The Man Who Would Not Be Washington: Robert E. Lee's Civil War and His Decision That Changed American History

by Jonathan Horn

Overview

The “compelling…modern and readable perpective” (USA TODAY) of Robert E. Lee, the brilliant soldier bound by marriage to George Washington’s family but turned by war against Washington’s crowning achievement, the Union.

On the eve of the Civil War, one soldier embodied the legacy of George Washington and the hopes of leaders across a divided land. Both North and South knew Robert E. Lee as the son of Washington’s most famous eulogist and the son-in-law of Washington’s adopted child. Each side sought his service for high command. Lee could choose only one.

In The Man Who Would Not Be Washington, former White House speechwriter Jonathan Horn reveals how the officer most associated with Washington went to war against the union that Washington had forged. This extensively researched and gracefully written biography follows Lee through married life, military glory, and misfortune. The story that emerges is more complicated, more tragic, and more illuminating than the familiar tale. More complicated because the unresolved question of slavery—the driver of disunion—was among the personal legacies that Lee inherited from Washington. More tragic because the Civil War destroyed the people and places connecting Lee to Washington in agonizing and astonishing ways. More illuminating because the battle for Washington’s legacy shaped the nation that America is today. As Washington was the man who would not be king, Lee was the man who would not be Washington. The choice was Lee’s. The story is America’s.

A must-read for those passionate about history, The Man Who Would Not Be Washington introduces Jonathan Horn as a masterly voice in the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476748573
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	05/10/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	246,850
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Horn is an author and former White House presidential speechwriter whose Robert E. Lee biography, The Man Who Would Not Be Washington, was a Washington Post bestseller. Jonathan has appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS NewsHour, and his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times’ Disunion series, Politico Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Weekly Standard, and other outlets. A graduate of Yale University, he lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, daughter, and dog. His latest book is Washington’s End.

Table of Contents

List of Maps xi

Prologue: The View 1

Part I Antebellum

Chapter 1 Foundering Father 11

Chapter 2 A Potomac Son 26

Chapter 3 Lee's Union 41

Part II Casus Belli

Chapter 4 Half Slave, Half Free 59

Chapter 5 Washington's Sword 79

Chapter 6 The Decision 93

Part III Bellum

Chapter 7 The Battle for Arlington 115

Chapter 8 The Last Heir 130

Chapter 9 White House Burning 145

Chapter 10 Emancipation 169

Chapter 11 The Indispensable Man 184

Chapter 12 The Cemetery 204

Part IV Postbellum

Chapter 13 Washington and Lee 225

Epilogue: The Bridge 245

Acknowledgments 251

Appendix: Custis-Lee Family Tree 253

Notes 257

Selected Bibliography 333

Map and Illustration Credit 347

Index 349

Editorial Reviews

Compelling….a modern and readable perspective on Lee’s enigmatic character.

USA Today

Jonathan Horn’s fascinating book looks at Lee through the prism of yet another famous man, George Washington. His subtle and sympathetic examination of the Washington-Lee connection helps us understand the Lee question….textured….splendid….Horn’s story is fascinating, thought-provoking, and deeply sad.

National Review

Stirring and elegant….[Horn] chronicles Lee’s life with a vitality that captivates our imagination and keeps us glued to Lee’s story.With graceful vigor, he traces Lee from his childhood to his days at West Point…and ultimately to his decision to resign his commission in the U.S. Army….Horn’s illuminating study offers a fascinating comparison between two figures who shaped American history.

BookPage

Jonathan Horn has brought us an intriguing, nuanced, close-up portrait of a complex American leader and his fateful moment of choice.”

Michael Beschloss

"Very apt...well-written, fair-minded."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[An] interesting study….Jonathan Horn writes well and makes responsible, often vivid, use of his sources.

Weekly Standard

A brilliant, compelling book that relates the intriguing, poignant story of Robert E. Lee, his decision to leave the U.S. Army and join the southern cause, and the civil war that followed. A book that is both beautifully written and exhaustively researched, one that conveys the complications and tragedies of Lee’s decision, his role in the subsequent war, and his life and legacy in the peace that followed.”

General David H. Petraeus (U.S. Army

"For all the biographies written about Robert E. Lee, the South’s greatest hero and the North’s greatest threat remains something of an enigma—patriot or traitor, saint or sinner? In this beautifully written narrative, Jonathan Horn clears away the cobwebs of myth and gives us a Lee passionately committed to a specific vision of America and leadership, but endlessly tortured about how to deal with a divided Union. The Man Who Would Not Be Washington succeeds at offering soundly researched history, fresh perspective, and gripping prose. Even for those well acquainted with the story of Lee and the Civil War, this is a genuine page turner."

Harold Holzer

"[Horn] provides an outstanding book that will be enjoyed by all readers interested in Lee....Horn’s book is a thought-provoking, illuminating look at Lee written from a fresh perspective....extremely well written and recommended to all."

Civil War News

"Horn’s work is unique and appealing in that it gives a more human side to the story."

