The Statues Are Gone, the Man Remains: Lessons From Robert E. Lee

An engraved portrait of Robert E Lee, Commander of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, 1863. Engraved by J Rogers from the original by Julian Vannerson.Archive Photos/Getty Images

Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s reputation has taken a beating in the 21st century.

Denounced by woke culture as a traitor who fought against the Union to preserve slavery, Lee has been tumbled from his seat of honor in the besieged pantheon of American heroes. For a while, there was talk of eradicating his name from Washington and Lee University, a move stymied in part when outraged alumni threatened to end donations to the school. The proposed removal of his statue from a public square in Charlottesville, Virginia, was one provocation behind the 2017 riot in that city. On October 27, 2023, that statue was melted down, to be recast into “more inclusive public art.” Following the George Floyd riots, Virginia’s governor Ralph Northam ordered the removal of Lee’s 131-year-old memorial statue from Richmond’s Monument Avenue. The enormous sculpture was cut into pieces and hauled away.

So why would anyone seek out life lessons from a man with so vile and wicked a reputation?

Two reasons, really. First, because those who have carried out these attacks on Lee appear to be lacking in historical nuance regarding the whole man, or worse, ignorant of history itself. Second, because the principles and conduct of Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) offer us guidelines for living nobly and well.

In a Grander Mold

If we consider the virtues of Lee, we find ourselves in good company.

Winston Churchill called Lee “one of the noblest Americans who ever lived, and one of the greatest captains known to the annals of war.”

Theodore Roosevelt offered near-identical praise, adding that Lee’s post-war gestures of reconciliation helped “build the wonderful and mighty triumph of our national life, in which all his countrymen, North and South, share.”

Roosevelt’s distant cousin, Franklin, pronounced Lee “one of our greatest American Christians and one of our greatest American gentlemen.”

Field Marshall Viscount Wolseley, a British contemporary of Lee, wrote, “I have met many of the great men of my time, but Lee alone impressed me with the feeling that I was in the presence of a man who was cast in a grander mould, and made of different and of finer metal than all other men.”

Such was the reputation of Lee for a century and more following the Civil War. Even at the end of his life, while he worked quietly away as president of the struggling Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, Northerners and Southerners alike claimed him as their own and revered him as a genuine hero. They noted his genius for leading men in war, but just as much, they regarded him as a man of honor who practiced self-discipline and walked a worthy path, no matter the cost of that trek.

Leadership

Those looking to hone their leadership skills will find much to absorb in Lee’s classroom.

In “Robert E. Lee on Leadership: Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision,” H. W. Crocker III draws lessons from Lee’s life and fashions a manual for leaders today. Taking examples from Lee’s youth and his military service in Mexico, the battles he conducted as general of the Army of Northern Virginia, and his brief tenure at Washington College following the Civil War, Crocker ends each chapter of his book with a list of Lee’s leadership talents that can benefit the rest of us. From Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, for instance, he concludes that a leader should “never trust the discretion of a subordinate who does not share his vision,” and that good leaders must realize the human limitations of their followers and accept blame when things go wrong while they’re in command.

For readers looking for an introduction to Lee and for insight into his skills of command, Mr. Crocker’s book is ideal. This book and other biographies also draw back the curtain on Lee the man, giving us insights into the character that drew the admiration of so many others.

Old School

In my youth, my father once commented of a surgeon we both knew that he “was a gentleman of the old school.” Dad made that remark over fifty years ago, and it was the last time I ever heard that expression used in conversation.

Of Robert E. Lee, we might say that he was “the gentleman of the old school.” When the South lay in ruins, as a college president he reminded the young men in his care, some of whom were veterans, that they conduct themselves “in such a manner as to gain the esteem of every one, at the same time that they maintain their own respect.” At least once during this tenure, a student new to the college asked Lee for a printed copy of the rules. Lee responded, “We have no printed rules here, we have but one rule and that is that every student be a gentleman.”

Like the earlier Virginian, George Washington, for whom the college was named, from his youth, Lee was a model of probity and decorum whenever he was in public. But that gravitas and grace was more than just superficial.

‘Duty Faithfully Performed’

On the surrender of his army to Gen.Ulysses Grant at Appomattox in April 1865, Lee issued his famous General Order No. 9, in which he laid out the broad terms of that agreement to his troops and bid them farewell. At one point, he wrote that as they disbanded and returned home “you will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed.”

For his entire life, Lee honored this concept of duty. In childhood, he cared for his family and his widowed mother. At West Point—he received no demerits during his four years there—and in his military service he placed himself at the beck and call of duty. As a good father, he often lovingly advised his children on matters of conduct, and in the post-war years he tended to his ailing wife.

When Virginia seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, Lee’s sense of duty and loyalty were torn asunder. Abraham Lincoln offered him command of the Northern armies, but his allegiance to Virginia, home to his ancestors and family, came first. He resigned his commission, sick with foreboding about the future and the war that was on the horizon.

Like Lee, we, too, may find the cord of duty, loyalty, and love strained to a breaking point between matters of conscience and obligation. Even more mundane affairs, like balancing time spent with family versus time spent earning a living, can throw us into such conflicts.

Applications

Though Mr. Crocker intends “Robert E. Lee on Leadership” as a guide for men and women in business, the book is a tutorial for all of us. Here we find tips that might also guide a Scoutmaster, a coach, the head of a church committee, or even a parent.

Lee’s concepts of a gentleman and duty may seem outmoded these days, even amusing to some, as much an antique as the carriage in which he sometimes rode or the sword he carried. Yet, if we look around at our public spaces, including the social media forums, we might likely conclude that if more of us practiced the etiquette and respect for others of a gentleman, or a lady, we might restore some grace and dignity to our harried and rancorous culture.

An incident Mr. Crocker mentions in his book brings together these virtues. Shortly after the Civil War ended, during a service at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, the time came for communion. A black man stood, walked to the front of the church, and knelt at the communion rail. Mr. Crocker reports that according to one eyewitness the white communicants “retained their seats in solemn silence and did not move,” and that the priest himself seemed “embarrassed.”

At that point, “the tension was broken when Robert E. Lee went up the aisle and knelt beside the black man at the chancel rail. The others in the church followed, and the peace of St. Paul’s was restored.”

In this one moment are combined those virtues that make Lee a man worthy of study and in many instances, of thoughtful emulation.