Lee, Robert E(dward) (1807-70), brilliant Confederate general, whose military genius was probably the greatest single factor in keeping the Confederacy alive through the four years of the American Civil War. Lee was born on January 19, 1807, in Stratford, Virginia, the son of Lighthorse Harry Lee, and was educated at the U.S. Military Academy. He graduated second in his class in 1829, receiving a commission as second lieutenant in the engineers. He became first lieutenant in 1836, …showed first 75 words of 536 total…

…showed last 75 words of 536 total…College, now Washington and Lee University, in the fall of 1865; within a few years it had become an outstanding institution. He died there on October 12, 1870. Lee has long been revered as an ideal by southerners and as a hero by all Americans. His antebellum home is now known as Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial, and is a national memorial. In 1975 Lee's citizenship was restored posthumously by an act of the U.S. Congress.