Robert E. Lee: Valiant Hero or Misguided Traitor?

George Parke Custis was kicked out of Princeton, left St. John’s College of Annapolis after only one semester and made a living renting out all of the various plantation properties that he had inherited.  By comparison to the industrious and spartan Robert E. Lee, Custis was an indolent patrician who lived on the wealth of his ancestors. Eventually, understanding that his daughter was enthusiastic about marrying Lee, Mary Custis’ father agreed to the marriage of his only child, which took place at Arlington House on June 30, 1831.

Lee immediately realized that the attack was not only a failure but a disaster.  On his horse Traveller he is said to have galloped forward and greeted his defeated troops by saying “It is my fault.”  Of Pickett’s 6,000 men, 3,000 were casualties including all 15 regimental commanders.  Other units suffered similarly bringing casualties to approximately 6,500 suffered in less than an hour.  Lee quickly became concerned that Meade might follow with a counterattack but when he ordered General Pickett to prepare his division for such an eventuality, Pickett is said to have replied, “General Lee, I have no division.”

Lee’s disappointment in his defeat at Gettysburg was so profound that he submitted his resignation to Jefferson Davis.  Lee indicated that he was to blame for the loss at Gettysburg and he questioned whether he could continue to meet the physical demands of military command.  Davis emphatically rejected Lee’s offer of resignation, telling him that replacing would be an impossibility.

Lee did not live long enough to observe the post war reality of race relations, especially in the southern United States, but, based on the attitudes that both he and his wife expressed during their lifetime, he would not have found them problematic.

General Lee not even sure as to what he would do with the rest of his life.  He was 58 years old but other than the military he had no other occupation.  He must have considered it fortunate when the rector of Washington College in Lexington, VA offered him the presidency of the school.  Besides a salary which included a percentage of tuition, Lee was promised a residence.  In exchange he would administer the school and be asked to teach a course in philosophy.  Robert E. Lee accepted the position.

In late September, Lee prepared for the beginning of Washington College’s 1870-1871 academic year.  On September 28, at a meeting of the directors of his local church, Lee’s last official act was to agree to make up the remaining $55 of the rector’s salary out of his own pocket.  He walked home and when he got to the dinner table, he was unable to lead his family in grace or even speak at all.  They sat him down and called a doctor, Lee clearly afflicted by some traumatic event which turned out to be a massive stroke.  Robert E. Lee lingered for two weeks, lying quietly in a bed in the main room of his home surrounded by family.  He died quietly on October 12, 1870, aged 63.  His glorification began immediately with a name change of Washington College to Washington and Lee University, Lee having initiated both law and business schools as part of the school’s curriculum.

Robert E. Lee will always remain a complex and fascinating figure of historical prominence.  Hopefully, the pendulum which initially swung too far in favor of insensitive adulation will eventually swing back from strident, out of context vilification to a more sensible middle ground

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