Eh.
It's not news to me that Lee had slaves and it's not news to me that he went, ostensibly, against the wishes of the estate from which he inherited them. There is a reason he sought to extend their servitude...
As I understand these articles, they come from a very liberal source: NY Times Blog. The letter also came from his daughter after the war and I wonder how much Lee took her into his confidence.
It is also not news to me that Lee struggled with the decision nor that he made it himself and alone.
A lot of the commenters should also look at Lee's other papers and what he did to heal the nation after the war.
It seems that almost 150 years after the war, people are trying to tear down the "heroes" of the war on both sides.
Face it....the country was conflicted and the men INVOLVED were conflicted. That tends to happen when monumental decisions are being made that will lead to the destruction or survival, BY FORCE, of a nation.
Splitter
For the record, when I said the commenters should read his other papers, I meant the commenters on the NY Times blog. Just wanted to make that clear.
Davis did not want secession.
Lincoln was not for equality for slaves.
Lee had slaves.
Grant was a drunk.
Sherman was a racist.
Forrest killed a Confederate soldier
These were complicated times and taking snippets from history does not do it justice.
Splitter
A lot of the commenters should also look at Lee's other papers and what he did to heal the nation after the war.
A big plus 1! Also, I'm not a big fan of General Grant's generalship, but he handled the surrender at Appomatox in a very honorable way.
As to Lee owning slaves, I was under the impression that they more of an "inheritance" from his father in law and he kept them in order to return his father in law's estate to profitablity. His father in law, owned several estates/plantations. The problem was, Lee was a soldier, not a planter/farmer/businessman.
All of these people were real life human beings just like us, and they had strengths and weaknesses just like us. One of the great horrors, IMO, of history is to judge historical figures by current cultural values. These people should always be judged by the moralities and laws of their time and place.