I am reminded of a quote by a former slave who knew Lee well during the slave era: "Lee was the meanest man I ever knew". Lee drove his men mercilessly long after he should have surrendered to superior numbers and armaments. They marched, shoeless, covered with vermin, and starving in the final months of the war. Was he blind? No. Just mean, and so caught up in making his own legend that he chose not to see the suffering all around him.