Robert Edward Lee
January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870 (aged 63)
Robert Edward Lee
Place of birth	Stratford Hall, Virginia
Place of death	Lexington, Virginia
Allegiance	United States of America Confederate States of America
Years of service	1829–61 (USA) 1861–65 (CSA)
Rank	Colonel (USA) General (CSA)
Commands held	Army of Northern Virginia
Battles/wars	Mexican-American War American Civil War
Other work	President of Washington and Lee University

Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a career United States Army officer, an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history. Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. Year 1807 ( MDCCCVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County Virginia, United States, was the home of four generations of the Lee family of Virginia including two Lexington is an Independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861 Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington Virginia, USA Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. Year 1807 ( MDCCCVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. An officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering. Lee was the son of Major General Henry Lee III "Light Horse Harry" (1756–1818), Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter (1773–1829). Major General or Major-General is a Military rank used in many countries Henry Lee III called "Light Horse Harry", ( January 29 1756 – March 25 1818) was a Cavalry officer in The Governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term He was a descendant of Sir Thomas More and of King Robert II of Scotland through the Earls of Crawford. Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535 from 1935 Saint Thomas More, was an English Lawyer, author and statesman who in his lifetime gained Marriages and issue His first wife was Elizabeth Mure, by her he had at least ten children King Robert III of Scotland The title Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in the British Isles, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay ^[1] A top graduate of West Point, Lee distinguished himself as an exceptional soldier in the U. "USMA" redirects here For other uses see USMA (disambiguation The United States Military Academy (also known as USMA, S. Army for thirty-two years, during which time he fought in the Mexican-American War.

In early 1861, General Winfield Scott invited Lee to take command of the entire Union Army. Winfield Scott ( June 13, 1786 &ndash May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general Diplomat, and presidential candidate Lee declined because his home state of Virginia was seceding from the Union despite Lee's wishes. When Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state. During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three Lee's eventual role in the newly established Confederacy was to serve as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. The President of the Confederate States of America was the Head of State and Head of Government of the Confederate States of America, which was formed from Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Lee's first field command for the Confederate States came in June 1862 when he took command of the Confederate forces in the East (which Lee himself renamed the "Army of Northern Virginia"). The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.

Lee's greatest victories were the Seven Days Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville, but both of his campaigns to invade the North ended in failure. Start of the Peninsula Campaign Opposing forces See also [[Seven Days Confederate order of battle]] [[Seven Days Union order of battle]] Almost Background and opposing forces See also Northern Virginia Campaign See also [[Second Bull Run Confederate order of battle]] [[Confederate order of battle]] Background and Burnside's plan The battle was the result of an effort by the Union Army to regain the initiative in its struggle against Lee's smaller but more aggressive army Forces and plans The Chancellorsville campaign began with the potential of leading to one of the most lopsided clashes in the war Barely escaping defeat at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, Lee was forced to return to the South. In early July 1863, Lee was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. Background and movement to battle See also [[Gettysburg Campaign]] [[Gettysburg Battlefield]] [[Gettysburg Confederate order of battle]] [[Confederate order of battle]] The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern However, due to ineffectual pursuit by the commander of Union forces, Major General George Meade, Lee escaped again to Virginia. George Gordon Meade ( December 31, 1815 &ndash November 6, 1872) was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer involved

In the spring of 1864, the new Union commander, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, began a series of campaigns to wear down Lee's army. This article is about a United States military rank For other countries that use a similar rank see Lieutenant General. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States In the Overland Campaign of 1864 and the Siege of Petersburg in 1864–1865, Lee inflicted heavy casualties on Grant's larger army, but was unable to replace his own losses. The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865 In early April 1865, Lee's depleted forces were turned from their entrenchments near the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and he began a strategic retreat. This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lee's subsequent surrender at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865 represented the loss of only one of the remaining Confederate field armies, but it was a psychological blow from which the South could not recover. Background On April 1, 1865, Maj Gen Philip Sheridan 's Cavalry turned Lee's flank at the Battle of Five Forks. Events 193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans) Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year By June 1865, all of the remaining Confederate armies had capitulated.

Lee's victories against superior forces won him enduring fame as a crafty and daring battlefield tactician, but some of his strategic decisions, such as invading the North in 1862 and 1863, have been criticized by many military historians.

In the final months of the Civil War, as manpower reserves drained away, Lee adopted a plan to arm willing slaves to fight on behalf of the Confederacy, but this came too late to change the outcome of the war. Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia in 1607 and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth After Appomattox, Lee discouraged Southern dissenters from starting a guerrilla campaign to continue the war, and encouraged reconciliation between the North and South.

After the war, as a college president, Lee supported President Andrew Johnson's program of Reconstruction and inter-sectional friendship, while opposing the Radical Republican proposals to give freed slaves the vote and take the vote away from ex-Confederates. Andrew Johnson (December 29 1808 – July 31 1875 was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865-69 succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination The Radical Republicans is a term applied to a loose faction of American politicians within the Republican party from about 1854 (before the American Civil War He urged them to rethink their position between the North and South, and the reintegration of former Confederates into the nation's political life. Lee became the great Southern hero of the war, and his popularity grew in the North as well after his death in 1870. He remains an iconic figure of American military leadership.

Stained glass of Lee's life in the National Cathedral, depicting his time at West Point, his service in the Army Corps of Engineers, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and his death

Lee's father died when Lee was eleven years old, leaving the family deeply in debt. Washington National Cathedral, whose official name is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is a Cathedral of The Episcopal Church. When Lee was three years old his older half-brother, the heir to the Stratford Hall Plantation, having reached his majority, established Stratford as his home. The rest of the family moved to Alexandria, Virginia where Lee grew up in a series of relatives' houses. Alexandria is an Independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lee attended Alexandria Academy, where he obtained a classical education along the lines of quadrivium. The quadrivium comprised the four subjects or arts taught in Medieval universities after the trivium. Lee was considered a top student and excelled at mathematics. His mother, a devout Christian, oversaw his religious instruction at Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria.

He entered the United States Military Academy in 1825 and became the first cadet to achieve the rank of sergeant at the end of his first year. "USMA" redirects here For other uses see USMA (disambiguation The United States Military Academy (also known as USMA, When he graduated in 1829 he was at the head of his class in artillery and tactics, and shared the distinction with five other cadets of having received no demerits during the four-year course of instruction. Overall, he ranked second in his class of 46. ^[2] He was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. In the UK and US military brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a Commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily but usually without receiving The United States Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE) is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34600 Civilian and 650 Military personnel

Early life and career

Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the fifth child of Revolutionary War hero Henry Lee ("Light Horse Harry") and Anne Hill (née Carter) Lee. Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County Virginia, United States, was the home of four generations of the Lee family of Virginia including two Westmoreland County is a County located in the Northern Neck of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state in the United States. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" Henry Lee III called "Light Horse Harry", ( January 29 1756 – March 25 1818) was a Cavalry officer in Lee's parents were members of the Virginia gentry class and true tuckahoes. Gentry generally refers to people of high Social class, especially in the past Tuckahoe was a term used during the 18th and 19th centuries to describe a cultural group i Lee's paternal ancestors were among the earliest settlers in Virginia. The recorded History of Virginia began with settlement of the geographic region now known as the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States thousands of years ago His mother grew up at Shirley Plantation, one of the most elegant homes in Virginia. Shirley Plantation is an estate located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County Virginia. His maternal great-great-grandfather, Robert "King" Carter, was the wealthiest man in the colonies when he died in 1732. Robert Carter also known as King Carter (1663 &ndash August 4 1732 of Lancaster County was a Colonist in Virginia and became one of the The Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris (1783 recognized the "Light Horse Harry Lee" met severe financial reverses from failed investments. Historian Gary W. Gallagher wrote, "Harry Lee had not been able to exercise self-control or take care of his family, and so he abandoned them. " That was a stark lesson for young Robert E. Lee. "^[3] However, in Lee of Virginia it is noted that Harry Lee "was very seriously injured by a mob in Baltimore while attempting to defend the house of a friend. Later he made a voyage to the West Indies seeking restoration for his shattered health. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting On his way home . . . he died. . . "^[4] Lee of Virginia also notes ". . . in the West Indies, Henry Lee wrote a series of letters to his son, Carter. . . " later described by Robert E. Lee as "'Those letters of love and wisdom. '"^[5]

