Across Five Aprils

General Robert E. Lee

The fourth child of a Revolutionary War hero, Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807 at Stratford, Virginia. Raised mostly by his mother, he watched his father fail at one civilian enterprise after another.

General Robert E. LeeHe graduated from West Point second in his class in 1829. As an engineer, Lieutenant Lee helped to build the St. Louis waterfront and worked on coastal forts in Brunswick and Savannah.

He married George Washington’s granddaughter.

In 1845, he served with Winfield Scott during the Mexican War as a Captain, entrusted with the duties of mapping the terrain ahead, dividing the line of advance for U.S. troops, and in one case leading the troops into battle.

During the Mexican War, he learned many of the skills that would serve him so well later. There, he also met and had a chance to evaluate many of those with whom he would later serve with or against, including Ulysses Grant, Thomas Jackson, James Longstreet, and George Pickett.

Following the Mexican War, he became Superintendent of West Point in 1852 but, in 1855, accepted a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Cavalry in order to escape from the comparatively slow promotion pace of the engineers.

He served in Texas until the 1857 death of his father-in-law required his return to Washington D.C. in order to settle his estate. Thus, he was available to put an end to John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, the site of a U.S. arsenal. Colonel Lee, Lieutenant Jeb Stuart, and a detachment of troops were able to capture John Brown and his abolitionist followers.

Lee then returned to Texas, where he served until 1861 when, after the secession of several of the Southern states, he was called back to Washington D.C. and offered the command of the Union Army for the purpose of ending the rebellion in the South.

Lee, a Virginian, turned down the offer and resigned his commission in the Union Army the day after his home state seceded, offering his services to the state of Virginia and to the Confederacy.

Confederate President Davis appointed him as Major General in command of the Army of Virginia.

Command of the Eastern Army was divided between General Beauregard, the hero of Fort Sumter, and General Joseph Johnston, who together had won the first Battle of Bull Run.

Johnston was in command when Union General McClellan began his slow march on Richmond. When Johnston was wounded, President Davis chose Lee as his replacement. In a series of continuous battles, sometimes known as the Seven Days Battle, McClellan was forced to retreat.

In command of what was to become West Virginia, Lee proved to be more than a match for every Union general that was sent against him, until Grant finally defeated him in a long, slow battle of attrition.

Lee’s most spectacular victory was the Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863. Up against a much larger army led by Union General Joe Hooker, Lee and General Stonewall Jackson divided their forces and, through a forced march around Hooker’s forces, fell upon their exposed flank and defeated the Union once again.

This victory led Lee to consider a second invasion of the North. The plan was to defeat the Union forces guarding Washington, D.C., and to hand Lincoln a letter demanding recognition of the Confederate States of America.

It was with this desperate hope, that Lee crossed the river and invaded Pennsylvania, resulting in the greatest land battle in the Western Hemisphere. The Confederate Army of Virginia, under the command of Lee, met the Union Army of the Potomac, led by General George Meade, at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863.

Robert E. LeeThe Battle of Gettysburg, three days of courage, terrible slaughter, and high drama, was a turning point in the American Civil War. Although the South held on for two more years, its chances for victory were essentially ended at Gettysburg.

In January of 1865, Lee was appointed Commander in Chief of the Confederate Armies, but found himself to burdened in Virginia to give much thought to other theaters.

 Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomatox on April 9, 1865 was soon followed by other Confederate field commanders, ending the American Civil War.

After his surrender, thought was given to trying him as a traitor, but instead his citizenship was suspended. He assumed the presidency of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia.

He died on October 12, 1870 of heart disease.