Robert Lee, a well-known American general in the Confederate States Army, commanded the North Virginia Army. It is considered one of the most famous and influential American military leaders in the 19th century. He participated in the American-Mexican War, built forts, served at West Point. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he came out on the side of the South. In Virginia, he was appointed commander in chief. He distinguished himself with brilliant victories over the army of the North, having managed at a critical moment to transfer actions to the side of the enemy. Personally, Lee twice led the invasion of the territory of the North, but failed. He inflicted significant damage on Grant's army, but was ultimately forced to admit defeat and surrender. After his death, turned into one of the most popular figures in American history, became an example of valor and honor. He was one of the symbols of reconciliation between the warring parties, but after the black civil rights movement, Li's attitude to the figure was revised, as he was one of the symbols of racism and slavery.
Childhood and youth
Robert Lee was born in 1807. He was born in the town of Stratford Hill in Virginia. His father was a hero of the War of Independence.
The parents of the hero of this article belonged to prominent Virginia families, but Robert Lee was mainly brought up by her mother, since her father was mired in failed money deals at that time. Robert was brought up in patience, rigor and religiosity.
He received his primary education in Stradford, and his fate was largely determined there. Contemporaries noted that Robert Lee got an attractive appearance from his mother, a sense of duty and excellent health from his father, even financial problems in the family ultimately played a positive role. Throughout his life he was careful in everything related to money and business projects.
When he was 12 years old, his father and brothers were away from home, he actually became the head of the family, caring for his mother and sisters. They had extremely poor health.
Military career
The decision to devote himself to military service was made because of financial problems in the family. His older brother was studying at Harvard at that time, to send Robert there was simply not enough money. Therefore, it was decided to enter the military academy at West Point.
For the first four years, Robert Lee, whose biography is given in this article, proved to be an exemplary cadet, not having received a single penalty. He graduated from the school as the second in academic performance. Among the best graduates, he was sent to the engineering troops. One of the first projects of the hero of our article was the construction of a dam in St. Louis and the strengthening of several coastal forts.
Personal life
Robert Lee in 1831 married the daughter of Virginia aristocrat Mary Custis. She was the only daughter of George Washington's adoptive grandson. Robert highly esteemed the memory of the founding father, admiring his merits to the country.
The couple moved to Arlington. They had seven children. Firstborn George became a major general in the Confederate army, William major general, Robert served as captain in artillery. The four daughters of the general - Mary, Annie, Eleanor and Mildred never got married. In addition, Annie died of typhoid in her youth, and Eleanor from tuberculosis.
War with mexico
When the war with Mexico began in 1846, Robert was sent to Mexico to lead the construction of roads. When he arrived there, General Scott drew attention to his cavalry dressing and the enviable abilities of a scout, for these qualities the hero of our article was included in the headquarters.
It was in Mexico that he first became acquainted in practice with the tactics of warfare, which he successfully applied after a decade and a half.
During this campaign, he solved the tasks of updating the terrain plans and compiling maps, which did not prevent him from time to time leading the soldiers into hand-to-hand combat, showing his courage. Despite the heroism, this did not affect his advancement up the career ladder. As a rule, he was sent to wild and remote places. This bothered him very much, because he was painfully worried about breaking up with his family. Lee has repeatedly noted that the main thing in his life remains the love of his wife and children.
Brown Rebellion
In 1855 he was transferred to the cavalry. The most high-profile operation, which he led during this period of his service, was the suppression of the uprising of radical abolitionist John Brown in 1859.
He made a risky and daring attempt to seize the arsenal of the American government in Harpers Ferry. The infantrymen under the command of Lee, who was then a colonel, were quick enough to break the resistance of the rebels.
In total, Lee spent 32 years of his life in the American army. His finest hour came when President Lincoln's election victory entailed the separation of South Carolina from the Union, followed by several more southern states. The Civil War was approaching.
Participation in the civil war
Almost before the start of the war, Lincoln suggested that Lee should lead the combined federal ground forces. Lee was at that time a supporter of the alliance of the state, opposed the secession of the southern states, and considered slavery to be an evil that must be eliminated. However, the decision was not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Lee faced a choice: forcibly maintaining the unity of the country or love for his family and the native state of Virginia.
After a sleepless night, the hero of our article wrote a letter of resignation. He could not go to war on his loved ones, on his native lands. After that, he immediately left Arlington, and soon offered his services to the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis. Lee was first promoted to brigadier, and then to full generals.