Engineering career

Lee served for just over seventeen months at Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, Georgia. Fort Pulaski National Monument is located between Savannah and Tybee Island Georgia. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule Though vaguely used nowadays,Cockspur islands original name was Cockanole before it was renamed by its new occupants. In 1831, he was transferred to Fort Monroe at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula and played a major role in the final construction of Fort Monroe and its opposite, Fort Calhoun. Fort Monroe (also known as Fortress Monroe) is a Hampton Virginia, military installation located at Old Point Comfort, which is on the tip of the The Virginia Peninsula is a Peninsula in southeast Virginia, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Fort Monroe was completely surrounded by a moat. A moat is deep broad Trench, usually filled with Water, that surrounds a structure installation or town normally to provide it with a preliminary line of Fort Calhoun, later renamed Fort Wool, was built on a man-made island across the navigational channel from Old Point Comfort in the middle of the mouth of Hampton Roads. Fort Wool (originally named Fort Calhoun was the companion to Fort Monroe in protecting Hampton Roads from seafaring threats Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the Independent city of Hampton at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water and the region of land areas which surround it in southeastern Virginia in the USA. When construction was completed in 1834, Fort Monroe was referred to as the "Gibraltar of Chesapeake Bay. Gibraltar (dʒɨˈbrɒltər is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar The Chesapeake Bay is the largest Estuary in the United States. " While he was stationed at Fort Monroe, he married.

Lee served as an assistant in the chief engineer's office in Washington, D.C. from 1834 to 1837, but spent the summer of 1835 helping to lay out the state line between Ohio and Michigan. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. As a first lieutenant of engineers in 1837, he supervised the engineering work for St. Louis harbor and for the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. First Lieutenant is a Military rank. The rank of Lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations (see Comparative military ranks The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to Among his projects was blasting a channel through the Des Moines Rapids on the Mississippi by Keokuk, Iowa, where the Mississippi's mean depth of 2. The Des Moines Rapids between Nauvoo Illinois and Keokuk Iowa - Hamilton Illinois is one of two major Rapids on the Mississippi River Keokuk (ˈkiəˌkʌk is a city in the southeastern part of the U 4 feet (0. 7 m) was the upper limit of steamboat traffic on the river. His work there earned him a promotion to captain. See " Captain " for other versions of this rank In the uniformed services of the United States, captain is a federal

Marriage and family

While he was stationed at Fort Monroe, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1808–1873), great-granddaughter of Martha Washington by her first husband Daniel Parke Custis, and step-great-granddaughter of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee ( October 1, 1807 &ndash November 5, 1873) was the wife of Confederate General Robert E Martha Custis Washington (née Dandridge) ( June 2, 1731 &ndash May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first Daniel Parke Custis ( 15 October 1711 &ndash 8 July 1757) was a wealthy Virginia planter George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the They were married on June 30, 1831 at Arlington House, her parents' home just across from Washington, D. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 1831 ( MDCCCXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Arlington House (The RE Lee Memorial is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington Virginia, USA and was once the home of Confederate C. The 3rd U. S. Artillery served as honor guard at the marriage. They eventually had seven children, three boys and four girls:

1. George Washington Custis Lee (Custis, “Boo”); 1832–1913; served as Major General in the Confederate Army and aide-de-camp to President Jefferson Davis; married, but had no children
2. Mary Custis Lee (Mary, “Daughter”); 1835–1918; unmarried
3. William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (“Rooney”); 1837–1891; served as Major General in the Confederate Army (cavalry); married twice; surviving children by second marriage
4. Anne Carter Lee (Annie); 1839–1862; unmarried
5. Eleanor Agnes Lee (Agnes); 1841–1873; unmarried
6. Robert Edward Lee, Jr. (Rob); 1843–1914; served as Captain in the Confederate Army (Rockbridge Artillery); married twice; surviving children by second marriage
7. Mildred Childe Lee (Milly, “Precious Life”); 1846–1905; unmarried

All the children survived him except for Annie, who died in 1862. Major General George Washington Custis Lee ( September 16 1832 &ndash February 18 1913) aka Custis Lee, was the eldest William Henry Fitzhugh Lee ( May 31, 1837 &ndash October 15, 1891) known as Rooney Lee or W Robert Edward Lee Jr ( October 27, 1843 - October 19, 1914) was the youngest son of Confederate General Robert E They are all buried with their parents in the crypt of the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Lee Chapel is a National Historic Landmark in Lexington Virginia, on the campus of Washington & Lee University. Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington Virginia, USA Mary Anna Custis Lee visited her home, Arlington House, for the last time as the home was rapidly becoming the most famous cemetery in the world, Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War It was said that she was heartbroken and forever grieved by the loss.

Mexican-American War, West Point, and Texas

Robert Edward Lee, as a U. S. Army Colonel before the Civil War

Lee distinguished himself in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). He was one of Winfield Scott's chief aides in the march from Veracruz to Mexico City. Winfield Scott ( June 13, 1786 &ndash May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general Diplomat, and presidential candidate The city of Veracruz is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico He was instrumental in several American victories through his personal reconnaissance as a staff officer; he found routes of attack that the Mexicans had not defended because they thought the terrain was impassable. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America.

He was promoted to brevet major after the Battle of Cerro Gordo on April 18, 1847. In the UK and US military brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a Commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily but usually without receiving The Battle of Cerro Gordo in the Mexican-American War saw Winfield Scott 's US troops flank and drive Santa Anna's larger Mexican army from a strong defensive Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common ^[6] He also fought at Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec, and was wounded at the last. The Battle of Contreras, also known as the Battle of Padierna, took place during the August 19&ndash20 1847 in the final encounters of the Mexican-American War The Battles of Churubusco took place on August 20, 1847, in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Contreras (Padierna during the Mexican-American The Battle of Chapultepec (September 1847 was a US victory over Mexican forces holding Chapultepec Castle west of Mexico City during the Mexican-American By the end of the war, he had received additional brevet promotions to Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, but his permanent rank was still Captain of Engineers and he would remain a Captain until his transfer to the cavalry in 1855. The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on

After the Mexican War, he spent three years at Fort Carroll in Baltimore harbor, after which he became the superintendent of West Point in 1852. Fort Carroll is a 34 acre (14000 m² artificial island and abandoned fort in the middle of the Patapsco River, just south of Baltimore Maryland. "USMA" redirects here For other uses see USMA (disambiguation The United States Military Academy (also known as USMA, During his three years at West Point, Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee improved the buildings and courses, and spent a lot of time with the cadets. Lee's oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, attended West Point during his tenure. Major General George Washington Custis Lee ( September 16 1832 &ndash February 18 1913) aka Custis Lee, was the eldest Custis Lee graduated in 1854, first in his class.

