March 26, 2025 • 38 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Gettysburg Military National Park Ranger Matt Atkinson examines the postwar life of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. We'd like to thank the Gettysburg National Park Service for allowing us to use this wonderful audio.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on the show,
including your story send them to our American Stories dot com.
And one of our favorite subjects American history. So much
has been said about this legendary general in between the
years of eighteen sixty one and eighteen sixty five, yet
(00:30):
very little is known about this major American historical figure
after his surrender. And we're telling this story because on
this day in eighteen oh seven, General Robert E. Lee
was born. Here to tell the story is Gettysburg National
Park Ranger Matt Atkinson.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
What I'm hoping to do, among others, besides give you
a timeline as to what Robert E. Lee did in
the post Warriors, which I think is one of obviously
the most offul and overlook portion of his life, because
I mean, the Civil War is always going to be
first and foremost. The other main theme I'm gonna try
to get across through his own personal example, Robert E.
(01:11):
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 eighteen sixty five.
I think It is the view of a lot of
people that Lee surrenders at Appomatics and bam, you know, oh,
(01:33):
we'll just forget about it, you know, Okay, you know,
we'll just go we'll just hold hands, and we'll just reunite,
and we'll 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
(01:56):
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
(02:17):
the Confederacy coming out of the Civil War, and who
these 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
crowds everything else, all right, So appomattox Is on April
(02:43):
ninth of eighteen sixty five, he surrenders to General Grant.
I think Robert E. Lee is greatly surprised by the
terms that he gets from US Grant.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
There.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Grant could have imposed harsh terms, and I think that
Ulysses asked. Grant's magnanimous gesture there is often overlooked in
the reconciliation of the country. 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 twelfth, he
(03:14):
sets out from Appomatics 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, a
crowd gathered and you know, they wanting to touch Lee
as if you know, as an icon or whatever, touch
(03:35):
his boot. Lee gets off his horse, he bows to
the crowd graciously in everything, and he walks back in.
He's still got his uniform on. That'll be the 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'll be in his last capacity
(03:56):
as a soldier. I mean when he walked through that
front door, through his mind, he ever thought about that?
I mean, what did he do his wife and his children,
his daughters. He had four daughters, had children ranging from
nineteen to thirty two years of age at the time
he came in, and they were always a you know,
kind of a close family of always somebody that he
(04:19):
could turn to and be himself. I wonder what he
said to Mary. I mean, did he 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 major to full generals, to lieutenants to captains,
(04:41):
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 get his thoughts back together, none other than
the famous Civil War photographer Matthew Brady is going to
(05:04):
call upon him. 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 seem
old friends, acquaintances. George Mee came by. I was just
reading about up here. And Lee doesn't want to see
(05:27):
all these people, you know, it's the last thing he
wants to do up here. So one day Custis is
going to answer the door and there's going to be
this ragged old Confederate soldier standing there. And then this
soldier's got his soldier's got his arm in a sling,
and he says to Custas, he says, I'd like to
see General Lee. And Custis says, well, the General's not
(05:49):
receiving at this time. He goes, well, you know, I'm
I'm from Texas, and I'd like to see the general
that I've followed on so many campaigns, you know, standing
there in his rags. He's probably stinking the high Heaven too,
you know, if the truth was known about it. Custus
looks him over and he says, I'll see what I
can do, and he allows him into the house. Well,
(06:10):
Lee is upstairs in that Franklin house, in some bedroom
or office, and so they show the soldier in he
sits down, the Texan sits down, and a few moments
later here comes the steps of General Robert E. Lee.
He must have had his own certain gait as he
came down, because they recognized it. And so the soldier
and the staff officer stood as Lee came around the corner.
(06:33):
As Lee comes around, he bows graciously to the people
that are in the room, and then he extends his
hand and he walks over to that Texan, this private,
and the Texan extends his hand and they embrace in
a handshake, and Lee looks at him, and the Texan
looks at him, and the soldier can't say anything.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And the soldier can't say anything. Just imagine that scene.
A private, a lowly private, and the general of the
Confederate Army meeting after the surrender, and what is there
to say? And what did Lee think? My goodness, what
a burden? And all the things that he had to
question in himself, the decisions he made. Terrific storytelling about
(07:20):
General Roberty Lee, what happened after the surrender. The story
continues here on our American stories. Folks, if you love
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That's our Americanstories dot Com. And we continue with our
(08:10):
American Stories and the story of General Robert E. Lee
and what happened to him after he surrendered at Appomattics.
And we're telling this story because on this day in
eighteen o seven, General Robert E. Lee was born. In
the last segment, we heard Gettysburg National Military Park ranger
Matt Atkinson describing a scene in which a private from
(08:33):
Texas meets the general in Richmond.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Now, one word comes out of his mouth and he
eventually is he still holding Lee's hands. He just burst
into tears, This veteran of four years in the war.
