Robert Edward Lee

Robert Edward Lee rođen je 19. siječnja na obiteljskom imanju Stratford, u Virginiji. Diplomirao je 1829. na vojnoj akademiji West Point. Postao je časnikom u američkoj vojsci. Od 1829. do početka rata u Meksiku, obavljao je razne inženjerske zadatke diljem SAD-a, od kojih je najvažniji bio, izgradnja kanala u St. Louisu. Sudjelovao je u ratu protiv Meksika 1846.-1848., zatim se borio protiv Indijanaca na pograničnom području savezne države Teksas. 1859. uspješno je zaustavio ustanak Johna Browna, borca za oslobođenje robova. Iako se protivio secesiji južnih, robovlasničkih država, nakon secesije njegove rodne Virginije, dao je ostavku u Američkoj vojsci i pridružio se Oružanim snagama Konfederacije. Bio je vojni savjetnik predsjednika Konfederacije Jeffersona Davisa 1861.-1862. U proljeće 1862. preuzeo je zapovjedništvo nad Armijom Sjeverne Virginije. Sa brojčano i materijalno slabijim snagama Lee je uspio pobijediti vojsku Unije više puta, kod Bull Runa u kolovozu 1862. i kod Chancellorsvillea u svibnju 1863. No izgubio je ključnu bitku kod Gettysburga, nakon koje je sudbina njegove vojske bila zapečaćena. Vodio je niz bitaka protiv U.S. Granta od svibnja 1864. do travnja 1865. kada je bio prisiljen predati svoju vojsku kod Appomatoxa. Nakon rata povukao se u svoj dom u Richmondu, no ipak, zbog slabih financija, postao predsjednikom Washington Collega 1865., gdje je ostao sve do svoje smrti, 12. listopada 1870Robert Edward Lee was born on 19 January at the family estate of Stratford, Virginia. He graduated in 1829 at the West Point Military Academy. He became an officer in the U.S. Army. From 1829 until the beginning of the war in Mexico, he performed various engineering assignments throughout the United States, most important of which was the construction of channels in St. Louis. He participated in the war against Mexico 1846.-1848., then fought against the Indians on the border area of Texas. In 1859, he successfully stopped the uprising of John Brown, who was an abolitionist. Although he opposed the secession of the Southern, slaver states, after his native Virginia seceded, he resigned from the U.S. Army and joined the Confederate armed forces. He was a military adviser to the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis from 1861 to 1862. In the spring of 1862, he took command of the Army of Northern Virginia. With numerical and materially weaker forces, Lee managed to defeat the Union Army more than once, at Bull Run in August 1862, and at Chancellorsville in May 1863. But he lost the key battle at Gettysburg, after which his army's fate was sealed. He led a series of battles against U.S. Grant since May 1864 until April 1865 when he was compelled to surrender his army at Appomattox. After the war, he withdrew to his home in Richmond, but because of poor finances, he became President of the Washington College in 1865, where he remained until his death, on 12 October 1870