Almost everyone knows about the Civil War, but does anyone really know who the best general was? He was born into a military family and was married to the great-granddaughter of George Washington (Compton's). The man, the myth, the legend, that man is General Robert Edward Lee. He was praised for many of his decisions, but reprimanded for others. His mistakes could not have been avoided, because he always chose the best paths. General Lee was by far the best and most strategic general of the Civil War. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay First of all, Lee was destined to fight. Lee's father was "Revolutionary War hero, 'Light Horse' Harry Lee" (Compton's). Later in Robert Lee's life, he grew up and went to West Point (Compton's). In 1852, he obtained second place in his class. Later, after the Mexican War, he returned to West Point and became its superintendent. After Lee became superintendent of West Point, he became a Confederate general, along with his home state of Virginia (Compton's). Second, Lee was the greatest general of the Civil War, but not precisely at the very beginning. Indeed, at the start of the Civil War, Lee did not have many jobs. So it's not his fault. When the Confederate government took control of the Virginia armies, Lee became a full general. Unfortunately, the government did not provide him with any soldiers. They finally gave him a few men and told him to blockade some union troops in West Virginia. Because he had so few men, he failed. This led Jefferson Davis, leader of the Confederacy, to send Lee to "...build coastal fortifications" (Compton's). Eventually he was brought back, but given very little work. He only truly began his greatness when the commander of the Confederate armies was wounded, requiring Lee to take his place in the summer of 1862 (Compton's). Lee's first major battle was the Seven Days Battle. General Lee discovered that Union General George McClellan had stationed his army near the Chickahominy River, just outside of Richmond, Virginia. Lee's plan was to destroy the army on the northern part of the river with as many soldiers as possible, then deal with the smaller part on the southern side. General Lee failed to destroy their army, but it was not a completely lost cause. He succeeded in pushing the army back about twenty-five miles (Compton's). Next, many people claim that Lee's first major "mistake" in the Civil War was at the Battle of Antietam, but what Lee did was actually very smart. The main reason for his failure was that Union General George McClellan discovered his plans (civilwar.org). But Compton's says that during the battle, McClellan had difficulty breaking through Lee's lines. So the reason Lee withdrew wasn't because he was losing. Instead, Compton's says the reason Lee withdrew was because he realized he was too far from his supplies and needed to return. Additionally, after Lee retreated to Antietam, Compton says that General Burnside attacked Lee, but then quickly retreated due to Lee's power. After the Battle of Antietam, this was Lee's absolute "worst" decision in the Battle of Gettysburg (Compton's; civilwar.org). Later, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee planned a very delicate assault, and that is why he failed. The main reason why Lee planned such a delicate assault was that.