CSA apologists often claim that Robert E. Lee had done many honourable and chivalrous deeds. Some claim that even though he was a slaveholder, he was still a lot more decent than other slaveholders. Others claim that he was such an excellent military leader that he managed to fight on for so long despite the Confederacy's glaring logistical disadvantage.

Whether or not these claims are true, where does it come from? Was he really that exemplary? And is there a reason why no one on the Union side has a similar reputation?