Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee

  General Notes:

was born on 19 Jan 1756 in Stratford, Virginia, died on 25 Mar 1818 in Cumberland Island, Georgia at age 62, and was buried in Greene's Private Cemetery, Dungeness, Cumberland Island, Georgia.

General Notes: Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, born at Leesylvania near Dunfries, Virginia, was blonde, blue-eyed, and full of spirit. He graduated from Princeton in 1773 and returned home to prepared for war. His skill as a horseman, as well as his temperament, made him a natural cavalryman. He soon was commissioned as Captain in the fifth group of Virginia Light Dragoons and sent north to join the Continental Army.

Leading his men on lightning raids against enemy supply trains, Harry attracted the attention and admiration of General Washington and was rapidly promoted. In a surprise attack at Paulus Hook, New Jersey, he captured 400 British soldiers with the loss of only one man. His adroit horsemanship soon earned him the nickname "Light Horse Harry". When the military theatre shifted, he enjoyed equal success in the Southern Campaign.

Resigning his commission after the British surrender at Yorktown, Harry returned to Virginia to marry his cousin, the "divine Matilda" Lee. The wedding took place at Stratford and it is said that General Washington contributed several pipes of his best Madeira to the festive occasion. Matilda had inherited Stratford in the division of her father's estate and lived there with her new husband. The dashing young cavalryman, however, was no farmer. His interests in the livelier arena of politics led to Harry's election to the new Virginia House of Delegates. After only eight years of marriage, Matilda died in 1790, leaving three young children and a grief stricken husband.

Two years later, Harry was elected Governor of Virginia, serving three one-year terms. While living in Richmond, he fell in love with Ann Hill Carter of nearby Shirley Plantation. In 1793 they were married. His governorship behind him, he took his bride to Stratford.

Again, family life was interrupted by his appointment to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Upon the death of President George Washington, Harry was asked by Congress to deliver a tribute to his beloved general, describing him for posterity:

"First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen . . . second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life."

After the death of his idol, Harry's fortunes began to decline rapidly. The support of a family of six coupled with disastrous land speculation, reduced him to financial poverty, then, on January 19, 1807, in the large upstairs room at Stratford where so many Lees had come into the world, Ann gave birth to their fifth son, Robert Edward, named after two of his mother's favorite brothers. As Robert was learning to walk, his father was carried off to a debtor's prison in Montross.

With characteristic courage in a 12 by 15 foot prison cell, Harry wrote his "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States", still the standard text on that portion of the Revolutionary War. When the book was finished in 1810, the family moved to Alexandria where a new life on a modest scale was made possible by a legacy from Ann's father. Harry's eldest son, Henry, became master of Stratford.

Light Horse Harry's last years were marred by sorrow and pain. Internal injuries received when he was beaten by a mob as he defended a friend and freedom of the press in Baltimore, kept him in constant physical pain. He sought relief in the warm climate of the West Indies. When his health continued to decline, Harry attempted to return home but died on Cumberland Island, Georgia, in the home of the daughter of his former commander, Nathaniel Greene.
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By the Spring of 1790, American politicians such as George Washington and John Adams had cause to worry about the survival of the Union to which they had devoted their careers. Southerners remained angry over their inability to establish the capital on the Potomac and the northern demand that the federal government assume all state debts. Northerners expressed their frustrations openly, especially after the House rejected assumption on April 12. Prominent men in both sections began to question the viability of the Union. Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee wrote Madison that he would "rather myself submit to all the hazards of war and risk the loss of everything dear to me in life, than to live under the rule of a fixed insolent northern majority."

LETTER TO REP JAMES MADISON OF VIRGINIA FROM HENRY LEE, April 3, 1790.

Dear Sir

I am induced to address you on a subject which violates the rule I had lately prescribed to myself with respect to our public affairs.

A youth the son of Mr. Thomas L. Lee to whom I believe you was intimately known met me this morning on the road.

Bred to the mercantile line in one of the most respectable houses in our country and cut off from his expectations there, by the death of his principal Mr. Ritchie who was killed the other day in a duel, he is anxious to obtain a place in some of the departments of the general government. He is very humble in his wishes & is most solicitous to produce a birth under a character from whose example he will derive instruction & on whose patronage he can rely. He mentioned Mr. Jefferson & said that his deceased father & Mr. J he understood had been very friendly from an early acquaintance. I promised to write Mr. J on the subject which I have accordingly done & will thank you if you remind him of the matter, provided you can do it consistently with your mode of conduct. If the government should continue to exist, which by the bye is more & more eventful, the introduction of the southern youth as clerks in the high departments of the nation seems to me to be as sure tho slow means of Aiding the southern influence. They become as it were from their official education owners of the ministerial functions if their conduct & talents correspond with their prospective stations.

