Question of the Week: At what point in his life would you want to interview Lee?
If you could conduct a 1-hour interview of Robert E. Lee, when would you want to go back to do the interview? Early 1870? 1861 just after he resigns from the US Army, 1863 right after Gettysburg? Some other time?
In early 1862, before Joseph Johnston was wounded during the Seven Days’, was Lee frustrated and what would he do differently if in command, then see if he followed through.
When he was trying to decide to continue with the US Army and the USA or go with the CSA. Not very original answer.
Then maybe the late 1860s, when he was trying to sum up his life and experiences.
I think I would like to interviw him in the months following Gettysburg. What he thinks went wrong and if in hindsight should he have followed Longstreets advice.
Late 1865. The post-surremder feelings are still fresh but not as raw. His personal future is still unsure.
After Cold Harbor.
Right after the Confederate Army got blown out at Fox’s and Turner’s Gaps on September 14, 1862! At least 1,000 dead Confederates at Fox’s and Turner’s Gaps! Lee must retreat and attempt to hold on.
After Gettysberg to maybe plant the idea of some type of compromise with the Union states that would have allowed some form of continued existense of the Confederate states.
Considering that I only have one hour for the interview (far too little for a proper post-war assessment session), I would interview Lee in mid-March, 1865. At that point, Lincoln has won re-election, foreign recognition clearly is not coming, Lee’s army has been bleeding substantial numbers of deserters for months, the available military manpower pool is exhausted, the food supply situation is horrible, and Johnston cannot stop Sherman from moving towards Richmond to link up with Grant. Even if Lee’s army can escape the Petersburg-Richmond lines without disaster and link up with Johnston, it is hard to see how the combined force could be supplied with food, forage and above all, ammunition for more than a limited period of time in the future.
I would ask what does Lee really foresee as the end game? Does he really think some version of victory is possible and if so, why, and what type of victory does he think possible? And, knowing hundreds and possibly thousands more will die in the coming weeks in what certainly appears to be a lost cause, has he considered going to Jefferson Davis in person and, within the limits of the proper civilian-military relationship, given a formal report outlining the impossible military situation? Is that not his duty to his government, country, and above all his own soldiers?
There is a part of me that wants to interview him in the middle of his time at Washington University about qualities of leadership in education.
I would interview him in the beginning of September 1870, a few weeks before he suffered the stroke that led to his death. I would ask him “At this point in your life, was it worth it?” And, I would ask the obvious questions like “Would you do anything differently?”, and “Knowing what you know now, would you have became more active in trying to prevent war from occurring? If yes, what would you, as a uniformed military officer held in high regard, have done to pursue that?”
I would also ask him “Since the War ended, are there any of your subordinates you would care to comment on? Have any of their words or correspondence that you have become aware of compel you to offer a reply, or retort? If yes, who are they?”
While it would be tempting to interview him on the withdrawal from Pennsylvania, to once and forever put to death the myth that James Longstreet tried to talk him out of ANYTHING before or during the battle – no such conversations as Longstreet claims in his memoir took place – or, immediately following the Norris case, to forever dispel the fake news lie that Lee whipped his wife’s slaves (Lee never owned a slave in his life), so that 160 years later copy-and-paste “historians” like Allen Guelzo couldn’t keep repeating it…I would like to interview him at the following two points.
First, immediately following his astonishing engineering feat that saved the city of St. Louis from the ravages of the Mississippi River, by using, rather than futilely attempting to resist, the power of the river…when he was just 31 years old.
Second, immediately following his astonishing personal reconnaissances that were the key to the American army taking Mexico City with minimal casualties, and at Cerro Gordo (Fat Hill), not to mention his participation in three major battles. Had the Medal of Honor existed at this time, he would have won it twice.
Right after his surrender. What did HE think was the beginning of the end? What was his best chance to crush the Army of the Potomac? Was remaining at Petersburg a mistake? If things had gone perfectly, how long could the war have carried on? Ask all the what-ifs that people today are still wondering.
I’d like to ask him after meeting with Winfield Scott……Why are you contemplating treason after such a brilliant career?
And if Lee were to put back to you, ‘How can what I contemplate be considered treason against the American Constitution…when in all that occurred with the New Englanders in the War of 1812; South Carolina in the Nullification Crisis or Maine in the Aroostook War, not a single charge of Treason or Conspiracy to Commit Treason was ever brought forth against any persons or parties, whatsoever the question? And all legal elements of Constitutional Treason/Conspiracy to Commit Treason were met in these, and all legal defences to those charges were negated.
And yet, not a single person ever faced any legal consequences, proceedings or actions of any kind or description, ever.
Now, how can what I aspire to do then, in light of all this legal precedent to the matter, be lawfully considered to be Treason…?’
Easy……they never actually committed treason, did they? Never accused!
Lee did commit treason, we know that, by leading the Confederate Army against the United States and violating his oath of loyalty to the Constitution.
Are there any other misconceptions that you have that I can correct for you?
Just sit down with him on a cold January afternoon in 1867, get his ideas on how he would structure his College’s courses to best aid the recovery of the South. How he would react if the college received an application from a black student. Would he have spoken out against secession in 1861, crossing the political line he always observed, if he knew his voice might have prevented Virginia’s catastrophic involvement. And who of his departed men left the greatest hole in his soul.
Late 1865 and I would like to ask him if I could buy him supper and then simply ask, how are you feeling?
One never gets disappointed by EP Schafer and his every single time far right-wing/far “everything about the treasonous Rebs is great”/pro-MAGA/there really was no slavery or at least not much and Robt Lee didn’t own slaves(B.S.)/dumping on real historians like Guelzo when all the does is spew right-wing Trump junk posts. EVERY SINGLE ISSUE is some opportunity for an extreme far-right diatribe from this guy. Jeez, Chris; you ECW guys run a great site & blog. Can’t you bounce that guy the hell outta here?
He’s got two masters degrees in history. He’s writing a script for a movie that Trump is going to produce. He had 68 family members who actually fought in the American Civil War, half of em were on Lee’s staff and the other half knew every prominent figure from that time period. And finally, he is writing 10 books. Seeing as I need to scrounge for Wi-Fi in this vast wasteland of burnt out buildings and destroyed property that once was a beautiful “liberal” city I’ll have to take his word for all of it, because he always cites zero sources.
On the Klan thread here, I am educating EP on World History.
No sources cited at all.
Agreed, an hour is not sufficient, there’s too much ground to cover. And he was the marble man, I may not get anything usable out of him without waterboarding the guy for an hour. He had known Matthew Brady before the war, or we might not have gotten those wonderful photo’s of he and family in Richmond in April, 1865. All of the above are great questions. One of the things on my list would be how he had the audacity to offer battle to McClellan at Antietam, with his back to a river, when he could have amalgamated his outnumbered disparate army wings south of the Potomac instead, no foul, no harm.