University of Virginia Library

HENRY LEE.

Henry Lee, popularly known as "Light-Horse Harry Lee" from his
gallant and efficient service during the Revolutionary War, was born,
January 29th, 1756, at "Leesylvania," which is situated on a point of
land jutting into the Potomac River, three miles above Dumfries, then
the county seat of Prince William. He was the son of Henry and
Lucy (Grymes) Lee, and fifth in descent from Richard Lee, of
Shropshire, England, the emigrant ancestor of the family in Virginia,
and combined also in his descent the blood of the historic Corbin, Ludwell,
and Bland families. He was the second cousin of the distinguished
brothers- Philip Ludwell, Thomas Ludwell, Richard Henry,
Francis Lightfoot, William, and Arthur Lee. His youngest brother,
Charles Lee, was Attorney-General in the second cabinet of Washington
Henry Lee was educated at Princeton College, New Jersey,
graduating thence in 1773. Intending the profession of law, he was
about to embark for England to pursue his studies under the direction
of his relative, Bishop Porteus, of London, when the commencement of
hostilities with the mother country changed his destiny. In May, 1776,

he was appointed by the Virginia Convention a captain in the cavalry
regiment of Colonel Theodrick Bland, Jr., and in September, 1777,
joined the main army. By the stern discipline which he introduced,
he was enabled to move with celerity and effect, and his rapid and daring
system of tactics made "Lee's Legion" highly efficient. Besides being
present at other important actions in the Northern Department, he was
at the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Springfield. He early
became a favorite of Washington, who selected his company as a bodyguard
at Germantown. In the difficult and critical operations in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and New York, 1777-1780, Lee was always placed
near the enemy, intrusted with the command of outposts, the superintendence
of scouts, and such like service, for which his skill, daring,
and self-possession pre-eminently fitted him. In January, 1778, Lee,
with only ten men, was attacked in a stone house by two hundred
British troopers, whom he repulsed. He was soon after promoted to the
rank of major, with the command of an independent corps of two companies
of horse, afterward increased to three, and a body of infantry.
He co-operated, as far as cavalry could act, in General Wayne's attack
upon Stony Point, and procured the intelligence upon which it was projected.
July 19, 1779, he surprised the garrison of Paulus Hook, and
took one hundred and sixty prisoners. For his "prudence, address, and
bravery" in this affair Congress voted him a gold medal.

Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, November 6th, 1780,
Lee joined the Southern Army under General Nathaniel Greene, in
January, 1781. He was at once detached toward the Santee River, in
South Carolina, to co-operate with the famous "Swamp-fox" Marion,
and these officers were speedily engaged in the successful surprise of
Georgetown. During the retreat of Greene before Cornwallis, Lee's
Legion formed the rear guard. Whilst watching the movements of
Cornwallis in North Carolina, he fell upon the Tory Colonel Pyle (who
was leading four hundred men to Cornwallis), and killed and captured
most of his command. At the battle of Guilford Court House, Lee
encountered the boastful and truculent Tarleton and drove him back
with loss, afterward held his ground obstinately on Greene's left wing,
and finally covered the retreat. It was by the advice of Lee that
Greene adopted the daring policy of not following Cornwallis into
Virginia, but of leaving that province to its fate, and marching south to
end the conflict in South Carolina and Georgia. The result fully
vindicated the expediency of this policy. Lee with his Legion joining
the partisan forces of Marion, by a series of vigorous operations reduced
Forts Watson, Motte, and Granby. While on his way to join Colonel
Pickens he surprised and took Fort Galphin. Augusta was taken after
a siege of sixteen days. He was also at the unsuccessful siege of Fort
Ninety-six. At the battle of Eutaw his gallantry contributed greatly
to the successful result. Lee's impetuous charge, causing the retreat of

EDMUND RANDOLPH,

Governor of Virginia, 1786-8.

the British left wing, probably saved the army from defeat. In the
extensive sweep which Lee's Legion made from the Santee to Augusta,
embracing from the 15th of April to the 5th of June, this corps, acting
in conjunction first with Marion, afterward with Pickens, and sometimes
alone, had constituted the principal force which carried the British posts,
and made upward of 1,100 prisoners—about four times its own
number.

The health of Colonel Lee under his incessant and arduous service
gave way, and from the effects of disease his spirits, too, became depressed,
and led to his retirement from a most brilliant and effective
career in the army, in January, 1782. His commander, General Greene,
in a letter dated January 27th, 1782, expresses the deepest concern at
this determination of Colonel Lee, and acknowledges to him "the greatest
obligations—obligations which I can never cancel," for "substantial
service" of "lasting reputation," which are "the best panegyric that
can be given of your actions." He continues: "I have the highest
opinion of you as an officer, and you know I love you as a friend."

