Robert E Lee

Robert E. Lee ... Robert Edward Lee ( – ) was a Confederate general whose early actions in the American Civil War led to his appointment as the overall commander of the Confederate States Army near the end of the war.

Biography of Robert E. Lee, Confederate commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and later all Southern armies during the American Civil War (1861–65). The Army of Northern Virginia was the most successful of the Southern armies. Lee became an enduring symbol for the people of the American South.

Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) was the most prominent Confederate general of the American Civil War (1861-1865), who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia for much of the war and was named general-in-chief of all Confederate forces in 1865.

Robert Edward Lee Robert E. Lee in 1838 Robert Edward Lee was born on , into a prominent family at Stratford Hall in Virginia. Soon after Robert’s birth, his father’s poor financial management forced the family to leave Stratford Hall.

Called Robert or “Bob” by his family and friends, and signing himself “R. E. Lee,” he never used the moniker “Robert E. Lee,” which was a product of wartime news reporting. Both of Lee’s parents were raised in prominent Virginia families.

Robert E. Lee was a Confederate general who led the South’s attempt at secession during the Civil War.

When the Secession Crisis escalated after Abraham Lincoln’s election to the U.S. Presidency in 1860, Robert E. Lee struggled with performing his sworn duty as a U.S. Army officer and preserving his allegiance to his home state of Virginia.