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General Robert E.
Lee
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Robert Edward Lee, born at Stratford, Va., on 19
January 1807, entered the U.S. Military Academy in 1825; graduated second in his class;
and was commissioned second lieutenant in the Engineer Corps on 1 July 1829. Advanced to
the rank of captain by 1838, he served as chief engineer under General Wool and General
Scott during the Mexican War. According to General Scott the fall of Veracruz was due in
part to Lee's "skill, valor, and undaunted energy." By the end of the war he had
risen to the rank of colonel. After serving as
Superintendent of West Point from 1852 to 1855, Lee was assigned to duty in Texas. He
refused to aid the rebellion and returned to Virginia. After Fort Sumter was fired upon,
Lee was offered command of the Federal Army. He declined, and following Virginia's
secession on 19 April 1861, resigned his commission the following day, to accept command
of Virginia forces. |
After organizing and equipping the troops of his State, he served as
adviser to President Jefferson Davis. Succeeding to command of the Army of Northern
Virginia when General Joseph E. Johnston was seriously wounded, Lee, with inferior forces,
forced MeClellan to retreat from the outskirts of Richmond, then marched north to push
Union forces toward the Potomac. General Lee's advance ended in the Battle of Antietam on
17 September 1862. He repulsed northern thrusts at Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862 and
at Chancellorsville 2 to 4 May 1863, then marched north again until forced to turn back
after the battle of Gettysburg.In March 1864, General
Grant was appointed to the supreme command of the Federal Armies, engaged Lee several
times in an advance from the Rappahannock to Petersburg. On 2 April 1865, Lee abandoned
his lines around Richmond in hope of uniting with Johnston in North Carolina but Grant
pursued the retreating Southern Army and forced Lee to surrender at Appomattox Court House
on 9 April.
Noble in peace as in war, Lee devoted his remaining years to
rebuilding Washington College (now Washington and Lee) at Lexington, Va., where he died on
12 October 1870. |
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This link is to the Stratford Hall Plantation Web Site.
Stratford Hall Plantation is the birth place of General Robert E. Lee and is now also the
home of The Robert E. Lee Memorial Association is dedicated to
preservation, research and education. The Association interprets to the public Stratford
Hall and the plantation life of the Lee Family, whose ideals and leadership helped shape
democracy in the United States. This site contains the full history of the General and his
family. |
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On August 5, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a Senate
Resolution to restore General Lee's citizenship at
Arlington House, Arlington, Va.
Arlington House, formerly known as the Custis-Lee Mansion, was the home of
General Lee. Click this link to read that proclamation
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=5153
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