Robert E Lee: Leader of the Confederate Army Essay Example

and so deeply by his mother that they became fundamentals of his character.

(Robert E. Lee???s Childhood) He would later remark that he owed all of his success to her.Robert E.??Lee???s first formal duties were to his mother. During his father???s exile to the West Indies because he opposed the War, she had been left alone.

Henry Lee died when his son was eleven. Lee took charge over her care as well as his sickly sister. He was even in charge of allocating the family food. He did all of this while attending to his studies. In his spare time, he loved to swim and play sports, and he particularly enjoyed his visits to the home of his birth, Stratford Hall, which is where his brother and wife now occupied.

He continued his studies and excelled.Finally, he decided he wanted to become a soldier and he won an appointment to West Point. The age-limits for admission to West Point were fourteen to twenty years, read and write well, familiar with arithmetic, and willing to sign articles to remain five years in the army, including the four years of cadetship. Robert could meet all these requirements, if he could have the good fortune to be named one of the 250 cadets for whom the government made provision. (Robert E. Lee???s Childhood) He could not have known how significantly this one decision could affect the rest of his life.

Thanks to his upbringing, he graduated second in his class of forty-six, and did not earn one demerit in the whole four years that he attended. For generations, Lee has only been thought of as a general.

In June 1831, Robert E. Lee married the daughter of George Washington???s adopted son, Mary Randolph Curtis. It was through the marriage that he acquired the mansion Arlington and its grounds. Lee and Mary had seven children, George Washington Custis, William H.

Fitzhugh "Rooney", Robert Edward, Jr. , Mary, Annie, Agnes, and Mildred. As early as February, 1861, Virginia was considering secession. Lee was adamantly opposed.

Lincoln was inaugurated in March and soon after, April 12, 1861, The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina. On May, 23, 1861, Virginia followed. Robert E. Lee was in the predicament of a lifetime. He had served in the United States Military for decades.

He had defended the nation in many ways including taking part in the Mexican American War. It was ingrained in his psyche to be loyal to his country. Much of his growing up had been spent in Alexandria where memories of General Washington, who fought to establish this Union that he was to fight against, were everywhere.Anyone who thinks that this decision was easy is mistaken.

Lee had to consider his family as well. His wife, Mary, believed in the Confederacy. His sons were loyal to the cause as well. If the Confederacy fell, he was almost certain that he would be executed. His beloved Arlington, the home that was important to the past of Mary, and was the place of the birth of his children, could be taken away.

These thoughts were almost unbearable. Then there was Virginia, the state that welcomed his birth. He was born and grew up there and always called it home.Know matter

how hard he fought it, the decision had to be made. Virginia was destined to win. He found it impossible to imagine facing the people of the state if he were to choose the other side.

The start of the war did not bring a lot of success to Lee, but history shows that things would improve. In charge of Virginia's fledgling military might, he was mainly involved in organizational matters. As a Confederate brigadier general, and later full general, he was in charge of supervising all Southern forces in Virginia. In the first summer of the war he was given his first field command in western Virginia.His Cheat Mountain Campaign was a disappointing fizzle largely due to the failings of his superiors.

His entire tenure in the region was unpleasant, dealing with the bickering of his subordinates-William W. Loring, John B. Floyd, and Henry A. Wise.

After this he became known throughout the South as "Granny Lee. " His debut in field command had not been promising, but Jefferson Davis appointed him to command along the Southern Coast. (Robert Edward Lee 1807-1870) The confidence of Jefferson Davis made the difference. In 1862, Davis called him to Richmond as an advisor. He was a success at this.

His military training from West Point had trained him to be a leader. Shortly after his arrival in Richmond, his daughter, Annie, died of typhoid fever at the age of twenty-three. He was ultimately put in charge of the whole Confederate Army. Jefferson was pleased and had confidence in Lee until the end.

He knew that once Lee had sworn his allegiance to the Confederacy, he would never

go back on his word. Loyalty was something that was deep-seated in the Southern gentleman. He had no choice but to use all of the military skills he had to further the cause of state???s rights.Even though Lee believed in his beloved Virginia, he had trouble dealing with the issue of slavery.

He had even freed the slaves that he inherited from his father-in-law. His conviction against slavery was due to his religious convictions. These same convictions are what kept him loyal to the Confederacy. In studying Robert E. Lee for over 10 years, it has become crystal clear to me that Robert E.

Lee was a devoted follower and humble servant of Jesus Christ. The teachings of Christ and the words of the Holy Scriptures shine forth in the walk and life of Robert E. Lee.Robert E.

??Lee was a man of Prayer and Devotion. (Robert E. Lee???s Childhood) The Civil War was much harder on Robert E. Lee than it was for most leaders. Even President Lincoln had to deal with the fact that he had family and in-laws fighting for the other side.

War is difficult for everyone involved, but Lee had a divided heart. It seemed that there was more reason to stay devoted to the Union. He did not like the evils of slavery, he had been trained and brought up to have allegiance to the federal government, and he believed in the federal government. Instead he chose Virginia. He could not escape his past.Works Citedhttp://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Leeschildhood.htmhttp://www.civilwarhome.com/leebio.htm