INTRODUCTION:
Robert E. Lee was born in 1807, of an old aristocratic Virginia family; he graduated from West Point (1829) and spent thirty-two years in the regular army; he distinguished himself in the Mexican War.
Just before the Civil War broke out, he wrote to a friend: "If the Union is dissolved and the Government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my people, and, save in defense, will draw my sword no more."
A few days after the fall of Fort Sumter, he was offered the command of the United States Army and declined it. He resigned and after Virginia seceded, accepted a Confederate commission. He took command of the Army of Northern Virginia June 1, 1862. He had great power over men and his soldiers had perfect confidence in "Uncle Robert."