Robert E. Lee -- American Experience

From the press release: "One of a handful of Civil War generals with the imagination to conceive a grand military strategy, he had the focus to plan a large campaign to the smallest detail and the energy to drive it. Yet he was the bloodiest general in United States history (even more casualties than Patton). He inspired the unquestioned loyalty of the men who fought beneath him, but drove his soldiers beyond the logistical capacity they could muster. It was this fervent belief in the abilities of his men to fight and win against all odds that wore down his army."

From Stone Mountain to the campus of Washington and Lee University, his admirers have erected statues by the score to honor their fallen commander.  The glory he desired in life finally attached itself to him in death.

PBS will air the premiere of American Experience's Robert E. Lee on January 3, 2011 at 9:00 PM EST.

The press release touts American Experience as "television's most-watched history series" and it has been been called "peerless" by the Wall Street Journal .

"the most consistently enriching program on television" -- Chicago Tribune

"a beacon of intelligence and purpose" -- Houston Chronicle

Elizabeth Brown Pryor, diplomat and historian wrote a book about Lee that won a distinguished prize.  The book, Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee through his Private Letters , won the Lincoln Prize which is  awarded annually for the finest scholarly work in English on Abraham Lincoln, or the American Civil War soldier by the Gettysburg College.

Pryor was one of more than a half dozen scholarly participants in this production offering their knowledge and expertise.  She comments on the aging effects of war as illustrated in the two images below.