Having proved an effective and aggressive field commander, Lee's Maryland Campaign was compromised by the capture of a copy of his plans by Union forces. Forced back at South Mountain, he was nearly crushed at Antietam on September 17, but was spared by McClellan's over-cautious approach. Permitted to escape back to Virginia due to McClellan's inactivity, Lee's army next saw action in December at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Occupying heights west of the town, Lee's men bloodily repulsed several frontal assaults by Major General Ambrose Burnside's men.
Robert E. Lee: The Tide Turns
With the resumption of campaigning in 1863, Union forces attempted to move around Lee's flank at Fredericksburg. Though caught short-handed as Longstreet's corps was away, Lee won his most stunning victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 1-6. In the fighting, Jackson was mortally wounded which necessitated a change in the army's command structure. Rejoined by Longstreet, Lee again moved north. Entering Pennsylvania, he hoped to win a victory that would shatter Northern morale. Clashing with the General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg on July 1-3, Lee was beaten and forced to retreat.
In the wake of Gettysburg, Lee offered to resign by was refused by Davis. The South's foremost commander, Lee was faced with a new opponent in 1864 in the form of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. The Union's preeminent general, Grant had won a series of key victories in the West and sought to use the North's manpower and manufacturing superiority to crush Lee. Aware of the Confederacy's manpower shortages, Grant began a grinding campaign in May designed to wear down Lee's army and pin it against Richmond. Despite bloody tactical draws at Wilderness and Spotsylvania, Grant kept pressing south.
Though unable to halt Grant's relentless advance, Lee won a defensive victory at Cold Harbor in early June. Bloodied, Grant pressed on and succeeded in crossing the James River with the goal of taking the vital railroad hub Petersburg. Reaching the city first, Lee dug in beginning the siege of Petersburg. Over the next nine months the two armies battled around the city as Grant continuously extended his lines west stringing out Lee's smaller force. Hoping to break the stalemate, Lee dispatched Lieutenant General Jubal Early to the Shenandoah Valley.
Though he briefly threatened Washington, Early was ultimately defeated by Major General Philip H. Sheridan. On January 31, Lee was named general-in-chief of Confederate forces and tasked with reviving the nation's military fortunes. In this role he endorsed the arming of slaves to help alleviate manpower issues. With the situation at Petersburg deteriorating due to a lack of supplies and desertions, Lee attempted to break through the Union lines on March 25, 1865. After some initial success the attack was contained and thrown back by Grant's troops.
Robert E. Lee: End Game
In the wake of Union success at Five Forks on April 1, Grant launched a massive attack on Petersburg the next day. Compelled to retreat, Lee was forced to abandon Richmond. Vigorously pursued west by Union forces, Lee hoped to link up with Johnston's men in North Carolina. Prevented from doing so and with his options eliminated, Lee was forced to surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9. Given generous terms by Grant, Lee's war came to an end. Unable to return to Arlington as the house had been taken by Union forces, Lee moved into a rented home in Richmond.
Robert E. Lee: Later Life
With the war over, Lee became the president of Washington College in Lexington, VA on October 2, 1865. Working to modernize the school, now Washington & Lee, he also instituted its honor code. A figure of immense prestige in both the North and South, Lee publically advocated a spirit of reconciliation arguing that it would further the interests of Southerners more than continued hatred. Plagued by heart issues during the war, Lee suffered a stroke on September 28, 1870. Contracting pneumonia in its aftermath, he died on October 12 and was buried in the college's Lee Chapel.
Selected Sources
