The Man in Gray

At Arlington, the first dance is about to begin when Sam hushes the room: Colonel Robert E. Lee and his wife will lead the set. Beyond the candlelit ballroom, Congress is arguing over slavery—and a book has brought the quarrel to Lee’s door.

Across the river from Washington, a festive ball brings together cadets, families, and young admirers in a grand Virginia home. But while the guests dance, Congressman Roger A. Pryor urges Lee to answer Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, warning that its appeal could inflame a nation already divided over slavery. Lee dislikes controversy, yet he cannot ignore the danger Pryor describes—or the challenge now laid before him. As music fills the hall and political tensions gather outside it, what will the man in gray say?

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