Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) was an American soldier who became the outstanding general of the Confederate army in the American Civil War. He had a successful but unremarkable career in the U.S. army. One year into the Civil War he took command of the main Confederate combat army, the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee immediately emerged as the swiftest and shrewdest best battlefield tactician of the war, as typified by many victories such as at Fredericksburg (1862), Chancellorsville (1863) and Cold Harbor (1864). His strategic vision was more dubious--his invasions of the North in 1862 and 1863 were based on the false assumption that Northern morale was weak and could be shattered by rebel victories. They produced disasterous defeats at Antietam (1862) and Gettysburg (1863), while his failure to protect Vicksburg in 1863 cost the Confederacy control of its western regions. Nevertheless Lee's brilliant defensive maneuvers stopped the Union offenses one after another, as a series of Union commanders failed to win a single major battle in Virginia. Then in 1864 Ulysses S. Grant took charge. He began the "Overland Campaign," a series of high-casualty battles in the bloody summer of 1864. Lee won each battle, technically, but could not replace his losses, and was forced to retreat into trenches around Richmond. Lee's lines finally collapsed in April 1865, and at Appomattox he accepted Grant's generous terms for surrender. Lee vetoed proposals to engage in guerrilla warfare and instead called on southerners to accept reunion and Reconstruction, especially on the terms offered by President Andrew Johnson. He became a national symbol of devotion to duty and genius in battle.

Career

Lee was born at Stratford, Westmoreland Co., Virginia, on January 19, 1807. His childhood was marked by downward mobility of his prominent father, General "Light-Horse Harry" Lee. On account of business losses and ill health, his father moved the family to Alexandria, Virginia. Here young Robert attended school until appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1829, standing second in his class. He was commissioned a lieutenant of engineers and for the next 15 years was engaged in the usual duties of an engineer officer in the United States army, notably being employed on improvements of the harbor of St. Louis and the channel of the Mississippi River. When the Mexican War broke out he was ordered to the Mexican border, where he was assigned to duty as an engineer with the army commanded by General Winfield Scott, which was preparing for its advance from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. He distinguished himself in the ensuing campaign by his intelligent and difficult reconnaissance work and was wounded in the storming of Chapultepec, Sept. 13, 1847.

After the war ended, Lee returned to duty in the Engineer Bureau in Washington and was a member of the board of engineers for the Atlantic Coast defenses. From 1852 to 1855, he served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy, after which, as a lieutenant colonel of one of the newly authorized cavalry regiments, he served in Texas until 1860 with the exception of two years, 1857-1859, spent on leave. He was on leave as executor of the estate of his wife's father, which included numerous slaves that were to be emancipated.

Coming of Civil War

While at his wife's home at Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, Lee was detailed to command the force gathered to suppress John Brown's insurrection at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. In Texas in 1861 his commanding general surrendered the entire U.S. army command to the Texas government, then joined the Confederacy. Lee, who disliked slavery and rejected the Confederacy, returned to Washington. With war looming, President Abraham Lincoln wanted Lee. Lee was a colonel of cavalry, but the overall U.S. commander, Scott, offered a senior rank with the suggestion Lee would succeed Scott as commander. Lee accepted on condition that his home state Virginia not join the Confederacy. When it did so after Lincoln called for volunteers to invade South Carolina, he threw his support to his home state.

Civil War: 1861

He was commissioned major general in the Virginia state forces, and was one of the five general officers commissioned in 1861 by the Southern Confederacy. In the fall of 1861 he was assigned to command in the mountains in western Virginia (now West Virginia), but failed to overcome the chaos of Confederate supporters and the superior organization of Union armies. He misunderstood the politics of the region (which was intensely hosetile to plantation owners like himself), lacked men and materials, and poorly coordinated his jealous subordinate commanders. He returned to Richmond, the Confederate capital, in October 1861, but was soon given command the southeast coast of the Confederacy; politicians distrusted him. Nevertheless President Jefferson Davis had full confidence in Lee and his ability, making Lee his chief military adviser, based in Richmond. General George B. McClellan, heading a large and well-equipped invasion force, was approaching Richmond in late May 1862. When the Confederate commander General Joseph E. Johnston was severely wounded, Lee was given the command. For the next three years he defended Richmond, as the survival of the Southern cause rested largely on his judgment, skill, and ability.

Civil War: 1863

The only bright spot was the Confederates systematically looted Pennsylvania and in retreat brought back enough captured food, wagons, hardware, horses and cattle to keep Lee supplied for months to come. The looting indeed was part of Lee's plan, but the 28,000 casualties permanently weakened his army, leaving it no chance to take the initiative in the future. For the rest of the year there were no major actions.

