Existing comment:
Robert E. Lee's portable dispatch writing case, after 1850
1865-1870: Apostle of Reunion
Following Confederate defeat, Robert E. Lee opposed Radical Republicans who demanded punitive measures against the South and used his popularity to promote reconciliation between North and South. On this desk he wrote letters that were often reprinted in newspapers, suggesting that "all should unite in honest efforts to obliterate the effects of war." |