I wish our southern gentlemen would in due time attend to this material truth - if they do not a monopoly will take place from the northern hives in this, as in everything else in their power.

On the score of propriety & repose I had determined to suppress my anxious attention to the prosperity of the national government, for I really know not what conduct I may feel myself bound to observe in consequence of the mad policy which seems to direct the doings of Congress.

Therefore for the sake of propriety I wish to be done with government. On the score of tranquility & peace I am also desirous to be quiet, for every day adds testimony of the growing ill will of the people here to the government. To risk repose when good can result from it & the object in view is clearly right, I hold to be the indefensible duty of every good citizen, nor will I ever disobey the sacred injunction, but to do it in reverse circumstances is pursuing the commands of temerity and folly. Henry already is considered as a prophet, his predictions are daily verifying. His declaration with respect to the division of interest which would exist under the constitution and predominate in all the doings of the government already has been undeniably proved.

But we are committed and we cannot be relieved I fear only by disunion. To disunite is dreadful to my mind, but dreadful as it is, I consider it a lesser evil than union on the present conditions.

I had rather myself submit to all the hazards of war and risk the loss of everything dear to me in life, than to live under the rule of a fixed insolent northern majority. At present this is the case, nor do I see any prospect of alteration or alleviation.

Change of the seat of government to the territorial center, direct taxation and the abolition of gambling systems of finance might and would effect a material change. But these suggestions are vain and idle. No policy will be adopted by Congress which does more or less tend to depress the south and exalt the north. I have heard it asserted that your vice president should say the southern people were formed by nature to subserve the convenience and interests of the north. Very soon will his assertion be thoroughly exemplified. How do you feel, what do you think, is your love for the constitution so ardent, as to induce you to adhere to it tho it should produce ruin to your native country. I hope not, I believe not. However I will be done for it is disagreeable to utter unpleasant opinions. Yours always-

H. Lee

1756 - Henry Lee is born in Leesylvania, Prince William County, Virginia
1773 - Henry Lee graduates from Princeton.
1776 - Henry Lee is commissioned a Captain in Bland's Regiment of Virginia Light Cavalry.
1777 - Joins General George Washington's main army.
1778 - January 20 - Lee skirmishes with Captain Banatre Tarleton at the Spread Eagle Tave near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1779 - August 19 - Lee captures the fort at Paulus Hook (Jersey City), New Jersey.
1779 - October 21 - Lee's Legion is formed with three companies of infantry to his cavalry.
1779 - November 6 - Lee is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
1781 - January 13 - Lee arrives in South Carolina.
1781 - January 24 - Lee joins Francis Marion (Swamp Fox) in actions at Georgetown, SC.
1781 - February 25 - Lee defeats Tory forces at Haw River, North Carolina.
1781 - March 15 - Lee is a part of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
1781 - April 15/23 - Lee and Francis Marion lay siege to Fort Watson, South Carolina
1781 - May 12 - Lee and Francis Marion secure the surrender of Fort Motte, South Carolina
1781 - May 15 - Lee secures the surrender of Fort Galphin, South Carolina
1781 - May 23/June 4 - Henry Lee supports the siege of Augusta, Georgia
1781 - June 8-19 - Henry Lee and Major General Nathaniel Greene lay siege to Post 96, South Carolina.
1781 - September 7 - Lee participates in the Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina
1781 - October - Henry Lee is present at General George Washington's siege at Yorktown.
1781 - December 1 - Henry Lee sees action at Dorchester, South Carolina
1782 - February - Henry Lee is granted a leave of absence. He marries Matilda Lee.
1785 - Henry Lee is elected to Congress. Serves until 1788.
1790 - Matilda dies.
1791 - Henry Lee is elected governor of Virginia
1793 - Henry Lee marries Ann Carter Hill at Shirley Plantation, Virginia
1794 - Henry Lee commands troops at the Whiskey Rebellion.
1799 - Lee is elected to Congress
1802 - September 2 - Henry Lee's son, Sydney Smith Lee is born at Camden, New Jersey.
1807 - Henry Lee's son Robert Edward Lee is born at Stratford Hall, Virginia
1812 - Lee is severely injured during a riot - spends time in a debtors prison - writes Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department 1813 - Henry Lee sails for the West Indies to recuperate
1818 - March 25 - Henry Lee dies on Cumberland Island, Georgia.

Henry married Matilda Lee [12904] [MRIN: 4293], daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee [12780] and Elizabeth Steptoe [12779], in 1782. Matilda was born in 1764 in Stratford, Virginia and died in 1790 at age 26.

Henry married Matilda Lee.

Henry next married Ann Hill Carter.