A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee | Page 3

in the life of his father, to
Launcelot Lee, of London, in France, who accompanied William the
Conqueror to England. After the battle of Hastings, which subjected
England to the sway of the Normans, Launcelot Lee, like others, was
rewarded by lands wrested from the subdued Saxons. His estate lay in
Essex, and this is all that is known concerning him. Lionel Lee is the
next member of the family of whom mention is made. He lived during
the reign of Richard Coeur de Lion, and, when the king went on his
third crusade, in the year 1192, Lionel Lee raised a company of
gentlemen, and marched with him to the Holy Land. His career there
was distinguished; he displayed special gallantry at the siege of Acre,
and for this he received a solid proof of King Richard's approbation. On
his return he was made first Earl of Litchfield; the king presented him
with the estate of "Ditchley," which became the name afterward of an
estate of the Lees in Virginia; and, when he died, the armor which he
had worn in the Holy Land was placed in the department of "Horse
Armory" in the great Tower of London.

The name of Richard Lee is next mentioned as one of the followers of
the Earl of Surrey in his expedition across the Scottish border in 1542.
Two of the family about this period were "Knights Companions of the
Garter," and their banners, with the Lee arms above, were suspended in
St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The coat-of-arms was a shield
"band sinister battled and embattled," the crest a closed visor
surmounted by a squirrel holding a nut. The motto, which may be
thought characteristic of one of General Lee's traits as a soldier, was,
"_Non incautus futuri_"
Such are the brief notices given of the family in England. They seem to
have been persons of high character, and often of distinction. When
Richard Lee came to Virginia, and founded the family anew there, as
Launcelot, the first Lee, had founded it in England, he brought over in
his veins some of the best and most valiant blood of the great Norman
race.
This Richard Lee, the princeps of the family in Virginia, was, it seems,
like the rest of his kindred, strongly Cavalier in his sentiments; indeed,
the Lees seem always to have been Cavalier. The reader will recall the
stately old representative of the family in Scott's "Woodstock"--Sir
Henry Lee of Ditchley--who is seen stalking proudly through the great
apartments of the palace, in his laced doublet, slashed boots, and velvet
cloak, scowling darkly at the Puritan intruders. Sir Henry was not a
fanciful person, but a real individual; and the political views attributed
to him were those of the Lee family, who remained faithful to the royal
cause in all its hours of adversity.
It will be seen that Richard Lee, the first of the Virginia Lees, was an
ardent monarchist. He came over during the reign of Charles I., but
returned to England, bequeathing all his lands to his servants; he
subsequently came back to Virginia, however, and lived and died there.
In his will he styles himself "Richard Lee, of Strafford Langton, in the
County of Essex, Esquire." It is not certainly known whether he sought
refuge in Virginia after the failure of the king's cause, or was tempted
to emigrate with a view to better his fortunes in the New World. Either
may have been the impelling motive. Great numbers of Cavaliers
"came over" after the overthrow of Charles at Naseby; but a large
emigration had already taken place, and took place afterward, induced
by the salubrity of the country, the ease of living, and the cheapness

and fertility of the lands on the great rivers, where families
impoverished or of failing fortunes in England might "make new
settlements" and build on a new foundation. This would amply account
for the removal of Richard Lee to Virginia, and for the ambition he
seems to have been inspired with, to build and improve, without
attributing to him any apprehension of probable punishment for his
political course. Very many families had the first-named motives, and
commenced to build great manor-houses, which were never finished, or
were too costly for any one of their descendants to possess. The
abolition of primogeniture, despite the opposition of Pendleton and
others, overthrew all this; and the Lees, like other families, now possess
few of the broad acres which their ancestors acquired.
To return, however, to Richard Lee. He had already visited Virginia in
some official capacity under the royal governor, Sir William Berkeley,
and had been so much pleased with the soil and climate of the country,
that he, as we have said, emigrated finally, and cast his lot in the new