Lee%20and%20Jackson

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Lee and Jackson

• Lsn 8

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Lee Boyhood

• Born in 1807
• Son of Revolutionary War hero Light-Horse Harry
  Lee
• Harry ran up huge debts, went into exile in the
  West Indies, and died on a voyage back home when
  Robert was 11
• Robert was very much influenced by his mother Ann
  who taught him a code of honor, self-control, and
  responsibility that his father did not embody

Lees boyhood home in Alexandria, Virginia
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Lee Boyhood

• Entered West Point in 1824
• Graduated second in the Class of 1829 with no
  demerits
• Commissioned in the engineers which was then the
  elite branch
• Classmates included Joe Johnston and Theophilus
  Holmes
• Others at West Point at the same time included
  Jefferson Davis, John Magruder, and Lees future
  chief of artillery W. N. Pendleton

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Lee Early Army Career

• Served in a variety of engineering positions
• Fort Pulaski, Georgia
• Fort Monroe, Virginia
• While at Fort Monroe he married Mary Anna
  Randolph Custis, great grand-daughter of Martha
  Washington
• Assistant in the chief engineers office in
  Washington
• St. Louis Harbor
• Fort Hamilton, New York

Lee in 1838
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Lee Mexican War

• Lee served as an engineer under Winfield Scott in
  Mexico
• Scott landed at Vera Cruz and then began moving
  through the interior of Mexico to Mexico City

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Lee Mexican War

• Scott wanted to avoid costly frontal assaults by
  executing turning movements
• To do so he would routinely send engineers such
  as Lee on reconnaissance missions to find a way
  around the enemy

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Lee Mexican War

• The Mexican commander Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
  had assembled a 25,000 man army to block Scotts
  advance
• Santa Anna established a defense at Cerro Gordo
• Scott pitched his camp on April 14 and
  immediately ordered a careful reconnaissance of
  the Mexican positions
• He soon realized that a frontal assault would be
  suicidal, and directed his engineers under Lee to
  check out the Mexican left flank

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Lee Mexican War

• Santa Anna had positioned three artillery
  batteries on prominent cliffs to command the
  National Road approach
• His main defensive position was on the hill of
  Cerro Gordo, a couple of miles behind these
  artillery batteries
• Americans approaching Santa Anna along the
  National Road would be exposed to deadly fires

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Lee Mexican War

• Lee summarized the problem writing that The
  right of the Mexican line rested on the river at
  a perpendicular rock, unscalable by man or beast,
  and their left on impassable ravines the main
  road was defended by field works containing
  thirty-five cannon in their rear was the
  mountain of Cerro Gordo, surrounded by
  intrenchments in which were cannon and crowned by
  a tower overlooking all-- it was around this army
  that it was intended to lead our troops

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Lee Mexican War

• The defense however had one weakness
• To Santa Annas left or north flank there was an
  extensive tract of wilderness, the vegetation
  being so thick that Santa Anna had no reasonable
  observation in that direction
• His flank was thus vulnerable, but he was willing
  to accept this risk because he considered the
  tangled woods impassable.
• Santa Annas subordinates did not share this
  confidence, but, in spite of their pleas to
  defend the flank, Santa Anna sent only an
  observation post.

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Lee Mexican War

• Slowly Lee worked his way up the ravines north of
  the river.
• The terrain was difficult, but Lee thought it
  would not be impossible to construct a crude road
  over it.
• At one point Lee had to hide behind a large
  brush-covered log to avoid detection by the
  Mexicans
• Mexican soldiers even sat on the log Lee hid
  behind, and he had to wait until darkness to
  escape

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Lee Mexican War

• Upon returning to American lines, Lee compared
  notes with Major Smith who, on his own
  reconnaissance, had come to similar conclusions
  as Lee.
• Scott directed them to continue their
  reconnaissance the next day and detailed to Lee a
  work party to cut a trail.
• By the end of that day, Lee and his crew had
  prepared a passable new trail up the ravine

