An officer resigning his commission is honorable. As to sitting out the war Lee was offered and declined command of all Union forces before he accepted a position with his country, Virginia.
Exactly!
People forget that at the time of the Civil War, most Americans described themselves as Americans *secondly*, their identities came from the state they resided in.
Virginians were first and foremost Virginians.
The same with North Carolinians, Texans, Georgians, New Yorkers, Indianans and so forth.
Even in the north, people claimed state residence before national residence.
They may have been more comfortable with a strong central government, but they still claimed state residence first.
Oddly, here in the south, most of the older generations claim statehood before nationhood.
It’s less pronounced in the younger generation, and less still in the youngest generation.
It must have something to do with the heavy concentration of Scotts in the early settlers in the south.