General Lee Dictator?

[jomini]

Would General Lee have made an effective dictator?

[mizzoureb]

Towards the end of the War, when it had become apparent that the Cause was lost, a portion of the Southern population had hoped that General Robert E. Lee would try to set himself up as a Dictator. That was not to be the case. He had not wanted that for himself or the Southern people. General Lee NEVER considered himself to be superior to President Jefferson Davis or any members of his Cabinet. in fact, one of his postings early in the War was as a Special Military Advisor to President Davis. Even on February 6, 1865, when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the entire Confederate army, he still considered himself to be the subordinate of the last Confederate Secretary of War, John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky whose superior he had been on the battlefield. After Breckenridge became Secretary of War, in any corespondence between them, General Lee addressed him as, "Sir". Lincoln's dictatorial agenda was in evidence when he suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus in, of all places, his home state of Illinois.

[mizzoureb]

As I said before, General Lee NEVER wanted to set himself up as a Dictator. Even if that was what the Southern people would have wanted him to do. He still would not have. General Lee was too much of a gentleman. For example, he never refered to the oposition as, "the Yankees" or even "the enemy". He always refered to them as, "those people". What he did have, however, was a commanding and majestic presence. I am reminded of an incident that took place just before the Battle of Gettysburg. He and his men were passing through Chambersburg, PA. A 12 year old girl saw him riding by her house. She saw him sitting majestically atop Traveller and she turned to her mother and said, "Oh God, momma, I wish he were ours." I am also reminded of the fact that, while General Robert E. Lee never owned ANY slaves (they were property of his wife), his Northern counterpart, General Ulysses S. Grant did. That's the kind of guy that General Robert E. Lee was.

[Scarecrow]

I would simply ad that no finer human being ever held the rank of General in the history of the United States. Any honest, reasonable person who looks at the life of Lee and does not see the sterling qualities he possessed is either blind or sectionally prejudiced.

I believe Lee was one of America's greatest leaders. Too bad the politically correct history books in public schools now basically ignore him.

[Travt2000]

He's probably the only Southerner who COULD'VE become a dictator, but it just wasn't Lee's style - the man couched orders as 'suggestions.' Too much gentlemen there.

Definitely agree there... Not sure General Lee would have been effective as a dictator. Nor do I believe that he would have wanted to be a dictator.

[FOJ]

Lee was a fine man, no doubt. But he was not even the greatest general on the battlefield, let alone the greatest in American history. Add to that the fact that he fought to keep black men from their freedom, and I don't have nearly the same respect for the man as several here do.

[charge_of_glory]

Then again, he was against slavery, and only fought for the Confederacy because his state did. He was a great man, whether he fought for the North or the South. He followed his home, because that's where his heart truly was. I understand his decision and respect him for that.

[FOJ]

Yeah, I can't disagree with that.