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Lee Mexican War

• Not only was Lee responsible for finding the
  route and building the road, Scott also entrusted
  him with serving as guide for Brigadier General
  David Twiggss division in the conduct of the
  attack
• Lee led Twiggss men up the ravines that passed
  around Santa Annas left, emplaced an artillery
  battery, and guided a brigade around the northern
  flank of Cerro Gordo with the intention of
  cutting off the enemy retreat

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Lee Mexican War

• Lees work allowed Scott to outflank the Mexican
  defenders, bypass the main defensive positions,
  and strike the Mexican rear
• Cerro Gordo was the first of many turning
  movements Scott executed in his march to Mexico
  City
• To make these movements possible Scott relied on
  the reconnaissance of Lee and other engineers
• Scott wrote that Lee was indefatigable during
  these operations, in reconnaissance as daring as
  laborious, and of the utmost value.
• Lee was brevetted to major for gallant and
  meritorious conduct in the battle of Cerro Gordo

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Lee Mexican War

• Scott would later describe Lee as the very best
  soldier I ever saw in the field, and suggested
  that in the event of war, the government should
  insure Lees life for 5 million a year
• In addition to proving Lees skill as a soldier,
  Mexico taught him the value of reconnaissance and
  the turning movement

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Lee Mexican War

• The relation of careful reconnaissance to sound
  strategy was impressed on Lee by every one of the
  battles he saw in Mexico... Lee had shown special
  aptitude for this work and he left Mexico
  convinced for all time that when battle is
  imminent a thorough study of the ground is the
  first duty of the commanding officer.
  Reconnaissance became second nature to him
• Douglas Southall Freeman

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Lee After Mexico

• Fort Carroll in Baltimore Harbor
• Superintendent of West Point (1852-1855)
• Cadets under Lees superintendency who went on to
  be Civil War generals included his son G. W.
  Custis Lee, his nephew Fitzhugh Lee, Archibald
  Gracie, Stephen D. Lee, John Pegram,
  W. D. Pender, Jeb Stuart, and J. B. Villepigue
  (Confederate) and Phil Sheridan, Henry L. Abbot,
  and O. O. Howard (Federal)
• 2nd U.S. Cavalry (under the command of Albert
  Sidney Johnston) on the Texas frontier
• Was home at Arlington in 1859 when he was
  summoned to put down John Browns rebellion at
  Harpers Ferry

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Lee Early Civil War

• On the eve of the Civil War Lee was offered
  command of the Federal Army but declines
• Appointed commander of Virginias forces when
  Virginia seceded and then became one of the first
  five full generals of the Confederacy
• Initially commanded Confederate forces in western
  Virginia and then coastal defenses in the
  Carolinas

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Lee Early Civil War

• Became Daviss official military advisor in March
  1862
• Had a close, deferential, and influential
  relationship with Davis
• Assumed command of what he names the Army of
  Northern Virginia on June 1, 1862 after Joseph
  Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines
• Johnston said, The shot that struck me down was
  the best ever fired for the Confederacy, for I
  possessed in no degree the confidence of the
  government, and now a man who does enjoy it will
  succeed me and be able to accomplish what I never
  could.

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Lee Jomini

• Strong Napoleonic-Jominian influence
• Checked out Montholons Memoirs of Napoleon,
  Lights Histoire de Napoleon, and Segurs
  Expeditions de Russie as a cadet at West Point
• Witnessed Scott in Mexico
• As superintendent participated in Professor D. H.
  Mahans Napoleon Club and checked out 15 books
  from the library on warfare, seven of which
  concerned Napoleon
• Owned a copy of Jominis Precis de Lart de la
  Guerre
• Offensive-minded and audacious

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Lee Virginia

• Strong Virginia influence
• Son of Ann Hill Carter of the Virginia
  King-Carter line and Lighthorse Harry Lee,
  Revolutionary War hero and intimate of George
  Washington
• Lees father called Virginia my native country
• Robert E. Lee felt secession was anarchy and
  considered slavery a moral and political evil
  yet could not fight against Virginia
• I still think that my loyalty to Virginia ought
  to take precedence over that which is due to the
  federal government If Virginia stands by the old
  Union, so will I. But if she secedes, then I
  will follow my native state with my sword, and,
  if need be, with my life.

