Robert E. Lee Quick Facts

Name Meaning

Robert is of Old German origin, meaning “bright fame”

Vital Stats

Birthday: January 19th, 1807
Birth Name: Robert Edward Lee
Birthplace: Westmoreland County, Virginia
Date of Death: October 12th, 1870
Cause: Pneumonia following a stroke
Place of Death: Lexington, Virginia
Height: Accounts vary between 5’10” and 6’0”
Nationality: American
Ancestry: English descent
Occupation before Civil War: Career officer in U.S. Army
Occupation during Civil War: General, Confederate States Army; Commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Occupation after Civil War: President of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), Lexington, Virginia

Major Battles:

The Seven Days Battles, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Appomattox Court House

Relatives

Father: Henry Lee (1/29/1756-3/25/1818).
Mother: Ann Hill Carter (1773-1829)
Brother: Algernon Sidney Lee (born 1795)
Brother: Charles Carter Lee (born 1798)
Sister: Anne Kinloch Lee (born 1800)
Brother: Sydney Smith Lee (born 1802)
Sister: Catherine Mildred Lee (born 1811)
Also three half brothers and one half sister
from his father’s first marriage.

Romance

Married Mary Anna Randolph Custis on 6/30/1831
(10/1/1808-11/5/1873)

Children

Son: George Washington Custis Lee (1832-1913)
Daughter: Mary Custis Lee (1835-1918)
Son: William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (1837-1891)
Daughter: Anne Carter Lee (1839-1862)
Daughter: Eleanor Agnes Lee (1841-1873)
Son: Robert Edward Lee. Jr. (1843-1914)
Daughter: Mildred Childe Lee (1846-1905)

Resources

Lee by Harwell, Freeman and McPherson
Robert E. Lee: A Biography by Emory M. Thomas