After more than a couple of days lounging in the pool, we set out to see Robert E Lee’s birthplace, Stratford Hall Plantation, a short distance from Olverson’s. I will confess that my knowledge of Mr Lee was Yankee minimal prior to embarking on the Lolligag Adventure. However, as we have visited and traveled in the South, we have acquired a new and very profound admiration for Mr Lee. He was an honorable Southern Gentleman in the truest definition of the term. He was forever conflicted by the suffering and heartache of the Civil War. 
Stratford Hall, his very early childhood home was grand in style and the grounds magnificent. However truth be told, Robert only lived at Stratford Hall for less than four years. His father, Light Horse Harry Lee, a renowned Revolutionary War hero and close friend to George Washington could not afford to maintain the plantation and was made to leave the grounds in disgrace. The family moved to Alexandria where Robert and his siblings grew up in a series of relative’s houses. Robert was eleven when the family received news of Light Horse Harry Lee’s death. Historian Gary W. Gallagher wrote, "Harry Lee had not been able to exercise self-control or take care of his family and so he abandoned them." However, in Lee of Virginia it is noted that Harry Lee "was very seriously injured by a mob in Baltimore while attempting to defend the house of a friend. Later he made a voyage to the West Indies seeking restoration for his shattered health. On his way home ... he died..." Either way, Robert and his siblings learned a very hard life lesson at a very early age.
Robert was educated at the Alexandria Academy where he was a top student excelling in mathematics. He entered the United States Military Academy in 1825 and became the first cadet to achieve the rank of sergeant at the end of his first year. When Lee graduated in 1829 he was at the head of his class in artillery and tactics. In addition, he shared the distinction with five other cadets of having received no demerits during the four-year course of instruction. Overall, he ranked second in his class of 46.
Today the house and grounds are maintained by private funds and have been restored to their original grandeur. The gardens are lovely and they too have been planted to reflect the landscape that was indicative of Lee’s childhood.
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