Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807 in Stafford, Virginia. The

son of Lighthorse Harry Lee and was educated at the U.S. Military academy.

In 1829 he graduated second in his class receiving a commission as

second lieutenant in 1836 and captain in 1838. He distinguished himself in the

Mexican War and was wounded in the storming of Chapultepec in 1847; for his

meritorious service he received his third promotion in rank.

He became superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy and later

appointed colonel of calvery. He was in command of the Department of Texas in

1860 and early the following year was summoned to Washington, D.C., when war

between the states seemed imminent.

President Abraham Lincoln offered him the field of command of the Union

forces but Lee refused. On April, 20 when Virginia succeeded from the Union, he

submitted his resignation of the U.S. Army.

On April 23 he became commander in chief of the military and naval

forces of Virginia. For a year he was military adviser to Jefferson Davis,

president of the Confederate States of America, and was then placed in command

of the Army in northern Virginia.

In February 1865 Lee was made commander in chief of all Confederate

armies; two months later the war was virtually ended by his surrender to General

Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.

The masterly strategy of Lee was overcome only by the superior resources

and troop str...