There’s more material about General Robert E. Lee than a person could read in a lifetime. However, there was a Confederate captain named Robert J. “Bob” Lee who kept his personal war going for nearly half a decade after the Civil War ended who is barely known outside Texas.
When the war broke out, Lee left his family and served in the 9th Texas Cavalry with other local men and his brothers. Two of them were killed and one disabled for life from injuries suffered, but despite seeing a lot of combat, Bob made it out relatively unscathed. At one point, he served under Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Instead of surrendering, he rode home to Texas, where he’d heard rumors that there was trouble. The Union League has been established to protect recently freed blacks and Union sympathizers in the Pilot Grove area near Lee’s home.
The Union League was headed by Lewis Peacock. Peacock immediately considered Lee a threat to his power and set up a scheme to take care of him. Lee, who arrived home on his fine horse and in contrast to most Confederate soldiers, a “fancy” uniform. Most of Peacock’s supporters were men who wouldn’t be associated with the word “peace officer.”
Peacock was furious that Lee seemed to have plenty of money and was unrepentant of his rebel ways. The Lees had kept their money in gold coins instead of CSA dollars and they had plenty of it. Peacock arrested Lee for “war crimes” and with an armed group of men set to reach Gen. Bill Sherman’s camp 30 miles away. They caught Lee sick in bed and took his pistols, claiming that he had killed two Union soldiers in a dance hall in Louisiana where he’d gone to sell horses right after the war.
On the ride, Peacock offered to get the charges dropped for $2,000. Lee didn’t see a lot of options and handed over $40 and a gold watch and signed a promissory note for the rest. After being released, Lee went home, refused to pay the note, and took Peacock to court on charges of kidnapping and extortion. He won and the Lee-Peacock Feud began.
In February of 1867, Lee ran into two of the Union League men who had been part of the kidnapping. The men offered Lee a gun and wanted to “settle things” then and there. Lee turned and walked away and one of the men shot him. Friends got him to a doctor who removed the bullet. The military court set aside any charges against the Union League men.
While Lee was recuperating at the doctor’s house, one of Peacock’s men arrived and shot and killed the doctor. It wasn’t long after that the assassin was himself killed. More of the kidnappers were killed and even Peacock was wounded. The Union League called for help and bounty hunters came looking for Lee when a $1,000 price was put on his head. Three from Kansas were found shot to death not long after arriving.
Lee went into hiding with some of his men and the price eventually reached $10,000 and several bounty hunters found themselves dead trying to collect. Every time the U.S. Army tried to intervene, locals tipped off Lee or his men who stayed in an area called Wildcat Thicket.
The money got to be too much and finally, a man named Henry Bowen [or Boren] sold Lee out to a U.S. Cavalry who ambushed and killed Lee. Some sources say Lee was loaded with supplies and gold and headed for Mexico. Not long after, Bowen was killed by his own nephew, a Lee supporter, who later was said to have commented that he “paroled his uncle to Jesus.”
The feud cooled and Lee’s men scattered and some were pursued. However, the matter was not resolved until June of 1871 when one of Lee’s lieutenants showed up in Pilot Grove looking for Peacock, who was lying low at his house. One day when he went out on the porch to get cooking wood, he was shot and killed and the lieutenant was never seen again.
The last casualty was Daniel Lee, Bob’s father, who was murdered riding back from the town of Bonham to Pilot Grove. Authorities listed it as an attempted robbery, but most locals did not believe it.
Sources:
Atnip, Ronnie. “Bob Lee During Reconstruction.” ntxe-news.com.
Ayres, Thomas. “The Rebel Who Refused to Surrender.” That’s Not in My American History Book.
“The Lee-Peacock Feud — Civil War Continues in Northeast Texas.” legendsofamerica.com