May 5, 1861---"The War will last at least four years..."

MAY 5, 1861:        

 From the diary of Robert E. Lee, Confederate General, abolitionist, Southern patriot, Unionist-at-heart, and scion of the family of George Washington:

        

  

 “They do not know what they say. If it came to a conflict of arms, the war will last at least four years. Northern politicians will not appreciate the determination and pluck of the South, and Southern politicians do not appreciate the numbers, resources, and patient perseverance of the North. Both sides forget that we are all Americans. I foresee that our country will pass through a terrible ordeal, a necessary expiation, perhaps, for our national sins."

Robert E. Lee was probably as close to a prince of the blood royal as America will ever have. The descendant of early colonists and the son of Revolutionary War hero and close personal friend of President Washington, “Light Horse” Harry Lee, Robert married Mary Custis, the granddaughter of Martha Washington (and granddaughter by adoption of George Washington). Lee was raised to revere the memory of Washington, and his decision to separate from the nation founded by his idol cost him greatly. Although he went with the secessionists and led the Confederate armies through the Civil War, Lee’s bond with George Washington ultimately did much to determine the fate of the nation as the Civil War drew to its awful and bloody finale.