General Robert E. Lee
By: Alannagh Quirk
What started the civil war?
The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. When Abraham Lincoln won election in 1860 as the first Republican president on a platform pledging to keep slavery out of the territories, seven slave states in the deep South seceded and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America.
What motivated General Robert E. Lee to invade the north in the summer of 1863?
Robert E. Lee firmly believed that for the Confederacy to survive he needed to win a major victory on Northern soil. He was to get two chances to put this theory to the test, and each case he was to lose his battle.
- In the spring of 1863, Lee invaded the North, only to be defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg. With Confederate defeat a near certainty, Lee continued on, battling Union General Ulysses S. Grant in a series of clashes in Virginia in 1864-65 before finally surrendering what was left of his army in April 1865.
Pictures of Lee In Battle
What were General Robert E. Lee’s Values?
What did Robert E. Lee do before the Civil War?
Robert E. Lee served as a military officer in the U.S. Army, a West Point commandant and the legendary general of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.
- In June 1861, Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia, which he would lead for the rest of the war.
Who was involved in the Civil War?
What battles did General Robert E. Lee fight in the Civil War?
- Lee and his army achieved great success during the Peninsula Campaign and at Second Bull Run (Manassas) and Fredericksburg, with his greatest victory coming in the bloody Battle of Chancellorsville.
- In the spring of 1863, Lee invaded the North, only to be defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Bibliography
"Civil War Facts | HistoryNet." HistoryNet. N.p., 7 Nov. 2015. Web. 25 May 2016.
Gallagher, Gary W. ""The Most Propitious Time...for the Confederate Army to Enter Maryland"" Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 2014. Web. 25 May 2016.
History.com Staff. "Robert E. Lee." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 01 Jan. 2009. Web. 25 May 2016.
"What Caused the Civil War?" Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 2014. Web. 25 May 2016.