Robert E. Lee
...form of warfare
that unfolded with the Civil war, but this did not prevent
him from keeping the Union armies in Virginia at bay for
almost three years. The son of Revolutionary War hero
"Light Horse" Harry Lee-who fell into disrepute in his later
years attended West Point and graduated second in his
class. During his four years at the military academy he did
not earn a single demerit and served as the cadet corps'
adjutant. Upon his 1829 graduation he was posted to the
engineers. Before the Mexican War he served on
engineering projects in Georgia, Virginia, and New York.
During the war he served on the staffs of John Wool and
Winfield Scott. Particularly distinguishing himself scouting
for and guiding troops, he won three brevets and was
slightly wounded at Chapultepec.
Following a stint in Baltimore Harbor he became
superintendent of the military academy in 1852. When the
mounted arm was expanded in 1855, Lee accepted the
lieutenant colonelcy of the 2nd Cavalry in order to escape
from the painfully slow promotion in the engineers. Ordered
to western Texas, he served with his regiment until the
1857 death of his father-in-law forced him to ask for a
series of leaves to settle the estate.
In 1859 he was called upon to lead a force of marines, to
join with the militia on the scene, to put an end to John
Brown's Harper's Ferry Raid. Thereafter he served again in
Texas until summoned to Washington in 1861 by Winfield
Scott who tried to retain Lee in the U. S. service. But the
Virginian rejected the command of the Union's field forces
on the day after Virginia seceded. He then accepted an
invitation to visit Governor John Letcher in Virginia. His
resignation as colonel, 1st Cavalry-to which he had recently
been promoted-was accepted on April 25, 1861.
His Southern assignments included: major general,
Virginia's land and naval forces...
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