Editing Robert E. Lee (section)

==Illness, death and funeral==
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| caption2 = ''Recumbent Statue'' at [[University Chapel]] in [[Lexington, Virginia]], a statue of Lee asleep on the battlefield
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On September 28, 1870, Lee suffered a [[stroke]]. Two weeks later, shortly after 9 a.m. on October 12, 1870, Lee died in [[Lexington, Virginia]], from [[pneumonia]]. According to one account, Lee's last words the day of his death were, "Tell [[A. P. Hill|Hill]] he ''must'' come up! Strike the tent",<ref name="WallensteinWyatt-Brown2005">{{cite book|author=Michael Fellman|editor1=Peter Wallenstein|editor2=Bertram Wyatt-Brown|title=Virginia's Civil War|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ma-XQ2KqkyIC&pg=PA19|year=2005|publisher=University of Virginia Press|isbn=978-0-8139-2315-4|page=19|chapter=Robert E. Lee: Myth and Man }}</ref> but this is not fully confirmed because there are conflicting accounts and because Lee's stroke had resulted in [[aphasia]], possibly rendering him unable to speak.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Southerland|first=Andrew|date=April 8, 2014|title=Robert E. Lee's Last Stand: His Dying Words and the Stroke That Killed Him. (P1.294)|url=http://n.neurology.org/content/82/10_Supplement/P1.294|journal=Neurology|volume=82|issue=10 Supplement|pages=P1.294|doi=10.1212/WNL.82.10_supplement.P1.294|s2cid=58575789|issn=0028-3878|access-date=January 17, 2018|archive-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918063814/https://n.neurology.org/content/82/10_Supplement/P1.294|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At first no suitable coffin for the body could be located. The muddy roads were too flooded for anyone to get in or out of the town of Lexington. An undertaker had ordered three from Richmond that had reached Lexington, but due to unprecedented flooding from long-continued heavy rains, the caskets were washed down the [[Maury River]]. Two neighborhood boys, C.G. Chittum and Robert E. Hillis, found one of the coffins that had been swept ashore. Undamaged, it was used for the body, though it was a bit short for him. As a result, Lee was buried without shoes.<ref>{{harvnb|Freeman|1934|p=526}}.</ref> 

The honor guard of [[Virginia Military Institute]] guarded Lee's body overnight at [[University Chapel]] at [[Washington and Lee University]].<ref>[https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/lee-chapel/ University Chapel & Chapel Galleries] ''Encyclopedia Virginia'', retrieved November 17, 2024</ref> His funeral took place in the morning of Saturday, October 15th. Attendees of the procession included officers and soldiers of the Confederate Army, cadets, faculty and visitors of VMI, students and faculty of Lee University, and Virginia state dignitaries. The Episcopal Church funeral service was led by [[William N. Pendleton|Rev. William Pendleton]]. Pallbearers included [[Francis T. Anderson|Judge Francis Anderson]], [[David E. Moore]], former [[Governor of Virginia]] [[John Letcher]], and [[Matthew Fontaine Maury|Commodore Matthew Maury]].<ref>Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 41, page 188</ref>

Lee was buried underneath the college chapel where his body remains.<ref name="WashingtonLee2020"/><ref name="Seidule2021">{{cite book|author=Ty Seidule|title=Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnLsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT55|year= 2021|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-250-23927-3|page=55}}</ref>