There can be little doubt that, though Virginians, both Henry and his son Robert deplored the slavery (not to mention slaveowners Washington and Jefferson) and it can be reasonably argued that Robert E. Lee fought on the side of Dixie for reasons other than strong convictions regarding the legitimacy of slavery as an institution.
Generals follow their commander-in-chief's orders, and for that reason, we can, from a relatively detached perspective, appreciate the skill and military genius of generals who were on the "wrong" side of history, like Lee and Stonewall Jackson from the Civil War, William Howe and Cornwallis from the American Revolution, and, say, Field Marshall Rommel from WWII.
IMHO, we can therefore appreciate a given general's pure military skills without having to pass excessive judgment on them simply because they fought for the "wrong" side in a specific war...
Very well stated. Several generations of American statesmen, many of them slave owners, recognized the “peculiar” institution as America’s original sin. That sin was repented in an ocean of blood. One hundred and fifty years after the conclusion of that war, in which my great grandfather fought, we should be able to honor every American on both sides.
I agree in the respect that Rommel was a great General. I am no fan of the Nazis, but that guy had a lot of things in common with Lee in terms of his tactics.
thank you for some rational perspective