Robert+E.+Lee

Welcome to the Robert E. Lee informational page. Here you will find important facts on the life of the Southern General, Robert E. Lee.


 * //__EARLY LIFE__//**

General Lee was born January 19th, 1807 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. In 1810, Robert's family moved to Alexandria, where he frequently moved into different relatives homes. He attended Alexandria Academy, where he excelled in mathmatics. At the age of 11, Lee's father, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, died. The family was left greatly in debt when Harry Lee died.

Lee entered the United States Military Academy in 1825, where he became the first cadet to be promoted to a sergeant before the end of his first year there. He graduated in 1829 at the top of his class. Overall, he ranked 2nd out of 46 in his class.


 * __//ADULT LIFE//__**

When stationed at Fort Monroe, He married Mary Anna Randolph Custis, great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, the 1st First Lady of the United States of America. They were happy together, and had seven children (three boys and four girls).
 * [[image:http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/custis.jpg width="150" link="http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/custis.jpg"]] || George Washington Custis Lee (Custis, “Boo”; 1832–1913) ||
 * [[image:http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/mary.jpg width="150" link="http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/mary.jpg"]] || Mary Custis Lee (Mary, “Daughter”; 1835–1918) ||
 * [[image:http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/rooney.jpg width="150" link="http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/rooney.jpg"]] || William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (“Rooney”; 1837–1891) ||
 * [[image:http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/annie.jpg width="150" link="http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/annie.jpg"]] || Anne Carter Lee (Annie; 1839–1862) ||
 * [[image:http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/agnes.jpg width="150" link="http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/agnes.jpg"]] || Eleanor Agnes Lee (Agnes; 1841–1873) ||
 * [[image:http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/rob.jpg width="150" link="http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/rob.jpg"]] || Robert Edward Lee, Jr. (Rob; 1843–1914) ||
 * [[image:http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/mildred.jpg width="150" align="left" link="http://www.leearchive.info/rel/images/mildred.jpg"]] || Mildred Childe Lee (Milly, “Precious Life”; 1846–1905) ||

Mexican-American War" Lee was one of Winfield Scott's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_Scott) chief aids in the march from Veracruz to Mexico City. He was a very important person in many battles because he found routes of attack that the Mexicans had not defended. He became a brevet major after the Battle of Cerro Gordo. By the end of the war, he was ranked a Lieutenant Colonel.


 * //__LIFE AS A SLAVEOWNER__//**

When Lee's father-in-law, George Washington Custis, died in October 1857, Lee came into control of the Arlington Plantation and 196 slaves. Although the plantation slaves were to be emancipated as Lee wanted, he needed the funds to pay his father-in-law's debts and repair the inherited property. To pay the debts, he let his slaves be "rented" by other nearby plantation owners.


 * //__THE CIVIL WAR__//**

Lee privately ridiculed the Confederacy in early 1861 in letters. He saw it as a "Revolution", and a betrayal of the efforts of the founding fathers. As a commanding general of the Union Army, Winfield Scott told President Lincoln that he wanted Lee as commanding general. Lee said he was willing as long as Virginia remained in the Union. Lee was asked by one of his lieutenants if he intended to fight for the Confederacy or the Union, to which he replied, "I shall never bear arms against the Union, but it may be necessary for me to carry a musket in the defense of my native state, Virginia, in which case I shall not prove recreant to my duty."After Lincoln's call for troops to put down the rebellion, it was obvious that Virginia would quickly secede and so Lee turned down the offer on April 18, resigned from the U.S. Army on April 20, and took up command of the Virginia state forces on April 23.