Didnt much care for my old occupation. In fact robert e lee was so offended when he heard George Washington might have used a ghostwriter to paint his famous farewell address that he refused to believe it and said that anyone who said George Washington used a ghostwriter was a injudicious. If i learned nothing else from writing this biography is that i should care less about my own. I am so pleased to be at this beautiful house, and i am so grateful to the Historical Society for for inviting me today. I had a chance to to go over and see this society earlier today and it is such a wonderful facility and i am happy to see that it is expanding. We are so reliant upon the great work that our archivists and other preservationists due to preserve American History. Thank you to the society for your great work. It is it is also a pleasure to be here in louisville. Robert e lee came through louisville in 1837. He was on a trip out west. I am proud to tell you that he made quite an impression on leave. It was not so much what he saw here as who he met hear. Two ladies, and these these were not just any ladies. They were decidedly the most beautiful and interesting young ladies but never fear, fear, robert e lee faithfully told his wife every single detail about how he escorted as women to their destination diligently and dutifully. What took them through louisville in 1837 1837 was an assignment he received from the Us Army Corps of engineers. They sent they sent him to go to the Mississippi River to do some work. I mentioned that tonight because it is actually river, a different river river that brought me to Robert E Lees story. I confess that on the surface i seem like an unlikely person to write a biography about robert ely. I grew up in the suburbs of washington dc and spent most of my adult life working in that city. They assume youre going to write about a union general, not a confederate general. They certainly dont expect you will write about that confederate general. The old model himself robert e lee. For a long time i avoided explaining myself. I did what you expect someone to washing washington from washington to do, i ducted. No more. Tonight tonight i want to explain myself. What 1st drew me to robert ee lee was probably what you least expect, simple geography. Simply put we grew up along the same river the potomac. First, when we think of of the Potomac River i think especially out here in kentucky you probably imagine a a polluted stream of political corruption. Sometimes at a strip. You certainly probably dont imagine a river of American History. Second you tend to imagine him personifying an old self that seems lightyears away from the cosmopolitan capitol that we no today. But the truth is far different. Reminders of robert e lee are all around the city of washington, and one of those reminders was the majority of his papers are in driving distance of washington. I was able to go to the archives and see the letters that he wrote. But writing a biography requires more than just looking at all letters. It requires getting out and seeing the places where history actually happened. And happened. And his history took place all around where i live. During the course of my research i traveled the full length of the Potomac River from its source to its mouth for those of you not familiar with the potomac it starts in West Virginia at the fairfax dont where trickles down to the appellation mountains past the city of washington and empties into the Chesapeake Bay at. Lookout maryland. Yet i really did drag my wife along for this entire ride. So of all the things you need to write a biography and understanding spouse. If you take this journey i i just described you we will learn some things. You learn that the potomac is much more than just a stream of political corruption. New line the Robert E Lees history flows up and down this river. That in the most unexpected ways Robert E Lees history intersects with the father of our countrys history, and that is George Washingtons history. Way down river the Westmoreland County virginia near the Chesapeake Bay were robert e lee grew up on a great plantation called stratford hall. Stratford hall was built by Robert E Lees great great uncle. He has the the distinction that no other american has that he fathered two signers of the declaration of independence. And and the great house that thomas lee bill that stratford was a symbol of the great wealth that the family had accumulated on the river. They truly were one of virginias finest families. And not far from stratford hall, a short drive away in Westmoreland County you will find were George Washington was born. By the time Robert Yulee Ely was born in 1807 George Washington was long dead. But the lee and washington names had already been fused together because of Robert E Lees e lees father a man named henry white horse harry the. Now he was one of George Washingtons most trusted cavalry commanders command that sevier and that nickname. But what makes the most famous is what he did after the war, he wrote a eulogy for result commander. He is the one who wrote the words 1st in war, 1st in peace, and 1st in the hearts of his countrymen. Those of course, are still the words you remember George Washington by today. In his time everyone knew that his father