ConfederateGenerals

Want to meet a Confederate Gerneral? Meet one of Jefferson Davis's favorite ones, Lt. General Stephen D. Lee.

Harold A. Cross, in his book They Sleep Beneath the Mockingbird, describes General Lee as follows: (Excerpted)

"General Lee ordered the first shot fired in the Civil War, having been one of the officers dispatched by Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, to request the surrender of Major Anderson and the Fort. Upon Major Anderson's refusal, Capt. Stephen Dill Lee gave the order to the nearest battery to commence firing, and this nation's costliest war was in progress."
__________
"He confronted Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman at Chicasaw Bayou and with only 2,700 men repulsed Sherman's 32,000 and forced him to withdraw, losing only 207 men to Sherman's 2,700.
General Lee was wounded at Champion Hill and had three horses shot from under him. He commanded the second brigade, Stevenson's division, during the siege of Vicksburg and at its fall was captured and exchanged shortly thereafter. Gen. Stephen Dill Lee was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General at the age of 30, becoming the youngest lieutenant general in the Confederacy, and was given command of the Department of Mississippi, Alabama, East Louisiana, and West Tennessee. Later he assumed command of Hood's Corp near Atlanta. He won praise as he stood his ground and kept command nine hours after he was wounded at Nashville, his rear guard actions allowing the beaten southern army to escape."
__________
"President Jefferson Davis cherished Stephen Dill Lee. Not long before Davis's death at Beauvoir, when asked about his generals, he remarked:

Stephen D. Lee was one of the very best all-around soldiers we had. I tried him in artillery, and he handled his guns so superbly that I thought we could never spare him from that arm of the service. I tried him in command of cavalry, and he made such a dashing cavalryman that I thought he was born for that service; and when I put him to command infantry I found him equally as able and accomplished in that position. He was a great and good soldier."