Background
George Washington Custis Lee was born on 16 September 1832. His parents were Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee. He was the oldest of the Lees' children and had the reputation of a trouble maker as a small child.
1865
Robert E. Lee with his son Gen. G.W. Custis Lee (left) and aide Lt. Col. Walter Taylor (right) after the surrender in 1865.
West Point, New York, United States
George Washington Custis Lee entered the Military Academy at West Point in 1850, from which he graduated at the head of his class in 1854.
George Washington Custis Lee was born on 16 September 1832. His parents were Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee. He was the oldest of the Lees' children and had the reputation of a trouble maker as a small child.
Receiving his early education in private schools of Virginia, George Washington Custis Lee entered the Military Academy at West Point in 1850, from which he graduated at the head of his class in 1854.
Upon graduation, George Washington Custis Lee was assigned to service in the United States Army Corps of Engineers and performed work in the river and harbor improvements in various sections of the country. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was on duty as an assistant in the office of the chief engineer of the army at Washington. On May 2, 1861, he resigned his commission as a first lieutenant in the army and offered his service to the Confederacy.
Commissioned captain of engineers in the Confederate army, July 1, 1861, he was engaged in the construction of the fortifications of Richmond until his appointment, August 31, 1861, as aide-de-camp on the staff of President Davis, with the rank of colonel of cavalry. His military ability was at once recognized by Jefferson Davis who often entrusted him with important missions.
In September 1861, Lee was dispatched to Norfolk to examine the state of defense of that place. In October 1862, with the Federals threatening Wilmington, North Carolina, he was sent there to assist in the organization of the forces of resistance. In October 1863, his advice upon the reorganization of the Artillery Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia was sought by his father, General Lee. Although his active service on the battlefield was limited to the last months of the war, owing to the demand for his activities in other departments of the military service, his efficient and successful career won for him military advancement. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, June 25, 1863, and later, on October 21, 1864, to major-general. Custis Lee longed for an active command, but President Davis was loath to part with him.
During the last days of the Confederacy, Lee's brigade composed of departmental clerks and mechanics of Richmond, which George had previously organized for emergency purposes in the defense of Richmond, was attached to Ewell's corps and participated in the final retreat from Petersburg. Engaged at Sailor's Creek, it displayed "gallantry never surpassed," and Lee was commended by his superior officer for his conduct in that sanguinary battle. He, with most of his command, was captured in this engagement.
The war over, George Lee became in October 1865 professor of military and civil engineering at the Virginia Military Institute, which position he occupied until he succeeded his father, February 1, 1871, as president of Washington and Lee University. He was also a generous benefactor of the institution, presenting, among his gifts, portraits of Washington and Lafayette by Peale, and heirlooms of the Custis family. Resigning July 1, 1897, he retired to "Ravensworth" an ancestral home, in Fairfax County, Virginia.
George was studious and painfully shy in the company of women.
Letters to him from his parents suggest that he took part in family activities and was warmly regarded by his brothers and sisters. George was certainly generous and devoted to them.
Due to his shyness, George Lee was never married.