had written those words. As much as he admired he could not quite copy his example. He could not imitate what he knew was the greatest virtue after the revolutionary war he cycled into a cycle of tragedy he bet almost all of his land, money homeland and lost badly. In fact, he lost so badly that he ended up in debtors prison and eventually had to go into exile in the caribbean. He never saw his son ever again. So robert e lee did not grow up on a day plantation because of these financial problems. If you want to find where he grew up you have to head out the Potomac River to the town of alexandria where robert e lee lived in modest houses belonging to friends and relatives who took pity on his mother. Today we know alexandria as alexandria, virginia. Back then it was alexandria in the district of columbia. The reason for that was George Washington when he laid out the original borders stuck alexandria right into the bottom corner indeed, if you look at a a map of dc today and take the small strip of land where arlington and alexandria are you will see that it forms a perfect diamond shaped square. That was his original intent he wanted to include went from both maryland and virginia. And the town closest to George Washingtons mount vernon plantation alexandria very much considered itself to be George Washingtons hometown. Young robert did not have to look far. He saw them everywhere. As a child he worshiped at the episcopal church. He attended school at the Alexandria Academy and ran errands for his mother in the marketplace were George Washington had drilled troops during the french and indian war. The the descriptions we have of his childhood described it as anything but a boy. They described him as a nurse heading to his mother who was always sick, as a housekeeper running errands for his family. And know one understood what track down harry lee better than his wife. She made sure that tragedy did not repeat itself. She taught she taught young robert to put duty before desire. She taught them how to control himself. And for the rest of his life he had an almost compulsive regard for duty. He could never have his own way. And so as much as you might want for material things he would not like the virtue the separated harry from George Washington. He used selfcontrol and knew how to deny himself. What most connection happen just upriver from arlington. The great pillard mentioned. If you ever see Arlington Heights today its right across the Potomac River from where the Lincoln Memorial and stands. Theyre on june 30, 183131 robert e lee married the daughter of George Washington adopted son. Today we know arlington is a cemetery. Back then it was a memorial to George Washington because his adopted son had built that house and filled it with relics of mount vernon. He would have seen china and furniture and portraits. You would have even seen the bed were George Washington had died. Then people from all across the country came to arlington to see these mementos. It was almost as if it was a museum. And there was Something Else slaves who had dissented. You might ask yourself how thats possible. Didnt he famously free of the slaves . He did but what he could not do much as he wanted to was read his wifes slaves. Some of those slaves became the property of George Washingtons adopted son. Now, we. Now, lee himself that the slavery was an evil institution. There you should not make the mistake of thinking he was an abolitionist. He certainly was not. He prayed for a for a day the government and slavery. It may surprise you to no he thought slavery was worse for whites that it was for the slaves themselves which is an attitude that is probably hard for us to understand today, today, but basically he just wanted nothing to do with his institution. He tried his hardest to avoid it as much as possible. What albany to have ultimately entangles them is that his fatherinlaw dies in 1857 and lisa will naming robert ely executor states that actually includes include slaves who are descended from over. On the eve of the civil war robert ely is managing his states that include slaves that George Washington had wanted to but cannot free. And so it was very much the unresolved question of slavery, one of the personal legacies that robert ely received from George Washington. And to see how this unresolved question of slavery began turning to violence you have to just said about 50 miles of river and come to a little town called Harpers Ferry. And it had been George Washingtons idea the stick of federal armory and Harpers Ferry. His advisers that this was a terrible idea. Surrounded by three towering bluffs and the blue ridge mountains. George mountains. George washington thought that would make it easy to defend. As it as it turned out it made it completely indefensible. Then then in 1859 a group of abolitionists led by one john brown crossed the Potomac River sees the armory and took a number of hostages. One of those those was a man named lewis washington. And john brown took Something Else a sword that once belonged to George Washington. For the entire time hes carrying a sword. Who is sent sent out to take back Harpers Ferry . Robert e lee lieut. Col. Robert e lee. He. He goes to Harpers Ferry and he is already known as one of the militarys. And he equips