In 1855, Lee's tour of duty at West Point ended and he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the newly formed 2nd U. S. Cavalry regiment. It was Lee's first substantive promotion in the Army since his promotion to Captain in 1838, despite having been brevetted a Colonel, which was an honorary promotion. By accepting promotion, Lee left the Corps of Engineers where he had served for over 25 years. The Colonelcy of the regiment was given to Albert Sidney Johnston, who had previously served as a Major in the Paymaster Department, and the regiment was assigned to Camp Cooper, Texas. There he helped protect settlers from attacks by the Apache and the Comanche. The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose range (the Comancheria) consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado

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. Robert's wife was treated by homeopath Alfred Hughes^[7]

Lee as a slaveholder

As a member of the Virginia aristocracy, Lee lived in close contact with slavery before he joined the Army and held variously around a half-dozen slaves under his own name. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia in 1607 and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth When Lee's father-in-law, George Washington Parke Custis, died in October 1857, Lee (as executor of the will) came into control over some 196 slaves on the Arlington plantation. George Washington Parke Custis ( April 30, 1781 &ndash October 10, 1857) the adopted son (and also stepgrandson of United States Although the will provided for the slaves to be emancipated "in such a manner as to my executors may seem most expedient and proper", providing a maximum of five years for the legal and logistical details of manumission, Lee found himself in need of funds to pay his father-in-law's debts and repair the properties he had inherited. ^[8] He decided to make money during the five years that the will had allowed him control of the slaves by working them on the plantation and hiring them out to neighboring plantations and to eastern Virginia.

Lee, with no experience as a large-scale slave owner, tried to hire an overseer to handle the plantation in his absence, writing to his cousin, "I wish to get an energetic honest farmer, who while he will be considerate & kind to the negroes, will be firm & make them do their duty. "^[9] But Lee failed to find a man for the job, and had to take a two-year leave of absence from the army in order to run the plantation himself. He found the experience frustrating and difficult; some of the slaves were unhappy and demanded their freedom. Many of them had been given to understand that they were to be made free as soon as Custis died. ^[10] In May 1858, Lee wrote to his son Rooney, "I have had some trouble with some of the people. Reuben, Parks & Edward, in the beginning of the previous week, rebelled against my authority--refused to obey my orders, & said they were as free as I was, etc. , etc. --I succeeded in capturing them & lodging them in jail. They resisted till overpowered & called upon the other people to rescue them. "^[11] Less than two months after they were sent to the Alexandria jail, Lee decided to remove these three men and three female house slaves from Arlington, and sent them under lock and key to the slave-trader William Overton Winston in Richmond, who was instructed to keep them in jail until he could find "good & responsible" slaveholders to work them until the end of the five year period. Alexandria is an Independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. ^[12]

In 1859, three of the Arlington slaves—Wesley Norris, his sister Mary, and a cousin of theirs—fled for the North, but were captured a few miles from the Pennsylvania border and forced to return to Arlington. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern On June 24, 1859, the New York Daily Tribune published two anonymous letters (dated June 19, 1859^[13] and June 21, 1859^[14]), each of which claimed to have heard that Lee had the Norrises whipped, and went so far as to claim that Lee himself had whipped the woman when the officer refused to. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 1859 ( MDCCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The New York Tribune was an American newspaper first established by Horace Greeley in 1841 which was long considered one of the leading Newspapers in the Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 1859 ( MDCCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. Year 1859 ( MDCCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Lee wrote to his son Custis that "The N. Y. Tribune has attacked me for my treatment of your grandfather's slaves, but I shall not reply. He has left me an unpleasant legacy. "^[15] Biographers of Lee have differed over the credibility of the Tribune letters. Douglas S. Freeman, in his 1934 biography of Lee, described the letters to the Tribune as "Lee's first experience with the extravagance of irresponsible antislavery agitators" and asserted that "There is no evidence, direct or indirect, that Lee ever had them or any other Negroes flogged. Douglas Southall Freeman, ( May 16, 1886 &ndash June 13, 1953) was an American journalist and historian The usage at Arlington and elsewhere in Virginia among people of Lee's station forbade such a thing. " Michael Fellman, in The Making of Robert E. Lee (2000), found the claims that Lee had personally whipped Mary Norris "extremely unlikely," but not at all unlikely that Lee had had the slaves whipped: "corporal punishment (for which Lee substituted the euphemism 'firmness') was an intrinsic and necessary part of slave discipline. The Making of Robert E Lee by Michael Fellman is a biography of the famous Confederate general Although it was supposed to be applied only in a calm and rational manner, overtly physical domination of slaves, unchecked by law, was always brutal and potentially savage. "^[16]

Wesley Norris himself discussed the incident after the war, in an 1866 interview^[17] printed in the National Anti-Slavery Standard. The National Anti-Slavery Standard was the official weekly newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society, established in 1840 under the editorship of Lydia Maria Norris stated that after they had been captured, and forced to return to Arlington, Lee told them that "he would teach us a lesson we would not soon forget. " According to Norris, Lee then had the three of them tied to posts and whipped by the county constable, with fifty lashes for the men and twenty for Mary Norris (he made no claim that Lee had personally whipped Mary Norris). Norris claimed that Lee then had the overseer rub their lacerated backs with brine. Brine (lat saltus) is Water saturated or nearly saturated with Salt (NaCl

After their capture, Lee sent the Norrises to work on the railroad in Richmond and Alabama. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. Wesley Norris gained his freedom in January 1863 by slipping through the Confederate lines near Richmond to Union-controlled territory. ^[18] Lee freed all the other Custis slaves after the end of the five year period in the winter of 1862, filing the deed of manumission on December 29, 1862. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II Year 1862 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Monday ^[19]

Lee's views on slavery

Since the end of the Civil War, it has often been suggested that Lee was in some sense opposed to slavery. In the period following the Civil War and Reconstruction, and after his death, Lee became a central figure in the Lost Cause interpretation of the war, and as succeeding generations came to look on slavery as a terrible immorality, the idea that Lee had always somehow opposed it helped maintain his stature as a symbol of Southern honor and national reconciliation. The Lost Cause is the name commonly given to a literary and intellectual movement that sought to reconcile the traditional white society of the Southern United States to The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive

Some of the evidence cited in favor of the claim that Lee opposed slavery, are the manumission of Custis's slaves, as discussed above, and his support, towards the end of the war, for enrolling slaves in the Confederate States Army, with manumission offered as an eventual reward for good service. Manumission is the act of freeing a slave, done at the will of the owner Lee gave his public support to this idea two weeks before Appomattox, too late for it to do any good for the Confederacy.

In December of 1864, Lee was shown a letter by Louisiana Senator Edward Sparrow, written by General St. John R. Liddell, which noted that Lee would be hard-pressed in the interior of Virginia by spring, and the need to consider Patrick Cleburne's plan to emancipate the slaves and put all men in the army that were willing to join. Edward Sparrow ( December 29, 1810 &ndash July 4, 1882) was a prominent Confederate States of America politician St John Richardson Liddell ( September 6, 1815 &ndash February 14, 1870) was a prominent Louisiana planter who served as a general Patrick Ronayne Cleburne ( March 16 or March 17, 1828 &ndash November 30, 1864) was an Anglo- Irish soldier serving in Lee was said to have agreed on all points and desired to get black soldiers, saying that "he could make soldiers out of any human being that had arms and legs. "^[20]

Another source is Lee's 1856 letter to his wife,^[21] which can be interpreted in multiple ways:

Freeman's analysis^[21] puts Lee's attitude toward slavery and abolition in historical context:

Harpers Ferry and Texas, 1859-61

When John Brown led a band of 21 men (including five African Americans) and seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in October 1859, Lee was given command of detachments of Maryland and Virginia militia, soldiers, and United States Marines, to suppress the uprising and arrest its leaders. John Brown (May 9 1800 December 2 1859 was an American Abolitionist who advocated and practiced armed Insurrection as a means to end all Slavery African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, located in Harpers Ferry West Virginia (then part of Virginia Harpers Ferry redirects here For other uses see Harpers Ferry (disambiguation. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state ^[22] By the time Lee arrived later that night, the militia on the site had surrounded Brown and his hostages. When on October 18 Brown refused the demand for surrender, Lee attacked and after three minutes of fighting, Brown and his followers were captured. Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid

When Texas seceded from the Union in February 1861, General David E. Twiggs surrendered all the American forces (about 4,000 men, including Lee, and commander of the Department of Texas) to the Texans. During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three David Emanuel Twiggs (1790 &ndash July 15 1862 was a United States soldier during the War of 1812 and Mexican-American War and a general of the Twiggs immediately resigned from the U. S. Army and was made a Confederate general. Lee went back to Washington, and was appointed Colonel of the First Regiment of Cavalry in March 1861. Lee's Colonelcy was signed by the new President, Abraham Lincoln. Three weeks after his promotion, Colonel Lee was offered a senior command (with the rank of Major General) in the expanding Army to fight the Southern States that had left the Union.

