Show A new demoi to w II 11 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON NE hundred years ago july 1 1829 there was graduated from the unit ed states military acad emy at west point N Y a class of au the who stood first was charles mason of isea york he bec ime a sec ond lieutenant in the en ginders corps served as assistant professor at the academy until 1831 when he re signed from the academy then he practiced law in isea ork biscon wiscon sin and iowa and hia career as an at torney ended in washington in the man who stood second in the class of 1829 was a young virginian named robert E lee after his graduation he became assistant engi neer in the construction of what was known as fortress monroe in his na alve state in 1837 he was ordered to the western frontier and for many ears he served ats country far from the banks of the potomac where stood his beloved arlington the home of his childhood playmate mary custis and his own home after their marriage in 1831 during the dexl can war capt robert E lee became successively major I 1 ee lieutenant colonel lee and colonel leo and gen eral scott dedari that he was the best soldier he had eer seen tn the field in the second man in his class came back to west point as its superintendent and that position he held until 1855 isalt the office of general smith the superintendent at west point today and among the soldiers who look down ut you from their portraits on the vv ills is this handsome young in 1801 the guns of 1 ort sumter the hopes of a peaceful set of the differ emes between the orth and the south lee vas recalled from tinas to washington and general scott offered soldier he had praised so highly lie corn mand of the union army that is about to be put into the field and to robert E lee pacing bick and forti on the venanda of historic arlington as lie s aught to make his gica test decision must leave come the words of hl father the famous light horse lee of revolutionary war fame Is my country her will I 1 obey however lamentable lie fate to which it may subject roe so this was lees answer to acott as he bont in 11 resignation from the army save in defense of mv native state I 1 never agian deslie to draw sword then virginia seceded from the union and robbi t L put on the enK geay within a year he proved that another name had been d CAPITOL added to the list of great american captains A distinguished english general held marshal discount Is count Vols elOi visited the confederate army in and years afterward be wrote every incident of thai visit 1 in stamped on my memory all he said to me then and during sub sequent conversations 1 still fresh in my recollection it Is natural it should be so for he was the ablest general and seemed to me the greatest man I 1 have ever conversed with and yet I 1 have had the privilege of meeting on moltke und prince Cl marck general lee was one of the fw men who evea seriously and awed me with their inherent greatness forty year have come and gone since our and yet the majesty pt his manly bearing the g elal winning grace th sweetness of his emile and the am press lve dignity of his old fashioned style of dress come back to me among my abst cherished recollections ilia greatness made me humble and I 1 never felt ray own insignificance more keenly than 1 did in his presence he was indeed a beautiful character aid of him it might truthfully be written in righteousness did he judge and make war such wis the leader of the lost cause whose military career came to an end in april then and this tribute Is from an editorial in the new times eberil lee who cited war and opposed secession and yet for reasons highly creditable to his character seceded with his state and led the southern troops to battle stated the confederate cause with per feet truth and simplicity saying after four yeara of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude the army of northern vir ginia haa been forced to yield to over whelmine whelming wh elming numbers and resources io commander tr on the other side no historian whatever dig prejudices has ever disputed the accuracy of those statements As time has cleared away the brej and engendered by the war more and more hae all americans come to n of tho greatness of E lee and north has joined south in plains him honor ills memory Is presen pd la ganv ways in the college at lexin ton a which bears name and of which he president in the later ears of his lire in the murble figure which stands in statuary full in the at Ional at Wih wihla lu ton and in the preservation of his home arlington as a nit lonal memorial and a last resting place for our soldier dead recently a new memorial his been added to the list and it Is singularly appropriate that this should be d ne in the centennial year of his entrance into the service of his country or on january 19 the of his birth this year the announcement was made that william alexander chapter of the united daughters of the confederacy in connecticut hat purchased straford bt raford hall und the plantation of 1222 acres I 1 ee was born spent his boyhood years to be preserved as a memorial and administered bv the dohert 13 lee foundation whose advisory board includes prominent men in the rth as ell as the south that the movement to preserve pie serve stratford hall as a lee national memorial in a new england state and that it has the backing of north aa welt as the south Is of ahe fact that the of CO years ago no longer denies him the right to he regarded us great nor the enshrining of his mem ry in the hearts of all his countrymen the romantic interest attached to the establishment of this latest memorial to lee as told ID the adlow ing news item which appeared at the time of the stratford hall purchase last january pun base of the lee estate marks the first step in the plan sponsored by the william alexinder chapter of pe daughters of the confederacy lo 10 make the place not merely a shrine but a living national educational gaeni orbal and a center ot historical r according to miss ethel arms 0 the alexander chapter announcement of the sale on the anniversary of general lee a birth ani the anniversary of the ot historic stratford hal marks th fulfillment of a determination born of a dramatic atory starting in green conn nearly a year ago 1 charles canler of greenwich head of the Will lun chapter while going through an old broken desk 0 her moth eryin law mrs sid ney canler widow of th poet came upon a penciled manuscript bv canler unpublished and until then nt known to exist which turned out to be a speech he made before citizens of mi con ga in lio upon the death ot general lee lo 10 which he breed the es of a n to honor lee to which every person mhd loed the southern leader could contribute folio day mrs canler re i alved a letter horn a via tioff in virginia describing a trip to stratford hall and asking why it tou d not be preserved the same day mrs canler called e meeting of her chapter which resulted in the passage of resolutions looking to the purchase of the tract the deed of purchase wae elgner a stratford ball by ane owners mr and mrs charles stuart after deteo month miss armes set forth the purpose pur post of the robert E lee memorial formed 0 o foundation now being operate similarly to the bount vr association as being fourfold to purchase restore and furnish to restore the famous old library inko of it a center 0 research and to scholarships to restore in colonial gardens the stratford on the potomac and reproduce of the boats which two centuries ro wre tied there and to perpetuate tb edeale and character of the lets ihlen ly by historical studies stratford was the alft elft ot 2 caroline wife of king georte II 11 to members of the lee fialli it wa the home of richard henry and fran acts lightfort Lightf lee of the bec lar atlon of of horse harry lee and other gener alons of the family prior to llie reo lutlo nary war it was a tor virginia leaders and the abin of much of the for independence pen dence |