At the very beginning of the war, he was engaged in the collection and organization of regular units, only in 1861 he took over command of the troops in West Virginia. He soon became Davis' chief military adviser. In this post, he had a significant impact on the entire course of the military campaign.
When the feds attacked Richmond, the president replaced commander-in-chief Johnston, who was troubled by numerous wounds, with Lee. After this, the troops of the southerners were able to quickly go on the counterattack, forcing the retreating forces of the northerners superior to them in numbers. This was a successful conclusion for the southerners of the so-called Seven Day Campaign.
Uncle Robert
This was the first major military success of General Robert Lee, whose photos are presented in this article.
Those around him characterized him as a sociable and cheerful person who was dimensionlessly devoted to duty. This can be judged by the quotes of General Robert Lee, which became very popular during the Civil War.
Do your duty in everything. You cannot do more, but you should never want less.
I can not trust a person to control others when he is not able to control himself.
Thank God that the war is terrible, for we would have loved it.
After the first successes, the army of Northern Virginia went to Washington. On the way to the head, John Pope was defeated at Bull Run. Having consolidated their initial success, the units of Confederate General Robert Lee in the fall of 1862 overcame the Potomac River and invaded Maryland. There he encountered the McClellan army. After a bloody battle at Entietam, they were forced to retreat in order to regroup.
In December, Lee repelled the federal offensive led by Burnside, defeating them at Frederiksberg.
The Battle of Chancellorsville
It is believed that Lee won his most famous victory at Chancellorsville in May 1863. Then, the army of Joe Hooker came out against the southerners, which significantly surpassed them in numbers and weapons.
Lee and his companion Jackson split up, going to the unprotected flank of Hooker. Having attacked, they inflicted one of the most significant defeats on all the years of the Civil War.
This success inspired the southerners to launch a second invasion of the North. They hoped to finish off the federal army, thus ending the war. In the future, Lee was already dreaming of going to Washington and presenting a petition for the recognition of the Confederate States of America to President Lincoln. To this end, his troops again forced the Potomac, once in Pennsylvania.
Battle of Gettysburg
On July 1, 1863, a key battle of the entire Civil War began near the small town of Gettysburg. The army led by General Mead opposed Lee. On the third day of the battle, it became apparent that the southerners were losing.
Even Lee’s frontal attack was no longer able to rectify the situation. Southerners suffered a crushing defeat, leaving hope of a march on Washington and the imminent triumphant end of the war. Moreover, the war itself continued for another two years.
Shaken by defeat, Lee subsequently unconvincingly led several more military campaigns, constantly fighting against Ulysses Grant. Caught near Richmond, Lee stubbornly resisted for 10 months, until he nevertheless retreated to Appomattox, where the official surrender of the Northern Virginia army took place.
During the Civil War in the United States, Robert Lee grew into a bunch of legends, everyone admired his talent as a commander. During separate battles, Lee confronted the armies, which were three times his number. After surrender, he returned to Richmond in the status of a forgiven prisoner of war. He devoted the rest of his life to alleviating the fate of former Confederate soldiers.
Refusing various tempting offers, he took up a small post as president of Washington College. The general died in 1870 at the age of 63 from a heart attack. By the way, until the end of his life, he was not finally restored to his civil rights. This was only done a century later, thanks to President Gerald Ford.
Memory of the commander
Over the years, a large number of monuments to General Robert Lee have appeared in the United States. At the beginning of the XXI century, a trend began associated with their dismantling.
The first incident with the monument to Robert Lee happened in 2015 after the attack of 21-year-old Dylan Ruf on parishioners of the African Methodist Church in Charleston. He opened fire from a pistol at unsuspecting people. As a result, ten people were killed, one wounded. All the victims were African American. After this incident, the dismantling of monuments to Robert Lee began throughout the country. He was reminded that he spoke on the side of the southerners for the preservation of slavery. The figures of the Confederation were clearly associated with racism.
In May 2017, the famous Lee Monument in New Orleans was dismantled. Shortly before, in Charlottesville, the local council voted to remove the statue of the general from the park as a symbol of racism. This caused discontent among the ultra-right, who staged a large-scale two-day protest. It ended in riots, during which one person died.
As a result, the demolition of Lee's monuments only intensified. At the moment, the statues of the general are dismantled in Baltimore, Washington, Dallas, the University of Texas.
Female romance
If you want to know the features of the biography of the hero of our article, you can come across a novel by his namesake Roberta Lee "Clash of characters."
This is a love story of two young people who were once determined to become husband and wife. Everyone around was sure of this, only Amanda did not want to go down the aisle with a playboy, and Pierre was not enthusiastic about the unsympathetic cousin.