Confederate leaders became focal points of the Lost Cause after the war whether viewed in religious or heroic sense. W. Stuart Towns writes, “Lost Cause orators consistently lifted high the reputations of Confederate military leaders.” Supporters of the Lost Cause and historians often share one figure when discussing the Lost Cause and it is Robert E. Lee. Lee may not have wanted the notoriety after the Civil War, but there was little he could do as he became the embodiment of the Confederacy and the Lost Cause. Desjardin considers Lee to be the Greek heroic figure who becomes the godlike figure for the South accented by his virtuous ways. Desjardin writes, “Lee was elevated in postwar literature to a height that no mortal could ever possibly
