Robert E. Lee :: essays research papers

The idol of the South to this day, Virginian Robert E. Leehad some difficulty in adjusting to the new make believe of warfarethat unfolded with the Civil war, but this did not preventhim from keeping the Union armies in Virginia at bay foralmost three years. The son of Revolutionary contend hero"Light Horse" Harry Lee-who fell into disrepute in his afterwardyears attended West Point and graduated second in hisclass. During his four years at the military academy he didnot earn a single demerit and served as the cadet corpsadjutant. Upon his 1829 graduation he was posted to theengineers. Before the Mexican War he served onengineering projects in Georgia, Virginia, and New York.During the war he served on the staffs of John Wool andWinfield Scott. in particular distinguishing himself scoutingfor and guiding troops, he won three brevets and wasslightly wounded at Chapultepec. Following a stint in Baltimore Harbor he becameoverseer of the military academy in 1852. When themou nted arm was expanded in 1855, Lee accepted thelieutenant colonelcy of the 2nd Cavalry in order to missfrom the painfully slow promotion in the engineers. Orderedto western Texas, he served with his regiment until the1857 death of his father-in-law forced him to ask for aseries of leaves to settle the estate.In 1859 he was called upon to lead a force of marines, tojoin with the militia on the scene, to put an end to JohnBrowns Harpers Ferry Raid. Thereafter he served again inTexas until summoned to Washington in 1861 by WinfieldScott who tried to retain Lee in the U. S. service. But theVirginian rejected the command of the Unions field forceson the day after Virginia seceded. He then accepted aninvitation to visit Governor John Letcher in Virginia. Hisresignation as colonel, 1st Cavalry-to which he had recentlybeen promoted-was accepted on April 25, 1861.His Southern assignments include major general,Virginias land and naval forces (April 23, 1861)commanding Virginia forces (April 23 July 1861) brigadiergeneral, CSA (May 14, 186 1) general, CSA (from June14, 186 1) commanding Department of NorthwesternVirginia (late July-October 1861) commandingDepartment of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida(November 8, 186 1-March 3, 1862) and commanding the States of Northern Virginia June 1, 1862-April 9, 1865). In charge of Virginias fledgling military might, he wasmainly involved in organizational matters. As a Confederatebrigadier general, and later full general, he was in charge ofsupervising all Southern forces in Virginia. In the originsummer of the war he was given his first field command in