himself quite well. He performs well reasserts federal control. What becomes known as john brown raids ads and other loyal to an already impressive military resume and herald the coming of the american civil war. And war. And i want to take you to one final place a little bit upriver, quiet National Park today where you will find a cornfield, a sunken road in the stoneridge. There on september 17 1862 robert 1862 robert ely and the outmanned outgunned army of Northern Virginia thought the union army of the potomac to still make in the bloodiest single day of combat in American History. The battle of antietam marks the end of Robert E Lees 1st invasion across the potomac and gave Abraham Lincoln who was present at the opportunity to issue the preliminary emancipation proclamation which would eventually allow him to give a new birth of freedom. Anyone who takes the journey i have just described must wrestle with an unavoidable question, how question, how did an army officer so associated with George Washingtons legacy go to war against what we today consider George Washingtons greatest legacy, the union. It was this question that ultimately germanys robert ely story and if that tragic tension in the knowledge history could have turned out so much differently. On the on the eve of the civil war leaders on both sides of the potomac in richmond and in washington saw his services for high command, both knew about his connections to George Washington. I was common knowledge, and both sought significant tremendous significance in them the very best soldier he had ever seen the field. And he certainly looked like a fine soldier standing just under 6 feet tall powerful broad shoulders, beryl just perfect posture. Everyone who saw him said some version of the same thing, that man looks every inch the soldier. April 1861 an emissary for Abraham Lincoln asks robert ely to ride across my arlington and come to the city of washington. That. That emissarys name is francis player, and he makes an extraordinary offer. Will you we will you lead the main union army to crush secession . And you remember the story he tried in every way to convince robert ely to say yes. He said the country looks to you as a representative of the washington family to save the union union George Washington forged, and that was hardly an exaggeration because he was the son of George Washingtons famous eulogized and a soninlaw of George Washingtons adopted child. And so now only one word separator robert e lee from the pinnacle of his profession, command of what would be the largest American Army ever raised from glory that no american since George Washington and known. What did he say . The opposed secession command he did. He thought secession was illegal. And he quickly significant he thought George Washington was opposed, and that was not given at the time they say George Washington was a a rebel who rebelled against the union with the british. On on the other side, unionists say George Washington in his farewell address set to prize the union above any sectional legions. And actually, robert e lee is reading a biography of George Washington in the months before the civil war and his hearing these arguments and concludes that he basically agrees with the unions position, that George Washington would have opposed secession. So what else does lee say . That he would gladly washes hands of slavery, gladly get rid of all slavery if you can avoid war. Then he says, but, but how can i raise my sword against my native state. And here a blair Family Tradition says he hesitated as if searching for an answer. He turned down the command. He did not yet turned in his commission. He returns to arlington house soon learns that virginia has voted to secede from the union and on april 20 he 20th he writes a letter resigning from the union army and his wife recalled that decision the severest struggle of his life. But three days after sending that Resignation Letter we is welcomed in richmond as the new commander in chief of all virginias armed forces and the Convention President of virginia secession says basically that robert ely is the 2nd coming of George Washington and hopes that what was once said of George Washington will soon be said of robert ely, 1st in the lord 1st in peace, and 1st in the hearts of his countrymen the very words that harry lee had used to describe George Washington. So we face this tragic tension in his story. And for his part he would say he did not have a choice it was not so much that he made the right choice he made the only choice. It was very much like him to say he could never have his own way. He decided averaging his wife. But at the same time we also no that other virginians made different decisions. Winfield scott decided to stay with the union. When robert e lee came to Winfield Scott and told him that he had turned down command of the main union army being raised scott said to lead, lee lee you have made the greatest mistake of your life. I feared it would be so. And the decision that he made cost them terribly more of the very 1st thing that happened after he decides to fight virginia is that Union Soldiers cost the bridges from washington and sees the Arlington Heights where robert ely had left. If you have ever been to washington you no why they did this. If