Said He Hoped to Never Pull a Sword Agains Anyone in Civil War

In spite of the sight of the Stars and Bars flying from the radio masts of occasional automobiles coming out of Dixie, few fair-minded men tin can feel today that the issues which divided the N and South in 1861 have whatever existent significant to our present generation.

Those were the words spoken by famous Globe War II general Maxwell Taylor in 1952, at the dedication of Gen. Robert E. Lee's portrait in the W Indicate library. This portrait has since become the topic of controversy from many who question the reverence for Lee at West Point in the class of a barracks, a gate, and multiple paintings.

Articles exploring this veneration and petitions calling for the removal of displays of Lee at West Indicate frequently fall short in addressing exactly how the Confederate leader became ingrained in academy civilization. Lee'southward return to a place of accolade at Due west Point occurred as a result of a reconciliation process that downplayed the Confederacy'southward treason as the chief transgression for which southern officers required forgiveness, papered over the issue of slavery, and ignored the underrepresented black officers of the US Ground forces. The reverence shown, though, is no longer unchallenged by the various, twenty-first-century officer corps, and as a result, West Indicate now faces a decision: What should information technology practice with displays of Lee'southward person and his name? And more than broadly, what place should this controversial figure—and former academy superintendent—occupy at the academy?

At the plow of the twentieth century, the institutional narrative at West Indicate about the Union cause was still focused on two major points: the preservation of the Union in the confront of secession and the liberty of slaves. During this period, 2 construction projects at West Point memorialized the Civil War—the Battle Monument, a towering cavalcade at Bays Bespeak that was completed in 1897, and Cullum Hall, a building completed in 1900.

The Battle Monument was erected to memorialize all Union Army regulars who were killed during the Civil War. According to its official history published in 1898, the monument commemorates the souls who "freed a race and welded a nation." Supreme Court Justice David Brewer, who spoke at the dedication anniversary, likewise described these two causes every bit the principal reasons that the Union's struggle should exist remembered past cadets. The monument itself still contains an inscription on its shaft calling the Ceremonious State of war the "War of Rebellion" to bring attention to the treasonous actions of the Confederacy.

Cullum Hall, where Lee'due south name first started to appear afterwards the Ceremonious War, was completed to serve equally a memorial hall for Due west Bespeak graduates who distinguished themselves in the war machine profession. The edifice's deceased distributor and Union veteran, Maj. Gen. George Cullum, left the funds for its structure in his will, and the decision as to who was worthy of memorialization in the edifice would be subject to a vote of West Indicate'south academic board. Robert E. Lee'due south proper name was placed in this edifice on a bronze plaque that named the by superintendents of the academy and the years they served in the role. The decision to include Lee's name seems to have little to practice with his leadership of the Confederate Army, but was treated as a thing of historical record.

Only ii years later in 1902, dozens of both Confederate and Union West Signal graduates attended the i hundredth ceremony celebrations of the academy's founding. The festivities included a oral communication by Brig. Gen. Edward P. Alexander, a highly influential Confederate officer who used the spotlight to catalyze the reconciliation process betwixt white Union and Amalgamated graduates. Alexander'southward address was steeped in "Lost Cause" rhetoric that glorified the right of states to secede. In the spirit of reconciliation however, Alexander admitted that "it was best for the South that the cause was lost," since he viewed the strength of United states in 1902 every bit rivaling that of other major earth powers. Finally, Alexander spoke directly of the pride "heroes of future wars" would feel toward the accomplishments of Amalgamated graduates, predicting those heroes would "emulate our Lees and Jacksons." Notably, Alexander mentioned nothing of the establishment of slavery, which the Confederacy fought to defend and Union graduates died to erase.

From that catamenia forward, the narrative at Westward Indicate regarding its Confederate graduates markedly changed. Taking Alexander's stirring words to heart, the Corps of Cadets began to forgive Confederate graduates for seceding and glorified their armed services accomplishments. Talk of slavery became rare—much like black membership in the Corps of Cadets during the beginning half of the twentieth century—and relics of Robert E. Lee appeared slowly at the academy with the back up of southern interest groups.

In 1930, the United Daughters of the Confederacy—known for its financing of Confederate memorials in the early 1900s and pushing the "Lost Cause" narrative—reached out to West Point officials offering to donate a portrait of Robert Eastward. Lee to be displayed in the Mess Hall next to portraits of other Westward Point superintendents. The organisation hoped to feature Lee in his gray Confederate compatible, but the academy, maybe however wary of Lee'southward treasonous legacy, requested that the portrait feature Lee in the blue U.s.a. Ground forces uniform he donned equally superintendent. That version of the portrait is still on display in the Mess Hall in an unremarkable fashion next to the portraits of every W Point superintendent.

The following year, the United Daughters of the Confederacy made another offering to West Signal, this time to sponsor a mathematics honour dedicated to Lee, who was known for his mathematical acumen as a cadet. This memorial honor was sanctioned by the academy and was given until 2018 in the grade of a saber, merely it ceased to be sponsored by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1993, after curriculum changes meant it would no longer exist presented during convocation.

Meanwhile, every bit the United Daughters of the Confederacy slipped Lee dorsum into the academy's retention and the white officeholder corps reconciled old differences, African-American cadets were subjugated to harsh and unfair handling by academy officials and fellow white cadets. The best instance is Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.—the academy's fourth black graduate in the seven decades after slavery concluded—who is the namesake of the university'due south newest barracks structure. In the 1930s he was given a solo room consignment and no other cadets would speak to him during his entire four years as a cadet (an act known as "silencing" typically used confronting cadets who were considered dishonorable). Davis graduated in the top xv percent of the Form of 1936, but was denied entry into the Regular army Air Corps to maintain segregation policies. Davis connected to be silenced by several classmates and other officers for years after commissioning. For decades, Davis's classmates and Due west Indicate leadership denied publicly that Davis was silenced, while several others wrote him letters of apology in private. His experience stands in stark contrast to that of white cadets who pushed forward with reconciliation in the same era as the institutional retentiveness of Confederate leaders grew more than positive.

Robert E. Lee's validation every bit a revered effigy in West Betoken lore was cemented on the 1 hundredth ceremony of his pick as superintendent and during the 150th ceremony celebration of Due west Signal's founding. On Jan 19, 1952, a massive portrait of Robert E. Lee—in full Amalgamated grey uniform, with a slave guiding his equus caballus behind him—was donated to the West Betoken library.

Gen. Maxwell Taylor and other dignitaries and guests at the unveiling of the portrait of Robert E. Lee at West Betoken on January 19, 1952. (Source: The Sesquicentennial of the United States Military Academy)

The portrait's unveiling was the occasion when Gen. Maxwell Taylor claimed that "few fair-minded men can feel today that the issues which divided the North and South in 1861 have whatever real meaning to our nowadays generation." He spoke these words only a month after the Army decided to pursue full desegregation and three years before both Emmett Till's murder and Rosa Parks'south arrest. Desegregation nationwide even so had far to go in 1952. This willful ignorance of the black feel in American history—including in American military machine history—was critical to the lionization of Confederate heroes and reconciliation with white southern officers. Without it, cadets and officers alike would be forced to grapple with the fact that men similar Robert E. Lee betrayed their country for the right to keep owning and subjugating an entire race of people they thought inferior.

Retired Gen. David Petraeus, a West Point graduate, recently described his alma mater's problematic association with Lee, including a barracks built, he notes, in the 1960s. While it's truthful the barracks in question was completed in 1962, at the peak of the ceremonious rights motion, it was initially named "New South Barracks." It was non named in honor of Lee until 1970, when several buildings at the academy received the names of past graduates. Lee Gate received its name in the late 1940s, when the names of all entrances to the post were changed. In broad historical context, the how, when, and why of the naming convention for Lee Barracks or Lee Gate is relatively benign in comparison to the dedication of Lee'south portrait to the West Point library. An entire committee of powerful southern financiers was dedicated to bringing back Lee's likeness equally a Confederate champion in 1952. By the time Lee Barracks was named, the view of the Civil War at W Point had already undergone a complete metamorphosis.

And then, what should West Point do virtually its Robert E. Lee problem? We believe the solution to this complex issue is unproblematic: Lee should be remembered, but not honored. That starts by admitting that West Point and Regular army leaders got it wrong in 1952. The problems of the Civil War did have a "existent meaning" to the "nowadays generation" when Taylor spoke at the unveiling of Lee's Confederate portrait, and they have a very real pregnant to our generation today. Hither are our recommendations:

• Lee's proper name should remain in Cullum Hall. Lee was the superintendent of W Betoken and his positive contributions to the academy in this regard cannot and should not exist ignored. In the same vein, Lee'south portrait in the mess hall showing him in his blueish U.s. Army dress uniform every bit superintendent should remain equally a thing of historical record.
• Lee'due south Confederate portrait and whatever others like it should be removed and placed in the West Point museum or visitors center with appropriate historical context and groundwork.
• Lee Barracks and Lee Gate should be renamed. Lee'south name on these facilities became an everyday testimony to the newly reverential treatment of Confederates at the academy. This encourages a revisionist history that elevates Confederates' positive characteristics and ignores their treason and back up for the establishment of slavery.

Some argue that removing such symbols is tantamount to erasing history and calls for founders like George Washington to be "canceled." We categorically reject this straw-human argument. Robert E. Lee was not just a racist and a slave owner. He chose to betray his land in the defense of his correct to subjugate the black race, which at present comprises a significant portion of the Army and officer corps. The leadership who saw fit to prop upwardly Robert E. Lee equally a revered figure in 1952 did so by accepting a comfortable, watered-down, and ruby-picked revisionist history. Today, history classes at the academy fully embrace the correct notion that preserving the nation's unity and ending slavery were the defining features of the Union cause, and cadets learn about both the armed forces skill and ideological wrongdoings of Lee and his Confederate comrades. Cadets also larn almost hundreds of Westward Bespeak graduates whose accomplishments are worthy of honour, respect, and reverence. Although they acquire about Lee, he is not 1 of those deserving of such reverence by the future officer corps.

West Point seeks to educate, train, and inspire future leaders in the Us Army. The Corps of Cadets is the most various in the school'southward history and W Point needs to ensure cadets can continue to be inspired by graduates the academy sought to elevate in a foretime era. The school has so far avoided this question of Robert E. Lee, looking to the US Army for guidance. But as Westward Signal tells many of its growing leaders, in that location is zilch wrong with offer a recommendation to one's superiors. The school has a responsibleness to its cadets, and we hope W Point will do what information technology expects of its graduates—pb.

Capt. Jimmy Byrn graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2012 with a BS in War machine History. During his time on agile duty, he deployed to Poland, Bulgaria, and Kosovo in support of NATO Operations Atlantic Resolve and Articulation Guardian. He is currently an incoming JD candidate at Yale Police force Schoolhouse.

Capt. Gabe Royal graduated from the Us Military machine Academy in 2012 with a BS in United states History and American Politics. He is a veteran of the Republic of iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and an incoming PhD pupil at the Trachtenberg Schoolhouse of Public Policy and Assistants at George Washington University, and will teach at W Betoken upon completion of his degree.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military machine University, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense.

Editor's annotation: This commodity has been updated to reflect that the Department of Mathematics ceased presenting the award named for Robert E. Lee in 2018, and that the United Daughters of the Confederacy stopped sponsoring the award in 1993 after curriculum changes meant it was given annually to an underclassman and thus not presented during West Signal'south convocation. The organization elected instead to transfer their donation to a different department to sponsor an award that would be included in the convocation ceremony.

Paradigm credit: Michelle Eberhart, Us Army

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Source: https://mwi.usma.edu/west-point-robert-e-lee-problem/

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