Latest news with #RobertELee
Wall Street Journal
a day ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘Midnight on the Potomac' Review: The Civil War's Last Gasp
Twelve months before Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Union victory in the Civil War was far from certain. The capture of Vicksburg in 1863 had riven the Confederacy, but in the spring of 1864 Lee's Army of Northern Virginia remained a powerful force. Commander in Chief Abraham Lincoln worried not only about military prospects but also an impending presidential election in which he would face George B. McClellan, the popular Democratic candidate. Defeat would frustrate Lincoln's plans to stamp out the Southern rebellion, end slavery and reunite the nation. The stakes are high in Scott Ellsworth's fast-paced 'Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America.' Mr. Ellsworth, a former historian at the Smithsonian Institution and the author of 'The Ground Breaking,' about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, argues that, in early 1864, 'the fate of the United States of America lay in the balance.' He takes readers on an action-packed journey, beginning with the launch of Grant's Overland Campaign that spring and ending with Lincoln's shocking murder at Ford's Theatre one year later. Mr. Ellsworth has crafted a suspenseful narrative brimming with engaging insights, highlighting some lesser-known historical episodes and individuals. For instance, most Americans think of Gettysburg as the war's deadliest battle: More than 51,000 soldiers perished, were wounded or went missing in July 1863 on the blood-soaked fields of Pennsylvania. But Mr. Ellsworth draws our attention to a different encounter. After Grant launched his Overland Campaign, the first two clashes between Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac and Lee's troops lasted from May 5 to May 21, 1864, and resulted in more than 60,000 casualties. 'Taken together as one single conflict,' Mr. Ellsworth writes, 'the bloody side-by-side battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania was the largest battle ever to occur in the Americas.' Neither side could claim victory afterward, a fact that must have produced deep anxiety in Lincoln and the members of his administration. The president recognized, Mr. Ellsworth argues, that the war had become one of attrition and 'the trick now, as the summer weather rolled in, was to hang on.' But June and July brought new troubles. Munitions exploded at the Washington Arsenal on June 17, killing 21 workers and producing a damaging fire. The city came out in full force to honor the dead, with Lincoln joining the long march to the cemetery. One month later, Gen. Jubal Early brought his Confederate troops within 5 miles of the White House and contemplated an invasion to level the president's home as well as the U.S. Capitol. For unknown reasons, he decided not to attack. Union reinforcements reached the District of Columbia the following day and Early was forced to retreat. 'The audacious plan to capture Washington—and possibly end the war,' Mr. Ellsworth concludes, 'disappeared as quickly as it had begun.'
Associated Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Five years after shedding Confederate moniker, a West Texas high school may be Lee High again
MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — La'Toya Mayberry is proud of many things. She's proud of her family's West Texas roots. She's proud of her two daughters, Aniyah and Erinn, two formidably academic athletes who are continuing the family's basketball legacy. And five years ago, she was proud of the Midland Independent School District. Its board of trustees had voted to rename a school carrying the name of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which she considered a stain on the community, to Legacy High School. That pride may soon give way to shame. A new configuration of the Midland school board is set to consider reverting the school's name to Midland Lee, affixing Lee's legacy once more. A vote may come as early as Tuesday. 'My daughter is going to this school, and she's an athlete, representing the school, not just in Midland, but when we travel,' Mayberry said of her youngest, Erinn, a junior varsity basketball player. 'What does this say to her that you want to restore a name that meant whites only?' The debate in this West Texas town echoes a renewed national debate over honoring the leaders of the Confederacy, particularly in the South. Midland ISD was part of the movement to remove the names of buildings and statues in public places honoring Confederate leaders like Lee, following the Black Lives Matter protests. The cultural tide has shifted with President Donald Trump's return to the White House and his crusade against 'wokeness.' Earlier this year, Trump ordered the military to undo the changes made by the Biden administration to scrub the names of Confederate leaders from military bases. That included changing Fort Cavazos, near Killeen, back to Fort Hood. This time, however, the name of the base honors a World War I veteran Col. Robert B. Hood. Midland ISD Vice President Josh Guinn, elected in 2024, announced his intentions to rename Legacy High School on July 4. He said the name Lee honors the 'patriotic legacy that binds us,' and a 'symbol of our shared pride.' Guinn did not respond to an interview request. Tommy Bishop, a school board members for nearly 20 years, said he learned of Guinn's plans on Facebook. He did not disclose whether he would support Guinn on Tuesday, but he would prefer that another committee be established to choose a new name. Guinn's supporters said naming the high school Lee has nothing to do with the country's Confederate history or slavery. Instead, it's about retaining the aspects of the school they're proud of, like the celebrated Midland Lee Rebels, its football team. Tim Lirley, an alumnus whose two daughters graduated from the high school before and after the name was changed, said Guinn is doing the right thing by preserving it. 