https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/h0stzi/did_robert_e_lee_really_join_the_confederates/ This thread contains answers by /u/secessionisillegal, /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov and /u/chadtr5 on the record of Lee's stated motivations as to joining the Confederacy and then the record that complicates his supposed motivation of loyalty to Virginia and suggests he always preferred the Confederate cause, as well as a breakdown of why these claims are made and what's actually being said.