Closer look at General Orders No. 9 Lee's farewell address

Part 7 of the week-long series of features on the 150th anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. General Orders No. 9 was Robert E. Lee's farewell address to his soldiers.
The document was written April 10, 1865, following Lee's surrender to Grant at the McLean house.
There are signed copies of the address written by Lee's aides in public and private collections. But there is only one original copy of the orders in Lee's own handwriting. It was his personal copy and is now part of the special collection library at Washington and Lee University.
Historians are still drawing their own conclusion as to draft's true meaning.
Special thanks historians to Ed Ayers, Gary Gallagher, H.W. Brands, Elizabeth Veron, Richard Brookhiser, Lucas Morel, and Tom Camden.
Also thanks to Appomattox Court House National Park Ranger Ernest Price and Sara Duke and Michelle Krowl at the Library of Congress.

[@TheByteknight]

Not sure what else Lee could have told his men. You couldn't have expected him to tell his troops that they lost b/c their opponents were better soldiers than they were. They really lost because of Grant's death grip. Instead of retreating after a loss like every other Union general did, he kept going from the Wilderness onward wearing out the South through attrition.

[@outdoorlife5396]

Imagine if Lee had of taken the Federal Army, how short the war would have bee

[@HugsBach]

Pity that there really wasn't any decent time for me or others to read the entire General Order, No. 9.

[@scasey1960]

The start of the “lost cause” narrative

[@sladebag]

just more people putting wrong words and misinterpreting what this letter meant. Lee wanted his soldiers to go home and become good American citizens again.