Great American Military Leader:

Robert E. Lee

Main Life Accomplishments:

He was a career United States Army officer, an engineer, and among the most celebrated generals in American history. 
After the Civil War, Robert E. Lee became president of Washington College in Virginia, a post which he held until his death. After his death the school was renamed as Washington and Lee

 

Basics:

Born: 19-Jan-1807 Stratford, VA 

Died: 12-Oct-1870 Lexington, VA

Nationality: American  

Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian

Fields: Politics, Military

Main Accomplishments: Lee was the Confederacy's most famous general in the American Civil War. He is best known for his victories in the Battle of second Manassas (second Bull Run), and the Battle of Chancellorsville. 

 

Chronology of Life Events:

January 19,1807

Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia: Parents, Henry Lee ("Light-horse Harry" Lee) of Leesylvania, and Ann Hill Carter of Shirley.

 

1811
Removed to Alexandria with his family.

 

1812
His father received injuries in Baltimore riot from which he never recovered and which necessitated his leaving Alexandria for a warmer climate. He died six years later, at Cumberland Island, Georgia, March 25, 1818. Robert was reared by his mother. He spent his holidays and vacations at Stratford and Shirley.

1818
His father died while Lee was in the midst of his schooling.

1825
Entered West Point.

1829
Graduated from West Point second in his class. His mother died at Ravensworth, Virginia. He was assigned to duty at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

1831
June 30. Married Mary Randolph Custis of Arlington.

1834-37
Served as Assistant to Chief Engineer of the Army.

1837
Took charge of improvement of Mississippi at St. Louis.

1838
Made Captain of Engineers.

1841
In charge of defense at Fort Hamilton, New York.

1844
Appointed Visitor to West Point.

1846-47
Rendered distinguished services in Mexican War.

1848 January to June

 Stationed in Mexico.

1849-52
At work on the defenses of Baltimore.

1852-55
Superintendent of West Point Academy.

1855 April

Appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Cavalry.

1855-59
Saw service against Indians in Texas.

1856-59 October

Suppressed the John Brown insurrection.

1860 February

Took charge of Department of Texas where he stayed one year.

 

1861

 

March 1

Returned to Arlington to his family.

 

March 16

Appointed Colonel of First Cavalry.

 

April 16

Offered command of United States Armies.

 

April 20

Resigned commission in army.

 

April 23

Accepted command of Virginia forces.

 

May - July

Organized troops and advised President Davis in Richmond.

 

August - October

Was in charge of abortive campaign in Western Virginia.
November. Had charge of coast defense in South Carolina and Georgia.

 

1862

 

March

Became military advisor to President Davis.

 

June 1

Assumed command of Army of Northern Virginia.

 

June 26 - July 2

Commanded Confederates in Seven Days' fighting around Richmond.

 

August 30

Defeated Pope at second Manassas.

 

September 5

Crossed the Potomac. Began advance into Maryland.

 

September 12

Drew Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg. Abandoned campaign of invastion.

 

December 13

Won a victory over Burnside at Fredericksburg.

 

December

In winter quarters until March.

 

1863

 

May 2 - 3

Won a victory over Hooker at Chacellorsville.

 

May 10

His great liutenant, "Stonewall" Jackson, died.

 

June

Began movements leading up to second invasion of the North.

 

July 1 -3

Defeated at Gettysburg.

 

July 4 - 13

Made a masterly retreat and recrossed the Potomac.

 

October - November

Conducted the ineffective campaign of Mine Run.

 

December

Lay in winter quarters on the Rapidan until April.

 

1864

 

May 5 - 6

Fought the Battle of the Wilderness against Grant.

 

May 8 - 18

Conducted fighting about Spotsylvania Courthouse.

 

May 21 - June 1

Conducted operations on interior lines.

 

June 2 - 3

Fought a fierce battle at Cold Harbor.

 

June 18

Joined Beauregard at Petersburg. Siege of Petersburg began.

 

July 30

Fought the Battle of the Crater.

 

1865

 

February 9

Issued his first general order as Commander-in-Chief.

 

April 2

Retreated from Petersburg. End of the siege.

 

April 3

Richmond fell.

 

April 9

Surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.\

 

April 10

Issued his Farewell Address to the Army of Northern Virginia.

