Civil War Figures: Robert E. Lee
by findingDulcinea Staff
When Robert E. Lee accepted command of the Confederate Army, he “believed he was defending Virginia, not slavery.” He has been considered one of the greatest heroes of the South and an icon of American military leadership.
A Stellar Military Career
The American Studies Program at the University of Virginia provides a short biography of Lee. Unlike his rival general, Ulysses S. Grant, Lee had a stellar career from the beginning, graduating second in his class at West Point. He went on to many successful posts in the army, and was a supporter of the Union until he was faced with the prospect of turning his back on the South.
Source: University of Virginia
While Lee did not agree with the politics behind the secession, he concluded that his true loyalty was to his home state of Virginia. After seven states seceded, Lee declined command of the U.S army because he was unwilling to lead an attack against fellow Southerners. Furthermore, Virginia’s secession was still up in the air. He declared, “If Virginia stands by the old Union, so will I. But, if she secedes … then I will still follow my native State with my sword, and if need be with my life.” When Virginia seceded, Lee became the leader of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Source: Virginia Historical Society
Anti-Slavery but Pro-South
A letter from Lee to President Pierce confirms that while Lee was in fact, morally opposed to slavery, he was equally against the idea of abolitionists forcing owners to give up their slaves. Lee believed that end of slavery “would sooner result from the mild and melting influences of Christianity than from the storm and tempest of fiery controversy.” He thought God would eventually end slavery and that the abolitionists had no right to interfere.
Unfortunately, neither Lee’s prestigious background, nor his principles, would enable him to lead the South to victory. The Civil War yielded many casualties in some of the bloodiest battles in American history, one of which was the Battle of Gettysburg. It was General Lee’s second attempt at invading the North, and ended in an excruciating retreat described by Confederate General John Imboden. According to Imboden, after the defeat, Lee’s face bore “an expression of sadness that I had never before seen.”
Source: EyeWitnesstoHistory.com
On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered. The National Park Service describes the negotiations between Grant and Lee that took place at the Appomattox Court House. Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia was the first in the succession of surrenders that led to the end of the war.
Source: National Park Service
Lee the Educator
After the war, Lee spent the last five years of his life as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, which was ultimately renamed Washington and Lee University in his honor. The University celebrated the 200th anniversary of Lee’s birth in 2007 with a year’s worth of events and exhibitions. Explore the site’s photo gallery as well as information about Lee as an educator, the Lee House and the Lee Chapel.
Source: Lee University
A Washington Post article questions whether Lee is a man who still deserves celebration, especially as the South is now home to a more diverse population. University professor J. Holt Merchant explains, “As life has gotten better for Southerners, they've been able to look to the present and the future and not hang on to the past quite so passionately."
Source: The Washington Post
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