Rocky Mount Telegram

Thoughtful….Horn carefully draws the connections between the two titular subjects….simply fascinating. Horn is a graceful writer, and when the occasion warrants, has a suitable flair for the dramatic. The pages blaze by….Horn’s excellent book drives home the tragic magnitude of [Lee’s] decision.

City Journal

The complexity and multifaceted nuances of most politicaldecisions are masterfully revealed…An excellent addition to the library ofCivil War books. Horn presents not only the historical record, but also thepathos, irony and tension involved in Lee’s decision and how it reflectedissues in his personal life. The author’s work reads very much like a novel andis suitable for both serious historians and lovers of engaging stories.

The Missourian

Jonathan Horn’s fascinating book looks at Lee through the prism of yet another famous man, George Washington. His subtle and sympathetic examination of the Washington-Lee connection helps us understand the Lee question….textured….splendid….Horn’s story is fascinating, thought-provoking, and deeply sad.

National Review

Compelling….a modern and readable perspective on Lee’s enigmatic character.

USA Today

11/17/2014
Robert E. Lee was frequently compared to George Washington, not only because of his personality and “military genius” but also because he married Washington’s granddaughter, and his father had a close relationship with the Founding Father. But at the start of the Civil War, Lee made a decision that made such a comparison highly controversial: Lee rejected the Union and loyally followed Virginia into the Confederacy, despite his personal opposition to secession. Horn, a former White House speechwriter, puts a captivating spin on Lee’s story by comparing and contrasting the two great men. Detailed yet accessible descriptions of battles are coupled with stories of Lee’s personal life, revealing a man as complex as the war he reluctantly joined. Horn also points out the reverence for Washington during this time, and the way each side claimed him as their own. In the book’s oddly underdeveloped final strides, Horn condemns Lee for not following his initial opposition to rebellion, for “not being Washington.” That flaw aside, Horn takes a fair and equitable approach to Lee, his life, and his struggle over participation in a war that tore apart the nation. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 11/15/2014
Horn's (former White House presidential speechwriter) thematic biography captures the many facets of Robert E. Lee's crowded life (1807–70). In it, the author covers Lee's constricted childhood caused by his father's abandonment of the family; his brilliant record at West Point; his protracted courtship with Mary Custis, the daughter of G.W.P. Custis, George Washington's adopted son; his marriage and numerous postings around the country as military engineer; his roles in the war with Mexico and as superintendent of West Point. Horn further delves into the man's refusal of General-in-Chief Winfield Scott's pleas to remain with the Union; his rise up the rebel chain of command from early victories to the Gettysburg defeat and subsequent military disasters; and his surrender at Appomattox together with his later career as a college president. Embedded throughout this fine work are adroit comparisons between George Washington and Lee. The author's superb epilog traces the subsequent unsuccessful attempts to tie Lee to the Washington legacy and memorialize his life in stone, concluding: "Because Lee was the man who would not be Washington–every child born as lowly as Lincoln can dream of being a Washington. Because Lee could not have his own way, we might all have ours." VERDICT A seminal contribution of significant historiographical value. Recommended for Old South and Civil War scholars, Lee biography enthusiasts, a lay audience, and all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, 7/21/14.]—John Carver Edwards, formerly with Univ. of Georgia Libs.

Library Journal

2014-11-02
A romantic, rueful portrait of the Confederate general and the fatal decision that shut him out of history.Former White House speechwriter Horn finds Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) a deeply sympathetic American hero whom fortune seemed to have favored as heir to George Washington, if only Lee had thrown his lot with the Union rather than the South. That is certainly a steep qualifier, yet the author tracks Lee's rigorous antebellum loyalty to the Union, beginning with his father Harry's intrepid Revolutionary derring-do as captain of the light dragoons, gaining the nickname "Light-Horse" Lee and the admiration of fellow Virginian Gen. Washington, whose land speculations around the Potomac River spurred Harry to buy 500 acres. Although Harry ended up in debtors prison later in life and abandoned his surviving children from his second marriage in Alexandria, Harry "remained an apostle for Washington's glory" and coined the memorable phrase at the great man's funeral: "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Hence, it was surely fate that brought West Point graduate Robert and his rich cousin Mary Custis together: She was the daughter of Washington's adopted son who had built the showy Arlington mansion atop Alexandria's hills overlooking the capital city. Subsequently, Arlington would be the only home in Virginia the peripatetic soldier Robert would know until the Civil War, and with the death of his in-laws and the growing debility of his spoiled wife, he was entrusted with its care. In somewhat melodramatic fashion, Horn builds Lee's great tragedy around this idyllic Arlington inheritance, peopled by slaves he couldn't quite free, according to his father-in-law's dying wishes. Lee's tortured decision to resign from the Union Army rather than fight against his home state resulted in the loss of his homestead; ironically, it would become a national cemetery for the young men he sent to their deaths. Compelling research within an overwrought presentation.

Kirkus Reviews

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