He burst into tears, and after a few moments he
just walked out the door. Nobody said anything, and has
(09:00):
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 alpematics. You're talking about
a people that have just lost their hopes for a nation.
That's why the Civil War ends, folks, when Robert E.
(09:22):
Lee surrenders, because he is the definition of the Confederacy.
He is the symbol of the Confederacy. So Matthew Brady called.
At first, he rebuffed Brady. But what did Brady do?
He went to Lee's boss, who was his wife. That's right,
(09:47):
his wife and missus. Lee told the general to go
get dressed. Okay, what's the situation, you know. May twenty ninth,
eighteen sixty five, President Andrew Johnson offers a general amnesty
to all former Confederates who signed the Oath of Allegiance,
(10:09):
but he excludes all who have held civil office under
the Confederate government and people with an estate valued over
twenty thousand dollars. On June seventh, eighteen sixty five, Lee
is indicted for treason. June thirteenth, Lee encloses in a
letter to General Grant his application for pardon. Lee's position
(10:32):
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.
There's a lot of peas and therefore enclosed the required application.
(10:56):
What did Grant do? He immediately requested that all inments
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. Now this is what we know now,
(11:20):
but Lee did not know that. Now, Lee and asking
for this pardon is probably, in Southerner's eyes, the most
controversial act of his life. He was in that pardon,
admitting secession, the creation of the Confederacy, and fighting against
the Northern invasion were all wrong right there. So by
(11:44):
submitting that, to say the least, he is not making
any friends. However, for tens of thousands, if Lee applied
for a pardon, what do we say the theme was personal example,
then maybe they should also apply for a pardon. The
veterans who did sign or restored their rights unlike Lee,
(12:06):
in a manner that the government would never give the General.
Captain George Wise, holding the oath in his hand, asked Lee,
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. If I must swear the
same thing at every street corner, I will seek another
(12:29):
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, the father exclaimed, you have disgraced the family.
(12:49):
The son responded, generally, advised me to do it. Oh
that alters the case. Whatever General Lee says is all right.
I don't care what it is. All right. I want
you to think about something right here. As I start
to read this part of it, most of you already
(13:11):
know or familiar with Civil War, know what buildings this represents.
This is actually Washington College. 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? Now, the state of the college itself is
that it had been heavily damaged during the war. The
(13:34):
trustees were meeting on the night of August fourth, eighteen
sixty five, in order to elect a new president. Right
before the vote, a members stood and said that he
had heard that Miss Mary Lee, daughter of the General,
stated that the South had stood ready to give Lee
anything but what he really wanted, which was a way
to make an honest living. The idea is shown in
(13:58):
the room. In a few minutes, lelater Lee had been
unanimously elected president. Of course, Lee, after much urging from friends,
is going to accept the presidency on August thirty first.
This is how Lee accepts it. Though Lee pointed out
in his letter taking the job that he had not
(14:21):
been pardoned yet, He was also 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
(14:41):
that object. It is particularly incumbent upon those charged with
the instruction of the young to set them an example
of submission to authority. End of quote. Twenty weeks after appomatics,
Lee was urging quote the healing of all dissensions. October second,
(15:03):
Lee's inaugurated as president. That's fast, It's within a month
of offering the job. The college opened with forty students,
and another one hundred students drifted in by late fall.
Once Lee meets a student, though, he is able to
remember their name all right, so he starts. October third,
(15:28):
he signs the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.
The oath was sent to Washington, where it landed on
the desk of William Sewart. Apparently thinking that the document
had already been recorded. Seward gave it to a friend
for souvenir, and it was found in a bundle of papers.
Lee's amnesty Oath one hundred and five years later, and
(15:52):
I remember what happened during the Ford administration. He got
his pardon Gerald Ford. 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
(16:16):
you 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
(16:38):
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 Condinal Congress against him.
He has not been branded by the world with reproach
(17:01):
for this, but his course has been applauded. Here's your paradox.
That's how Roberty Lee justifies his actions of being in
the United States, leaving the United States, and coming back
into the United States.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And you're listening to the voice of Gettysburg National Military
Park ranger Matt Atkinson, And what terrific storytelling and what
cultural context. I know a lot about Gettysburg and a
lot about the Civil War. My dad went to Gettysburg
College and went there for a reason. My Dwight D.
Eisenharrow was living there, and it was the nineteen fifties.
He wanted to just meet the great General. When we
(17:39):
come back more of this remarkable story, the story of
General Robert E. Lee and his life after his surrender
at Appomatics. Robert E Lee born on this day in
eighteen o seven. Here on our American Stories, and we
(18:08):
continue with our American stories and with Gettysburg National Military
Park Ranger Matt Atkinson telling the story of General Robert E.
Lee's life post Appomatics and after the surrender to General Grant.
