first in war, first in peace, that was light horse harry. the other thing that people would have known robert e lee for would have been his service in the mexican war and especially on the staff of general scott during scott s fabulous invasion. moving in land to mexico city in 1847. lee served in many respects as scott s eyes and ears performing over and over again feats for scott so much so that scott made the confession that for all the honors he had won in that great campaign to mexico city almost all the credit really belonged to robert e lee, so lee s two thing would have been robert e lee would have been noted before the civil war which taken together don t really do a whole lot to explain to us what we know about robert e lee once the civil war begins. host: we will get into that in just a minute. light horse lee wasn t necessarily a good father, is that correct? guest: he was splendid cavalry commander, carrying out raids during during all kinds of small jobs.
Virginia. Host allen guelzo lets begin with your latest book, robert e lee a life, who was he before the civil war, what was his reputation . Guest he was best known for two things, son of a famous revolutionary war hero and that was the famed cavalry commander light horse harry lee, the one who served under washington and in fact, coined washington, first in war, first in peace, that was light horse harry. The other thing that people would have known robert e lee for would have been his service in the mexican war and especially on the staff of general scott during scotts fabulous invasion. Moving in land to mexico city in 1847. Lee served in many respects as scotts eyes and ears performing over and over again feats for scott so much so that scott made the confession that for all the honors he had won in that Great Campaign to mexico city almost all the credit really belonged to robert e lee, so lees two thing would have been robert e lee would have been noted before the civil war whic