See What Robert E. Lee Wrote About Confederate Monuments

Although Confederate monuments are becoming ever more controversial, the issue has been debated since the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.

Gen. Robert E. Lee himself wrote in 1866, after being asked about a possible monument to Gen. Stonewall Jackson, that “As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated, my conviction is that the attempt would have the effect of continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labor.”

Gen. Robert E. Lee followed up on this sentiment in 1869, writing “I think it wiser not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.”

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Tags: Civil War, Confederacy, Robert E. Lee