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As seen in the “Today in Civil War history” thread for October 12….1870 - Confederate General Robert Edward Lee died at his home in Lexington, Virginia. How was Robert E. Lee treated after surrender? Was he treated as a conquered foe or given the respect due his office? Were charges ever brought against him?
I believe he ws treated quite well. Of course there were the fire eaters calling for his head but he was generally well respected. In Grants Memoirs in his account of the surrender at Appomattox he almost acts like a nervous little kid rambling on about differnt things while Lee politly had to get him back on track as to the reason they were meeting there.
He was generally well treated and respected until Lincoln's assassination. At that time the fire eaters in congress demanded he be tried for treason. Both Grant and Sherman came to his defense and threatened to resign if he was tried.BTW there is a good book called" Lee, The Last Five Years" about the years after the war when he was president of Washington University(Now Washington and Lee). Sorry but I can't remember the author since I read it years ago.
Lee was treated well because he fought civilly and respected all rules of engagement. Other generals like Nathan Bedford Forrest and the irregular Quantrill were branded as terrorists and criminals.
