What we’re going to do today, ladies and
gentlemen, is we’re going to do Robert E. Lee in the post war years. And my co-worker
Chuck Teague, when we were upstairs before we came down said that, asked me if this was
going to be a beatification – did I get that right? – out here. Which I guess, it
never hit me, but I guess it might in a way ‘cause I’m a big fan of Robert E. Lee.
What I’m hoping to do among others, besides giving you a timeline as to what Robert E.
Lee did in the post war years which I think is obviously the most often overlooked portion
of his life because, I mean the Civil War is always going to be first and foremost.
The other main theme of this lecture I’m going to try to get across to you, the Park
Service is big on themes, is that the amount of, I wouldn’t say that he did a lot of
work in theory, but through his own personal example is probably the best way, through
his own personal example Robert E. Lee tries to reconcile the nation. And what I think
a lot of us, as Americans today, have forgotten is that how far apart this country was in
1865. I think it is the view of a lot of people that Lee surrenders at Appomattox and bam.
You know, oh, we’ll just forget about it, you know, OK? You know. We’ll just go, we’ll
just hold hands and we’ll just reunite and just continue on down that path again. It
takes the country decades, some would say a century, some would say not even yet, for
the country to really reunite. I would probably put the country seriously coming back together
in the same vein in the Spanish American War, when we all had a common enemy once again
instead of each other. But that would be, you know, roughly thirty years after the end
of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee does not live that long. He’s only going to live for five
years. But you think about who symbolized the Confederacy coming out of the Civil War
and who the southerners were going to emulate as they were coming out. And then put yourself
in the shoes of the man himself. I mean, you’re Robert E. Lee, everything you do is under
a microscope. Everything. And you know he hated that, the crowds, everything else.
Alright, so Appomattox is on April 9th of 1865, he surrenders to General Grant. I think
Robert E. Lee is greatly surprised by the terms he gets from U. S. Grant there. Grant
could have imposed harsh terms and I think that Ulysses S. Grant’s magnanimous gesture
there is often overlooked in the reconciliation of the country. But I could do a whole lecture
on that, maybe we’ll do one this summer. But Robert E. Lee has to stick around Appomattox
for a few days as an army commander and he has to shore up paperwork. And then three
days after he surrenders, on April 12th he sets out from Appomattox riding Traveler,
his famous horse. Eventually, three days later he’s going to make his way back to Richmond
Virginia. And when he gets to Richmond this is the sight which he beholds. Now he did
not see this personally because he was down in Petersburg, but the Confederates set the
town on fire when they were evacuating it, when Richmond fell. You look at all those
charred ruins, that’s the Virginia State Capital, obviously the old capital of the
Confederacy right there in the middle. Three days later on April 15th Robert E. Lee is
going to pull up at the James River and he’s going to look across at this scene of desolation.
As he crosses over he’s not going to have a big, a big you know cavalcade with him.
He’s not going to have a lot people. He’s goin’ to have one staff officer, he’s
goin’ to have his son. He’s got a wagon that’s coming behind him that’s actually
US stamped on the side. That has served as his headquarters wagon for his personal baggage.
Eventually that wagon and Lee on horseback and the rest of the party are going to wind
their way through those rubble strewn streets of Richmond, up Main Street and then take
a, and then turned onto Franklin Street. Literally they will come up and the, front of a house
at 707 Franklin Street. And believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, that fire that
engulfed Richmond had come up right to the house next door but that one had been saved.
Now a crowd gathered and, you know, they’re wanting to touch Lee as an icon or whatever,
touch his boot. Can you imagine us doing that today, you know? Ever since, well you know
who died in 1977. But Lee gets off his horse and bows gravely to everybody and then he
walks inside that front door right there. And this is, this is the scene which, which
I don’t have any record of and this is the one I have always wanted, I’ve always been
curious about. When Robert E. Lee mounts those steps right there, those eight steps leading
into the house, and he walks into that front door, he bows to the crowd graciously and
everything, and he walks back in, he’s still got his uniform on. That’ll be the last
time, I suppose, in his official capacity – he’ll put it back on for these pictures
in a day or two – but that will be his last capacity as a soldier. I mean, when he walked
through that front door what was going through his mind? You ever thought about that? I mean
what did he do? His wife and his children, his daughters – he had four daughters – he
had children ranging from 19 to 32 years of age at the time. He came in and they were
always a kind of a close family of, always someone he could turn to and be himself. I
wonder what he said to Mary. I mean, did he express any regrets? Did he say anything?
Did he cry? At some point every soldier has to look back at what they’ve done. And you
can go, you can go from privates to majors to full generals to lieutenants to captains,
to major generals to lieutenant generals, everybody looks back on the decisions which
they’ve made. And I wonder, when he came home that day, what he thought.
Now, as he’s trying to, as he’s trying to get his thoughts back together none other
than the famous Civil War photographer Matthew Brady is going to call upon him. And I’m
going to go through some of these pictures, I won’t show you all of them, I’m going
to show you some of these pictures in just a second. This picture right here which you’ve
seen cropped and blown up and colorized and uncolorized and sideways and halfways and
so forth. That picture is always chosen for a reason, because that face right there, ladies
and gentlemen, sums up Robert E. Lee at this point in his life. While he’s there you
can only imagine, while he’s in this Franklin Street house and right after, going on for
the next few weeks, you can only imagine the people that are coming by to call upon Lee.
