WEBVTT - After Appomattox: Robert E. Lee’s Final Five Years 0:00:10.130 --> 0:00:13.930 This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. 0:00:13.950 --> 0:00:16.290 And we tell stories about everything here on the show, 0:00:16.329 --> 0:00:20.470 including your story. Send them to ouramericanstories.com. And one of 0:00:20.530 --> 0:00:24.370 our favorite subjects, American history. So much has been said 0:00:24.430 --> 0:00:28.830 about this legendary general in between the years of 1861 0:00:28.830 --> 0:00:33.390 and 1865, yet very little is known about this major 0:00:33.530 --> 0:00:38.170 American historical figure after his surrender. And we're telling this 0:00:38.210 --> 0:00:42.150 story because on this day in 1807, General Robert E. 0:00:42.229 --> 0:00:45.940 Lee was born. Here to tell the story is Gettysburg 0:00:45.979 --> 0:00:48.760 National Park Ranger Matt Atkinson. 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:53.460 What I'm hoping to do, among others, besides give you 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:55.800 a timeline as to what Robert E. Lee did in 0:00:55.820 --> 0:00:58.770 the post-war years, which I think is one of, obviously, 0:00:59.110 --> 0:01:03.010 the most often overlooked portion of his life because, I mean, 0:01:03.030 --> 0:01:05.209 the Civil War is always going to be first and foremost. 0:01:06.150 --> 0:01:08.590 The other main theme I'm going to try to get across, 0:01:09.020 --> 0:01:13.959 through his own personal example, Robert E. Lee tries to 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.400 reconcile the nation. And what I think a lot of 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.810 us as Americans today have forgotten is that how far 0:01:21.910 --> 0:01:26.030 apart this country was in 1865. I think it is 0:01:26.110 --> 0:01:31.110 the view of a lot of people that Lee surrenders 0:01:31.190 --> 0:01:34.530 at Appomattox and bam, You know, oh, we'll just forget 0:01:34.590 --> 0:01:36.690 about it. You know, okay, you know, we'll just go, 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:40.120 we'll just hold hands and we'll just reunite and we'll 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.500 just continue on down that path again. It takes the 0:01:43.540 --> 0:01:47.560 country decades. Some would say a century. Some would say 0:01:47.660 --> 0:01:53.000 not even yet for the country to really reunite. I 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:56.320 would probably put the country seriously coming back together in 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.560 the same vein in the Spanish-American War when we all 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.820 had a common enemy once again instead of each other. 0:02:03.270 --> 0:02:07.970 But that would be roughly 30 years after the end 0:02:08.010 --> 0:02:10.260 of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee does not live 0:02:10.300 --> 0:02:13.820 that long. He's only gonna live for five years. But 0:02:13.860 --> 0:02:19.320 you think about who symbolized the Confederacy coming out of 0:02:19.340 --> 0:02:22.540 the Civil War and who the Southerners were going to 0:02:22.669 --> 0:02:25.690 emulate as they were coming out. And then put yourself 0:02:25.750 --> 0:02:28.790 in the shoes of the man himself. I mean, you're 0:02:28.810 --> 0:02:33.130 Robert E. Lee. Everything you do is under a microscope. Everything. 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:38.660 And you know he hated that. The crowds, everything else. 0:02:40.220 --> 0:02:45.590 All right, so Appomattox is on April 9th of 1865. 0:02:45.590 --> 0:02:48.650 He surrenders to General Grant. I think Robert E. Lee 0:02:49.270 --> 0:02:53.010 is greatly surprised by the terms that he gets from U.S. 0:02:53.070 --> 0:02:56.180 Grant there. Grant could have imposed harsh terms. And I 0:02:56.240 --> 0:03:01.520 think that Ulysses S. Grant's magnanimous gesture there is often 0:03:01.620 --> 0:03:04.850 overlooked in the reconciliation of the country. But Robert E. 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:08.310 Lee has to stick around Appomattox for a few days 0:03:08.380 --> 0:03:10.710 as an army commander, and he has to shore up paperwork. 