Civil War

Main article: American Civil War

Mathew Brady portrait of Lee in 1865 (detail)

Lee privately ridiculed the Confederacy in letters in early 1861, denouncing secession as "revolution" and a betrayal of the efforts of the Founders. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Note that Mathew B Brady spelled his first name with only one "t" The commanding general of the Union army, Winfield Scott, told Lincoln he wanted Lee for a top command. Winfield Scott ( June 13, 1786 &ndash May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general Diplomat, and presidential candidate Lee said he was willing as long as Virginia remained in the Union. Lee was asked by one of his lieutenants if he intended to fight for the Confederacy or the Union, to which he replied, "I shall never bear arms against the Union, but it may be necessary for me to carry a musket in the defense of my native state, Virginia, in which case I shall not prove recreant to my duty. "^[23] After Lincoln's call for troops to put down the rebellion, it was obvious that Virginia would quickly secede and so Lee turned down the offer on April 18, resigned from the U. Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. S. Army on April 20, and took up command of the Virginia state forces on April 23. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at

Early role

At the outbreak of war, Lee was appointed to command all of Virginia's forces, but upon the formation of the Confederate States Army, he was named one of its first five full generals. Lee did not wear the insignia of a Confederate general, but only the three stars of a Confederate colonel, equivalent to his last U. S. Army rank; he did not intend to wear a general's insignia until the Civil War had been won and he could be promoted, in peacetime, to general in the Confederate Army.

Lee's first field assignment was commanding Confederate forces in western Virginia, where he was defeated at the Battle of Cheat Mountain and was widely blamed for Confederate setbacks. The Battle of Cheat Mountain, also known as the Battle of Cheat Summit Fort, took place September 12 - 15, 1861, in Pocahontas County ^[24] He was then sent to organize the coastal defenses along the Carolina and Georgia seaboard, where he was hampered by the lack of an effective Confederate navy. Once again blamed by the press, he became military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, former U.S. Secretary of War. The President of the Confederate States of America was the Head of State and Head of Government of the Confederate States of America, which was formed from Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington 's administration

Commander, Army of Northern Virginia

In the spring of 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign, the Union Army of the Potomac under General George B. McClellan advanced upon Richmond from Fort Monroe, eventually reaching the eastern edges of the Confederate capital along the Chickahominy River. The Peninsula Campaign (also known as the Peninsular Campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. George Brinton McClellan ( December 3 1826 October 29 1885) was a major general during the American Civil War. Fort Monroe (also known as Fortress Monroe) is a Hampton Virginia, military installation located at Old Point Comfort, which is on the tip of the For the tribe see Chickahominy (tribe. Chickahominy also known as "the Chick" is a River in the southeastern portion Following the wounding of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at the Battle of Seven Pines, on June 1, 1862, Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia, his first opportunity to lead an army in the field. Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3 1807 &ndash March 21 1891 was a career U Background Johnston withdrew his 60000-man army from the Virginia Peninsula as McClellan's army pursued him and approached the Confederate capital of Richmond Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected Year 1862 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Monday The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Newspaper editorials of the day objected to his appointment due to concerns that Lee would not be aggressive and would wait for the Union army to come to him. Early in the war his men called him "Granny Lee" because of his allegedly timid style of command. ^[25] After the Seven Days Battles until the end of the war his men called him simply "Marse Robert. Start of the Peninsula Campaign Opposing forces See also [[Seven Days Confederate order of battle]] [[Seven Days Union order of battle]] Almost " He oversaw substantial strengthening of Richmond's defenses during the first three weeks of June and then launched a series of attacks, the Seven Days Battles, against McClellan's forces. Start of the Peninsula Campaign Opposing forces See also [[Seven Days Confederate order of battle]] [[Seven Days Union order of battle]] Almost Lee's attacks resulted in heavy Confederate casualties and they were marred by clumsy tactical performances by his subordinates, but his aggressive actions unnerved McClellan, who retreated to a point on the James River where Union naval forces were in control. The James River in the US state of Virginia is a long River, including its Jackson River source These successes led to a rapid turn-around of public opinion and the newspaper editorials quickly changed their tune on Lee's aggressiveness.

After McClellan's retreat, Lee defeated another Union army at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Background and opposing forces See also Northern Virginia Campaign See also [[Second Bull Run Confederate order of battle]] [[Confederate order of battle]] He then invaded Maryland, hoping to replenish his supplies and possibly influence the Northern elections to fall in favor of ending the war. McClellan's men recovered a lost order that revealed Lee's plans. McClellan always exaggerated Lee's forces, but now he knew the Confederate army was divided and could be destroyed by an all-out attack at Antietam. Yet McClellan was too slow in moving, not realizing Lee had been informed by a spy that McClellan had the plans. Lee urgently recalled Stonewall Jackson and in the bloodiest day of the war, Lee withstood the Union assaults. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21 1824 &ndash May 10 1863 was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the He withdrew his battered army back to Virginia while President Abraham Lincoln used the reverse as sufficient pretext to announce the Emancipation Proclamation to put the Confederacy on the diplomatic and moral defensive. Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal The Emancipation Proclamation consists of two executive orders issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War.

Lee mounted on Traveller

Disappointed by McClellan's failure to destroy Lee's army, Lincoln named Ambrose Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Traveller ( 1857 &ndash 1871) was Confederate General Robert E Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23 1824 September 13 1881 was an American soldier railroad executive inventor industrialist and politician from Rhode Island, Burnside ordered an attack across the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg. The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia in the United States, approximately 184 mi (294 km in length Background and Burnside's plan The battle was the result of an effort by the Union Army to regain the initiative in its struggle against Lee's smaller but more aggressive army 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. Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian Year 1862 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Monday Lincoln then named Joseph Hooker commander of the Army of the Potomac. Joseph Hooker ( November 13, 1814 &ndash October 31, 1879) was a career United States Army officer fought in the Mexican-American 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. Forces and plans The Chancellorsville campaign began with the potential of leading to one of the most lopsided clashes in the war Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21 1824 &ndash May 10 1863 was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the It was a victory over a larger force, but it also came with a great cost; Jackson, one of Lee's best subordinates, was accidentally wounded by his own troops, and soon after died of pneumonia.

