General Lee: A Biography of Robert E. Lee [Paperback]

Fitzhugh Lee (Author), Gary W. Gallagher (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1994

A soldier, a politician, and an author, General Fitzhugh Lee (1835–1905) had earlier attended West Point as a cadet and proved to be a boisterous challenge to the superintendent of the Academy, who was also his uncle: Robert E. Lee. Fitzhugh developed an abiding affection and respect for Lee, culminating in the nephew’s brilliant service to the Confederate cause. On his part, Lee commended Fitzhugh as ”an excellent cavalry officer. . . . I feel at liberty to call upon him—on all occasions.” It was Fitzhugh who discovered how vulnerable Joseph Hooker’s right was and thus enabled Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson to plan the war’s most famous flanking movement at the battle of Chancellorsville. Later, Fitzhugh’s cavalry covered the final retreat of Lee’s exhausted army to Appomattox.After the war, his close relationship with his uncle continued, finding its best expression in Fitzhugh’s biography, General Lee, which is valuable both as a passionate portrait of the celebrated general and as a historical document. Fitzhugh enjoyed the great advantage of access to Lee’s unpublished private papers and used them generously, so that the strongest voice the reader encounters is not the author’s, but his subject’s. The book covers Lee’s early service in the Mexican War through his masterful command during the Seven Days Battle and later at Second Manassas, Sharpsburg Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, up to his surrender and last years. General Lee admits readers into the mind of the South’s greatest hero and permits them to relive the immense achievements his military genius won against enormous odds.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Fitzhugh Lee was the nephew of Robert E. Lee, and a commander in Lee’s army.

Product Details

• Paperback: 489 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306805898
• ISBN-13: 978-0306805899
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Lee, Robert E.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not quite a biography, but..., February 5, 2002

By 

Uriah Tales'fare([e-mail]) (Glen Ellyn, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Lee: A Biography of Robert E. Lee (Paperback)

I am a student of the civil war, and I've made most of my studies from Actual Memoirs of the event. I figured that I'd rather take the word of the people who were actually there than 3rd person commentary. I've read Grant, Sheridan, J.B. Gordon, E.P. Alexander, and of course, Sam Watkins, Frank Wilkeson, and Berry Benson, to name some of the best. Regrettably, Robert Lee died before he could record his own personal reminiscences. Through my desire to read about him in the same way I'd read about other participants of the war, I found this book-and I figured that Fitzhugh Lee's biography would be as near as I could get to the famed General, for Fitzhugh Lee was not only a Relative of the famed General's, but a General himself in the War of the Rebellion. Half way through the book, I felt thoroughly betrayed. After the first 70 pages, the book becomes the most average of monologues about the movements of troops during the civil war. The only difference between this book and the memoirs of certain other officers engaged in the same battles is the Fitzhugh Starts his recitations with, "General Lee's Order were that...", and has less maps, that usually ease the strain of describing obscure movements.
I will say, though, that the author does spend at least a quarter of the book On the life of R.E. Lee outside of the civil war- the first 70 pages focusing on his Lineage, his training at West point, and his engagements in Mexico, and the Last 20 on his Presidency at Washington-Lee College. Also, sparsely placed throughout the book, Fitzhugh makes use of General Lee's personal correspondance with his wife and family. I would have appreciated seeing more of that, but people 150 years late to the party can't be choosers. Of the Author's style, it is mostly factual, highly romantic(though nothing like Gordon's memoir), and at times he makes allusions and references that let you know he's highly intelligent. This Book doesn't make any in-depth study of General Lee, and mostly considers his character to be untouchable....

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Of interest to fans of Robert E Lee, August 5, 2006

By 

robbieandrose (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Lee: A Biography of Robert E. Lee (Paperback)

from the prospective that it does include personal letters from Lee. The recounting of the campaigns is prefunctory though Fitzhugh does come down heavily on Longstreet and eagerly takes up the cudgel for the Gettysburg-wasn't-Lee's-fault crowd.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative, November 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: General Lee: A Biography of Robert E. Lee (Paperback)

I found this book to be wonderful. I used it in a research report and it was very helpful. It stood out among the other hundreds of Lee biographies