0:03:11.610 --> 0:03:14.390 And then three days after he surrenders, on April 12th, 0:03:14.430 --> 0:03:20.250 he sets out from Appomattox riding Traveler, his famous horse. Eventually, 0:03:20.310 --> 0:03:22.430 three days later, he's going to make his way back 0:03:22.530 --> 0:03:28.910 to Richmond, Virginia. And when he gets to Richmond, a 0:03:28.970 --> 0:03:33.230 crowd gathered. And, you know, they're wanting to touch Lee 0:03:33.850 --> 0:03:38.250 as an icon or whatever, touch his boot. Lee gets 0:03:38.350 --> 0:03:41.790 off his horse, he bows to the crowd graciously and everything, 0:03:41.910 --> 0:03:45.260 and he walks back in. He's still got his uniform on. 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:51.060 That'll be the last time, I suppose, in his official capacity, 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.180 he'll put it back on for these pictures in a 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:56.730 day or two, but That'll be in his last capacity 0:03:56.790 --> 0:03:59.030 as a soldier. I mean, when he walked through that 0:03:59.090 --> 0:04:02.490 front door, what went through his mind? You ever thought 0:04:02.530 --> 0:04:05.200 about that? I mean, what did he do? His wife 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.440 and his children, his daughters, he had four daughters. He 0:04:08.460 --> 0:04:11.600 had children ranging from 19 to 32 years of age 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:15.180 at the time. He came in, and they were always 0:04:16.500 --> 0:04:20.089 kind of a close family, always somebody that he could 0:04:20.130 --> 0:04:22.870 turn to and be himself. I wonder what he said 0:04:22.910 --> 0:04:28.610 to Mary. I mean, did he express any regrets? Did 0:04:28.650 --> 0:04:32.510 he say anything? Did he cry? At some point, every 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.900 soldier has to look back at what they've done. And 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:40.800 you can go from privates to full generals, to lieutenants, 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:44.600 to captains, to major generals, to lieutenant generals. Everybody looks 0:04:44.660 --> 0:04:47.640 back on the decisions which they've made. And I wonder 0:04:47.700 --> 0:04:53.190 when he came home that day what he thought. Now, 0:04:54.950 --> 0:05:00.480 As he's trying to get his thoughts back together, none 0:05:00.570 --> 0:05:04.279 other than the famous Civil War photographer Matthew Brady is 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.600 going to call upon him. While he's there, you can 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.580 only imagine, while he's in this Franklin Street house and 0:05:10.660 --> 0:05:13.200 right after going on for the next few weeks, you 0:05:13.220 --> 0:05:15.880 can only imagine the people that are coming by to 0:05:15.940 --> 0:05:19.840 call upon Lee. I mean, some autograph seekers, some just 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:24.190 wanting to see him. Old friends, acquaintances, George Meade came by, 0:05:24.210 --> 0:05:26.690 I was just reading about up here. And Lee doesn't 0:05:26.710 --> 0:05:29.250 want to see all these people. You know, it's the 0:05:29.300 --> 0:05:32.920 last thing he wants to do up here. So one day, 0:05:33.010 --> 0:05:35.380 Custis is going to answer the door, and there's going 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:39.039 to be this ragged old Confederate soldier standing there. And 0:05:39.100 --> 0:05:43.380 his soldier's got his arm in a sling. And he 0:05:43.460 --> 0:05:46.839 says to Custis, he says, I'd like to see General Lee. 0:05:47.750 --> 0:05:50.630 And Custis says, well, the general's not receiving at this time. 0:05:50.770 --> 0:05:53.909 He goes, well, you know, I'm from Texas, and I'd 0:05:53.950 --> 0:05:57.990 like to see the general that I've followed on so 0:05:58.029 --> 0:06:01.650 many campaigns, you know, standing there in his rags. He's 0:06:01.670 --> 0:06:03.770 probably stinking to high heaven, too, you know, if the 0:06:03.810 --> 0:06:06.469 truth was known about it. Custis looks him over, and 0:06:06.490 --> 0:06:08.530 he says, I'll see what I can do. And he 0:06:08.570 --> 0:06:11.330 allows him into the house. Well, he is upstairs in 0:06:11.380 --> 0:06:15.750 that Franklin house in some bedroom or office. And so 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:18.580 they show the soldier in. He sits down. The Texan 0:06:18.620 --> 0:06:21.280 sits down. And a few moments later, here comes the 0:06:21.339 --> 0:06:24.460 steps