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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Robert E. Lee, who achieved fame as the commander of |
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the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, was |
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born 200 years ago, on January 19, 1807, at Stratford Hall, |
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Westmoreland County, Virginia; and |
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WHEREAS, After graduating second in his class at West Point |
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in 1829, General Lee made his career in the military and served in |
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Texas on several occasions; his first introduction to the Lone Star |
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State came during the Mexican War, when he accompanied the forces |
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under General John E. Wool as they advanced from San Antonio to |
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Buena Vista in 1846-1847; as a captain of engineers, he oversaw the |
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construction at Eagle Pass of a pontoon bridge, over which General |
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Wool's troops crossed into Coahuila; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1855, the congress authorized the creation of |
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four new regiments, two of infantry and two of cavalry, to help |
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protect the western frontier; Robert E. Lee, then superintendent of |
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the U.S. Military Academy, was appointed second in command of one of |
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those units, the 2nd Cavalry; he arrived in Texas in March 1856, and |
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the following month he assumed command of two squadrons at Camp |
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Cooper, on the Comanche Indian reservation in present-day |
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Shackelford County; and |
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WHEREAS, Soon afterward, in June 1856, Lieutenant Colonel Lee |
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set out with four squadrons of the 2nd Cavalry in pursuit of a group |
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of Indians, believed to be led by the Comanche chief Sanaco, who had |
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been raiding along the edge of the Staked Plains; the expedition |
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covered 1,600 miles over a 40-day period and scouted the headwaters |
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of the Colorado, Brazos, and Wichita Rivers; and |
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WHEREAS, After Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of |
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the 2nd Cavalry, was called to Washington, Lieutenant Colonel Lee |
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was assigned to take his place in July 1857, and from then until the |
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following October he directed the regiment from his base in San |
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Antonio; and |
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WHEREAS, Lieutenant Colonel Lee left Texas in October 1857, |
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but he returned to assume temporary command of the Department of |
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Texas on February 20, 1860; with fewer than 3,000 soldiers to guard |
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a frontier more than 1,200 miles long, he used the 2nd Cavalry as an |
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instrument of an aggressive security policy, successfully |
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defending the state from Kiowa and Comanche Indian raids in the |
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north and from Mexican bandits in the south; and |
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WHEREAS, In the spring of 1860, Lieutenant Colonel Lee |
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personally led troops of the 2nd Cavalry against Juan Cortina, |
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scion of a long-established Tejano ranching family, who had taken |
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up arms in protest against Anglo authorities and who was plundering |
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the lower Rio Grande Valley; eventually, the American officer |
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secured assurances from the Mexican government that it would arrest |
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the bandit, who was subsequently kept in check until the outbreak of |
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the Civil War; and |
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WHEREAS, While stationed in San Antonio, Robert E. Lee became |
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a lay leader at St. Mark's Episcopal Church and helped to sponsor |
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the construction of its building; and |
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WHEREAS, Command of the Department of Texas passed to David |
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Twiggs on December 13, 1860, and Lieutenant Colonel Lee then |
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departed for his regimental headquarters at Fort Mason; a short |
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time later, he was ordered to report to Washington, and he |
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relinquished command of the 2nd Cavalry on February 13, 1861; and |
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WHEREAS, In the ensuing war between the North and South, |
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General Lee expressed his high regard for soldiers from the Lone |
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Star State, saying: "I rely upon Texas regiments in all tight |
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places, and fear that I call upon them too often[;] they have fought |
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grandly, nobly"; indeed, Hood's Texas Brigade was considered the |
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"shock troops" of the Army of Northern Virginia; and |
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WHEREAS, A number of Texas locations and schools bear Robert |
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E. Lee's name, in recognition of his service to Texas and the |
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Confederacy; they include Lee County, the city of Robert Lee, Lee |
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College in Baytown, and high schools in Baytown, Midland, Tyler, |
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and San Antonio; the State of Texas chose his birthday as the date |
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for its Confederate Heroes Day; and |
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WHEREAS, Two centuries after his birth, Robert E. Lee remains |
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a legendary figure in the history of this nation; now, therefore, be |
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it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize 2007 as the bicentennial of the birth |
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of Robert E. Lee and pay tribute to the life of this esteemed |
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American. |