Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee,” Trump stated.
If you evaluate him on military accomplishments, Lee was a very successful military leader. He also did a fair bit of fighting for the US prior to the American Civil War. He also politically helped contribute to having the war end without lasting bitterness and infighting. Further, he didn’t think that secession was a good idea; he ultimately decided that his first loyalty was to his state after it decided to secede. The Union offered to let him lead the entire Union military before he took a less-influential position with his state’s forces; the man was held in quite high regard.
Polk, however, was a political appointee, militarily a disaster, and none of the above applies to him. I’ve no idea why anyone would want to have a fort named after him.
Military historian Steven E. Woodworth described the shell that killed Polk as “one of the worst shots fired for the Union cause during the entire course of the war”, as Polk’s incompetence made him far more valuable alive than dead: “Polk’s incompetence and willful disobedience had consistently hamstrung Confederate operations west of the Appalachians, while his special relationship with the president made the bishop-general untouchable.”[35][36]
Polk was from Louisiana, as is the fort, but surely there are more-competent Confederate military leaders from Louisiana, like Beauregard.
Absolutely no factiod about Lee could possibly outweigh the indignity of sending black people—who have volunteered to serve their country—to a place named after a person who fought for the right to keep them as property.
Another idiot said the same shit about Lee. You should read about Good Ol’ Lee.
We were immediately taken before Gen. Lee (http://fair-use.org/national-anti-slavery-standard/1866/04/14/robert-e-lee-his-brutality-to-his-slaves), who demanded the reason why we ran away; we frankly told him that we considered ourselves free; he then told us he would teach us a lesson we never would forget; he then ordered us to the barn, where, in his presence, we were tied firmly to posts by a Mr. Gwin, our overseer, who was ordered by Gen. Lee to strip us to the waist and give us fifty lashes each, excepting my sister, who received but twenty; we were accordingly stripped to the skin by the overseer, who, however, had sufficient humanity to decline whipping us; accordingly Dick Williams, a county constable, was called in, who gave us the number of lashes ordered; Gen. Lee, in the meantime, stood by, and frequently enjoined Williams to lay it on well, an injunction which he did not fail to heed; not satisfied with simply lacerating our naked flesh, Gen. Lee then ordered the overseer to thoroughly wash our backs with brine, which was done.
If you evaluate him on military accomplishments, Lee was a very successful military leader. He also did a fair bit of fighting for the US prior to the American Civil War. He also politically helped contribute to having the war end without lasting bitterness and infighting. Further, he didn’t think that secession was a good idea; he ultimately decided that his first loyalty was to his state after it decided to secede. The Union offered to let him lead the entire Union military before he took a less-influential position with his state’s forces; the man was held in quite high regard.
Polk, however, was a political appointee, militarily a disaster, and none of the above applies to him. I’ve no idea why anyone would want to have a fort named after him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_Polk
Polk was from Louisiana, as is the fort, but surely there are more-competent Confederate military leaders from Louisiana, like Beauregard.
Absolutely no factiod about Lee could possibly outweigh the indignity of sending black people—who have volunteered to serve their country—to a place named after a person who fought for the right to keep them as property.
Humanity first.
Another idiot said the same shit about Lee. You should read about Good Ol’ Lee.
https://acwm.org/blog/myths-misunderstandings-lee-slaveholder/
What a shitty hot take. Dude fought to continue the practice of owning humans.
Right? I see people flying Confederate flags to this day, in fucking Massachusetts.
You lost me at “without bitterness and infighting” It’s been more than 100 years and some people are still fighting that war.
I thought we would be judging people on more than just mere competency at a thing.