of General Robert E. Lee. He must have had 0:06:24.500 --> 0:06:26.500 his own certain gait as he came down because they 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:30.400 recognized it. And so the soldier and the staff officer 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:34.680 stood as Lee came around the corner. As Lee comes around, 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.050 he bows graciously to the people that are in the room. 0:06:38.089 --> 0:06:40.589 And then he extends his hand and he walks over 0:06:40.630 --> 0:06:44.760 to that Texan, this private Texan. And the Texan extends 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:49.650 his hand, and they embrace in a handshake. And Lee 0:06:49.670 --> 0:06:54.250 looks at him, and the Texan looks at him, and 0:06:54.470 --> 0:06:56.210 the soldier can't say anything. 0:06:57.470 --> 0:07:00.589 And the soldier can't say anything. Just imagine that scene, 0:07:00.630 --> 0:07:04.750 a private, a lowly private, and the general of the 0:07:04.790 --> 0:07:09.250 Confederate Army meeting after the surrender. What is there to say? 0:07:09.270 --> 0:07:12.150 And what did Lee think? My goodness, what a burden. 0:07:13.290 --> 0:07:16.470 and all the things that he had to question in himself, 0:07:16.990 --> 0:07:22.110 the decisions he made. Terrific storytelling about General Robert E. Lee. 0:07:22.450 --> 0:07:27.040 What happened after the surrender? The story continues here on 0:07:27.180 --> 0:07:32.260 Our American Stories. This is Lee Habib, and this is 0:07:32.500 --> 0:07:35.620 Our American Stories. And all of our history stories are 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:40.130 brought to us by our generous sponsors, including Hillsdale College. 0:07:40.500 --> 0:07:42.700 where students go to learn all the things that are 0:07:42.740 --> 0:07:45.800 beautiful in life and all the things that matter in life. 0:07:46.500 --> 0:07:49.540 If you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:53.800 you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to hillsdale.edu. 0:07:54.310 --> 0:08:11.960 That's hillsdale.edu. And we continue with our American stories and 0:08:11.990 --> 0:08:15.630 the story of General Robert E. Lee and what happened 0:08:15.670 --> 0:08:20.270 to him after he surrendered at Appomattox. And we're telling 0:08:20.290 --> 0:08:24.450 this story because on this day in 1807, General Robert E. 0:08:24.530 --> 0:08:28.640 Lee was born. In the last segment, we heard Gettysburg 0:08:28.700 --> 0:08:32.980 National Military Park Ranger Matt Atkinson describing a scene in 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:37.420 which a private from Texas meets the general in Richmond. 0:08:38.940 --> 0:08:42.930 Now, one word comes out of his mouth, and he eventually, 0:08:42.970 --> 0:08:46.050 as he's still holding Lee's hands, he just burst into tears. 0:08:46.770 --> 0:08:50.429 This veteran of four years in the war, he burst 0:08:50.490 --> 0:08:53.339 into tears, and after a few moments, he just walked 0:08:53.410 --> 0:09:00.740 out the door. Nobody said anything. The eyewitness said that 0:09:00.820 --> 0:09:04.760 Lee bowed graciously to the crowd and walked back up 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:09.690 the stairs. That is the type of emotion you're dealing 0:09:09.750 --> 0:09:14.459 with coming out of Appomattox. You're talking about a people 0:09:15.220 --> 0:09:19.640 that have just lost their hopes for a nation. That's 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:23.559 why the Civil War ends, folks, when Robert E. Lee surrenders. 0:09:24.380 --> 0:09:29.730 Because he is the definition of the Confederacy. He is 0:09:29.770 --> 0:09:34.430 the symbol of the Confederacy. So Matthew Brady called. At 0:09:34.490 --> 0:09:38.500 first he rebuffed Brady, but What did Brady do? He 0:09:38.530 --> 0:09:44.860 went to Lee's boss, who was his wife. That's right. 0:09:47.660 --> 0:09:50.900 His wife and Mrs. Lee told the general to go 0:09:50.940 --> 0:10:03.120 get dressed. Okay. What's the situation? On May 29, 1865, 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.660 President Andrew Johnson offers a general amnesty to all former 0:10:06.740 --> 0:10:10.830 Confederates who signed the oath of allegiance, but he excludes 0:10:11.030 --> 0:10:13.870 all who have held civil office under the Confederate government 0:10:14.470 --> 0:10:21.400 and people with an estate valued over $ 20, 000. 