it's _the_ Robert E. Lee in the song. That's a _ship_ (a riverboat), not a Southern General that the song is referring to.
As for being nostalgic about Dixie, you have to admit that there were working-class Southern Whites who suffered when their states were (justifiably) smashed even though they themselves didn't own slaves. People defend "their" countries for lots of reasons without being complicit with the crimes of their leaders and their ruling classes.
Similarly, I don't think that pro-Bush USians are necessarily complicit with his crimes.
-- Jim Devine "The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side." -- James Baldwin