And by the way, as you can tell, this is
a talk that Matt was giving in front of a
live audience. And we love to bring you to the
(18:30):
place where some great storytelling is happening. We do that
quite often here in our American Stories. And we're telling
this story because on this day in eighteen o seven,
General Robert E. Lee was born. Let's return to Matt
Atkinson and the story of Robert E.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Lee. We go into eighteen sixty six, 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
(19:10):
unquote with Congress. He wished for lenient treatment which allowed
the Southern states back in without ratifying the fourteenth Amendment,
and Congress wished for the South to be made to ratify.
During all this turmoil, Lee counseled everybody to stay calm.
Eighteen sixty seven, January seventh, Congress looks into acts of
(19:35):
impeachment against President Johnson. March second, federal government passes the
Reconstruction Acts. These acts stripped the state governments of power
and place the South in five military districts. Congress declares
it can change any aspect of local government without previous notice.
(19:56):
States must ratify the fourteenth 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
(20:16):
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
(20:36):
still for some time by the window, and his face
looked so sad. He spoke of the Southern people, of
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 to get up in the night and go out
and walk till I thoroughly weary myself before I can sleep.
(21:00):
That was the only melancholy sentence I ever heard him utter,
and the only time I ever 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'm thinking about all the soldiers that
(21:23):
died in Vain when I knew it was too late.
And he said, She goes, you know, basically, well, 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 that separation between civilian and military
authority which makes our government even today so unique. Look
(21:46):
at any other government out there and notice how often
the military overthrows okay. Lee is summoned to testify in
Jefferson Davis's treason trial. Basically, Lee was offered amnesty for
his testimony against Jet Davis or face reindictment for treason
(22:07):
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, how many of you would have, with that
(22:30):
hanging over your head potential indictment, will be able to
get on the witness stand and self indict yourself. It's
a lot. Christmas Day, eighteen sixty eight, President Johnson sends
out a general amnesty to all Confederates who had not
been restored their rights by previous actions. It was over,
(22:53):
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 too. Can you imagine any other
revolution that you ever hear about in the world where
(23:14):
the ring leaders don't get hung or worse if you
think about it. Right there, Jefferson Davis was not hung
for war crimes. And once again, who's the symbol of
the rebellions, Robert E. Lee, and he gets to go
in peace. I mean, it's remarkable in a way, it's
(23:35):
definitely unique. We could very well, they very well could
have created a martyr. All right now in sixty eight
Lee is going to go on his first vacation. He
will choose the Rockbridge bath Resorts. At the resort there
(23:56):
was a nightly dance called the Treadmill, and they were
both Northerners and Southerners. Did anybody know what you call
a Southerner who helped the north scallawag? Right here? There
was a West Virginian girl at the hotel who, one
man said, quote, was very beautiful and very attractive, and
more handsomely dressed than any woman at the springs. However,
(24:20):
the girl's father quote had been a union man during
the war and had 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,
(24:42):
when the dance was occurring, the girl was on the
other room reading. In the other room reading, she became
aware of a brilliantly 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,
(25:04):
and generally led her back to her seat. There was
a general rush for introductions, and from that time on
the girl not only had all the partners she wanted,
but actually became the bell of the season. Now, let's
go back. That's another act. Does it change the whole South? No?
(25:27):
Nobody outside that ball that night ever saw that. Did
the newspapers report it? No? Did go out on the telegram, No,
come out in a book.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
No.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
But to those people, let's say it was one hundred
people at that dance that night, all eyes were on
General Lee and his personal example by going over there,
and he probably knew the backdrop of that story. He
had daughters, I'm 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. Now,
(26:04):
while Lee was on vacation when he was in a
group of ladies. One of the bells turned to him
and says 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,
(26:28):
quote said some of us would have gladly slain her
on the spot. You didn't ask him that, but Lee
answered an earnest, far away 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
(26:52):
did not come, but Lee's example continued to penetrate hardened
Confederate hearts. Christina Bond concluded, quote, we saw moreover his
absolute loyalty to the allegiance he had sworn when he
had laid down his arms, and his whole soul was
engaged in the work of reconstruction, and he lost no
opportunity to promote it socially.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
And you're listening to Gettysburg National Military Park ranger Matt
Atkinson when we continue the final part of this remarkable
story here on our American stories. And we continue with
(27:38):
our American stories in this story of General Robert E.
Lee and what happened to him after he surrendered to
Ulysses S. Grant at Appomatics in eighteen sixty five. We
had just heard about Lee's reaction to a possible visit
by Grant, and my goodness, this must not have been
met necessarily with let's just say, kindness from fellow Southerners
(28:00):
that he was trying to lead by example, knew the
power of his example. Here again is Gettysburg National Military
Park ranger Matt Atkinson.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Now Grant, of course, decides to run for president in
eighteen sixty seven. He becomes a Republican, which infuriates the South.
One day, one of the members launches into a die
tribe against Grant. Lee's face grew flush. Sir, Lee said,
if you ever again presume to speak disrespectfully of General
(28:33):
Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever
his connection with this university. What does Lee remember about Grant?