I mean some autograph seekers, some just wanting to see him, old friends, acquaintances, George
Meade came by. I was just reading about up here. And Lee doesn’t want to see all these
people. You know, it’s the last thing he wants to do up here. So one day Custis, which
is to your left right up there, Custis is going to answer the door and there’s going
to be this ragged old Confederate soldier standing there.
And in this soldier, this soldier’s got his arm in a sling and he says to Custis,
he says “I’d like to see General Lee”. And Custis says “Well, the General is not
receiving at this time.” He goes “Well, I’m, I’m from Texas and I’d like to
see the General that I followed on so many campaigns.” You know, standing there in
his rags, he’s probably stinking to high heaven too, you know if the truth was known
about it. Custis looks him over and says “I’ll see what I can do” and he allows him into
the house. Well, Lee is upstairs in that Franklin house in some, some bedroom or office. And
so they show this soldier in, he sits down, the Texan sits down, a few moments later here
comes the steps of General Robert E. Lee. He must have had his own certain gait as he
came ‘cause they recognized it. And so the soldier and the staff officer stood as Lee
came around the corner. As Lee comes around he bows graciously to the people that are
in the room and he extends his hand and he walks over to that Texan, this private, and
the Texan extends his hand and they, they embrace in a handshake. And Lee looks at him
and the Texan looks at him and the soldier can’t say anything. He just can’t say
anything. Not one word comes out of his mouth. And he eventually, as he is still holding
Lee’s hands, he just bursts into tears. This veteran of four years in the war, he
bursts into tears and after a few moments he just walked out the door. Nobody said anything.
The eyewitness said that Lee bowed graciously to the crowd and walked back up the stairs.
That is the type of emotion you’re dealing with coming out of Appomattox. You’re talking
about a people that have just lost their hopes for a nation and who defined that? That man
right there. That’s why the Civil War ends folks. When Robert E. Lee surrenders. Because
he is the definition of the Confederacy, he is the symbol of the Confederacy.
So Matthew Brady called and he took these pictures. The only reason that Lee sits or
stands for these pictures right here, ladies and gentlemen, is because, at first he rebuffed
Brady but what did Brady do? He went to Lee’s boss who was his wife, that’s right. Laughter
His wife. And Mrs. Lee told the General to go get dressed. So Lee came down with his,
with his, you know, his son, his staff officer, he came down the stairs and says “Well Mr.
Brady we’re ready for you”. And he stood for this. If you look closely you can actually
see the stand behind Lee that holds his head in place. That’s how you got them to stand
still, ‘cause you keep your head against it, you can’t see the rest of the one up
his back right there. But he captured these right here. That’s my, especially my favorite
one. This is not the Appomattox uniform though. I used to think that. It must be one of his
field uniforms but it looks in very good shape. Or hardly worn, right there. Laughter This
is actually, this is actually, I should have set, actually forgot this picture was in this
queue, actually, I would have set this up better, but the. This is actually the previously
unreleased photograph of my ancestor. Laughter OK. Right there. My friend Pat Rich actually
did that to me as a joke, did that for me as a joke one day and I’ve had it on my
door ever since. OK. What’s the situation? On May 29th 1865
President Andrew Johnson offers a general amnesty to all former Confederates who signed
the Oath of Allegiance but he excludes all who have held civil office under the Confederate
government and people with an estate valued at over $20,000. On June 7th 1865 Lee is indicted
for treason. June 13th Lee encloses in a letter to General Grant his application for pardon.
Lee’s position is quote “I am ready to meet any charges that may be preferred against
me and do not wish to avoid trial but if I am correct as to the protection granted by
my parole and am not to be prosecuted I desire to comply with the provision of the President’s
proclamation.” Whew that’s a lot of ps. “And therefore enclose the required application.”
Lee did not sign the oath though because word of this requirement had not reach Virginia.
What did Grant do? He immediately requested that all indictments be squashed and the pardon
be granted. What was the result? Prosecutors quietly halted proceedings against Robert
E. Lee but did not formally dismiss the charges. No pardon would be forthcoming from President
Johnson either. This is what we know now but Lee did not know that. So to add to Lee’s
woes he, has starting in June of ’65, the sword of, what is that Damocleses, Damoclotese,
over his head but he doesn’t know if he is going to be indicted any time soon. Could
be any moment. Now Lee in asking for this pardon is probably,
in southerners’ eyes, the most controversial act of his life. He was in that pardon admitting
secession, the creation of the Confederacy, and the fighting, fighting against the northern
invasion were all wrong. Right there. So, by submitting that to say the least, he is
not making any friends. However for tens of thousands, if Lee applied for a pardon - what
did we say the theme was? Personal example – then maybe they should also apply for
a pardon. The veterans who did sign were restored their rights unlike Lee, in a manner that
the government would never give the General. Right there. Captain George Wise, holding
the oath in his hand asked, asked Lee “I think my parole covers it and I do not think
it should be required of me. What would you advise?” “I would advise you take it”
Lee responded. “General I feel that this is an indignity. From I swear this same thing
on every street corner, I will seek another country where I can at least preserve my self-respect.”
“Do not leave Virginia” Lee said in a sad voice, “our country needs her young
men now.” Young Wise did take the oath and when he informed his father what he had signed
his father exclaimed “You have disgraced the family”. The son responded “General
Lee advised me to do it.” “Oh, that alters the case. Whatever General Lee says is alright,
I don’t care what it is.” Alright. I want you think about something
right here as I start to read this part of it. Most of you already know or are familiar
with Civil War know what buildings this represents. This is actually Washington College on the,
in Lexington Virginia right here. I want you to think about something right now though
as I get into it. If you’re Robert E. Lee what would you do after the war? I mean, I
don’t know if there’s a right or a wrong answer, I’m just pondering. If you’re
Robert E. Lee what do you do? Now the state of the college itself is that it had been
heavily damaged during the war. The library had been scattered, Federal soldiers had been
using some of the buildings for barracks, the college had been kept open as a prep school.
