Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee, who was considered to be the greatest soldier fighting for the Confederate

States of America, descended from a long line of famous heroes. Many of Lee's ancestors

played important roles in America's history. His father was a Revolutionary War hero and

a friend of George Washington. He was often referred to as Light Horse Harry Lee.

Lee was born on January 19, 1807 in Stratford, Virginia. Lee always admired Washington,

and was his hero as a youngster. Young Lee decided to become a soldier, partly because of

the military tradition of his family. Lee enrolled in West Point Military Academy and

graduated 2nd in his class in 1829. Lee majored in military engineering and supervised

several army projects, he was named Second Lieutenant in the Corp engineers. His devotion

and hard work in supervising harbor improvements in Saint Louis got him promoted to

Captain in 1838.

As a captain, his first experience in actual battle was in the Mexican War. He served

under General Winfield Scott, and was the best engineer in General Scott's campaign.

Lee's actions at the battles of Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, and Chapultepec received many

high praises and earned him a reputation. General Scott claimed that the success of the

war was due to Lee's bravery and skills, Lee was appointed the rank of Colonel.

In 1582 he was appointed superintendent of West Point Military Academy. Under his

service, James B. McPherson, Phillip Sheridan, and John Bell Hood would graduate from the

academy, soon to be famous. Lee finished his duty as the superintendent in 1855, and

served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Second Cavalry, stationed in Texas.

In 1859, while serving in Texas, Lee was sent to command a group of Marines to suppress

John Brown's uprising. John Brown was a northern abolitionist would believed a rebellion

in the south would lead to abolition. He was taken down by Lee's forces. After

suppressing the uprising, Lee was called to Washington is 1861. The succession movement

had begun. Some southern states had left, but Lee's own Virginia was still uncertain.

As much as Lee had supported the Union, he couldn't bear the sight of union soldiers

invading and destroying his hometown. Lee had thought over this matter for days, and

finally decided to resign from the union forces and offer his help to the confederacy.

When Lee reached Richmond, Virginia had succeeded and they had appointed Lee commander of

Virginia Military forces.

When Virginia joined the confederacy, the capital was set at Richmond, and they took over

all the forces Lee controlled. Although Lee was a full colonel, he had no troops. Finally

the confederacy's president, Jefferson Davis, sent him to stop Union foes coming in from

Western Virginia. He failed and was reassigned to building coastal fortifications in

South Carolina and Georgia.

Lee was called back to Richmond in 1862 and appointed by president Jefferson Davis to be

the chief commander of all Confederate forces. Although his name sounded powerful, it was

actually very pathetic. President Davis took the matters into his own hands, and only

allowed Lee to interfere in small decisions of the war. Soon after Lee was appointed, a

large Union force had approached the gates of Richmond, and he was sent to stop the

penetration of union forces.

Lee arrived in Richmond in June of 1862. The Union army was under the command of General

McClellan, and was only a few miles away from the city along the Chick hominy River. Lee

had decided to destroy the smaller group of union forces guarding the north side of the

river, and push the rest back from there. Lee also took a great risk by only leaving a

small portion of his army guarding the gates of the city. Anyway, Lee was successful in

pushing the union forces back 25 miles in the next 7 days.

The union government retreated