But, sentiment aside, and looking at him only as a soldier, he must be
given a place in the front rank of our greatest captains. There are not
more than two or three to rank with him--certainly there is none to rank
ahead of him.
Robert Edward Lee was a son of that famous "Light Horse Harry" Lee to
whose exploits during the Revolution we have already referred. He was
born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, entered West Point at
the age of eighteen, and graduated four years later, second in his
class. His father had died ten years before, and his mother lived only
long enough to welcome him home from the Academy. He was at once
assigned to the engineer corps of the army, distinguished himself in the
war with Mexico and served as superintendent of West Point from 1852 to
1855.
Meanwhile, at the age of twenty-four, he had married Mary Randolph,
daughter of Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, and
great-grand-daughter of George Washington's wife. Miss Custis was a
great heiress, and in time the estate of Arlington, situated on the
heights across the Potomac from Washington, became hers and her
husband's, but he nevertheless continued in the service. The marriage
was a happy and fortunate one in every way, and Lee's home life was
throughout a source of help and inspiration to him.
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