General Robert Edward Lee was a gifted Confederate general whose military prowess was probably the greatest solitary reason in keeping the Confederacy going during the four-year American civil war. His military career was great, and the most important part of it was his role in the civil war. For a year he was military consultant to the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, and was then put in charge of the army in northern Virginia. Some of his important battles included those of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Antietam, and Gettysburg. Lee was made the chief officer of all Confederate armies in early 1865 (all hope for the south was lost by this time); two months later the war was ended by his surrender at Appomattox Court House.
             Lee was born on January 19, 1807, in Stratford, Virginia. His father was Lighthorse Harry Lee ( a revolutionary war hero of sorts). Young Lee was schooled at West Point Military Academy. When he graduated in 1829, he was second in his class, earning him a charge as second lieutenant in the engineers.
             Later in the same year he married Mary Custis, who was the daughter of Martha Washington's grandson. He had seven children, Agnes, Annie, Mary, Mildred, George Washington Custis Lee, Robert Edward Lee Jr., and William Henry Fitzhugh Lee.
             Continuing his military career, Lee became first lieutenant in 1836, and after that captain in 1838. He famed himself in the battles of the Mexican War and was injured in the raid of Chapultepec in 1847; he received his third brevet promotion in rank for his praiseworthy achievements . He was chosen superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy and later was selected colonel of cavalry. He was in charge of the Department of Texas in 1860. The next year, Lee was called to Washington, D.C., when war between the North and South was drawing closer. President Abraham Lincoln had decided to offer command of the Union military to him, but Lee ...