I don't think Robert E. Lee was so bad of a man..............i would not put his statue in the US Capital though...........................

Gen. Lee had a distinguished career in the U.S. Army. It was said that he was against secession. But on April 19, 1861, Gen. Lee learned that Virginia had seceded from the Union. The general agonized over his future; should he stay with the Union or support his home state? The next day he resigned from the U.S. Army and sided with Virginia and the Confederacy. After he left for Richmond to command Virginia forces, Union troops prepared to occupy Arlington House and his wife and children left soon after.

Arlington House and its surroundings were transformed by the Union occupation. Union soldiers were encamped on the 1,100-acre estate. They cut down the forest and used the pastures and fields for drilling. The house became a headquarters and residence for officers and their staff. Many personal Lee family items were stolen.

Arlington National Cemetery was created in 1864 to bury the war dead that were pouring into Washington. Once that happened, it was obvious that General Lee and his family would never return to Arlington House. After the war, Gen. Lee became president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, and died there in 1870.

Later Lee’s son was compensated for the loss of his inheritance, and in 1933 the National Park Service acquired Arlington House. The children of former slaves helped in directing the restoration of Arlington House.