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Lee Virginia

• Virginia influence on Lee led him to support the
  departmental system because it gave him the
  opportunity to concentrate his efforts on
  Virginia, freed him from unwanted and complicated
  operations in other parts of the Confederacy, and
  put a premium on the strategic defensive
• The departmental system allowed Lee to prevent a
  concentration in the West at the expense of
  Virginia

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Lee Virginia

• Lee has been accused of surrounding himself with
  Virginians and sending low performers West
• By the beginning of May 1864, Lee had 15 corps
  and division commanders of which nine were
  Virginians
• When Lee reorganized the army after Stonewall
  Jacksons death, James Longstreet complained the
  fact that the new Lieutenant Generals were
  Virginians made the trouble more grievous
  General D. H. Hills record was as good as that
  of Stonewall Jackson, but not being a Virginian,
  he was not so well advertised

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Lee Virginia

• Lee did not consider the western theater as
  important as Virginia
• Virginia is to be the theater of action
• the great effort in this campaign will be made
  in Virginia
• Lee decided to invade Gettysburg rather than
  reinforce Vicksburg because invading Gettysburg
  would relieve pressure on Virginia
• Sending men west would force a question between
  Virginia and Mississippi

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Lee Virginia

• A Virginian first, far more so than an American,
  Lee strode into the war never forgetting that he
  was a Virginian, and though he led the
  Confederate cause it was for Virginia he fought
  and for Virginia that spiritually he died.
• Lees thoughts were always concentrated on
  Virginia consequently he never fully realized
  the importance of Tennessee, or the strategic
  power which resided in the size of the
  Confederacy.
• J. F. C. Fuller

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Lee Limitations

• Refused to make the connection between war and
  statecraft
• Did not use his close relationship with Davis to
  influence the political aspects of war
• More comfortable with the discretionary orders
  that worked well at the operational level than
  the more detailed orders necessary at the
  tactical level
• Example of his inexact orders to Ewell at
  Gettysburg

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Jackson Boyhood

• Born in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia)
  in 1824
• Had a hard childhood
• First his father, then his mother died
• Went to live with his uncle
• Had a difficult time academically at first, but
  worked his way up to graduate 17th in the West
  Point Class of 1846

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Jackson Mexican War

• Served as an artillerymen in Mexico
• Learned the offensive power of the artillery at
  Chapultepec
• Technological advances in the rifled musket would
  make this difficult to repeat in the Civil War
• Began to become seriously religious

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Jackson VMI

• Resigned from the Army and took a position
  teaching natural philosophy and artillery at the
  Virginia Military Institute
• His stern demeanor and eccentric behavior made
  him not very popular with the cadets
• Nicknames included Square Box (because of his
  large shoe size), Old Jack, Tom Fool, and
  Old Hickory

Jacksons Statue at VMI
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Jackson Religion

• While at VMI, Jackson joined the Lexington
  Presbyterian Church in 1851
• Jackson embraced Christianity fully and it
  defined every aspect of his life
• Served as a church deacon
• Taught a Sunday School for blacks
• During the Civil War several revivals would break
  out in his camps and he did much to encourage
  these
• Was very conflicted about having to fight at
  Kernstown on the Sabbath but decided the risks of
  postponing the battle justified his actions
  although he wrote, I hope and pray to our
  Heavenly Father that I may never again be
  circumstanced as on that day

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Jackson Early Civil War

• When Virginia seceded, Jacksons first duty was
  to take the VMI cadets to Richmond where they
  would serve as drillmasters for the influx of new
  recruits
• His first command for Virginia was as a colonel
  at Harpers Ferry which was an important arsenal
• However that position lasted only four weeks
• After Virginia became part of the Confederacy
  General Joseph Johnston assumed command
• He continued on as Johnstons subordinate

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Jackson Early Civil War

• Harpers Ferry was considered indefensible and
  Johnstons command moved to Winchester
• Johnston was to defend the Shenandoah Valley and
  support Beauregard at Manassas Junction if
  necessary
• This is where Jackson was on the eve of First
  Manassas

