Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/414

 LEE

LEE

designated Manassas Junction, where, on July 21, 1861, the first great battle was fought and won by the Confederacy. After the death of Gen. Robert S. Garnett, Lee was ordered to assume command of the troops in western Virginia com- prising about 60OO men commanded by Generals Johnson, Loring, Wise and Floyd. He had be- fore been commissioned a general in the Confed- erate army but was out-ranked by both Generals Cooper and Albert Sidney Jolmston. He found the Federal forces commanded by Gen. W. S. Rosecrans, who like Lee was a skilful engineer, but now in command of an army double the number under Lee, and both commanders acted on the defensive, chiefly on account of incessant rains and the state of the roads. After the season for active operations in the mountains was over, Lee was put in charge of the defences of South Carolina and Georgia. In the spring of 1862 he was made military adviser of Pres- ident Davis. On June 1, 1862. after Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had been severely wounded and the command of the Confederate army had devolved on Gen. Gustavus W. Smith, who renewed the battle of Seven Pines with but partial success, President Davis appointed Gen. Robert E. Lee to the command of the Army of Northern Virginia and he drove the army of Mc- Clellan to the protection of the Federal gunboats at Harrison's Landing on the James river. Lee had inflicted on his adversary a loss of 150 ord- nance and commissary wagons and 12,000 stands of arms, burned to prevent change of ownership, and 15,900 killed and wounded, 10,800 prisoners, 54 pieces of artillery, and 36,000 stands of arms captured by the Confederate army. On July 13 he detached General Jackson with 10,000 men to operate against Pope who had succeeded to the command of a Federal army and was holding the line north of the Rappahannock river. In Aug- ust Lee advanced with the main body of his army, about 35,000 strong, to give battle to the new commander. The issue was joined at Manassas, Aug. 29-30, and Pope's army made a leisurely retreat toward Washington. Lee then moved into Maryland, crossing the Potomac, Sept. 8, 1862, at Leesburg ford. He issued a proclamation to the citizens of Maryland to rally to the flag of the Confederacy, closing hisappeal with these words: " While the people of the Confederate States will rejoice to welcome you to your natural position among them, they will only welcome you when you come of your own free will." Meanwhile Pope had been relieved of the command of the Army of Virginia and General McCIellan was appointed his successor and had under liis com- mand 87,161 men. General Lee had an army of 35,255 men and had taken position near Sharps- burg, Md., between the Potomac river and An-

tietam creek. On September 17, McCIellan opened the battle along his entire line and the conflict continued during the day, and under the cover of the next night Lee withdrew his army to the Virginia side of the Potomac witliout disorder, completing the retreat Sept. 19. 1862. On October 8, Lee ordered Stuart with 5,000 horsemen to re- cross into JIaryland and harass McCIellan 's army, and he accomplislied his purpose and entered the state of Pennsylvania almost unopposed. On Oct. 26, 1862, McCIellan crossed the Potomac and encamped in Loudoun count}', Va., and on Nov. 2, 1862, he was succeeded by General Burnside. Then followed the battle of Fredericksburg, where Burnside mustered 116.683 men and was opposed by Lee with 78,513 men. The battle was fought and won by General Lee, Dec. 13, 1862. In 1862 General Lee executed a paper emancipating all the slaves held by his estate, 196 in number, in accordance with the will of his father-in-law, G. W. P. Custis, by which, five years after Mr. Custis's death, which occurred Oct. 10, 1857, all his slaves were to be freed. This was Lee's second act as an emancipator, he having freed the slaves owned by himself in 1854, while an officer in the U. S. army. On May 2-5, 1863. the Army of the Potomac, under Hooker, recruited to the strength of 138.378 men, opposed General Lee's army of 53,000 men, 170 pieces of artillery and 2700 cavalry at Chancelloi'sville, and the force of Hooker was first placed on the defensive and finally forced to intrench on the Rappahan- nock. On June 2, 1863, Lee moved liis army northward toward the Potomac, and on June 13 Hooker followed. The Army of Nortliern Vir- ginia invaded Pennsylvania late in June to re- lieve Virginia of the burden of war. Lee reached Gettysburg July 1, 1863, by way of Carlisle and Chambersburg, where he found the Army of the Potomac under General Meade, who had suc- ceeded General Hooker. Meade brought into action an army of 89,000 men with over 15,- 000 in reserve and Lee faced him with 62,500 men and no reserve. Each army lost over 20,000 men and the battle was won by the Federal army after three days' incessant fighting. The Army of Northern Virginia retreated up the valley and General Lee acted on the defensive for nearly a year. On Aug. 8, 1863, General Lee tendered his resignation to President Davis by reason of physical disability. President Davis, in declining to receive his resignation, under date of Rich- mond, Va., Aug. 11, 1863, says: "To ask me to substitute you by some one in my judgment more fit to command, or who would possess more of the confidence of the army or of the reflecting men of the country, is to demand an impossibil- ity." General Lee confronted General Grant at the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, and the battles that