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CSA: Robert Edward Lee and Family

Confederate General Robert E. Lee April 1865

1865 Picture of Gen. Robert Edward Lee (Son of Maj. Gen. Henry Lee, "Light Horse Harry", Gov of Virginia) with son Major General George Washington Custis Lee and Col. Walter H. Taylor

General Lee was born in 1807, at Stratford Hall, a great Virginia plantation that had passed down to his father’s first wife, Matilda Lee, through six generations of his ancestors. By the time of his birth, the conduct of his father, Henry Lee, had reduced the family's position of high honor and great wealth to one of dishonor and poverty. During the early campaigns of the War of the Revolution, "Light Horse Harry," as Henry Lee was known, commanded the Calvary of the Continental Army under General George Washington. His galloping down the camp lanes of the Continental Army with his entourage, carrying the decapitated heads of captured royalists on pikes, however, resulted in his resignation from the Army sometime before the war ended

Lee Surrenders to Grant at Appomattox

Lithograph of Lee's Surrender, with Col. W. H. Taylor standing behind General Lee

Arlington Mansion: General Robert E. Lee's home - Union soldiers on the lawn 06-28-1864

When George Washington Parke Custis died in 1857, he left the Arlington estate to Mrs. Lee for her lifetime and afterwards to the Lees' eldest son, George Washington Custis Lee. The estate needed much repair and reorganization, and Lee, as executor, took a leave of absence from the Army until 1860 to begin the necessary agricultural and financial improvements.

Arlington House from SE corner 2012

Arlington House: The restored second-floor chamber shared by Lee and his wife

Major General George Washington Custis Lee

He served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War, primarily as an aide-de-camp to President Jefferson Davis, finally got a field commission at the end of the war, was defeated in his first battle and was captured. His father General Robert E. Lee surrendered in a uniform buttoned to the neck with his typical three stars at the collar on each side. After the War he succeeded his father as president of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. All four Lees survived the War; Robert, his three sons; Capt Robert Edward, Major General George Washington Custis Lee, Maj. General William Henry Fitzhugh 'Rooney' Lee. Custis returned to the Arlington Plantation.

South East side of Arlington House 1900s ~ Detroit Photographic Company

The Arlington Slaves

Maj. General William Henry Fitzhugh 'Rooney' Lee

With the outbreak of the Civil War Lee became a captain in the Confederate Army cavalry and was soon promoted to major. He initially served in western Virginia under the command of Brig. Gen. William Loring during 1861 and early 1862. He was then placed under the command of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, becoming a lieutenant colonel, and later colonel in the 9th Virginia Cavalry. After the Battle of South Mountain, Lee was promoted to brigadier general. He fought at Antietam under the command of Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, his cousin. He commanded the 3rd Brigade of Stuart's Cavalry Division at the Battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He was wounded during combat at Brandy Station at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign and was captured by Union forces at Hickory Hill, Virginia, two weeks later, while recuperating. He was a prisoner of war in New York State until returned to the Confederate Army on February 25, 1864. To accomplish this he was exchanged for Confederate captive Union Brig. Gen. Neal S. Dow. In April, he was promoted to major general and commanded a division in the Cavalry Corps during the breakout from Petersburg and the retreat of his father's army in the Appomattox Campaign. By the end of the war, he had risen to second-in-command of the Confederate cavalry. He surrendered along with his father at Appomattox Court House. Postbellum career Lee returned to White House Plantation and planting after the war.

White House Platation-when Martha Washington lived there...

White House as it appeared when rebuilt after the American Civil War by Lee

The White House Slaves 

Capt Robert Edward Lee Jr

Rob joined them in wearing the Confederate Grey. Initially, Rob served as a private in the Rockbridge Artillery in 1862. After the Battle of Sharpsburg, he was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned to serve as aide to his older brother Custis, who was a major general and aide-de-camp to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and was involved in defending Richmond, Virginia. After the war, Rob lived at Romancock Plantation on the north bank of the Pamunkey River in King William County, Virginia, which was his inheritance from his grandfather George Washington Parke Custis. Romancock was located approximately four miles from the Town of West Point. He went into private business.