General Robert E Lee 1807-1870, the Commander in Chief of the Confederate Armies during the American Civil War ?004 Topfoto Lee, Robert Edward US-Confederate general in Civil War; superintendent of US Military Academy 1852-1855; oversaw suppression of John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry 1859; resigned from US Army at start of Civil War 1861; military advisor to Jefferson Davis 1861-1862; pushed back by George McClellan at battle of Antietam 1862; defeated Ambrose Burnside at battle of Fredericksburg 1862; defeated Joseph Hooker at battle of Chancellorsville 1863; defeated by George Meade at battle of Gettsyburg 1863; appointed general-in-chief of Confederate forces 1865; surrendered to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Court House 1865, symbolizing defeat of Confederacy; president of Washington College 1865-1870 (Washington and Lee College after 1871); son of Light-Horse Harry Lee _1807-1870