construction of Fort Carroll. He became Superintendent at West Point in
1852. In his three years of service there, Lee established some highly
successful procedures which contributed to the reputation of the Academy.
On April 12, 1855, Lee was sent to Louisville, Kentucky to take
command of the 2nd. Cavalry. As Colonel of Cavalry, Lee spent most of the
next six years in Texas. Lee was then sent to lead the United States Marines
to suppress John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry. When Lee arrived at
Harper’s Ferry, he ordered the door of the firehouse, in which Brown’s band
had taken refuge, to be battered down. The whole operation was over in
three minutes.
In the beginning of the war between the states, Lee found himself
facing the most difficult decision of his life. He believed in the abolition of
slavery, but not by force. He believed in a united nation, but not one that
could be maintained only by swords and bayonets. When President Lincoln
asked him to take command of the Federal troops in the field, Lee refused.
Lee resigned from the Army a few days later. He was commissioned to
General in the Confederate Army. He served as military advisor to Jefferson
Davis, as Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and then as
General-in-chief of all Confederate Armies.
In the first two years of the war, the South made considerable
headway, successfully resisting General McClellan’s attempt to take
Richmond. But there were never enough men, food, or guns. The
transportation problem became progressively worse, and the Armies were
continually at the mercy of political plunderers. Against the superior forces of
the Union, Lee pitted all the strategy of a master soldier and he was able to
deliver shattering blows at Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorville. All
of this was to come to an end with the arrival of the battle at Gettysburg.
This was to be the turning point of the whole war.
With the defeat of Lee’s army at Gettysburg, however, in July, 1863,
the tide turned against the south. That was the last time Lee was able to gain
an offensive position. On April 9, 1865, he surrendered his near starving,
depleted army to General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union commander in chief, at
Appomattox Court House, Virginia. He set off the next day to Richmond,
where his family had been living since they had abandoned Arlington. After
the war he applied immediately for pardon and restoration to citizenship,
feeling that this example might lead other Confederates to do the same. He
tried every way to heal the breach between the North and the South.
In the Summer of 1865 he was offered the Presidency of Washington
College in Lexington, VA. The college was virtually in ruins, but Lee
accepted the position after he was ensured his connection with the college
would not injure it in any way. Lee accepted the post and headed for the
college campus in Lexington. The strain of putting the poverty stricken
college back on its feet and the problems of reconstruction took its toll, and
Lee’s health began to fail. He died on October 12, 1870, and was buried
beneath the college chapel.
Analysis
Great American Generals – Robert E. Lee, by Ian Hogg, is an in-depth
recounting of the life and death of Robert E. Lee, one of America’s great
heroes. It begins with an account of Lee’s family history, that of his parents,
and the circumstances into which he was born on January 19, 1807, and ends
with his death on October 12, 1870.
Hogg relates the intervening years in an extremely interesting fashion,
providing many fascinating and detailed pieces of information. The story is
presented in a way that keeps the interest of the reader, and is not boring,
even when giving statistics of the various campaigns that Lee undertook. The
book appeals not just to Lee fans, but to all history students.
The pages are filled with numerous detailed maps, and colorful pictures
that enhance the view of Lee and his life. Military students will delight in the
descriptions of the war, while students of Lee’s character are rewarded by
fascinating facts of his and his parent’s lives.
Hogg presents this painful episode in America’s history in a balanced,
non-judgemental way. He portrays Lee as a man of great integrity and honor,
a true Southern gentleman, and casts no slurs concerning the fact that Lee
was on the losing side of a war in which there were no winners.
This is an exciting and informative book and is one of the more
enjoyable books which are required reading for this course.