Very soon after the return of Colonel Lee to Virginia, he visited
"Stratford," the seat of his kinsman, Colonel Philip Ludwell Lee, in
Westmoreland County, on the bluffs of the Potomac, and in a short
time was happily married to Matilda, the eldest daughter of his host.
In the midst of his happiness he did not forget the brave men he had
left in Carolina. His correspondence with General Greene, continued
to the end of the war, is filled with evidences of the solicitude he felt
for his soldiers. In 1786, Colonel Lee was elected to represent Westmoreland
County in the House of Delegates of Virginia, and was a
representative in the Continental Congress, 1786-1788, and in the latter
year was a member of the Virginia Convention to decide upon the
Federal Constitution, of which compact he was a prominent advocate.
He succeeded Beverley Randolph as Governor of Virginia, December
1st, 1791, serving until December 1st, 1794. After the disastrous
defeat of General St. Clair in the Northwest, in 1791, which moved
Washington to a profane outburst of passion, Lee is said to have been
the preference of the President to succeed St. Clair; but a question of
policy and of precedency in rank prevailed, and General Anthony Wayne
was appointed instead. General Lee, however, in 1794, was commissioned
a Major-General, to command the forces raised to quell the
"Whisky Insurrection" in Western Pennsylvania, and, advancing at
the head of 15,000 men, speedily silenced all tumult. In 1799, General
Lee was again in Congress, in which body he voiced the grief of the
American Nation upon the death of Washington, in the appealing
eulogy in which occurs the enduring sentiment, "First in war, first in
peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." In 1809, General Lee wrote
his "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United

States," which was republished in 1827, with additions by his son, Major
Henry Lee, and again in 1869, with revisions and a biography of the
author, by his son, General Robert E. Lee. In 1811, General Lee
removed with his family to Alexandria, for the purpose of educating
his children. In the second war with England, after the first disastrous
campaigns in Canada, he was offered and accepted a Major-General's
commission in the army. Whilst making his arrangements to enter the
service, business called him to Baltimore, and, being an inmate of the
house of Mr. Hanson when the riot connected with the Federal Republican
newspaper occurred, he received injuries at the hands of the mob,
from which he never recovered. The results of that night were fatal to
General Lingan. The injuries of General Lee nearly deprived him of
sight, and were otherwise so severe as to prevent his taking any part in
the war of 1812, and eventually terminated his life. It was thought
that a voyage to the West Indies and the influence of the mild climate
there might restore him. Here he remained until 1818, when, despairing
of recovery, he prepared to return home. He intended first to land
at Savannah, Georgia, but only reached Cumberland Island on the
coast, where he was received at the home of Mrs. Shaw, the daughter
of General Greene. Here he died, March 25th, 1818, and was buried
on the island. In person, General Lee was about five feet nine inches
in height, well proportioned, of an open, noble, and benignant countenance,
and a dark complexion. His manners were frank and engaging,
and his disposition generous and hospitable. He was twice married.
By his first wife, as stated, he had issue a son, Major Henry Lee,
diplomatist and author of ability, and a daughter, Lucy, who married
Bernard Carter. By his second wife, Anne Hill, daughter of Charles
Carter, of "Shirley," James River, whom he married June 18th, 1794,
General Lee had issue: Charles Carter, author and poet; Commodore
Sidney Smith, of the United States and Confederate States navies;
and General Robert Edward Lee, the peerless hero; and two daughters,
Anne Carter and Mildred, who married respectively William L. Marshall
and Edward Childe—the latter of Boston, Massachusetts.

Of the military talents of General Henry Lee, General Greene said,
"No man in the progress of the Southern campaign had equal merits
with Lee;" and the "love and thanks" expressed to Lee in Washington's
letter, in 1789, show the affection which his generous qualities had
inspired. In these sketches of the eminent men of Virginia it will be
observed that the connection of many of them with the philanthropic
and beneficent fraternity of Free Masons, of the period of the Revolution
and subsequent thereto, is noted. It has been asserted that nearly
every general officer in the Continental army, from Washington down,
was a Mason. From a report submitted to the Grand Lodge of Virginia
in 1867, by a venerable brother, Peyton Johnston, Esq., of Richmond,
it is evidenced that General Lee was an earnest Mason, and that

on the red field of war he practiced "Relief and Brotherly Love" in
saving the life of Colonel Broun, a British officer, whom he recognized
masonically as a brother of the "Mystic Tie." Lee County, formed in
1792 from Russell, was named in honor of General Lee.