Letter to the Editor
Editor:

Friday, January 19th marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of America's greatest military heroes, a man whom President Dwight David Eisenhower described as "one of the supremely gifted men produced by our nation" - General Robert E. Lee.

Over 100 people gathered on the steps of the Georgia capitol that day to honor General Lee; just last week the Georgia legislature overwhelmingly issued a proclamation calling 2007 "The Year of Lee."

Born in 1807, Robert Edward Lee is considered by many to be the preeminent figure of 19th century history. He attended West Point, where he graduated without a single demerit; in his service to the US Army he was brevetted in rank three times during the Mexican War. Later he had a Georgia connection: he helped turn a muddy, boggy Cockspur Island near Savannah into the fortress called Pulaski. In 1861, at the early stirrings of war, he was offered the command of the entire Union Army against the "insurgency" in the South. A Virginian, Lee turned down the offer, not because he accepted the issue of slavery as a sole cause of the War (he owned slaves but emancipated them before President Lincoln's own Proclamation was issued) but because his "country," his Virginia, was about to be invaded. He could not...would not turn his back to her during her plight. He believed in devotion to duty, and said that "Duty is the most sublime word in the English language. You cannot do more. You should not wish to do less."

In 1863, Lee led the Confederacy to several important victories over Union forces, but in April 1865, he accepted defeat with honor, and urged his men to do the same and repair the chasm created by four years of strife. "Make your sons Americans," he said.

Shortly after the war, and not long after the beginning of Reconstruction, General Lee was stripped of his citizenship; it was restored in 1976 by President Gerald R. Ford, who noted that "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."

The story of Robert E. Lee is being celebrated in a yearlong series of events sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, called the "Year of Lee." The Georgia Division and the Buckhead-Fort Lawton Brigade, camp 2102, invites you to learn more about this man and his accomplishments at www.scv.org and www.georgiascv.com.

Confederate history is American history! Join with us and celebrate the history of these United States all through 2007: the "Year of Lee."

Darryl Drake Commander, SCV Camp 2102 Millen