"When Overlooked Warriors Are Unleashed"

What did David of ancient Israel and Robert E. Lee of our Southern Confederacy have in common? Well, to begin, each was overlooked by the "manly men" of his day. Neither was expected to ever amount to much as a soldier. Both were mild-mannered, soft spoken, and unagressive by any masculine definition. But behind the visible persona of each lay a hidden warrior that only needed to be matched with it's moment. Their warrior spirit was not based on brawn, bravado, display, or bluff. These two would win with brainpower, and that even when applied against superior numbers. The best thing about these two stories for me is the attitude of "Wow, who knew?" by everyone in the nations involved.

David's story begins in 1 Samuel 16:1 . God said to the prophet Samuel, ". . . go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for Myself a king among his sons." Jesse passed his 7 oldest sons before Samuel, but Samuel had to say that the Lord had not chosen any of them. Samuel asked if there were any other sons. Notice Jesse's attitude: Well, yeah, there is the youngest, but he's just a shepherd boy. It can't POSSIBLY be HIM! I mean, come on! Let's just have a good laugh and move on (re-creation provided by me). But David WAS the one, and little did his "manly" father and brothers know that he would be a giant killer and ancient Israel's greatest warrior-king.

Robert E. Lee's story begins in the Spring of 1861. He was the third of the four top Generals of The Armies of The Confederate States Of America. This rank was set by seniority out of West Point. But Lee was not thought of as a "manly man". He couldn't POSSIBLY be a good field leader as he was too quiet and inward. So he was assigned to patrol the Shenandoah Valley region. A series of embarrassing losses in small clashes earned him the nickname "Granny Lee". He was relocated down to Charleston, South Carolina, exchanging places with P.G. T. Beauregard who was then in place to participate at First Bull Run in July. To be fair to Lee, though, the Shenandoah Valley experienced unusually excessive rainfall in the Spring of '61. Neither side could claim any important victories there and the sheer weight of numbers of men, superior weapons, and shorter supply lines from Harper's Ferry allowed Yankee soldiers to hold their own against ANY foe.

So, General Robert E. Lee's first year of war for his new country was a dismal mediocrity. Then came the Battle of Seven Pines in late May of '62. Union General George McClellan had been slowly advancing his massive Army west toward Richmond in his Peninsular Campaign. A huge clash finally began at Seven Pines on May 30th. Confederate moves were a confused mess of disorganized effort. Then, General Joe Johnston was wounded in the foot and taken to a field hospital. General Lee had to assume command. The Unknown Warrior's moment had come.

Lee's first order to the newly renamed Army Of Northern Virginia was to dig in, an action thought to be beneath the dignity of soldiers. But from May 31st on, war would have a new style. General McClellan had 100,000 men on the south side of The Chickahominy River. Another 40,000 Yankees sought to join them from the north side. Lee had only 40,000 himself. He brought in his favorite lietenant, General Stonewall Jackson from The Shenandoah Valley. With Jackson's 17,000 men, a brilliant ballet of multiple manuever, strike, and flank began to roll back the Union forces. A series of 6 major battles over 7 days that came to be known as The Seven Days Battles ended in mass retreat back to Washington for McClellan, "The Little Napoleon". The Battles of Oak Grove (June 25th), Gaines' Mill (June 27th), Garnett's Farm (June 28th), Savage Station (June 29th), White Oak Swamp (June 30th), and Malvern Hill (July 1st -- a Confederate defeat but then abandoned by Federals) are still studied in war colleges today. Everyone was stunned and no one doubted that a new military legend had entered the history books.

Overlooked, yet giant killers. How many more times will we need to see this?