virginians were the confederacy had managed to fortify those you could have destroyed washington, bombarded the white house. And in time as the casualties mount Union Authorities will decide to turn arlington the estate where robert ely married the daughter of washingtons adopted son into the cemetery we no today. And that is just the beginning. As you read how his decision to fight against the union toward his ties to his founder you we will be astonished because it is shockingly personal the price that he paid. My wife and bring her up again we will tell you that the reason i became so fascinated by this decision is how irreversible it was. And as a writer i have a very different life because i can write something, research it and then change it 1 million times and revise it. That is what writers do, but we never had that luxury. There was no going back. We talk so often about social movements and trends that we sometimes forget that history is not inevitable and can turn on the decision of a single individual and he was such an example his decision forever changed the course of American History. If you ask yourself how just imagine the counterfactual, what would have happened if robert ely had accepted that command . Will would what would have happened if the soldier most associated with George Washington had saved the union that George Washington created . What would we think about our country . How would that change our outlook . And there is perhaps no better place to ponder that question arlington. If if you go out past the graves of men who died defending the union and go up to Arlington Heights which Robert E Lees fatherinlaw originally billed as a memorial to George Washington but is now a monument to robert ely and you stare across the Potomac River at the city of washington you will see the Washington Monument rising in the distance. Before the Washington Monument is the Lincoln Memorial command that is a powerful symbol for our country because for all of his connections to George Washington he is no longer the american that we most closely associate. That honor belongs to a son a set of kentucky born without a single connection to George Washington. That the linux to Abraham Lincoln i think we have hidden the thought for too long i hope you we will come to washington and see some of the places i have described. I am thankful to you all for coming and in than happy to answer questions. Thank you. [applause] yes. There is a story after the war in the church a black man comes forward, you no the story. Myself, i dont believe, i dont believe it but i would like you to comment on it because it is told in several ways. The story is that robert ely is in a church and theres a black man praying and robert ely and know one knows what to do. And robert ely goes up and kneels beside him that is a story that has been told by many people. The truth is, we dont know. It was told many years after, so its difficult to evaluate the accuracy. I have just actually seen a recent article of people debating it. Unfortunately, i cannot answer the question. There is some evidence what his motives. That is something we cant answer. It is possible that what he was actually thinking was simply put that he did not like people feeling awkward and that the best way to put this event behind them was simply to go on with his business and set an example for everyone else that they should also go on with theyre business. You just dont no, and it is a great story because i can say is not true and i cant i cant say it is true. It is on the frontlines of history. Im interested in what happened to lee after the war. I know that hes been some summers there. One summer a few years after the war was over other confederate generals were there as well. He ended up signing something known as the greenbrier doctrine. Maybe i should talk about what he did after the war. After the war he leaves appomattox goes back to richmond and sort of has this vision that maybe he we will try to get a plot of land in farm if the Union Authorities will allow him. But then the most unexpected thing happens. A Small College in the Shenandoah Valley sends a messenger to lee and says, you have been elected president of Washington College. Now, Washington College actually had a very real connection to George Washington. It it had been endowed early in history by George Washington but the college had been destroyed during the civil war, soldiers war soldiers had run all over the campus, smash the facilities and it was in bad shape. Most most people thought this offer was very beneath rubber really. He takes a different attitude. He he says, for four years i have led the men of the south and more. Now i have have an opportunity to help them rebuild and peace. He accepts the offer and becomes president of Washington College. Today, of course, we know Washington College as washington and Lee University because it is immediately renamed as soon as robert ely dies. He he did go out to the greenbrier a lot and there was he did participate in the greenbrier document that you name. So that was an example. He was trying to be drawn into politics and was often reluctant to do this openly because he felt that his voice in politics at least openly was not very useful, and there were other examples of people