[Sans-Culotte]

R.E. Lee betrayed his nation, the United States of America, at a time when the nation most needed him.

Lee was not a "traitor to his country". Lee considered his country to be Virginia. When Virginia seceded, Lee resigned his U.S. Army commission and followed Virginia. People in the U.S.A. tend to forget that the U.S. States were "States" in the truest sense of the word. At the time of the Civil War, people did not consider a "State" to be merely a division of the U.S.A.

And why pick Lee to put on the list out of the entire confederacy? And no, Lee did not command "the entire southern forces". He only commanded the Army of Northern Virginia; and that was only after its commander was gravely wounded. The author chose to include the most beloved and respected general out of the entire war. Where was John Wilkes Booth on the list? The list was total BS.

[muawiyah]

The war was over when Booth came along ~

[moonshot925]

Then why did R.E. Lee say this on 2 October 1965 after the war was over???

“I, Robert E. Lee of Lexington, Virginia, do solemnly swear in the presence of almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of the states there under, and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all laws and proclamation which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves, so help me God.”

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gabrantl/lee-amnestyoath.html

[x]

He never was a citizen of the Union, and so could not have been a traitor against her.

...

At the time of the Civil War, people did not consider a "State" to be merely a division of the U.S.A.

...

Pretty clearly, if you graduated from West Point, took an oath of office as an officer, fought for the United States in Mexico, and went on to head West Point, you were a citizen of the United States with obligations and commitments to the United States.

Whatever somebody or other in the middle of nowhere thought, you came out of a tradition of service to the United States. Pretending some kind of amnesia about all that doesn't let you off the hook.

I used to believe all that nonsense about Virginia being Lee's "country" but it really doesn't fly -- not for a career military officer. It would be refreshing to be honest about this and look facts in the face.