Editing Charles Lee (general) (section)

==Legacy==
Lee considered Native Americans as fitting the model of the [[noble savage]], as did others of his time, including his friend [[Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet]]. Describing them as "hospitable, friendly and civil to an immense degree", Lee wrote letters home to his family and friends, urging them to educate themselves on the truth against the media's false reports on the Natives: "I can assure you that they are a much better sort of people than commonly represented".<ref>Papas, [{{GBurl|bx7qAgAAQBAJ|p=37}} pp. 37-38].</ref>

Lee's last home, Prato Rio, still exists, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A historical marker indicates General Lee's service. Much of the adjoining property, which has many natural springs, has been federally owned since 1931, and is currently operated by the [[U.S. Geological Survey]] as the Leetown Science Center (formerly the National Fish Hatchery and Research Station), as well as the federal agency's eastern regional office.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.usgs.gov/centers/lsc/about/history-leetown-science-center | title=History of the Leetown Science Center &#124; U.S. Geological Survey }}</ref>

[[Fort Lee, New Jersey]], on the west side of the [[Hudson River]] (across the water from [[Fort Washington (New York)|Fort Washington, New York]]), was named for him during his life. [[Lee, Massachusetts]]; [[Lee, New Hampshire]]; and [[Leetown, West Virginia]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Kenny|first=Hamill|title=West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009099824;view=1up;seq=394;size=125|year=1945|publisher=The Place Name Press|location=Piedmont, WV|page=366}}</ref> were also named for him.

Lee's place in history was further tarnished in the 1850s when [[George Henry Moore (author)|George H. Moore]], the librarian at the [[New-York Historical Society]], discovered a manuscript dated 29 March 1777, written by Lee while he was a British prisoner of war. It was addressed to the "Royal Commissioners", i.e., [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Richard Howe, later 1st Earl Howe]], and Richard's brother, Sir [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe, later 5th Viscount Howe]], respectively the British naval and army commanders in North America at the time, and detailed a plan by which the British might defeat the rebellion. Moore's discovery, presented in a paper titled "The Treason of Charles Lee" in 1858, influenced perceptions of Lee for decades.<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 pp. 111–112</ref> Lee's infamy became orthodoxy in such 19th-century works as [[Washington Irving]]'s ''Life of George Washington'' (1855–1859), [[George Washington Parke Custis]]'s ''Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington'' (1861) and [[George Bancroft]]'s ''History of the United States of America, from the Discovery of the American Continent'' (1854–1878).<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 p. 431</ref> Although most modern scholars reject the idea that Lee was guilty of treason, it is given credence in some accounts, examples being [[Willard Sterne Randall]]'s account of the Battle of Monmouth in ''George Washington: A Life'' (1997), and Dominick Mazzagetti's ''Charles Lee: Self Before Country'' (2013).<ref>Lender & Stone 2016 p. 112</ref><ref>Randall 1997 p. 358</ref><ref>Mazzagetti 2013 p. xi</ref>