trying to draw him into politics. He is called to washington to testify before congress shortly after the war and is asked all kinds of questions and want him to speak for virginia and he really doesnt want to but he does answer questions and says i dont even read newspapers anymore which is not completely true because he still has a very Firm Understanding of what is happening in the country. He is slightly pointed a fast one and does in his private correspondence remain extremely engaged in politics. Very opposed to what he sees as the radical republicans and what they are doing to the country. This matter is forever saddled. He tells them to raise their shoulders as american, put civil war behind and go be citizens. Yes. Did you find any evidence of worthy feelings came from . I mean did he read people like that . Where did that come from . So, that is a great question actually. Robert ely married into a family, was very religious. She basically was one of the leading members of the American Society and she thought it was basically a religious duty to prepare slaves defined freedom and african colonies. This was a very Important Mission to robert e. Lees motherinlaw and then to his wife. Robert ely wasnt so active necessarily. That actually has fatherinlaw became somewhat active as well. When he died, he actually left a will. That is sad you must raise enough money to pay off my debts and my legacy. But you must emancipate my slaves within five years. Now these are completely impossible goals to reconcile because he cant pay off the debts in my out what the estate goes to these emancipating the workforce that he needs to raise the money. This whole conflict plays out in the National Media before the civil war because theres a Great National interest of what happens because people know that robert e. Lees father amada Storch Washingtons adopted son of robert e. Lee really struggles with this. We get into that more later. At some point says that his fatherinlaw left in a terrible legacy. Yes. He has great affection for virginia obviously because hes a native virginian. But theres so much in his life that must have drawn him to have great affection. West point from United States army, he lived all over the country. What tips the scales in your opinion . Youre absolutely right. Uconn we talked about how much he loves the union and his devotion to the union. But he says he has been taught from his very first day that is first allegiance is to virginia appeared even in that time, there were people who were surprised. It seems strange to us that someone who is so a sows the aid of George Washington of ignoring the message of George Washingtons farewell address. The league never wavers in its question. He was determined to fulfill that duty. In some sense its a nowin situation. Either begin super tray his country always going to go to war against his home state amount be very difficult to do comet do. They made the choice. Just to understand it was an extremely difficult decision pat hank. How about the statement that one of the differences between lee and washington was that washington realized as commanderinchief, what he mainly had to was not lose the war in that league never had either side and the civil war would also have an interest. That is one of the criticisms of function also leveled at robert e. Lee. The civil war was very different than the revolutionary war. During the revolutionary war, George Washington was facing an enemy who is the notion away. Robert e. Lee was fighting an enemy that was the river away. He very much felt that time was not on his side. If the revisionist argument to say he didnt know that. He thought the longer the war went on for, the more than the union could bring to bear the more union army succumb to the south and cause damage. He thought that the south social order was not and so basically he felt he had to break the norths political well before the south had a social order snapped. So that is why you find robert ely so devoted to the concept of trying to destroy the union army. Even after his greatest victory of hes extremely frustrated. He doesnt celebrated because the union army got away and he felt he had to destroy the union army. I think there is a good argument to be made for his point of view that time wasnt necessarily on his side there were some comments and towards the end of the war theres a dictator and not position and may be in fact, it was published in newspapers at the time. Newspapers openly said recently George Washington was essentially a dictator at the end of the revolutionary war. What we need right now is robert e. Lee to take that authority. Lee himself was never interested in now. He felt he could barely do what he had to do to oversee the army of Northern Virginia. How can you possibly take responsibility for Everything Else . He does end up except in the title of general chief of all the confederate forces, which make his job all the much harder. You might think again he celebrates this great honor. He doesnt see it that way. He sees it as a burden and not something to celebrate. Its a sign of how desperate the times were they people were saying things like that. How can you not support the social order in the south and before the southern secession and rebellion. He won in to