The icon of the South to this day, Virginian Robert
E. Lee's mastery of military strategy allowed him to keep the Union
armies in Virginia at bay for almost three years. The son of
Revolutionary War hero "Light Horse" Harry Lee, attended
West Point and graduated second in his class. During his four years at
the military academy he did not earn a single demerit and served as
the cadet corps' adjutant. Upon his 1829 graduation he was posted to
the engineers. Before the Mexican War he served on engineering
projects in Georgia, Virginia, and New York. During the war he served
on the staffs of John Wool and Winfield Scott. Particularly
distinguishing himself scouting for and guiding troops, he won three
brevets and was slightly wounded at Chapultepec.
Following a stint in Baltimore Harbor he became
superintendent of the military academy in 1852.
General Robert E. Lee
When the mounted arm was expanded in 1855, Lee
accepted the lieutenant colonelcy of the 2nd Cavalry in order to
escape from the painfully slow promotion in the engineers. Ordered to
western Texas, he served with his regiment until the 1857 death of his
father-in-law forced him to ask for a series of leaves to settle the
estate.
In 1859 he was called upon
to lead a force of marines, to join with the militia on the scene, to
put an end to John Brown's Harper's Ferry Raid. Thereafter he served
again in Texas until summoned to Washington in 1861 by Winfield Scott
who tried to retain Lee in the U. S. service. But the Virginian
rejected the command of the Union's field forces on the day after
Virginia seceded. He then accepted an invitation to visit Governor
John Letcher in Virginia. His resignation as colonel, 1st Cavalry-to
which he had recently been promoted-was accepted on April 25, 1861.
His Southern assignments
included: major general, Virginia's land and naval forces (April 23,
1861); commanding Virginia forces (April 23 July 1861); brigadier
general, CSA (May 14, 186 1); general, CSA (from June 14, 186 1);
commanding Department of Northwestern Virginia (late July-October
1861); commanding Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
(November 8, 186 1-March 3, 1862); and commanding Army of Northern
Virginia June 1, 1862-April 9, 1865).
In charge of Virginia's
fledgling military might, he was mainly involved in organizational
matters. As a Confederate brigadier general, and later full general,
he was in charge of supervising all Southern forces in Virginia. In
the first summer of the war he was given his first field command in
western Virginia. His Cheat Mountain Campaign was a disappointing
fizzle largely due to the failings of his superiors. His entire tenure
in the region was unpleasant, dealing with the bickering of his
subordinates-William W. Loring, John B. Floyd, and Henry A. Wise.
After this he became known throughout the South as "Granny Lee.
" His debut in field command had not been promising, but
Jefferson Davis appointed him to command along the Southern Coast.
Early in 1862 he was
recalled to Richmond and made an advisor to the president. From this
position he had some influence over military operations, especially
those of Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. When Joseph E.
Johnston launched his attack at Seven Pines, Davis and Lee were taken
by surprise and rode out to the field. In the confusion of the fight
Johnston was badly wounded, and that night Davis instructed Lee to
take command of what he renamed the Army of Northern Virginia. He
fought the second day of the battle but the initiative had already
been lost the previous day. Later in the month, in a daring move, he
left a small force in front of Richmond and crossed the Chickahominy
to strike the one Union corps north of the river. In what was to be
called the Seven Days Battles the individual fights-Beaver Dam Creek,
Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, Glendale, White Oak Swamp, and Malvern
Hill-were all tactical defeats for the Confederates. But Lee had
achieved the strategic goal of removing McClellan's army from the very
gates of Richmond.
This created a new opinion
of Lee in the South. He gradually became "Uncle Robert" and
"Marse Robert." With McClellan neutralized, a new threat
developed under John Pope in northern Virginia. At first Lee detached
Jackson and then followed with Longstreet's command. Winning at 2nd
Bull Run, he moved on into Maryland but suffered the misfortune of
having a copy of his orders detailing the disposition of his divided
forces fall into the hands of the enemy. McClellan moved with unusual
speed and Lee was forced to fight a delaying action along South
Mountain while waiting for Jackson to complete the capture of Harpers
Ferry and rejoin him. He masterfully fought McClellan to a stand still
at Antietam and two days later recrossed the Potomac.
Near the end of the year he
won an easy victory over Burnside at Fredericksburg and then trounced
Hooker in his most creditable victory at Chancellorsville, where he
had detached Jackson with most of the army on a lengthy flank march
while he remained with only two divisions in the immediate front of
the Union army. Launching his second invasion of the North, he lost at
Gettysburg. On the third day of the battle he displayed one of his
major faults when at Malvern Hill and on other fields-he ordered a
massed infantry assault across a wide plain, not recognizing that the
rifle, which had come into use since the Mexican War, put the charging
troops under fire for too long a period. Another problem was his
issuance of general orders to be executed by his subordinates.
Returning to Virginia he
commanded in the inconclusive Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns. From the
Wilderness to Petersburg he fought a retiring campaign against Grant
in which he made full use of entrenchments, becoming known as
"Ace of Spades" Lee. Finally forced into a siege, he held on
to Richmond and Petersburg for nearly 10 months before beginning his
retreat to Appomattox, where he was forced to surrender. On January
23, 1865, he had been named as commander in chief of the Confederate
armies but he found himself too burdened in Virginia to give more than
general directives to the other theaters.
Lee returned to Richmond as
a paroled prisoner of war, and submitted with the utmost composure to
an altered destiny. He devoted the rest of his life to setting an
example of conduct for other thousands of ex-Confederates. He refused
a number of offers which would have secured substantial means for his
family. Instead, he assumed the presidency of Washington College (now
Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia, and his
reputation revitalized the school after the war. Lee's enormous
wartime prestige, both in the North and South, and the devotion
inspired by his unconscious symbolism of the "Lost Cause"
made his a legendary figure even before his death. He died on October
12 1870, of heart disease which had plagued him since the spring of
1863, at Lexington, Va. and is buried there. Somehow, his application
for restoration of citizenship was mislaid, and it was not until the
1970's that it was found and granted.
Source: "Who Was Who In The Civil War" by Stewart Sifakis
In recent years many have sought to
vilify Robert E. Lee. Unfortunately, his name has become
associated with intolerance, racism and hatred. We invite you to
visit our historical sites listed at left to develop a deeper and more
accurate understanding of Lee. He opposed slavery, aggressively
advocated the emancipation of southern slaves, and even their
recruitment into his army. He opposed the war, and was a gentle
and kind man. He would have never chosen to associate himself with
some of the causes that he has become the icon for.