And at the time in ’65 it only had four professors as faculty. The trustees were meeting
on the night of August 4th 1865 in order to elect a new president. Right before the vote
a member stood and said that he had heard that Miss Mary Lee, daughter of the General,
stated that the south had stood ready to give General Lee anything but what he wanted which
was a way to make an honest living. The idea shone in the room and a few minutes later
Lee had been unanimously elected president. Quote “then there was a pause and silence
prevailed for some moments. The board seemed impressed with the gravity of the situation
and seemed to feel that they had acted rashly.” End of quote. It seemed very presumptive to
elect Lee quote “the head of a broken down college.” Nevertheless a letter was drafted
and Judge John Brokinbrow was sent to urge the General to accept. The Judge looked at
his clothes and realized he didn’t have any befitting to call upon General Lee. So
you know what he did? He borrowed a suit. And so, with borrowed money, with a borrowed
suit, they obtained transportation and that is the way Brokinbrow called on General Lee
who was living at the time west of Richmond in a house called Derwin at that time, to
call upon him to be president of this college. Of course Lee, after much urging from friends,
is going to accept the presidency on August 31st. This is how Lee accepts it, though.
Lee pointed out in his letter taking the job that he had not been pardoned yet. He was
also explicit, explicit in what his political views might be. “I think it the duty of
every citizen in the present condition of the country to do all in his power to aid
in the restoration of peace and harmony and in no way to oppose the policy of the state
or general government directed to that object. It is particularly incumbent on those charged
with the instruction of the young to set them an example of submission to authority.”
End of quote. Twenty weeks after Appomattox Lee was urging quote “the healing of all
dissensions.” October 2nd Lee is inaugurated as president,
that’s fast, it’s within a month of offering the job. The college opened with forty students
and another hundred students drifted in by late fall. Once Lee meets a student, though,
he is able to remember their name which is a wonderful gift. If you’re a good student.
By the second year there are over four hundred students in residence, some from outside the
south. You know one of the things that I like, I like to go off in tangents, one of the neatest
things I’ve always liked about Robert E. Lee was…. I don’t know, we don’t write
like they did or he did back then obviously today, but one of the things that I really
like about Lee is how he will put letters together to, to parents. If he had, if he
had a student, recalcitrant student, acting up or something like that, Lee would usually
write three or four paragraphs and basically how he constructs his sentences was this way.
First paragraph – Johnny is a fantastic kid. He’s smart, he’s intelligent and
he can do anything. Second paragraph – unfortunately he’s not living up to his abilities. Third
paragraph – I’m sure you understand. Sincerely, respectfully R.E. Lee. Right here and you
get the point. Jubal Early, the Confederate general used to, the favorite thing out of
everything that he did during the war, was actually to show people Lee’s letter to
him demoting him, removing him from command in the Shenandoah army. That’s what you
would see if you went in Jubal Early’s army, office, his law office after the war. Right
there. But that’s what he’s got to deal with. You know, today I would think it be
worth, you know, being flunked out of school just to get a letter from Lee. You know, but,
that was just a joke. Alright, so he starts October 3rd, October
3rd he signs the Oath of Allegiance to the United States. The Oath was sent to Washington
where it landed on the desk of William Seward. Apparently thinking that the document had
already been recorded Seward gave it to a friend for a souvenir and it was found in
a bundle of papers, Lee’s amnesty oath, 105 years later. Anybody remember what happened
in the Ford administration? He got his pardon. Gerald Ford. Well, he pardoned everybody else,
he might as well. Laughter Come on, that was kind of funny. I mean, a political joke there.
No Chevy Chase fans here, or anything. Next day Lee opened a letter from General
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard. In it Beauregard asked quote “What position should I take
in relation to defeat” and what did he (Lee) think Beauregard should do. Lee responded
“I am glad to see no indication in our letter of an intention to leave the country. I think
the south requires the aids of her son now more than in any period in her history. As
you ask my purpose I will state that I have no thought of abandoning, abandoning her unless
compelled to do so.” Lee reviewed his own humble efforts to regain United States citizenship
and then concluded with this passage which would be quoted by generations. “I need
not tell that true patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary at one period
to that which it does at another and the motive which impels them, the desire to do right
is precisely the same. The circumstances that govern their actions change and their conduct
must conform to the new order of things. History is full of illustrations of this. Washington
himself is an example of this. At one time he fought in the service of the king of Great
Britain, at another he fought with the French at Yorktown under the orders of the Continental
Congress against him. He has not been branded by the world with reproach for this but his
course has been applauded.” Here’s your paradox. That’s how Robert E. Lee justifies
his actions of being in the United States, leaving the United States and coming back
into the United States. We go into 1866 and by this time, ladies and
gentlemen, there are race riots in Memphis and New Orleans. The nation was heating up
with Congressional elections that would turn into a northern referendum on how to treat
the vanquished south. President Johnson was at war, quote unquote, with Congress. He wished
for lenient treatment which allowed the southern states back in without ratifying the Fourteen
Amendment and Congress wished for the south to be made to ratify. During all this turmoil
Lee counseled everybody to stay calm. To Mrs. Jefferson Davis he wrote “I have thought
from the time of the cessation of hostilities that silence and patience, patience on the
part of the south was the true course and I think so still.” To Jubal Early –
you can say it, go ahead, he looked pretty old, don’t he – to Jubal Early he wrote
“I hate a Yankee this day worse than I have ever done and my hatred is increasing every
day” You got to love Jubal Early. Lee replied “We shall have to be patient and suffer
for a while at least and all controversy will only serve to prolong angry and bitter feelings
and postpone the period when reason and charity may resume their sway.”
