Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee
b. 1807 · d. 1870
United States Army officer who spent much of his childhood in Alexandria at the house on Oronoco Street before his West Point appointment, and who later commanded Confederate armies during the American Civil War. His association with the town is factual but complicated.
Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, the fifth child of Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee and Anne Hill Carter Lee. After his father’s financial ruin and departure for the West Indies, Anne moved the family to a rented house at 607 Oronoco Street in Alexandria, where Robert lived intermittently from about 1812 until his appointment to West Point in 1825 [1] Powell, History of Old Alexandria, 1928 Book .
Lee served with distinction in the United States Army for three decades, notably in the Mexican–American War and as superintendent of West Point. In April 1861 he resigned his federal commission and accepted command of Virginia state forces; he went on to lead the Army of Northern Virginia until his surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 [2] NARA Civil War records Government record . Lee and his wife Mary Custis Lee, together with the Custis and Lee families, held enslaved persons at Arlington House and at other properties; the conditions of their enslavement and the litigation over their emancipation are documented in surviving court and military records.
Lee spent his final years as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, and died there in 1870. In Alexandria his childhood boyhood home, Christ Church (where he was confirmed), and the Lee-Fendall House all preserve documented associations with the family [3] Miller, Artisans and Merchants, 1991 Book .
Associated places
- 1812–1825
Robert E. Lee spent most of his childhood at 607 Oronoco Street before leaving for West Point in 1825.
- 1812–1825
Robert E. Lee visited relatives at the Fendall house during his boyhood in Alexandria.
- 1823–1825
Robert E. Lee received his pre–West Point tutoring from Benjamin Hallowell here in 1823–1825.
- 1824–1825
Robert E. Lee received his pre–West Point tutoring from Benjamin Hallowell here in 1824–1825.
- 1853–1861
Robert E. Lee was confirmed at Christ Church in 1853.
Sources
- 1.
Mary G. Powell, The History of Old Alexandria, Virginia, from July 13, 1749 to May 24, 1861, Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1928.
Book
- 2.
National Archives and Records Administration, Union Provost Marshal records and Civil War-era military correspondence (RG 109, RG 110, RG 393).
Government record
- 3.
T. Michael Miller, Artisans and Merchants of Alexandria, Virginia 1780-1820, Heritage Books, 1991.
Book
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