&&000 A Picture Book of Robert E. Lee
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=RobertEdwardLee was born on January =19, =1807 in =Stratford, a large
house in =Westmoreland County, =Virginia. His father was =Henry " =Light-HorseHarry "
=Lee, a hero of the Revolutionary War and governor of =Virginia. His mother was
=AnnHillCarterLee. =Robert was one of five children.
=Light-HorseHarry had other children, too, from an earlier marriage.

=Robert's father lost large sums of money in bad land deals. In =1807, when =Robert
was born, the grounds outside =Stratford were untended. Much of the family's furniture
had been sold. In =1809 =Light-HorseHarry was so hopelessly in debt that he was
locked in the =Westmoreland County jail. When he was released one year later,
=Stratford no longer belonged to him. He and his children moved into a much
smaller rented house in =Alexandria, =Virginia.

In =1812 =HenryLee was injured. He sailed the next year to the British =WestIndies
to regain his health.
=Robert was just six years old when his father left. In a letter home, =Light-HorseHarry
described =Robert as "always good," and he was sure the young boy would remain happy in
the care of his "ever watchful and affectionate mother."

=HenryLee traveled home in =1818, but he died before he reached =Virginia.
=Robert's mother was sickly, his father was gone, and his brothers and sisters
were either away or too young to help around the house. So =Robert cared for his
mother, bought food, and tended the yard and horses.

=Robert studied, too. One teacher described him as neat, never behind in his work,
"a most exemplary student in every respect."
In =1825, =Robert left home to begin his career as a soldier. He entered the
=UnitedStates Military Academy at =WestPoint. Before he left, his mother said,
"How can I live without =Robert? He is both son and daughter to me."

=Robert's favorite subject at =WestPoint was engineering, but he did well in all
his classes. He graduated second in a class of eight-seven and was made a lieutenant
in the =UnitedStates Army.
=Robert came home in =1829 to find his mother very ill. He stayed with her through
the next few weeks until she died.

Lieutenant =Lee was assigned to Fort =Pulaski, near =Savannah, =Georgia. He took along
=Nat, his mother's slave and coachman. =Nat was ill, and =Robert thought the warm
=Georgia weather would be good for him. =Robert cared for =Nat until he died almost
a year later.

In =1831 =Lee was sent to Fort =Monroe in =Virginia, close to the home of =MaryAnneRandolphCustis,
a distant cousin. =Robert had known her since they were children. =Mary was the great-granddaughter
of =MarthaWashington. Now they were in love. On June =30, =1831, in the =Custis family home
in =Arlington, =Virginia, they married.

It was a happy marriage, although =Robert's army service kept him away from home for long periods
of time.
=Robert and =Mary had seven children: =Custis, =Mary, =William, =Annie, =Agnes, =RobertEdwardJr, and
=Mildred.

In =1837 =Robert was sent by the army to =StLouis, =Missouri, where he built a dike in the
=Mississippi River to keep the city from flooding. Next he went to =NewYorkCity where he was
in charge of the repair of forts that guarded the harbor. Then, in =1846, the =UnitedStates
declared war on =Mexico. =Robert was sent to =SanAntonio, =Texas, and then into =Mexico.

=RobertELee worked as a scout, exploring enemy territory to get information. He also directed
the building of bridges that could support heavy army guns being dragged into battle. In the
Battle of =Veracruz, he helped plan some of the fighting. He was in the thick of the
battles for =CerroGordo and =MexicoCity. At one point, he was on his horse, riding and fighting,
for thirty-six straight hours.
After the war, General =WinfieldScott, Commander in Chief of the =UnitedStates Army, called
=Lee "the greatest military genius in =America."

=RobertELee was a great soldier, but he hated war. In a letter home he described the shells
fired from army guns as "so beautiful in their flight and so destructive in their fall."
And he wrote about the people killed: "It was awful. My heart bled. It was terrible to think
of the women and children."

In =1852 =RobertELee was named superintendent of the =UnitedStates Military Academy at
=WestPoint. He was considered a firm but kind leader who took a real interest in each cadet.
=Lee was made lieutenant colonel in =1855 and sent to the =Texas frontier to help protect
the settlers from attacks by Native =Americans.

During the =1850s, the country was divided over the issue of slavery. Owning slaves was allowed
in southern states but not in northern ones. In a speech in =1858 =AbrahamLincoln said, "I
believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free."

=RobertELee was home in =Virginia in =1859 when =JohnBrown, a passionate fighter against
slavery, attacked an army arsenal in =HarpersFerry, =Virginia. =Brown had hoped to use
the weapons to free slaves. Colonel =Lee was sent by the army to =HarpersFerry. He had
=JohnBrown and his followers arrested.

