Henry Lee III (January 29, 1756 – March 25, 1818) was an early American patriot who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia Representative to the United States Congress. During the American Revolution, Lee served as a cavalry officer in the Continental Army and earned the name Light-Horse Harry. Despite his own military prowess, he is probably best known today as the father of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
(‘‘Light-Horse Harry’’)
Continental cavalry leader. Virginia. Born at Leesylvania and graduating from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) at the age of seventeen, he was admitted to the Middle Temple and was about to leave for England when the war changed his plans. In June 1776 he was commissioned a captain in Theodorick Bland’s regiment of Virginia cavalry. In 1777 his company was attached to the First Continental Dragoons and joined Washington’s army in New Jersey. At this time Washington was engaged in the perplexing spring maneuvers preceding the Philadelphia campaign and badly needed cavalry for reconnaissance. Although only twenty-one years old at the time, Captain Lee favorably impressed Washington with his soldierly qualities, and they established a close, lifelong friendship. Lee’s fine defense of the Spread Eagle Tavern (five miles south and slightly east of Valley Forge) on 20 January 1778 was the immediate cause of a resolution of Congress on 7 April that referred to him as a ‘‘brave and prudent officer.’’ The resolution promoted him to major commandant and authorized him to enlarge his corps with two troops of horse. The further addition of three infantry companies in October 1779 resulted in the creation of Lee’s Legion, one of the elite units of the war, which under Lee’s leadership fought brilliantly in the South.
After the war Lee served in the Virginia House of Delegates, the Confederation Congress, the Virginia ratifying convention, and the U.S. Congress and held the office of governor of Virginia. His eulogy of Washington included the famous words, ‘‘First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen.’’ The father of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, he spent the last years of his life in poor health and poverty.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Lee, Henry. Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. New York: University Publishing, 1869. Royster, Charles. Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution. New York: Knopf, 1981. Templin, Thomas E. ‘‘Henry ‘Light-Horse’ Lee: A Biography.’’ Ph.D. diss., University of Kentucky, 1975.
