Henry LEE, Congress, VA (1756-1818)
LEE, Henry, (brother of Richard Bland Lee and grandfather of William Henry Fitzhugh Lee), a Delegate and a Representative from Virginia; born at âLeesylvania,â in Prince William County, Va., January 29, 1756; pursued classical studies and was graduated from Princeton College in 1773; served in the Revolutionary War; commissioned captain of a company of Virginia Dragoons June 18, 1776, that became attached to and part of the First Continental Dragoons March 31, 1777; lieutenant colonel November 6, 1780, and served until the close of the war; commissioned major general, United States Army, July 19, 1798; honorably discharged June 15, 1800; became universally known as âLight Horse Harryâ; Member of the Continental Congress 1786-1788; advocated the adoption of the Federal Constitution in the Virginia convention of 1788; Governor of Virginia 1791-1794; commanded the United States forces in the Whisky Insurrection in 1794; elected as a Federalist to the Sixth Congress (March 4, 1799-March 3, 1801); at the request of Congress pronounced the eulogy upon President Washington before both branches of Congress, in which Washington is characterized as the man âfirst in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymenâ; died on Cumberland Island, Ga., March 25, 1818; interment at Dungeness, Ga.; reinterment in the crypt, Lee Memorial Chapel, Washington-Lee University, at Lexington, Va., May 30, 1913.
Bibliography
Royster, Charles. Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution. 1981. Reprint, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
