Confederate Commander: General Robert E. Lee

by Sue Vander Hook

Concise, easy-to-read introductions to various topics in U.S. history use primary documents and photography, as well as timelines, maps, and other tools, to teach important facts about our past.

48 pages, Library Binding

First published March 30, 2009

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s so short I read it in one sitting, in probably less than half an hour. Despite that, it really covered the high points in Lees life in an easy to understand way.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for younger readers about General Robert E. Lee. It goes from his birth on up through his service in the Civil War. It has a lot of very interesting things in it. For example, Lee actually was a military engineer. He was involved in the Mexican War around fifteen years before the Civil War started.

He was also involved in putting down the rebellion started by John Brown when he took over Harper's Ferry and planned to use that as a call for Blacks to rise up against their slave owners.

Lee is considered a great Southern general, and he surrounded himself with very capable men. The most significant defeat came at the Battle of Gettysburg, in my opinion. Lee listened to what his other commanders said but did not take their advice to try to outflank the Union forces. Instead, he ordered Pickett's Charge and the battle ended up a significant loss for the South.

There's also lots of additional information after the main part of the book.