He remembers Appomatics, he was generous, and I like that
loyalty Because Lee never forgot. As we all know, Grant
is elected president. Lee and Grant would meet one more time,
(28:59):
Ladies and gentlemen. 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.
Neither one of them talked about the war. General Grant, apparently,
if this version is true, did make one allusion to
(29:21):
the war when when he asked Lee what he was
doing in town. Lee informed that he was trying to
get a railroad to Lexington. Grant said to him, Ah, General,
you and I have had a lot more with destroying
railroads than we have had in building them. You know
what Lee did didn't even acknowledge. It's that's the public
(29:43):
Robert E. Lee stow it to the last. That interview
probably lasted five ten minutes. Before they got up. The
two men would never see each other again. We think,
as far as his health, that Lee is gonna suffer
a stroke in the win or sixty three, and his
health has never really fully recovered. Lee was aware of
(30:06):
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 feelings that my years of labor
are nearly over. The faculty urged Lee to take time
off and quote visit his many friends in Savannah, and
(30:29):
so that's why they're going to send Lee south. What
this would turn out to be would be as farewell
to her, which was something he would never allow himself
to ever be knowingly let into. It's going to really
(30:52):
hasten his death. This was the first time he would
travel south of Virginia into other Arctic Confederate states where
millions wanted to seem. From Richmond, Lee head south to
Warrant in North Carolina. After visiting Annie's grave, they continued
to Raleigh. The telegraph operator from Warranton sends a simple
(31:12):
message ahead, General Lee is aboard, and even at midnight,
a crowd gathers and Lee is startled awake by the
chance of Lee Lee Lee. Lee's daughter would later write
that they were laying in that sleeping car and when
the chance, the Lee chance started, both that woke both
of them up. One was on the top tier. I
(31:32):
guess she was on the top and 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's a lot
of them. Lee's veterans would suddenly stop, thrust their caps
into the air, and give a big rebel yell on
(31:56):
the Salisbury where the crowds cheered as the band thundered
out Confederate battle tunes, which is the last thing Lee
wanted to hear. Own 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
(32:19):
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. It's the last thing he
needs to get into a rain storm. Standing in the
rain was a long line of his former officers. Lee
puts on his hat and coat and emerges. Little girls
came forward to hand bouquets of flowers to the general.
(32:43):
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,
(33:04):
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 oftentimes that name would be. Can you imagine meeting
somebody that's named after you? From Savannah, Lee wrote two
(33:27):
classic understatements, and reporting to his wife, the old soldiers
had greeted me very cordially, And I do not think
traveling in this way procures me much quiet and reposed
as far as health, Lee wrote, I perceived no change
in the stricture in my chest. If I attempt to
(33:49):
walk beyond a very slow gate, the pain is always there.
So Lee tries to go to church. Well, it's Sunday.
You gotta remember, ladies and gentlemen, you don't part on Sunday.
Remember that's why we used to have blue laws. Nobody
could cheer General Roberty Lee because it was a Sunday,
(34:10):
But because it was General Lee, every hat was doffed
in the air right. One lady wrote, we regarded him
with the greatest veneration we had heard of God. But
here was General Lee. Now. Lee arrives back in Lexington
(34:35):
on May twenty eighth. He had been gone for two
months and four days. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Roberty
Lee's office the way he left it on October twelfth,
eighteen seventy. If you go down to Lexington today, to
Washington and Lee University as it's known today, that office
(34:57):
is still there. He gets up, he has a vestry
meeting at the episcopal church. He was an episcopae. And
he gets back to the home and he steps inside.
Lee pulls off his 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.
(35:22):
He just freezes. I can't describe it. I didn't see it, obviously,
but the onlooker said that that pale came over him
at that moment. Right there, missus Lee got up, She
walked over to him. She patted him on the hand.
She goes, oh, dear, you look kind of tired. Let
(35:42):
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, they heart disease.
If they knew, if they even knew it was heart disease,
they couldn't do that. They couldn't do that anything. So
they sat down. He does, He doesn't say anything. They
retrieve his old army cot from upstairs and they bring
(36:05):
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 he's going to
run out of energy and he will pass away. He
was sixty three right there. I like to close, if
(36:28):
I could, with a quote by Robert E. Lee. 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 lament, of errors which I
now see and acknowledge, or of the present aspect of affairs,
(36:53):
do I despair of the future. The truth is this,
the march of private is so slow and our desires
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
(37:15):
we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave
and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us
to hope.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
And a great job by Greg Hangler for putting that together,
and a special thanks to Gettysburg National Military Park ranger
Matt Atkinson. And it is so true. It is through
history that we learn hope, and these things all happen
slower than we'd like. Human life is brief, and that's
why we tell these stories. Context matters the struggle, the
(37:50):
movement in this country for a more perfect union. It
continues what did Lee think when he returned home? And
in that final statement, I think we all know what
he thought. The story of Robert E. Lee, born on
this day in eighteen oh seven. Here on our American
Stories
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on the show,
including your story send them to our American Stories dot com.
