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A hero of one of the darkest eras in American history, Robert E. Lee is often glanced over when ranking the country’s most esteemed individuals. An examination of his life and career as a whole reveal the same levels of many of the qualities possessed founding fathers and other early American heroes enshrined in history. Time and time again he demonstrated a profound sense of patriotism, loyalty, and duty. Still, his fame and following is mainly restricted to the states which once formed the Confederacy.
To truly grasp and appreciate the value and honor of the Confederate general, however, one can look at the story of the American Civil War through an alternative historical lens, imagining the tale if Robert E. Lee had never been born. Surely, first, it is imperative to understand the reality of his life and legacy.
The son of former Revolutionary War Colonel Henry (“Light-Horse Harry”) Lee and his wife Ann Hill Carter, Robert Edward Lee was born January 19, 1807 at the family plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
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For the nobility carried by his name by birth, Robert’s upbringing was quite atypical. Following his militaristic success during the country’s fight for independence, Robert’s father served as governor of Virginia from 1792 until 1795, but eventually found himself deeply ill and burdened by a lifetime of poor financial decisions. As the youngest boy and by all accounts closest child with his mother, Robert found himself even more drawn to his mother’s sense of responsibility and work ethic as she supported herself and the five children on the income from her family’s estate.
But, with her family’s financial situation now limited to a single income, Ann moved her it closer home to Alexandria, Virginia in 1810 after Henry bargained with President James Madison for passage aboard a ship bound for the West Indies—perhaps to evade his growing list of creditors or perhaps for an exotic cure to his crippling ailments. He died before ever returning home.
Robert’s educational career was a considerable success, culminating with his graduation second in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1829. After selecting the Corps of Engineers, Lee returned home to be with his mother before her approaching death. Friends and relatives celebrated and mourned her passing at Arlington, the home of George Washington Parke Custis, adopted son of George Washington. There he reconnected with childhood friend Mary Anne Randolph, to whom he was married in 1831, signaling both the legal and practical linking of Lee’s future legacy with that of Washington. It was this legacy that he would build upon in the coming years as he began his militaristic career.
The future general’s early days of service were spent mainly redesigning and refortifying outposts in his home state of Virginia before being shipped to St. Louis to head a project designed to protect the harbor from shifts in the channels of the mighty Mississippi. While perhaps boring and unfulfilling work compared to the duties he would assume as head of the Confederate Army thirty years down the line, Lee found the development and improvement of the mouth of the frontier at the Mississippi in St. Louis to be very intellectually stimulating. While in St. Louis, Lee achieved rank of captain. When the Mexican American War broke out in, Lee served as Major General Winfield Scott’s chief engineer, with the post carrying trust that allowed him to make independent battlefield decisions almost as critical as the commander himself. Crucial in American victories at Cerro Gordo and Churubusco, Lee left the war with the title of colonel and the confidence associated.
With the nation again at peace, Lee resumed his duties in Washington at corps headquarters and was appointed to the coast defense board. He spent the remaining pre-antebellum years again fortifying harbors, this time in and around Baltimore, before being named Superintendent of West Point and holding the esteemed post for three years. Still, with the tactical aptitude he displayed in Mexico, Lee knew it would not be long until he was back on the battlefield. While serving as administrator at West Point, he received an assignment from Secretary of War Jefferson Davis as lieutenant colonel of a new Second Cavalry to patrol the newly acquired and vast lands from the Mexicans. Touring up and down the Mississippi, from St. Louis to Texas and westward, his unit served as much as a group of bounty hunters as anything, chasing and capturing “hostiles”. Although earning the promotion to colonel of the Second Cavalry, Lee obviously never encountered large-scale engagements. Nonetheless, he received a great deal more experience commanding troops in the field that surely come paramount when leading a country’s armed forces.
Perhaps Lee’s most heroic and notable pre-Civil War efforts occurred at the site of one of its biggest instigators. In 1859, Lee received an urgent message to aid Virginia militia and Maryland volunteers at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, where noted abolitionist John Brown and his followers had taken the fire-engine house of the United States Arsenal and all its arms. Lee, leaning on his aforementioned experience, took command and was able to diffuse the situation and capture Brown. “Lee returned to Texas early the next year, but was never able to escape the shadow that the Harpers Ferry raid had cast over his state”.
Evident by his repeated triumphs in his assignments, Lee was commissioned as full colonel and commander of the First Cavalry in early 1861. In the meantime, the Confederate States of America had formed with its capital in Mobile, Alabama. Conflicted yet feeling an undeniable sense of loyalty to his home, Lee informed his superiors and President Abraham Lincoln of his intentions for the impending war: he could not fight against his Commonwealth. If Virginia seceded, he would follow it to war. Three days following an offer from Lincoln to become commander of the U.S. Army, with the secession of his state, Lee resigned his post. As is frequently noted, “it was a painful decision but one that in its expression of loyalty to home and kindred has commanded sympathy even from those who cannot admire it”. Less often attributed to Lee, however, is his opposition to many of the Confederacy’s founding principles. As himself considered a patriot and his father a hero of the Revolutionary, he resisted secession heavily and even disliked slavery, never owning more than a handful of slaves. Regardless, Virginia and his allegiance forced his hand.