Battle of Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Lee invaded the North again, hoping for a Southern victory that would shatter Northern morale. A young Pennsylvanian woman who watched from her porch as General Lee passed by remarked, "I wish he were ours. " He encountered Union forces under George G. Meade at the three-day Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in July; the battle would produce the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War. George Gordon Meade ( December 31, 1815 &ndash November 6, 1872) was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer involved Background and movement to battle See also [[Gettysburg Campaign]] [[Gettysburg Battlefield]] [[Gettysburg Confederate order of battle]] [[Confederate order of battle]] Some of his subordinates were new and inexperienced in their commands, J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry was out of the area, and Lee's decision on the third day to launch a massive frontal assault on the center of the Union line—the disastrous Pickett's Charge—resulted in heavy Confederate losses. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart ( February 6, 1833 &ndash May 12, 1864) was an American soldier from Virginia and a See also Battle of Gettysburg See also [[Gettysburg Battlefield]] [[Gettysburg Confederate order of battle]] [[Confederate order of battle]] and [[Gettysburg Union order The General rode out to meet his retreating army and proclaimed, "This is all my fault. " Lee was compelled to retreat. Despite flooded rivers that blocked his retreat, he escaped Meade's ineffective pursuit. Following his defeat at Gettysburg, Lee sent a letter of resignation to President Davis on August 8, 1863, but Davis refused Lee's request. Events 1220 - Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula. Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common That fall, Lee and Meade met again in two minor campaigns that did little to change the strategic standoff. The Confederate army never fully recovered from the substantial losses incurred during the three-day battle in southern Pennsylvania. The historian Shelby Foote stated, "Gettysburg was the price the South paid for having Robert E. Shelby Dade Foote Jr ( November 17 1916 &ndash June 27 2005) was an American Novelist and a noted historian of the Lee as commander. "

Ulysses S. Grant and the Union offensive

In 1864, the new Union general-in-chief, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, sought to destroy Lee's army by attrition, pinning Lee against his capital of Richmond. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States Lee stopped each attack, but Grant had superior reinforcements and kept pushing each time a bit farther to the southeast. These battles in the Overland Campaign included the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and Background The battlefield was the Wilderness of Spotsylvania an expanse of nearly impenetrable scrub growth and rough terrain that encompassed more than 70 square miles (181 The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania, was the second battle in Lt The Battle of Cold Harbor, the final battle of Union Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant eventually fooled Lee by stealthily moving his army across the James River. The James River in the US state of Virginia is a long River, including its Jackson River source After stopping a Union attempt to capture Petersburg, Virginia, a vital railroad link supplying Richmond, Lee's men built elaborate trenches and were besieged in Petersburg. Petersburg is an Independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River. [This development presaged the trench warfare of World War I, exactly 50 years later. ] He attempted to break the stalemate by sending Jubal A. Early on a raid through the Shenandoah Valley to Washington, D.C., but was defeated early-on by the superior forces of Philip Sheridan. Jubal Anderson Early ( November 3 1816 &ndash March 2 1894) was a Lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil The Shenandoah Valley region of western Virginia and West Virginia is bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Appalachian Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6 1831 &ndash August 5 1888 was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War The Siege of Petersburg lasted from June 1864 until March 1865, with Lee's outnumbered army shrinking daily because of desertions by disheartened Confederates. The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865

General-in-chief

Lee with son Custis (left) and aide Walter H. Taylor (right). Walter Herron Taylor ( June 13, 1838 &ndash March 1, 1916) was an American Banker, Lawyer, Soldier, Politician

On January 31, 1865, Lee was promoted to general-in-chief of Confederate forces. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year

As the South ran out of manpower the issue of arming the slaves became paramount. By late 1864 the army so dominated the Confederacy that civilian leaders were unable to block the military's proposal, strongly endorsed by Lee, to arm and train slaves in Confederate uniform for combat. In return for this service, slave soldiers and their families would be emancipated. Lee explained, "We should employ them without delay . . . [along with] gradual and general emancipation. " The first units were in training as the war ended. ^[26] As the Confederate army was decimated by casualties, disease and desertion, the Union attack on Petersburg succeeded on April 2, 1865. Petersburg is an Independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Lee abandoned Richmond and retreated west. His forces were surrounded and he surrendered them to Grant on April 10, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Appomattox Court House is a village located three miles (5 km east of Appomattox, Virginia, USA (25 miles east of Lynchburg Virginia, in the Other Confederate armies followed suit and the war ended. The day after his surrender, Lee issued his Farewell Address to his army. General Robert E Lee issued his Farewell Address to his Army of Northern Virginia on April 10, 1865, the day after he surrendered the army to

Lee resisted calls by some officers to reject surrender and allow small units to melt away into the mountains, setting up a lengthy guerrilla war. He insisted the war was over and energetically campaigned for inter-sectional reconciliation. "So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interests of the South. "^[27]

After the war

One of the last known images of Lee, post-Civil War

Before the Civil War, Lee and his wife had lived at his wife's family home, the Custis-Lee Mansion on Arlington Plantation. Arlington House (The RE Lee Memorial is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington Virginia, USA and was once the home of Confederate The plantation had been seized by Union forces during the war, and became part of Arlington National Cemetery; immediately following the war, Lee spent two months in a rented house in Richmond, and then escaped the unwelcome city life by moving into the overseer's house of a friend's plantation near Cartersville, Virginia. Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. ^[28] (In December 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, returned the property to Custis Lee, stating that it had been confiscated without due process of law. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ^[29][30] On March 3, 1883, the Congress purchased the property from Lee for $150,000. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 1883 ( MDCCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common ^[31])

While living in the country, Lee wrote his son that he hoped to retire to a farm of his own, but a few weeks later he received an offer to serve as the president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington Virginia, USA Lexington is an Independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lee accepted, and remained president of the College from October 2, 1865 until his death. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Over five years, he transformed Washington College from a small, undistinguished school into one of the first American colleges to offer courses in business, journalism, and Spanish. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating formally employed by publications and broadcasters for the benefit of a particular Community of people He also imposed a sweeping and breathtakingly simple concept of honor — "We have but one rule, and it is that every student is a gentleman" — that endures today at Washington and Lee and at a few other schools that continue to maintain "honor systems. An honor system or honesty system is a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, Honor, and Honesty. " Importantly, Lee focused the college on attracting male students from the North as well as the South.

Postwar politics

Lee, who had opposed secession and remained mostly indifferent to politics before the Civil War, supported President Andrew Johnson's plan of Presidential Reconstruction that took effect in 1865-66. Andrew Johnson (December 29 1808 – July 31 1875 was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865-69 succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination However, he opposed the Radical Republican program that took effect in 1867. In February 1866, he was called to testify before the Joint Congressional Committee on Reconstruction in Washington, where he expressed support for President Andrew Johnson's plans for quick restoration of the former Confederate states, and argued that restoration should return, as far as possible, the status quo ante in the Southern states' governments (with the exception of slavery). Andrew Johnson (December 29 1808 – July 31 1875 was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865-69 succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination ^[32] Lee said, "every one with whom I associate expresses kind feelings towards the freedmen. They wish to see them get on in the world, and particularly to take up some occupation for a living, and to turn their hands to some work. " Lee also expressed his "willingness that blacks should be educated, and . . . that it would be better for the blacks and for the whites. " At a time in early 1866 when most northerners opposed black suffrage, Lee warned that granting suffrage would be unpopular. "My own opinion is that, at this time, they [black Southerners] cannot vote intelligently, and that giving them the [vote] would lead to a great deal of demagogism, and lead to embarrassments in various ways. "^[33]

In an interview in May, 1866, Lee said, "The Radical party are likely to do a great deal of harm, for we wish now for good feeling to grow up between North and South, and the President, Mr. Johnson, has been doing much to strengthen the feeling in favor of the Union among us. The relations between the Negroes and the whites were friendly formerly, and would remain so if legislation be not passed in favor of the blacks, in a way that will only do them harm. "^[34]

Jefferson Davis, Lee and Stonewall Jackson
at Stone Mountain

In 1868, Lee's ally Alexander H. H. Stuart drafted a public letter of endorsement for the Democratic Party's presidential campaign, in which Horatio Seymour ran against Lee's old foe Republican Ulysses S. Grant. Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21 1824 &ndash May 10 1863 was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the This article is about Stone Mountain in Georgia USA For other uses see Stone Mountain (disambiguation. Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart ( April 2, 1807 &ndash February 13, 1891) was a U The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. The United States presidential election of 1868 was the first presidential election to take place during Reconstruction. Horatio Seymour ( May 31, 1810 February 12, 1886) was an American Politician. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States Lee signed it along with thirty-one other ex-Confederates. The Democratic campaign, eager to publicize the endorsement, published the statement widely in newspapers. ^[35] Their letter claimed paternalistic concern for the welfare of freed Southern blacks, stating that "The idea that the Southern people are hostile to the negroes and would oppress them, if it were in their power to do so, is entirely unfounded. They have grown up in our midst, and we have been accustomed from childhood to look upon them with kindness. "^[36] However, it also called for the restoration of white political rule, arguing that "It is true that the people of the South, in common with a large majority of the people of the North and West, are, for obvious reasons, inflexibly opposed to any system of laws that would place the political power of the country in the hands of the negro race. But this opposition springs from no feeling of enmity, but from a deep-seated conviction that, at present, the negroes have neither the intelligence nor the other qualifications which are necessary to make them safe depositories of political power. "^[37]

