Robert E Lee's Leadership Qualities

The American Civil War was extremely important to the time period. The outcome of the war decided what would be America’s foundation – equality or slavery. Robert E. Lee fought for the south, while Ulysses S. Grant fought for the north. Despite his fighting platform being in the defense of slavery, Robert E. Lee’s military genius cannot be ignored. Grant as well had his strengths and weaknesses, but in very different parts of his life than that of Lee. Bill Offer, a history professor at Panola Community College, said, “History may never see two men so different than that of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.” Although he lost the war, I believe that Robert E. Lee proved to be the better general because he was more qualified, he followed

Introduction Ulysses s. Grant was the commander of the Union Army. Robert E. Lee was the Confederates commander. Even though Ulysses s. Grant and Robert E. had completely different backgrounds they were both different and great in their own ways. Many of their beliefs were completely different. But they had surprisingly a lot in common.

Robert E. Lee only held the rank of Major General for two days. After Virginia joined the Confederacy its army was transferred to the Confederacy’s main body army. The Confederate Congress decided to make Robert E. Lee their army’s third full General ranking behind Samuel Cooper and Albert Sidney Johnston. Confederate President, Jefferson Davis had Lee become his military advisor. The newly formed Confederate Army was too new and found Lee’s military plans too difficult to carry out. The Confederate Army started losing battles and calling Lee “Granny Lee” (“Robert

Robert E Lee was a commander of the army of the northern Virginia army also known as the confederate army and then became one of the most famous men in the south and at the time of the battle of Gettysburg he led his army through victories. He suffered from a heart problem but back then there was no medical treatments for those types of things so there was no way to diagnose what he had or any medication so they wouldn’t give you any treatments and because of that the only choice he had was death so he

The focus of this investigation will be, “To what extent was Robert E. Lee an effective leader of the Confederate Army?” The investigation will analyze Lee’s strengths and weaknesses that contributed to his effectiveness and the overall loss of the Confederacy in the Civil War. The overall character of Lee throughout his lifetime is too broad, therefore, this investigation will focus solely on the testimony of his military background, and the personality traits that led to Lee’s decisions during the Civil War. As a result, Lee the American by Gamaliel Bradford Jr. and Robert E. Lee: The Soldier by Sir F. Maurice are important sources to this investigation, due to the background they give on Lee’s military training, personality, and victories in the battles leading up to Gettysburg.

Lee, through perseverance, defied the expectations of his superiors. For example, during the Battle of Gaines’ Mill on the third day of the Seven Days’ battles, Robert E. Lee sought to avenge the losses from the day before. He sent large forces across the river that were highly unorganized, but Robert E. lee was able to regroup and the result was a victory for the Confederacy. The Seven Days’ Battle showed Lee’s skill and that even while failing, Lee uses his enemy’s weakness and surprise his superiors by making a comeback. During the Battle of Second Bull Run Lee helped in the defeat of Major General John Pope of the Union, who was also known as an outstanding general.

Robert Edward Lee was born in Stratford, Virginia on January 19, 1807 to an aristocratic family. His parents both played a major role in Lee’s success. His mother Ann Hill Carter descended from a wealthy family while his father Colonel Henry Lee, served as a cavalry leader during the Revolutionary War. At a young age his father passed away, and his leadership roles were challenged. He was one of the six men in his family and had to help support the household. At eighteen he attended West Point MIlitary Academy, where he excelled in artillery, infantry and cavalry. Shortly after his mother’s passing in 1829, Lee was appointed to second lieutenant in the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers. He began courting Mary Curtis who is a member of the Virginia’s aristocracy. After getting Mr. Curtis’s approval they get married and have seven children together.

