Robert E. Lee

Military Commander

1807 – 1870

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Who was Robert E. Lee?

Robert Edward Lee was an American career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.

The son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III and a top graduate of the United States Military Academy, Robert E. Lee distinguished himself as an exceptional officer and combat engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican-American War, served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, and married Mary Custis.

When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his personal desire for the country to remain intact and despite the fact that President Abraham Lincoln had offered Lee command of a Union Army. During the Civil War, Lee originally served as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. He soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander, winning numerous battles against far superior Union armies. His abilities as a tactician have been praised by many military historians. Lee's strategic foresight was more doubtful, and both of his major offensives into the North ended in defeat. Lee's aggressive tactics during the war that resulted in high casualties, when the Confederacy had a shortage of manpower, has recently drawn criticism. Union General Ulysses S. Grant's campaigns bore down on the Confederacy in 1864 and 1865, and despite inflicting heavy casualties, Lee was unable to turn the war's tide. He would ultimately surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. By this time, the former had assumed supreme command of the remaining Southern armies; other Confederate forces swiftly capitulated after Lee's surrender. Lee rejected the proposal of a sustained insurgency against the North and called for reconciliation between the two sides.

Famous Quotes:

  • Still a Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets, and in which strife and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness, has no charm for me.
  • My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health.
  • I have been up to see the Congress and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving.
  • Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less.
  • Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.
  • Duty, then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.
  • True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels themthe desire to do rightis precisely the same.
  • Let the tent be struck.
  • We have fought this fight as long, and as well as we know how. We have been defeated. For us as a Christian people, there is now but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation.
  • I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.

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Born
Jan 19, 1807
Stratford Hall
Also known as
  • Robert Edward Lee
  • Marble Man
  • Marble Model
  • Granny Lee
  • The Great Tycoon
  • The King of Spades
  • The Old Man
  • Marse Robert
  • Bobby Lee
  • Robert E Lee
Parents
Siblings
Spouses
Children
Religion
  • Episcopal Church
Nationality
  • United States of America
  • Confederate States of America
Profession
Education
  • United States Military Academy
    (1825 - 1829)
Lived in
  • Virginia
Died
Oct 12, 1870
Lexington city

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"Robert E. Lee." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/robert_e_lee>.

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