Debunking The Myth That General Robert E. Lee Opposed Confederate Monuments

A strawman argument can best be described as a type of logical fallacy committed when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position.

Over the last few years, anti-Confederate heritage regressives have enjoyed propping up just such a straw man argument against the display of Confederate monuments and flags on public property -- or anywhere else for that matter.  

Employing their usual tactic of taking someone's words selectively and adding their own unique interpretation to them, social regressives and certain agenda-minded "historians" make the argument that, based upon his own written correspondence, General Robert E. Lee himself opposed the idea of erecting and displaying monuments to the Confederate soldier.

This argument has been employed, ad nauseam, by the regressive Left, their media allies, and other assorted lapdogs (namely the previously mentioned hysterians....I mean, "historians") to attempt to justify their removal of Confederate monuments for whatever stated reasons they have.

But to what end employ this particular argument though? Obviously the cultural vandals care nothing for the actual words of General Lee "the traitor" on any profound level. 

The point of using this particular straw man argument is to demoralize those defenders of Confederate heritage and proud Confederate descendants who would continue to speak out against the destruction of these monuments and removal of flags. Who oppose the continued attempts to damn the memory of the Confederate citizen soldier. 

More so, it is a false argument designed to convince average American citizens still on the fence regarding symbols of Confederate heritage and its symbols that perhaps the greatest example of the Confederate soldier -- the so-called "Marble Man" Ole Marse Robert himself -- opposed honoring the Confederate soldiers that he led and who died under him in defense of their homes and families. 

This false narrative is not only an insult to the average intelligence and common sense of the Southern and American people, it is an insult to the memory of perhaps one of the most well remembered and well respected leaders in American history -- and despite media narratives to the contrary, General Lee still is.

This straw man narrative is based on the selective interpretation of a letter written by Lee himself in response to a request by another former Confederate General Thomas L. Rosser for help in erecting a suitable Confederate monument. 

This is the letter in full: 

(Courtesy of the Lee Family Archives website)

Nearly all regressive outlets and agenda-based "historians" who promote the straw man argument that Lee opposed the construction of Confederate monuments after the war points to the first sentence of the second paragraph alone without appropriate context -- that is when they even cite this letter at all. Most regressives tend to simply throw out the talking point and repeat it until even they believe it themselves.

So let us examine the meaning of Lee's first sentence without the context of the second for a moment:

"As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated; my conviction is, that however grateful it would be to the feelings of the South, the attempt in the present condition of the Country, would have the effect of retarding, instead of accelerating its accomplishments; & of continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labour." 
 
Lee accepted the defeat of the Confederacy and Southern independence and resigned himself to make the best of rebuilding the South and reuniting the country. His choice of careers in accepting the leadership of Washington College in Lexington (now Washington-Lee College) reflects strongly on this. He encouraged other former Confederate veterans and young Southern men to be good American citizens.

But did that aspect of Lee's character mean that he opposed the erection of Confederate monuments, or honoring the Confederate dead? 

Not exactly.

At the end of 1866, when Lee wrote his words, the South was still struggling financially from the devastating effects of the War and money was scarce for many starving families of Confederate veterans and those who had lost loved ones in the fighting. What little money there was needed to be used to buy the tools for farming and the means to grow food, or to rebuild ruined cities and communities.

One of the main reasons most Confederate monuments at the time were not built between 1880 - 1920 was the severe economic hardships the defeated Southern States endured for decades after the War, and largely did not end until the end of the Great Depression of the 1930s and early 40s.

The desire to honor the fallen men and boys of the Confederate military was still there. This is reflected in the second sentence of the second paragraph of Lee's letter:

"All I think that can now be done, is to aid our noble & generous women in their efforts to protect the graves & mark the last resting places of those who have fallen, & wait for better times."