When Lee headed North and started invading he had been checked again at Gettysburg. The assault was called Pickett's Charge that had a wide spread which cost the South badly. The musket was replaced by the rifle which made attacks much more hopeless. Lee had failed to notice how well the effect was. Lee fought again to try and regain power back but could not succeed. President Davis wanted Lee to become general in chief in the confederate armies. By that time had come around the Confederates had lost the war. Many people had thought that Lee was to bloody minded for wanting to keep fighting and keep putting his army on the line. Lee did not want to accept that he had lost. People say what the mind knows the heart might not except. He was not alone when he was fighting, his crew was fully ready to fight with him until they ended up having to surrender. After the war was all over he became president of Washington College. “He applied to have his application restored but his application was [lost]” (History www.history.com). Lee had died in 1870 of heart disease. His last words were “strike the

Michael Shaara depicted General Lee as a widely respected, admired and wise commander who was decisive, regardless of whether the odds were in his favor or not. The decision to attack at Gettysburg had tremendous disapproval however Lee felt as if he had two choices-- fight in the enemy's face or retreat. Longstreet advised the General against the assault on Gettysburg given that the position of an uphill battle on open ground would be disastrous; however Lee was insistent that it be done. While the Confederate Army lost the Civil

Another problem Lee had was that he was seen as a father figure to most of the men and treated them softly. Stuart was supposed to be gathering information for Lee, but instead he was out “joy riding” which left the Army of Northern Virginia basically blind as to where the North regiments were positioned. Longstreet said “When Stuart comes back you ought to court martial him” (82). However, Lee believed reproach, letting Stuart know how badly he let them down, would make him a good soldier. When dealing with Stuart Lee “spoke as you speak to a child” and wanted to reassure him. He treated Stuart softly (256-266). Lee’s age, failing health, and softness on his men was one reason the Army of Northern Virginia lost the Battle of Gettysburg.

The civil war had many leaders leading the war. Some of them were good and some of them did not do so well at leading. Some of them had well leading skills, some of the were in the military so they had experience, some of them knew how to handle the war and knew when to quit, but some of them did not have any of these leadership skills. Major Robert Anderson was one of these leaders. Because of his leadership skills, military experience, and military strategy, Robert Anderson was a good addition to the war.

History is usually written by the victors of war. The Civil War is no different. We often hear stories about the famous Iron Brigade and its tenacious fighting ability or of the “fighting” 69th Irish Regiment of New York but many historians have overlooked the epic sacrifices Southern soldiers endured. Sure, everyone has heard of Robert E. Lee or “Stonewall” Jackson, but the men under their command are the reasons for their fame. Many times, the men from a certain geographical region are grouped together, whose combined regiments formed brigades. This paper is a tribute to the men of North Carolina who, gave their lives fighting for the Confederate cause; with a focus on the 28th Regiment of North

Symbols such as statutes are one of the most iconic remembrances of the past. Yet, it is questionable as to how proud society is of the past to remember statutes used to represent hatred. Due to the growing race related tensions in the United States, many have called for the removal of the statue of all representations of the confederacy. For example, the Statue of Confederate General, Robert E. Lee is one of the few statues that were taken down in recent months. General Robert E. Lee was remembered as a pivotal player during the Civil War, leading the confederate army. Though the Civil War ended with the end of slavery, it was not a war the United States was proud of. Many of the ancestors of those who fought in the war have had mixed feelings

Leadership is one of the biggest and most important characteristics a person can have in life. Some people believe that leadership is what deciphers a child from being an adult. I believe some people are born with leadership and some people observe and breath in the leadership qualities of mentors and become better people. Also, to be successful you either have to be very lucky or have a pure internal beliefs about yourself and only positive outlooks in life. John Wooden is who i have selected to try and form my leadership characteristics around. He is a well spoken and the most "sought out to be" coach in all of basketball. He had many victories on the court but he also formed his players into men with his wisdom.

There are so many differing views on Robert E. Lee, which may be the reason so many historians find him intriguing, however, he still remains very much something of a mystery. Many earlier works, beginning in the late 19th and until the mid-20th century, Lee has often been portrayed as nearly saint-like, nearly clairvoyant with his defensive actions. Modern historiographies of Lee vary from the earlier works written as they seem to look more into the man, rather than the legend. Earlier biographies of Lee interpret him to have been born in near perfection, a noble and honorable man, as well as a brilliant soldier. His childhood is either not mentioned or described as carefree and happy; his opposition to slavery is described as