16035 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE

Robert Edward Lee was born on January 19, 1807 and died on October 12, 1870. A colonel in the United States Army (USA) and a General of the Confederate Army (CSA), widely recognized as the most talented and best general of the Civil War (1861-1865). He was a graduate of the famous West Point Academy, which he graduated with second place in his year. He started his active service in the army in 1829. He took an active part in the American-Mexican War of 1846-1848, where he showed his commanding talent and was instrumental in several American victories. In the 1850s, he served as a cavalry officer against the Apache and Comanche tribes. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was driven by local patriotism and, as a Virginia citizen, joined the Confederacy with him. He was very quickly promoted to the rank of colonel, and later general. He commanded in many battles (e.g. the Battle of the Seven Days, Gettybsurg or the Second Battle of Bull Run), but the battles at Antietam and especially at Chancellorsville can be considered his greatest successes. Robert Edward Lee is widely regarded as a great tactician, having enormous military talent, clearly superior to almost every officer in the Union army in this matter. He often maneuvered in a brilliant manner and had his forces at his disposal, reducing the numerical superiority of the enemy - it was perfectly visible in the course of the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. He enjoyed universal and well-deserved respect, both in the states of the South and the North of the USA.