Over the course of the next months, Lee rose to a general and trusted military advisor to President Jefferson Davis. His early campaigns, namely at the battle of Cheat Mountain or Elkwater in September, ended in considerable defeat. Another defeat later that year, this time at Charleston, allowing the Union to tighten its blockade against southern ships, signaled to Lee that change must be made to change the tides of the war.
Lee concluded that the Confederacy had been too defensive in its tactics up to that point in the war, and by sheer manpower and abundance of resources the Union would continue to overwhelm his forces. His only chance was to take the offensive, focusing his forces at critical points of his choosing. The risk was apparent, yet Lee knew such a strategy could potentially gift his limited troops the upper hand in battle if he could concentrate the battles to crucial locations. Brilliantly, Lee and his army, reinforced by Major General “Stonewall” Jackson’s Army of the Valley, won a series of battles that came to be known as the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in early summer 1862. Though small in size and relation, those victories brought renewed optimism in the Confederate cause among Lee’s forces and diverted Union forces away from the Confederate capital of Richmond, which was soon itself to come under fire.
Returning to Richmond to find his highest-ranking officer wounded and Union General George McClellan’s mighty Army of the Potomac, some strong, rapidly descending, Lee confronted the attack directly. Taking his commander’s place on the front lines, the general continued his aggressive push and repelled northern forces from just outside Richmond during the Seven Days battles with his newly designated Army of Northern Virginia and, again, aid from Jackson’s Valley Army. The late June battles in 1862 not only saved the capital, but seemingly transformed Lee in perception from apparent failure to savior of the Confederacy.
In spite of his decided triumph, Robert E. Lee was nonetheless disheartened by the result of the battles of Seven Days. He had fallen short of his ultimate goal to completely destroy McClellan’s super army, yet still temporarily inactivating the Army of the Potomac was a crucial tactile advantage. Knowing all along he would frequently be outnumbered during the war, he planned to go on the strategic offensive, hoping to make quick work of Union forces in the North and bring the war to an abrupt end.
Recognizing the massive losses to his army mingled with McClellan’s “by-now frequently demonstrated caution”, Lee marched his troops north of Richmond where they met the forces under Major General John Pope at Bull Run. Pope had moved his troops into position to aid in the retreat of the weakened Army of the Potomac, as ordered from Washington. While once again triumphant, the Army of Northern Virginia had lost nearly 45% of its troops (upwards of 30,000 killed, wounded, or missing) over the course of one summer. The victory, however, guaranteed Lee a route to bring the war to the North; he believed winning a battle on Union soil could compel Lincoln to secede Confederate independence.
As Lee began to march his still not full strength force north across the Potomac, McClellan’s army had already received reinforcements from Washington and once again conflicted with the Confederates at Antietam Creek in September 1862. This time on the defensive, outnumbered two to one, the southern general stood his ground through the single bloodiest day of the war, but the next day was forced to fall back across the Potomac.
Again lacking soldiers, Lee unsuccessfully, at first, pleaded with President Davis for reinforcements. He fought again at Fredericksburg in December, in a similarly adapted defensive style, before meeting the Army of the Potomac under command of Major General Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville in May 1863.
Finally replenished by President Davis but lacking the services of Stonewall Jackson, who had died after the Battle of Chancellorsville, Lee’s forces marched north to Gettysburg. There they met Major General George Meade’s army and from July 1-3, 1863 waged one of the bloodiest battles fought on American soil. Perhaps hampered by the loss of his right-hand man and certainly unfamiliar with the terrain of the Pennsylvania hills, Confederate troops suffered huge losses while also striking a blow to Union numbers, causing “very sever (sic)” casualties numbering “2,834 killed, 13,709… wounded, and 6,643 missing” by the count of Major General George Meade. Nonetheless, Lee continued his northern assault after Gettysburg, piling up additional Union casualties. The flaw in Lee’s strategy all along, however, came in the fact that the casualties inflicted to his own army during the campaign far exceeded the Union numbers in relation. The North’s seemingly endless supply of fresh soldiers would continuously thwart his noble and dutiful attacks to win a key battle on Union lands.
When Lee returned to Richmond in 1864 as newly appointed general in chief of the entire army of the Confederacy, southern efforts to hold the capital had reached desperation as Lincoln attempted to crush the rebellion and secure reelection. In spring 1865, with the city nearly under siege by Union forces, Lee staged a last-ditch push to open up a route for retreat. Northern troops, now led by Ulysses Grant, easily crumbled the rebels and Lee informed Davis the capital and nearby Petersburg would have to be evacuated.
Able to escape with some of his forces, Lee was forced to move westward in hopes of rendezvousing with reinforcements, but was cut-off by Grant at several crucial choke points. Finally, Lee had no option but to surrender. On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered himself and his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse, effectively ending the Civil War. Still, in defeat, his soldiers celebrated their general. One wrote to his brother late in the war, “no matter if our country goes down tomorrow Lee’s name will stand first upon the pinnacle of fame, as the greatest of commanders living or dead.”
