Robert E. Lee: Difference between revisions

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Disappointed by McClellan's failure to destroy Lee's army, Lincoln named [[Ambrose Burnside]] as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Burnside ordered an attack across the [[Rappahannock River]] at [[Battle of Fredericksburg|Fredericksburg]]. Delays in getting bridges built across the river allowed Lee's army ample time to organize strong defenses, and the attack on [[December 12]], [[1862]], was a disaster for the Union. Lincoln then named [[Joseph Hooker]] commander of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker's advance to attack Lee in May, [[1863]], near [[Battle of Chancellorsville|Chancellorsville]], Virginia, was defeated by Lee and [[Thomas J. Jackson|Stonewall Jackson]]'s daring plan to divide the army and attack Hooker's flank. It was an enormous victory over a larger force, but came at a great cost as Jackson, Lee's best subordinate, was mortally wounded.
 
In the summer of [[1863]], Lee proceeded to invade the North again, hoping for a Southern victory that would compel the North to makegrant theConfederate North tired of fighting,and to have England help the Confederacyindependence. But his attempts to defeat the Union forces under [[George G. Meade]] at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]], Pennsylvania, failed. His subordinates did not attack with the aggressive drive Lee expected, [[J.E.B. Stuart]]'s cavalry was out of the area, and Lee's decision to launch a massive frontal assault on the center of the Union line—the disastrous [[Pickett's Charge]]—resulted in heavy losses. Lee was compelled to retreat again but, as after Antietam, was not vigorously pursued. Following his defeat at Gettysburg, Lee sent a letter of resignation to Confederate President [[Jefferson Davis]] on [[August 8]], [[1863]], but Davis refused Lee's request.
 
In [[1864]], the new Union general-in-chief [[Ulysses S. Grant]] sought to destroy Lee's army and capture Richmond. Lee and his men stopped each advance, but Grant had enough men to throw into the slaughter and keep trying again each time a bit further to the southeast. These battles in the [[Overland Campaign]] included the [[Battle of the Wilderness|Wilderness]], [[Battle of Spotsylvania Court House|Spotsylvania Court House]], and [[Battle of Cold Harbor|Cold Harbor]]. Grant eventually fooled Lee by stealthily moving his army across the [[James River]]. After stopping a Union attempt to capture [[Petersburg, Virginia]], a vital railroad link supplying Richmond, Lee's men built elaborate trenches and were besieged in Petersburg. He attempted to break the stalemate by sending [[Jubal A. Early]] on a raid through the [[Shenandoah Valley]] to [[Washington, D.C.]], but Early was defeated by the superior forces of [[Philip Sheridan]]. The [[Siege of Petersburg]] would last from June 1864 until April, [[1865]].