Robert E. Lee.
Two years later he married Miss Custis, who was a great-granddaughter of Mrs. George Washington, and through this marriage he shared with his wife the control of large property, which included plantations and a number of slaves.
Immediately after leaving West Point, he entered the army as an engineer, and during the Mexican War distinguished himself for his skill and bravery. A few years later (1852), he was appointed superintendent of West Point Academy, where he remained three years.
At the outbreak of the Civil War he was so highly esteemed as an officer in the United States army, that he would have been appointed commander of the Union armies if he had been willing to accept the position. He loved the Union, and was opposed to secession, but when Virginia, his native State, seceded he felt that it was his duty to go with her.
Lee’s Home at Arlington, Virginia.
His struggle in making the decision was a painful one, as was made plain in a letter he wrote to a sister, then living in Baltimore. “With all my devotion to the Union,” he said, “and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought right.”
Soon after he decided that he must go with Virginia in the great struggle which was to follow, he accepted the command of the Virginia State forces, and within a year from that time became military adviser of Jefferson Davis, who was President of the Confederacy.
Jefferson Davis.