re: Robert E. Lee has been misrepresented by regressive "historians"

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He had been on the offensive since he took command in June 1862. The Seven Days' Campaign was an offensive campaign; the Second Manassas Campaign was an offensive campaign; the Maryland Campaign was an offensive campaign; the Chancellorsville Campaign was an offensive campaign. The only campaign he fought while primarily on the defensive, between June 1862 and May 1864, was the Fredericksburg Campaign.

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The 7 day campaign, Manassas, and Chancellorsville, were all to get the Union out of Virginia

R.E. Lee was one of the finest gentleman this country has or will ever produce.

Period.

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There were, and are, no such thing. Exports of US goods may not be taxed per the Constitution.

You are correct, I'm wrong on that. It was rising tariffs and the south was receiving less from cotton trades, as north was taking more and more.

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What the frick? Can't you get it - cotton trade had no effect on national revenue.

Tariff money was the revenue of the federal government.

Southerners controlled the federal government even when Lincoln was elected. There were more southern Justices than northern; the Speaker of the House was usually a southerner. The slave power could always block any legislation it didn't like as long as it had an equal number of senators to all other parties.

"The title of “Democrat” has its beginnings in the South, going back to the founding of the Democratic-Republican Party in 1793 by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. It held to small government principles and distrusted the national government. Foreign policy was a major issue. After being the dominant party in U.S. politics from 1800 to 1829, the Democratic-Republicans split into two factions by 1828: the federalist National Republicans, and the Democrats. The Democrats and Whigs were evenly balanced in the 1830s and 1840s. However, by the 1850s, the Whigs disintegrated. Other opposition parties emerged but the Democrats were dominant. Northern Democrats were in serious opposition to Southern Democrats on the issue of slavery; Northern Democrats, led by Stephen Douglas, believed in Popular Sovereignty—letting the people of the territories vote on slavery. The conservative Southern Democrats, reflecting the views of the late John C. Calhoun, insisted slavery was national.

The Democrats controlled the national government from 1852 until 1860, and Presidents Pierce and Buchanan were friendly to Southern interests. In the North, the newly formed anti-slavery Republican Party came to power, and dominated the electoral college. In the 1860 presidential election, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, but the divide among Democrats led to the nomination of two candidates: John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky represented Southern Democrats, and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois represented Northern Democrats. Nevertheless, the Republicans had a majority of the electoral vote regardless of how the opposition split or joined together and Abraham Lincoln was elected."

LINK

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Why people on either side of this issue care so much about the Civil War will always be lost on me. Don't get me wrong, I'm a history buff with the best of them. But this shite truly does not matter

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You're no history buff.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ~ George Santayana, 1905

That will also apply to those who misremember, whitewash, obfuscate, and change facts about the past.

Exhibit #1, Germany.

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You're no history buff. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ~ George Santayana, 1905 That will also apply to those who misremember, whitewash, obfuscate, and change facts about the past. Exhibit #1, Germany.

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True example #1: Southern apologists and "Lost Cause" romantics who succeeded in changing the image of their heroes after the Civil War.

Especially the image of Lee.

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The 7 day campaign, Manassas, and Chancellorsville, were all to get the Union out of Virginia

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But they were still offensive operations. The only time Lee ever waged a defensive campaign against the Union in Virginia prior to 1864 was at Fredericksburg.

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But they were still offensive operations

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Yes, offensive operations for a defensive strategy. They were defending Virginia, so they attempt to drive the north out of Virginia in an offensive operation with the overall goal to DEFEND Virginia.

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Seriously? They were driving the north out of Virginia. A defensive strategy.

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If you are attacking you are on the offensive.

Yes, the Union army invaded the state of Virginia for the purposes of offensive operations. What made Lee such an effective commander, however, was his ability to take the initiative away from his opponent. McClellan was on the offensive in Virginia until Lee launched his offensive starting at Beaver Dam Creek. From that moment on, McClellan had lost the initiative and fought on the defensive for the entirety of the Seven Days' Campaign.

Same thing with Pope at Second Manassas and Hooker at Chancellorsville. Both started out as offensive operations for the Union that ended with the Union army on the defensive.

Lee's legacy is a complicated one, just like most historical figures.

As a man, he was by most accounts a model gentleman with a highly refined sense of honor and discipline, at least as that would be defined at the time. He also clearly felt fiercely loyal to Virginia.

On the other side of that, he was definitely racist (as most white men were at the time) and owned slaves. He also seems to be somewhat "cold" personality-wise, as would be expected from someone who lives their entire adult life in a military environment with all the discipline and combat experience that includes. That coldness shows up in his treatment of his slaves and his military decisions at times, at least imo. By contrast, his personal letters show a very loving husband, etc.

His legacy as a general is simpler. A high-level tactician who won a lot with less resources but made some critical mistakes, most notably at Gettysburg. The loss of Jackson was big. Ultimately, his army held out longer than they should have been able to because of its leadership (not just Lee).