“Robert E.
Lee, I believe,” the recovery was much quicker, but she couldn’t be sure how
long she had stood there, mute, “changed the course of the war that day.”
What’s happening to me?
“The course of the war goes well for us, and
I know how to defeat the Union at Gettysburg. Yes, they hold the high ground,
but that is of little consequence. However, I cannot see the task through. I
have lost faith in our cause, not that I ever held much to it to begin with.
For too long has brother been warred against brother, and while many a good
southerner will claim that this is a war about our sovereign rights to be free
and choose for our own selves without the oppression and interference of
northern states, it is not.
“It’s my
hypothesis that Robert E. Lee intentionally lost the battle of Gettysburg in
order to force the South to reunite the country.
“It is the fate of the negro to which we
have tied ourselves, and whether it is the will of God Almighty that the negro
is less of a man despite the red of the blood in his veins I know not. But I
know I can no longer stand behind a cause that sees our great nation divided
for so base a reason. Let it be done. Let us reunite this divided house and
become once again a nation, a government, and settle our differences like men
with our words instead of with our blood.
“And so I must, to appease my
conscience, commit a sin greater than any I’ve ever contemplated. I will send
my men, my boys, to meet their end tomorrow. No matter what I must attack the
Union forces with all the force I can muster. I must be tenacious in my
convictions, and I will not rest until my army is in a shambles, broken on the
spear of the Union forces.
“I write this letter knowing it will
never make it to you, for I will cast it into the flames so that none may know.
I will see you soon my dearest Mary.
“General Robert E. Lee”