information:extraction, information:classification, linguistic:paraphrasing
Illness and death

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 Hill he must come up! Strike the tent", 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.

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. He was buried underneath the college chapel now known as University Chapel at Washington and Lee University, where his body remains.