Born: January 19, 1807
Died: April 5, 1964
Place of Birth: Stratford, Virginia
Military University: West Point
Wars Fought:
-Mexican War
-Civil War
Civil War:
Robert E. Lee is considered by most authorities to have been the Confederacy's best general. Lee's personal conflict over what he should do when the Civil War broke out has been well documented. Offered command of the Union army, he chose instead to side with his native state. After serving in western Virginia and South Carolina during the first year of the war, Lee was called to Richmond in March 1862 and became Davis' top military adviser. When Joseph E. Johnston was wounded that May, Davis asked Lee to assume command of what was coming to be known as the Army of Northern Virginia.

Throughout the final year of the war, Lee dueled U. S. Grant across eastern Virginia, with Grant laying siege to Petersburg in the fall and winter of 1864-65. When Grant finally broke through in April 1865, Lee was forced to abandon Richmond and attempt to reorganize his army west of the capital. With the Federals in close pursuit and his men near starvation, Lee finally surrendered on April 9.

After the war Lee served as president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee) until his death. He apparently saw Davis only once more, when Davis was in Richmond in November 1867 for what was supposed to be the beginning of his trial.