121 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
121 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
Newsgroups: freenet.shrine.songs
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From: aa300 (Jerry Murphy)
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Subject: Robert E. Lee, biography
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Date: Wed, 24 Jan 90 15:56:11 EST
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Lee, Robert E..
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EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
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Robert Edward Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807, at his family's home, "Stratford,"
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in Westmoreland County, Va. His father, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, had been
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a cavalry officer during the American Revolution and a close friend of George
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Washington. Henry Lee, a compulsive gambler, lost much of the family wealth
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in land speculation prior to his death in 1818. Robert grew up in genteel
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poverty in Alexandria, Va. Appointed to West Point in 1825, he graduated (1829)
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after compiling an enviable academic record. In 1831, Lee married Mary Ann
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Randolph Custis, great-granddaughter of Martha Washington by her first marriage.
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During the next 30 years he often lived at Arlington, the Custis mansion near
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Washington, D.C.
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Commissioned in the Corps of Engineers in 1829, Lee held a variety of assign-
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ments, helping with construction work at several military posts and with river
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and harbor improvements at Saint Louis. Promotion was slow, however, and it was
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not until 1838 that he was made a captain. In the Mexican War, Lee was an
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engineering officer with Winfield Scott's force that fought its way to Mexico
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City. Lee's work at the battles of Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, and Chapultepec was
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outstanding and won for him praise and a brilliant reputation. From 1852 to 1855
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he was superintendent at West Point. In 1855 he was made lieutenant colonel of
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the Second Cavalry, and in 1859 he commanded the force that suppressed the John
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Brown raid on Harpers Ferry.
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ROLE IN CIVIL WAR
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A moderate, Lee was dismayed by the extremists on both sides of the North-South
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controversy in the 1850s. Nevertheless, believing that he owed his first loyalty
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to his own state, he declined an offer to command the Federal army, resigned his
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commission in the U.S. Army, and offered his services to Virginia when it
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seceded in April 1861. Virginia was soon part of the Confederacy, and Con-
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federate president Jefferson Davis appointed Lee a general in the Southern army.
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After an unsuccessful effort to repel an invasion of western Virginia, Lee was
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sent to prepare Atlantic coastal defenses. In March 1862 he returned to Virginia
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as an advisor to Davis. After Joseph E. Johnston was wounded in May 1862 during
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the Peninsular Campaign, Lee became commander of the main Confederate army in
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Virginia--a force that he soon named the Army of Northern Virginia.
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When Lee took command, the outlook appeared dim for the Confederacy. Federal
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troops were slowly gaining control of the Mississippi Valley, and a large enemy
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army was within sight of Richmond. In late June, Lee struck at the Unionists
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near Richmond and in the Seven Days' Battles drove them away from the capital.
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In August he defeated a Northern army in the second Battle of Bull Run and
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chased it into the defenses of Washington, D.C. Lee followed up this victory by
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invading Maryland. During the Battle of Antietam (Sept. 17, 1862) he fought a
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drawn battle with the Federals. Lee then withdrew to Virginia where he inflicted
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a costly defeat on his opponents at Fredericksburg in December.
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At Chancellorsville (May 1863), Lee won his greatest victory and suffered his
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greatest loss. Boldly dividing his army into three parts, Lee assailed a larger
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Federal force. The result was a battle in which the Unionists were thoroughly
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befuddled and driven back with heavy casualties. Southern losses were also
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high, and among them was Lee's greatest lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson, who died
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(May 10) of complications arising from wounds received a week earlier. Lee was
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unable to replace Jackson and never again achieved the degree of success he had
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won with the cooperation of Jackson.
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In the summer of 1863, Lee launched another invasion of the North. In early July
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he attacked a Federal army at Gettysburg, Pa., and was defeated in the greatest
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battle of the war. The Confederates fell back into Virginia, and there, in 1864,
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Lee led them into a series of bloody battles against the Northern army, now
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commanded by Ulysses S. Grant. Hampered by the loss of many good officers,
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such as James Longstreet (wounded May 6) and J.E.B. Stuart (mortally wounded May
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11), Lee maneuvered brilliantly against Grant and inflicted heavy losses on the
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Federals. Unable to seize the offensive, he was pushed back to Richmond and
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Petersburg and forced to defend those cities against a semisiege. Over the
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ensuing months, Lee's strength steadily declined, and Grant finally broke
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through the Southern lines in April 1865. Lee tried to escape with his army to
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join other Confederate forces in North Carolina, but Grant trapped him at
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Appomattox Court House and forced him to surrender on Apr. 9. By then Lee had
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become the symbol of the Confederacy (and he had finally been appointed
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general in chief of all Confederate armies in February); when he surrendered,
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other Southern armies soon ceased fighting.
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POSTWAR LIFE AND REPUTATION
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After the war, Lee became president of Washington College (now Washington and
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Lee University) in Lexington, Va. Accepting the results of the war, he devoted
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himself to education and to helping rebuild the South. Lee died on Oct. 12,
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1870.
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Lee had many weaknesses as a general. He was too considerate of others, and his
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politeness sometimes obscured the necessity for quick, total obedience to his
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orders. He entrusted too much discretion to subordinates who, except for Jack-
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son, were not capable of handling it. He may not have paid sufficient attention
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to logistics, and he has been accused of devoting too much attention to Virginia
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to the neglect of other areas. Despite these weaknesses, many historians main-
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tain that Lee was the most capable commander of the Civil War. A great general
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and a great man, Robert E. Lee was a fitting symbol of the South as well as an
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American hero.
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RICHARD M. McMURRY
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Connelly, Thomas L. - THE MARBLE MAN: ROBERT E. LEE AND HIS IMAGE IN AMERICAN
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SOCIETY (1977)
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Davis, Burke - GRAY FOX: ROBERT E. LEE AND THE CIVIL WAR (1956)
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Dowdey, Clifford - LEE (1965) and, as ed., THE WARTIME PAPERS OF R. E. LEE
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(1961)
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Fishwick, Marshall W. - LEE AFTER THE WAR (1963; repr. 1973)
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Freeman, Douglas S. - R. E. LEE: A BIOGRAPHY, 4 vols. (1934-35)
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- LEE'S LIEUTENANTS, 3 vols. (1942-44)
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Maurice, Frederick - ROBERT E. LEE, THE SOLDIER (1928)
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Miers, Earle S. - ROBERT E. LEE (1956)
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Sanborn, Margaret - ROBERT E. LEE, 2 vols. (1966-67).
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'Copyright 1987, Grolier Inc, Academic American Encyclopedia,
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Electronic Version'
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USED BY PERMISSION, granted January 9, 1988
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