Figurine Confederate General R. Lee

Robert Edward Lee was the foremost commander of the Confederate States Army during the War. Lee fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-48) as one of General Winfield Scott's chief aides. Scott stated that Lee was "the very best soldier I ever saw in the field." He was an effective and principled strategist, willing to take high risks at long odds making ultimate victory never fully out of reach. Commanding weaker forces at the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, and Chancellorsville (perhaps his greatest triumph), he was still able to claim the field. After the war, Lee was not arrested or punished - he signed his amnesty oath but he was not pardoned nor his citizenship restored during his lifetime.