What a nice post, Doyle.

Many people -- his detractors as well as his proponents -- have reduced Robert E. Lee to a one-dimensional caricature of a man. They see him either as a slave-owning traitor or an unquestioning promoter of secession and States' rights.

In truth, Lee loved his country, he loved the army, and he was deeply loyal to both. Lesser men forced better men like Lee to plumb their souls to find the right thing to do when the war began. His correspondence reveals a deeply conflicted man who agonized over what to do. As you said, it does indeed do a disservice to the man to infer that there was never any question in his mind as to where his ultimate loyalties lay. In fact, he did question himself -- profoundly -- as to his ultimate loyalty.

When I read Lee's letters to his children and relatives about his lonely soul-searching, it saddens me to think about that noble man having to make such an agonizing decision.

Once the difficult decision was reached, however, he was willing to pay the price of that decision. He firmly believed that a gentleman of honor was bound to "walk the walk, if you talk the talk."

I don't know if our country will ever again produce such a heroic and noble man. I have a half-lifesize bronze bust of General Lee on my desk. I try to emulate him, knowing that I will never, ever come close to being the man that he was. But looking at his face everyday encourages me to try, at least.