Editor, Gazette-Journal:

In the late 1980s, a daily newspaper printed an article written by Paul Greenberg, titled “Like the fertile land he fought for, Robert E. Lee still sustains us.” I quote some of the article:

“Even to his contemporaries he appeared archaic. Far from being a nationalist, he was not even sectionalist; he thought of his country as Virginia. Offered the leadership of the most powerful force ever assembled on this continent, he chose instead to accept the command of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was as untouched by the frenzy of secession as he would be later by the bitterness of defeat. Except on the field of battle his standards appeared quaint, which is how the classical always appears in romantic times.

“Chambersburg was the spot where General Lee paused on the way to Gettysburg. His forces were moving on the offensive. Already reports had reached Lee’s soldiers of the marauding tactics being used against the homes they had le...