Few Americans will know of Lee’s greatness and impeccable integrity since he has been vilified and diminished in classrooms for decades.
A former slave, who Lee freed long before the war, stayed with him as his cook throughout the war. Later becoming a minister, he said “No man borne of woman was ever greater than Robert E. Lee.”
There's no doubt he did great things, but the biggest mistake of his life was joining the enemy of the United States and leading it in battle against said United States. That alone, in my opinion, ranks him at the level of Benedict Arnold, which keeps me from honoring him.
vilifying General Lee, in my opinion, is a useless exercise. He, like others on both sides, were fighting for things they believed in. For us to properly understand that over 150 years after the war is, I submit, somewhat difficult. My feeling is that all participants in that exercise were driven by local concerns and beliefs. Judging that should be left to the Almighty.