Henry Lee III

Light Horse Henry Lee III

Henry Lee III ("Light Horse" Harry Lee, 1756-1818) was a cavalry officer for the Continental Army and statesman for Virginia and the early United States of America. He was the father of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, and he famously gave the eulogy for George Washington's funeral, pronouncing him "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Later in life Henry Lee would become a historian.

Though less successful in his closing years, Lee was remembered and honored for his achievements during the American Revolutionary War. A biographer described him as "the foremost soldier of his years in the entire Revolutionary army."

Early Life

Henry Lee III was born at Dumfries in northern Virginia on January 29, 1756. His parents were Henry Lee II and Lucy Grymes Lee, both of them descended from English Cavalier settlers of the 17th century and thus part of the "First Families of Virginia" aristocracy that dominated the colony. Like others of this group, the Lee family (including Henry Lee III's cousin Richard Henry Lee, a future president of the Continental Congress) tended to support the English Whig Party and to be stubborn and outspoken defenders of their colonial prerogatives and their traditional rights as English subjects.

Lee was educated by private tutoring at the family home, his father intending for him to become a lawyer. In 1770, he matriculated at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and graduated in 1773. Though he received good marks during his time of study, he was said to have given less attention to the law than to the classics, especially the ancient Romans and their ideas on virtue, perhaps indicating that he was already looking forward to a future test of wills with the British over their policies of American taxation.

Revolutionary War Soldier

In 1777, Lee was commissioned (by then-governor Patrick Henry) as a captain in the 1st Continental Light Dragoons, a cavalry regiment led by Colonel Theodorick Bland, a relation of the Lees. He and his unit first saw significant combat in 1778, with Lee (by now promoted to major) distinguishing himself in the defeat of a Hessian regiment outside New York City in September. At other times, he was highly successful in carrying out the conventional duties of the cavalry: gathering intelligence on enemy movements, screening the Continental Army's own movements from the British, and raiding around and behind enemy lines to gather supplies and cause disruption. It was these exploits that earned Lee the nickname "Light-Horse Harry," and a grateful General Washington offered him a position on his staff. Lee declined, however, preferring a field command; as he put it, "I am wedded to my sword." Impressed, Washington saw to the creation of an independent unit under Lee's command that would later include both cavalry and infantry and come to be known as "Lee's Legion."

Lee and his Legion distinguished themselves at the Battle of Paulus Hook in New Jersey in August 1779, raiding a British fort and inflicting some 200 casualties at a cost of only a dozen of their own. In recognition of this exploit, Lee was again promoted, to lieutenant colonel, and presented by the Continental Congress with a gold medal and $15,000, the latter to be distributed to his soldiers.

Shortly after this feat, in response to the deteriorating situation in the Carolinas, Lee's Legion was reassigned to the Southern Army. There, in 1780 and early 1781, Lee joined with local partisan leaders such as Francis Marion in raiding and harassing British outposts in South Carolina, while also performing highly effectively as regular cavalry for the army under Nathanael Greene, who once referred to Lee as his "right eye." In January and February 1781, Lee screened the northward retreat of Greene's army to Virginia, then scattered Loyalist militia in North Carolina at the Battle of Haw Creek, also known as "Pyle's Massacre." Lee would subsequently take part in the Battle of Guilford Court House, the siege of Ninety-Six, and the Battle of Eutaw Springs, and be present at the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender of Charles Cornwallis.

Public Career

Despite his acknowledged military talents and accomplishments, Lee had by the time of Yorktown become unhappy with his place in the army, due in part to his anger at members of the Congress who had slighted the role of veteran Continental Army officers like himself in favor of the various state militias; by contrast, Lee felt the war had been won in spite of, not because of, the militia units. Feeling disrespected, Lee resigned from the army in early 1782 and returned to Virginia. There, he married his second cousin, Matilda Ludwell Lee, and sought a career in politics.

He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1785, and in 1786 became a representative to the Continental Congress. While a member, Lee consistently advocated a strengthening of the Articles of Confederation, which he saw as necessary to effectively protect America against foreign aggression. He also feared the weak Confederation government would lead to anarchy and the destruction of liberty; at one point he predicted to friends that if incidents like Shays' Rebellion continued, the result would be "a mob government for a time, which will terminate in despotism among ourselves or from abroad." For these reasons, Lee supported the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and represented, with James Madison and others, the Federalist cause at the Virginia ratification convention in 1788.

Works

• Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States, on archive.org