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President Abraham Lincoln wanted Robert E. Lee to command the Union troops. Lee was a great soldier and military leader.

But, being born and raised in the state of Virginia, Lee could not accept Lincoln's offer. Although Robert E. Lee never wanted a Civil War, or for the nation to divide, he felt a loyalty to his Southern Homeland.

Lincoln admired Lee's decision, but, Lincoln also knew that without Lee on the Union's side it would be a long and bloody war.

If Robert E. Lee had fought with the Union, there may have not been an American Civil War, or a very short war, that would have not caused as much destruction, pain, suffering, and death as the actual war that had to be fought.

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15y ago

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