Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee was an American soldier and famous general of the Confederate South. He was born on January 18, 1807. He was the son of a major general and went to West Point in 1825. West Point was a military school. He graduated second in his class. He married Mary Ann Randolph Custis in 1831. They had seven children together. All of his sons would fight in the Civil War.

Lee was a model soldier and was given many awards for his bravery. He became a teacher at West Point. Lee was against slavery and did not want the Southern states to leave the Union. He was asked to be the leader of the U.S., but he turned it down and resigned from the Army. He didn’t want to fight against his friends in the South. He was the leader of his state’s army in Virginia. Virginia would eventually leave the Union.

On June 1, 1862, Lee became the leader of the Southern army. This army did not have enough uniforms, supplies, or soldiers, but somehow he always managed to win more battles than he lost. But as time went on, Lee was forced to surrender. The Union army was better prepared, and they had a lot more supplies. Lee would spend his last years as the president of a college.