Confederate Officer: Robert E Lee

Confederate officer Robert E Lee fought in the civil war and he was a great military general for the confederates. Lee was born in Virginia, January 19th,1807. This biography of him will give a summary of his life. I will be using outside information from a book called The Everything Civil War. I will be doing four more officers after this: Ulysses S Grant, Thomas Jackson, Jeb Stuart, William Tecumseh Sherman. Then I will start a battle breakdowns of battles such as Gettysburg, Antietam, Bulls run and more.
Robert E Lee was a great military leader and he was a loyal southerner. He was up against unimaginable odds. These losses were do to his lack supplies and troops. Robert E Lee entered West Point in 1825. After graduating second in his class without a single demerit. In 1829, he was assigned to the corps of engineers. He spent 17 years with the engineers. Lee like most civil war generals got their experience in the Mexican War. Lee was made the superintendent of west point but found it to be boring and transferred to the 2nd cavalry division. He spent much of his time in Texas from 1855 to the start of the civil war.
Lee was a very coveted general in the civil war, by June 1861 he was offered the total control of the union army but refused and decided to stay with his beloved state of Virginia. After turning down the Union offer, he was appointed to be a general in the Confederate army. Lee's first mission was to stop Union advances through the border line states. Especially West Virginia and he also organized defenses on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Finally in the end May of 1861 Lee took command of the Confederate army. Lee was out numbered by McClellan army by a least a 100,000. He made plan to condense the army and pin it against the union advances. In the battle of Bulls run, Lee somehow managed to push back McClellan's army and then in the second battle of Bulls run. Lee attack the Union army and the confederates won both of these battles. His troops morale were high and he decide to continue the invasion. Unfortunately McClellan somehow got his plans and had to take a defensive position at Antietam. This would prove to be one of Lee's greatest battles in the civil war. Neither side got anywhere and Lee retreated back to Virginia. Lee remained a underdog for most of the war but at the Fredricksburg, Lee defeat the Union and stop them from taking over the town. This was key to the south since the Union was close to Richmond. Lee also got victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863. Lee lost his most trusted general Thomas Jackson. Lee kept trying to advance north and eventually reached Pennsylvania. In PA, Lee took part in one of the deadly-est battle in American History. Lee had to retreat after taking heavy casualties in Gettysburg. Lee start the Wilderness campaign against another great union general Ulysses S Grant. Lee wasn't so successful and he could not hold the capture of Richmond. Lee fought very hard with very few troops and little supplies. But finally on April 9th, 1865 Lee surrender to Grant and that ended the war.
After the war Lee went home and he was indicted for treason. But he never faced trial. Lee became the President of Washington College in Virginia. Lee established the first Journalism and business colleges. Robert E Lee died on October 12th, 1870. Lee was great military leader and man.




Next: Ulysses S Grant