Lincoln Loses a General
On April 20, 1861 (151 years ago today) Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States Army formally resigned his commission in order to take on another job.
Knowing that military action against seceding states would be required, President Abraham Lincoln was looking for someone to command the Union Army. His top ranking General, Winfield Scott, was 74 years old and suffering numerous health problems, including gout and dropsy. He was also extremely overweight and unable to mount a horse or review troops. When Lincoln asked Lee for advice on choosing a field commander, Scott told Lincoln he wanted Colonel Robert E. Lee for the top command. Scott called Lee "the very finest soldier I've ever seen." Lee had just recently accepted a promotion to colonel on March 28. He had earlier been asked by one of his lieutenants if he intended to fight for the Confederacy or the Union, to which Lee allegedly replied, "I shall never bear arms against the Union, but it may be necessary for me to carry a musket in the defense of my native state, Virginia, in which case I shall not prove recreant to my duty."
Lee had received requests from the Confederacy to command an army for them, but he had ignored that request. But when President Lincoln put out a call for troops to put down the rebellion, it became clear that Virginia would soon secede. On April 18, 1861 presidential aide Francis P. Blair asked Lee to command the defense of Washington D.C. as a major general, but Lee declined the offer because he worried that the job might require him to invade the South. When Scott asked Lee to take command, Lee replied by asking if he could stay home and not participate in the war. Scott replied "I have no place in my army for equivocal men."
Lee resigned from the Army on April 20th and took up command of the Virginia state forces on April 23. Historians disagree on the difficulty of this decision for Lee. One historian called the decision a "no-brainer" given the ties Lee had to family and state. But according to other historians, Lee's family was not of one mind on the question. His daughter Mary Custis favored secession, while his wife Mary Anna favored the Union.
Lee's immediate family followed him to the Confederacy. Some less close members of his family such as cousins and fellow officers Samuel Phillips and John Fitzgerald, remained loyal to the Union, as did 40% of all Virginian officers.
In letters written earlier that year, Lee was critical of the Confederacy. He called secession "revolution" and a betrayal of the efforts of the founders. Writing to his son William Fitzhugh, Lee stated, "I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union." Lee also predicted that such a war would be long and difficult. Few would dispute the accuracy of that prediction.
Knowing that military action against seceding states would be required, President Abraham Lincoln was looking for someone to command the Union Army. His top ranking General, Winfield Scott, was 74 years old and suffering numerous health problems, including gout and dropsy. He was also extremely overweight and unable to mount a horse or review troops. When Lincoln asked Lee for advice on choosing a field commander, Scott told Lincoln he wanted Colonel Robert E. Lee for the top command. Scott called Lee "the very finest soldier I've ever seen." Lee had just recently accepted a promotion to colonel on March 28. He had earlier been asked by one of his lieutenants if he intended to fight for the Confederacy or the Union, to which Lee allegedly replied, "I shall never bear arms against the Union, but it may be necessary for me to carry a musket in the defense of my native state, Virginia, in which case I shall not prove recreant to my duty."
Lee had received requests from the Confederacy to command an army for them, but he had ignored that request. But when President Lincoln put out a call for troops to put down the rebellion, it became clear that Virginia would soon secede. On April 18, 1861 presidential aide Francis P. Blair asked Lee to command the defense of Washington D.C. as a major general, but Lee declined the offer because he worried that the job might require him to invade the South. When Scott asked Lee to take command, Lee replied by asking if he could stay home and not participate in the war. Scott replied "I have no place in my army for equivocal men."
Lee resigned from the Army on April 20th and took up command of the Virginia state forces on April 23. Historians disagree on the difficulty of this decision for Lee. One historian called the decision a "no-brainer" given the ties Lee had to family and state. But according to other historians, Lee's family was not of one mind on the question. His daughter Mary Custis favored secession, while his wife Mary Anna favored the Union.
Lee's immediate family followed him to the Confederacy. Some less close members of his family such as cousins and fellow officers Samuel Phillips and John Fitzgerald, remained loyal to the Union, as did 40% of all Virginian officers.
In letters written earlier that year, Lee was critical of the Confederacy. He called secession "revolution" and a betrayal of the efforts of the founders. Writing to his son William Fitzhugh, Lee stated, "I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union." Lee also predicted that such a war would be long and difficult. Few would dispute the accuracy of that prediction.