The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1870-11-04

v ua
through her, became proprietor of Ar
lingtOn House and the White House on
. the banks of the Pamunkey. The for
mer place was situated on the heights
Of the Potomac, overlooking Washing
ton City, and for many years was an
object of attraction to visitors, on ac-
count of It's historical associations, and
the Washington relics collected and
jealOusly preserved by the patriotic IA
ther of Mrs. Lee. The house was sur
rounded by grove of stately trees and
underwood, except in front, where a
Yerdant sloping ground descended into
a valley, spreading away in beautiful
and broad eXpanSe to the river. To the
South, North and West, the grounds
were beautifully diversified into hill
and valley, and richly stored with oak,
willow and maple. The view from the
height was charming picture. Wash
ington, Georgetown, and the 1nterme~
diate Potomac, were all in the fore
ground, with mountain high and Val
ley deep making a background of pic
turesque foliage. The place, so charm
ing to the eye, and so full of historical
association, was to obtain additional
interest as the first campaign ground
of the "Grand Army" of the North,
that a generation later was to invade
Virginia, and make its headquarters in
the home of Washington
In 1886, Lee was promoted to a first
lieutenancy; and in 1888 he was made
CAPTAIN. When the Mexican war broke
out, he was placed on the staff of Brig
adler General Wool as Chief Engineer,
and he retained that post throughout
the whole campaign under General
Scott At the battle of CeTTo GOrdo,
April Is, 1847, he was brevetted major
for gallantry. In the August following
he again won a brevet rank by his meri-
toriOus conduct at COntreras and Cheru-
busco. In the assault on Chapultepec,
September Is, 1847, he was wounded,
and received therefor the brevet pro-
motion of lieutenant colonel.
Lees service in Mexico is remark
able for the extraordinary attention
which the young officer obtained from
General Scott. He appears to have
been the special favOrite of the veteran
commander, and there is hardly a sim
gle dispatch in which his name is not
honorably mentioned. AtCerro GOrdo
General Scott wrote: I" am compell-
cd to make special mention OF Captain
r. II. Lee, Engineer. This officer
greatly distinguished himself at Vera
Cruz was again indefatigabIe during
these operations in reconnaissance, as
daring as labOriOus, and of the utmost
value. Nor was he less conspicuous in
planning batteries, and in conducting
columns to the stations, under the
heavy fire 1.-THE enemy" At Chapul-
tapec, he again highly cOmplimented
Captain Lee /" as distinguished for fe-
Iicitous execution as for. science and
daring" And, furthermore, he says:
" Captain Lee, so constantly distin-
guished, also bore important orders
from me, until he tainted from wound
and the loss of two nights sleep at the
batteries"
At the close of the Mexican war, Lee
was appointed member of the Board
of Engineers, and remained as such
until 1850. On the 1st of September,
1853 he was appointed to succeed Capt.
Beaverton as superintendent of the
Military Academy at West Point. In
1856, Colonel Lee having been promo
ted to the cavalry arm of the service,
and thereby incapacitated by law from
exercising superintendent at the Mill
tary Academy, was succeeded by Ma
ior J. @. Barnard. The regiment to
which Lee was now appointed was the
Second Cavalry, q new regiment or
ganized under the act of March 3, 1855,
It's colonel being Albert Sidney john
stOn, afterwards a general in the SER
y
This regiment was much employed in
the Indian wars on the prairies of Tex
as. On the 10th of March, 1861, Lee
his last promotion in the SER
vice of the United States, being ap-
pointed colonel in the First Cavalry. |
He was to hold this position but a few
weeks.
In the autumn of 1859 occurred the
memorable raid of John Brown in Nir-
ginia; an event which placed the name |
IF Colonel Lee before the public in some |
very dramatic circumstances.
He commanded, with the late Gen |
eral J. E. B. Stuart, the battalion of
marines sent by President Buchanan
10 capture Browns gang, a duty he
performed to the satisfaction of his SUI
Deriors, but not without the loss Of one |
)r more lives. He next attracted pull |
ic attention by his resignation of his |
in the United States army, |
which he rendered not without hesita- |
ion l. a hesitation, however, which |
was simply the doubt of duty. Ambi- |
ion, the bribes of office, personal in |
5erest, did not enter into mind pure, |
interpretive, anxious |
only to discover the line of duty, and |
hen prompt and resOlute to follow it. |
AS long as Virginia WaVered, Lee stood |
rresolute. While he maintained an |
attentive neutrality and waited for |
events, the Federal authorities at /
used every effort to COM (
nit him to the service of the Union, |
and did not hesitate to urge his choice |
1y the most splendid bribes. Mr.. Blair, !
senior, has freely admitted that at this |
ime he was deputed by President Lin
,oln to sound Lee, and to suggest to |
aim his early appointment to the chic !
command of the Federal forces, in the |
event of his declaration for the Union. |
Those who thus approached Lee to |
.empt his ambition little knew the !
nan. They did not have the key to |
hose quiet meditatiOns which made !
lim reticent and kept him undecided. |
His only thought was duty. There is |
I very noble letter written several |
years before the war by Lee, which |
exhibits the man aid indicates his |
idea of the conduct oflife. !
He wrote to his son, who was at West |
Point in 1852, the following lesson:
In regard to duty, let me in conclu- |
sion of this hasty letter, inform you |
hat nearly hundred years ago, there |
was day of remarkable gloom and !
iarkness-still known as the dark |
tay'-a day when the light of the sun
was slowly eXtinguished, as if by an
eclipse. The Legislature of Connecti- |
cut was in session, and as its members
saw the unexpected and unaccountable |
darkness coming on, they shared in
the general awe and terror. 1t was
supposed by many that the last day,
the day of judgment-had come. Some |
one, in the CONSERVATION of the hour,
an adjournment. Then there
arose an old Puritan legislator, Daven- /
port, of Stamford, and said that if the
last day had come, he desired to be
found at his place doing his duty, and,
therefore, moved that candles be
brought in, so that the house could
proceed with its duty. There was qui-
etness in that mans mind, the quiet
ness of heavenly wisdom and infieXi-
bic willingness to obey present duty.