Robert E. Lee and Slavery

Robert E. Lee was the most successful Confederate military leader during the American Civil War (1861–1865). This also made him, by virtue of the Confederacy\u27s defense of chattel slavery, the most successful defender of the enslavement of African Americans. Yet his own personal record on both slavery and race is mottled with contradictions and ambivalence, all which were in plain view during his long career. Born into two of Virginia\u27s most prominent families, Lee spent his early years surrounded by enslaved African Americans, although that changed once he joined the Army. His wife, Mary Randolph Custis Lee, freed her own personal slaves, but her father, George Washington Parke Custis, still owned many people, and when he died, Robert E. Lee, as executor of his estate, was responsible for manumitting them within five years. He was widely criticized for taking the full five years. Lee and his wife supported the American Colonization Society before the war but resisted the abolitionist movement. Lee later insisted that his decision to support the Confederacy was not founded on a defense of slavery. During both the Maryland (1862) and Gettysburg (1863) campaigns, Lee\u27s officers kidnapped free blacks and sold them into slavery. By 1865, Lee supported the enlistment of African Americans into the Confederate army, but he surrendered before a plan could be implemented. After the war, he generally opposed racial and political equality for African Americans.[excerpt

Should we Banish Robert E. Lee & his Confederate Friends? Let\u27s Talk.

After 152 years, Robert E. Lee is back in the headlines. But not in any way he could have imagined. The “Unite the Right” forces descended on Charlottesville, Va., to protest calls for the removal of an equestrian statue of Lee that has been sitting in a city park since 1924. The larger question, however, was about whether the famous Confederate general was also a symbol of white supremacy. The same issues were in play in May when a statue of Lee was removed from Lee Circle in New Orleans. There are also more than two dozen streets and schools named for Lee that have become debating points about symbols of white nationalism. One Army installation in Petersburg, Va., bears Lee’s name; another, Fort Hamilton in New York City, names a driveway for him. (excerpt

Take on Appomattox

On April 9, 1865, Palm Sunday, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met in the front parlor of Wilmer McLean’s house in the little village of Appomattox Court House to discuss the status of their two armies. After swapping stories of the days of their Mexican War service, the two men finally penned their names on terms of surrender, effectively ending the American Civil War. Grant, magnanimous towards the now defeated Confederates, and Lee, humble in his loss, ushered in the era of reconciliation that would bandage up the past four bloody years and push the reunited country forward together as one. [excerpt

The Anonymous Christ: Jesus as Savior in Modern Theology

Reviewed Book: Snook, Lee E. The Anonymous Christ: Jesus as Savior in Modern Theology. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986

The High Water Mark of Social History in Civil War Studies

Just hours before the Army of Northern Virginia raised the white flag at Appomattox Court House, Confederate Colonel Edward Porter Alexander approached his commanding officer, Robert E. Lee, with what he hoped was a game-saving plan. Rather than suffer the mortification of surrendering, Alexander begged Lee to scatter his men across the countryside like “rabbits & partridges” where they could continue waging war, not as regular Confederate soldiers, but as elusive guerrilla fighters. Lee listened patiently to his subordinate’s reasoning for irregular warfare. Before Alexander finished, he reminded Lee that the men were utterly devoted to their commanding general, and that such loyalty would continue to inspire the sacrifice of more blood, even if it meant taking to the woods and fighting like common outlaws. When Alexander concluded his impassioned plea, Lee asked his subordinate to imagine what would happen if he turned Alexander’s suggestion into official policy. But before Alexander had a chance to respond, Lee reminded him that virtually every Southern community had been overrun by Union armies, that farms were in disarray, and that crops were ruined. Lee feared that his veterans, upon returning home, would have no choice but to plunder and rob for survival. It would take no time for his disciplined army to descend into a demoralized mob that would take the rest of the South into a downward spiral of unending and unrestrained violence. “As for myself,” Lee concluded, “while you young men might afford to go to bushwhacking, the only proper & dignified course for me would be to surrender myself & take the consequences of my actions.” [excerpt

Memory and Meaning: Civil Rights in Lee\u27s Backyard

I walked up the long winding path named for Mary Custis and her family home. As I ascended the steps I stopped to quickly pay my respects to Robert Todd Lincoln. But he wasn\u27t my quarry for the day. As I came to the top of the steps, Robert E. Lee\u27s home hove into view. I\u27ve been inside Lee\u27s house a few times. Each time has been interesting, but relatively hollow. Those four walls lack the raw power that the surrounding acres seem to ooze. [excerpt

James E. Lee

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/willowhillheritage-obituaries/5589/thumbnail.jp

Gray Cavalier: The Life and Wars of General W.H.F. Rooney Lee

Success in war and peace Biography explores the life and service of Robert E. Lee\u27s second son W.H.F. Rooney Lee (1837-1891), Robert E. Lee\u27s second son, served as one of the Confederacy\u27s premier cavalry officers and compiled a fine battlefield record. However, Rooney Lee has lo...

Another Side of ACL Conference

ACL Conference 1999 at Lee University was a great deal of fun. The text comes from my notes rather than letters to my friend and business partne1; Mark Vette,; although I kept in touch with him this year via e-mail. I hope you enjoy follow ing me around again as you read Another Side of Conference

The Marble Man: Images Depict Lee, His Friends, And His Legend

Robert E. Lee: An Album tells of Lee\u27s life through images. This book is an album in the literal sense, author Emory M. Thomas explains. It contains pictures, contemporary with Lee and with us, of places associated with Lee. It includes pictures of people Lee knew and pictures of Lee. Here...