Ah Sir, the duties of command are onerous
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| Lee as an Educator http://www.wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23061 |
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| Author: | Blake [ Tue Jul 12, 2022 10:32 am ] |
| Post subject: | Lee as an Educator |
Random story of Lee I ran across. Could you even imagine being a young student in the post-war south and having to stand in front of Lee and admit to wrongdoing? Talk about earning your "man-card" the hard way! At Washington College, as at West Point, Lee quietly attempted to encourage virtue rather than merely repressing vice. He remembered, however, that bad company corrupts good morals. Students who were habitual drunkards were expelled, though he always made certain that reprimands and punishments were warranted. Guilt had to be proven beyond doubt; hearsay was not evidence. Pranks he tolerated, even laughed at, so long as there was no harm done and no malice intended. During one particularly bitter winter, John M. Graham, a student from Tennessee, discovered that someone had been raiding his wood-pile rather than cutting his own fuel. In order to catch the culprit, the student found a hollow log and stuffed it with gunpowder. Later that day, there came a loud bang from one of the classrooms; the stove had been blown apart and the room set on fire. No one was hurt, and no real damage was done (beyond the ruined stove), but the event caused a sensation, and the following morning Lee took the podium during chapel to ask anyone who knew anything about the affair to come to his office. Graham obediently presented himself to Lee later that day. It turned out that one of the janitors, whose job it was to provide the classrooms and offices with wood for their stoves, had taken some from the student’s woodpile to save himself a frigid walk in the snow. Lee praised Graham’s plan, broke into hearty laughter, and told the boy he had used too much powder. “Next time,” said Lee, “use less powder.” |
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| Author: | Karl McEntegart [ Tue Jul 12, 2022 10:52 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Lee as an Educator |
Ah Sir, the duties of command are onerous
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| Author: | Christian Hecht [ Wed Jul 13, 2022 8:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Lee as an Educator |
Nice story. |
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| Author: | Steve Griffith [ Wed Jul 13, 2022 12:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Lee as an Educator |
You must wonder how many times that student had someone buy him a drink just to hear that story over again. Love it. |
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