In November =1860 =AbrahamLincoln was elected president. In December =SouthCarolina voted to
leave the Union, to secede from the =UnitedStates, rather than be led by a man who hated
slavery. Other slave states followed and together formed the =ConfederateStatesOfAmerica.

=RobertELee hoped an prayed that there would not be war. He said, "In =God alone must be our trust."
But on April =12, =1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort =Sumpter, a =US Government fort in
=SouthCarolina. The Civil War began. On April =17 =RobertELee's home state of =Virginia joined
the Confederacy.

The prospects for the southern rebel army were not good. There were eleven states in the
Confederacy. Twenty-three remained in the Union. There were more people, soldiers, weapons,
factories, and railroads in the northern, Union states, than in the southern Confederacy.
=RobertELee felt slavery was evil. He had freed his own slaves. He also felt that the
nation must remain united. But still, he was torn between remaining in the Union army or
joining the forces of =Virginia, his home state.
=Lee was recognized in both the North and South as a great soldier. President =Lincoln
chose him to be field commander of the Union army.

=Lee refused the assignment and resigned form the =US Army. He was a =Virginian and he wrote,
"I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children,
my home."
On April =22, =1861, =RobertELee was appointed commander of the army of =Virginia. Soon after
that he was named a general in the =Confederate army and an advisor to the president of the
Confederacy, =JeffersonDavis.
In June =1862 General =Lee was placed in charge of saving =Richmod, =Virginia, the
capital of the Confederacy. Union generals preparing to attack expected a quick victory,
since they had the larger army.

Instead of waiting to defend the city, =Lee led his men in attacks against Union forces.
The fighting became known as the =SevenDaysBattles. Many Confederate soldiers were
killed, but =Richmond was saved.
In August =1862, the =Confederate army won a great victory at =Manassas, =Virginia, in the
second battle of =BullRun. They won because of the strategy of =Lee and the leadership of
his trusted general, =ThomasJ "=Stonewall" =Jackson.

=RobertELee believed it was better to attack the enemy than be attacked, so in September
=1862 he led his men into =Maryland, a Union state. Union General =GeorgeBMcClellan learned
of =Lee's plans and met =Lee's forces on September =17, =1862 at =Antietam, =Maryland.
Both sides lost thousands of lives before General =Lee retreated to =Virginia.
In May =1863, in =Chancellorsville, =Virginia, =Lee's =Confederate troops defeated the
Union forces, but =StonewallJackson was killed.

In June =1863, =Lee again led his troops onto Union land, this time into =Pennsylvania.
At the Battle of =Gettysburg, during the first three days of July, more than =40,000
soldiers from both sides were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. =Lee's army, unable
to continue fighting, withdrew to =Virginia.
The Battle of =Gettysburg is considered a turning point in the war. After it was over,
=Lee no longer had a large enough force to stage a major attack.

During much of the war, =RobertELee lived in a tent beside his soldiers and shared his food with
them. His men showed great respect, even love, for their general. In =1865 =Lee was named
General in Chief of the Armies of the =ConfederateStates.
In the war there were many battles and much was lost. Houses, farms, railroads, and cities,
mostly in the South, were burned to the ground. More than =600,000 soldiers died.
Many were killed in battle, but more than half died of disease.

By April =1865 =Lee's troops had almost no food. They were greatly outnumbered. To fight
just one more day, =Lee wrote later, "would have been at great sacrifice of life and at
its end I did not see how a surrender could have been avoided."

On April =9, =1865, at =Appomattox Court House in =Virginia, General =Lee surrendered his
forces to General =UlyssesSGrant, commander of all Union armies.
When =RobertELee returned to his men, he told them, "Men, we have fought through the war
together. I have done the best I could for you. My heart is too full to say more."

He went home to his family. =RobertJr wrote later that his father "looked older, grayer, more
quiet and reserved. He seemed very tired, and was always glad to talk of any other subject
than of the war."
=RobertELee tried to set an example to his soldiers and others in the South to accept the
loss of the war and get back to work without bitterness.

In October =1865 =RobertELee was made president of =Washington College in =Lexington, =Virginia.
He died in his home on the college campus on October =12, =1870.
=RobertELee was brave, wise, and gentle. He was a great general and a leader of men.
People throughout the country mourned for him. Of his death, the =NewYorkHerald, a northern
newspaper, wrote, "=RobertELee was an =American dignified the idol of his friends and of his
soldiers."