As a high-ranking Confederate officer, Lee was exempt from many of the legal penalties following the war, and he returned to his Virginia home with hopes of leading the South through Reconstruction and toward accepting reunion with the North. He further cemented his legacy of duty by serving as President of Washington College in Lexington until his death on October 12, 1870.
As a general, it is clear to see how Lee earned his high distinction. His ability to strategically adapt to any situation on the battlefield was unparalleled in the art of Napoleonic warfare. His respect and reputation only grew in the years following his death, even spreading in the North. His followers saw him as somewhat of a Christ figure, on the account that “his worldly defeat [at Appomattox] came to attest to a nobility of character all the more sublime”. This character and set of personal virtues are perhaps most impressive and notable of Lee’s legacy. His sense of loyalty to his home and commitment to duty were truly admirable. His initiative in all of life’s tasks, especially on the battlefield, should be adopted by all. He was, in every sense of the word, a patriot; a man who put his life on the line for his home state. In many ways—marital ties, tactile decisions, nobility, and honor—he is akin to George Washington. As an American, Robert E. Lee has earned and rightfully deserves his rank among the country’s most prestigious individuals.
So, as one looks back on American history, what if General Robert E. Lee had never existed? Certain circumstances might have simply accelerated history, as to be expected when one literally removes the single most important man to the losing army in a war situation, but taking a deeper look at what might have occurred in the Civil War reveals an interesting timeline.
In this world where Robert E. Lee is never born, little changes until the onslaught of the Civil War. Lee, by all accounts, generally opposed crucial Confederate foundations such as slavery and secession itself; and therefore would have done little to change the occurrence nor timing of the Civil War. Perhaps the most important instigative event in which Lee directly participated leading up to the war was at Harper’s Ferry. With Lee out of the picture, it is likely Stonewall Jackson who comes to lead the Army of the Confederate States of America
When one looks at his victorious campaign to repel the Union Army away from the area surrounding Richmond, it is likely that whomever was chose to lead the Confederate troops would have also been successful inasmuch. Major General George McClellan is often questioned for his lack of offensive mindset during his Richmond campaign, and one is to wonder if simply opposing a perhaps less-skilled and regarded general would have altered the Union commander’s attack plans. According to Gene Thorp of the Washington Post,
[McClellan’s] over-cautious approach, the story goes, kept him bottled up at Yorktown for a month conducting siege warfare on a rebel army one-fifth the size of his. He vastly overestimated the strength of the enemy and made irrational calls for reinforcements. When the rebels finally retreated to Richmond, he did not pursue quickly enough. After Jackson joined Lee in Richmond and drove back the Union soldiers, McClellan withheld reinforcements from Gen. John Pope for petty political reasons, contributing to his army’s defeat.
Further take into account the fact that Lincoln had surprisingly withheld an additional 33,000 troops from his Army, McClellan was vastly unfit for his post and his army unfit for attack. It is therefore safe to assume that Stonewall Jackson, now serving as General of the Confederate Army, is able to fend off the northern intruders from the capital. A major difference in this world occurs when Jackson, less aggressive and offensive than Lee was, does not recognize the opportunity as the Army of the Potomac retreats and instead decides to remain in Richmond, focused on fortifying his defenses and replenishing his troops.
The move is essentially in direct contrast with the actual course of action as implemented by Lee when he crossed the Potomac the first time. In this version, none of Lee’s campaigns in the North ever come to be, most notably the Battle of Gettysburg. Instead, the South continues to fight a defensive war and eventually suffers the same defeats near Richmond, although likely years in advance of when it actually happened. Because Jackson refrains from advancing into Union territory, Lincoln’s undenied goal to end the rebellion forces him to resupply the army of the Potomac, change its leadership, and strike back. This time, the Union Army easily runs over their southern counterparts and takes Richmond, crumbling the Confederacy from within. By midsummer 1862, the war is effectively over, a full three years before the real-life version came to an end.
The alternate history brings into question a seemingly puzzling paradox. Lee was undoubtedly an integral part to the Confederate cause and therefore the course of the war itself, yet, when one removes him from the story, the result changes minimally. One should not let this fact draw from his legacy. What must be realized is that Lee made the tactile decisions and fought the war the way he did out of necessity. He knew the only chance for southern victory was a swift one, and to win such a war would require relentless offensives.
With every small victory it almost seemed as if he was simply staving off the inevitable defeat, so it is almost remarkable how long Lee was able to keep Confederate hopes alive. His offensive strategy employed by Lee was its own eventual downfall, as the Confederacy could never produce enough troops to constantly replenish the forces. It leaves one to wonder if General Lee, perhaps commanding Union troops, would have been able to recognize his full potential on the battlefield and win the critical battles needed to win a war.
Role of Robert E. Lee in American Civil War. (2021, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/role-of-robert-e-lee-in-american-civil-war-essay
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