Reply #8: Let Us Look At The Men

[iamjoy]

not the Confederacy. I mean, some of the people fighting for the Confederacy thought the North had lost its American principles, betrayed the ideals of the founders. Many people then felt more identity with their state than with the country, and fought accordingly. Robert E. Lee is a classic example of this. When Virginia seceded, he knew he could not take up arms against his own state so he resigned his commission in the U.S. Army.

And about Robert E. Lee - I think he was a very honorable man. The Union Army took his home and turned it into a cemetary. Rather than being insulted, Lee took it in stride, thinking there was little better way for his land to be used than to honor men who died in service to country. At the end of the war, some people suggested the Confederate Army continue to fight as a guerilla army, Lee felt if he couldn't fight honorably, he wouldn't fight at all. Lee stayed after the surrender, knowing he might face treason charges and execution. On the other hand, I have little respect for Jefferson Davis. I think he was willing to have his army fight a guerilla war. And, after Appomattox, he made a run for Mexico.