Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/413

 LEE

LEE

settle the estate of liis father-in-law, who had died in 1857. leaving him first executor of his will. On Oct. IT, 1859, he received orders to report to the adjutant-general at Wasliington without delay and he was ordered to Harper's Ferry in command of three companies of U.S. marines to suppress a threatened attack on the U.S. arsenal. He found the arsenal in the posses- sion of a revolutionary party led by John Brown, and his followers numbering about forty-five men. Colonel Lee called upon him through Lieut.

J. E. B. Stuart, under a flag of
 * truce, to sur-

render, which Brown refused to do unless guaranteed safe conduct with his prisoners and men across the river into Maryland and not to be pursued until his party had gained a point half a mile from the ar- senal. This Lee refused to consider and at once opened an assault on the engine house on the arsenal grounds, in which the survivors of the defending band, seventeen whites and three negroes, were taken prisoners at the point of the bayonet. Colonel Lee then entered the building and had Brown and his wounded followers cared for in the arsenal by a surgeon of the marine corps and afterward delivered them over to Judge Robert J. Ould, the U.S. district attorney. The prisoners were given over to tlie charge of the state courts, and tried and convicted on a charge of treason, murder and inciting insurrection among slaves, and the state militia supplanted the U.S. troops as guard and Colonel Lee and the U.S. troops had no part in the execution of John Brown. He left Harper's Ferry, Dec. 3, 1859, and soon after Christmas of that year rejoined his regiment at San Antonio, Texas, where he remained in the service till ordered to "Washing- ton, where lie arrived, March 1, 1861, and re- ported to Lieutenant-General Scott, commanding the U.S. army. Seven states had at this time passed the ordinance of secession and on Feb. 4, 1861, had formed a union as " The Confederate States of America." Abraham Lincoln would be inaugurated President. March 4, 1861. and Win- field Scott, the general-in-chief of the U.S. army, desired the advice of the officers of the U.S. army. Colonel Lee assured General Scott that if Virginia seceded from the Union and the gov- ernment decided to coerce the states by military force, his sense of duty would oblige him to go with his state. On March 10. 1861, Colonel Lee was assigned to duty as a member of the board to

revise the "Regulations for the government of the United States army "' and he filed the report of the board, April 18. 1861. On April 15 Presi- dent Lincoln called upon the loyal states for 75.000 volunteers and Virginia was called upon for her quota. This demand, and other considerations, caused the Virginia convention, which had been in session since Feb. 13, to pass an ordinance of secession by a voteof 88to5o. President Lincoln, hoping the act of the seceding states had caused Lee's spirit of loyalty to the Union to overbalance his sense of loyalty to his state, is said to liave offered him the command of the arnjy. which Gen. Scott wished to transfer to a younger man, repeatedly naming Robert E. Lee as his suc- cessor. This offer, it is said, was made at army headquarters through Francis Preston Blair, Sr., April 18, 1861, and that Colonel Lee re- plied that he was opposed to secession and de- precated war, but that he could take no part in the invasion of the Southern States, con- sidering such an act a breach of his oath to " support and defend the constitution of the United States " as interpreted by Attorney-Gen- eral Black. He then went to General Scott and reported his decision and on April 20. 1861. he tendered the resignation of his commission in the U.S. army to Simon Cameron, the Secretary of "War, at the same time addressing a letter to General Scott, asking him to recommend its ac- ceptance. On April 23, upon the invitation of a committee of the Virginia convention, lie visited Richmond where he accepted the commission of commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of Virginia with the rank of major-gen- eral. On April 24. 1861, in his address before the convention assembled in Richmond, accepting the trust, he closed with these words: "Trust- ing in Almighty God, an approving conscience and the aid of my fellow-citizens, I devote my- self to the service of my native state in whose behalf alone will I ever again draw my sword," On May 20, 1861. the people of Virginia by a vote of 150.000 to 20.000 ratified the ordinance of secession, and the same day the L'.S. navy yard at Norfolk was evacuated by the L'.S. authorities and taken possession of by the Virginia state troops. On May 22 the state entered the Confed- eracy and on May 24, 10.000 Federal soldiers crossed the Potomac and took possession of Alex- andria, Va. On May 29. President Davis with his cabinet arrived in Richmond, which became the capital of the Confederate States of America. On June 8. 1861. Virginia transferred her military forces to the new government and General Lee remained the ranking oflPicer of the Virginia military forces, and as such became military ad- visor to Governor Letcher, commander-in-cliief. In selecting the defensive lines for the state, he