So in the context of those details, the second sentence explains Lee's polite refusal to support the building of a Confederate monument. The second sentence, referring no doubt to the Confederate widows and Southern ladies of Soldier's Aid Societies being formed across Dixie, and the first efforts at establishing a remembrance day for the honored dead, clearly shows that nowhere in his heart did General Lee forget those men and boys who fell under his command in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia. Any former military officer in any army who'd ever had to write letters of condolence to families of fallen soldiers will tell you no commander would, nor could, ever do that.

So obviously Lee was not opposed to memorializing the honored dead of the Confederate army.

It would be here that the Opposition throws up another straw man for our consideration: There were no Confederate flags or Confederate uniforms at Lee's funeral in 1870.

Which is true, there were no Confederate symbols of any type at Lee's funeral. Neither was Lee himself laid to rest in his gray military uniform -- or any uniform at all.

In 1870, the State of Virginia was under US military occupation and martial law during the Reconstruction Era. One of the occupation laws was that the display of Confederate flags and wearing of Confederate uniforms was forbidden. In fact, under martial law gatherings of more than a few people -- including funerals -- were overseen by squads of uniformed soldiers, as Lee's funeral, one of the largest in the state's history at the time, undoubtedly was. Nobody could have brought out a Confederate flag, or worn a gray or butternut uniform without being summarily arrested and fined.

Newspaper article from the Rome (Georgia) Courier dated
Jan. 31, 1867 detailing an account of former Confederate
soldiers arrested for the public display of a Confederate flag
during Reconstruction in violation of occupation law.
(Courtesy of Mr. Eddie Inman)

So yeah, that little straw man catches on fire and quickly burns to a cinder.

Oh but the regressive aren't done with their straw men just yet: "Lee never wanted a huge statue of himself anywhere."

Also true, but always to a point when it comes to these arguments.

Based on his writings, which detail who he was more than any modern-day interpretation could, Robert Edward Lee was a humble, devoutly Christian man who opposed any attempt at self-glorification. He probably would have opposed any attempt to build a grand monument of himself while he was still alive.

However, before you regressive haters jump up and down and give yourselves high-fives for coming up with a "brilliant" counter-argument, keep in mind something about human nature, and show you just how ridiculous this line of thinking is.

Unless a person is a complete egomaniac, nobody would support having such a grand monument built to them while they still live.

Do you think Abraham Lincoln would approve of the Lincoln Memorial being built while he was still alive? Or George Washington would have applauded the Washington Monument? Do you think that Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson would approve of Mount Rushmore being carved out while either of them were still breathing?

For that matter do you think the citizen soldiers of the Confederate army, or for that matter the soldiers of the Union army, who fell in the battles of the War Between The States would have wanted statues and large monuments built to them while they were still breathing? No, I am fairly certain they would have preferred to have come home alive and been with their families. Do you think ANY gravestone or marker in any cemetery in the world, no matter how grandiose, is there because the person in the grave wants it there, or rest till Judgment Day under it?

Monuments to soldiers and great men are never built while they are still around. They are built by those who came after them, and by those who still remember them, so that future generations do not forget them and the lessons they imparted.

With that the last straw man turns to dust and blows away. 

In the end, by his own words, General Lee was not opposed to future generations in "better times" honoring the Confederate dead, or remembering him; though he probably would have found many conclusions about who he was from those who promote both the "Lost Cause" and "Righteous Cause" mythological narratives -- to be widely wrong on all counts. 

Almost certainly he would never support the misuse of the Confederate flag his soldiers fought and suffered under, nor the monuments to their memories, misused as tools for modern political division and the fomenting of racial hatred in America, and would speak out vehemently against those alt-Right reactionaries and alt-Left anarchists who today seek to divide this nation.

IMPORTANT BLOGGER'S NOTE (08-20-17): Oops! In offering my summary on this post, I accidentally mislabeled a personality on Mouth Rushmore. I wrote John Adams instead of Thomas Jefferson. I have since corrected the mistake and would love to offer appropriate credit to the individual who pointed out the discrepancy, however "Anonymous" poster isn't a real name I can use. All the same I would like to thank the diligent individual who pointed out the mistake. ~C. Roden (blogger and writer)