In his public statements and private correspondence, however, Lee argued that a tone of reconciliation and patience would further the interests of white Southerners better than hotheaded antagonism to federal authority or the use of violence. He repeatedly expelled white students from Washington College for violent attacks on local black men, and publicly urged obedience to the authorities and respect for law and order. ^[38] In 1869-70 he was a leader in successful efforts to establish state-funded schools for blacks. ^[39] He privately chastised fellow ex-Confederates such as Jefferson Davis and Jubal Early for their frequent, angry responses to perceived Northern insults, writing in private to them as he had written to a magazine editor in 1865, that "It should be the object of all to avoid controversy, to allay passion, give full scope to reason and to every kindly feeling. Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Jubal Anderson Early ( November 3 1816 &ndash March 2 1894) was a Lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil By doing this and encouraging our citizens to engage in the duties of life with all their heart and mind, with a determination not to be turned aside by thoughts of the past and fears of the future, our country will not only be restored in material prosperity, but will be advanced in science, in virtue and in religion. "^[40]

Oath of amnesty submitted by Robert E. Lee in 1865.

Lee applied for, but was never granted, the postwar amnesty offered to former Confederates who swore to renew their allegiance to the United States. Amnesty (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to After he filled out the application form, it was delivered to the desk of Secretary of State William H. Seward, who, assuming that the matter had been dealt with by someone else and that this was just a personal copy, filed it away until it was found decades later in his desk drawer. This article is about the New York Governor and Secretary of State Lee took the lack of response to mean that the government wished to retain the right to prosecute him in the future.

Lee's example of applying for amnesty encouraged many other former members of the Confederacy's armed forces to accept restored U. S. citizenship. In 1975, Lee's full rights of citizenship were posthumously restored by a joint U.S. Congressional resolution effective June 13, 1975. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. At the 5 August 1975, signing ceremony of the pardon, President Gerald R. Ford acknowledged the discovery of Lee's oath of allegiance by Elmer Oris Parker, an employee of the National Archives in 1970. Events 642 - Battle of Maserfield - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia. Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr (July 14 1913 December 26 2006 was the thirty-eighth President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 and the fortieth Vice President The United States National Archives and Records Administration ( NARA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government charged ^[41]

Lee attended a meeting of ex-Confederates in 1870, during which he expressed regrets about his surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, given the effects of Republican Reconstruction policy on the South. Appomattox Court House is a village located three miles (5 km east of Appomattox, Virginia, USA (25 miles east of Lynchburg Virginia, in the Speaking to former Confederate Governor of Texas Fletcher Stockdale, he said:

Governor, if I had foreseen the use those people [Yankees] designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me. Fletcher Summerfield Stockdale (c 1823— 4 February 1890) was a U Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in my right hand. ^[42]

Illness and death

So-called "Recumbent Statue" of Robert E. Lee in Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia, of Lee asleep on the battlefield, sculpted by Edward Valentine. It is often mistakenly thought to be a tomb or sarcophagus, but Lee is actually buried elsewhere in the chapel. A sarcophagus is a Funeral receptacle for a Corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone

On September 28, 1870, Lee suffered a stroke that left him without the ability to speak. Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain functions due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain Lee died from the effects of pneumonia, a little after 9 a. Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the Lung. Frequently it is described as lung Parenchyma / alveolar inflammation and abnormal m. , October 12, 1870, two weeks after the stroke, in Lexington, Virginia. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Lexington is an Independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was buried underneath Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University, where his body remains today. Lee Chapel is a National Historic Landmark in Lexington Virginia, on the campus of Washington & Lee University. Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington Virginia, USA According to J.  William Jones' Personal Reminiscences, Anecdotes, and Letters of Gen. Robert E. Lee, his last words, on the day of his death, were "Tell Hill he must come up. Ambrose Powell Hill (November 9 1825 &ndash April 2 1865 was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Strike the tent," but this is debatable because of conflicting accounts. Since Lee's stroke resulted in aphasia, last words may have been impossible. Lee was treated homeopathically for this illness. This article has been the subject of edit wars and has been placed on probation ^[43]

Legacy

Among Southerners, Lee came to be even more revered after his surrender than he had been during the war (when Stonewall Jackson had been the great Confederate hero, particularly after Jackson's death at Chancellorsville). Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21 1824 &ndash May 10 1863 was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the Admirers pointed to his character and devotion to duty, not to mention his brilliant tactical successes in battle after battle against a stronger foe. Military historians continue to pay attention to his battlefield tactics and maneuvering, though many think he should have designed better strategic plans for the Confederacy. However, it should be noted that he was not given full direction of the Southern war effort until very late in the conflict. His reputation continued to build and by 1900 his cult had spread into the North, signaling a national apotheosis. ^[44] Today among the devotees of "The Lost Cause," General Lee is referred to as "The Marble Man. "

Civil War-era letters

On September 29, 2007, General Lee's 3 Civil War-era letters were sold for $61,000 at auction by Thomas Willcox, much less than the record of $630,000 for a Lee item in 2002. Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The auction included more than 400 documents of Lee's from the estate of the parents of Willcox that had been in the family for generations. South Carolina sued to stop the sale on the grounds that the letters were official documents and therefore property of the state, but the court ruled in favor of Thomas. South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. ^[45]

Monuments, memorials and commemorations

Monuments

• Since it was built in 1884, the most prominent monument in New Orleans has been a 60-foot (18 m)-tall monument to General Lee. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana A sixteen and a half foot statue of Lee stands tall upon a towering column of white marble in the middle of Lee Circle. The statue of Lee, which weighs more than 7,000 pounds, faces the South. Lee Circle is situated along New Orleans' famous St. Charles Avenue. St Charles Avenue is a thoroughfare in New Orleans Louisiana. The New Orleans streetcars roll past Lee Circle and New Orleans' best Mardi Gras parades go around Lee Circle (the spot is so popular that bleachers are set up annually around the perimeter for Mardi Gras). Streetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's Public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century See also Mardi Gras Mardi Gras in New Orleans Louisiana is one of the most famous Carnival celebrations in the world Around the corner from Lee Circle is New Orleans' Confederate Museum, which contains the second largest collection of Confederate memorabilia in the world. ^[46] In a tribute to Lee Circle (which had formerly been known as Tivoli Circle), former Confederate soldier George Washington Cable wrote:

"In Tivoli Circle, New Orleans, from the centre and apex of its green flowery mound, an immense column of pure white marble rises in the . George Washington Cable ( 12 October, 1844 &ndash 31 January, 1925) was an American novelist notable for the realism . . majesty of Grecian proportions high up above the city's house-tops into the dazzling sunshine . . . On its dizzy top stands the bronze figure of one of the worlds greatest captains. He is alone. Not one of his mighty lieutenants stand behind, beside or below him. His arms are folded on that breast that never knew fear, and his calm, dauntless gaze meets the morning sun as it rises, like the new posperity of the land he loved and serve so masterly, above the far distant battle fields where so many thousands of his gray veterans lie in the sleep of fallen heroes. " (Silent South, 1885, The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine)

Unveiling of the Equestrian Statue of Robert E. Lee, May 29, 1890. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Richmond, Virginia.

