Confederate general (1837?1891)
For William Henry Fitzhugh Lee's cousin, also a Civil War officer and politician, see
Fitzhugh Lee
.
William Henry Fitzhugh Lee
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In office
March 4, 1887 ? October 15, 1891
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Preceded by
| John S. Barbour Jr.
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Succeeded by
| Elisha E. Meredith
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In office
December 6, 1876 ? December 3, 1879
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Preceded by
| Hierome O. Claughton
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Succeeded by
| Francis L. Smith
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Born
| (
1837-05-31
)
May 31, 1837
Arlington House
,
Virginia
, U.S.
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Died
| October 15, 1891
(1891-10-15)
(aged 54)
Alexandria
,
Virginia
, U.S.
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Resting place
| University Chapel
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Spouses
|
Charlotte Wickham
(
m.
1859; died 1863)
Mary Tabb Bolling
(
m.
1867)
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Children
| - Robert
- Charlotte
- Robert III
- George
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Parent(s)
| Robert E. Lee
(father)
Mary Anna Custis
(mother)
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Alma mater
| Harvard University
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Allegiance
|
United States
Confederate States
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Branch/service
|
United States Army
Confederate States Army
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Years of service
| 1857?1859 (USA)
1861?1865 (CSA)
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Rank
| Second Lieutenant
(USA)
Major General (CSA)
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Commands
| 9th Virginia Cavalry
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Battles/wars
| American Civil War
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William Henry Fitzhugh Lee
(May 31, 1837 ? October 15, 1891), known as
Rooney Lee
(often spelled "Roony" among friends and family) or
W. H. F. Lee
, was the second son of General
Robert E. Lee
and
Mary Anna Custis
. He was a planter, a
Confederate
cavalry
General
in the
American Civil War
, and later a Democratic
Congressman
from
Virginia
.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Lee was born at
Arlington House
in
Arlington, Virginia
, and named for
William Henry Fitzhugh
(d. 1830), his mother's uncle. At an early age, his father began to call him Rooney; what prompted him to use this nickname is not known, but it stuck as a way to differentiate him from his cousin
Fitzhugh Lee
.
[2]
Education
[
edit
]
Rooney Lee attended
Harvard University
, where he befriended
Henry Adams
, who wrote about his relationship with Lee in chapter four of his autobiography,
The Education of Henry Adams
.
Early military career
[
edit
]
Lee followed in his father's footsteps after graduation, entering the
United States Army
in 1857 as a
second lieutenant
. He served with the
6th U.S. Infantry
under
Albert Sidney Johnston
, and participated in the
Utah War
against the
Mormons
.
Planter
[
edit
]
In 1859, Lee resigned from the U.S. Army to operate his
White House Plantation
, on the south shore of the
Pamunkey River
, in
New Kent County, Virginia
.
Civil War
[
edit
]
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Lee was commissioned as a
captain
in the Confederate Army cavalry and was soon promoted to major. He initially served as a cavalry commander for
Brig. Gen.
William Loring
in the mountains of western Virginia during his father's
Western Virginia Campaign
. Loring's forces were transferred to the lower Shenandoah Valley and the command of
Stonewall Jackson
in late 1861 and occupied the town of
Romney
in early 1862. Lee was soon after assigned to the command of
Maj. Gen.
J.E.B. Stuart
, who was leading the cavalry forces for
Joseph E. Johnston
's Army of Northern Virginia, in the
Peninsula Campaign
. After joining Stuart, Rooney Lee's regiment participated in Stuart's first ride around the Union army, as well as the subsequent
Seven Days Battles
around Richmond. During this time, Rooney's nearby White House plantation was burned to the ground, and his son Robert died of typhoid fever.
During the
Northern Virginia Campaign
, Rooney played a leading role in Stuart's well-crafted attack on General John Pope's supply base at Catlett's Station on August 22, 1862, capturing a paymaster's safe full of Yankee greenbacks.
[3]
His cavalry regiment was assigned to the brigade of Brig. Gen.
Fitzhugh Lee
, his cousin, for the
Maryland Campaign
. Following the
Battle of South Mountain
, Lee was knocked unconscious after a horse fell from under him, and was unable to participate in the
Battle of Antietam
.
[3]
Upon his recovery, he temporarily commanded Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry brigade in Stuart's
Chambersburg Raid
, his conduct earning him promotion to brigadier general. He then commanded the 3rd Brigade of Stuart's Cavalry Division at the Battles of
Fredericksburg
mere weeks after the death of his infant daughter.
[3]
During the
Battle of Chancellorsville
the following year, Lee was detached from Stuart's cavalry to defend against
Stoneman's 1863 Raid
.