have it otherwise. How is that possible to do so . Welcome you can make the argument that he had a more gradual view. He wouldve said this, for example, it wasnt that he was supposed to emancipation, but he was in favor of it after the war gradual emancipation. That was always his point of view. It doesnt mean he necessarily wanted everything to happen at once. Part of the key is understanding Robert Easley was truly a conservative. In fact he was so conservative that he has that been able to prevail against rebellion and might be one of the keys to understanding his personality that he cant rebel against rebellion and he basically decided since he cant have his own way hell have her genius way. They often support the south rebellion slavery. Well, as an actual question, that is true. Theres no escaping that. The point that you are making is in fact what the cause and that becoming. Robert ely is somewhat aware of that. Later in the war some confederates are holding out hope for foreign recognition. Robert ely is basically interested in hearing it because he says the rest of the world this looks like a contest between lavery and freedom and as long as that is the case no foreign power would intervene on our behalf. Put aside those dots. I think the point is well taken. Yes. Is there anything in his mind about the thoughts of assassination . So he gives an interview when he gets back to richmond, which is again not completely like him. Studies on the record with his views about that. He is very disturbed by what he thinks its a terrible lack and his biggest fear is that the north is going to blame this on the south and its going to lead to richer bhushan or even worse for a tradition that what was already going to happen. He was very upset about this and thought it was a terrible act. It was a sign of the treaty and what ive read this out it was so formal in his military brand was just the opposite. That is in fact accurate. Pretty much that moment has been described that way ever since it had been. Robert e. Lee comes in. Craig has his blouse not even fully button. Robert ely has this sort. Ulysses s. Grant has no sword at all. Robert ely has beautiful spurs. Greg comes in with muddy boots. Robert ely has this perfect posher. Granted slumped overlooking. So you had this amazing contrast between two great generals and its something people have noted ever since. Yes. I believe that robert ely graduated second in his class at west point. At the time they became engineers. I was able able to get into the infantry and where did he learn to be able to be head of the Northern Virginia army . Im glad you asked because he did graduate second in its class and he was considered the most prestigious ranch of the army you could go into. To go back to what i said in the beginning the reason he was coming through louisville in 1837, he was on its way to say it was to perform work on the Mississippi River. During the mexicanamerican war, he really puts his skills and work because engineers played important when deciding what armies can go and what he has what is called then a peculiar talent for topography and he sees roots that other people cant see. He plays an indispensable role in that. His background as an engineer comes back or in early campaigns on civil war. We have the image Robert Easley was immediately successful in the civil war. That is not true. The First Campaign for disasters. He was sent to western virginia in 1861 and he has a very elaborate battle scheme for whats going to happen and it requires independent columns to converge all at the same moment. The plan is a complete failure and newspapers in the south say Robert Easley is too much of an engineer to be able to command. Hes not a soldier in what we need right now is fighting not to in 1862 when robert ely chasers off the peninsula, the newspapers are speaking differently. Bubble screens personal opinion . Its amazing fripperies about this moment appomattox and its almost impossible to be able to read his facial expressions. Even in this moment the alternate defeat for lee, and he is holding himself together with complete selfcontrol and correct those that are the other interesting thing is is that current actually has a pretty good memory of robert e. Lee and the mexicanamerican war and hes staring at a picture the whole time hes been fighting because during that time, Robert Easley was much more important than ulysses s. Grant. Theres one more meeting turning Robert Easley and ulysses s. Grant and that takes place at the white house when grant becomes president and robert e. B. Goes to the white house and meet the newest occupants. You can only imagine what that meeting was. You said they had a peculiar talent for looking at topography. You guys is under consideration. Do you believe his personality of Holding Things in and being in control and been overwhelmed with Stonewall Jackson just before had anything to do with his poor decisionmaking. User that looks back at gettysburg and has explanations for why gettysburg has failed. Hes not getting good intelligence because jeb stuart has disappeared. He is leads calgary and he goes basically in a short right for gettysburg relies on him for intelligence. He believes the corps commanders are not in unison and even if charged it could have