Wanted to repost this article I orginaly did on 1/19/08 reminding everyone of a special day Jan. 19thHappy Robert E. Lee's Birthday (Jan. 19th 1807),
Just wanted to remember one of the greatest leaders in US history on his birthday. My family tree is full of confederate soldiers, quite a few who made that long march from Appomattox back home. I would like to share the story of a news article that I've seen. It mentions a distant relative of mine. Second Cousin Four Times Removed Henry Harris Sasnett. The article tells how Henry acting as a scout for the south entered a confederate camp and was took prisoner. The solders thought he was a spy. After some time they called the Sr. Officer of the camp and he questioned him about the charge. After determining that he was innocent and a southern scout, the officer asked him to join him for a meal. Then they went their separate ways until the end of the war. Later in Jacksonville, Fla. the two meet again and Henry gave the officer a pair of new boots.
The officer later wrote Henry a thank you note for the boots. I saw a copy of this along with the news article. The note was sign Robert E. Lee.
This speaks of the character of the man. In the book "Christ In The Camp" by J. Williams Jones, Jones did a chapter on the General and wrote how he was an advid writer. He wrote everyone he could think of with thank you notes. This is amazing knowing the time he did not have to waste.
I saw a History channel doc one day (DVD I got for Christmas) and how the general was not beat but gave up to save lives. I seems his army was out of food and every train shipment that came to them was full of weapons but no food. He was commanded to retreat into the mountains and wage "Guerrilla War". This was something the Union was afraid would happen. This would prolong the war for years to come and cost many-many lives. He choose to surrender and help bring the war to and end. I believe He listened to the commander-in-chief of heaven and obeyed. Another story on the doc was that after the war. In the Va. church were many leaders attended. The blacks still sat in the back, but one day as the Pastor called people forward to receive communion, an elderly black man came forward and stood at the alter. After a couple of minutes awkwardness a gray haired gentleman came forward and stood beside the black man and took communion. The gentleman was Robert E. Lee. Then others came. General Lee spent the rest of his life trying to heal the division of North and South.
To our beloved General, Happy Birthday. You lost all you had, but gained a place in history and hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment