Robert E. Lee: The Southerner

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities.

“It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.”–Robert E. Lee (January 19, 1807—October 12, 1870). With the exception of George Washington, perhaps the most famous general in American history, despite leading the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia against the Union in the Civil War.As a top graduate of West Point, Lee distinguished himself in hard campaigning before the Civil War leading President Lincoln to ask him to command the entire Union Army. Lee famously declined, instead serving his home state of Virginia after it seceded. Lee is remembered today for consistently defeating the Union’s Army of the Potomac in the Eastern theater from 1862-1865, considerably frustrating Lincoln and his generals. His leadership of his army led to him being deified after the war by some of his former subordinates, especially Virginians, and he came to personify the Lost Cause’s ideal Southern soldier. His reputation was secured in the decades after the war as a general who brilliantly led his men to amazing victories against all odds. Despite his successes and his legacy, Lee wasn’t perfect. And of all the battles Lee fought in, he was most criticized for Gettysburg, particularly his order of Pickett’s Charge on the third and final day of the battle. Contrary to the advice of his principle subordinate and corps leader, General James Longstreet, Lee went ahead with it, culminating his army’s defeat at Gettysburg with a violent climax that left half of the men who charged killed or wounded. Although the Civil War came to define Lee’s legacy, he was involved in some of American history’s other turning points, including the Mexican-American War and the capture of John Brown.-Print ed.