And one of our favorite subjects American history. So much
has been said about this legendary general in between the
years of eighteen sixty one and eighteen sixty five, yet
(00:30):
very little is known about this major American historical figure
after his surrender. And we're telling this story because on
this day in eighteen oh seven, General Robert E. Lee
was born. Here to tell the story is Gettysburg National
Park Ranger Matt Atkinson.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
What I'm hoping to do, among others, besides give you
a timeline as to what Robert E. Lee did in
the post Warriors, which I think is one of obviously
the most offul and overlook portion of his life, because
I mean, the Civil War is always going to be
first and foremost. The other main theme I'm gonna try
to get across through his own personal example, Robert E.
(01:11):
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 eighteen sixty five.
I think It is the view of a lot of
people that Lee surrenders at Appomatics and bam, you know, oh,
(01:33):
we'll just forget about it, you know, Okay, you know,
we'll just go we'll just hold hands, and we'll just reunite,
and we'll 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
(01:56):
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
(02:17):
the Confederacy coming out of the Civil War, and who
these 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
crowds everything else, all right, So appomattox Is on April
(02:43):
ninth of eighteen sixty five, he surrenders to General Grant.
I think Robert E. Lee is greatly surprised by the
terms that he gets from US Grant.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
There.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Grant could have imposed harsh terms, and I think that
Ulysses asked. Grant's magnanimous gesture there is often overlooked in
the reconciliation of the country. 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 twelfth, he
(03:14):
sets out from Appomatics 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, a
crowd gathered and you know, they wanting to touch Lee
as if you know, as an icon or whatever, touch
(03:35):
his boot. Lee gets off his horse, he bows to
the crowd graciously in everything, and he walks back in.
He's still got his uniform on. That'll be the 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'll be in his last capacity
(03:56):
as a soldier. I mean when he walked through that
front door, through his mind, he ever thought about that?
I mean, what did he do his wife and his children,
his daughters. He had four daughters, had children ranging from
nineteen to thirty two years of age at the time
he came in, and they were always a you know,
kind of a close family of always somebody that he
(04:19):
could turn to and be himself. I wonder what he
said to Mary. I mean, did he 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 major to full generals, to lieutenants to captains,
(04:41):
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 get his thoughts back together, none other than
the famous Civil War photographer Matthew Brady is going to
(05:04):
call upon him. 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 seem
old friends, acquaintances. George Mee came by. I was just
reading about up here. And Lee doesn't want to see
(05:27):
all these people, you know, it's the last thing he
wants to do up here. So one day Custis is
going to answer the door and there's going to be
this ragged old Confederate soldier standing there. And then this
soldier's got his soldier's got his arm in a sling,
and he says to Custas, he says, I'd like to
see General Lee. And Custis says, well, the General's not
(05:49):
receiving at this time. He goes, well, you know, I'm
I'm from Texas, and I'd like to see the general
that I've followed on so many campaigns, you know, standing
there in his rags. He's probably stinking the high Heaven too,
you know, if the truth was known about it. Custus
looks him over and he says, I'll see what I
can do, and he allows him into the house. Well,
(06:10):
Lee is upstairs in that Franklin house, in some bedroom
or office, and so they show the soldier in he
sits down, the Texan sits down, and a few moments
later here comes the steps of General Robert E. Lee.
He must have had his own certain gait as he
came down, because they recognized it. And so the soldier
and the staff officer stood as Lee came around the corner.
(06:33):
As Lee comes around, he bows graciously to the people
that are in the room, and then he extends his
hand and he walks over to that Texan, this private,
and the Texan extends his hand and they embrace in
a handshake, and Lee looks at him, and the Texan
looks at him, and the soldier can't say anything.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And the soldier can't say anything. Just imagine that scene.
A private, a lowly private, and the general of the
Confederate Army meeting after the surrender, and what is there
to say? And what did Lee think? My goodness, what
a burden? And all the things that he had to
question in himself, the decisions he made. Terrific storytelling about
(07:20):
General Roberty Lee, what happened after the surrender. The story
continues here on our American stories. Folks, if you love
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That's our Americanstories dot Com. And we continue with our
(08:10):
American Stories and the story of General Robert E. Lee
and what happened to him after he surrendered at Appomattics.
And we're telling this story because on this day in
eighteen o seven, General Robert E. Lee was born. In
the last segment, we heard Gettysburg National Military Park ranger
Matt Atkinson describing a scene in which a private from
(08:33):
Texas meets the general in Richmond.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Now, one word comes out of his mouth and he
eventually is he still holding Lee's hands. He just burst
into tears, This veteran of four years in the war.
He burst into tears, and after a few moments he
just walked out the door. Nobody said anything, and has
(09:00):
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 alpematics. You're talking about
a people that have just lost their hopes for a nation.
