Robert E. Lee stands in American memory like a granite ridge—admired, contested, impossible to ignore. Born into Virginia’s old gentry, he rose by discipline and talent to become one of the U.S. Army’s most respected officers, earning distinction in the Mexican–American War and a reputation for calm precision under fire. When the Union fractured in 1861, Lee faced the choice that would define him: he declined command of the U.S. Army and instead followed his home state into the Confederacy. He b