'Everybody wants to be a Lee Rebel,' he said. 'Nobody wants to be a Robert E Lee.' Nearly 40 schools in Texas have retained an association with the Confederacy by name, according to data maintained by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Should Guinn succeed, Midland will join the roster. To Mayberry, civic leaders and families who send their kids to the district's schools, it is a step backward for a community that they said has worked to distance itself from an era of slavery and racism and make all families feel welcomed. 'When you allow a little thing,' like a name, said John McAfee, one of the district's retired teachers who taught when its classrooms were still partially segregated, 'everything is affected.' Legacy Legacy High School opened in 1961. The original name, Robert E. Lee High, was approved by the school board 4-2. The name was chosen as a snub to the U.S. Supreme Court's orders to desegregate schools, said Daniel Harris, a theologian in Midland who has researched the issue of the school's name. The Midland community has, during the last six decades, sporadically debated the name, the school's mascot, the Rebels, and the other symbols tied to the Civil War and slavery. In 1991, Rick Davis sat at a school board meeting where the board debated whether students should be allowed to use the Confederate battle flag as a school symbol. That debate stuck with Davis for decades. And in 2020, as school board president, he was part of the coalition that approved dropping Lee. 'Changing the name would not be an effort to erase history,' he wrote in a July 2020 essay for the local newspaper. 'Instead, remembering history is what should cause us to change the name of the school that was so named in a misguided attempt to honor such history at that particular time.' Later, he added: 'It is also about moving forward to reflect the character of our remarkable community.' As part of the renaming process, the board established a committee to brainstorm options. The group proposed three suggestions. Among them was Legacy of Equality and Excellence, or L.E.E. for short, which garnered the most votes from the committee. Davis rejected the proposal, arguing it did not distance itself enough from the Confederate general. Ultimately, the board settled on Legacy. The move disappointed Bishop, the sitting board member, who said the committee selected a name and the board's role was to adopt it. When the board last changed the name, it cost the district about $2 million to update school uniforms, band uniforms and other signage on the school's premises. Changing the name again could cost the school roughly $20,000, Bishop said, although the number is not final. 'I just think there should have been some collaboration,' Bishop said. 'If you're going to ask for a committee to be put together and then you don't support it, then what's the point?' Davis' critics angered by the name change called him a 'woke liberal.' Davis, an elder and trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Midland and a decades-long civic leader, has served in the top ranks of the local Republican party, advancing conservative causes. He has been the precinct chair, eventually rising to county chair. He also served as county chair and regionally co-helmed George W. Bush's gubernatorial campaign in Midland. In the last three presidential elections, he has voted for Donald Trump. For his critics, his act to rename the school outweighs his political advocacy and is tantamount to a betrayal of the community's values. Davis has stuck by his choice. 'There's nothing patriotic about what Robert E Lee did,' Davis told the Tribune. 'He rejected his sworn oath to defend the United States, and he took up arms against the United States, and he did so to allow states to continue to enslave people, and that's just wrong.' Football The Midland Rebels, the school's storied football team, has produced an impressive roster of players who disagree on whether their legacy hinges on the school's name, and others who are afraid it would disappear without it. Lirley, who played for the football team from 1994 to 1996, said the old name has brought the school national notoriety. He said that for him, it was never an issue of race or slavery. When he was a student, everyone was proud to be a Lee Rebel, he said. It represents 'generations of people,' who played football, volleyball and played instruments in the band. Removing the name, he said, takes away the school's heritage, adding it is an effort led by people with liberal-leaning political views who he believes are encroaching on the city. 'We don't have a whole lot here besides oil and football, and whenever you start stripping that away from us, it gets pretty tough to have a real good community,' he said. Despite the name change, the school maintained its mascot, the Rebels. Its depiction, formerly that of a Confederate soldier, was changed to a soldier from the American Revolutionary War, which the committee created by the former board recommended. John Norman, a Midland City Council member who graduated from the school under the old name, said the school can preserve an identity it can be proud of without it. An athletic powerhouse in the 1990s, Norman's name resides in the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. 