Bibliography

Biographical

• Blount, Roy, Jr. Robert E. Lee (2003). 210 pp. short popular biography excerpt and text search
• Carmichael, Peter S. ed. Audacity Personified: The Generalship of Robert E. Lee (2004). excerpt and text search
• Connelly, Thomas L. "The Image and the General: Robert E. Lee in American Historiography." Civil War History 19 (March 1973): 50-64.
• Connelly, Thomas L. The Marble Man. Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society. (1977).
• Connelly, Thomas L. "Robert E. Lee and the Western Confederacy: A Criticism of Lee's Strategic Ability." Civil War History 15 (June 1969): 116-32
• Fellman, Michael. The Making of Robert E. Lee. (2000), fairly negative (ISBN 0-679-45650-3). excerpt and text search
• Flood, Charles Bracelen. Lee — The Last Years (1981).
• Freeman, Douglas S., R. E. Lee, A Biography (4 volumes), Scribners, 1934 (online in its entirety). The longest and most influential biography, by Pulitzer prize winner
• Gallagher, Gary W. Lee the Soldier. (1996) excerpt and text search
• Gallagher; Gary W. Lee & His Army in Confederate History. (2001) excerpt and text search
• Gallagher; Gary W. Lee and His Generals in War and Memory (1998) excerpt and text search
• McCaslin, Richard B. Lee in the Shadow of Washington. (2001). excerpt and text search
• Pryor, Elizabeth Brown. Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters. (2007).
• Reid, Brian Holden. Robert E. Lee: Icon for a Nation, (2005).
• Robertson, James. Robert E. Lee: Virginian Soldier, American Citizen (2005), 176 pages, for middle school audience
• Thomas, Emory Robert E. Lee (1995) (ISBN 0-393-03730-4) full-scale biography by leading scholar excerpt and text search

Military campaigns

see also U.S. Civil War, Bibliography

• Brown, Kent Masterson. Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign. U. of North Carolina Press, 2005. excerpt and text search
• Cavanaugh, Michael A. and William Marvel, The Petersburg Campaign: The Battle of the Crater: "The Horrid Pit," June 25-August 6, 1864 (1989)
• Coddington, Edwin B. The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command (1968), the best single book; excerpt and text search
• Dowdey, Clifford. The Seven Days 1964.
• Freeman, Douglas S. Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command (3 volumes), (1946), ISBN 0-684-85979-3.
• Fuller, Maj. Gen. J. F. C. Grant and Lee, A Study in Personality and Generalship (1957), ISBN 0-253-13400-5.
• Gallagher, Gary W., ed. Three Days at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership (1999) online edition
• Gallagher, Gary ed. The Second Day at Gettysburg and Beyond (1993) excerpt and text search
• Gallagher, Gary ed. The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond (1994)
• Grimsley, Mark, And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May-June 1864 (2002).
• Harsh, Joseph L. Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 (1999)
• McPherson, James M. Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam (2002) excerpt and text search
• McPherson, James M. "To Conquer a Peace? Lee's Goals in the Gettysburg Campaign." Civil War Times (2007) 46(2): 26-33. Issn: 1546-9980 Fulltext: Ebsco
• McWhiney, Grady, Battle in the Wilderness: Grant Meets Lee (1995)
• Maney, R. Wayne, Marching to Cold Harbor. Victory and Failure, 1864 (1994).
• Marvel, William. Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox. (2002).
• Matter, William D., If It Takes All Summer: The Battle of Spotsylvania (1988) excerpt and text search
• Miller, J. Michael, The North Anna Campaign: "Even to Hell Itself," May 21-26, 1864 (1989).
• Nofi, Albert A. The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 (1997) online edition; excerpt and text search
• Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg: The First Day (2000) excerpt and text search
• Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg: The Second Day (1987) online edition excerpt and text search
• Rhea, Gordon C., The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864, (1994) ISBN 0-8071-1873-7. excerpt and text search
• Rhea, Gordon C., The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7–12, 1864, (1997), ISBN 0-8071-2136-3. excerpt and text search
• Rhea, Gordon C., To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864, (2000), ISBN 0-8071-2535-0. excerpt and text search
• Rhea, Gordon C., Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26 – June 3, 1864, (2002), ISBN 0-8071-2803-1.
• Sears, Stephen W. Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam (2003) excerpt and text search
• Sears, Stephen W. Gettysburg (2004) excerpt and text search
• Trudeau, Noah. Bloody Roads South: The Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May-June 1864 (2002) excerpt and text search
• Trudeau, Noah Andrew. The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864-April 1865 (1991)
• Woodworth, Steven E. Beneath a Northern Sky: A Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign. (2003). 241 pp.

Primary sources

• Dowdey, Clifford. and Louis H. Manarin, eds. The Wartime Papers of R. E. Lee. (1961).
• Freeman, Douglas Southall. ed. Unpublished Letters of General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A. to Jefferson Davis and the War Department of the Confederate States of America, 1862-65. Rev. ed. with foreword by Grady McWhiney. (1957).
• Johnson, R. U. and Buel, C. C. eds. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. 4 vols. New York, 1887-88; essays by leading generals of both sides; online edition
• Taylor, Walter H. Four Years with General Lee Reprint. (1962).
• Taylor, Walter H. General Lee — His Campaigns in Virginia, 1861-1865. (1906) online complete edition

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