In an era when state loyalty was strong, Robert Edward Lee chose to serve his native Virginia in the
Civil War. His dignity and integrity brought him the respect of even those who fought against him.
From one of the leading families in Virginia, Robert E. Lee was the son of Henry Lee and was also related to Richard Henry Lee. He was born on January 19, 1807 in Stratford VA. He graduated with high honors from West Point in 1829. He married Mary Ann Randolph Custis, Martha Washington's great granddaughter, who bore him seven children.
When the Mexican American War broke out, Lee went to Texas, where he supervised the construction of bridges. Later, in 1852, he became superintendent of West Point. After James Buchanan's raid on Harpers Ferry, he was sent to arrest Brown.
Lee did not favor slavery or secession. Abraham Lincoln actually offered him the command of Union forces. Instead, he sided with the South. Lee's campaigns in the Civil War almost won for the South, but he lost at the Battle of Gettysburg and eventually surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appamatox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.
