> He went to the communion rail and knelt beside the black man and they received communion together
This is an example of why RE Lee is not so heroic. He *knew* that slavery was wrong, and he defended it nonetheless.
It's one thing to be on the wrong side... but to be on the wrong side and *know* it, and defend that position for political reasons...
The same argument could be applied to Colin Powell and abortion of the unborn (although IIRC Powell does defend abortion.)
As much as it may distress the writers of elementary level history books or their intended audience, issues are seldom black and white.
Rather than defending slavery, I would argue that he was defending States' rights of self determination. You may have noticed that the Constitution spells out exactly that form of govt.
He defended his home state against what he considered an invading army.
Think of it this way:
I have the bitterest disagreement with my nation's position on abortion. That doesn't change the fact that I love my country and will - and have - defended her. I would imagine Lee felt much the same way. He was, as someone else pointed out, mildly opposed to slavery personally - which was a fairly progressive opinion to hold at the time. He was far more concerned with the fact that his native state was being invaded.
I hope you don't think Lincoln was a great man because he freed the slaves. He owned more slaves than any other American President before him. The move to free the slaves was a political move to get re-elected. Also, Lincoln only freed the slaves in the South. The slaves were still slaves in the North.