>>17903504
>>17903854
He was still a Virginian and from a slaveholding family (although he personally disliked it). He'd agonize over it for sure, but Robert E. Lee was in the same boat himself. If anything, Lee was arguably even more inclined to side with the Union because he privately denounced secession even harder than he did slavery, but when Virginia left the Union, he couldn't bear the thought of having to fight against his own neighbors and family.