Why is Robert E. Lee important?

Robert E. Lee is well known as a Confederate military general, but perhaps his greatest contribution to the United States was his effort to reunite the country following the American Civil War. In the opinions of his contemporaries and historians, Lee played a crucial role in restoring peace following the war.

What made Robert E. Lee a good leader?

Lee's success was mainly attributed to two things. The skill of his subordinates, and his use of unconventional tactics. Lee often broke the conventional rules. Such as dividing his force in two in the face of a superior opponent. He also tended to choose the battlefield.

Who was the biggest hero in the Civil War?

Ulysses S Grant was the biggest hero of the Civil War. Johnny Clem might well have been the smallest. Ten years old when he ran away from home and joined the second Michigan Regiment, the drummer boy won fame at the battle of Shiloh, where he put down his drum, picked up a gun, and shot a Confederate colonel.

What did the e stand for in Robert E. Lee?

Born to Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee in Stratford Hall, Virginia, Robert Edward Lee seemed destined for military greatness.

What did Lee do in the Civil War?

Lee's Civil War experience included battlefield victories and personal loss. Lee became one of the most successful Confederate generals, winning several major battles against larger Union forces at Seven Days, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Lee's battlefield victories in Virginia often contrasted with defeats ...

Robert E. Lee: A Remarkable Military Career

Why did Robert E. Lee betray the Union?

His loyalties were conflicted, but his devotion to his state was deep. Lee had to choose what he believed to be right and remained loyal to the obligation which he thought took precedence: Virginia. Lee resigned from the United States military on April 20, 1861.

Who won the Civil War?

After four bloody years of conflict, the United States defeated the Confederate States. In the end, the states that were in rebellion were readmitted to the United States, and the institution of slavery was abolished nation-wide.

Why should Robert E. Lee be remembered?

Robert E. Lee is well known as a Confederate military general, but perhaps his greatest contribution to the United States was his effort to reunite the country following the American Civil War.

What is Robert E. Lee's famous quote?

Duty. Duty is the sublimest word in the language; you can never do more than your duty; you shall never wish to do less.

What are 5 facts about Robert E. Lee?

Who was the most feared soldier in the Civil War?

William T. Anderson (c. 1840 – October 26, 1864), known by the nickname "Bloody Bill" Anderson, was a soldier who was one of the deadliest and most notorious Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War.

How did the Civil War end?

The Union won the American Civil War. The war effectively ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The final surrender of Confederate troops on the western periphery came in Galveston, Texas, on June 2.

Could Lee have won the war?

But Lee's overall strategy—his insistence on frontal assaults—led to inevitable defeat. No matter how skilled a battle leader Lee was, he could never win the war by pitting the far-weaker resources of the South against the tremendous economic and military power of the North.

What happened to Robert E. Lee after he surrendered?

Feature Lee After The War

Lee and his family instead moved to Lexington, Virginia, where he became the president of Washington College. It is believed that he accepted this low-profile post, which paid only $1,500 a year, because he felt it unseemly to profit after such a bloody and divisive conflict.

What was Robert E Lee's heart disease?

It is our opinion that he sustained a heart attack in 1863 and that this illness had a major influence on the battle of Gettysburg. Lee experienced relatively good health from 1864 to 1867, but by 1869 he had exertional angina and by the spring of 1870 had intermittent rest angina.

Who actually ended the Civil War?

The Civil War ended 160 years ago on April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of the McLean House at Appomattox Court House, Virginia (Appomattox Court House National Historical Park).

Why did England lose the Civil War?

Its themes range from royalist structural weaknesses, their shortages of manpower and resources, to defeat in battle and the withdrawal of civilian support from the royalist cause. The decisive role of the New Model Army and its year of victories after Naseby is also considered.

What was the real reason the Civil War started?

As a panel of historians emphasized in 2011, "while slavery and its various and multifaceted discontents were the primary cause of disunion, it was disunion itself that sparked the war." Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election as an opponent of the extension of slavery into the U.S. territories.

Who was a traitor in the Civil War?

In the later part of the war, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army and placed in command of the American Legion. He led British forces in battle against the army which he had once commanded, and his name became synonymous with treason and betrayal in the United States.

What is the bloodiest day in American history?

The Bloodiest Day in American History--Hope for Freedom

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862.

Did Lee commit treason?

In the end, one has to say, purely on the merits, that Lee did indeed commit treason, as defined by the Constitution. But the plausibility of his defense introduces hesitations and mitigations which no jury in 1865—even Underwood's “packed jury”—could brush by easily.

Did the Civil War end slavery?

The Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment brought about by the Civil War were important milestones in the long process of ending legal slavery in the United States. Defining the meaning of freedom, however, continued long after the war ended.

What did Robert E. Lee say when he surrendered?

I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to the result from no distrust of them… I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen… I bid you an affectionate farewell.”

What was the deadliest war in American history?

Digital History. The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Altogether, over 600,000 died in the conflict, more than World War I and World War II combined. A soldier was 13 times more likely to die in the Civil War than in the Vietnam War.