Southern Generals Remembered: Lee—Jackson Day

General’s Lee & Jackson are annually commemorated throughout the Southern states in memory of the most famous of Southern Generals. The U.S. Post Office commemorated the birthdays of the Generals known as Lee—Jackson Day with a stamp bearing their likeness in 1937.

 

A federal holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was celebrated Monday, January 17 with a paid government worker holiday, school closings, parades and observances such as wreath-laying ceremonies and breakfasts. This same week there is a tradition that has been remembered and celebrated for over 100 years throughout the Southern States.

The tradition of commemorating famed Southern generals of the War Between the States, General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was observed by all Southern states until recently. Politically Correctness or social Marxism has displaced the official federal and state recognition and remembrances.

States have replaced the observances with other events, removed laws commemorating, and municipalities have canceled permits for parades. Yet, Southerners continue to gather both personally and corporately to acknowledge, show love, admiration and respect for, and revere the character and memory of, the Southern leaders who won the hearts and affections of the Southern people for their adherence to Christian morals and devotion to their duty.

These observances take place across the lower half of the United States and beyond. The commemoration is more than just to remember their birthday’s, it is a celebration and observation of their Christian character that Southerners have always wanted their children to emulate.

As it turns out, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday was January 15, 1929, Robert E. Lee’s birthday was January 19, 1807, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s birthday was January 21, 1824—all very close in time.

 

In Virginia, as early as 1889, the state began celebrating Robert E. Lee Day, based on his birthday. In 1904, Virginia added “Stonewall” Jackson to the celebrated day which became “Lee-Jackson Day.”

Other Southern states joined in and have traditionally celebrated Robert E. Lee Day until recently, including Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi.

 

In South Carolina, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis’s birthdays were recognized independently (Davis’s being June 3, 1808) until the year 2000, when South Carolina moved them to May 10th designated as “Confederate Memorial Day”. That same year, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day became recognized in South Carolina per the federal holiday on the 3rd Monday in January. That holiday was begun under President Ronald Reagan in 1983, though states have handled the holiday recognition in different ways.

In Alabama and Mississippi, Robert E. Lee Day was combined with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to form the Lee-MLK Jr. Day.

In 2000, Virginia split the Lee-Jackson Day and made it the Friday before MLK Jr. Day.

Texas began celebrating the Robert E. Lee Day in 1931; it is now called “Confederate Heroes Day” and celebrated statewide.

Tennessee named January 19 as Robert E. Lee Day in 2013.

Florida has a state statute declaring Robert E. Lee Day.

Arkansas combined Robert E. Lee Day with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1985, but in 2017 made the Lee-Jackson Day a memorial Day held the 2nd Saturday in October.

Georgia made the Friday after Thanksgiving Robert E. Lee Day, but its now an unnamed paid holiday.

 

FACTS ABOUT GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE

Robert E. Lee was born January 19, 1807 into a wealthy family in Stratford Hall, Virginia, but they encountered serious problems by the time he was five years old and the family became bankrupt. He attended West Point College, however, and graduated 2nd in his class in 1929; he then married Mary Custis in 1831—George Washington’s step great granddaughter.

Lee served in the Mexican American War and was called by his superior officer General Winfield Scott “the best soldier ever seen in the field.” Others including Winston Churchill and President Donald Trump have praised his military skills.

Lee was an Army engineer after the Mexican American War and helped build the waterfront in St. Louis and coastal forts in Savannah and Brunswick, Georgia. In 1851, he was appointed Superintendent of West Point and is considered one of the best in that college’s history.

Colonel Lee helped capture the notorious John Brown, who incited a bloody civil war in Kansas then took over the Harper’s Ferry federal arsenal and towns people there with slaves, promising to cut a bloody swath across the South straight into and through South Carolina. This event brought Lee notoriety and Abraham Lincoln offered leadership of the Union Army to Lee in 1861 at start of the Civil War. Lee refused to take up arms against his state. He fought alongside such notables as Ulysses S. Grant, Pickett, Longstreet and “Stonewall” Jackson in his career.

After the War, Lee was appointed President of Washington College, Lexington, Virginia, which eventually changed its name to Washington and Lee College. After he died on October 12, 1870, he was buried there—along with his famous horse, “Traveller.”