'It's bigger' than football, Norman said, 'and it's a slap in the face of Black people' to return the school's old name. The week before the board was set to discuss Guinn's proposal, families on both sides of the issue said they may find different schools for their children depending how the vote goes. Mayberry attributed her daughter's academic and athletic successes to the local school district. When she learned the school board would discuss reverting the name of the High School, she said she wouldn't send her youngest there anymore. Mayberry and her husband, Edward, said academic performance is a 'driving force' in the household, a requirement their daughters must meet to play basketball. Aniyah and Erinn have been on the honor roll every year. They've taken rigorous advanced placement courses. Aniyah, the oldest and a freshman at Midland College, obtained certifications as a nursing assistant and phlebotomist before starting her freshman year. Erinn, like her older sister, plays for the varsity basketball team. The girls work at the family-owned child care center. The family has run child care centers since 2019. Mayberry said she felt vindicated and seen as a member of the community after the name change in 2020. The name Lee, she said, cannot be separated from its association with slavery, which the general fought to uphold. 'I felt like we were showing the world that we were moving forward and that we have evolved and changed,' Mayberry said. 'How dare we decide to even think about going back? I just can't comprehend why we would even waste tax dollars to go backwards.' Erinn said she doesn't want to leave. That's where her friends are. Her first basketball game with her sister — which they won — was at the school's court. Switching schools means becoming ineligible to play basketball in her last year of school, per the district's policies. If she had to, she said, she would not put up a fight. By reverting the name, 'you're undoing what (the students) have created now,' Mayberry said. 'You're undoing that legacy to keep your legacy.' Lirley, who shares Guinn's desire to change the name, is also waiting for the board's decision. On Thursday afternoon, days before the vote, Lirley took his two youngest sons to a nearby park. Lawson and Greyson are still infants. But one day, Lirley hopes that they'll go to the same high school and watch the celebrated football team on the field he once played in. Lirley said the board members should let the public decide in a vote. But if it does not go his way, he will move his boys to private school. 'I'll go to another school if I have to start over,' Lirley said. 'But I'm not going to go back to a school that you stripped out from under us all and then expect us to start running back to you like you did something great, because you did nothing great for the community.' ___ This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Fox News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Rep. Wesley Hunt defends Trump's move to restore Robert E. Lee's name to military base
Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, defended former President Donald Trump's decision to restore the name of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Fort Gregg-Adams during an appearance on "Real Time," Friday, following the Biden administration's 2023 removal of Lee's name from the base. Hunt argued that keeping Confederate generals' names on statues and military bases serves as "a reminder of what was," and if we don't remember our nation's history, "we are doomed to repeat it." When asked by host Bill Maher what he thought of Trump's decision to rename the base, Hunt told the late-night host he actually lived in the Robert E. Lee Barracks when he attended West Point. "I'll never forget walking under the threshold of Robert E. Lee Barracks and thinking to myself: 'Damn, this is one hell of a country,'" he told Maher. "Because only in America can someone like me walk into a building named after a Confederate general and then be a successful West Point graduate." The Texas congressman argued that if the United States were to start changing the names of buildings, every single building would be named Jesus Christ "based on perfection." Maher, an outspoken atheist, responded, "Well…" to the laughter of the panel and audience. After a quick laugh, Hunt got right back to making his case against the removal of historical statues and buildings that represent a darker time in the nation's history. He noted that he is married to a white woman and the father to three biracial children, something that would not have been possible during the time period these historical figures were alive. "I cannot wait to show them — and take them to places that — that wasn't always the case," he told the panel. "There was a time when your mother and daddy couldn't be married." Hunt celebrated the fact that his children have the opportunity to experience "second-lining down in New Orleans," while also spending time on his wife's family farm in Iowa, adding, "That is America." "And I do not want to take down these statues and change the names of these buildings because they're a reminder of what was. And if we don't remember it, we are doomed to repeat it," he concluded. After all of this, Maher responded, "Oh. So there's a reason for it. I see."
