The Legacy

Robert E. Lee’s leadership in the Civil War still arouses debate, yet his
presidency of Washington College stands as a genuinely constructive contribution to the nation.

Honor and Civility

The mid-1800s saw the development of honor systems at many colleges. Lee replaced the elaborate disciplinary rules of Washington College by a single standard: “Every student must be a gentleman.” He intended for the young men under his charge to acquire a sense of responsibility based on truth, honor, and courtesy. Lee also placed a premium on civility and spoke to each student as he passed him on campus, encouraging by his example the same show of respect between students.

Today’s honor system, administered by students, has been a unique feature of Washington and Lee University for well over a century. It is based on the fundamental principle of mutual trust among students, faculty, and staff that students attending Washington and Lee will not lie, cheat, steal, or otherwise act dishonorably. With the rule of civility, exemplified by the W&L “speaking tradition,” Lee’s legacy of honor continues to permeate academic and social life at Washington and Lee University and serves as a model nationwide.

Educational Vision
“He found it a college, and left it a university . . . ”
—Professor C. A. Graves, University of Virginia centennial celebration of Lee’s birth, 1907

Robert E. Lee’s educational vision, although interrupted by funding constraints and no longer at the forefront of innovation by the 1870s, was fulfilled in part in the early 20th century, as economic conditions and philanthropic opportunities improved. The W&L School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics was established in 1906, and the department of journalism was finally established in 1925. The W&L School of Law, which Lee incorporated into Washington College in 1869, has become one of the top 25 law schools in the country.

Campus Construction

As an experienced military engineer, Robert E. Lee immediately and intensely became involved with renewing the war-worn campus of Washington College according to the latest contemporary picturesque style, both in architecture and landscaping. Out of concern for the health of his students (often the veterans of combat), he planted trees and laid out walkways to encourage exercise on campus. Many of these improvements still exist.

The President’s House

Robert E. Lee and his family first lived in a small house on campus built in 1842 by the ninth president of Washington College, Henry Ruffner. His successor, George Junkin, also lived there until the Civil War with his family, including his son-in-law Thomas J. (later “Stonewall”) Jackson.

In 1868, the trustees directed Lee to build a new president’s house, to better accommodate his family. Completed in late May 1869, the new president’s house reflected Lee’s progressive ideas in its contemporary Italianate style.
C. W. Oltmanns, an architectural modeler at the Virginia Military Institute,
based the Lees’ home on a pattern in John Ritch’s 1852 American Architect. Its modern features, including central heat and cistern-fed running water, reflected the comfort the Lees had enjoyed at Arlington. Lee added a wide porch so that his arthritic wife could view the campus from her wheelchair.

A covered breezeway connected the house to a new stable for Traveller, and Lee wrote to a friend that he liked living “under the same roof” as his beloved horse.

Traveller

“Traveller is my only companion . . . He and I . . . wander out in the mountains and enjoy sweet confidence.”
—Robert E. Lee, writing to his daughter Mildred, October 1865

Lee purchased Traveller, an American Saddlebred, from Captain Joseph M. Broun in 1861. Lee owned several horses, but Traveller—nearly 16 hands high—was his favorite, and he rode him throughout the Civil War. Traveller died of tetanus in the summer of 1871 and was buried along Woods Creek at the edge of the campus.

Traveller’s bones were exhumed about 1875 and by 1912 were displayed in the university’s natural history museum in Robinson Hall. A history museum that opened in Lee Chapel in 1928 continued to exhibit Traveller’s skeleton until the 1960s. His remains were reburied in 1971, outside the Chapel’s side door, near the Lee family crypt.

The doors of the stable at the president’s house (now called the Lee House) still remain open by tradition to let the spirit of Traveller “roam free.”

Lee Chapel

At Robert E. Lee’s request, construction began in 1867 on a new college chapel, which was completed in time for 1868 graduation exercises. The lower level included administrative offices and a student center, which became the college library in 1869 and a museum in 1928, built upon a collection of paintings and objects donated to W&L by the Lee family. Today, the lower level gallery presents the exhibition Not Unmindful of the Future: Educating to Build and Rebuild a Nation. The upper level “audience room” remains Washington and Lee University’s largest auditorium, where most major academic events take place.

In 1883, a two-story addition to the chapel was completed. Upstairs, a chamber houses Edward Valentine’s Recumbent Lee, commissioned by the Lee Memorial Association in 1870. The Lee family crypt, in which Robert E. Lee’s remains were interred in 1883, is downstairs.

ˆ Back to Top