Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) was an American soldier who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. The son of a Revolutionary War hero, he graduated from West Point, served as an engineer, distinguished himself in the Mexican War, and was superintendent of the military academy. In 1861 he declined a senior command in the United States army and resigned to follow Virginia into secession. After victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and defeat at Gettysburg, he surrendered at Appomattox in 1865. He spent his last years as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia.