TOMB OF ROBERT E. LEE
General Robert E. Lee is a name that is known by almost all Americans for his leadership in the Civil War, but most are unaware of his activities after the war ended. He is entombed in Lexington, Virginia, on the college campus of Washington and Lee University, inside of what was known until recently, Lee Chapel. After Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April of 1865, he was without a job. His plantation at Arlington had been confiscated and he didn’t know if he was going to be tried for war crimes, or for treason, so he and his family lived in the summer of 1865, in Richmond, Virginia, where they laid low to see what his future held.
The faculty at what was known as Washington College at the time, asked Lee to become their president, which of course, he declined, because he didn’t know if he was going to be tried for treason, and war crimes, however as time went on, he eventually accepted. When Lee was made President of Washington College, the student enrollment went from about 40 to 400, and one can probably guess why, due to the obvious famous person that was now the president of the institution.
General Robert E. Lee had the chapel built when he first arrived as president of the college. It is very large with a balcony, and seats several hundred people. Lee took the pew at the front-left, for himself, and his family during services at the beginning of each day. In the front of the church, is Lee’s monument, which is made out of marble, and supposed to depict the general laying out on the battlefield with his men. Lee was known to sleep out in tents, along with his men, instead of in more comfortable places in town, like most high-ranking officers often did. His wife wanted him to be shown like he was, a man of his soldiers. The Lee family symbol of the leaves, and a squirrel decorates the monument. The symbol of a squirrel is all over things pertaining to Lee, and is representative of squirreling away knowledge, and all the things that we can learn from a squirrel, such as being prepared.
Below the chapel, is Lee’s office left untouched from the day that he died in 1870, as well as the museum, with all the types of different items and displays about Lee and George Washington. Also, below the chapel are the tombs, where General Lee, and his family are interred. The day that Robert E. Lee died in 1870, it had been raining for many days in Lexington, Virginia, and no traffic could get in or out. The local undertaker was out of coffins, and had ordered several, but during delivery, they got washed away in the river. Eventually some boys found one of the ordered coffins banked on the shore, and brought it so it could be used for Lee. However, there was a problem, the General was 5’11” tall, and this coffin was built for a smaller man. To solve the problem, the family was forced to place him in his coffin without his shoes on. What an interesting bit of historical trivia that is.
Right outside the door of the chapel is where Lee’s famous horse “Traveler” is buried. Traveler is said to have grazed the grounds all around the chapel while Lee worked in his office. Today, the door of the building that used to be his stable, is always left open, so Travelers spirit can wander the campus grounds, and always find his way back home.
The chapel at Washington and Lee College has changed over the years, as many people push to distance the college from images of the Confederate States of America. Flags and been removed, and Lee Chapel has been renamed “University Chapel”. There will certainly be more changes into the future, but it will be impossible to totally separate Lee from the campus all together as his tomb sits underneath the chapel that he ordered to be built. To this day, it is one of the most visited grave sites in all of the United States. Make sure you see the video below to see the sites mentioned in this article.
-Col. Russ Carson, Jr., Founder, Family Tree Nuts