Robert E. Lee

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Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870) - Born 19 Jan 1807, died 12 Oct 1870 was a career army officer and the most successful general of the Confederate forces during the U.S. Civil War. He eventually commanded all Confederate armies as general-in-chief. After the war, he urged reconciliation, and spent his final years as a progressive college president.

Lee was born at Stratford Hall Plantation, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the fourth child of Revolutionary War hero Henry Lee ("Lighthorse Harry") and Anne Hill (Carter) Lee. He entered the United States Military Academy in 1825. When he graduated (second in his class of 46) in 1829 he had not only attained the top academic record but was the first cadet (and so far the only) to graduate the Academy without a single demerit. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

While he was stationed at Fort Monroe, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1808-1873), the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, at Shirley Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia, where she had been born. They lived in the Custis-Lee Mansion, which today is a Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial on the banks of the Potomac River in Arlington County, Virginia, just across from Washington, D.C. They eventually had three sons and four daughters: George Washington Custis Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh Lee , Robert Edward, Mary, Agnes, Annie, and Mildred.

Mexican War

Lee's service during the Mexican War (1846-1848) was so outstanding that he was promoted twice and served as one of Gen. Winfield Scott's chief aides. He was instrumental in several American victories through his personal reconnaissance as a staff officer. He was promoted to major after the Battle of Cerro Gordo in April, 1847. He also fought at Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec, and was wounded at the latter. By the end of the war he had been promoted to lieutenant colonel.

Superintendent of the United States Military Academy

During his three years at West Point(1852-1855), he improved the buildings, the courses, and spent a lot of time with the cadets. Lee's oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, attended West Point during his tenure. Custis Lee graduated in 1854, first in his class.

Harper's Ferry

Lee happened to be in Washington in 1859 at the time of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia and was sent there to arrest Brown and to restore order. He did this very quickly and then returned to his regiment in Texas. When Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, Lee was called to Washington, DC to wait for further orders.

Assignments:

• 1825-1829 - United States Military Academy (West Point)
• 1829-1831 - (2nd Lt.) Fort Pulaski
• 1832-1834 - (2nd Lt.) Fort Monroe
• 1834-1837 - (2nd Lt.) Washington, assistant to chief engineer
• 1837-1841 - (1st Lt.) First command supervising engineering work on St. Louis Harbor & Upper Mississippi River.
• 1841-1846 - (Captain) Fort Hamilton in charge of building fortifications.
• 1846-1848 - (Captain) Mexican War
• 1848-1852 - (Lt. Col.) Fort Carroll
• 1852-1855 - (Lt. Col.) Superintendent of West Point
• 1855-1861 - (Lt. Col.) Second Cavalry on the Texas Frontier protecting settlers.
• 1861-1865 - Confederate Army

Links:

• Wikipedia
• R. E. Lee, the biography by Douglas Southall Freeman (4 vols., complete online version)
• Robert E. Lee Historical Preservation Site
• Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University where Robert E. Lee is buried
• Notice of Robert E. Lee's Assignment to Command of Confederate Forces on the Coast of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, 1861 From the State Library & Archives of Florida.