“Few figures in American history are more divisive, contradictory or elusive than Robert E. Lee”  -Roy Blount Jr.

Early Life

Robert Edward Lee was born to a wealthy and socially prominent Virginia family in 1807. His father, “Lighthorse” Harry Lee, was known for his leadership during the Revolutionary War. As a young adult, Robert E. Lee attended the US Military Academy at West Point and later joined the US Army. He married Mary Custis Washington, the great granddaughter of Martha Washington and

step-great granddaughter of President George Washington, in 1859. The couple had seven children. ​

Lee became known for his tactical strength when he served as a commander in the Mexican American War in 1846 and later when he (and his troops) ended a slave insurrection led by abolitionist John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, WV in 1859. 

Role in the Civil War

Soon after Abraham Lincoln was elected President, seven Southern states seceded and appointed Jefferson Davis as President of the Confederate States of America. Four other states, including Lee’s own Virginia, followed suit in 1861. The 11 confederate states believed that secession was the solution to maintaining states’ rights as well as slavery to support the South’s “agricultural economy.” When asked to lead the Union forces, Lee chose to resign from military service, ending a 32-year career in the United States Army, and joined the Confederacy as their Army Commander. Although Lee was not a supporter of secession, “he never defended the rights of slaves” and chose to lead the Confederacy “as they attempted to dissolve the United States that his own father helped to create." 
​

Lee was known for his tactical capabilities but has also been largely criticized for the aggressive and violent strategies he utilized throughout the Civil War.  Early on, the Confederate Army saw victories like that of the Second Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Chancellorsville, but they soon began to struggle. The Army suffered greatly at the Battle of Antietam, which has come to be known as the “bloodiest single day of the war” with roughly 23,000 casualties, as well as the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

"Secession Movement," NCpedia.org

With a shrinking army and a near impossible path to victory, Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant in April 1865, ending the Civil War. President Lincoln and General Grant saved Lee from being hanged as a traitor, and he returned to Virginia later that month.

Lee on Race and Slavery

"Hidden in Plain Sight," Arlingtonmagazine.com

When his wife’s father, George Washington Parke Custis died in 1857, Lee inherited the now famous Arlington plantation and nearly 200 slaves. Custis had stated in his will that he intended for all his slaves to go free upon his death, however, Lee argued the interpretation of the will in court to keep the slaves as his property. Since his death, many have argued about Lee’s view on slavery, some claiming him to be a devout Christian who condemned the practice. Many utilize an 1856 letter where Lee described slavery as a “moral and pollical evil” as proof of his opposition. However, if one reads the letter 

in its entirety, they will see that though Lee was “sympathetic to the black race,” he viewed slavery as a “greater evil to the white man” and “necessary for the instruction [of the black] race."

Lee has also been largely criticized for his cruelty as a slave master. His mistreatment of slaves was not limited to physical abuse. He ended the Washington and Custis tradition of respecting the sanctity of slave families, and by 1860 had broken up every family but one on the plantation, a trauma that impacted those families for many decades. Lee’s treatment of slaves was so abhorrent that it nearly led to a slave revolt and caused slaves to attempt escape. Two such slaves who were recaptured were not only beaten and whipped by Lee and an overseer but had their wounds “thoroughly washed with brine” as further abuse. 

Lee’s behavior towards black Americans remained steadfast throughout the Civil War. When Lee and his army invaded Pennsylvania, his troops abducted free black Americans and brought them back to the South to work as slaves. Under his command at the Battle of the Crater in 1864, black Union soldiers attempting surrender were killed. Later that same year when negotiating a prisoner exchange with General Grant, Lee refused to exchange black soldiers, claiming “negroes belonging to our citizens are not considered subjects of exchange and were not included in my proposition.” ​

"United States Colored Troops," Wikipedia.com

After the war ended, Lee publicly fought black enfranchisement, claiming “black people lacked the intellectual capacity of white people." He served as President of Washington College (later named Washington and Lee University) from 1865-1870. During his time there, students formed their own chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, were known to abduct and rape black schoolgirls, and attempted two lynchings. Lee was historically “indifferent to crimes of violence toward black people carried out by his students” just as he was when “carried out by his soldiers."

Sources
www.biography.com/military-figure/robert-e-lee
www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/confederate-states-of-america
www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/robert-e-lee
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/making-sense-of-robert-e-lee-85017563/
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/the-myth-of-the-kindly-general-lee/529038/