“There are going to be great events, and many a mother’s son will embrace the grass! When those two men get together, history becomes pregnant and bears bloody for us and hell for the Yankees!”  Witnessing Lee and Jackson conferring for the last time before Jackson moves off to smite the Federal right at Chancellorsville, one of Lee’s staff officers makes this observation to Captain Julius Scheibert of the Prussian Army, a military observer with the Army of Northern Virginia.  From Seven Months in the Rebel Army during the North American War, 1863 by Julius Scheibert. Edited by William Stanley Hoole. Tuscaloosa, AL: Confederate Publishing, 1958 page 62.

Quote of the Day March 28, 2012

Robert E. Lee

“In view of all the circumstances, it was better to have fought the battle of Maryland than to have left it without a struggle.” Robert E. Lee to Maria Jackson January 25, 1866.  From A Glorious Army by Jeffry D. Wert. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011 page 129.  Originall found in the Hotchkiss Papers, Library of Congress.