re: 154 Years Ago Today: The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down

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Just give 4 or 5 bullet points that you feel best defines him.

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1. He was a hero of the Mexican War
2. He only reluctantly sided with the South once his home state of Virginia joined the Confederacy. Virginia was his home. Most people today cannot understand the bond people had then with their state. But what it boiled down to for Lee was he could not take up arms against his fellow Virginians and would defend them.
3. He personally was opposed to both secession and slavery.
4. When he saw the war was lost, he disobeyed a direct order from his own government and advice of his closest generals to keep fighting. Instead he chose to surrender to prevent any further distruction and loss of life on either side.
5. Following the war Lee spent the rest of his life working to restore the bonds between north and south, preaching peace, brotherhood, and respect for the law by all, both northern & southern, black & white.

He was universally respected as an honest, kind, and trustworthy man with a deep sense of duty and honor. This is illustrated by the fact he was one of the first group of men to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of Great Americans located in New York.