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The Life of Robert E Lee

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In life we all want to see things as black and white, cut and dry, and easy to understand. This is not the case with Robert E. Lee. He was smart, loyal and above all, complicated. We like to make him out as some old general guy who fought for the South in the Civil War. Eventually lost at Gettysburg and because it was the turning point of the Civil War; he became famous for losing. He is a lot more than just that. He was an actual person who, from his birth up to his death, dealt with real life situations. On January 19, 1807, Robert E. Lee was born in Stratford, Virginia to Henry and Anne Lee. His father was a Revolutionary War hero, nicknamed Light-Horse Harry”, also being a Major General. Being born in a military family, Robert seemed likely to follow in his father’s footsteps. When he was 18, he enrolled into West Point Military Academy where he graduated second in his class in 1829. In 1831, he met and married his wife Mary Anna Randolph Custis, the great granddaughter of George Washington and Martha Washington. They later had seven children: four daughters and three sons. Instead of doing anything combat related he served in the Corps of Engineers, looking over the construction of the United States’ coastal defenses. However, his service in the Mexican-American war in 1846 changed that. Being a member of General Winfield, he made himself stand out, earning three brevets for gallantry and gaining the rank of colonel from the war. After that,

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