Robert Edward Lee, Postbellum (National Cyclopedia)

He considered that his own life, so far as it related to public affairs, had ended in 1865, and that the exposition of the war and of his own part in it, must be left to history. But, although silent, he was conscious that from the hour when he assumed command of the army of northern Virginia up to the moment when he laid it down, he could not fairly be said to have lost a single battle. H declined offers to become president of corporations and business associations and of several institutions of learning, but finally accepted the presidency of Washington College, Lexington, Va. (now Washington and Lee University), and was inaugurated Oct. 2, 1865. He brought the college from a condition of almost hopeless ruin to one of great prosperity, and impressed his own nobility of character upon every detail of its life and thought.