That's why the Civil War ends, folks, when Robert E.
(09:22):
Lee surrenders, because he is the definition of the Confederacy.
He is the symbol of the Confederacy. So Matthew Brady called.
At first, he rebuffed Brady. But what did Brady do?
He went to Lee's boss, who was his wife. That's right,
(09:47):
his wife and missus. Lee told the general to go
get dressed. Okay, what's the situation, you know. May twenty ninth,
eighteen sixty five, President Andrew Johnson offers a general amnesty
to all former Confederates who signed the Oath of Allegiance,
(10:09):
but he excludes all who have held civil office under
the Confederate government and people with an estate valued over
twenty thousand dollars. On June seventh, eighteen sixty five, Lee
is indicted for treason. June thirteenth, Lee encloses in a
letter to General Grant his application for pardon. Lee's position
(10:32):
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.
There's a lot of peas and therefore enclosed the required application.
(10:56):
What did Grant do? He immediately requested that all inments
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. Now this is what we know now,
(11:20):
but Lee did not know that. Now, Lee and asking
for this pardon is probably, in Southerner's eyes, the most
controversial act of his life. He was in that pardon,
admitting secession, the creation of the Confederacy, and fighting against
the Northern invasion were all wrong right there. So by
(11:44):
submitting that, to say the least, he is not making
any friends. However, for tens of thousands, if Lee applied
for a pardon, what do we say the theme was personal example,
then maybe they should also apply for a pardon. The
veterans who did sign or restored their rights unlike Lee,
(12:06):
in a manner that the government would never give the General.
Captain George Wise, holding the oath in his hand, asked Lee,
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. If I must swear the
same thing at every street corner, I will seek another
(12:29):
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, the father exclaimed, you have disgraced the family.
(12:49):
The son responded, generally, advised me to do it. Oh
that alters the case. Whatever General Lee says is all right.
I don't care what it is. All right. I want
you to think about something right here. As I start
to read this part of it, most of you already
(13:11):
know or familiar with Civil War, know what buildings this represents.
This is actually Washington College. 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? Now, the state of the college itself is
that it had been heavily damaged during the war. The
(13:34):
trustees were meeting on the night of August fourth, eighteen
sixty five, in order to elect a new president. Right
before the vote, a members stood and said that he
had heard that Miss Mary Lee, daughter of the General,
stated that the South had stood ready to give Lee
anything but what he really wanted, which was a way
to make an honest living. The idea is shown in
(13:58):
the room. In a few minutes, lelater Lee had been
unanimously elected president. Of course, Lee, after much urging from friends,
is going to accept the presidency on August thirty first.
This is how Lee accepts it. Though Lee pointed out
in his letter taking the job that he had not
(14:21):
been pardoned yet, He was also 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
(14:41):
that object. It is particularly incumbent upon those charged with
the instruction of the young to set them an example
of submission to authority. End of quote. Twenty weeks after appomatics,
Lee was urging quote the healing of all dissensions. October second,
(15:03):
Lee's inaugurated as president. That's fast, It's within a month
of offering the job. The college opened with forty students,
and another one hundred students drifted in by late fall.
Once Lee meets a student, though, he is able to
remember their name all right, so he starts. October third,
(15:28):
he signs the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.
The oath was sent to Washington, where it landed on
the desk of William Sewart. Apparently thinking that the document
had already been recorded. Seward gave it to a friend
for souvenir, and it was found in a bundle of papers.
Lee's amnesty Oath one hundred and five years later, and
(15:52):
I remember what happened during the Ford administration. He got
his pardon Gerald Ford. 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
(16:16):
you 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
(16:38):
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 Condinal Congress against him.
He has not been branded by the world with reproach
(17:01):
for this, but his course has been applauded. Here's your paradox.
That's how Roberty Lee justifies his actions of being in
the United States, leaving the United States, and coming back
into the United States.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And you're listening to the voice of Gettysburg National Military
Park ranger Matt Atkinson, And what terrific storytelling and what
cultural context. I know a lot about Gettysburg and a
lot about the Civil War. My dad went to Gettysburg
College and went there for a reason. My Dwight D.
Eisenharrow was living there, and it was the nineteen fifties.
He wanted to just meet the great General. When we
(17:39):
come back more of this remarkable story, the story of
General Robert E. Lee and his life after his surrender
at Appomatics. Robert E Lee born on this day in
eighteen o seven. Here on our American Stories, and we
(18:08):
continue with our American stories and with Gettysburg National Military
Park Ranger Matt Atkinson telling the story of General Robert E.
Lee's life post Appomatics and after the surrender to General Grant.