00. On June 7th, 1865, 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:27.000 Lee is indicted for treason. June 13th, Lee encloses in 0:10:27.059 --> 0:10:31.400 a letter to General Grant his application for pardon. Lee's 0:10:31.450 --> 0:10:34.510 position is, quote, I am ready to meet any charges 0:10:34.550 --> 0:10:36.750 that may be preferred against me and do not wish 0:10:36.790 --> 0:10:39.410 to avoid trial. But if I am correct as to 0:10:39.429 --> 0:10:42.369 the protection granted by my parole and am not to 0:10:42.410 --> 0:10:45.880 be prosecuted, I desire to comply with the provision of 0:10:45.900 --> 0:10:52.890 the president's proclamation. That's a lot of Ps. And therefore 0:10:53.010 --> 0:10:58.719 enclosed the required application. What did Grant do? He immediately 0:10:58.780 --> 0:11:02.979 requested that all indictments be squashed and the pardon be granted. 0:11:04.300 --> 0:11:10.440 What was the result? Prosecutors quietly halted proceedings against Robert E. Lee, 0:11:11.179 --> 0:11:15.239 but did not formally dismiss the charges. No pardon would 0:11:15.260 --> 0:11:19.059 be forthcoming from President Johnson either. Now this is what 0:11:19.100 --> 0:11:23.320 we know now. but Lee did not know that. Now, 0:11:23.460 --> 0:11:27.700 Lee in asking for this pardon is probably, in Southerners' eyes, 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:32.100 the most controversial act of his life. He was in 0:11:32.140 --> 0:11:38.260 that pardon admitting secession, the creation of the Confederacy, and 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:42.680 fighting against the Northern invasion were all wrong. Right there. 0:11:44.260 --> 0:11:49.720 So by submitting that, to say the least, He is 0:11:49.770 --> 0:11:54.200 not making any friends. However, for tens of thousands, if 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:56.520 Lee applied for a pardon, what do we say the 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:02.280 theme was? Personal example. Then maybe they should also apply 0:12:02.340 --> 0:12:06.229 for a pardon. The veterans who did sign restored their rights, 0:12:06.330 --> 0:12:09.830 unlike Lee, in a manner that the government would never 0:12:09.890 --> 0:12:13.839 give the generals. Captain George Wise, holding the oath in 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.459 his hand, asked Lee, my parole covers it and I 0:12:16.540 --> 0:12:18.640 do not think it should be required of me. What 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:23.580 would you advise? I would advise you take it, Lee responded. General, 0:12:23.660 --> 0:12:26.120 I feel that this is an indignity. If I must 0:12:26.220 --> 0:12:28.740 swear the same thing at every street corner, I will 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:32.640 seek another country where I can at least preserve my self-respect. 0:12:33.740 --> 0:12:37.000 Do not leave Virginia, Lee said in a sad voice. 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:42.569 Our country needs her young men now. Young Wise did 0:12:42.630 --> 0:12:45.390 take the oath. And when he informed his father what 0:12:45.429 --> 0:12:48.640 he had signed, the father exclaimed, you have disgraced the family. 0:12:49.980 --> 0:12:54.120 The son responded, General Lee advised me to do it. Oh, 0:12:55.360 --> 0:13:00.180 that alters the case. Whatever General Lee says is all right. 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.270 I don't care what it is. All right. I want 0:13:04.290 --> 0:13:08.830 you to think about something. right here as I start 0:13:08.870 --> 0:13:11.089 to read this part of it. Most of you already 0:13:11.150 --> 0:13:13.850 know or are familiar with Civil War know what buildings 0:13:13.870 --> 0:13:18.030 this represents. This is actually Washington College. I want you 0:13:18.050 --> 0:13:21.290 to think about something right now though as I get 0:13:21.330 --> 0:13:24.580 into it. If you're Robert E. Lee, what would you 0:13:24.620 --> 0:13:29.780 do after the war? Now the state of the college 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.920 itself is that it had been heavily damaged during the war. 0:13:34.220 --> 0:13:38.020 The trustees were meeting on the night of August 4, 1865, 0:13:38.020 --> 0:13:42.020 in order to elect a new president. Right before the vote, 0:13:42.059 --> 0:13:44.010 a member stood and said that he had heard that 0:13:44.050 --> 0:13:47.490 Miss Mary Lee, daughter of the general, stated that the 0:13:47.550 --> 0:13:50.270 South had stood ready to give Lee anything but what 0:13:50.309 --> 0:13:54.330 he really wanted, which was a way to make an 0:13:54.429 --> 0:13:59.520 honest living. The idea shone in the room, and a 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:05.430 few minutes later, Lee had been unanimously elected president. Of course, Lee, 0:14:06.809 --> 0:14:10.170 after much urging from friends, is going to accept the 0:14:10.210 --> 0:14:15.710 presidency on August 31st. This is how Lee accepts it, though. 