Robert E Lee
Uploaded by chiri on Sep 13, 1999
Born in Virginia to a family of famous people, his father, a Revolutionary War hero and his mother from a long line of rich, loyal Virginians, he went on to become one of the greatest people the South would ever see.
Robert Edward Lee was born in January 1807 and went to West Point and was one of the best students they had ever had. He married Mary Custis, Martha Washington's great great granddaughter. They had seven children. Lee was asked by the North to lead their army but he refused, he was a Virginian, even though he didn't believe in slavery or secession. The South asked him and he accepted. He became General of the Confederate Army. Ulysses S. Grant became General of the North. Lee was also a General in the Mexican War. Through both wars he rode the same horse, named Traveller. Traveller died after the Civil War at 36 years old.
The battles the South won were both battles of Bull Run, Chicamauga, Fallen Timbers, Fort Sumter, Fredricksburg, Petersburg, Richmond, Seven days, Chanselorsville, Wilson's Creek and Winchester. The battles the South lost were Atlanta, Fort Fisher, Shiloh, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Pittsburg Landing, Sayler's Creek, Sharpsburg, Vicksburg and Antietam.
After the war, Lee wouldn't make public appearances. He spent a long time assembling documents but never made anything about his times in the civil war. His family, who was rich, wasn't rich anymore. He was offered a job with a salary of $50,000 a year by an insurance agency for doing practically nothing, they thought they would be more popular if they had a famous person with them. Lee refused without even considering it. He was asked by a small university to take over and he did. That university went on to become a big college with lots of people.