On August 8, 1863, General Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and asked to be replaced after the defeat at Gettysburg. In the private letter, Lee admitted that his health and strength were failing and questioned whether he could still command the Army of Northern Virginia effectively.
The first half of 1863 had brought Lee both military success and serious losses. In May, his army defeated a larger Union force at Chancellorsville. However, Lieutenant General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally shot by Confederate troops during the battle. He died on May 10. Lee had also been in poor health since the spring, when he may have suffered a heart attack.
Soon after Chancellorsville, Lee received permission to invade the North. His campaign had several purposes. It would move the fighting away from war-damaged Virginia and allow his army to collect food, horses, and other supplies in Pennsylvania. Lee also hoped to defeat the Union Army of the Potomac on Northern soil. Such a victory might weaken Northern support for continuing the war.
Instead, the armies met unexpectedly at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1. Confederate forces drove Union troops through town during the first day. The Union army then formed a strong defensive line on the hills and ridges south of Gettysburg.
Lee attacked both ends of that line on July 2 but failed to break it. On July 3, he ordered about 12,000 soldiers to advance across open fields against the Union center. The assault, commonly called Pickett’s Charge, was repulsed with severe losses. Lee’s army began retreating toward Virginia on July 4.
Gettysburg cost the Confederates an estimated 28,000 killed, wounded, captured, or missing. Union losses numbered about 23,000, although casualty totals vary among sources. The losses were especially difficult for the Confederacy to replace. Lee had failed to destroy the Army of the Potomac, and the invasion had not produced the decisive Northern victory he had sought.
The retreat also occurred as another major Confederate position fell. On July 4, Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Its capture gave the United States control of the Mississippi River and divided the Confederacy geographically. The two events raised Northern morale and placed the Confederacy under greater military pressure.
Lee did not blame the defeat entirely on his subordinates. In his August 8 letter from Camp Orange, Virginia, he acknowledged seeing criticism of the campaign in public newspapers. He worried that the army might lose confidence in him. He also wrote that he had not recovered from his illness and could no longer inspect the battlefield or personally supervise operations as closely as he believed necessary.
“No one is more aware than myself of my inability for the duties of my position,” Lee told Davis. He then asked the Confederate president “to take measures to supply my place.” Lee presented the request as an effort to protect the army from the consequences of his declining health and possible loss of public confidence.
Pressure to replace commanders was common on both sides. Union General Grant faced demands for his removal after the heavy casualties at Shiloh in 1862, but President Abraham Lincoln kept him in command. The Army of the Potomac went through several leaders before George G. Meade took command only three days before Gettysburg. Even after winning the battle, Meade was criticized for failing to trap Lee before the Confederates crossed the Potomac River.
Davis rejected Lee’s request on August 11. He said finding another commander who was more qualified or had greater confidence from the army was “an impossibility.” Lee therefore remained in command through the campaigns of 1864 and the siege of Petersburg. On April 9, 1865, he surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House.
Click here to read Lee and Davis’s full letters.
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All Confederate memorabilia, statues, ephemera, Graves and honoriums should be destroyed. Why was this Lee narrative and stamp put up?
Yes, lets completely whitewash history. Good idea for a statist totalitarian.
I agree, very bad judgement to run this article. IMHO
You got to get a grip J.P., you’re not the only one who reads these stories. I personally found this story very entertaining and worthwhile. This is a free country J.P., and just because your liberal and P.C. mentality does not like this story does not mean you have the right to dictate what others can write or talk about. I think you should just settle down, take a valium, and go watch CNN.
Confederate memorabilia and monuments should not be destroyed, JP, but rather removed from public places and into museums or private properties. People who claim to celebrate their “southern heritage, is the same as post-war Germans celebrating their “Nazi heritage.” Both of these symbols have the same meanings! I agree that Confederate memorials perpetuate white supremacy in the public square for a nation that ceased to exist since April, 1865.
Lets also bury ALL OF HISTORY, if it offends many or only a few. Take down all of the Monuments, Burn the Constitution and remove All names and replace them with numbers.
Then we can all start to wear uniforms and shave our heads so we don’t Offend anyone!
If you remove all traces of the Confederacy, then what was the purpose of the Civil War? Who was the North fighting?
As a non-American (I’m Norwegian)- I am frequently puzzled by the honor that you bestow upon Robert Lee. He was after all the leader of the “guilty party”, and as such responsible not just for the rupture of the union- but also for retorting to violence to preserve the profoundly evil system of slavery and the consequent inhuman treatment of kidnapped Africans. Even today many Americans treat African Americans With disrespect. most notably the police.
If you don’t like living in America with all of its foilbles then you can leave at anytime. There are flights daily that can take your sorry ass back to Norway. Also, when you need the help of the police I’m sure they won’t take their time coming to your aid even after your unfounded accusation about their treatment of blacks.
I live in Norway, I do not live in the US. It must still be permitted to pose a question and show some interest in US affairs. I am sure thet General Lee was not a monster and a very capable military leader, but he fought for the wrong cause and this cause should have been brought to an end with the end of the Civil War.To have a statue of him is astonishing to me, and now we see the sad development in Charlottesville with a statue as the catalyst of the conflict, showing that many Americans still have difficulties in understanding they should accept their fellow countrymen as equals and respecti the American Creed, and understand that equality. love and respect is far bettter that violence and hatred.
Being a non-American at birth, I agree with you wholeheartedly, Jon. The lack of positive closure from the rebellion still lingers on to this day; unlike the Germans after the Holocaust, southern whites were not properly rehabilitated and the rights of African Americans were not completely restored due to the untimely death of Abraham Lincoln. I don’t think that General Lee was a racist but, unfortunately, fought on the wrong side of history; he should still be recognized as a prominent figure in American history in postage.
What if Robert E. Lee had accepted Lincoln’s overture to lead the Union Army, I believe
that the war would not have lasted a year. The Southern Army HAD the best Generals and
the best overall leadership. If Lee had led the Union Army he may have brought along some
of these leaders.
The Civil War was history. Our history , both north and south. WE have honored the even for years with tributes to both north and south. We should not destroy the monuments and Markers that tell the story. If you want to destroy the south then you should do the same for the north. Its history both sides. This argument is no better than the Hatfield vs McCoy fight. The south is just as proud of their side as we are ours. I lived in the south for years and was not offended by any of it. If fact I traveled around looking at a lot of those monuments and battle fields. I,am a US veteran and I honor the loss for both sides and hope we never repeat history. But do not erase it!
It is a complete wonder to me that the Civil War ever took place.
Let us hope and pray that our future will always be better.
Actually the war should never have taken place. Problem was there were too many hot heads
on both sides of the argument. The Southern States over reacted to Lincolns election. Lincoln
never intended to ban slavery, he didn’t have that kind of power. To abolish slavery it would take
a Constitutional Amendment and the anti-slavery crowd would never be able to get 3/4 of the
states to ratify it. Also, the argument by the South of not allowing slavery in the new territories
was equally incorrect. A compromise had been in place that the citizens of those new territories
and states could vote yeah or nay on slavery. 4 years of war and 700,000 plus lives lost were a
total waste. Eventually slavery would have collapsed as industrialization and new farming technology would have made slavery cost prohibitive due to inefficient production from slaves.
The soldiers who died fighting against slavery were not a waste. People like Kenneth are the reason there’s a Black Lives Matter movement today.
great story about a famous commander. Not many people appreciate the value of our history and its preservation.
Hiatory should be remembered. For what it is. Not for what it once was . we should learn but not forget.