Fitzhugh Lee

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Governor of Virginia
Fitzhugh Lee
Governor
In office
1886 – 1890
Preceded by	William E. Cameron
Succeeded by	Philip W. McKinney
Born	November 19, 1835 Fairfax County, Virginia
Died	April 18, 1905 Washington, D.C.

Fitzhugh Lee in the Civil War

Fitzhugh Lee (November 19, 1835 – April 18, 1905), nephew of Robert E. Lee, was a Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, Governor of Virginia, diplomat, and U.S. Army general in the Spanish-American War.

1 Early life
2 Civil War
3 Postbellum
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life

Lee was born at "Clermont," in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was the grandson of "Light Horse Harry" Lee, and the nephew of Robert E. Lee. His father, Sydney Smith Lee, was a fleet captain under Commodore Perry in Japanese waters and rose to the rank of Commodore; his mother was a granddaughter of George Mason. Graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 1856, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry, which was commanded by Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, and in which his uncle, Robert E. Lee, was lieutenant colonel. As a cavalry subaltern, he distinguished himself by his gallant conduct in actions against the Comanches in Texas, and was severely wounded in a fight in Nescutunga, Texas, in 1859. In May 1860, he was appointed instructor of cavalry at West Point, but resigned his commission upon the secession of Virginia.

[edit] Civil War

Lee was at once employed in the organization of the forces of the South, and served at first as a staff officer to Brig. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, and afterwards, from September 1861, as lieutenant colonel, and from April 1862 as colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, based on Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's recommendation, on July 25, 1862. He served under Stuart throughout the Virginia campaigns of 1862 and 1863, becoming major general on September 3, 1863. He conducted the cavalry action of Kelly's Ford (March 17, 1863) with skill and success. In the Wilderness and Petersburg campaigns, he was constantly employed as a divisional commander under Stuart, and, after Stuart's death, under Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton.

Lee took part in Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early's campaign against Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, and at Third Winchester (September 19, 1864) three horses were shot under him and he was severely wounded. When General Hampton was sent to assist General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina, the command of the whole of Robert E. Lee's cavalry devolved upon Fitzhugh Lee on March 29, 1865, but the surrender at Appomattox followed quickly upon the opening of the campaign. Fitzhugh Lee himself led the last charge of the Confederates on April 9 that year at Farmville, Virginia.

[edit] Postbellum

After the war, Lee devoted himself to farming in Stafford County, Virginia, and was conspicuous in his efforts to reconcile the Southern people to the issue of the war, which he regarded as a final settlement of the questions at issue. In 1875, he attended the Battle of Bunker Hill centennial at Boston and delivered a remarkable address. In 1885, he was a member of the board of visitors of West Point, and from 1886 to 1890 was governor of Virginia.

In April 1896, Lee was appointed consul-general at Havana by President Grover Cleveland, with duties of a diplomatic and military character added to the usual consular business. In this post (in which he was retained by President William McKinley until 1898) he was from the first called upon to deal with a situation of great difficulty, which culminated with the destruction of the warship USS Maine. Upon the declaration of war between Spain and the United States, he re-entered the army. He was one of the three ex-Confederate general officers who were made major generals of United States Volunteers. Fitzhugh Lee commanded the VII Army Corps, but took no part in the actual operations in Cuba. He was military governor of Havana and Pinar del Rio in 1899, subsequently commanded the Department of the Missouri, and retired as a brigadier general, U.S. Army in 1901. Lee was an early leader of the committee for the Jamestown Exposition, which was held at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads in 1907.

Lee died in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.

Lee wrote the article about Robert E. Lee (1894) in the Great Commanders series, and Cuba's Struggle Against Spain (1899).

[edit] References

Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.