succeeded if he had proper tillers support, but no one told them theyre running off the compartment. I think its a moment of frustration. He does feel he is running out of time. He has to destroy the union army and if you go back to chancellorsville i mention this earlier and look at robert elys attitude he is furious. He stares at joseph manages to escape and actually a lot of confederates think that its final possession was a strong position in robert ely against that position and it draws that night and so it sounds than he makes the greatest mistake by retrieving any stays robert for making a mistake. Yes. Did lee Heather Wright down [inaudible] he did yet he was asked that question directly. He did say that by this point it was better to begin to them last africanamericans in the fight. He had to then include emancipation as part of the deal because people would not fight in basically the attitude was its better to have them fight with us if they are going to be fighting does you silly does take that view. I believe theres a lot of pressure on lee and former generals and officials in the confederacy to write the memoirs. He procrastinate and of course he died in 1870. I was curious, was there any preliminary material that was available . There is actually. Its a relatively recent discovery. Lee did say right after the word he wanted to write the memoirs. You have to remember she had lost almost all the personal papers during the war. So hes actually writing letters and asking people to send him that documents so they can reconstruct some idea of whats happened. Its such a frustrating process that he basically does abandon the project. What he does instead is writes a memoir of his father for a new edition of harry lees memoirs. The red short biography and thats a very awkward task and he actually goes through and you can see this in advance where he crosses out certain things. For example his father had opposed the virginia resolution from 1798 and robert ely crosses that out and he doesnt want the whiskey rebellion. Robert e. Lees brother suggests they Say Something along the lines of trying to make a comparison between the whiskey rebellion in the civil war and how George Washington worked the rebels compared to how brutal the Union Authority had entered the late confederate and robert ely basically strikes the entire paragraph and as i would not acknowledge any comparison between the civil war and the whiskey rebellion. Hes an icon of the lost cause. But as he himself ever identify for comments on a . I think thats an extremely ironic thing. You have the soldier who was so gridlocked in about passion who becomes the icon of the watch cause. His wife certainly recognize what happened because one of the first times it does happen is you can imagine theres an what they say about robert e. Lee when he dies in the south. First in war first in peace. The very war that his father used to describe George Washington. Its sort of brings us full circle a little bit eerie. That pathology starts growing up very quickly. How does your renders and name for your feeling for him changes he went through the journey that you describe from the compelling question the true use to him did you find some reconciliation yourself . How did you feel about his decision as an historian . Actually, going back to the previous question so much reaction to think of robert ely is the symbol for one thing or another. Hes such a divisive ager in our society and were always trying to make him represent something regardless of what you think about the civil war. What i found which was wonderful to find this by looking at what he actually wrote in the letters he wrote to his wife and his children i got to see a man who could be very funny at times who could be sometimes flirtatious with women as i mentioned to you. But he also has an extreme sense of frustration. He has this feeling he could never have his own way in life and he was always being forced into roles nodded his own choosing. There is something about that then makes his story very tragic. You know i think property of these tories is a unique tragedy in American History. Yes. The president of Washington College. How is that he was seeing what what was his life like they are and what was his emotional state following the war . He was actually a very involved president reagan may think he took that post and let other people do the work here that wasnt much like robert e. Lee. He held long office hours employees to do the work. They were called in to generally and we can only imagine how that went. We know how that went. A lot of them left with tears. He actually was quite progressive in his ideas about education. He thought at this point that the college needed to expand offerings to prepare people for the jobs that were actually available at that time. So he really actually expands dramatically. He increases its endowment. He creates new programs. One of the programs is actually a scholarship a course of study in the field he really dislikes, which is journalism. You know i think people as the robert ely after the war and a lot of people see him and they wonder what is on his mind because they can see a sadness in his eyes. One can only imagine what he was thinking. Yes. The story of reconstruction has been somewhat