Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 - October 12, 1870) was
born at Stratford, in Westmoreland
County, Virginia, son of Revolutionary War hero Henry Lee ("Lighthorse
Harry"). Lee is best remembered in his role of commanding general of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Like Hannibal and Rommel, his victories against superior forces in a losing cause made him as famous
if not more famous than Ulysses Simpson Grant, the
general who defeated him.
Robert Edward Lee, commanding general of the Confederate forces in the American Civil War
Lee entered West Point in 1825. When
he graduated (second in his class of forty six) in 1829 he had not only attained the top
academic record but was the first cadet (and so far the only) to graduate the Academy without a single demerit. He was
commissioned as second lieutenant in the engineers.
Lee served for seventeen months at Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, Georgia. In
1831, he was transferred to Fort Monroe, Virginia, as assistant engineer. While he was stationed there, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis, the
great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. They lived in the
Custis mansion,
located on the banks of the Potomac River in Arlington, just across from Washington, D.C.. They eventually had three sons and four daughters.
Lee served as an assistant in the chief engineer's office in Washington from 1834 to
1837, but spent the summer of 1835 helping to lay out
the state line between Ohio and Michigan. In
1837, he got his first important command. As a first lieutenant of engineers, he supervised the engineering work for St. Louis harbour and for the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. His work there
earned him a promotion to captain. In 1841, he was transferred to Fort Hamilton in New York
harbour, where he took charge of building fortifications.
Lee distinguished himself in the Mexican War 1846-1848. He was one of Winfield Scott's chief aides in the
march from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. He was instrumental in several American victories by finding a route to attack the Mexicans which was not defended because the terrain was thought to be impassable.
He was promoted to Major after the battle of Cerro Gordo in April, 1847. He also fought
at Contreras, Cherubusco and Chapultepec, and was wounded at the latter. By the end of the war he had been promoted to
Lieutenant-Colonel.
After the Mexican War, he spent three years at Fort Carrol in Baltimore harbor then became the superintendent
of West Point in 1852. During his three
years at West Point, he improved the buildings, the courses, and spent a lot of time with the cadets.
In 1855, Lee became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Cavalry and was sent to the
Texas frontier. There he helped protect settlers from attacks by the Apache and the Comanche.
These were not happy years for Lee as he did not like to be away from his family for long periods of time, especially as his
wife was becoming increasingly ill. Lee came home to see her as often as he could.
He happened to be in Washington at the time of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West
Virginia) in 1859, and was sent there to arrest Brown and to restore order. He did this
very quickly and then returned to his regiment in Texas. When Texas seceded from the
Union in 1861, Lee was called to Washington, DC to wait for further orders.
On April 18, 1861, on the eve of the
American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, through Secretary Francis Blair, offered him command of the United States (Union)
Army. There was little doubt as to Lee's sentiments. He was opposed to secession.
However his loyalty to his native Virginia led him to join the Confederacy. At the outbreak of war he was appointed to command
all of Virginia's forces, and then as one of the first five full generals of Confederate forces. After commanding Confederate
forces in western Virginia, and then in charge of coastal defenses along the Carolina seaboards, he became military adviser to
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, whom he knew from West Point.
Following the wounding of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at the
battle of Seven Pines, on June 1, 1862, he received the command of the Army of Northern Virginia and soon launched a series of
attacks, the Seven Days Campaign against General George B. McClellan's Union forces threatening Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. After McClellan's
retreat, Lee defeated another Union army in the battle of Second Manassas. He then invaded Maryland, but retreated after evading destruction by McClellan's
superior force at Battle of Antietam. Disappointed by
McClellan's failure to destroy Lee's army, Lincoln named Ambrose
Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Burnside ordered an attack across the Rappahannock river at Fredericksburg. Delays in getting bridges built across the
river allowed Lee's army ample time to organize strong defenses, and the attack on December 12, 1862 was a disaster for the
Union. Lincoln then named Joseph Hooker commander of the Army of the
Potomac. Hooker's advance to attack Lee in May 1863 near Chancellorsville, Virginia was defeated by Lee and
Stonewall Jackson's daring plan to divide the army and attack
Hooker's flank. It was an enormous victory over a larger force, but came at a great cost as Jackson was fatally wounded.
