Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870) is one of the most controversial military men and politicians in the history of the United States. His status has changed over the years from a hero of the Confederacy during the American Civil War of 1861-1864 to the first racist, whose monuments are being demolished throughout the United States at the present time. The general whose defeat ended the American Civil War.


General Lee was born on January 19, 1807 at Stratford Hill Plantation, Virginia, the son of Revolutionary War hero, Governor of Virginia and Virginia Representative in the US Congress Henry Lee III and the daughter of local aristocrat Anna Hill Carter.

Next door to the Lee family plantation was Wakefield Plantation, where George Washington, the future leader of the Thirteen Colonies in the Revolutionary War and the first popularly elected President of the United States, was born in 1789.

Fate itself seemed to be preparing a great future for little Robert.

Soon the family's affairs went downhill. Robert's elder brother, Henry Lee IV, took possession of the estate. As a result, the family had to leave the family plantation and move to Alexandria, a small city nearby.

A few years later, the family’s financial situation stabilized and young Robert Lee was sent to study at the Alexandria Academy, where he was able to receive a classic education for the 19th century. In 1823, his studies at the academy ended and Robert decided to enter the West Point Military Academy.
During his entire study at West Point, Lee did not receive a single penalty, was respected by students and teachers, and left the academy second in his class, thanks to which he was enlisted in the Corps of Engineers.


In 1846, the Mexican-American War broke out due to disputes over Texas, which had recently become part of the United States and Robert E. Lee was sent to Mexico to supervise the construction of bridges and roads, but the commander of the American army, General Scott, noticed Lee's abilities and included him in his army. headquarters

Lee served impeccably, but he lacked connections, which made further promotion difficult for him.

In 1861, just before the Civil War, Lee received an offer from President Lincoln to lead the Northern ground forces. President Lincoln counted on agreement, however, although Lee was a supporter of the union of states, openly opposed the secession of the South and freed his slaves, considering slavery the worst phenomenon, he could not go against his friends and loved ones.

Refusing Lincoln's offer, Lee offered his help to the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, the man thanks to whom Lee was transferred to the cavalry 6 years ago and given a promotion. Davis immediately agreed and immediately promoted Lee to general, instructing him to lead the Confederate troops in West Virginia.

After a short period of field battles, staff battles began for Lee, he was appointed the chief military adviser to the president and was able to exert significant influence on the course of the war. However, the course of the war was not in favor of the Confederacy, Lee was appointed general of the Army of Northern Virginia and during the short “Seven Day Campaign” he drove the superior and better trained units of the northerners away from the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond.

Inspired by success, Robert E. Lee in September 1861 moved with his army to Washington, the capital of the United States Army. The successful advance of the Southern forces was stopped in the bloodiest one-day battle in US history - the Battle of Antietam. "Uncle Robert" Lee was able to retreat without losing the organization of his army or suffering a crushing defeat. Already in December of the same year, his army repelled a new offensive of the southerners, defeating them in the battle of Fredericksburg.

By this time, both sides already knew about Lee as a general who was doing the almost impossible, the southerners adored their “Old Lee,” and the northerners were rightly afraid of meeting him.

In 1863, Lee achieved his most famous victory. At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Lee and Jackson defeated the Union army under the command of Joe Hooker, inflicting the heaviest defeat of the war on the Northern forces.

And again, feeling the strength, Lee rushed to Washington, the final defeat of the Union and the victory of the Confederacy were already visible on the horizon, but these dreams did not come true. From July 1 to July 3, 1863, a battle took place near the city of Gettysburg that turned the tide of the entire Civil War. Lee's troops met with the Army of the Potomac and, having suffered significant losses, retreated, losing the strategic initiative. Casualties resulting from the Battle of Gettysburg were approximately 50,000 on both sides. The “Second Invasion of the North” ended, causing significant damage to Lee’s pride.

However, the Army of Northern Virginia continued to fight and, although now it had to mostly retreat, it offered worthy resistance to the northerners, and Robert E. Lee had a personal rival on the opposite side - General Ulysses Grant. It was Grant, after 2 long years of continuous military campaigns, who accepted the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865.

It was the surrender signed by Lee and Grant that served as the starting point for the surrender of the remaining Confederate armies and the end of the war. And later, the day of Lee’s surrender began to be considered the symbolic day of the end of the Civil War.



Having capitulated, Lee returned to Richmond. For the rest of his life, he served as president of Washington College and helped former Confederate soldiers. On October 12, 1870, 63-year-old Confederate hero Robert Edward Lee died at home surrounded by family and friends, never having had his civil rights restored. The fact is that President Johnson's proclamation on amnesty and forgiveness for former Confederate soldiers separately ordered 14 former Confederate leaders to write an individual petition addressed to the President. And although Lee wrote such a petition, it did not reach the President and was discovered only in the 20th century. In 1975, the US Congress posthumously restored his citizenship.

Over the next 50 years, an aura of invincible symbol of the Confederacy developed around the figure of General Lee, and the general himself became one of the main figures of the Civil War.