Well, the name’s on the bottom. I was going to have somebody guess that one. The south
was listening. General Nathaniel G. Harris, this is going to be post-Gettysburg, that’s
why you don’t know him for the most part, probably the most famous thing he did was,
war-wise, would be, ahhh, Spotsylvania Courthouse? He’s one of the units that counteracts in
there and he is at Battery Gregg outside of Petersburg. At least half of his brigade is
there which is well worth seeing. Fort Gregg Battery Gregg, well worth seeing. Thank you
Gregg. Your great. Harris would write Lee “Your great and wise example of retirement
in peace and obedience to government and law we are all pursuing and following and all
your old men here are peacefully at work trying to build up their shattered fortunes and the
country its peace and prosperity.” 1867, January 7th, Congress looks into Acts
of Impeachment against President Johnson. March 2nd, federal government passes the Reconstruction
Acts. These Acts strip the state governments of power and places the south in five military
districts. Congress declares it can change any aspect of local government without previous
notice. States must ratify the Fourteen Amendment and one out of every four Confederates are
excluded from voting and all African Americans are included. The real carpetbagger era was
beginning. Northerners are elected by blacks and the governor of Virginia is from New York.
To give you an example. So what does this do to these Confederates? And in a time we
will call them very racist. They do not like the situation. A boy with a broken leg who
Lee was visiting recalled this time. “Once I remember he sat still for some time by the
window and his face looked so sad. He spoke of the southern people, their losses, privations
and sufferings and also of our vain struggle.’ I cannot sleep’ he said ‘for thinking
of it and often I feel so weighted down with sorrow that I have, I have to get up in the
night and go out and walk until I thoroughly weary myself before I can sleep.’ That was
the only melancholy sentence I ever heard him utter, the only time I saw that heartbroken
look on his face.” Another instance, a lady said that Lee, in
a moment of being unguarded, Lee, she said to Lee ”Why do you look so sad?” And Lee
turned to her and said “I am thinking about all the soldiers that died in vain when I
knew it was too late.” And he said, she goes, you know basically “Why didn’t you
say something?” He goes “No, no they had to find, they had to find out for themselves.”
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the separation between civilian and military authority which
makes our government, even today, so unique. Look at any other government out there and
notice how often the military overthrows. OK. Lee at this time is summoned to testify,
here’s a good picture of him, Lee is summoned to testify in Jefferson Davis’s treason
trial. Basically Lee was offered amnesty for his testimony against Davis or face re- indictment
for treason. After the prosecutor tried to establish Lee had only followed orders that
Davis was responsible for, Lee dug in his heels. Quote “I am responsible for what
I did and I cannot now recall any important movement I made had I not acted on my own
responsibility.” Now, how many of you, or how many times have you seen in your life
when somebody has put the squeeze on ‘em, they fold in the court? How many of you would
have had, with that hanging over your head, the potential indictment, will be able to
get on the witness stand and self-indict yourself? It’s a lot.
Christmas Day 1868 President Johnson sends out a general amnesty to all Confederates
who had not been restored their rights by previous actions. It was over. Lee and Davis
would never be tried but Lee was still not a citizen because his application had been
misplaced. Right there. A couple things on that. One, Robert E. Lee never votes again.
Two, can you imagine any other revolution that you ever hear about in the world where
the ringleaders don’t get hung? Or worse. If you watch Braveheart. Right there. You
know there’s always a better way to kill somebody. If you think about it right there
Jefferson Davis was not hung for war crimes and once again who’s the symbol of the rebellion?
Robert E. Lee. And he gets to go in peace. I mean, it’s remarkable in a way, it’s
definitely unique. We could, we could very well, they could very well have created a
martyr. When Washington and Lee, well….. I don’t
know when I want to put this, if I want to tell this story …. Want to hear a story?
Alright, I’ll do a tangent for you, I didn’t know if I was going to tell this one or not.
