Fitzhugh Lee, General Lee

[11] This rebellion grew out of a resistance to a tax laid on distilled spirits. Washington accompanied him on the march as far as Bedford, Pa., and in a letter, dated October 20, 1794, to Henry Lee, Esq., commander in chief of the militia army on its march against the insurgents in certain counties of western Pennsylvania, says at its conclusion: “In leaving the Army I have less regret, as I know I commit it to an able and faithful direction, and that this direction will be ably and faithfully seconded by all.”

While Governor of Virginia, a section lying under the Cumberland Mountains, projecting between Kentucky and Tennessee, was formed into a separate county and named after him. It has since been divided into two, the eastern portion being called after General Winfield Scott. In 1779 General Lee was elected to Congress, and on the death of General Washington was appointed to deliver an address in commemoration of the services of that great man, in which occurs the famous sentence so often quoted: “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens.” ¹ In 1798-99, as a representative of the County of Westmoreland in the General Assembly, he took an active part in the debate upon Mr. Madison's famous resolutions of that date. In his opinion, the laws of the United States then under discussion were unconstitutional, and if they were, Virginia had a right to object; “but,” he exclaimed, “Virginia is my country; her will I obey, however lamentable the fate to which it may subject me.”

When he was Governor of Virginia, six years before, his native State occupied the first place in his heart. In reply to a letter from Mr. Madison, dated Philadelphia, January 21, 1792, asking him if he would relinquish his office and accept command of an army to be organized for the protection of the western frontier, he writes: “Were I called upon by the President to command the next campaign, my respect for him would induce me to disregard every trifling obstruction which might oppose my acceptance of the office, such as my own repose, the ”