What had been seen as a chapel with Lee’s remains now became a shrine in its own right. While Lee did not design the building, he received credit anyway. The building became, as one postcard described it, “the Westminster Abbey of the Confederacy,” infused with the godlike cult of Lee. After several years of fighting, Smith conceded defeat. The Lexington women won, and the small chapel became, as they called it, “the Holy Shrine.”64