When Lee was the administrator at Washington College there was a professor, I forget what
his name was, Edward S. Joines, Edward Joines who was professor of modern language. One
day Professor Joines is, it’s a cold winter day and the professor proceeds to take out
a stick of wood and put it in his pot belly stove. While he’s doing that, as he proceeds
to do that, you know the fire heats up and the wood starts to burn. All of a sudden there’s
a humongous explosion that goes off and that pot belly stove just bursts into a thousand
fragments. And it’s lucky that the professor is not killed. He actually emerged without
a scratch. Well now Robert E. Lee, as professor of Washington College had to deal with attempted
murder ‘cause somebody had tried to kill the professor. So, chapel services, which
Lee always attended which I don’t think was required of the students. No, it was not
required of the students but Lee always set a personal example by attending himself. At
that morning’s chapel services he goes up there and he says to them, in a vast understatement,
that he would be happy for anybody that knew, that had any information on this to please
come by and call upon him later in his office. Well, lo and behold, about 11 o’clock that
morning, two freshmen show up. And they sit outside the door, Lee was interviewing somebody
at the time, and they sit outside the door and Lee, Lee concludes his business. He says
“Gentlemen come on in”. You can imagine, can you imagine walking into the office of
Robert E. Lee? He sits down, has them sit down and the boys proceed to explain to him
that something had gone terribly awry. That four of them that lived in the dorm room,
that one of them, that somebody had kept stealing their firewood. Alright. And so in order to
discover who was stealing the firewood for their dorm room one of the soldiers had concocted
a plan where he set about to take a piece of that cord wood, he had drilled it out,
he had stuffed it full of black powder, and then he had put clay over it. And put it back
on the pile outside. Sure enough, somebody took it and he said he didn’t understand
why. Come to find out, the janitor who was being too lazy, did not want to walk the extra
two hundred yards to the wood pile. So the students had to get their own wood but the
professors got their wood retrieved by the groundskeepers. That groundskeeper was taking
shortcuts so when the professor threw that piece of wood into his stove that’s why
it blew up. Right there. Now, they’re telling Robert E. Lee this, all with a straight face,
probably thinking they are going to get kicked out of school. And Lee looks at ‘em for
a minute and then, a few seconds later, he’s going to laugh. The one thing that I think
we forget, and not a lot of people saw is that Lee laughed to laugh. You didn’t see
it often because he was always in the public eye. He had that exterior, he was the marble
man. But behind closed doors, and in certain instances, he would laugh. He loved it. Lee
would end up telling the kids, one of them his name was Graham. “Well, Mr. Graham,
your plan to find out who was taking your wood was a good one but your powder charge
was too heavy. I would recommend that the next time you use less powder.” Laughter.
Nope. You want to get inside Robert E. Lee’s psyche right there? That is, that story right
there is one that Lee would relate when he was president of Washington College to people
and he would always get a kick out of that. The time that there was a murder plot on his
campus. Right there. Alright, in ’68 Lee is going to go on his
first vacation. He would choose the Rockbridge Bath Resort. At the resort there was a nightly
dance called the Treadmill. And there were both northerners and southerners. Does anybody
know what you call a southerner who helped the north? It’s probably a term that’s
lost now. Scalawag. Right here, very good Larry. There was a West Virginian girl at
the hotel that one man said quote “Was very beautiful and very attractive and more handsomely
dressed than any man at the spring, ohh, any woman at the springs.” However the girl’s
father quote “had been a Union man during the war and remained at home and made a fortune
while the men in the south had gone in the army and lost all they had.” Quote “the
women would have none of her. And the men dared not risk their wrath.” The girl became
quote very lonely. One evening when the dance was occurring the girl was on the other room
reading, in the other room reading. She became aware of a brilliant shined pair of shoes
that had stopped before her. And looking up her eyes met those of General Lee. He smiled,
bowed and asked for her company at the next dance. When the dance was over and General
Lee led her back to her seat there was a general rush for introductions. And from that time
on the girl had not only all the partners she wanted but actually became the belle of
the season. Now, let’s go back. That’s another act. Does it change the whole south?
No, nobody outside that ball that night ever saw that. Did the newspapers report it? No.
Did it go out, go out on the telegram? No. Come out in a book? No. But to those people,
let’s say it was a hundred people at that dance that night, all eyes were on General
Lee. And his personal example, by going over there, he probably knew the backdrop of that
story, he had daughters, I am sure they would inform him, that were there at the resort
right there. His personal example led to that girl be allowed back into the social circle.
Into the social circle. Now, another side view, the same sitting right
there. General Lee’s rocking out a little bit. Now while Lee’s on vacation, when he
was in a group of ladies, one of the belles turned to him and said she was tired of being
friendly to northerners. And turned to Lee and said “Well, General Lee, they say General
Grant is coming here next week. What will you do then?” Christina Bond, the lady who
recorded this scene said quote “Some of us would have gladly slain her on the spot.”
You didn’t ask him that. But Lee answered with and earnest faraway look in his eyes
quote “If General Grant comes, I shall welcome him to my home, show him all the courtesy
that is due from one gentleman to another and try to do everything in my power to make
his stay agreeable.” End of quote. Grant did not come but Lee’s example continued,
continued to penetrate hardened Confederate hearts. Christina Bond concluded quote “We
saw moreover his absolute loyalty to the allegiance he had sworn when he laid down his arms and
his whole soul was engaged in the work of Reconstruction and he lost no opportunity
to promote it socially.” Now Grant, of course, decides to run for president
in 1867. He becomes a Republican which infuriates the south. One day one of the members launches
into a diatribe against Grant. Lee’s face grew flushed. “Sir”, Lee said, “If you
ever again presume to speak disrespectfully of General Grant in my presence either you
or I will sever his connection with this university.” What does Lee remember about Grant? Yeah,
that’s right. He remembers Appomattox, he was generous. Exactly. And I like that loyalty
‘cause Lee never forgot. There was a brief flirting of running Lee on the Democratic
ticket. It’s flattering. As we all know, Grant is elected president.
Lee and Grant would meet one more time, ladies and gentlemen, when Lee was on a trip to Baltimore
to see about financing a railroad to Lexington. Lee’s speech in Baltimore about this railroad
is actually the longest speech he ever made in the post war period. And it’s uneventful.
I’ve read it. It’s uneventful. I mean it doesn’t say anything controversial or
anything like that. But it goes on for quite some length on the merits of this railroad.
