Factcheck. org, robert e lee quotes,"there is a terrible war coming, and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait for it to happen, but i tell you, i wish that i owned every slave in the south, for i would free them all to avoid this war."

There was a discussion about the origin of this source whether if it was really said by Robert Lee.

Based on the given source, John Leyburn expressed some of Lee's sentiments. He said that this was a misquote. Lee intended to say that he was happy to see that finally slavery was abolished. This is one of his objectives.

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6w6d8v/did_robert_e_lee_ever_say_about_the_civil_war/