• A large equestrian statue of Lee by French sculptor Jean Antonin Mercié is the centerpiece of Richmond, Virginia's famous Monument Avenue, which boasts four other statues to famous Confederates. Mariou Jean Antonin Mercié, French sculptor born in Toulouse on October 30, 1845 and died on December 14, 1916 in Paris Monument Avenue, in Richmond Virginia, memorializes Virginian native Confederate participants of the Civil War and one 20th century Richmond native This monument to Lee was unveiled on May 29, 1890. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Over 100,000 people attended this dedication.

• Robert E. Lee is also featured in the carving on Stone Mountain. This article is about Stone Mountain in Georgia USA For other uses see Stone Mountain (disambiguation.

Holidays

The birthday of Robert E. Lee is celebrated or commemorated in:

• The state of Virginia as part of Lee-Jackson Day, which was separated from the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday there in 2001. Lee-Jackson Day is a Holiday celebrated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA, for the birthdays of Robert E Martin Luther King Jr ( January 15, 1929 April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, Activist and prominent leader The King holiday falls on the third Monday in January while the Lee-Jackson Day holiday is celebrated on the Friday preceding it.
• The state of Texas celebrates, as part of Confederate Heroes Day on January 19, Lee's actual birthday. Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy.
• The states of Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi on the third Monday in January, along with Martin Luther King, Jr.
• The state of Georgia on the day after Thanksgiving.
• The state of Florida, as a legal holiday and public holiday, on January 19. Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. ^[47]

Geographic features

• Robert Lee, Texas
• The Leesville half of Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. Robert Lee is a city in Coke County, Texas, United States. It is the County seat of Coke County. Batesburg-Leesville is a town in Lexington and Saluda counties in the U
• Fort Lee in Prince George County, Virginia. Prince George County is a county located in the US state &mdash officially " Commonwealth " &mdash of Virginia.
• Lee County, Alabama; Lee County, Arkansas; Lee County, Florida; Lee County, Kentucky; Lee County, Mississippi; Lee County, North Carolina; Lee County, South Carolina; Lee County, Texas; Lee County, Virginia. Lee County is a County of the US state of Alabama. It is named in honor of Robert E Lee County is a County located in the US state of Arkansas. As of 2000, the population is 12580 Lee County is a County located in the US state of Florida. The county makes up the entirety of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers Florida Metropolitan Statistical Lee County is a County located in the US state of Kentucky. As of 2000 the population is 17916 Lee County is a County located in the US state of Mississippi. Lee County is a County located in the US state of North Carolina. Lee County is a County located in the US state of South Carolina. Lee County is a County located in the US state of Texas. In 2000 its population was 15657 Lee County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
• Lee Drive, Baton Rouge, Louisiana—one of the city's major streets, it is located near the Louisiana State University. Baton Rouge (French Bâton-Rouge ˌbætən ˈruːdʒ in English, and in French) is the capital city of Louisiana. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, Coeducational Robert E. Lee High School is located on the street.
• Lee Highway, a National Auto Trail in the United States connecting New York City and San Francisco, California via the South and Southwest. The Lee Highway was a National Auto Trail in the United States connecting New York City and San Francisco California via the South Old style Highway markings Lincoln Highway Dixie Highway The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The City of New York The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive The Southwestern area of the United States could be defined as the states west of the Mississippi River, with the qualification of a certain northern limit such as the 37
• Lee Avenue, in Manassas, Virginia, was named after Robert E. Lee and intersects with Grant Avenue in front of the old Prince William County Courthouse. Grant Avenue was named after General Ulysses S. Grant. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States
• Robert E. Lee Memorial Park, Baltimore, MD
• Robert E. Lee is on the carving on Stone Mountain in Georgia
• Robert E. Lee Blvd in New Orleans

Schools and universities

• Robert E. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Lee Academy, Bishopville, South Carolina

• Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia

• Several high schools. Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington Virginia, USA See Robert E. Lee High School. Robert E Lee High School is the name of several high schools in the United States Robert E
  • Robert E. Lee High School, Jacksonville, Florida
  • Lee-Davis High School, Mechanicsville, Virginia
  • Southern Lee High School, Sanford, North Carolina
  • Lee County High School, Sanford, North Carolina
  • Upson-Lee High School, Thomaston, Georgia
  • Washington-Lee High School, Arlington, Virginia

• Robert E. Lee Junior High School, Monroe, Louisiana
• Robert E. Lee Junior High School, San Angelo, Texas
• Robert E. Lee Middle School, Orlando, Florida

• Several elementary schools. See Robert E. Lee Elementary School. Robert E Lee Elementary School is the name of several elementary schools in the United States Robert E

Memorials

• Arlington House, also known as the Custis-Lee Mansion and located in present-day Arlington National Cemetery, is maintained by the National Park Service as a memorial to Lee. Arlington House (The RE Lee Memorial is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington Virginia, USA and was once the home of Confederate Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War The National Park Service ( NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation
• The Virginia State Memorial at Gettysburg Battlefield is topped by an equestrian statue of Lee by Frederick William Sievers, facing roughly in the direction of Pickett's Charge. The Gettysburg Battlefield was the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1 to July 3, 1863, in and around the borough of Gettysburg See also Battle of Gettysburg See also [[Gettysburg Battlefield]] [[Gettysburg Confederate order of battle]] [[Confederate order of battle]] and [[Gettysburg Union order
• Lee is one of the figures depicted in bas-relief carved into Stone Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia. A bas-relief (baʁəljɛf in French; French for "low relief" derived from the Italian basso rilievo) or low relief is a Sculpture This article is about Stone Mountain in Georgia USA For other uses see Stone Mountain (disambiguation. Accompanying him on horseback in the relief are Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21 1824 &ndash May 10 1863 was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and probably the Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the
• A statue of Lee on horseback, located in Robert E. Lee Park, in Dallas, Texas.
• Despite his presidential pardon by Gerald Ford and his continuing to being held in high regard by many Americans, Lee's portrayal on a mural on Richmond's Flood Wall on the James River was considered offensive by some, was removed in the late 1990s, but currently is back on the flood wall. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr (July 14 1913 December 26 2006 was the thirty-eighth President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 and the fortieth Vice President The James River in the US state of Virginia is a long River, including its Jackson River source
• The USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) was a submarine named for Lee, built in 1958
• The Mississippi River steamboat, Robert E. Lee, was named for Lee after the Civil War. Service history The third nuclear-powered Ballistic missile submarine to join the fleet and the first nuclear-powered ship built in Dixie, Robert The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller The Robert E Lee, nicknamed the "Monarch of the Mississippi" was a Steamboat built in New Albany Indiana in 1866 It was the participant in an 1870 St. Louis - New Orleans race with the Natchez VI, which was featured in a Currier and Ives lithograph. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Currier and Ives was an American Printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888 and James Merritt Ives (1824–1895 and based in The Robert E. Lee won the said race. The steamboat also inspired a song Waiting for the Robert E. Lee (Lewis Muir-L. Wolfe Gilbert).
• In 1900, Lee was one of the first 29 individuals selected for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans (the first Hall of Fame in the United States), designed by Stanford White, on the Bronx, New York, campus of New York University, now a part of Bronx Community College. The Hall of Fame for Great Americans, is the original " Hall of Fame " in the United States Stanford White ( November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American Architect and partner in the architectural firm of New York University ( NYU) is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research University in New York City. The Bronx Community College of The City University of New York is a Community college in the City University of New York system located in the University Heights

Robert E Lee Monument, Charlottesville, Virginia, Leo Lentilli, sculptor, 1924

Robert E Lee, Virginia Monument, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, William Sievers, sculptor, 1917

Lee by Mercié, Monument Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, 1890

Statue of Lee in Dallas, Texas

Films/Documentaries

• CIVIL WAR JOURNAL: THE COMMANDERS. Charlottesville is an Independent city located within the confines of Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Gettysburg is a borough 38 miles (68 km south by southwest of Harrisburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state This is four part documentary on two DVD. Disc one is titled, "West Point Classmates" and "Robert E. Lee". This excellent documentary provides insight regarding this brilliant commander. Released by A & E home video in 2001, the total running time is 200 minutes.

• ROBERT E. LEE Biography - Biography channel presentation released to DVD on 2005. This documentary follows his brilliant campaigns which are still studied in military academies. It contains excerpts from his writings, testimonies from those who served and fought against him, and interviews with military experts and Civil War historians.

Notes

References

• Blassingame, John W. (July 1977), Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies, Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 0807102733 
• Connelly, Thomas Lawrence (1977), The Marble Man: Robert E. The Louisiana State University Press, founded in 1935 is a Nonprofit Book publisher dedicated to the publication of scholarly general interest and regional Lee and His Image in American society, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 0-394-47179-2 . New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Alfred A Knopf Inc is a New York publishing house founded by Alfred A
• Davis, William C. (1997), Civil War Journal, The Leaders, Rutledge Hill Press, ISBN 0-517-22193-4 .
• Eicher, John H. (2001), Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 . The Stanford University Press is the Publishing house of Stanford University.
• Fellman, Michael (2000), The Making of Robert E. Lee, Random House, ISBN 0-679-45650-3 . Random House Inc is the world's largest English-language general trade book publisher
• Freeman, Douglas S. (1934), R. E. Lee, A Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, <http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL/home.html>. Douglas Southall Freeman, ( May 16, 1886 &ndash June 13, 1953) was an American journalist and historian Charles Scribner's Sons is a publisher The firm published Scribner's Magazine for many years Retrieved on 20 May 2008 
• Fuller, J. F. C. (1957), Grant and Lee, A Study in Personality and Generalship, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-13400-5 . Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO, commonly J Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is a Publishing house at Indiana University that engages in Academic publishing, specializing
• Hughes Jr. , Nathaniel C. (1997), Liddell's Record, Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 978-0-8071-2218-1 . The Louisiana State University Press, founded in 1935 is a Nonprofit Book publisher dedicated to the publication of scholarly general interest and regional
• Lee, Edmund Jennings (1983), Lee of Virginia 1642-1892, Genealogical Publishing Company, ISBN 0-8063-0604-1 .
• Lee, Robert Edward (2000), Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee, Project Gutenberg, <http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2323>. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works Retrieved on 20 May 2008 
• Nolan, Alan T. (1991), Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History, University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 0-8078-4587-6 . The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press) founded in 1922 is a University press that is part of the University of North Carolina.
• Warner, Ezra J. (1959), Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5 . The Louisiana State University Press, founded in 1935 is a Nonprofit Book publisher dedicated to the publication of scholarly general interest and regional

Further reading

Biographical

• Blount, Roy, Jr. Robert E. Lee Penguin Putnam, 2003. 210 pp. , short popular biography
• Carmichael, Peter S. , ed. Audacity Personified: The Generalship of Robert E. Lee Louisiana State U. Pr. , 2004.
• Connelly, Thomas L. , "The Image and the General: Robert E. Lee in American Historiography. " Civil War History 19 (March 1973): 50-64.
• Connelly, Thomas L. , The Marble Man. Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.
• Connelly, Thomas L. , "Robert E. Lee and the Western Confederacy: A Criticism of Lee's Strategic Ability. " Civil War History 15 (June 1969): 116-32
• Cooke, John E. , "A Life of General Robert E. Lee" Kessinger Publishing, 2004.
• Dowdey, Clifford. Lee 1965.
• Fellman, Michael (2000), The Making of Robert E. Lee. New York: Random House (ISBN 0-679-45650-3).
• Fishwick, Marshall W. Lee after the War 1963.
• Flood, Charles Bracelen. Lee — The Last Years 1981.
• Freeman, Douglas S., R. Douglas Southall Freeman, ( May 16, 1886 &ndash June 13, 1953) was an American journalist and historian E. Lee, A Biography (4 volumes), Scribners, 1934 (online in its entirety). The longest and most influential biography, by Pulitzer prize winner
• Gary W. Gallagher; Lee the Soldier. University of Nebraska Press, 1996
• Gary W. Gallagher; Lee & His Army in Confederate History. University of North Carolina Press, 2001
• McCaslin, Richard B. Lee in the Shadow of Washington. Louisiana State University Press, 2001.
• Pryor, Elizabeth Brown; Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters. New York: Viking, 2007.
• Reid, Brian Holden. Robert E. Lee: Icon for a Nation, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005.
• Thomas, Emory Robert E. Lee W. W. Norton & Co. , 1995 (ISBN 0-393-03730-4) full-scale biography

Military campaigns

• Brown, Kent Masterson. Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign. U. of North Carolina Press, 2005.
• Cavanaugh, Michael A. , and William Marvel, The Petersburg Campaign: The Battle of the Crater: "The Horrid Pit," June 25-August 6, 1864 (1989)
• Davis, William C. Death in the Trenches: Grant at Petersburg (1986).
• Dowdey, Clifford. The Seven Days 1964.
• Freeman, Douglas S., Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command (3 volumes), Scribners, 1946, ISBN 0-684-85979-3. Douglas Southall Freeman, ( May 16, 1886 &ndash June 13, 1953) was an American journalist and historian
• Fuller, Maj. Gen. J. F. C., Grant and Lee, A Study in Personality and Generalship, Indiana University Press, 1957, ISBN 0-253-13400-5. Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO, commonly J
• Gott, Kendall D. , Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862, Stackpole Books, 2003, ISBN 0-8117-0049-6.
• Grimsley, Mark, And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May-June 1864 University of Nebraska Press, 2002.
• Harsh, Joseph L. Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 Kent State University Press, 1999
• Johnson, R. U. , and Buel, C. C. , eds. , Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 4 vols. New York, 1887-88; essays by leading generals of both sides; online edition
• McWhiney, Grady, Battle in the Wilderness: Grant Meets Lee (1995)
• Maney, R. Wayne, Marching to Cold Harbor. Victory and Failure, 1864 (1994).
• Marvel, William. Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox. University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
• Matter, William D. , If It Takes All Summer: The Battle of Spotsylvania (1988)
• Rhea, Gordon C. , The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864, Louisiana State University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-8071-1873-7.
• Rhea, Gordon C. , The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7–12, 1864, Louisiana State University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8071-2136-3.
• Rhea, Gordon C. , To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864, Louisiana State University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8071-2535-0.
• Rhea, Gordon C. , Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26 – June 3, 1864, Louisiana State University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8071-2803-1. Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1864 ( MDCCCLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year
• Miller, J. Michael, The North Anna Campaign: "Even to Hell Itself," May 21-26, 1864 (1989).
• Steere, Edward, The Wilderness Campaign (1960)

Primary sources

• Blassingame, John W (ed. ) (1977), Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, and Interviews, and Autobiographies. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press (ISBN 0-8071-0273-3).
• Dowdey, Clifford. and Louis H. Manarin, eds. The Wartime Papers of R. E. Lee. Boston: Little, Brown, 1961.
• Freeman, Douglas Southall. ed. Unpublished Letters of General Robert E. Lee, C. S. A. , to Jefferson Davis and the War Department of the Confederate States of America, 1862-65. Rev. ed. , with foreword by Grady McWhiney. 1957.
• Johnson, R. U. , and Buel, C. C. , eds. , Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 4 vols. New York, 1887-88; essays by leading generals of both sides; online edition
• Taylor, Walter H. Four Years with General Lee Reprint. 1962.
• Taylor, Walter H. General Lee — His Campaigns in Virginia, 1861-1865. Reprint. 1975

External links

Primary sources

• Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee, by Captain Robert E. Lee, His Son

Biographies

• Freeman's biography of Lee
• Biographical article in Appleton's Encyclopedia
• Obituary of Robert E. Lee, with a retrospective from a Northern point of view. The New York Times; October 13, 1870

Monuments and memorials

• Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University where Robert E. Lee is buried
• Robert E Lee / Virginia Monument at Gettysburg

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