The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-04-17
FITZHUGH LEES
BRILLIANT RECORD
His Mastery Administration at the
Cuban Capital,
BRAVE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER,
nj Family Famous in American His
tory - The Consul-GeDeral as
Viewed by Great North
crn Newspaper.

General Fitzhugh Lee, OF Virginia,
.nited States Consul General at Havana,
tuba. Is the man OF the hour. 1t is not
mat the hour and the place have made
ne man. but simply that We have a
conspicuous example OF the right man in
the right place. Great opportunities
come only to those who are great with
out them.
Fitzhugh Lee is a, man with splendid
past on record, and a grand future in
sight To-day he wears the threefold dis
tinction Of being an honored former Con-
federate, "a Democrat and the holder OF
a highly important and responsible office
under a Republican administratiOn-and
this at the administration express re-
quest al a time when the general rule
has been prompt acceptance Of the resg
nation Of Democratic incumbents of pay
ing offices. General Lees resignation
had been on file at Washington several
months already. when. last November,
he came home and reported in person to
President Mckinley. Yet he went back
TO Havana with the seal of office still in
his possession, and fortified by the cordial
concentrations OF the President, who
had received stacks of letters from rep
resentative men in all parts Of the coun-
Try favOring the retention of General Lee
at the post which he already occupied
with marked distinction
1t was in April, 1896, that President
Cleveland, impatient at the apathy of
Consul-General Williams In cases affect
ing the rights of American citizens in
Cuba, and confronted with the certainty
that Congress would have TO insist upon
some radical policy tending to check the
widely criticised methods of Weyler in
Cuba, appointed General Lee TO the
hazardous position.
Every one remembers how, at the time,
the country was fairly thrilled at the Sc
lection of this representative American
soldier 10 stand for human liberty and
justice on that unhappy isle. AS yet
he was untried in foreign consular diplo-
macy; but from the moment he entered
upon his duties he gave abundant evil
dence of his possession Of good sense,
tact, courtesy and practical fitness for
the task. Then the case of the Inflated
DR.. Ruiz gave him occasion to show a
firm hand in conducting the investigation
in the face of the almost savage opposi-
ton of Weyler's organized inquisitors. 1t
was generally understood even then that
Lee had urged the dispatching of Unit
ed States man-of-war to Cuban waters;
and his manly protest, Il cannot and will
not stand another Ruiz murder" was APP
plauded throughout the country a year
ago.
The events OF the last few months and
weeks in Cuba, and the mastery part
that General Lee has played therein are
matters of contemporaneous history from
day to-day. our Consul General is no
lingo. He is an American soldier. born
and bred-brave. loyal patriotic, keenly
sensitive TO every point of honor person
al or national. Because he Is this he In
spires al once the confidence of the con-
servatiye and the enthusiasm Of the jim
goes A characteristic expression was
that of l.. T. Sigsbee. brother Of the
Names commander. who. commenting
on the disaster at Havana, said:
There's a man down there looking af-
ter the interests of this country who can
not be blinded He has more sand than
ANYBODY | know of. and If there's any
thing treacherous in this explosion well
know of 1t without delay. The man
mean Is General Fitz Lee"
BLOOD WILL TELL.
IL is not absolutely essential that dis
tinguished American should have grand
father. But when one happens to be
Lee of Virginia, and his grandfather was
Light Horse Harry Lee, OF the Revolution
IL is eminently proper that his ancestry
should be taken into account. Blood
will and does. tell
Sydney Smith Lee Cborn 1902. died 1869,
the father of Fitzhugh Lee, was the third
son of General Henry Lee Qdght-Horse
Harry and Anne Hill Carter his second
wife. He was graduated from the Naval
Academy and appointed midshipman in
1920. promoted lieutenant in 1873, com
mander in 1850, and resigned on April
q 16l, to join the Confederacy. His public
service OF more than thirty years in the
United states Navy--including Perry's
Japan expedition and the Mexican war
Is well known. He was the favorite
brother OF General Robert Il. Lee, who
called him by the pet nickname OF
Rose"
F1tzhugh Lee, our own "Fitz,' was the
eldest son of Captain Sydney Smith Lee
and his wife Anna Maria Mason, and
was born at Clermont. Fairfax county
Va. on November 10. 1885. He entered the
West Point Military Academy at sixteen,
was graduated in July, 1856, at the head
OF his class in Craftsmanship, and was APP