Robert E. Lee :: essays research papers

The idol of the South to this day, Virginian Robert E. Leehad some difficulty in adjusting to the new form of warfarethat unfolded with the Civil war, but this did not bafflehim from keeping the Union armies in Virginia at bay foralmost deuce-ace years. The son of Revolutionary War hero"Light Horse" fire Lee-who fell into disrepute in his by and byyears attended double-u Point and graduated second in hisclass. During his four years at the military academy he didnot earn a hotshot demerit and served as the cadet corpsadjutant. Upon his 1829 graduation he was posted to theengineers. forwards the Mexican War he served onengineering projects in Georgia, Virginia, and new(a) York.During the war he served on the staffs of John Wool andWin electron orbit Scott. Particularly distinguishing himself reconnoitrefor and guiding troops, he won three brevets and wasslightly wounded at Chapultepec. Following a stint in Baltimore Harbor he became super of the military academy in 18 52. When themounted arm was expanded in 1855, Lee accepted thelieutenant colonelcy of the 2nd Cavalry in determine to escapefrom the painfully slow promotion in the engineers. Orderedto western Texas, he served with his regiment until the1857 death of his father-in-law forced him to ask for aserial publication of leaves to settle the estate.In 1859 he was called upon to lead a force of marines, to get married with the militia on the scene, to put an end to JohnBrowns Harpers Ferry Raid. thereafter he served again inTexas until summoned to Washington in 1861 by WinfieldScott who tried and true to retain Lee in the U. S. service. But theVirginian rejected the command of the Unions field forceson the day after Virginia seceded. He then accepted aninvitation to send for Governor John Letcher in Virginia. Hisresignation as colonel, 1st Cavalry-to which he had recentlybeen promoted-was accepted on April 25, 1861.His gray assignments included major general,Virginias overturn and nava l forces (April 23, 1861)commanding Virginia forces (April 23 July 1861) brigadiergeneral, CSA (May 14, 186 1) general, CSA (from June14, 186 1) commanding Department of northVirginia (late July-October 1861) commandingDepartment of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida(November 8, 186 1-March 3, 1862) and commandingArmy of northerly Virginia June 1, 1862-April 9, 1865). In charge of Virginias fledgling military might, he wasmainly complex in organizational matters. As a Confederatebrigadier general, and later full general, he was in charge ofsupervising all Southern forces in Virginia. In the firstsummer of the war he was given up his first field command in