0:14:17.170 --> 0:14:20.990 Lee pointed out in his letter, taking the job, that 0:14:21.050 --> 0:14:24.980 he had not been pardoned yet. He was also explicit 0:14:25.100 --> 0:14:29.460 in what his political views might be. I think it 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.320 the duty of every citizen in the present condition of 0:14:32.340 --> 0:14:34.940 the country to do all in his power to aid 0:14:34.980 --> 0:14:37.710 in the restoration of peace and harmony and in no 0:14:37.770 --> 0:14:40.610 way to oppose the policy of the state or general 0:14:40.650 --> 0:14:45.310 government directed to that object. It is particularly incumbent upon 0:14:45.350 --> 0:14:48.600 those charged with the instruction of the young to set 0:14:48.660 --> 0:14:53.860 them an example of submission to authority. End of quote. 0:14:53.860 --> 0:14:57.780 20 weeks after Appomattox, Lee was urging, quote, the healing 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:05.490 of all dissensions. October 2nd, Lee is inaugurated as president. 0:15:05.510 --> 0:15:09.390 That's fast. It's within a month of offering the job. 0:15:09.810 --> 0:15:14.450 The college opened with 40 students, and another 100 students 0:15:14.490 --> 0:15:18.860 drifted in by late fall. Once Lee meets the student, though, 0:15:19.500 --> 0:15:24.050 he is able to remember their name. All right. So 0:15:24.090 --> 0:15:29.600 he starts. October 3rd, he signs the oath of allegiance 0:15:29.630 --> 0:15:33.260 to the United States. The oath was sent to Washington, 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.800 where it landed on the desk of William Seward. Apparently 0:15:37.860 --> 0:15:41.760 thinking that the document had already been recorded, Seward gave 0:15:41.780 --> 0:15:45.280 it to a friend for a souvenir. And it was 0:15:45.380 --> 0:15:49.250 found in a bundle of papers, Lee's amnesty oath, 105 0:15:49.250 --> 0:15:55.700 years later. Anybody remember what happened during the Ford administration? 0:15:58.260 --> 0:16:06.120 He got his pardon. Gerald Ford. Lee reviewed his own 0:16:06.180 --> 0:16:10.950 humble efforts to regain United States citizenship and then concluded 0:16:10.990 --> 0:16:15.910 with this passage, which would be quoted by generations. I 0:16:15.970 --> 0:16:19.350 need not tell you that true patriotism sometimes requires of 0:16:19.430 --> 0:16:24.220 men to act exactly contrary to at one period to 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.760 that which it does at another. And the motive which 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.620 impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same. 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:37.690 The circumstances that govern their actions change and their conduct 0:16:37.750 --> 0:16:41.190 must conform to the new order of things. History is 0:16:41.310 --> 0:16:45.850 full of illustrations of this. Washington himself is an example 0:16:45.930 --> 0:16:49.320 of this. At one time he fought in the service 0:16:49.380 --> 0:16:53.020 of the King of Great Britain At another, he fought 0:16:53.060 --> 0:16:55.420 with the French at Yorktown under the orders of the 0:16:55.460 --> 0:16:59.980 Continental Congress against him. He has not been branded by 0:17:00.020 --> 0:17:03.240 the world with reproach for this, but his course has 0:17:03.300 --> 0:17:08.660 been applauded. Here's your paradox. That's how Robert E. Lee 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:12.810 justifies his actions of being in the United States, leaving 0:17:12.830 --> 0:17:16.129 the United States, and coming back into the United States. 