Well, anyway, on his way back Lee called on Grant at the White House. That day, May 1st,
it was only four years since the opening shots of Chancellorsville and only three years since
that of the Wilderness. For the next eleven months Lee had piled up Union losses. When
the two men met, one observer said, and we don’t have the whole conversation, that
both men seemed to be saddened by the memories that each other brought. Can you imagine sitting
across from your greatest opponent? Right there and on the anniversary? Neither one
of them talked about the war. General Grant apparently, if this is true, did make one
illusion to the war when he asked lee what he was doing in town. Lee informed him that
he was trying to get a railroad to Lexington. Grant said to him “Ah General, you and I
have had a lot kore with destroying railroads than we have had with building them. You know
what Lee did? Didn’t even acknowledge it. That’s the public Robert E. Lee. Stoic to
the last. That interview probably lasted five, ten minutes before they got up. The two men
would never see each other again. Yeah, that’s a rare one right there. Now,
the reason I brought this picture up, it’s not the best for clarity right here but nevertheless
it’s a rare picture. I want you to see how white Lee has gotten. His beard, his hair,
etc right there. We think, as far as his health, that Lee is going to suffer a stroke in the
winter of ’62 or ’63, his health has never fully recovered. Ever since then. Lee suffered
from, depending on who you read, probably from angina pectoris, or a deteriorating of
the circulatory system that made him vulnerable to another heart attack. Lee was aware of
his precarious position. “My health has been so feeble this winter that I am only
waiting to see the effect of the opening spring before relinquishing my present position.
I am admonished by my feeling that my years of labor are nearly over.” The faculty urged
Lee to take time off and quote “Visit his many friends in Savannah.” Lee added prophetically
that he could not go to Savannah without meeting more people than he wanted to. Now it is now
naïve for us to think that Robert E. Lee could go south and get any kind of rest. But
what are they trying to do? They have the best intentions at mind right here. What did
they do back then if they had nothing else they could do for you medically? They would
send you to warmer climates hoping that would recuperate your health. And so that’s why
they are going to send Lee South. Now Lee, another reason for him to go is that
he wanted to visit the grave of Anne Carter who he had not been to her gravesite. She
had died during the war. What this would turn out, her grave was in North Carolina, but
on his journey to the south towards Savannah, what this would turn out to be would be his
farewell tour. Which was something he would never allow himself to ever be knowingly led
into. It’s going to really hasten his death as you’ll see in just a second. It’s not
going to be very good for him but in a way, I don’t know if anything was going to save
him at this point. And it’s a befitting way, as far as history, for him to go out.
This was the first time he would travel south of Virginia and to other ardent Confederate
states where millions wanted to see him. He was on his way, launching himself right at
them. Lee was thinking of himself as a tourist carrying train schedules and wondering about
the availability of hotel rooms. The south, once it knew, would receive him as an emperor,
almost as a god. To quote Charles Flood. Now Lee goes to Richmond. Look at that picture
right there, doesn’t even look like the same man. I would to point out to you though
the Confederate uniform that he’s still got on. But look at his buttons. They are
either wooden or they are covered with black cloth because it was against the law to wear
a Confederate uniform. So you had to cover the buttons and take off the military insignia
right there. So, Lee goes to Richmond to catch the train south. He sees Colonel Mosby on
the street. The General was pale and haggard Mosby recalled and quote “did not look like
the Apollo I had known in the army.” Lee invited him to his room. “I felt depressed
by the great memories that his present revived” Mosby wrote “and while both of us were thinking
about the war neither of us referred to it.” Mosby, after leaving Lee, runs into none other,
anyone know who that is? Wouldn’t recognize him would you? Voice from the audience says
Pickett. Hadn’t seen that picture had you? Thank you. Exclusive. Now Mosby is going to
invite George Pickett back to that hotel room which is probably the worst thing that ever
happened. Now we’re all familiar with Gettysburg, right? What’s he famous for? Pickett’s
Charge. OK. The other half of the story which most of you have either forgotten or never
heard of in the first place is the end of George Pickett in the Civil War. A week before
Appomattox, on April 1st, Lee orders Pickett to go out to his right flank at Petersburg
to a place called Five Forks. And Pickett is ordered to hold this crossroads which guards
the last railroad into Petersburg and therefore Richmond. Well, Pickett goes out there and
then Tom Rosser, the Confederate cavalryman, is going to invite George Pickett to a shad
bake. Shad is a type of fish. I’ve never had it. Apparently it’s a very small bony
fish. You don’t get too much meat off of, that’s what they had and they were pretty
hungry. So a participant in the shad bake said that the hours passed along idly, passing
the bottle, eating shad, having a grand old time. Unfortunate for George Pickett was that
there was an acoustical shadow and only a mile or two from that party he was at, his
command was being routed by Sheridan and Warren. Five Forks fell and George Pickett was out
of a command. And hence, Richmond fell. Petersburg fell, then Richmond, etc.
Reportedly when Lee is on the ride back to what would become Appomattox he sees George
Pickett ride by him. And Lee turns to one of his staff officers and he says “Why is
that man still with this army?” Which leads to the speculation of did Lee remove him?
Did the order not go through? Did Pickett just ignore? I mean, etc, etc. But the two
men have been cross ever since. Pickett over Gettysburg and Lee over Five Forks. And now
they are set to meet in Richmond Virginia. Now you’ve got to understand that when Lee
is in a foul mood Lee would meet you when you came into a room, he would meet you with
icy cold formality. Icy cold. If he didn’t, if he was under a lot of stress for example
like after Appomattox when everybody, the Federal officers were coming, he didn’t
want to talk to anybody. He would be sitting there, pacing back and forth after the surrender
and his staff officers just stayed away from him, ‘cause they didn’t want to get near
him. When they had to introduce someone they would bring him up which was the formality,
the formal part of it, and Lee would draw himself up to a full height and then he would
meet you with that icy reserve that would let you know that he was being courteous but
he didn’t have time for you. That’s exactly what he did when George Pickett walked into
that room. It was icy from the beginning. George Pickett probably went in there try
to bury the hatchet but Lee does not like people who do not perform their duty. And
so, the interview quickly concluded. And Mosby quickly knew that he should never have got
those two together. On the way out Pickett’s going to turn to Mosby and going to say “That
old man had my division massacred at Gettysburg.” And Mosby would turn to Pickett and he says
“Ah George, but he made you famous.” Pickett will die, anybody know? Shortly. 70s?
