General in chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War, Robert Edward Lee displayed strategic sense and tactical skill that rank him among the great military captains of history.
Background
Ethnicity:
One of Lee's great grandparents, Henry Lee I, was a prominent Virginian colonist of English descent. Lee's family is one of Virginia's first families, descended from Richard Lee I, Esq., "the Immigrant" (1618–64), from the county of Shropshire in England.
Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia's Westmoreland County on January 19, 1807, the third son of Henry ("Light Horse Harry") and Ann Hill Carter Lee. Declining fortunes forced the family's removal to Alexandria. His father's death in 1811 increased responsibilities on all the sons; Robert, especially, cared for his invalid mother.
Education
Lee was 18 when he joined West Point Military Academy. He was one of the only six cadets who had passed the class in graduation without any demerit throughout and with good scores in cavalry and arms in the year 1829.
Lee was committed to his work in the military after completion of his graduation. He moved to several different places in the country including Savannah, Baltimore, St. Louis and New York.
In the year 1846, United States went to war with Mexico wherein Lee, under the leadership of General Winfield Scott, proved himself to be a notable commander making sharp war strategies. When the United States came out victorious in the war, Lee was established as a hero for his bravery and tactics. He got extensive praise from Winfield Scott.
When Lee’s father-in-law died, Lee moved back to his wife at the plantation and tried to work on the area to make it more profitable. This came as a hard chore on Lee.
In the year 1859, Lee joined the army once again but this time to a non-high post at a cavalry outpost in Texas. The same year in the month of October, he was given the assignment to stop the group led by John Brown at the Harper’s Ferry protesting for the slaves. With Lee’s brilliant strategy, he was able to make them withdraw the revolt in less than an hour and for this successful task, he was selected as part of the Union Army in case United States had to go to war once again in the future.
With his constant involvement in Virginia, his focus on the army kept reducing and he even turned down an offer from Abraham Lincoln when he was asked to become a commander of the Union Forces. He resigned from his post from the military and decided to lead the confederate forces when Virginia voted to withdraw from the nation on 18th of April 1861.
The following year in 1862, Lee led the Military of North Virginia in a Battle of Seven days and defeated Union Army in Richmond. He also led the confederate a great success at the Second Manassas. Not all did go well. When Lee, along with his army tried to cross Potomac, 14,000 of his men were made captive, injured or killed.
In the year 1863, Lee faced another great loss in the Battle of Gettysburg where most of his army men were destroyed and this strengthened the Union army. By 1865, the outcome of the war was fairly clear. Lee was forced to leave Richmond which was the confederate capital. After a week, he surrendered himself to the leader of Union Army Ulysses S. Grant at his home in Appomattox in Virginia.
Lee was arrested but left from being executed by Abraham Lincoln and Grand and was released to go home. He joined his family in the year 1865. Eventually, he accepted a job at a college in Virginia as a president and did not interfere in politics further on.
On 12th of October 1870, Lee suffered a massive stroke at his home and succumbed to death. He was surrounded by his family members then.
Lee has been mentioned to be a devotee of Jesus Christ. He followed the holy book and the words of Jesus Christ throughout his life. His was a devoted and a faithful prayed. It is mentioned that he prayed for freedom from Slavery, prayed for his injured friends in the military and prayed for his family. When he was informed that the Champlain had prayed for Lee, he started crying and thanks him for his prayers.
Views
Lee’s private views on race and slavery "which today seem startling, were entirely unremarkable in Lee’s world. No visionary, Lee nearly always tried to conform to accepted opinions. His assessment of black inferiority, of the necessity of racial stratification, the primacy of slave law, and even a divine sanction for it all, was in keeping with the prevailing views of other moderate slaveholders and a good many prominent Northerners."
Quotations:
“It is well that war is so terrible – otherwise, we would grow too fond of it.”
“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.”
“The education of a man is never completed until he dies.”
“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 think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.“
“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.“
Personality
Lee was respected for his work and bravery by his friends and foes alike. He attracted men and women alike, was easy in manner, courteous and kind as a friend, and was a loving husband and father.
Physical Characteristics:
He looked the part: 5 feet 10 1/2 inches tall, robust at 170 pounds, Lee had graceful, almost classic features.
Quotes from others about the person
"We have long since ceased to look upon him as the Confederate leader, but have claimed him as one of ourselves; have cherished and felt proud of his military genius; have recounted and recorded his triumphs as our own; have extolled his virtue as reflecting upon us—for Robert Edward Lee was an American and the great nation which gave him birth would be today unworthy of such a son if she regarded him lightly". (Northern Newspaper)
Connections
In 1831, Robert Lee got married to Mary Anna Randolph Custis, while he was stationed at Fort Monroe. The couple had seven children together, three boys and four girls.