I'm not entirely certain what the hell is wrong with me. I just watched the first part of the movie Kingsman for no other reason but to watch the scene where Lee dies. All I've done is cause myself emotional distress. Excuse me, I am a fool who needs to have his copy of Kingsman taken away for using it irresponsibly. 

If you need me, I’ll be huddled up in the sad fan corner.

"Major Lee...seems to have come out of his mother's womb a soldier," said a retired English officer who had defected to the American side of the Revolutionary War (Royster, 1981 "Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution," pg 14). The Lee in question, admittedly one of many, was Henry Lee III, of the Lees of Old Virginia.  

At the age of fourteen, the born soldier was accepted into Princeton, class of 1773. He was supposed to become a lawyer. But then came Bunker Hill, and shortly thereafter, in 1776, Harry enlisted under Col. Theodorick Bland. Yes, actually. 

"Lee was given commands that enabled him to exercise independent initiative outside of routine military operations and the ordinary hierarchy of command" (Royster, 1981 "Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution," pg. 14).

Lee enlisted in the war. He joined the cavalry, and fought so well and with such Dothraki-like skill on horseback that he earned the name "Light-Horse Harry," which became his sobriquet. Light-Horse Harry was given a mixed legion of cavalry and infantry, which he used for his warfare-outside-the-lines (ibid). Among Lee's creative military strategies was the legitimately groundbreaking concept of camp sanitation, a matter to which the Southern Aristocrat paid close attention. The result, at a time when most other men in the war on either side thought of bathing as maybe acceptable once, if you were really drunk at the time and properly ashamed after, was striking:  

"I never saw one of his men in the general hospital; and it was proverbial in camp, that Lee's men and horses were always ready for action," an army surgeon put in the record (Royster, 1981 "Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution," pg. 19).

His men were also known for their emotional bonds to one another and their undying loyalty to Lee. The list of complimentary things folks had to say about Light-Horse is perhaps so long because the men were known for brooking no smack to be talked about their beloved commander. They conducted themselves with rigid "veteranship," which was Light-Horse Harry's term for his own brand of military dignity, and were popular among civilians and brass alike (ibid). 

When Benedict Arnold made a cowardly retreat behind British lines after trying to get the U.S. to sign the declaration of surrenderpendence (as seen in Fairly Odd Parents, anyway), General Washington sent Lee in. Light-Horse Harry and Sergeant Major John Champe, another young Virginian in Lee's corps, plotted the whole thing out. Lee led Champe's own dragoons in his pursuit, on the pretense that Champe had really deserted them, always keeping them just out of reach. Champe faked a defection and "lied his way up the British chain of command" (Royster, 1981 "Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution," pg 20). The whole thing failed, but only due to some last minute complications, where Champe came close to nabbing Arnold. Even so, Champe returned to Lee safely, and resumed his command (ibid). 

In 1779 Light-Horse Harry, then about 25, was in command of 25 dragoons. He became the first and only soldier to receive a gold medal from Congress before being made a general. The British had a stronghold at Paulus Hook, NJ. Light-Horse Harry meticulously calculated "marching time, tides, the hours of darkness, and the routes of access and escape." (Royster, 1981 "Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution," pg 21). Light-Horse Harry's approach was simple, effective and based on his strengths. On horseback he led his cavalry up the Hudson and stormed the fort with bayonets. They took 158 prisoners. 

After the young Virginian had accomplished all this, the British, particularly Lee's archnemesis (the opposing Cavalry Knight Sir William Erskine), started to pay attention (Royster, 1981 "Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution"). 

Erskine brought 200 of his finest horsemen to Lee's secret post near Valley Forge, and attacked at dawn. Light-Horse Harry, with two officers and five of his dragoons, holed up in a large house and held off Erskine's cavalry for 25 minutes - once they started to make kills, Lee began to scream to an imaginary American infantry. This move spooked the British, either because they actually thought the Americans were coming or because they thought Light-Horse Harry had snapped.  The lobsterbacks ran all the way back to Philidelphia (at the time a British occupation) (ibid).