Lee, Robert E.

Lee, Robert E. ( Edward Robert Lee ) ( 1807 – 70 )
US general. He was the commander of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia, leading it for most of the American Civil War. Although he did much to prolong Confederate resistance against the Union's greater manpower and resources, his invasion of the North was repulsed by General Meade at the Battle of Gettysburg ( 1863 ) and he eventually surrendered to General Grant in 1865 .