Robert Edward Lee was born on January 19, 1807, at Stratford in Westmoreland County son of Colonel Henry Lee and Ann Hill Carter. Col. Henry Lee, called "Lighthorse Harry", was one of George Washington's best cavalry officers and he also served three terms as the governor of Virginia. Stratford had a spacious house, stables, mill, waterfront, fruit trees, gardens, and fields. Lee's early years there must have had a happy influence on the man he became. In 1810 Lee's family moved to Alexandria, VA, where the family fell on hard times. In 1813 Col. Lee went to Barbadoes for his health, but passed away in 1815 never to see his family again. Because Lee's father had passed away while he was young he was forced to mature quickly. When Lee was 19 he entered West Point, and graduated four years later second in his class with no record of disobedience or demerits during the whole four years. Shortly after his graduation, Lee returned home to see his mother. She passed in 1829, but got the chance to see her son in his new 2nd Lieutant's uniform. In 1831, Lee married Mary Custis, great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, and only heiress to the Arlington Home. Lee's military career began with assignments in Georgia and Virginia. Although military duties took him away much of the time, he was devoted to his wife and children. In 1859, Lee attracted national attention when he succesfully suppressed John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, VA. As the 1850's drew to a close, Lee was deeply concerned about the dangerous sectional antagonisms gathering momentum and threatning to disrupt the nation. Dreading the thought of Civil War, he frequently hoped solutions could be found to the issues that troubled the country. However, when the secession crisis developed in 1860-61, and the war between the North and the South became imminent, Lee, compelled by his great sense of duty, resigned from his commision and followed his native Virgina out of the Union. In making this decision, he declined President Lincoln's offer to command the federal armies. Lee would have preferred to serve the Confederacy in a non-military capacity, for he had no wish to wage war against men who had been his friends in the U.S. Army. But the South needed Lee's military experiencem and he was placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Later he commanded all the Confederate forces. He led the army through the difficult years of the war, and surrendered only when he realized the further conflict was futile and would result in more bloodshed and more laying waste to an already defeated South. The end of the war brought dramaitic change to Lee's life. The Custis-Lee fortune was greatly reduced and Arlington was lost. In the Summer of 1865, Lee accepted the position as president at Washington College. He thought that he would further embarass the already small struggling school. However, he did just the opposite. The college grew in size and enrollment under his leadership. On October 12, 1870, Lee died in the President's house at Washington College and he was entombed in the campus chapel building. Soon the college honored Lee and changed its name to Washington and Lee college. Today, the school is known as Washington and Lee University.

On December 21, 1865, Phi Kappa Chi was founded by James Ward Wood, Stanhope McClleland Scott, William Nelson Scott, and William Archibald Walsh. This fraternity later became known as Kappa Alpha. During its first year, Kappa Alpha initiated seven men, one of which was Samuel Zenas Ammen. Seventeen months later, there were only twelve members and Ammen and Stern (Jo Lane Stern, a new member) were discussing the young fraternities' struggles. Ammen had a vision of something different from other fraternities that existed at Washington College and elsewhere. To Ammen and those who would join him in increasing numbers, Lee represented an ideal - "The chilvarous warrior of Christ, the knight who loved God and Country, honors and protects pure womanhood, practices courtesy and magnamity of spirit and prefers self-respect to ill-gotten wealth. They (Ammen and Stern) wanted to preserve what they saw as being the best in their nearly destroyed homeland. And they believed that the surest way to do this was to become spiritual followers of Lee. "Something thus might be saved," Ammen wrote, "From the wreck of material interests and political wrights caused by the war." Adopting the terms and rituals of chivalry, this handful of young men in Lexington became the Kappa Alpha Order. Alone among American fraternities, Kappa Alpha would dedicate itself to the emulation of the character of an individual, R. E. Lee. Their fellowship would grow beyond imagining of two young men who decided to keep up the fight to save Kappa Alpha. Today, Kappa Alpha Order is a national fraternity with more than seventy thousand living members, and chapters at one hundred twenty plus colleges and universities througout the United States.

Definition of a Gentleman

The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman. The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly -- the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light. The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.