RIght there. That should give you a good idea how far his health is deteriorating. From
Richmond Lee heads south to Warrenton North Carolina. After visiting Annie’s grave they
continue to Raleigh. The telegraph operator from Warrenton sends a simple message ahead
“General Lee is aboard” and even at midnight a crowd gathers and Lee is startled awake
by the chants “Lee, Lee, Lee”. Lee’s daughter would later write that they were
laying in that sleeping car and when the chants, the Lee chants started, they both, it woke
both of them up. One was on the top tier, I guess she was on the top, he was on the
bottom tier, the bunks right there. Neither one of them said a word as those chants were
going on. By sunrise at places where the train didn’t even stop people stood by the railway,
dignified looking men, a lot of them Lee’s veterans would suddenly stop, thrust their
caps into the air and give a big rebel yell. On to Salisbury where the crowd cheered while
the band thundered out Confederate battle tunes which is the last thing that Lee wanted
to hear. On to Charlotte where a bigger crowd awaited. Lee had refused to emerge from the
train so far and he was horrified by all the attention. Columbia South Carolina, a holiday
had been declared. Stores were closed. There was a parade to the station in the pouring
rain. Columbia was only a fifteen minute stop but when Lee looked out he knew he must emerge.
That last thing he needs is to get into a rain storm. Standing in the rain was a long
line of his former officers, among them Edward Porter Alexander. Alexander, the man who commanded
the artillery, Longstreet’s artillery at, before Pickett’s charge, during the bombardment.
Lee puts on his hat and coat and emerges. Little girls came forward to hand bouquets
of flowers to the General. The crowd wanted a speech but Lee would not concede and he
simply doffed his hat. The band thundered on again and the veterans cheered themselves
hoarse. After twenty four hours the train arrives in Savannah. A reception was held
at the hotel where crowds filed through for hours. Veterans on crutches, sweet little
children dressed to their eyes. And many of them being introduced to the General with
tiny cards in their fat little hands with their names. And you know what often times
that name would be. Can you imagine meeting somebody that’s named after you? Well. Among
those that came there that day was a thirteen year old boy who would never forget meeting
Robert E. Lee. His name was Woodrow Wilson. From Savannah Lee wrote two classic understatements
in reporting to his wife. “The old soldiers had greeted me very cordially” and “I
do not think travelling in this way procures me much quiet and repose.” As far as health
Lee wrote “I perceive no change in the stricture in my chest. If I attempt to walk beyond a
very slow gait the pain is always there.” While in Savannah Lee is going to pose with
former Confederate General Joseph E. Johnson as part of a fundraiser. Two photographs come
out of that set, right there. I think two, two or three? Two. You’re going to get,
you’re going to get this at the end of the program, what I’ve struggled under, this
whole program right here. Lee leaves Savannah and visit, and visits
his father’s grave, Lighthorse Harry Lee’s final resting place on Cumberland Island.
The he leaves by boat to Norfolk and while there Lee decides to attend church. Now in
my search for Robert E. Lee and all things pertaining to Robert E. Lee I can tell you
that after many hours of searching that the church that he attended does not exist anymore.
However the house that he stayed at is still there and the carriage step, you know they
had a stepping stone for you to get up into the carriage, is still out in front of the
house. I stood on it. Laughter. Had my picture taken on the carriage step. Thank you. So
Lee tries, Lee tries to go to church. It’s Sunday. Now you’ve got to remember ladies
and gentlemen, you don’t party on Sunday. Remember? That’s why we used to have blue
laws. Alright? Nobody could cheer General Robert E. Lee because it was a Sunday. But
because it was General Robert E. Lee every hat was doffed in the air. Right? One lady
wrote. A young cousin who had never met Lee remarked on his great charm and added quote
“We greeted him with the greatest veneration. We had heard of God but here was General Lee.”
Ahh, ok, ok. But it’s kind of funny, I mean it’s like.
Now Lee arrives back in Lexington on May 28th. He had been gone for two months and four days.
1870. On June 23rd Lee hands out his last diplomas. On August 6th he is called to a
special meeting to see if the trustees could raise a hundred thousand dollars for a new
astronomy observatory. A hundred thousand dollars folks, 1870. It was five years to
the day that Judge Brokenbough had borrowed $5 and a suit to persuade Lee to take the
job. And now they’re taking about a hundred thousand. At this, when he got back from Savannah
he had a letter, he had a lot of mail waiting for him but he had a letter from a spiritualist
who was asking Lee’s opinion on the current Franco-Prussian War. Lee responded as he did
to most correspondence, and replied quote “That the question was one about which military
critics would differ”. Alright? You all understand being from Gettysburg what a spiritualist
is, right? Alright? Been down to Steinweir? OK. I’m in the wrong business. Alright.
The question, the question he wrote “was one about which military critics would differ.
His own opinions about such matters was deficient.” He then pointed out that the medium was free
to consult Julius Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, Wellington and all of history’s great captains
and that he, Lee, felt that he should not voice his opinion in such august company.
