General Robert E. Lee was examined by the Committee on Reconstruction
the 17th day of February, 1866.
The inquiries related to the state of public sentiment in the South,
and especially in Virginia with regard to secession, to the treatment
of the negroes, to the public debts of the United States, and of the
Confederacy, and to the treatment of Northern soldiers in Southern
prisons.
General Lee was then in good health and in personal appearance he
commended himself without delay. He was large in frame, compactly
built, and he was furnished with all the flesh and muscle that could be
useful to a man who was passing the middle period of life. The
elasticity of spirits, the vigor of mind and body that are the wealth
of a successful man at sixty were wanting in General Lee. His
appearance commanded respect and it excited the sympathy even of those
who had condemned his abandonment of the Union in 1861.
The examination gave evidence of integrity and of entire freedom from
duplicity. Freedom from duplicity was a controlling feature in General
Grant's character and in that attribute of greatness Grant and Lee may
have been equals.
General Lee was free to disclose his own opinions, but he was cautious
in his statements when questioned as to the opinions and purposes of
the men and States that had been in the Rebellion. He was careful to
say at the beginning of the examination that he had no communication
with politicians and that he did not read the papers. What he said of
the South assumed that the people were in poverty and were so dejected
that they had no plans for the future, nor any hopes of restoration to
wealth, happiness and power in the affairs of the country. His
testimony as a whole might justify the opinion that there would be no
serious resistance to any form of government that might be set up. He
favored the governments which President Johnson had organized and he
expressed the opinion that they were acceptable to the people
generally. A comprehensive statement was this:
"I do not know of a single person who either feels or contemplates
any resistance to the government of the United States, or, indeed any
opposition to it." He gave this assurance to the committee: "The
people entirely acquiesce in the government of the United States and
are for co-operating with President Johnson in his policy."
The payment of the public debt had not been a topic of discussion in
his presence, but the people were disposed to pay such taxes as were
imposed and they were struggling to get money for that purpose.
He was of the opinion that the people made no distinction between the
Confederate debt and the debt of the United States--that they were
disposed to pay both debts, and would pay both if they had the power.
For himself, however, he had no expectation that the indebtedness of
the Confederacy would ever be paid.
General Lee manifested a kindly spirit for the freedmen, but he was
unwilling to accept them as citizens endowed with the right of
suffrage. Of the feeling in Virginia, General Lee said: "Every one
with whom I associate expresses kind feelings toward the freedmen.
They wish to see them get on in the world, and especially to take up
some occupation for a living."
He rejected the suggestion that there was anywhere within the State
any combinations having in view, "the disturbance of the peace, or any
improper or unlawful acts." He characterized the negroes as "an
amiable, social race, who look more to the present than to their
future condition."
In answer to the question whether the South would support the
government in case of a war with France or England, General Lee was
distinctly reserved: "I cannot speak with any certainty on that
point. I do not know how far they might be actuated by their feelings.
I have nothing whatever to base an opinion upon. So far as I know
they contemplate nothing of the kind now. What may happen in the
future I cannot say." He then added this remark: "Those people in
Virginia with whom I associate express a hope that the country may not
be led into war."
As to an alliance during the war he said that he knew nothing of the
policy of the Confederate government: "I had no hand or part of it,"
was his remark. It was his opinion during the war that an alliance
with a foreign country was desirable, and he had assumed that the
authorities were of the same opinion. His ideas were those of
General Grant, and he avoided responsibility for the measures of the
government on the civil side.
With kind feelings for the colored people of Virginia General Lee
favored the substitution of a white class of laborers, if an exchange
could be made, of which however, he had neither plan nor hope. Nor
could he give any assurance that Northern men would be received upon
terms of equality and friendship, if they avowed the opinions that
then prevailed generally in the North: "The manner in which they
would be received would depend entirely upon the individuals themselves
--they might make themselves obnoxious, as you can understand," was the
statement of General Lee. His testimony as a whole indicated an
opinion that it was more important to secure capital for business, than
it was to rid the State of the negro laborer. In his opinion, most of
the blacks were willing to work for their former masters, but they were
unwilling to make engagements for a year, a form of engagement which
the farmers and planters preferred, that they might be sure of help
when it would be most needed. The negroes may have been influenced by
one or both of two reasons. Their unthrifty habits--the outcome of
slavery--or an apprehension that a formal engagement for a year was a
kind of bondage that might lead to a renewal of the old system.
When General Lee was pressed by Senator Howard as to the feeling in the
South in regard to the National Government, he said: "I believe that
they will perform all the duties that they are required to perform. I
think that is the general feeling. . . . I do not know that there is
any deep-seated dislike. I think it is probable that there may be
some animosity still existing among some of the people of the South.
. . . They were disappointed at the result of the war."
General Lee was of the opinion that a Southern jury would not find an
accused guilty of treason for participation in the war. Indeed his
doctrine of State Rights excused the citizen and placed the sole
responsibility on the State. Of the common sentiment in the South he
said: "So far as I know, they will look upon the action of the State,
in withdrawing itself from the government of the United States, as
carrying the individuals of the State along with it; that the State
was responsible for the act, not the individual." This was the
framework of his own defence. Speaking of the advocates of secession,
he said: "The ordinance of secession, or those acts of a State which
recognized a condition of war between the State and the General
Government, stood as their justification for their bearing arms against
the Government of the United States. They considered the act of the
State as legitimate. That they were merely using the reserved right,
which they had a right to do."
From these views General Lee was led to a specific statement of his
own position:
Question: "State, if you please, what your own personal views on that
question were?"
Answer: "That was my view; that the act of Virginia in withdrawing
herself from the United States carried me along as a citizen of
Virginia, and that her laws and her acts were binding on me.'
Question: "And that you felt to be your justification in taking the
course you did?"