reassessed recently or not too long ago were too Many Americans still look at reconstruction through eyes of the birth of the nation gone with the wind. No, youre exact to write. People definitely look at it differently. I didnt mean to imply that at one way or another when i said what robert e. Lee thought about it. What robert e. Lee thought about was happening to the country i dont know if you care to know what i necessarily think about the country and reconstruction has been reevaluated and we see a lot of really good teams that came out of reconstruction that are different from the old traditional narrative and a lot of ideas that would later find their time in American History more certainty about our country because of it. Yes. Does League Average or ice guilt about the data of the many thousand of men. Yes, answer the two different ways. When he talks about those people, he would be born. He often said he wishes they could have destroyed more of the army because he thinks it is so essential to victory to destroy the union army. But after gettysburg he does say i dont have the exact words, but he basically says he wishes he could never a bloody guide or have to watch bullets be fired ever again because he seen so many good men died. That is the statement. I wouldnt say its regret, but certainly a sign of just how much it affect did him. I didnt get a chance to even mention this, but one of the first emotional dance that happens to robert e. Lee during one of his early campaigns, he brings another great great nephew of George Washington and this man is the heir to mount vernon and he dies under robert e. Lee and this has a devastating impact. Is very final questions . Yes. Was all the characters back then, how do they compare the characters today in washington . [laughter] did you have any thought, that sounds like this guy. You know i said in the beginning when i was confronted with a tough question, there is one thing from washington he should do and that is dark. [inaudible] no, not in washington. Ive been asked what robert e. Lee say about the world today . Its an impossible question. We cant know because so much is hopping. Its not fair to stick him from 1870, the last thing he knew into 2015 and say what do you think about Health Care Reform or Something Like that. He couldnt have even conceived to where we are as the country. One thing we can know is who would be fascinated by the development and transportation that have taken place as he was an engineer to the end and he did have this Great Healing about the country being bound together by these different modes of transportation. Whenever he took a train coming would clock in say wouldve been half a day faster if it had been run more efficiently. I think he would find that very interesting. As for a political situation, im going to take a pass because its too hard to make pairs and. Civil war such unique tiered in our history and i think we can all agree that the nonor has been forever settled in our country never has to undergo Something Like that ever again. Thank you. [applause] [inaudible] so i didnt know there is such a thing as segregated bus is 20 years ago mostly because they werent really. There wasnt really such thing as segregated buses. I tell a story in a book about how a 1994 when my daughter whos now an officer in the army, when she was a toddler, we accidentally found ourselves on a segregated as i didnt know was segregated until i got to the bus and shes sleeping on my shoulder and a guy in the front seat, this young guy twentysomething guy with a black hat and a beard it was saturday night and he gives up for me to go sit down. There was a young mother with a baby on my shoulder. As soon as he gets up the guy next to him this older guy mustve been in a six. He looks and it goes like that. So this poor kid hes 23 years old. He looks at me with the baby on my shoulder looks at the guy next to him and he looks at the guy in a looks at me. Finally he looked at me and goes coming in now, what am i going to do. He sits back down. I go all the way to the back and find a seat in the back. But that was my first experience. I didnt know that it is did. The truth is that it wasnt official. It wasnt an official segregated bus. I think back that are reasserted their moments of cultural transition, meaning that the young man sort of ambivalent represented a shift with his own culture. Hes sort of within this place or he thought it was okay for a woman to sit there but the rules around him were changing. You know, the experience we had was that the women some of the women when we sat in the front came down from the back of the bus sat down and assess in hebrew what we were doing and why. They themselves are wondering what is going on. The men some of them put their hats and came on the bus and refuse to sat down next to us. At not unusual for women to be gatekeepers of the pastry art. Its the Phyllis Schlaflys of the world. Theres a lot of places where women take a role to preserve the gender order for lots of reasons. There are women for whom the gender inequality that we have this sort of comfortable in safe and what is known to them and im doing all of that is scary and threatening for whatever reason. Sometimes the women are even more vehement in that we cant make change