Robert E. Lee's Accomplishments

There are few men who, even in defeat, have their names remembered and revered for centuries. Robert Edward Lee was one such man. Hundreds of years after his life and death have passed, Americans still widely regard him as one of America’s greatest generals. He is well-deserved of this title. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, said that Lee was the finest general “...the English-speaking peoples have brought forth” (Horn). General Robert E. Lee was a great man, a good soldier, and a valiant general. He is revered as such a general because he was clever on the battlefield, humble in victory, and gracious in defeat. Robert E. Lee came from a long line of valiant military men; his heritage spoke of military prestige. Launcelot Lee, of the 11th century, is a show of the Lee family military prestige. Launcelot Lee was an “...honored associate of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy” (“Full Text”) and fought with him in the Battle of Hastings. October 14, 1066, when the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, King Harold was defeated by William the Conqueror, Launcelot Lee was fighting right alongside the famed conqueror. This Lee man was instrumental in changing the

Lee was born in Stratford Hall, Virginia in the year 1807 to Henry “Light-horse Harry” Lee by his second wife, Anne Hill Carter Lee. From the day that he was born, Lee was a Virginia man. He loved to explore the vast lands around his father’s estate, work in the gardens near his home, and color his hands with the cool Virginia earth. His father once said, “Virginia is my country. Her will I obey, however lamentable the fate to which it may subject me” (Horn). Young Robert accepted his father’s patriotism and lived his life obeying the will of Virginia. Though there were many Lees that came before him, and many that followed after, he will always be remembered as Lee of Virginia. The following quote, written by various historians, sums up Lee’s relationship with his