Robert E Lee on Confederate memorials

To begin Union Victory Month, I choose to quote Robert E Lee on the subject of erecting memorials to the Confederacy: I think it wiser, moreover, not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered. Unfortunately his wishes were ignored, and he even himself became a popular subject of statuary.