Lee then proceeded to invade the North again, hoping for a Southern victory that would compel the North to grant Confederate
independence. But his attempts to attack the Union forces at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania failed. Lee was compelled to retreat again and, as after Antietam, was not
vigorously pursued. Following his defeat at Gettysburg, Lee sent a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis on August 8,
1863 but Davis refused Lee's request upon receipt.
In 1864, the new Union supreme commander Ulysses Grant sought to destroy Lee's army and capture Richmond. Lee and his men stopped each advance, but
Grant had courage and enough men to keep trying again a bit further to the east. These battles included the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Courthouse, and Cold Harbor. After stopping a Union attempt to capture Petersburg, Virginia, a vital railroad link supplying Richmond,
Lee's men built elaborate trenches and stayed on the same lines from June 1864 until April 1865.
On January 31, 1865, Lee was promoted
to be general-in-chief of Confederate forces. In early 1865, he urged adoption of a scheme to allow slaves to join the
Confederate army in exchange for their freedom. The scheme never came to fruition in the short time the Confederacy had left.
As the Confederate army was worn down by months of battle, a Union attempt to capture Petersburg on April 2, 1865 succeeded.
Lee abandoned the defense of Richmond and sought to join General Joseph Johnston's army in North Carolina. His forces were
surrounded by the Union army and he surrendered to General Grant on
April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
Following the war, Lee applied for, but was never granted, the official postwar amnesty. He and his wife had lived at his
wife's family home prior to the Civil War, the Custis-Lee
Mansion. It was confiscated by Union forces, and is today part of Arlington National Cemetery. Lee's example of applying for amnesty was an encouragement to many
other former Confederates to accept being citizens of the United States once again.
He served as president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia from October 2, 1865. Under his leadership, Washington College became one of the
first American colleges to offer courses in business, journalism and Spanish. He died in Lexington on October 12, 1870.
In 1975, Lee's full USA citizenship was restored posthumously by an act of the U.S.
Congress, following the discovery of his oath of allegiance by an employee of the National Archives
in 1970.
Quotes
- "There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and
political evil."
- "It is well that war is so terrible - otherwise we should grow too fond of it." (Battle of Fredericksburg, 13 Dec, 1862)
- "We must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed since the war began that I have not prayed for them."
(from "A Life of General Robert E. Lee", by J. E. Cooke)
- "My experience of men has neither disposed me to think worse of them, or indisposed me to serve them; nor in spite of
failures, which I lament, of errors which I now see and acknowledge; or of the present aspect of affairs; do I despair of the
future. The truth is this. The march of Providence is so slow, and our desires so impatient; the work of progress is so immense
and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to
hope."
- "My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable, abstinence
from spiritous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health."
- Lee's definition of a gentleman:
- "The forebearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain
advantages over others, is a test of a true gentleman. The power which the strong have over the weak, the magistrate over the
citizen, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever
over the silly; the forebearing and inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case
admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light. The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a
wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and
mildness of character, which imparts sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled
himself when he cannot help humbling others"
- Lee's views on admitting defeat and rejoining the United States, in a letter to former Virginia governor Letcher after the
war:
- "The questions which for years were in dispute between the State and General Government, and which unhappily were not decided
by the dictates of reason, but referred to the decision of war, having been decided against us, it is the part of wisdom to
acquiesce in the result, and of candor to recognize the fact.
- "The interests of the State are therefore the same as those of the United States. Its prosperity will rise or fall with the
welfare of the country. The duty of its citizens, then, appears to me too plain to admit of doubt. All should unite in honest
efforts to obliterate the effects of war, and to restore the blessings of peace. They should remain, if possible, in the country;
promote harmony and good feeling; qualify themselves to vote; and elect to the State and general Legislatures wise and patriotic
men, who will devote their abilities to the interests of the country, and the healing of all dissensions. I have invariably
recommended this course since the cessation of hostilities, and have endeavored to practice it myself."
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