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Biographical Notes
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Robert Edward Lee
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On August 30, 1862, Lee's army decisively defeated the Union's Army of Virginia led by General Alexander Pope at the Second Battle of Manassas. After Second Manassas, Lee marched into Maryland hoping that Southern sympathizers would help him, but he did not expect a general uprising. Instead he hoped that his invasion of Northern territory might strengthen the hand of those that argued against continuing the conflict. Lee's advance into the North did not go well, particularly after federal troopers found one of his general orders that laid out his intentions. The fighting around Sharpsburg and Antietam Creek in September was particularly bitter and September 17, 1862, was to be one of the bloodiest single days in the entire war. The Confederates suffered the loss of 10,318 and the Union 12,410; killed, wounded, and missing. Lee was forced to retreat back into Virginia. On September 22, in Washington D.C,, President Lincoln announced that all slaves held in rebel territory would be emancipated effective January 1, 1863. In the fall of 1862 McClellan crossed back into Virginia, but moved too slowly to suit Lincoln. On November 7, 1862, General Ambrose E. Burnside replaced McClellan and began moving deliberatly toward Fredericksburg. The battle of Fredericksburg took place in the middle of December and resulted in a Confederate victory that forced the Union Army back across the Rapahhannock River with severe losses.
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On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Interestingly, Lee had already emancipated his remaining slaves on December 29, 1862, as called for in his father-in-law's will. That winter he was in poor health, but remained in the field with his troops. On the Union side, Burnside was replaced by General Joseph Hooker. At the time, Lee believed that if he could be successful on the field of battle during the remainder of 1863 there was a good chance that the forthcoming presidential election in the North would go against Lincoln and an end to the fighting could be negotiated without giving up Southern independence. On April 29, 1863, Hooker launched a new offensive aimed at Richmond. The battle of Chancellorsville started on May 1 and lasted until May 6. Lee's army was out-manned two to one, but he succeeded in driving Hooker back across the Rappahannock River. On May 14, Lee traveled to Richmond and met with President Davis and his cabinet. General Grant was threatening Vicksburg and consideration was given to taking troops from Lee and reinforcing Joseph Johnson's Confederate force that was charged with Vicksburg's defense. Lee argued against the plan and proposed that he attack into Pennsylvania instead. Davis concurred with Lee.
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Lee had lost one of his most competent field commanders, "Stonewall" Jackson, in the battle for Chancellorsville and he decided to once again reorganize his army. This time the major change was to divide the army into three corps each with three divisions. Lee felt that this would give his subordinate commanders better control during battle and would make up in part for the loss of Jackson, whom he had regarded as his "right arm." On the federal side, Hooker had been replaced by General George Gordon Meade. During June 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia began moving north with approximtely 75,000 men facing Meade's 93,500 man Army of the Potomac. The two armies met at Gettysburg on July 1 and the battle, which lasted for three extremely difficult days, concluded with a decisive defeat for the Confederates. When the fighting had ended on July 3, Lee commented to one of his cavalry officers "I never saw troops behave more magnificently than Pickett's division of Virginians did today in that grand charge upon the enemy. And if they had been supported as they were to have been, - but for some reason not yet fully explained to me, were not - we would have held the position and the day would have been ours." Following the war, many Confederate officers blamed General James Longstreet for not supporting Pickett, but some historians place at least part of the blame for this critical defeat on Lee for not providing more direct command attention to the actions of his subordinates. In the end Lee accepted responsibility for the defeat writing to President Davis "I am alone to blame." He offered to resign, but Davis did not accept his resignation.
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On July 4, 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac River and moved South to protect Richmond. Meade followed slowly behind. As Lee retreated, Grant occupied Vicksburg. The Confederate position in the West continued to deteriorate and Lee was forced to send a significant portion of his force to help slow down federal advances in several places. In so doing the strength of the Army of Northern Virginia was reduced to 47,000 effectives while Meade commanded about 77,000 men and was better supplied and supported as well. President Davis wanted to send Lee to command the Army of Tennessee to deal with the federal threat in the West, but Lee did not want to go saying that he could serve better where he was. Davis did not insist and Grant continued to enjoy a series of important victories. At this time, Lee's wife, Mary, had managed to get through Union lines and establish herself in Richmond. Her health had declined further and rheumatism was limiting her mobility. Lee did not want her in the city claiming that it was too dangerous, but she declined to leave. Instead, she organized a sewing circle that produced socks and gloves for her husband's troops. Lee's son William Henry, a Confederate cavalry officer, had been captured and was languishing in a federal prison. Lee was himself suffering ill health and almost certainly realized that his defeat at Gettysburg signaled an end to any hope that the war could be won. In spite of his troubles, Lee remained completely dedicated to the task at hand and spent Christmas in the mud with the Army of Northern Virginia rather than with his wife in the warmth of their Richmond home.
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In February 1864, Lee's son, William Henry, was exchanged and returned to J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry command on March 29. Fitzhugh Lee was also serving with Stuart's cavalry and Custis Morgan, was serving on President Davis' staff. With his invalided wife knitting socks and gloves, the family was totally committed to the cause of the Confederacy even though they saw little reason for hope. In March 1864, General Ullyses S. Grant was made general-in-chief of all Union armies and soon thereafter began the campaign that would ultimately lead to Lee's surrender. Major battles included the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and finally the siege of Petersburg, In all of these engagements Grant brought the full weight of Northern industrial superiority to bear in a relentless application of power against a smaller Confederate force that could never be properly supplied by an exhausted Confederacy. In all of these battles Lee performed brilliantly and his soldiers fought valiantly, but Grant steadily ground his opponent down till he was finally forced to surrender. The surrender meeting between the two men took place at a farm house owned by William McLean located near Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Grant offered lenient terms and Lee gratefully accepted them. Both men were worried about the possibility of the conflict turning into a guerrilla war that would continue far into the future. Both men wanted to restore stability and order so that people could get on with their lives. Lee was resigned to the fact that the South had lost the war.
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