Name: Robert E. Lee
Date of Birth: January 19, 1807
Place: Stratford Hall Estate, Virginia
Family: Mom, Dad [to when he was a child the age of 6], 4
brothers, and 2 sisters
Brief Description of his early life: Robert E. Lee was
born in Stratford Hall, son of “Light Horse” Harry Lee who was a
revolutionary war hero and Ann Lee. His father was in debt so they
moved to Alexandria, and after his debt grew and riots arise, he left
for the West Indies. Robert E. Lee was then raised by his mother and
taught him the self skills that his father didn’t have. When he was of
age, young Robert went off to attend West Point military academy in
New York.
Character Traits
Kind
Strategic
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Respectful < Robert E. Lee > Temperamental
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Honorable
Calm
Ten Major Events
• [March, 1824] Lee was accepted into West Point
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[June, 1829] Lee graduated from West Point SECOND in his class
[June 30, 1831] Lee traveled to Arlington and married Mary Ann Randolph Custis
[1829-1844] Commissioned as Captain and went out and helped fortify and construct forts
and defenses as an engineer in the engineer corps
[August 19, 1846] Robert E. Lee gets orders to fight in the Mexican War, over the western
United States
[1848] Robert E. Lee returned from the Mexican War as a hero
[March, 1861] The seceded states form the Confederate States of America and form the
government of the Confederacy
[April 25, 1861] Virginia secedes from the Union and Robert E. Lee soon resigns from the
army to go and fight for his home state, now in the Confederacy
[April 1861-April 1865] The Civil War goes on and Lee is a general commanding the famed
“Army of Northern Virginia”
[August, 1865- 1870] Lee surrenders his army and then becomes the president of Washing
ton [and now Lee] College [Dies in 1870]
Paragraph About Major
Accomplishments
Robert E. Lee had many major accomplishments in his lifetime. One of
his major accomplishments of his early life was when he was accepted, and
eventually graduated from West Point second in his class of 45!! With this major
achievement, Robert was able to choose which part of the army he went to. He
chose to join the engineer corps and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
Lee was soon promoted all the way to a Captain! During his career near
Washington D.C., Robert E. Lee met and married Mary Ann Randolph Custis. His
next major accomplishments were in the engineer corps, fortifying, improving,
and expanding dams, defenses, fortifications, and forts. Some of his more known
accomplishments was when he served in the Mexican War and was promoted to
a Colonel, in charge of a regiment. Robert E. Lee, under the command of General
Winfield Scott, took the Mexican capital of Mexico City and rapidly ended the
war. His final accomplishments were late in his life when he won many battles in
the Civil War as a Confederate General, and when he was the President of
Washington College.
Picture of Most Major Accomplishment
The Battle of
Chancellorsville
Paragraph About What Questions I
Would Ask Robert E. Lee
If I could ask Robert E. Lee any questions if he were still alive, I would ask
him three questions. The first question I would ask him is, “Why did you choose
Virginia over the American Union at the outbreak of the Civil War?” I would ask
him this question because nobody really knows the answer. Most people think
that it’s about honor, but some historians and other scholars disagree. The second
question that I would ask Robert E. Lee is, “Why did you choose to stay and fight
at the battle of Chancellorsville, even when the odds were heavily against you?”
This question would be essential to any interview because it will probably reveal
Lee’s mindset and strategy during the Civil War. The final question that I would ask
Robert is, “Who was your number-one role model?” This question is also very
important because it would show who Robert E. Lee looked up to, and who
inspired his strategy. Many people think that it was George Washington, but some
people say that it was his mother, or General Winfield Scott. Those are the
questions I would ask Robert E. Lee and why.