 

June 13

Applied for Pardon.

 

August 4

Elected President of Washington College, Lexington, Virginia (now

Washington and Lee University.)

 

1867

 

February 4

Declined to be a candidate for the governorship of Virginia.

 

1870

March - April. Visited Georgia in seach of health.

 

October 12

Robert E. Lee died at Lexington.

 

Early Life:

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. Lee's parents were members of the Virginia gentry class and true tuckahoes. Lee's paternal ancestors were among the earliest settlers in Virginia. His mother grew up at Shirley Plantation, one of the most elegant homes in Virginia. His maternal great-great-grandfather, Robert "King" Carter, was the wealthiest man in the colonies when he died in 1732. "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." 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. On his way home ... he died..." Lee of Virginia also notes "...in the West Indies, Henry Lee wrote a series of letters to his son, Carter..."During his young life,. later described by Robert E. Lee as "'Those letters of love and wisdom.'"

Lee's father died when Lee was eleven years old, leaving the family deeply in debt. 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. Lee attended Alexandria Academy, where he obtained a classical education along the lines of quadrivium. 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. 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. He was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.

 

Wife Background:

Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (October 1, 1807 – November 5, 1873) was the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Mary was the only surviving child of George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington's stepgrandson, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, daughter of William Fitzhugh and Ann Randolph. Her godmother, Mary Randolph, wrote an early housekeeping and cookbook. Mary's birth year is usually given as 1808, but it appears in the Custis family Bible and in records kept by her mother as 1807, and is also referred to in a letter her mother wrote in the autumn of 1807. Mary was well educated, having learned both Latin and Greek. She enjoyed discussing politics with her father, and later with her husband. She kept current with the new literature and, after her father's death, edited and published his writings as "Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington, by his Adopted Son George Washington Parke Custis, with a Memoir of this Author by his Daughter" in 1859.

Mary was diminutive and vivacious and had known Robert E. Lee from childhood. Among her other suitors was Sam Houston. The pair were married at her parents' home, Arlington House, on June 30, 1831 and had three sons and four daughters: George Washington Custis "Custis", William H. Fitzhugh "Rooney", Robert Edward Jr., Mary, Eleanor Agnes (called Agnes), Anne, and Mildred.

Mary inherited Arlington House from her father after he died in 1857. The estate had long been the couple's home whenever they were in the area during her husband's military career. Mary was a gracious hostess and enjoyed frequent visitors. She was a painter, like her father, and painted many landscapes, some of which are still on view at the house. She loved roses and grew 11 varieties. She was deeply religious and attended Episcopal services when there was one near the army post. In Arlington, Virginia, the Lees attended the Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria, the church she and Robert had attended in childhood.

Mary taught her female slaves to read and write and was an advocate of eventual emancipation. She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, and this became increasingly debilitating with advancing age. By 1861, she was using a wheelchair.

With the advent of the American Civil War, Lee and their sons were called to service in Virginia while Mary delayed evacuating Arlington House until May 15, 1861. Early that month, Lee wrote to Mary Anna saying:

"War is inevitable, and there is no telling when it will burst around you . . . You have to move and make arrangements to go to some point of safety which you must select. The Mount Vernon plate and pictures ought to be secured. Keep quiet while you remain, and in your preparations . . . May God keep and preserve you and have mercy on all our people."

Mary and her daughters initially moved between the several family plantations. In May 1862, when she was caught at her son Rooney's White House Plantation in New Kent County behind the Federal lines, as Union forces moved up the York River and the Pamunkey River toward Richmond. In a gentlemanly gesture by Union commander George B. McClellan, she was allowed to pass through the lines in order to take up residence in Richmond --- McClellan's campaign goal, ironically.

Mary and her daughters finally settled at 707 East Franklin Street in Richmond, Virginia for the bulk of the War. After the War, after they lived in Powhatan county for a short time, she accompanied her husband to Lexington, Virginia, where he became president of the Washington College, later renamed Washington and Lee University. She was able to visit her beloved Arlington House once more before her death, but she was unable to leave the carriage. She hardly recognized it except for a few old oaks and some of the trees she and Robert had planted. Mary died at the age of 66 and is buried next to her husband in the Lee family crypt at Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee.

