Robert E Lee Research Paper

Robert E. Lee was born January 19th, 1807, in Virginia. Lee’s grandparents were English immigrants and prominent colonists in the original Virginia colony. Lee’s grandfather, Henry made a serious of poor financial investments and squandered much of their financial means. Lee’s father’s name was Harry. Harry fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary war and eventually delivered the eulogy at Washington’s funeral. He, like his fathrer, also made poor financial decisions and ultimately spent time in a debtor’s prison. Lee’s father would die when he was only eleven, leaving his mother to raise him and his five siblings. Lee would do well in school and one of his relatives, William Ritzhugh, would help him get accepted into the West

Lee was against succession and was a proud U.S. Army Commander. He had been the Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy and was a very successful Army Officer. He loved the U.S. and the Army. “The South, in my opinion, has been aggrieved by the acts of the North, as you say. I feel the aggression, and am willing to take every proper step for redress. It is the principle I contend for, not individual or private benefit. As an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity and institutions, and would defend any State if her rights were invaded. But I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation. I hope, therefore, that all constitutional means will be exhausted before there is a resort to force. Secession is nothing but revolution. The framers of our Constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom, and forbearance in its formation, and surrounded it with so many guards and securities, if it was intended to be broken by every member of the Confederacy at will. It was intended for "perpetual union," so expressed in the preamble, and for the establishment of a government, not a compact, which can only be dissolved by revolution, or the consent of all the people in convention assembled.” (Lee, 1861) Even though he did not agree with succession, he could not fight against his state of Viriginia, against his family and friends. In 1861, he volunteered for service in the Confederate Army. He was initially appointed commander of troops in Virginia, but once the Army of the Confederate States was formed, he was named one of the first full Generals. One of Lee’s