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Private Fitz Lee: Dinwiddie native, Medal of Honor recipient and new namesake for Fort Lee
Fort Lee is officially back. The general order from the Department of Defense redesignating Fort Gregg-Adams has been signed, sealed and delivered. The next step is changing signs and other references both on and off post. Amid all the discussions on the name change, one question likely on the minds of citizens is, just for whom is the post being named? While he may not be as well-known as the original namesake, Fitz Lee does have ties to this community that Robert E. Lee did not. For example, Fitz Lee was born in Dinwiddie County in central Virginia, while Robert E. Lee was born in Westmoreland County, part of Virginia's Northern Neck and more than 100 miles from Dinwiddie. Fitz Lee never achieved an Army rank higher than private, while Robert E. Lee was a colonel in the United State Army before resigning his commission and becoming general and the commanding officer of Confederate forces in the Civil War. Fitz Lee was also born one year after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, ending the Civil War. Fitz Lee was a member of the famous 'Buffalo Soldiers' regiments consisting of all-Black soldiers in the U.S. Army who served west of the Mississippi River following the Civil War. He is one of 30 Buffalo Soldiers to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. To be clear, Fitz Lee has no familial connections to Robert E. Lee, so in restoring the name Lee to the Prince George County post, the change does not violate Section 1749 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020, which renamed Fort Lee and two others in Virginia to represent diversity in the Army. More: What students, officials say about VSU appearance as only HBCU in prestigious NASA event While the two men are not related, there was in fact a 'Fitz Lee' within the Confederate general's family. Fitzhugh 'Fitz' Lee served as a general in the Confederate army under his uncle, Robert E. Lee, and later was Virginia governor from 1886-90. He had been indicted for treason for his Confederate role but was later pardoned and was one of four former Confederate generals to be brought back to U.S. military service during the Spanish-American War – even though he saw no action. Ironically, Fitzhugh Lee was a major general in the same war in which Private Fitz Lee served and received the Medal of Honor. Fitzhugh Lee retired from military service in 1901 and died four years later at the age of 69. More: Former Sycamore Grove developer reacts to Petersburg pulling contract: 'City simply walked away' A National Park Service online biography states that Fitz Lee was born in June 1866 in Dinwiddie County. In 1889 in Philadelphia, he enlisted in the Tenth Cavalry M Troop. As the U.S. mobilized for war with Spain in 1898, Lee was among 50 Buffalo soldiers chosen to go behind enemy lines in Cuba and reinforce freedom fighters supporting Cuban independence from Spain. Following an unsuccessful attempt to rescue wounded soldiers at Tayabacoa, Cuba, Lee and four comrades volunteered to try again. This time, they surprised the Spanish soldiers holding the wounded Americans and were able to get them aboard the USS Florida safely. The mission took its toll on Lee's health, though. He returned to the U.S. and was bedridden in the hospital at Fort Bliss, Texas, with severe abdominal pain, swollen limbs and fading eyesight. He received the Medal of Honor while in the hospital and was honorably discharged from the Army several days later. Lee went to Leavenworth, Kansas, to live with other former Buffalo Soldiers, but his health continued to deteriorate. He died Sept. 14, 1899, at a friend's home and was buried with full military honors in Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. 'Fitz Lee's legacy is one of bravery, humility, and unshakable dedication to his fellow soldiers,' Major Gen. Donahue said in a June 16 statement from the post. 'By bearing his name, this installation deepens its connection to our local heritage and our Army's enduring values.' Fort Lee's former name that was issued in April 2023 honored the late Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and the late Lt. Col. Charity Adams. Gregg was a logistics expert who served at Fort Lee on several occasions and was the highest-ranking officer of color when he retired. Adams led a group of Black women soldiers who delivered mail to the battlegrounds of the European Theater in World War II. More: More changes ahead for Fort Gregg-Adams. What's the future for U.S. Army Women's Museum? The renaming order, signed by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, is simple and straightforward in its wording. The name change became effective June 11 and states that Fort Gregg-Adams is 'redesignated as Fort Lee in honor of Private Fitz Lee.' It was issued on the same day