And by the way, as you can tell, this is
a talk that Matt was giving in front of a
live audience. And we love to bring you to the
(18:30):
place where some great storytelling is happening. We do that
quite often here in our American Stories. And we're telling
this story because on this day in eighteen o seven,
General Robert E. Lee was born. Let's return to Matt
Atkinson and the story of Robert E.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Lee. We go into eighteen sixty six, 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
(19:10):
unquote with Congress. He wished for lenient treatment which allowed
the Southern states back in without ratifying the fourteenth Amendment,
and Congress wished for the South to be made to ratify.
During all this turmoil, Lee counseled everybody to stay calm.
Eighteen sixty seven, January seventh, Congress looks into acts of
(19:35):
impeachment against President Johnson. March second, federal government passes the
Reconstruction Acts. These acts stripped the state governments of power
and place the South in five military districts. Congress declares
it can change any aspect of local government without previous notice.
(19:56):
States must ratify the fourteenth 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
(20:16):
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
(20:36):
still for some time by the window, and his face
looked so sad. He spoke of the Southern people, of
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 to get up in the night and go out
and walk till I thoroughly weary myself before I can sleep.
(21:00):
That was the only melancholy sentence I ever heard him utter,
and the only time I ever 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'm thinking about all the soldiers that
(21:23):
died in Vain when I knew it was too late.
And he said, She goes, you know, basically, well, 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 that separation between civilian and military
authority which makes our government even today so unique. Look
(21:46):
at any other government out there and notice how often
the military overthrows okay. Lee is summoned to testify in
Jefferson Davis's treason trial. Basically, Lee was offered amnesty for
his testimony against Jet Davis or face reindictment for treason
(22:07):
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, how many of you would have, with that
(22:30):
hanging over your head potential indictment, will be able to
get on the witness stand and self indict yourself. It's
a lot. Christmas Day, eighteen sixty eight, President Johnson sends
out a general amnesty to all Confederates who had not
been restored their rights by previous actions. It was over,
(22:53):
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 too. Can you imagine any other
revolution that you ever hear about in the world where
(23:14):
the ring leaders don't get hung or worse if you
think about it. Right there, Jefferson Davis was not hung
for war crimes. And once again, who's the symbol of
the rebellions, Robert E. Lee, and he gets to go
in peace. I mean, it's remarkable in a way, it's
(23:35):
definitely unique. We could very well, they very well could
have created a martyr. All right now in sixty eight
Lee is going to go on his first vacation. He
will choose the Rockbridge bath Resorts. At the resort there
(23:56):
was a nightly dance called the Treadmill, and they were
both Northerners and Southerners. Did anybody know what you call
a Southerner who helped the north scallawag? Right here? There
was a West Virginian girl at the hotel who, one
man said, quote, was very beautiful and very attractive, and
more handsomely dressed than any woman at the springs. However,
(24:20):
the girl's father quote had been a union man during
the war and had 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,
(24:42):
when the dance was occurring, the girl was on the
other room reading. In the other room reading, she became
aware of a brilliantly 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,
(25:04):
and generally led her back to her seat. There was
a general rush for introductions, and from that time on
the girl not only had all the partners she wanted,
but actually became the bell of the season. Now, let's
go back. That's another act. Does it change the whole South? No?
(25:27):
Nobody outside that ball that night ever saw that. Did
the newspapers report it? No? Did go out on the telegram, No,
come out in a book.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
No.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
But to those people, let's say it was one hundred
people at that dance that night, all eyes were on
General Lee and his personal example by going over there,
and he probably knew the backdrop of that story. He
had daughters, I'm 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. Now,
(26:04):
while Lee was on vacation when he was in a
group of ladies. One of the bells turned to him
and says 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,
(26:28):
quote said some of us would have gladly slain her
on the spot. You didn't ask him that, but Lee
answered an earnest, far away 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
(26:52):
did not come, but Lee's example continued to penetrate hardened
Confederate hearts. Christina Bond concluded, quote, we saw moreover his
absolute loyalty to the allegiance he had sworn when he
had laid down his arms, and his whole soul was
engaged in the work of reconstruction, and he lost no
opportunity to promote it socially.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
And you're listening to Gettysburg National Military Park ranger Matt
Atkinson when we continue the final part of this remarkable
story here on our American stories. And we continue with
(27:38):
our American stories in this story of General Robert E.
Lee and what happened to him after he surrendered to
Ulysses S. Grant at Appomatics in eighteen sixty five. We
had just heard about Lee's reaction to a possible visit
by Grant, and my goodness, this must not have been
met necessarily with let's just say, kindness from fellow Southerners
(28:00):
that he was trying to lead by example, knew the
power of his example. Here again is Gettysburg National Military
Park ranger Matt Atkinson.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Now Grant, of course, decides to run for president in
eighteen sixty seven. He becomes a Republican, which infuriates the South.
One day, one of the members launches into a die
tribe against Grant. Lee's face grew flush. Sir, Lee said,
if you ever again presume to speak disrespectfully of General
(28:33):
Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever
his connection with this university. What does Lee remember about Grant?