While historians have stated that Lee inherited slaves through his wife’s family (not his own), it is also of note that Lee is known to have made this statement in his lifetime: “In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral and political evil in any Country.”

After his death, the New York Herald newspaper wrote an obituary of him: “…Here in the North, forgetting that the time was when the sword of Robert Edward Lee was drawn against us—forgetting and forgiving all the years of bloodshed and agony—we have long since ceased to look upon him as the Confederate leader, but have claimed him as one of ourselves; have cherished and felt proud of his military genius; have recounted and recorded his triumphs as our own; have extolled his virtue as reflecting upon us—for Robert Edward Lee was an American, and the great nation which gave him birth would be today unworthy of such a son if she regarded him lightly”.

Following his death, Robert E. Lee’s own estate became the site of the famous “Arlington National Cemetery”–in part to ensure he would not own and use it again (Wikipedia source). His home, called “Arlington House,” is a Greek revival style mansion overlooking the Potomac River and the National Mall. The mansion was declared a National Memorial administered by the National Park Service.

 

 

WHO WAS GENERAL THOMAS “STONEWALL” JACKSON?

General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson portrait astride his well-known mount, “Little Sorrel”

Considered most likely the second best general in the Southern Army, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was not originally an active military leader but a college professor at Virginia Military Institute.

“Stonewall” Jackson’s name has also been celebrated in conjunction with Robert E. Lee’s state holiday in Virginia until the Lee-Jackson state holiday was eliminated under the Democratically-controlled left-aligned government there in 2020. That Marxist-leaning government has recently removed two incredible Robert E. Lee monuments (Richmond and Charlottesville) and two of “Stonewall” Jackson (same locations), working to place them in highly demeaning situations. (See other monument stories under author’s heading recently posted on these topics.)

Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson was born on January 21, 1824 in Clarksburg, Virginia (now in West Virginia) and was orphaned. Like Lee, however, whose father died when Lee was 11, he went on to graduate from West Point College, but just in time for the Mexican American War (1846-48). After that, Jackson taught at VMI from 1851 until the War Between the States began.

Jackson’s first wife died during a stillborn childbirth. He remarried Mary Anna Morrison of Lincolnton, NC whose father was a Presbyterian minister and first president of Davidson College, and whose Uncle was a U.S. Senator and also NC Governor. The Morrison sisters married three Confederate generals including “Stonewall” Jackson, D. H. Hill (for whom N.C. State University’s Library is named) and General Rufus Barringer.

“Stonewall” and Anna Jackson were known to be deeply religious. They lost their first daughter but a second, Julia, survived through adulthood. Once settled in marriage, they purchased a home in Lexington, Virginia, though Anna Morrison spent most of her years after the War ended in Charlotte where she was a member of First Presbyterian Church and leader in many arenas. Charlotte now boasts “Stonewall Street” downtown, a housing development named, “Stonewall Jackson Homes” built for World War II returning veterans, and a youth detention facility named “Stonewall Jackson Training School,”—although recent attempts are being made to eliminate these names from that city along with all other Confederate monuments and symbols.

Thomas Jackson was commissioned in the War as a Brigadier General and became famous at the First Battle of Manassas (“Bull Run” was the name used by the Union army) for rallying his troops to a difficult victory. General Bernard Bee said of him, “There stands Jackson like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginian!” He was also famous for the “Rebel Yell” he ordered there which helped scatter the Union fighters and remains known even in today’s world of the South.

Jackson led the South to other major victories and was proclaimed perhaps the greatest strategic general America has ever known. Sadly, while scouting out enemy troops after dark, he was mistakenly shot by friendly fire and critically wounded, and had to have his arm amputated. Many historians believe that one event may have critically altered the course of the entire war. Eight days later, he died on May 10, 1863 in Virginia.

 

Lisa Carol Rudisill, M.T.S., is a magna cum laud graduate of NC State University and Liberty University where she earned a Master of Theology. She writes novels about her family history during the Civil War in North and South Carolina. She is a freelance writer, editorialist and a contributor to The Standard newspaper.

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