Today is January 19th. First and foremost for me, this is my parents’ anniversary – 54 years of love, honor, and dedication. Thanks, Mom and Dad. I appreciate you.
Now on to the Topic of the Date.
I learned this morning that this is also the birthday of some very influential people. Robert E. Lee, greatest general of the American Civil War, was born January 19, 1807 in Stratford, Virginia. Edgar Allan Poe, famed poet and author, was born January 19, 1809, in Boston, but soon moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he was raised.
Who knew these two were so close in age – only two years difference? Who knew they were from the same region of Virginia? To go one step further, both were in the U.S. Army for some years in the 1820 and 1830s. In fact, both were cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Lee completed his time at the academy in 1829, graduating near the top of his class. Poe began his cadet experience in 1830, but left the academy a few years later without graduating. Did they ever meet? I have no evidence that they did, but it is quite possible.
I would love to have been there to observe the meeting.
Robert E. Lee. Military man, traditionalist, devoted father, committed to duty and honor. Skilled engineer and military strategist. A paradox of a man, U.S. Army veteran and supporter of the Union, who openly wished for the end of the institution of slavery, who became the top general of the Confederacy.
Edgar Allan Poe. Homeless child whose life was characterized by loss, beginning with the death of his mother when he was two years of age. Capable and aspiring son who failed at one undertaking after another. Compassionate, even romantic man who wrote stories of great cruelty. Creative genius who took many years to find professional success, who along the way redefined American literature. Finally successful author who still found little joy in life.
Two Virginians, only two years apart in age, similar in early endeavors but worlds apart in attitude and aptitude. One a man of great faith and confidence, one a man of little faith and filled with self-doubt. One firmly grounded in the traditions of the past, one adrift and free to create the traditions of the future.
Two great men, from the same time and place but from dissimilar circumstances. Two men, largely misunderstood by their contemporaries.
One succeeded, then failed, and took some comfort in the failure.
"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished… I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost… to have this object attained.”
One failed, then succeeded, and was despondent in his success. “…From the same source I have not takenMy sorrow; I could not awakenMy heart to joy at the same tone; And all I loved, I loved alone.”Two men well-acquainted with melancholy. Protagonists in different spheres, yet strangely similar in their fatalistic affirmations. Two men, from the same time and place, each of whom made his unique and indelible mark on the world. Maybe not as different as they seemed at first.
Very well put. I watched the re-run of Ken Burn's, The Civil War, and when it mentioned Lee and West Point and the year 1829, I thought of Poe right away.
ReplyDeleteIt's compelling to wonder how Edgar would've handled the war had he lived. A Virginian southern gentleman on the one hand, America's favorite author on the other (who knows how much more famous he might've become between 1849 - 1861), wary of alienating his northern audience. Sad that he couldn't better look after himself.