[WhiskeyPapa]

There is an interesting anecdote in at least one biography of Lee. I hope I recount it accurately here. It seems that after the War, Lee was in the congregation of a church when communion was held. A black man went to the rail and none of the whites in the congregation would go up and kneel next to the man. Seeing this, Lee rose, strode forward, and accepted communion next to him.

Didn't happen.

Walt

[4CJ]

Didn't happen.

Ya think?

"[A] tall-well dressed, black man stood and strode to the rail. There followed a pregnant pause. According to one witness, "Its effects upon the communicants was startling, and for several moments they retained their seats in solemn silence and did not move, being deeply chagrined at this attempt to inaugurate the 'new regime' to offend and humiliate them...". Then another person rose from the pew and walked down the aisle to the chancel rail. He knelt near the black man and so redeemed the circumstance. This grace- bringer, of course was Lee. Soon after he knelt, the rest of the congregation followed his example and shuffled in turn to the rail...Lee's actions were far more eloquent than anything he spoke or wrote."
Emory M. Thomas, Robert E. Lee: A Biography, W.W. Norton & Company Ltd, 1995, p. 372.