Revisionist history is rearing its ugly head once again. An unnamed official at the US Army War College in Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania is questioning whether the portraits of Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, “enemies” who fought against the United States should be displayed.
As the Washington Times reports:
The U.S. Army War College, which molds future field generals, has begun discussing whether it should remove its portraits of Confederate generals — including those of Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.
Nestled in rural Pennsylvania on the 500-acre Carlisle Barracks, the war college is conducting an inventory of all its paintings and photographs with an eye for rehanging them in historical themes to tell a particular Army story.
During the inventory, an unidentified official — not the commandant — asked the administration why the college honors two generals who fought against the United States, college spokeswoman Carol Kerr said.
Obviously, this “official” fails to understand these two honorable men were commissioned US Army officers – as many of the Confederate commanders were and had served this nation in the Mexican War.
They chose to fight for their homes as they perceived Washington had become an onerous and invasive threat to their way of life. Luckily the Union forces prevailed and the heinous practice of slavery was ended.
It was President Lincoln’s desire to reunite America — and even in surrender, General Lee was rendered honors. These two men were exceptional leaders and their memory should not be cast aside.
If there were a portrait of Nathan Bedford Forest, I would have a different assessment, since he was instrumental — along with Democrats, lest we forget — in establishing the Ku Klux Klan. I would much rather have portraits of Lee and Jackson, who are prominently featured on the face of Stone Mountain in Georgia, than that of Rep. Charlie Rangel which hangs in the House Ways and Means committee room.
