University of Virginia Library

CXV.

CXV. FITZHUGH LEE.

CXV. Governor.

CXV. January 1, 1886, to January 1, 1890.

Fitzhugh Lee is the third of this distinguished family
whose name is enrolled upon the list of Virginia's chief
executives, viz.: Thomas Lee, President of the Council,
1749; Henry Lee, Governor, 1791, and the subject of this
sketch, who assumed the duties of this high office, January
1, 1886.

Fitzhugh Lee was born at "Clermont," Fairfax County,
Virginia, November 19, 1835, being the son of Sydney Smith
Lee and Nannie Mason Lee; having Governor Henry Lee as
grandfather on the paternal, and George Mason as great-grandfather
on the maternal side.

At the age of sixteen, Fitzhugh Lee was appointed a
cadet at West Point, from which institution he graduated with
distinction, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the
famous old Second Cavalry, of which Albert Sidney Johnston
was Colonel. Lieutenant Lee soon distinguished himself as
a disciplinarian, and later, won the admiration of his comrades
on the frontier of Texas, by his gallantry in various
fights with the Indians. He was the Second Lieutenant of
Kirby Smith's Company, and when that company joined
the celebrated and successful Wichita expedition under
Van Dorn, Lee was selected by Van Dorn as his Adjutant.
In the battle of May 13, 1859, between six companies of his
regiment and a large force of Comanche Indians, he was
chosen to command a picked body that charged on foot the
thick jungle, in which the Indians had taken refuge. Lieutenant
Lee fell, towards the end of the fight, pierced through
the lungs with an arrow; he was carried out on the prairie,

and borne for 200 miles in a horse litter, and his life for weeks
was despaired of.

General Scott, subsequently, in published orders, says:
"Major Van Dorn notices the conspicuous gallantry and
energy of Second Lieutenant Fitzhugh Lee, Adjutant of the
expedition, who was dangerously wounded." On the 15th
January, 1860, he is again mentioned in orders by General
Scott as having (in command of a portion of his company)
had another fight with the Indians, in which his rapid pursuit,
recovery of stolen property, and personal combat with
one of the chiefs, are all highly commended. The spirit of
"Light-Horse Harry" certainly showed itself now in his
young grandson.

In May, 1860, Fitzhugh Lee was appointed instructor of
Cavalry at West Point, a very complimentary detail, and it
was while fulfilling the duties of this post that the breaking out
of the late civil war found him. He now resigned his position
in the United States Army, with pangs known only to the
truly loyal in a case of divided duty, and was first assigned
in the Confederate States Army, as Adjutant-General to General
R. S. Ewell. He served here in the first battle of
Manassas, and after that was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the
First Virginia Cavalry. From this time on, "Fitz Lee"
was so identified with the Cavalry of the Army of Northern
Virginia that it would take a history of this branch of the
service to narrate his operations. Suffice it to say, that he
gathered honors as the combat grew, and in May, 1863,
shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, we find
his uncle, the Commanding General, Robert E. Lee, thus
writing to him:

In the latter part of 1863, Fitzhugh Lee was placed in
command of a division of Cavalry, and in the spring of 1865
he was by order of the Commanding General placed in command

of the Cavalry Corps of the army of Northern Virginia.
He was one of the three Corps Commanders who, with General
R. E. Lee, composed the Council of War just before the surrender.

After that event, General Fitzhugh Lee retired to his farm
in Stafford County, Virginia, and accepting the situation of
defeat, amidst the desolation around, turned his attention
to the milder arts of peace.

His hold upon the affections of the people of Virginia was
thus deepened, for passing together through this period of
trial—sharper than the iron hail of battle—they became
doubly united to him through common suffering and disaster.
They lost no opportunity to do him honor, and his noble
desire to "bury the past" strongly appealed to the better
judgment of those who, with that past, had much to bury.

At the Yorktown Centennial, General Fitzhugh Lee commanded
the Virginia troops, and received an ovation equal
to that accorded to the President of the United States,
or any of the distinguished soldiers and civilians present.

At the inaugural of President Cleveland, on the 4th
March, 1885, as General Lee rode up Pennsylvania Avenue,
Washington, D. C., at the head of the Division he commanded,
he was greeted everywhere with cheers and the waving
of handkerchiefs, and unconsciously evoked an enthusiasm
which must have warmed his soldier heart.

Again, when he served on General Hancock's staff at
the funeral of General Grant, he met the same fervid and
flattering greeting.[4]

No wonder was it then that this favorite of the people
was, in 1885, elected Governor of Virginia. He assumed the
duties of the office, January 1, 1886, and his administration

was most successful, giving, as Chief Executive, satisfaction
as sound and abiding, as had been the glory he had won
upon the bloody field of battle.

Among the Acts of the General Assembly during Governor
Lee's term may be quoted the following, as touching
an important legal question decided by the Supreme Court of
the United States, December 5, 1887. (See United States
Reports, Vol. 123, Page 443. October Term, 1887.)

JOINT RESOLUTION

General Fitzhugh Lee married Miss Ellen Fowle, of Alexandria,
Virginia, and has a large and interesting family.