0:17:17.430 --> 0:17:20.350 And you're listening to the voice of Gettysburg National Military 0:17:20.450 --> 0:17:25.230 Park Ranger, Matt Atkinson. And what terrific storytelling and what 0:17:25.650 --> 0:17:28.960 cultural context. I know a lot about Gettysburg and a 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.100 lot about the Civil War. My dad went to Gettysburg 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:34.619 College and went there for a reason. Dwight D. Eisenhower 0:17:34.660 --> 0:17:37.580 was living there and it was the 1950s. He wanted 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.220 to just meet the great general. When we come back, 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.649 more of this remarkable story. The story of General Robert E. 0:17:44.730 --> 0:17:50.930 Lee and his life after his surrender at Appomattox. Robert E. Lee, 0:17:50.970 --> 0:17:56.580 born on this day in 1807, here on Our American Stories. 0:18:08.310 --> 0:18:11.450 And we continue with Our American Stories and with Gettysburg 0:18:11.510 --> 0:18:16.169 National Military Park Ranger Matt Atkinson telling the story of 0:18:16.230 --> 0:18:21.540 General Robert E. Lee's life post-appomattox and after the surrender 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.140 to General Grant. And by the way, as you can tell, 0:18:25.180 --> 0:18:28.060 this is a talk that Matt was giving in front 0:18:28.100 --> 0:18:29.959 of a live audience, and we love to bring you 0:18:30.020 --> 0:18:33.570 to the place where some great storytelling is happening. We 0:18:33.590 --> 0:18:37.109 do that quite often here at Our American Stories, and 0:18:37.150 --> 0:18:40.770 we're telling this story because on this day in 1807, 0:18:40.770 --> 0:18:44.750 General Robert E. Lee was born. Let's return to Matt 0:18:44.830 --> 0:18:47.490 Atkinson and the story of Robert E. 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:53.250 Lee. We go into 1866. And by this time, ladies 0:18:53.290 --> 0:18:57.869 and gentlemen, there are race riots in Memphis and New Orleans. 0:18:58.710 --> 0:19:02.090 The nation was heating up with congressional elections that would 0:19:02.130 --> 0:19:05.600 turn into a northern referendum on how to treat the 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:11.760 vanquished South. President Johnson was at war, quote-unquote, with Congress. 0:19:12.180 --> 0:19:15.540 He wished for lenient treatment, which allowed the southern states 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:19.620 back in without ratifying the 14th Amendment, and Congress wished 0:19:19.660 --> 0:19:23.439 for the South to be made to ratify. During all 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:33.210 this turmoil, Lee counseled everybody to stay calm. 1867, January 7th, 0:19:33.940 --> 0:19:39.070 Congress looks into acts of impeachment against President Johnson. March 2nd, 0:19:39.130 --> 0:19:44.310 federal government passes the Reconstruction Acts. These acts strip the 0:19:44.350 --> 0:19:47.429 state governments of power and place the South in five 0:19:47.510 --> 0:19:52.350 military districts. Congress declares it can change any aspect of 0:19:52.410 --> 0:19:58.530 local government without previous notice. States must ratify the 14th Amendment, 0:19:59.130 --> 0:20:02.379 and one out of every four Confederates are excluded from voting, 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:08.800 and all African Americans are included. The real carpetbagger era 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:15.650 was beginning Northerners are elected by blacks. And the governor 0:20:15.730 --> 0:20:19.500 of Virginia is from New York. To give you an example. 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:24.260 So what does this do to these Confederates? And in 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:28.000 a time we would call them very racist. They do 0:20:28.060 --> 0:20:32.490 not like the situation. A boy with a broken leg 0:20:32.530 --> 0:20:36.350 who Lee was visiting recalled this time. Once I remember 0:20:36.410 --> 0:20:38.790 he sat still for some time by the window and 0:20:38.830 --> 0:20:42.459 his face looked so sad. He spoke of the southern people, 0:20:42.580 --> 0:20:46.320 their losses, privations, and sufferings, and also of our vain struggle. 0:20:47.180 --> 0:20:50.030 I cannot sleep, he said, for thinking of it, and 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:52.530 often I feel so weighted down with sorrow that I 0:20:53.230 --> 0:20:54.770 have to get up in the night and go out 0:20:54.810 --> 0:20:58.350 and walk till I thoroughly weary myself before I can sleep. 