He remembers Appomatics, he was generous, and I like that
loyalty Because Lee never forgot. As we all know, Grant
is elected president. Lee and Grant would meet one more time,
(28:59):
Ladies and gentlemen. 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.
Neither one of them talked about the war. General Grant, apparently,
if this version is true, did make one allusion to
(29:21):
the war when when he asked Lee what he was
doing in town. Lee informed that he was trying to
get a railroad to Lexington. Grant said to him, Ah, General,
you and I have had a lot more with destroying
railroads than we have had in building them. You know
what Lee did didn't even acknowledge. It's that's the public
(29:43):
Robert E. Lee stow it to the last. That interview
probably lasted five ten minutes. Before they got up. The
two men would never see each other again. We think,
as far as his health, that Lee is gonna suffer
a stroke in the win or sixty three, and his
health has never really fully recovered. Lee was aware of
(30:06):
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 feelings that my years of labor
are nearly over. The faculty urged Lee to take time
off and quote visit his many friends in Savannah, and
(30:29):
so that's why they're going to send Lee south. What
this would turn out to be would be as farewell
to her, which was something he would never allow himself
to ever be knowingly let into. It's going to really
(30:52):
hasten his death. This was the first time he would
travel south of Virginia into other Arctic Confederate states where
millions wanted to seem. From Richmond, Lee head south to
Warrant in North Carolina. After visiting Annie's grave, they continued
to Raleigh. The telegraph operator from Warranton sends a simple
(31:12):
message ahead, General Lee is aboard, and even at midnight,
a crowd gathers and Lee is startled awake by the
chance of Lee Lee Lee. Lee's daughter would later write
that they were laying in that sleeping car and when
the chance, the Lee chance started, both that woke both
of them up. One was on the top tier. I
(31:32):
guess she was on the top and 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's a lot
of them. Lee's veterans would suddenly stop, thrust their caps
into the air, and give a big rebel yell on
(31:56):
the Salisbury where the crowds cheered as the band thundered
out Confederate battle tunes, which is the last thing Lee
wanted to hear. Own 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
(32:19):
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. It's the last thing he
needs to get into a rain storm. Standing in the
rain was a long line of his former officers. Lee
puts on his hat and coat and emerges. Little girls
came forward to hand bouquets of flowers to the general.
(32:43):
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,
(33:04):
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 oftentimes that name would be. Can you imagine meeting
somebody that's named after you? From Savannah, Lee wrote two
(33:27):
classic understatements, and reporting to his wife, the old soldiers
had greeted me very cordially, And I do not think
traveling in this way procures me much quiet and reposed
as far as health, Lee wrote, I perceived no change
in the stricture in my chest. If I attempt to
(33:49):
walk beyond a very slow gate, the pain is always there.
So Lee tries to go to church. Well, it's Sunday.
You gotta remember, ladies and gentlemen, you don't part on Sunday.
Remember that's why we used to have blue laws. Nobody
could cheer General Roberty Lee because it was a Sunday,
(34:10):
But because it was General Lee, every hat was doffed
in the air right. One lady wrote, we regarded him
with the greatest veneration we had heard of God. But
here was General Lee. Now. Lee arrives back in Lexington
(34:35):
on May twenty eighth. He had been gone for two
months and four days. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Roberty
Lee's office the way he left it on October twelfth,
eighteen seventy. If you go down to Lexington today, to
Washington and Lee University as it's known today, that office
(34:57):
is still there. He gets up, he has a vestry
meeting at the episcopal church. He was an episcopae. And
he gets back to the home and he steps inside.
Lee pulls off his 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.
(35:22):
He just freezes. I can't describe it. I didn't see it, obviously,
but the onlooker said that that pale came over him
at that moment. Right there, missus Lee got up, She
walked over to him. She patted him on the hand.
She goes, oh, dear, you look kind of tired. Let
(35:42):
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, they heart disease.
If they knew, if they even knew it was heart disease,
they couldn't do that. They couldn't do that anything. So
they sat down. He does, He doesn't say anything. They
retrieve his old army cot from upstairs and they bring
(36:05):
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 he's going to
run out of energy and he will pass away. He
was sixty three right there. I like to close, if
(36:28):
I could, with a quote by Robert E. Lee. 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 lament, of errors which I
now see and acknowledge, or of the present aspect of affairs,
(36:53):
do I despair of the future. The truth is this,
the march of private is so slow and our desires
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
(37:15):
we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave
and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us
to hope.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
And a great job by Greg Hangler for putting that together,
and a special thanks to Gettysburg National Military Park ranger
Matt Atkinson. And it is so true. It is through
history that we learn hope, and these things all happen
slower than we'd like. Human life is brief, and that's
why we tell these stories. Context matters the struggle, the
(37:50):
movement in this country for a more perfect union. It
continues what did Lee think when he returned home? And
in that final statement, I think we all know what
he thought. The story of Robert E. Lee, born on
this day in eighteen oh seven. Here on our American
Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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