Alright folks. I got the jokes. I hear that I get all the letters and so forth. I’ll
not to run much overtime today. OK? This, ladies and gentlemen, is Robert E. Lee’s
office, the way he left it on October 12th 1870. If you go down to Lexington today to
Washington and Lee University as it’s known today, that office is still there. It’s
kind of neat, I’m glad they kept it that way. Surely they’ve dusted though. I’ve
never asked. I’ve always wanted, I’ve never sat in that chair but it’s on the
bucket list right there. He concludes his day’s business which he was always diligent
in doing. You know, he was always a hard worker, paper work, paper work, paper work. We remember
the battles folks but Lee was paper work. That’s what an army commander does and a
college president for that matter. He gets up. He has a vestry meeting at the Episcopal
Church, he was an Episcopalian. Lee is going to walk the short distance from his office
over to the Episcopal Church. The vestry meeting goes long. It is in a, it is in would you
say the main sanctuary which is unheated and because of that it’s cold, it’s damp and
Lee, the only thing he has on is his old army overcoat. Or possibly his rubber blanket,
his poncho so to speak. He sats there, he sits there and he’s freezing. He gets to
the end, they get to the end of the meeting and they’re trying to get a raise for the
pastor and they’ve come up, you know, somewhat short. And they say they are x amount short
and Lee, Lee looks up and says I’ll pledge that amount. With that the meeting concludes.
Lee gets out of the meeting, he walks back to the president’s home, this is kind of
like a triangle if you will, triangulation as he goes back to the new president’s home
which he’s been in for about a year. He gets back to the home and he steps inside
and his, depending on whom you read, whatever Mary was trying to say here, it’s always
hard to read Mary at times, from time to time whether she was hard or nice or whatever.
But anyway Lee is always chastising his family, his girls for being late for dinner. He’s
a punctual man and so when he comes in Miss Mary says “Why are you late? You have kept
us waiting.” The dutiful husband, Lee pulls off the overcoat, he hangs it on the rack,
he steps to the table, he begins to, he starts to say grace and nothing comes out of his
mouth. He just freezes, I can’t describe it ‘cause I didn’t see it obviously, but
the onlookers said that pale came over him at that moment, right there. Mrs. Lee, got
up, she walked over to him, she patted him on the hand and she goes “oh dear, you look
kind of tired, Let me get you a cup of tea.” And Lee sunk back into the chair. He’d already
been seeing doctors but they couldn’t do anything for him. You know it was heart disease
they knew, if they even knew it was heart disease. They couldn’t do that, they couldn’t
do anything. So they sat down, he doesn’t, he doesn’t say anything, they retrieve his
old army cot from upstairs and they bring it down. And the parlor, next to the dining
room, actually becomes a sick room. And he is going to lay there for a few days until,
until he’s just going to, he’s just going to run out, he’s going to run out of energy.
And he will pass away. He was 60, 63, right there. How old are you? Two hundred and seven,
I like that. You all picking up what I’m laboring under over here? That’s his death
mask right there. Which is free of charge, want to get a picture? Death mask. I mean
how far have we come? I mean how many people had their picture with eight foot, ten foot
tall Robert E. Lee death mask. Thank you. This is his funeral. I want you to notice
the black crepe that’s around the columns of Washington University right there. That’s
kind of neat. This is the chapel. This is where Lee is buried today. For those of you
who haven’t been there, this was actually, the chapel was actually Robert E. Lee’s
favorite accomplishment of his tenure at Washington University. That chapel he had built and his
office, the one that I showed you, is actually in the basement of that chapel, right there.
The president’s house would be, if we were standing right where this picture is taken,
the president’s house would be over here. So the Episcopal Church would be over here
to set it all in. But you can tell they had to have the funeral south so fast that you
would, it’s still full but it wasn’t the thousands upon thousands that you would think.
I’d like to close, if I could, with a quote by Robert E. Lee and I could talk about a
lot of things about Robert E. Lee. I could talk about his strength of character. I could
talk about his patriotism. I could talk about his devotion to duty. We can talk about his
accomplishments from battlefields to education to reconciliation, which I hope I’ve driven
home here today you know. We could talk about the man himself and the sterling character
qualities which he had, which is still, which I still learn a lot from even during this
time. I choose though, to quote, to close with this quote. This is from a letter from
September of 1870 to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Marshall, his former staff officer. And in
this letter it shows Lee’s realism and optimism here. To set the stage, this is actually the
recumbent statue of Lee inside that chapel. And this is actually not Lee dead, this is
actually supposed to be representing Lee sleeping on the battlefield. Until a few years ago
they had, they actually had real Confederate battle flags flying in there. And they always
had some college kid, thank you all very much, they had some college docent sitting there
and she’d have her back to it and if you time it right and nobody was looking you could
reach up there and you could touch the actual Confederate battle flag. Oh my God. It had
the netting over it and oh my gosh it was just unbelievable. Oh man, that’s just great
stuff right there. But he said this to Marshall and I think it sums up Lee so well. And we’ll
conclude with this “My experience of men has neither disposed me to think worse of
them nor indisposed me to serve them. Nor in spite of failures which I’ll lament,
of errors which I now see and acknowledge or off the present aspect of affairs do I
despair of the future. The truth is this, the march of providence is so slow and our
desire so impatient, the work of progress so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble
the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see the
ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.”
That’s a great quote isn’t it? Alright. Alright ladies and gentlemen, that’s Robert
E. Lee. Thanks you, thank you very much.