0:21:00.650 --> 0:21:03.570 That was the only melancholy sentence I ever heard him 0:21:03.710 --> 0:21:06.550 utter and the only time I ever saw that heartbroken 0:21:06.590 --> 0:21:12.290 look on his face. Another instance, a lady... said that Lee, 0:21:13.820 --> 0:21:17.460 in a moment of being unguarded, she said to Lee, 0:21:17.500 --> 0:21:19.560 why do you look so sad? And Lee turned to 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:23.400 her and said, I'm thinking about all the soldiers that 0:21:23.460 --> 0:21:25.720 died in vain when I knew it was too late. 0:21:29.940 --> 0:21:32.600 And he said, she goes, you know, basically, well, why 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:34.800 didn't you say something? He goes, no, no, they had 0:21:34.820 --> 0:21:39.270 to find out for themselves. That, ladies and gentlemen, is 0:21:39.310 --> 0:21:43.449 that separation between civilian and military authority, which makes our 0:21:43.530 --> 0:21:47.550 government even today so unique. Look at any other government 0:21:48.609 --> 0:21:53.770 out there and notice how often the military overthrows. Okay, 0:21:54.490 --> 0:22:00.379 Lee is summoned to testify in Jefferson Davis' treason trial. Basically, 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:04.500 Lee was offered amnesty for his testimony against Davis or 0:22:04.580 --> 0:22:09.949 face re-indictment for treason After the prosecutor tried to establish 0:22:10.030 --> 0:22:13.670 Lee had only followed orders that Davis was responsible for, 0:22:14.230 --> 0:22:18.070 Lee dug in his heels. Quote, I am responsible for 0:22:18.130 --> 0:22:21.130 what I did and I cannot now recall any important 0:22:21.190 --> 0:22:25.010 movement I made had I not acted on my own responsibility. 0:22:26.830 --> 0:22:30.020 Now how many of you, how many of you would 0:22:30.060 --> 0:22:33.960 have with that hanging over your head, potential indictment, will 0:22:33.980 --> 0:22:37.280 be able to get on the witness stand and self-indict yourself? 0:22:40.580 --> 0:22:41.060 It's a lot. 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:47.180 Christmas Day, 1868, President Johnson sends out a general amnesty 0:22:47.220 --> 0:22:50.160 to all Confederates who had not been restored their rights 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:54.790 by previous actions. It was over. Lee and Davis would 0:22:54.850 --> 0:22:57.950 never be tried, but Lee was still not a citizen 0:22:58.010 --> 0:23:06.220 because his application had been misplaced. Right there. A couple 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:09.600 things on that. One, Robert E. Lee never votes again. Two, 0:23:09.900 --> 0:23:13.080 can you imagine any other revolution that you ever hear 0:23:13.119 --> 0:23:16.750 about in the world where the ringleaders don't get hung? 0:23:18.869 --> 0:23:22.550 Or worse, if you think about it right there, Jefferson 0:23:22.609 --> 0:23:26.010 Davis was not hung for war crimes. And once again, 0:23:26.070 --> 0:23:30.449 who's the symbol of the rebellion? Robert E. Lee. And 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:33.679 he gets to go in peace. I mean, it's remarkable 0:23:33.740 --> 0:23:39.420 in a way. It's definitely unique. We could very well, 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:44.470 they very well could have created a martyr. All right. 0:23:46.750 --> 0:23:48.810 Now in 68, Lee is going to go on his 0:23:48.850 --> 0:23:55.050 first vacation. He will choose the Rockbridge Bath Resorts. At 0:23:55.090 --> 0:23:58.270 the resort, there was a nightly dance called the treadmill. 0:23:59.530 --> 0:24:03.010 And there were both northerners and southerners. Does anybody know 0:24:03.030 --> 0:24:07.770 what you call a southerner who helped the north? Scalawag, 0:24:08.450 --> 0:24:11.419 right here. There was a West Virginian girl at the 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:14.960 hotel who one man said, quote, was very beautiful and 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:18.359 very attractive and more handsomely dressed than any woman at 0:24:18.400 --> 0:24:23.590 the springs. However, the girl's father, quote, had been a 0:24:23.770 --> 0:24:26.070 union man during the war and had remained at home 0:24:26.109 --> 0:24:28.250 and made a fortune while the men in the south 0:24:28.290 --> 0:24:31.980 had gone in the army and lost all they had. quote, 0:24:32.030 --> 0:24:35.050 the women would have none of her. And the men 0:24:35.150 --> 0:24:41.270 dared not risk their wrath. The girl became, quote, very lonely. 