The gold leaf., 1898-03-24
(Washington Dispatch.

MAJOR Ieneral fltZnuSh Lee Is
man almost withough fear, and j
splendid representative Of the Ameri-
can soldier, the pilot of the admins
tration in crisis and the consul
general to Havana not only under
President Mckinley. but also under
President Clevland. General Lees
resignation had been on file in
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, fortified by the cordi-
| al commentators of the President,
! who had received stacks of letters
from representative men in all parts
of the country. favoring the retention
of General Lee.
1t was in April, 1896, that Pres
ident Clevland, impatient at the
apathy of Consul General. Williams
in cases affecting the rights of
American citizens of Cuba, appoint
ed General Lee to the hazardous
position. The case of the illfated
DR.. Ruiz, of Philadelphia, gave him
occasion to show firm hand in con-
ducting the investigation in the face
of the almost savage opposition of
Weyler's organized inquisitors. 1t
was generally understood even then
that Lee had urged the dispatching
of United States man-of-war to
Cuban waters; and his manly protest
IT
other Ruiz murder''-was applauded
throughout the country a year ago.
A characteristic expression was
that of l.. P. Sigsbee, brother of the
Names commander, who commenting
on the disaster at Havana said:
'.There's man down there look
ing after the interests of this country
who cannot be blinded. He has
more sand than anybody l know of,
and if there's anything teacherous in
this explosion we'll know of it with
out delay. The man l mean in Gen
eral Fitz Lee"
Lees grandfather was the famous
"Light Horse Harry Lee, of the
Revolution. His uncle was General
Robert f. Lee.
Fitzhugh Lee, our own "Fitz," was
the eldest son Of Captain Sydney
Smith Lee and his wife, Anna Maria
Manson, and was born at Clermont,
Fairfax county, Va, on November
18th, 1885. He entered the West
Point Military Academy at 16, grad
uated in July 1856, at the head of
appointed second lieutenant. His
second duty was in drilling raw re-
cruits at the Carlisle Barracks. Pa.
Then he was sent to the Western
frontier and became an Indian
fighter in Texas under Major Earl
Van Dorm.
The outbreak of the civil war found
Fitzhugh Lee back at West Point as
instructor in cavalry tactics. He
promptly resigned, offered his SER
vices to his native State, served frs
on the staff of General Ewell. then
as lieutenant colonel of the First
Virginia Cavalry, under j. f. b.
Stuart, whom he accompanied on his
famous raid around Mcclellan army
in front of Richmond.
On the promotion of Stuart, Lee
was chosen colonel, and later bri
gadier general under Stuart In
1868 the cavalry of the Army of
Northern Virginia was divided into
two divisions, commanded respect
lively by Generals Wade Hampton
and Fitzhugh Lee. Shortly after the
death of Stuart, Lee succeeded
Hampton as commander of the
cavalry of the Army of Northern
Virginia, with the rank of Ma or
General.
At Winchester. September 10, 1864,
he had three horses killed under him
and was severely wounded. The last
fighting done by the Army of North
headed by Fitz Lee at Farmville. a
few miles from Appomattox. on the
Sth of April, 1865, when the Con-
federates were successful in driving
back the Federal cavalry division Ct
General Crook. Then Sheridan and
Ord came up and ended the hopeless
struggle; and the next day Grant and
Robert F.. Lee settled the terms of
the surrender.
The personal friendship between
Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and President
Cleveland dated from the latter S
first Inauguration. March 4th, 1885.
Lee headed the division of the South
ern military organizations in the
procession, and throughout the
rboia lenpth of penpSylyania ayenuc
he was cheered with greater en-
thusiasm than any Of the other noted
men whom the public recognized.
A similar demonstration occurred
in New York city four years later,
when Lee rode up Fifth avenue,
leading the yellow plnmed Virginia
troopers, to the stirring tune Of
Dixie" in the Washington CEN
tennial parade. On both these oc-
casions, by the way, he sat in the
identical saddle which his uncle,
General Robert f. Lee, had used on
his familiar gray war horse, Traveller
The dav after the inauguration Gen
eral Lee called upon President Cleve-
land by special invitation. The
friendship then formed ripened into
an intimacy. which from that day
to this has remained unbroken.
That same year General Lee was
elected Governor of Virginia. Eight
wears afterward when Mr.. Cleyland
was again President. he appointed
the the general collector of internal
revenue at Lynchburg, Va, the