Robert E. Lee
Robert E.
Lee was the commanding general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War (1861–1865).
A Virginian who declined command of Union forces to side with his seceding state, Lee became the most celebrated Confederate military figure.
His surrender to Ulysses S.
Grant at Appomattox Court House effectively ended the war.
Lee remains a contested symbol—revered by some as an honorable soldier, condemned by others for defending slavery.
Statues of Lee became flashpoints in debates over Confederate monuments in the 2010s and 2020s.
Secessionist Southern government
- RichmondVirginia's seat of government
- Jefferson DavisConfederacy's only president
- secessionFormal withdrawal from union
- states' rightsProvincial governmental autonomy
rebellion · Southern · Appomattox · cavalry · Lost Cause · surrender · Virginia · Stonewall Jackson
War-ending Virginia town
- GettysburgPennsylvania battle site
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
- Antietam1862 Maryland engagement
- UnionNamed political entity
Confederacy · secession · battlefield · campaign · cavalry · infantry · artillery · fortifications
Person with authority over others
- generalWidespread, not specialized
- tacticsMethods to achieve goals
- strategyPlanned approach to goals
- leadershipAbility to direct others
West Point · Mexican-American War · fortifications · cavalry · maneuver · flanking · defensive · offensive
Virginia burial ground
- RichmondVirginia's seat of government
- ShenandoahAppalachian river and park
- AppomattoxWar-ending Virginia town
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
Alexandria · Potomac · Lexington · Blue Ridge · Old Dominion · Tidewater · Mount Vernon · colonial
Structures commemorating notable achievements
- statuesThree-dimensional sculpted likenesses
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
- removalAct of taking away
- debateFormal argument on issues
heritage · memory · commemoration · renaming · protest · reconciliation · Lost Cause · revisionism
Confederacy
Secessionist Southern government
- RichmondVirginia's seat of government
- Jefferson DavisConfederacy's only president
- secessionFormal withdrawal from union
states' rights · rebellion · Southern · Appomattox · cavalry · Lost Cause · surrender · Virginia · Stonewall Jackson · plantation
Appomattox
War-ending Virginia town
- GettysburgPennsylvania battle site
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
- Antietam1862 Maryland engagement
Union · Confederacy · secession · battlefield · campaign · cavalry · infantry · artillery · fortifications · siege
commander
Person with authority over others
leadership · West Point · Mexican-American War · fortifications · cavalry · maneuver · flanking · defensive · offensive · reconnaissance
Arlington
Virginia burial ground
- RichmondVirginia's seat of government
- ShenandoahAppalachian river and park
- AppomattoxWar-ending Virginia town
plantation · Alexandria · Potomac · Lexington · Blue Ridge · Old Dominion · Tidewater · Mount Vernon · colonial · gentry
monuments
Structures commemorating notable achievements
- statuesThree-dimensional sculpted likenesses
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
- removalAct of taking away
debate · heritage · memory · commemoration · renaming · protest · reconciliation · Lost Cause · revisionism · memorialization
- U.S. GeneralsEisenhower, Patton, MacArthur, Grant, Lee
- AntietamBattle of Antietam, Stonewall Jackson, Clara Barton, North Woods, Army of the Potomac
- Civil War FiguresUlysses Grant, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, William Sherman
- Civil War VirginiaStonewall Jackson, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Petersburg, Richmond
- ConfederacyConfederate States, Jefferson Davis, Confederate flag, Confederate Congress, Confederate Army
- Mexican WarZachary Taylor, Santa Anna, Ulysses S. Grant, James K. Polk, generals
Robert E. LeeUlysses S. Grant
Abraham Lincoln · William Tecumseh Sherman · Union Army · Frederick Douglass · victors
Robert E. LeeFrederick Douglass
Harriet Tubman · Abraham Lincoln · John Brown · Sojourner Truth · abolitionists