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Jackson Becomes Stonewall

• Jackson had moved his brigade to Henry Hill where
  he met his fellow brigade commander Bernard Bee
• Bee excitedly told Jackson the Federals were
  driving the Confederates back
• Jackson calmly began to establish a position on
  the southeast slope of the ridgeline about 400
  yards from the Henry House

After giving Jackson his famous nickname Bee was
killed at First Manassas
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Jackson Becomes Stonewall

• Bee at some point reportedly said, There stands
  Jackson like a Stonewall. Rally around the
  Virginians!
• The Confederates were able to defeat the
  piecemeal Federal attacks while their own
  reinforcements were steadily arriving
• The Federal army began to disintegrate and First
  Manassas became an important Confederate victory

Jackson Monument at Manassas
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Jackson Relationships with Subordinates

• Jackson was a stern disciplinarian and extremely
  secretive
• This combination often did not sit well with his
  subordinate generals
• James Robertson calls Jacksons relationship with
  A. P. Hill one of the Civil Wars most heated
  and damaging feuds

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Jackson Relationships with Seniors

• Lee and Jackson proved to be one of the most
  effective command combinations in American
  history
• Jackson said Lees perceptions are as quick and
  unerring as his judgment is infallible
• When Jackson had his arm amputated, Lee said, He
  has lost his left arm but I have lost my right
  arm and when Jackson died, Lee said, I do not
  know how to replace him.
• With Jackson, Lee could give the broad,
  discretionary orders he preferred

Lee, Jackson, and Davis by Mort Kunstler
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Jackson Relationships with Seniors

• In the ten months that Lee and Jackson were
  together, delegation of authority had been so
  lenient orders permitting a wide latitude in
  execution so regular as to create one of
  historys greatest military partnerships.
• James Robertson

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Jackson Limitations

• Jackson is often criticized for being unable to
  operate well in conditions in which he had to
  conform his actions to those of others
• White Oak Swamp in particular and the Seven Days
  in general are the most cited examples
• This and his frequent quarrels with subordinates
  make it an interesting debate whether or not
  Jackson could have commanded a large independent
  army

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Jackson Tactics

• Was offensively oriented
• Served as Lees hammer while Longstreet was the
  anvil
• Master of interior lines and forced marching
• In the Shenandoah Valley Campaign fought six
  battles between March 23 and June 9 and his foot
  cavalry covered 676 miles in 48 marching days
  an average of 14 miles a day

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Jackson Tactics

• In combination with Lee, showed mastery of the
  envelopment and turning movement
• Lee told Jackson it was to save you the
  abundance of hard fighting that I ventured to
  suggest for your consideration not to attack the
  enemys strong points, but to turn his position
  I would rather you have easy fighting and heavy
  victories.
• Brilliantly executed at Second Manassas and
  Chancellorsville

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Jackson Impact of Death on Lee

• Lots changed in the Army of Northern Virginia
  after Jackson died
• Leadership styles
• Delegative
• Directive
• Participatory
• Without Jackson Lee had no one he could
  effectively delegate to
• He tried to do it all himself and it did not work

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Jackson Impact of Death on Lee

• Without Jackson, Lee never again attempted the
  spectacular dividing of his army in the face of
  numerical superiority or the sweeping flanking
  movements he had done before
• Much of this was due to declining numbers after
  Gettysburg, but Jacksons loss had a lot to do
  with it as well

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Jackson Impact of Death on Lee

• Jackson represented Lees mobility, the prime
  ingredient the Southern army had to have for
  survival. Without it, the Civil War in the East
  became a slugging match that the Confederacy
  could not hope to win.
• James Robertson

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Jackson Impact of Death on Lee

• Lee felt, If I would have had Stonewall
  Jackson at Gettysburg, I would have won that
  fight.
• When A. P. Hill launched a series of piecemeal
  attacks at Hanover Junction, Lee complained, Why
  did you not do as Jackson would have done, thrown
  your whole force upon those people and driven
  them back?"

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