Light Horse Harry Lee
BIRTH
Jan 29, 1756
Prince William County, Virginia
DEATH
March 25, 1818
Cumberland Island, Georgia
Delegate to the Continental Congress (VA)
FAMILY
FATHER:
Henry Lee II
(1730-1787)
##
Lee, Light Horse Harry
(1756-1818)
Henry Lee III was an early American Patriot and politician who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia Representative to the United States Congress. Lee's service during the American Revolution as a cavalryofficer in the Continental Army earned him the nickname by which he is best known, "Light-Horse Harry".
GRAVE:
CHURCH
Lee Chapel
100 N Jefferson St, Lexington, VA 24450
10
SISTER
Anne Hill Carter Lee
(1773-1829)
SISTER
Anne Carter Lee
(1839-1862)
SISTER
Mary Anna Custis Lee
(1807-1873)
SISTER
Eleanor Agnes Lee
(1841-1873)
BROTHER
George Washington Custis Lee
(1832-1913)
SISTER
Mildred Childe Lee
(1846-1905)
WIFE
Matilda Lee
(1766-1790)
WIFE
Anne Hill Carter Lee
(1773-1829)
Henry Lee IV
(1787-1837)
Robert E. Lee
(1807-1870)
Anne Kinloch Marshall
(1800-1864)
Sydney Smith Lee
(1802-1869)
Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Valley Forge National Historic Park | 1400 N Outer Line Dr, King of Prussia, PA 19406 | MUSEUM | ||
George Washington's Mount Vernon | 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy, Mt Vernon, VA 22121 | MUSEUM | ||
Colonial Williamsburg | 101 Visitor Center Dr, Williamsburg, VA 23185 | MUSEUM | ||
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park | 2332 New Garden Rd, Greensboro, NC 27410 | MUSEUM | ||
Battle of Clapp's Mill Marker | 3440 Porter Sharpe Rd, Burlington, NC 27215 | MARKER | ||
Fort Augusta - Fort Cornwallis Marker | 605 Reynolds St, Augusta, GA 30901 | MARKER | ||
National Funeral for President Washington Marker | 125 N 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 | MARKER | ||
Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee Home Marker | 611 Cameron St, Alexandria, VA 22314 | MARKER | ||
Pyle's Defeat Marker | 2644 State Hwy 49, Burlington, NC 27215 | MARKER | ||
Howard's Lick Marker | 13208 WV-259, Mathias, WV 26812 | MARKER |
DIED:
Cumberland Island, Georgia
Mar 25, 1818
Lee was born on Leesylvania Plantation in Prince William County in the Colony of Virginia. He was the son of Col. Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792). His father was the first cousin of Richard Henry Lee, twelfth President of the Continental Congress. Lee graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1773 and began pursuing a legal career.
With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, Lee became a captain in a dragoon detachment in the Colony of Virginia, which was attached to the 1st Continental Light Dragoons. In 1778, Lee was promoted to major and given the command of a mixed corps of cavalry and infantry known as Lee's Legion, with which he won a great reputation as a capable leader of light troops.
In August, Lee led a detachment on a raid on a British fort, culminating in the Battle of Paulus Hook in New Jersey on August 19, in which 50 British soldiers were killed or wounded and 158 captured, while the Americans suffered two dead, three wounded and seven captured. In September of the same year, Lee commanded a unit of dragoons which defeated a Hessian regiment at the Battle of Edgar's Lane.
Lee and his legion also served at the Battle of Guilford Court House, the Siege of Ninety-Six, and the Battle of Eutaw Springs. He was present at Charles Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown but left the Army shortly after, claiming fatigue and disappointment with his treatment from fellow officers.