At the beginning of the
Gettysburg Campaign
, Lee was shot in the thigh during combat at
Brandy Station
. He spent the next two weeks recovering at
Hickory Hill
, Virginia, before being captured by Union forces. As a
prisoner of war
, he was sent to
Fort Monroe
for several months, before being shipped to
New York
, where he was held until returned to the Confederate Army on February 25, 1864, in exchange for Union Brig. Gen.
Neal S. Dow
.
In April 1864, Lee was promoted to
major general
and commanded a
division
in the Cavalry Corps during the battles of
The Wilderness
,
Todd's Tavern
,
Spotsylvania Court House
, and
North Anna
in the
Overland Campaign
. With the death of Jeb Stuart, Rooney Lee's role increased. Lee's cavalry division patrolled the extreme right of the Confederate lines during the
Siege of Petersburg
, defending against the
Wilson-Kautz Raid
at
Staunton River Bridge
,
Sappony Church
and
First Ream's Station
. His division was then sent north to briefly aid in the defense of Richmond at the
Second Battle of Deep Bottom
, before supporting General
Wade Hampton III
's
Beefsteak Raid
, and then returning to Petersburg for the
Battle of Boydton Plank Road
.
By the last year of the war, Rooney Lee had risen to second-in-command of the Confederate cavalry in Virginia, General Hampton having been transferred to South Carolina to raise troops, and Lee's cousin, Fitzhugh, promoted to overall command. Lee's cavalry division screened the Confederate evacuation of Petersburg, notably at the
Battle of Namozine Church
during the
Appomattox Campaign
. He surrendered along with his father at
Appomattox Court House
with only 300 officers and men, one-tenth the size of the command during the Petersburg Campaign.
[3]
Postbellum career
[
edit
]
Lee returned to White House Plantation and planting after the war. Nearby, his younger brother
Rob
lived at Romancoke Plantation across the river in
King William County
.
After their mother died in 1873, Rooney inherited
Ravensworth Plantation
, the old Fitzhugh family property (near present-day
Springfield
) in
Fairfax County
with 563 acres (2.28 km
2
) of land. He moved there with his family from White House.
In 1875 Rooney was elected to the
Virginia Senate
, serving until 1878. He was elected as a
Democrat
to the
United States House of Representatives
in 1887. He served in the House until his death at Ravensworth in 1891. He is interred in the
University Chapel
at
Washington and Lee University
in
Lexington, Virginia
, with his parents and siblings.
Marriage and family
[
edit
]
Lee married twice, first in 1859 to Charlotte Georgiana Wickham, daughter of George and Charlotte Carter Wickham and a descendant of the attorney
John Wickham
and his wife. They had two children, Robert Edward Lee (March 11, 1860 ? June 30, 1862) and Charlotte Carter Lee (October 19, 1862 ? December 6, 1862). Charlotte Georgiana Wickham Lee died December 26, 1863.
On November 28, 1867, he married Mary Tabb Bolling. They had two sons, who both lived to adulthood: Robert Edward Lee III (February 11, 1869, at Petersburg ? September 7, 1922, at Roanoke, VA) and George Bolling Lee (August 30, 1872 at Lexington ? July 13, 1948, at New York, NY).
Lee's mother, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, was the only surviving child of
George Washington Parke Custis
and
Mary Lee Fitzhugh
. George was the grandson of
Martha Dandridge
and step-grandson of President
George Washington
.
Lee was also a descendant of
Charles II of England
through
Lady Charlotte Lee
(granddaughter of
Barbara Villiers
), who married
the 4th Baron Baltimore
, and possibly, a descendant of
George I
, through
Benedict Swingate Calvert
(grandson of Lady Charlotte Lee), the illegitimate son of
5th Baron Baltimore
and of an unknown mother, who was supposed to be
Melusina von der Schulenburg
, illegitimate daughter of the King.
Ancestors of W. H. F. Lee
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See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Byrne, Frank L. (1961).
Prophet of Prohibition: Neal Dow and His Crusade
. Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
OCLC
2126034
.
- Eicher, John H., and
David J. Eicher
,
Civil War High Commands.
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.
ISBN
978-0-8047-3641-1
.
- Freeman, Douglas S.
R. E. Lee, A Biography
. 4 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934?35.
OCLC
166632575
.
- Longacre, Edward G.
Lee's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of Northern Virginia
. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002.
ISBN
0-8117-0898-5
.
- Sifakis, Stewart.
Who Was Who in the Civil War.
New York: Facts On File, 1988.
ISBN
978-0-8160-1055-4
.
- Warner, Ezra J.
Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959.
ISBN
978-0-8071-0823-9
.
External links
[
edit
]
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