Since I've been using Robert E. Lee as a character in Lawful Obedience, I've been reading (actually re-reading) a quite decent biography of him--called, aptly enough, Robert E. Lee: A Biography. It's by Emory M. Thomas.
However, there's one paragraph that annoys me. After the war (when Lee was president of Washington College), a flamboyant Swiss painter named Frank Buchser--who had gotten into trouble for sleeping with the daughter of one of his patrons--came to Lexington and approached Lee in order to paint his portrait. Here's what Thomas has to say:
"For reasons difficult to understand Lee seemed to like Buchser, agreed to sit for a portrait, and invited the artist to stay in the President's House while he worked..."
And he goes on to describe how the two men became pals.
Ok, why shouldn't Lee have liked the man? He was always hard on himself, but he was never one to judge others. So why must we try to pigeon-hole Lee and pass judgment on which people he should have preferred to spend his time with? Oy!
For the most part, Thomas avoids treating Lee like a 'marble man.' But not here.
And that was my historical rant of the day...oh, the picture of Lee is not, unfortunately, the one Buchser painted. It's a photograph of Lee taken toward the end of his life. But if I ever find an image of Buchser's painting, I'll post it.
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