The Life Of Robert E Lee Essay — страница 2

  • Просмотров 380
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 18
    Кб

throughout his time at West Point. He was a very moral man and didn t drink or swear. He was also neat, well mannered, and never violated any of the army s picky rules. Lee was well liked by his classmates. He was not one to criticize others for their behavior. By his fourth year, Lee was named adjutant of the corps of cadets, which is the academy s highest-ranking student. However, the academy did not always suit Lee. One rule stated that no cadet could leave the academy for the first two years. This posed a problem due to the poor health of Lee s mother. Therefore, upon his graduation in 1829, Lee rushed home to be at his mother s side. He stayed with her constantly at her bedside. One month later, she died. With no more family ties, Robert accepted his first military

assignment at Cockspur Island near Savannah, Georgia. Despite his acceptance into the elite army corps of engineers, Lee s main task was the routine construction work of mostly storing run-down army forts. He often had to push through knee-high mud to supervise the construction work. Although his family name had helped him in the past, it seemed to leave him with a bad reputation for marital problems. Those who knew Lee said that he should be one of society s most sought-after bachelors. Robert courted a cousin he had known from childhood, Mary Anna Randolph Custis. They were married in June of 1831. Sadly enough, Mary was far from being suited for military life when she joined Robert at his new post at fort Monroe. She stayed there bored, unsociable, and unhappy. After only a

brief time, Mary talked Robert into letting her go home for a visit . This visit stretched into months and the first Lee was born at her family estate. Lee s work was very unsatisfying in his early years of marriage. At Fort Monroe, he spent his time directing construction projects and stopping fights. He was so eager for a new task that he accepted a desk job at the Army s Chief of Engineers Office in Washington, D.C. The work was as tedious and mundane as he had suspected. However, he did escape west to help a little dispute. However, during this time Lee s wife had their second child and became very ill and bedridden for months. Although she recovered this time, her health was never quite the same. Eventually Robert was forced to care for his bedridden wife, just as he had for

his mother. Over time, Lee wondered if he was in the right profession. His work was unfulfilling and he was torn between the military and his family. He often expressed his desire to just go home. The once cheerful partygoer began to slip into depression. Lee went from job to job, taking his family with him. Forming a pattern, Lee would accept a new assignment, he and his family would move, Mary would become pregnant, and they would move back with her family. The United States decision to go to war with Mexico did not please Lee at all. Lee felt that we had bullied Mexico, and he didn t like that at all. Although this heightened his dislike for politics, he was determined to carry out his orders to the best of his ability. During the Mexico conflict, Lee had several tasks. His

first assignment was to construct roads and bridges in Texas and in New Mexico. Then he was chosen by General Winfield Scott to join his personal staff for the Mexican invasion. Lee was found to be very skilled at scouting out terrain, finding enemy weaknesses, and strategically placing artillery at its most beneficial spots. This was dangerous work and Lee was once almost shot by his own men. More than once, Lee placed the army in the right spot at the right time. Because of this, Scott’s army captured the Mexican capital, and the U.S. won large quantities of land in the southwest. Lee s actions in the war with Mexico impressed many people. Scott stated that never before had he seen one soldier do so much. Such praise should have sent Lee soaring through the ranks, but the

army had set to the tedious task of rebuilding forts. Thus, many officers, like Lee, were carelessly overlooked. Though Lee was a wonderful man, when it came to battle, responsibility, and schooling, he wasn t as perfect as history books make him out to be. Some of colleagues described him as being immune from all sins and shortcomings, which was far from true. He sometimes had furious outbursts from his temper, which caused many that had to deal with him on a daily basis to live in fear of him. After the Mexican War, Lee was assigned to more mundane tasks of routine fortification assignments. However, as a reward he was offered the position of the U.S. Military Academy. Although Lee protested the re-assignment, the army ignored his protests. Lee s move turned out o be very