. Civil War officers. Confederate . unfaithful toMary Lee — his letters were written with herknowledge. They are interesting today because inthem he opened his thoughts as he never did inconversation. Lee met success early. He graduated second inthe West Point class of 1829 and was outstanding asa young officer of the Army Corps of performance with Gen. Winfield Scott duringthe Mexican War earned him Scotts respect andeven devotion. He disappointed Scott, however, byresigning his United States Army commission in1861. He quickly emerged as the foremost generalof the Confederacy. H
. Civil War officers. Confederate . unfaithful toMary Lee — his letters were written with herknowledge. They are interesting today because inthem he opened his thoughts as he never did inconversation. Lee met success early. He graduated second inthe West Point class of 1829 and was outstanding asa young officer of the Army Corps of performance with Gen. Winfield Scott duringthe Mexican War earned him Scotts respect andeven devotion. He disappointed Scott, however, byresigning his United States Army commission in1861. He quickly emerged as the foremost generalof the Confederacy. His Army of Northern Virginiafought aggressively, sometimes brilliantly. Afterthe Confederacys defeat, Lee became the Southssymbol of everything a Southerner should be. Despite these accomplishments, Lee remaineda troubled, frustrated and surprisingly insecureman. He suffered an unreasonable compulsion for John Eisenhowers hooks include The BitterWoods, about World War II, and So Far FromCod: The War Willi Mexico, .TK5NAL AqCHVES/MUSEUM OF THE CONEEOE Robert E. Lee, photographed in Richmond byMathew Brady just after Appomattox, April 1865. perfection — finishing up, as one of his professorsdescribed it. Control, both of himself and of others,became an obsession, expressed constantly in hisletters, especially to his children. He shared his for-mula for survival in a cruel world: There is nothingstable on earth, Live in the world you inhabit andturn ... your affliction to your own benefit. Hisaversion to personal confrontation, however, becamehis greatest weakness as a military commander. Lees views on slavery and race reflected histimes and his station in life. While calling slavery amoral and political evil, he contended that Africanslaves were immeasurably better off here than inAfrica, morally, socially and physically. Their bond-age was painful discipline ... necessary for theirinstruction. Despite his popularity in the South, Leewas no populist; he staun
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