sell a mother to one buyer and the children to other buyers. there is no shadow of a legal doubt that lee was guilty of treason p. an editorial insisted that robert e. lee should be charged with treason. he levied war against the united states more than any other man in the land and thereby has been especially guilty of the crime of treason has defined in the constitution of the united states. the times wanted to say whether general lee should be hung or not is a minor question. three days later, robert e. lee was in fact indicted for treason. his opponent in the civil war fellow west point graduate ulysses s. grant interceded with johnson to drop the treason case against lee.