0:24:42.250 --> 0:24:44.790 One evening when the dance was occurring, the girl was 0:24:44.869 --> 0:24:48.070 on the other room reading. In the other room reading. 0:24:48.470 --> 0:24:51.210 She became aware of a brilliantly shined pair of shoes 0:24:51.250 --> 0:24:54.660 that had stopped before her. And looking up, her eyes 0:24:54.760 --> 0:24:59.560 met those of General Lee. He smiled, bowed, and asked 0:24:59.600 --> 0:25:03.780 for her company at the next dance. When the dance 0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:06.400 was over and General Lee led her back to her seat, 0:25:06.960 --> 0:25:11.020 there was a general rush for introductions. And from that 0:25:11.080 --> 0:25:13.740 time on, the girl not only had all the partners 0:25:13.800 --> 0:25:20.670 she wanted, but actually became the belle of the season. Now, 0:25:21.210 --> 0:25:25.429 let's go back. That's another act. Does it change the 0:25:25.470 --> 0:25:29.830 whole South? No, nobody outside that ball that night ever 0:25:29.890 --> 0:25:34.040 saw that. Did the newspapers report it? No. Did it 0:25:34.080 --> 0:25:38.380 go out on the telegram? No. Come out in a book? No. 0:25:38.800 --> 0:25:41.139 But to those people, let's say it was 100 people 0:25:41.180 --> 0:25:44.720 at that dance that night, all eyes were on General Lee. 0:25:45.640 --> 0:25:49.270 And his personal example, by going over there, he probably 0:25:49.330 --> 0:25:51.969 knew the backdrop of that story. He had daughters, I'm 0:25:52.030 --> 0:25:54.409 sure they would inform him, that were there at the 0:25:54.470 --> 0:25:59.470 resort right there. his personal example led to that girl 0:26:00.109 --> 0:26:05.100 being allowed back into the social circle. Now, while Lee 0:26:05.130 --> 0:26:09.480 was on vacation, when he was in a group of ladies, 0:26:11.660 --> 0:26:13.479 one of the bells turned to him and said she 0:26:13.540 --> 0:26:17.820 was tired of being friendly to northerners and turned to 0:26:17.880 --> 0:26:20.500 Lee and said, well, General Lee, they say General Grant 0:26:20.520 --> 0:26:23.660 is coming here next week. What will you do then? 0:26:25.280 --> 0:26:28.510 Christina Bond said, the lady who recorded this scene, quote, 0:26:28.550 --> 0:26:31.530 said some of us would have gladly slain her on 0:26:31.570 --> 0:26:36.629 the spot. You didn't ask him that, but Lee answered 0:26:36.690 --> 0:26:39.770 an earnest, faraway look in his eyes. Quote, if General 0:26:39.810 --> 0:26:42.740 Grant comes, I shall welcome him to my home, show 0:26:42.780 --> 0:26:45.240 him all the courtesy that is due from one gentleman 0:26:45.280 --> 0:26:47.899 to another, and try to do everything in my power 0:26:47.960 --> 0:26:51.639 to make his stay agreeable. End of quote. 0:26:51.660 --> 0:26:51.919 End of quote. 0:26:52.560 --> 0:26:55.939 Grant did not come, but Lee's example continued to penetrate 0:26:56.000 --> 0:27:01.280 hardened Confederate hearts. Christina Bond concluded, quote, we saw moreover 0:27:01.340 --> 0:27:04.320 his absolute loyalty to the allegiance he had sworn when 0:27:04.359 --> 0:27:07.149 he had laid down his arms and his whole soul 0:27:07.250 --> 0:27:10.750 was engaged in the work of Reconstruction, and he lost 0:27:10.850 --> 0:27:13.389 no opportunity to promote it socially. 0:27:14.290 --> 0:27:18.770 And you're listening to Gettysburg National Military Park Ranger, Matt Atkinson. 0:27:19.220 --> 0:27:23.330 when we continue the final part of this remarkable story 0:27:24.030 --> 0:27:38.870 here on Our American Stories. And we continue with Our 0:27:38.970 --> 0:27:41.910 American Stories and the story of General Robert E. Lee 0:27:42.369 --> 0:27:46.020 and what happened to him after he surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant. 0:27:46.609 --> 0:27:50.919 At Appomattox in 1865, we had just heard about Lee's 0:27:50.980 --> 0:27:55.100 reaction to a possible visit by Grant. And my goodness, 0:27:55.240 --> 0:27:59.140 this must not have been met necessarily with, let's just say, 0:27:59.220 --> 0:28:02.360 kindness from fellow Southerners, but he was trying to lead 0:28:02.420 --> 0:28:06.690 by example, knew the power of his example. Here again 0:28:06.710 --> 0:28:11.170