At the end of the war, Virginia was in a devastated condition: private property as well as public property had in many cases been completely destroyed by fire or by ammunition. Practically all the livestock had been carried away. Family members had been decreased in number, and disease and starvation conditions were common throughout the state. Politically, economically, geographically, historically and socially, the South had been affected: Virginia, in the heart of the most severe battleground area, seemed to base its existence for the future upon the "survival of the fittest" theory. _The Reconstruction Period and Its Aftermath_ Returning Virginia soldiers found some houses completely destroyed and large sections of land completely laid to waste. With little, if any, livestock left and with farm tools missing, the serious problem of reconstruction and rehabilitation can be easily understood. Railroad tracks and bridges had been demolished; transportation facilities in some areas were almost non-existent. Even fences, so important to livestock raising, had been entirely demolished in most instances. So hopeless did a recovery appear to many Virginians that a few men proposed migration to Mexico rather than to start anew with such poor living conditions. General Robert E. Lee still showed his leadership qualities when he beseeched several Virginians, including Matthew Fontaine Maury, the brilliant marine cartographer, not to abandon Virginia when the state needed all her sons so badly. Maury was so impressed by the plea of Robert E. Lee that he rejected offers of employment from foreign countries which were familiar with his broad, oceanographic knowledge. Instead, he accepted the chairmanship of the Meteorology Department of the Virginia Military Institute. Robert E. Lee, himself, had been offered various employment opportunities but the honor which he deemed the highest of all was the position offered to him as President of Washington College at Lexington. Lee's financial gain from this position was to be a sum of $1500 per year plus a house and a garden. He humbly accepted the position and was allowed to keep his faithful horse, "Traveler," with him in a stable built adjacent to the President's house. From September 1865 until October 1870, Robert E. Lee served as President of Washington College.