Did Lee Whip His Slaves?

Notwithstanding currently popular interpretations, there is no convincing evidence that Robert E. Lee ever whipped slaves. The argument that he ordered the flogging of three runaways in 1859 took on a new life after Elizabeth Brown Pryor published Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters in 2007. Contrary to her implications, she provides no new evidence regarding accusations made by runaway slave Wesley Norris, which were soon publicized in 1859 by two anonymous letters to The New York Tribune and later in an 1866 article obtained “from the lips of Wesley Norris” in The National-Anti Slavery Standard.

Lee owned no slaves at the time but after his father-in-law died in 1857, he became executor of the estate that included two hundred slaves at three Virginia locations: Arlington House, Romancoke and White House Plantation. Although the will stipulated that the slaves were to be freed, it also gave Lee up to five years to release them, partly to comply with Virginia law that required they not be let loose into vagrancy.  The properties were also in debt, unprofitable and needed repairs. Finally, the will required that Lee’s daughters be given legacies of $10,000 each, which meant that the properties either become profitable or sold to raise the cash.

Lee decided to work the properties before freeing the slaves. Since there were far more slaves than required at Arlington House, he rented some out. As events transpired, Lee complied with the five-year limit in January 1863 when he freed the slaves.

As might be expected, some slaves had misunderstood that they were to be freed immediately after the master’s death, which they typically based upon conversations with Lee’s father-in-law before he died. In response, Lee pointed critics to the court documents that revealed the five-year limit. Nonetheless, Wesley Norris and two other Arlington slaves set out for Pennsylvania where they hoped to live as presumptive free blacks. All were caught and returned. Norris left with his sister Mary and their cousin, George Parks. When the three were recaptured, Norris claimed that all were whipped.

Notwithstanding Lee denied the incident, author Pryor believed Norris’s story because she said particulars of the narrative “ring true.” Pryor, for example, believes that Norris’ accurate recall of his whereabout at specific times validate the story. But the fact that Norris was recaptured and returned to Arlington on the date that he alleges the whipping occurred is no proof of an actual whipping. Finally, it should be noted that The New York Tribune had long advocated for abolition.

In truth, there’s better evidence that Lee believed slaves should be well treated. The following excerpted letter suggests that he had friendly relations with the Arlington slaves. After the Civil War Lee was required to testify before a Senate committee in February 1866. While in Washington, one of the former Arlington slaves stopped by his hotel while he was out. The visitor was Amanda Parks, the sister of George Parks, who was one of the three Arlington slaves allegedly whipped in 1859. If George had been whipped under Lee’s supervision it seems unlikely that Amanda would want to visit with him. Yet it appears that Lee and Amanda had a friendly relationship. After Lee returned to his Lexington home, he wrote Amanda as follows:

LEXINGTON, Virginia, March 9, 1866.

AMANDA PARKS

I have received your letter of February 27th and regret very much that I did not see you when I was in Washington. I heard on returning to my room, Sunday night, that you had been to see me; and I was sorry to have missed you, for I wished to learn how you were, and how all the people from Arlington were getting on in the world. My interest in them is as great now as it ever was, and I sincerely wish for their happiness and prosperity…

I do not know why you should ask if I am angry with you. I am not aware of your having done anything to give me offense, and I hope you would not say or do anything that was wrong. While you lived at Arlington you behaved very well and were attentive and faithful to your duties. I hope you will always conduct yourself in the same manner.

Wishing you health, happiness, and success in life, I am truly,

R. E. LEE.

If it were true that Lee gave George Parks 39 lashes seven years earlier it seems improbable that Amanda would seek a friendly visit. Yet his letter implies that he felt Amanda’s intentions were friendly. The very fact that he wrote to her also shows respect for her as a human being and reveals the dignity he typically showed toward others by default.

Additionally, while Robert, Jr. was working his own properties the General advised his son to manage the Romancoke slaves with kindness: ”attend to them and give them every aid and comfort in your power and they will be happier.” After lamenting an arson fire at a neighbor’s farm, Lee counseled, “I trust you will so gain the affection of your people that they will not wish to do you harm.” Earlier, as a young man, after he inherited slaves from his mother Lee took one with him on duty to Savannah. It was an elderly personal servant in ill health who the Lee’s thought would do better in a warmer climate. He eventually died while Lee was on duty and is buried along the Savannah River.

The views expressed at AbbevilleInstitute.org are not necessarily the views of the Abbeville Institute.

Philip Leigh

Philip Leigh contributed twenty-four articles to The New York Times Disunion blog, which commemorated the Civil War Sesquicentennial. He is the author of U.S. Grant's Failed Presidency, Southern Reconstruction (2017), Lee’s Lost Dispatch and Other Civil War Controversies (2015), and Trading With the Enemy (2014). Phil has lectured a various Civil War forums, including the 23rd Annual Sarasota Conference of the Civil War Education Association and various Civil War Roundtables. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology and an MBA from Northwestern University.

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