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Role of robert e lee in the civil war essay
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Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee will always be remembered as one of the best generals the south had in the civil war. He won key battles and he had the best war strategies in the war. He was the overpowered weapon for the south in the war. But most people only remember him from the civil war, unless you are into wars and American history. Robert E. Lee had a history of war before the civil war. He didn’t just come out of the woods and become one of the best war generals ever. Robert E. Lee was born in Stanford Hall, Virginia in 1807. He was a chief in the Mexican-American war and he won key battles that the mexicans did not protect because they thought that they were impassible. Later in 1850 he went to West Point military academy, Texas to
During the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant played a main part in the Union’s Victory. He did this by: Winning multiple battles, his expertise as a leader, and defeating Robert E. Lee. Grant started his career as an officer by going through the military academy called WestPoint. After graduating as a Second Lieutenant, he made his way through the ranks in the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War, he was promoted to Brigadier General, Major General and then to Lieutenant General by President Abraham Lincoln. As a General in the war, Grant won multiple battles including: Vicksburg, Shiloh, Chattanooga, and Petersburg. Vicksburg was one of his best battles. Although he was outnumbered, Grant still managed to lead his men to victory. Vicksburg was one of the main battles that turned the war around, giving the Union Army the upper hand. All of these major battles lead to the defeat and surrender of Robert E. Lee at the Appomattox Court House in 1865. General Grant’s military skills were gained throughout his life as a soldier. All of these skills were used as he defeated countless enemies and won major battles. His expertise’s lead him to victories throughout the whole war, which ultimately helped him play a main role in the Union victory.
One of the best commanders in the Confederate army was Lee still; the Union stood at a better standpoint during the battle. “Perhaps the most significant lesson from July 3, 1863, concerns the method of decision-making. Though he may not have seen it as such, Lee’s decision to attack was at best a close call.” (Gompert 2006, pg.7). The battle of Gettysburg did not happen intentionally, planned however Lee did an astounding job and his best to defeat the Union army. Ultimately Robert E. Lee was responsible for the South’s loss
Lee was born in Stratford, Virginia. Lee was the fourth child of General Henry Lee III, Governor of Virginia, and his mother, Anne Hill Carter, Lee was raised by his mother who taught him about authority, tolerance, and order. Lee was exposed to Christianity at an early age and devoted his life to god. In 1825, Lee was accepted into West Point. There he learned about warfare and how to fight. In 1829, Lee graduated 2nd of 46 in his class, but even more surprising is that he didn’t get a single demerit while attending West Point. Afterward, Lee was appointed as Superintendent of West Point from 1852 to 1855. After he served his term, Lee left West Point to become a Lieutenant Colonel in the 2nd Cavalry of Texas.
At the beginning of the Civil War, leaders in the North and South were tasked with selecting the best men possible to lead their troops. Both sides needed to find men of outstanding character in order to succeed in their war efforts. Robert E. Lee showed himself as exactly such a man. President Abraham Lincoln agreed and sought out Lee, an accomplished U.S. military veteran with 32 years of service, to lead the Union troops. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, knew Lee lived in Virginia, a state that had succeeded from the Union. Davis wanted Lee to command the Confederate Army. Ultimately, Robert E. Lee, a man of great character who valued relationships as the crucial element in leadership, honored those around him and displayed
Lee”). By 1855, he had returned to military service, where he would remain through the Civil War’s entirety, fighting for American forces in the Mexican-American War until 1861, when he resigned to lead the Confederate Army in the Civil War (“Robert E. Lee” Washington and Lee University). Lee had been offered command of both Union and Confederate forces, but chose the Confederates, as he was a Virginian. After the war and much consideration, he accepted the position of president of Washington College. Lee was focused on expanding educational opportunities. By bringing a law school to Washington College, increasing emphasis on the sciences, as well as adding programs in business and journalism, Lee essentially created the concept of college majors. He also imposed an honor system, stressing that every student “ought to be a gentleman”, which is followed closely and revered by students and staff of the college to the present day (“Robert E. Lee” Washington and Lee University). After his death, Washington College became Washington and Lee University because Lee had had such a positive impact on the university (“Robert E. Lee”). Despite his many accomplishments in war, Lee would be better remembered for his legacy on education. He was a highly skilled military leader, yet he led the losing side. Seeing defeat for what
In 2003, Roy Blount Jr. published the book Robert E. Lee through the Penguin Group Inc. This book is different then other books published about Lee due to the fact that this book looks behind the man in uniform, and shows how Lee became the legend that we know today. Blount brings an element of humor that some would not expect to find when writing about Lee. Through this type of writing, Lee transforms into the everyday person who we all can relate to.
Nathanael Greene, although not afforded many victories in battles, was a masterful strategist, soldier and statesman. He was able to successfully employ militia, regular, light and mounted units during his command in the South. He built upon the reputation that he made for himself at the beginning of the war in Boston. It is because of this reputation and his ability to produce results that made him the second most important general in the continental army, next only to George Washington.
Robert E Lee is very quick and smart. He knows how to improve the quality of troops and to nullify the Union’s advantage. Lee is willing to make bold and risky moves, and does not let his defeats hinder his performance. General Lee has great relations with his soldiers, and uses his engineering experience to his advantage.
Hero of the southern campaign in the American Revolution, who was known for his mastery of the small-unit tactics necessary for effective guerrilla warfare.
In his extraordinary book, Lee the Last Years, Charles Flood gives a rare blend of history and emotion. After Lee’s surrender at Appomattox courthouse, he only lived a total of five years before his death. Some people might think that he was just a general, but the best years of his life were after the war because he changed the minds of the south and he changed education. Even though Robert E. Lee is best remembered for his military campaigns, this is a part of history not told in many history books because he did more than any other American to heal the wounds of the south and he served as a president for Washington College, which was later renamed after his death to be Washington and Lee University.
Abraham Lincoln is best remembered as being America’s first war president. In the nineteenth century, the American presidency had seen nothing like the Civil War, and war was upon Lincoln before he or anyone else considered how the position of Commander-in-Chief fit into the Constitution. This resulted in an unorganized thought process and policy. Brian Dirck, author of the article “Lincoln as Commander in Chief,” writes:
One of the most colorful characters of the Civil War was a General named William T. Sherman. During the period of the war (1861-1865), General Sherman went full circle from being forced to retire on trumped up charges that he was insane, to becoming a key player in bringing this bloody war to a close. He entered the annals of military history as one of the greatest and most distinguished generals of all time. William T. Sherman was born to Charles N. Sherman and Mary Hoyt Sherman in Lancaster, Ohio, on February 8, 1820. General Sherman can trace his family history back to England.
The Marquis de Lafayette is best remembered for the part he played in the American War of Independence. He contributed in helping the Americans gain free control over the colonies by breaking away from British home rule. For sixty years he fought with consistency and insight for political ideals and social reforms that have dominated the history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hence, Lafayette can be attributed to the spreading of liberty and freedom throughout America and France. Therefore, he is viewed as a symbol of liberalism in a once absolutist world.
At the head of this revival was the memory of Stonewall Jackson, closely followed by Robert E. Lee (who would rise to the prominent position following his death in 1870). Other generals of the Confederacy who had died during the war followed, as did those who would pass on later.
Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee were two equally powerful and matched generals that that showed, through themselves, how different each side of America was and in this, portrayed Americas division. While their convictions and determination to win were strong and similar, eventually the North’s strategy and resources gained the advantage and won the war. This conflict was arguably the most important war in American History because if the Confederacy had won, America would not be the “United States” it is today.