author
Robert E. (Robert Edward) Lee
1843–1914
A firsthand witness to one of America’s most turbulent eras, he wrote from the complicated position of being both a Confederate veteran and the son of General Robert E. Lee. His best-known book preserves family memories and letters that have shaped how later readers encountered his father.
1 Audiobook
Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee
by Robert E. (Robert Edward) Lee
About the author
Born at Arlington House in Virginia on October 27, 1843, he was the youngest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee. He studied at the University of Virginia, served in the Confederate army during the Civil War, and later worked as a planter and businessman before turning to writing.
He is best known for Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee, published in 1904. The book gathers letters, family stories, and personal recollections, giving readers a close-up look at his father and helping preserve an influential version of the Lee family story.
He died on October 19, 1914. Today, his work remains of interest not only as biography and memoir, but also as a window into memory, family legacy, and the ways Civil War history was recorded by those closest to it.