Robert+E.+Lee+&+Ambrose+P.+Hill

=General Robert E. Lee=

[|**Robert E. Lee: Gettysburg**] [|**Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg and Picketts Charge**] Why was robert e lee said to be the best confederate general there was? What battle was lees worst defeat, what was his best win?

The famous Civil War General** **Robert E. Lee is one of the most studied figures of the Civil War. Virginia still memorializes him with a state holiday.
 * Robert E. Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807 in Stratford, Virginia & died on Oct. 12, 1870 in Lexington, Virginia.

Robert E. Lee was kind-hearted, thoughtful, polite, and highly intelligent. Militarily he was aggressive, and some believe too aggressive. His father was the Revolutionary War hero ("Light Horse Harry" Lee). While still young Lee went to West Point and graduated second in his class in 1829, and without a single demerit. He became an engineer and worked on coastal defenses in New York, Virginia, and Georgia. He saw action in the Mexican War, as well as serving on the staff and winning three brevets.

In 1852 he became the Superintendent of West Point and stayed there till 1855. With the Army needing more mounted troops for the expanding frontier, Congress paid for more cavalry, and Lee jumped at the chance to become Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Cavalry.** **Later on after the start of the civil war w hen the U.S. Navy seized a blockade on the bases off the coast of South Carolina, Lee was sent down to organize the coastal defenses. He came up with a system that used a minimum amount of regular troops while still providing the right amount of defenses. With the threat contained, he was called back to Richmond as military adviser for Jefferson Davis.** **By the night of June 1, 1862 Lee was in command of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Since the Unions politicians were completely falling apart, Lee took it upon himself to take the war to the enemy. He wanted to recruit Maryland troops so that the South wouldn't have to go through the trouble of supplying his men, and then also pressure Lincoln’s government. It all would have gone according to plans, but a copy of Lee's plans was lost – and unfortunately retrieved by Union scouts. As soon as McClellan heard about the plan and found out what the plan was he had move fast, and he almost beat Lee to Antietam(Sharpsburg) but didn't. Later on at Antietam, Lee had his back against the Potomac and without enough bridges for them to retreat plus his army was also scattered around the battlefield. He juggled his men from battle to battle, staying away from defeat until late in the day when Burnside’s final attack seemed about to succeed. Soon enough A.P. Hill arrived at the critical moment, and the Army of Northern Virginia was saved. Lee licked his wounds and moved off, with McClellan not daring to follow too closely.

In the winter he beat Burnside (the new commander of the Army of the Potomac) at Fredericksburg, then in May 1863 beat Hooker (Burnside’s replacement in the hot seat) at Chancellorsville. By then things were looking worse for the South: the Emancipation Proclamation stopped prospects of European intervention; the western theater had seen another series of Confederate defeats. Lee had the one victorious Southern army, and he tried to win the war at a stroke. He moved north, around Hooker, and was moving to isolate Washington from the rest of the Union. He’d detached his cavalry, which meant when fighting developed outside the road junction of Gettysburg he didn’t know the Union strength. Dragged into a battle without knowing the ground, he adopted his customary aggressive tactics, and attacked three days running. Meade held his ground and his nerve, and Lee’s veterans were defeated.

He preserved the army during the painful retreat back to Virginia, then through the unending Bristoe Station and Mine Run campaigns. He faced a more formidable foe in 1864. Ulysses S. Grant had come from the west to take command of all U.S. forces. He brought more controlled strategies to the Union assaults around the Confederacy and more bravery to the fighting in northern Virginia. He drove into The Wilderness and lost heavily, but he didn’t withdraw. Lee wasn’t at his best, he was 57- years old & had heart trouble. Lee needed breathing space, but Grant kept attacking, moving east and south, through Spotsylvania, the North Anna, Cold Harbor and then to Petersburg. Lee’s army was too small for his former aggressive strategies, and he digged trenches more and more all the time.

Lee was pinned down at Richmond. He couldn’t retreat and he could only dig and hope that Lincoln would lose the election before Grant found an open flank or broke through. He stayed away from the Union attacks through ten months of gruesome fighting, but in the spring of 1865 his lines collapsed with surprising speed. Grant opened the campaign on March 29, Lee evacuated Richmond and Petersburg on the night of April 2/3. It was then a race along the supply line (there was only one left to Lee) and the better fed, better mounted Union troops won. After the war he became president of Washington College (afterwards Washington & Lee) in the Shenandoah. He died from heart problems. [|Robert E. Lee flashcards]** Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, eds. "Robert E. Lee." //ehistory//. Civil War High Commands, 2001. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . "Robert E. Lee." //Biography.com//. N.p., 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. .**
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