Opinion of Robert E. Lee

[Psychic Octopus]

Discuss.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

He was a tragic figure, and would have been the greatest General after Washington, and a great President too, had he not sided with Virginia.  Still, he is one of the greatest Generals in American history, and must be recognized as such.  Despite his siding with the Confederacy, I have to call him a FF.

[Rob]

He should have been locked up for the rest of his life.

[Lief 🗽]

Disgusting traitor. He should have been hanged.

[The Mikado]

He was a tragic figure, and would have been the greatest General after Washington, and a great President too, had he not sided with Virginia.  Still, he is one of the greatest Generals in American history, and must be recognized as such.  Despite his siding with the Confederacy, I have to call him a FF.

Skill as a military commander is something to be respected and even admired, even in generals for bad causes.  However, recognizing Lee's impressive abilities on the battlefield is not enough to qualify him for Freedom Fighter status.

Arlington National Cemetery is a very impressive piece of land, and it's appropriate that it's on Lee's property, considering the sheer number of patriotic young Americans (on both sides) he helped into an early grave.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Definitely an FF. In addition to what Ben said, he personally opposed slavery.

[Rob]

he personally opposed slavery.

He didn't mind having a few hundred on his plantation working for him, though.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

he personally opposed slavery.

He didn't mind having a few hundred on his plantation working for him, though.

Neither did Washington, or Jefferson, or Madison, or Monroe.

[Rob]

Son, there's never been a shortage of hypocrites. The fact that they are so common shouldn't stop us from condemning them. A slaver who theoretically dislikes slavery is a slavedriver and a hypocrite, and deserves nothing but contempt. I like to judge actions, not words.

[Lief 🗽]

he personally opposed slavery.

He didn't mind having a few hundred on his plantation working for him, though.

Nor did he mind sending thousands to their deaths to defend it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

he personally opposed slavery.

He didn't mind having a few hundred on his plantation working for him, though.

     There's actually some dispute over how strongly he felt about it for precisely that reason.

[dead0man]

I can't call him a FF, but I personally like the guy and sympathize with his plight.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

While I don't agree with the side he chose, nor the reason that he chose it, he was a great general, and a generally good person.  I'd probably pick neutral, but not given that choice, I lean to the side of FF.

[Person Man]

I mean, he's a nice guy. I've heard how compassionate he was towards the common Private...but I find it hard to forgive him for what he did.

[Franzl]

I can't call him a FF, but I personally like the guy and sympathize with his plight.

[k-onmmunist]

FF. He stood by his state.

[Lief 🗽]

I can't call him a FF, but I personally like the guy and sympathize with his plight.

What plight? The difficult choice between being a traitor and not being a traitor? Oh no!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

A traitor and a thug. HP.

[PBrunsel]

General Lee is a highly over rated commander. He fought the wrong type of a war, one which his side could not win. Additonaly, his opposition to spies (which were supported by my favroite Confederate General James Longstreet) hurt both the Maryland and Pennsylvania Campaigns.

I generally blame Lee for Confederate defeat, but that may be too harsh. So to all who call him a traitor or monster, Lee is the reason the South lost the war. He fought a European style war (complete with offensive attacks which were rebuffed) when he should have simply fought a defensive guerilla war and turned Dixie into Vietnam for three to six years. 

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Son, there's never been a shortage of hypocrites. The fact that they are so common shouldn't stop us from condemning them. A slaver who theoretically dislikes slavery is a slavedriver and a hypocrite, and deserves nothing but contempt. I like to judge actions, not words.

And had you been born in the early 1800's you'd act the same way people of that period did, from situation to situation.


SHEESH

[Torie]

Traitor. His name lives in infamy in my mind.

[Rob]

And had you been born in the early 1800's you'd act the same way people of that period did, from situation to situation.

Most white Americans of the time- even in the deepest South- were not wealthy enough to own slaves. Many others even at that time believed slavery should be abolished outright. That's no argument.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

FF. He stood by his state.

So then what were the anti-Confederate guerillas in eastern Tennesee, Winston County, Alabama, Central Texas and other such places?

[Psychic Octopus]

Robert E. Lee was not a traitor. His home state of Virginia left the Union, therefore he felt obliged to leave. Had he not sided with Virginia, he would be a traitor.

[War on Want]

I definitley do not have a hatred of the man like lots of other leftists here, but I still consider him a HP for siding with the Confederacy. He could have certainly been much worse and could have prolonged the Civil War for years on end but had a honorable surrender instead.