Résumé de Souvenirs et lettres du général Robert E. Lee

The 10 key ideas

1. Key idea 1 · free to read

   The general at home was a playful, devoted father

   Robert E. Lee Jr. begins with his earliest clear memory. Lee comes home to Arlington in 1848, and the household gathers in the hall. The father kisses the visiting child Armistead by mistake, and the author remembers feeling humiliated in his best frock. He tells it with a smile.

   The family pets fill the next pages. A terrier named Spec follows the children everywhere, even to church. Lee keeps his war mare Grace Darling, who carries the scars of several bullets. The children climb into his bed in the morning to hear his stories, and he declares that without tickling there is no story. Yet he is firm, and the son knows that any order from his father must be obeyed.

   Lee sits beside his son at night with a Latin reader, showing each step but never giving the answer. He tells his wife to use mildness rather than harshness. Warmth and discipline live together in his house.

2. 2

   West Point and Texas shaped a man of duty

   In 1852 Lee becomes superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point.

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3. 3

   Lee resigned from the army to follow Virginia

   In October 1859 Lee is sent to Harpers Ferry, where John Brown and his followers have seized the armory.

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4. 4

   Building an army while his family lost its home

   In the spring of 1861 Lee works at Richmond to turn a flood of volunteers into an army.

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5. 5

   Rain and mountains defeated him in West Virginia

   In August 1861 Lee rides into the Allegheny mountains to command in western Virginia.

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6. 6

   The commander seen through his son in the ranks

   On June 1, 1862, Lee takes command of what becomes the Army of Northern Virginia.

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7. 7

   Jackson's loss and a hungry army at Rapidan

   In May 1863 Lee wins at Chancellorsville, but the victory is darkened by the wounding and death of Stonewall Jackson.

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8. 8

   From the Wilderness to Appomattox and beyond

   In spring 1864 Lee tells his cousin that a hard struggle appears likely.

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9. 9

   A private citizen who chose to teach

   After the surrender Lee settles in Richmond, tired and quieter.

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10. 10

    Lexington years, a failing heart and a quiet end

    In Lexington Lee turns the college around.

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