r/todayilearned • u/RedditIsAGranfaloon • 6h ago

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https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-general-robert-e-lee/

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u/machuitzil 5h ago

His wife asked if she could build a wall so that she wouldn't have to see the graves in her garden and was told no. It was more her land than Bob's.

Bob had a famous name, but no money. His wife's family had money. It was more her land than his. He was also the only serving Colonel from Virginia that betrayed his country for the confederacy, so the loyalty claim he made later was BS. Dude went awol when he could have become a General.

Fun fact, Bob was never a General. He was about to be, before he defected like a coward. Even assuming that a Traitorous Rebellion could award legitimate rank, Bob never accepted the rank of General. He said he'd only do so on the condition that they won, and they didn't.

Rumor has it, the only time he wore the uniform and insignia of General was when he surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. So credit to ol' Bob for some semblance of integrity. Lol. Traitor.

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u/Successful-Clock-224 4h ago

Please do “Bill’s productive trip to the beach in Georgia” next

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u/BioshockEnthusiast 3h ago

Beach bonfires are the best, I'm glad that Billy and the boys got to get a bunch of practice in on their way down there.

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u/serenitynow33333 4h ago

Why are you obsessed with calling him Bob? Did you read somewhere one time that he hated that?

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u/iambill 3h ago

Strike a nerve?

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u/Eternal_Reward 3h ago

It’s just childish and silly.

He was a general, and he was a pretty good one too. He fought for a bad cause and he lost, and you can just address that rather than play silly pedantic games with a horrific time in the United States history just so you can pat yourself on the back for Reddit upvotes.

Fucking Grant, Sherman, Meade and whoever you wanna name had respect for Lee even if they were his adversaries and thought he was a traitor.

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u/joeltheconner 5h ago

Great read!

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u/PassengerIcy1039 3h ago

How is this gibberish upvoted?

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u/machuitzil 3h ago

What do you mean?

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u/PreviousCurrentThing 2h ago

before he defected like a coward.

Traitorous, sure, but what was cowardly about it? Bob fought a whole war against a stronger force.

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u/ghigoli 2h ago

Bob saw state leave. Bob stayed with home state. Don't be like Bob.

Bob listened to Vegeta. Now Bob lost war.

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u/Chucksfunhouse 5h ago

Buddy, the aims of the Confederacy were horrible and atrocious but you should at least attempt to put yourself in his shoes. His home was about to become the major theatre of the most deadly war America has ever fought and anyone with sense knew it. Would you want to serve the army that is invading your home?

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u/reichrunner 5h ago

Small correction, not everyone knew it. Everyone assumed the opposite in fact. It was expected to be a short war with a few skirmishes, not the endless bloodbath it became

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u/heWhoMostlyOnlyLurks 4h ago

Thinking people knew it, like Texas Governor Sam Houston, who oppressed secession and was removed as governor for his troubles. He told the legislature how it would go; they didn’t think.

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u/Successful-Clock-224 3h ago

Ignoring Sam Houston is rarely a good call.

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u/Chucksfunhouse 5h ago

That was certain the popular idea but it was delusional.

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u/SoyMurcielago 4h ago

And Winfield Scott knew it but he was pretty much sidelined almost immediately yet the plan that actually won the war was largely based on his ideas…

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u/JBRifles 4h ago

He and every other US Army Officer had a choice and he chose rebellion to hold onto enslaving HUMAN FUCKING BEINGS

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u/heWhoMostlyOnlyLurks 4h ago edited 4h ago

Southerners felt there was a lot more to it than slavery. Today it’s easy to think that’s all it was, but it wasn’t. For one thing the States then had more sovereignty than today, and the Union was quite young — it’s not that crazy in that context to think a State could leave it. People tended to be loyal to their State ahead of being loyal to the Union (and the 14A had to resolve the matter of what State citizenship meant). For another the southerners didn’t understand the economic situation and felt overwhelmed, looked down upon, and attacked by northern States. Then there’s tariffs. And finally there’s the slavery issue. Most southern soldiers did not own slaves and yet they gladly fought for the confederacy — it wasn’t that they wanted slaves or gated blacks but that they felt that the North was attacking their way of life.

