Front, east face: ROBERT EDWARD LEE / 1807 – 1870
Rear, west face, large plaque: “DUTY IS THE SUBLIMEST WORD IN OUR LANGUAGE. DO YOUR DUTY IN ALL THINGS. / YOUR CANNOT DO MORE. YOU SHOULD NEVER WISH TO DO LESS. / GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE / BORN JANUARY 19, 1807 AT STRATFORD HALL, WESTMORELAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA. / SON OF HENRY “LIGHT HORSE HARRY” LEE AND ANNE CARTER LEE. / 1825-1830 ATTENDED THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT. / GRADUATED SECOND IN HIS CLASS WITH THE DISTINCTION OF BEING THE ONLY CADET TO NEVER RECEIVE A DEMERIT. / JUNE 30, 1831 MARRIED MARY CUSTIS AND RESIDED AT ARLINGTON HOUSE, VIRGINIA. / 1846-1848 SERVED IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY DURING THE MEXICAN WAR. / AFTERWARDS WAS REFERRED TO AS “THE VERY BEST SOLDIER I EVER SAW IN THE FIELD,” BY GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT. / SEPTEMBER 1, 1852 – MARCH 31, 1855 SERVED AS SUPERINTENDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY. / APRIL 1, 1865 PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL OF THE SECOND UNITED STATES CALVARY. / IN 1861 OFFERED COMMAND OF ALL UNITED STATES TROOPS, BUT DECLINED SAYING, “I CANNOT RAISE MY HAND AGAINST / MY BIRTHPLACE, MY HOME, MY CHILDREN.” / JUNE 1, 1862 GIVEN COMMAND OF THE CONFEDERATE FORCES HE WOULD NAME THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. / JANUARY 31, 1865 APPOINTED GENERAL-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. / APRIL 12, 1865 SURRENDERED THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINA AT APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE, VIRGINIA. / OCTOBER 2, 1865 NAMED PRESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE (LATER WASHINGTON AND LEE) LEXINGTION, VIRGINIA / OCTOBER 12, 1870 DIED IN LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA AT AGE SIXTY- THREE. / 1907 LEE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA FORMED. NAMED IN HONOR AND MEMORY OF GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. / “IT IS BETTER TO DO RIGHT, EVEN IF WE SUFFER IN SO DOING, / THAN TO INCUR THE REPROACH OF OUR CONSCIENCE AND POSTERITY.”
Rear, west face, small plaque: ERECTED BY / ROBERT E. LEE / SOCIETY