Father Background:

Henry Lee III, called "Light Horse Harry" , (January 29, 1756–March 25, 1818) was a cavalry officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was the Governor of Virginia and a U.S. Congressman, as well as the father of American Civil War general Robert E. Lee.

Lee was born near Dumfries, Virginia, the son of Maj. Gen. Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792) the "Lowland Beauty". His father was first cousin once removed to Richard Henry Lee, sixth President of the Continental Congress. His mother was an aunt of the wife of Virginia Governor Thomas Nelson Jr. His great-grandmother Mary Bland was a great-aunt of President Thomas Jefferson and he descended once from King John of England, twice from King Edward I of England, once from King Jean de Brienne of Jerusalem, twice from King Edward III of England and once from King Pedro I of Castile. With a view to a legal career, he graduated (1773) from The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), but, soon afterwards, on the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he became a captain in the revolutionary forces.

 

In 1776, he was promoted to captain of a Virginia dragoon detachment, which was attached to the 1st Continental Light Dragoons; and, in 1778, he was promoted to major and given the command of a small irregular corps, with which he won a great reputation as a leader of light troops.

His services on the outpost line of the army earned for him the sobriquet of "Light Horse Harry". His greatest exploit was the brilliant surprise at the Battle of Paulus Hook in New Jersey, on August 19, 1779; for this feat he received a gold medal, a reward given to no other officer below a general's rank in the entire war. (See also Discovery of medal that Congress granted to Lee). The medal is on view with other pieces from Princeton University’s Numismatic Collection, including two pewter continental "dollars", large cents from 1793 and 1794, a silver dollar of 1794, the Thomas Jefferson inaugural medal of 1801 and an Indian Peace Medal of James Madison (Princeton class of 1771). Also included are a signed letter of Lee to the New Jersey quartermaster from 1780 and a signed letter of the same year from George Washington to Lee approving Lee’s plan to capture Benedict Arnold.

He was promoted to lieutenant colonel with a picked corps of dragoons (Lee's Legion) to the southern theater of war. Here he rendered invaluable services in victory and defeat, notably at Guilford Court House, Camden and Eutaw Springs. He was present at Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, and afterwards left the army owing to ill health.

During the infamous Whiskey Rebellion, Lee commanded the 13,000 militiamen sent to quash the rebels. However, this command existed more on paper than in actuality, as President George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, military men both, accompanied him.

 

Mother Background:

Robert E. Lee's mother, Ann Hill Carter Lee, was the great-granddaughter of Robert Carter (1663-1732), one of America's earliest men of wealth. Carter's wealth came from service as land agent for the English Proprieter, Lord Fairfax. As such, he collected rents on the millions of acres owned by Fairfax in Virginia. His position gained for him an estate of some three hundred thousand acres and made him so powerful that he became known as "King" Carter. His wealth, filtered through several generations, was the ultimate source of Ann's inheritance.

Ann's father was Charles Carter, one of Virginia's wealthiest planters. His home called Shirley Plantation was located on the south side of the James River near Richmond, VA. Ann came from a distinguished family. It is probable that she was known personally to all seven Virginian signers of the Declaration of Independence, to all of whom, save one, she was related by ties of consanguinity or marriage.

Comparatively little is known of Ann personally. It is believed that the likeness shown above is hers because the brooch in the picture, bearing a likeness of George Washington, is similar to one known to have been hers. Ann was born in 1773, though exactly where is not certain. Ann was the daughter of Anne Butler Moore, Charles Carter's second wife. She was the tenth of twenty-three children born to Charles' two wives. So, though of a wealthy family, she could not see herself as particularly unique. Charles, nonetheless, displayed a lively interest in the welfare of each of his children. It may be safely inferred that she posessed a strong sense of family. Similarly, she was a religious person with a strong belief in the existence of a just and benevolent God.

Ann was not physically strong. She is said to have suffered from narcolepsy, a disease which made her, along with many persons of her time, even those not so afflicted, fearful of being buried alive. There is even a legend that she was, indeed, thought dead and nearly so buried. As early as 1806 she writes that she was becoming an invalid. During her stay at the Oronoco street home, she needed help negotiating the stairs. Ann apparently suffered from tuberculosis for an indeterminant time preceding her death. 

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