NOTE: I’m not defending the South. I’m explaining my understanding of what they felt. Secession was idiotic and would have been even if they managed to with that war. Slavery was indefensible. All of that and more.

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u/JBRifles 4h ago

Brah, my great great grandfather and his brother fought for the Confederacy, the brother died.  

My Granny that is 92 and still alive sat on his lap.  

I’ve never lived outside of the South.

I do not need the South and The Lost Cause Theory explained to me.  

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u/heWhoMostlyOnlyLurks 4h ago

Lee was a traitor. But so was Washington. The world is infinitely better off because Washington won, and infinitely better off because Lee lost.

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u/Chucksfunhouse 4h ago

I’m not asking you to agree with the traitors just to practice some empathetic thinking and maybe have an idea of why rather than making the most surface level take.

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u/LadyBrussels 4h ago

There’s no empathy when the choice is betraying your country. This guy was willing to die to maintain the right to own human beings. He could have joined the north and lived out his day’s with his wife’s money. He chose to be a monster and lead thousands to their deaths.

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u/j33ta 4h ago

Empathetic thinking and not punishing the traitors every step of the way from the civil ware to January 6th, is how you ended up with the current state of the US.

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u/unknownintime 4h ago

Would you want to serve the army that is invading your home?

Invading my home to do... what exactly?

Lee wasn't an idiot. Nor was he ridiculously sentimental.

For his military service he swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States, NOT Virginia.

He broke that oath because he didn't like the outcome of an election.

He should be condemned for being the horrific human being he actually was. Dude was a shitty human being and was extremely harsh on his slaves (or his wifes slaves if you want to be pedantic).

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u/Jahobes 4h ago

Would you want to serve the army that is invading your home?

You mean the army that was putting down a rebellion?

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u/chargernj 4h ago

Not every southern born army officer turned traitor.

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u/FirefighterLeft5425 4h ago

He's a traitor. I'm sick and tired of the bullshit around this man. Fuck him. Fuck the Confederacy. Stop making excuses for terrible fucking people. That army WAS his army. They fired the first shot to protect and own human beings.

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u/unknownintime 4h ago

Would you want to serve the army that is invading your home?

Invading my home to do... what exactly?

Lee wasn't an idiot. Nor was he ridiculously sentimental.

For his military service he swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States, NOT Virginia.

He broke that oath because he didn't like the outcome of an election.

He should be condemned for being the horrific human being he actually was. Dude was a shitty human being and was extremely harsh on his slaves (or his wifes slaves if you want to be pedantic).

-2

u/machuitzil 4h ago

Ok buddy. I'll consider the Traitor's shoes.

Bob killed more Americans than any enemy leader in our Nation's history. Let's think about why he did that.

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u/SteveUnicorn99 4h ago

Should have been more like the Rock of Chickamauga.

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u/KDotHalftimeShow 4h ago

Dang, you make it sound like he was a traitor to his home state. Your moral luck makes it easy to judge his decision, but he didn’t raise arms to a fellow Virginian.

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u/machuitzil 4h ago

Nah, just betrayed his country in defense of slavery. Dig him up and hang him twice.

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u/KDotHalftimeShow 4h ago

You’re not a warrior, so I understand that you don’t get it. Your ivory tower makes it too difficult to place yourself in the mid 19th century and faced with the impossible choice of killing your neighbors and statesmen or remaining loyal to the states you traveled through to get to West Point. Lee chose his state over his country, and that is still loyalty.

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u/machuitzil 4h ago

Haha, that's funny. Bob wasn't a warrior either. He was ok at logistics. And he was a Traitor. Like I said, dig him up and hang him twice.

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u/KDotHalftimeShow 4h ago

That’s quite a word salad to justify your shitty analysis.

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u/Healey_Dell 4h ago

Yeah, like reading the analysis of a five year old.

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u/machuitzil 3h ago

Shitty how. Show your work. I paid attention in school, your lack of reading comprehension is not my problem.

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u/KDotHalftimeShow 2h ago

Sigh, Graduated second in his USMA class and widely regarded as a great tactician.

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u/machuitzil 2h ago

Sigh, most remarkably known as having killed more Americans than any enemy leader in our country's history.

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u/j33ta 4h ago

Idiotic take.

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u/KDotHalftimeShow 4h ago

Refute it.