Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

For Civil War historian Noah Andre Trudeau, Robert E. Lee’s decision to fight for Virginia—and therefore for the Confederacy—in the Civil War is as essential to his legacy as is his military genius. In Robert E. Lee, the 11th book in the critically acclaimed Great Generals Series, Trudeau explores the challenges faced and examines the decisions made—both personal and professional—by this American icon.

Born into a wealthy Virginia family, Lee attended West Point, where he showed himself to be a superior student. He then became an Army engineer and demonstrated an attention to detail that would serve him well in his combat career, including his 21 months of service during the Mexican-American War.

But the real moment of truth in Lee’s life came after the attack on Fort Sumter in April of 1861, when President Lincoln offered him the command of all the U.S. forces that were being organized to suppress the growing Southern insurrection. Lee declined. He resigned from the U.S. Army and took command of the Army of Virginia.

Trudeau examines this fateful decision, still the subject of much debate. Trudeau argues that though Lee’s ostensible reason was a greater allegiance to his native Virginia, efforts by Northern leaders to enforce a contrary will on the South deeply offended him. Lee was first and foremost a Southerner, and to have taken up arms against the South would have been tantamount to declaring war on family. This Lee could not do.

Trudeau covers in detail all of the military action Lee saw during the war—including hard-fought victories at Second Manassas (aka Second Bull Run), Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville—revealing how Lee was able to make the flaws of a succession of Union commanders—from McClellan to Pope to Burnside—work to his advantage. And he explains how Lee’s consistent emphasis on offensive options reflected his astute political judgment that a decisive military victory could destroy Lincoln’s chance for reelection, bringing in an administration more favorable to making peace with the Southern cause.

All of this came to a head in 1863 at Gettysburg: Lee felt that his inability to produce a decisive victory there proved once and for all that such a victory was, in fact, unattainable. But the South would fight on, even as solid Union victories at Mobile Bay and Atlanta the following year assured Lincoln election to a second term. Lee’s inevitable surrender finally came at Appomattox in April 1865.

Ultimately, Trudeau portrays Lee as a man of conflicting impulses, responsible yet at times reckless, determined yet occasionally overconfident, honorable yet at times imprudent. The result is a sharp, incisive portrait of one of the most celebrated generals in American history.

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Press Inc. ( September 01, 2009 )

Item #: 44-1910

ISBN: 9780230613669

Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.58 inches

Product Weight: 13.0 ounces