"There's really no point in refuting. "Y'all" wouldn't listen cause I'm sure "y'all" think the voices in your heads are other people... How many of you have college degrees?... (Robert E. Lee) sold out the rest of the South for the sole benefit of Virginia and he's seen as a martyr. Oh, and props to Mr. Boring (if that is your real name) for picking up on my name, Geoff Davess. He's the only one that even noticed. Yes, it is a fake name, and thanks to all you Edmund Ruffin reincarnates. You've all provided us here with great entertainment. May you serve the Confederacy well. I dare you to attack another fort."

Sir, we mostly try to carry on a two sided discourse. Sometimes it gets out of hand, but we don't usually start with insults. I am not aware of any extraneous "voices" in our heads. I have a bachelor's in Communication, and a master's in Human Resource Management. The Navy also treated me to a year at the University of Southern California Cinema School. As General Lee was before my time, he did not teach any of my courses, which were not in History. I did have to pass the Regents' Exam to be admitted to my graduate program; it included history, particularly that of Georgia.

Lee's motive in resigning from the US Army were consistant with his times and upbringing. He felt his loyalty was to his home state; not something current today, but common in his time. Such state loyalties did in fact hurt the Confederacy.

My great grandfather and two great uncles served under General Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia,They were members of Company A, 18th Georgia Infantry, which, through Antietam, was part of the Texas Brigade. My great grandfather died at Seven Pines. One of my uncles was wounded twice. Both were captured. One spent a year at the infamous Camp Douglas.
Their and my name is in fact Boring. I am proud of my Scots-Irish ancestry. The first Boring arrived From Ireland in 1688. His decendants fought in the Revolution, and one was declared an outlaw by the British Governor of South Carolina for advocating rebellion against the Crown. None of my family had owned any slaves since 1824. They fought because thy were invaded.

Before the war, Edmund Ruffin was a respected agronomist and author. He was advanced in age when he assisted in the attack on Fort Sumter. By the end of the war he was so invested in it that he killed himself rather than surrender, or live under US law. I would have followed my relatives' example and gone home to rebuild my life, as they both did, despite wounds and damaged health from being held prisoner for over a year in one case and eight months in the other.

If you decide to engage in polite discussion, and disagree agreeably, then welcome. If not, we can go our separate ways. I do not at present hold any animosity against any fort. Stan