as orders renaming Fort Barfoot in Nottoway County as Fort Pickett and Fort Walker in Caroline County as Fort Anderson-Pinn-Hill, shortened to 'A.P. Hill.' Fort Pickett is named for First Lt. Vernon Pickett, who received the Distinguished Service Cross for World War II service. Originally named for Confederal Gen. George Pickett, the now-headquarters of the Virginia National Guard was changed to Fort Barfoot in 2023 in memory of Col. Van Barfoot, a World War II hero of Native American heritage who received the Medal of Honor. Fort A.P. Hill is named for Private Bruce Anderson, First Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Lt. Col. Edward Hill. All three received the Medal of Honor for their bravery in Virginia and North Carolina campaigns. It was originally named for Confederate Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill Jr. but was changed to Fort Walker in memory of Dr. Mary Walker, a Civil War surgeon and the only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. While the general order has been issued, an Army spokesperson told The Progress-Index that the 'implementation order' – setting the schedule and logistics for the new name and its signage – has not been issued. Asked when that will take place, the spokesperson replied, 'Soon.' A Fort Lee spokesperson told The Progress-Index that the post was already working on sign changes and other materials, and plans to launch an educational campaign highlighting the life of its new namesake. More: More changes ahead for Fort Gregg-Adams. What's the future for U.S. Army Women's Museum? Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Fort Lee's new namesake is a Medal of Honor winner from Dinwiddie County
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump aims to restore confederate names to seven military bases
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was reinstating the names of seven military bases that had been named after Confederates, including their leader, Gen. Robert E. Lee. Trump made the announcement during his trip to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, which had briefly taken on the name 'Fort Liberty.' In February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (pictured) announced that it would be riverted to Fort Bragg, but would be named after a World War II hero, not the problematic Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. 'For a little breaking news, we are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee,' Trump told the crowd Tuesday. 'We won a lot of battles out of those forts,' he continued. 'And I'm superstitious, I like to keep it going right? I'm very superstitious, we want to keep it going, so that's a big story, I just announced it today to you for the first time.' Trump said he was pressured to wait and make the announcement during Saturday's parade marking his birthday and celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Army. 'I can't wait!' he said at Fort Bragg. 'I've got to talk to my friends here today.' The president's move makes good on a campaign promise he made, not in 2024, but in 2020. In the aftermath of George Floyd's death of Memorial Day weekend of 2020 and the 'Black Lives Matter' protests that sprung up from the incident, there were renewed calls to remove Confederate statues and names from public spaces. Trump resisted those calls - instead backing the 'Blue Lives Matter' movement, a counter-protest on the American right. Still Congress decided to act and the name change for military bases was included in a large defense package that earned bipartisan support. Even after he lost the election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden, he vetoed the military spending bill in December 2020 , which contained language to rename 10 bases originally named for Confederates. Congress - in another bipartisan vote - overrode Trump's veto. It's unclear why the president didn't mention Forts Beauregard and Benning in his announcement Tuesday, as they were both included in the defense spending bill. The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. The process to rename the bases wrapped up in January 2023, during Biden's presidency - so Trump blamed his predecessor, despite members of his own party supporting the changes. A number of bases were renamed from Confederates to women and black Americans. 'The one and only Fort Bragg, the one and only Fort Bragg,' Trump said onstage Tuesday. 'But remember it was only that little brief moment that it wasn't called Fort Bragg. It was by the Biden administration. And we got it changed,' he touted. Fort Bragg, in the February change, was renamed after Roland L. Bragg, who the Pentagon described as a World War II fighter 'who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.' The original 'Bragg' was Braxton Bragg, who was a slaveowner. He was also so inept that he helped the Confederacy lose the Civil War to U.S. forces.
