Lee, Fitzhugh

Life Span
to
Full name
Fitzhugh Lee
Place of Birth
Birth Date Certainty
Exact
Death Date Certainty
Exact
Gender
Male
Race
White
Sectional choice
South
Origins
Slave State
No. of Spouses
1
No. of Children
5
Family
Sydney Smith Lee (father), Anna Maria Mason (mother), Ellen Bernard Fowle (wife, 1871)
Education
West Point (US Military Academy)
Occupation
Politician
Military
Farmer or Planter
Relation to Slavery
White non-slaveholder
Political Parties
Democratic
Government
Governor
Military
US military (Pre-Civil War)
Confederate Army
US military (Post-Civil War)

Fitzhugh Lee (American National Biography)

Scholarship
At the battle of Chancellorsville (1-4 May 1863), Lee commanded the only full brigade of cavalry operating with the main army, Stuart having been detached to counter a move by the Union cavalry. Lee's troopers uncovered the fact that the Federal right flank was unprotected and vulnerable to attack. This led to "Stonewall" Jackson's famous flanking march, which Lee's cavalry ably screened. That summer, he was with Stuart again for another ride around the Union army during the Gettysburg campaign, a maneuver that effectively removed the Confederate cavalry from meaningful participation in the campaign and kept them off the Gettysburg battlefield until the third day of fighting. On that day, 3 July 1863, Lee took part in the major clash in which Stuart's forces were bested by the Union cavalry. On 3 August 1863 Lee was promoted to major general, and the following month he was given command of a division of cavalry, which he led under Stuart's overall command until the latter's death in May 1864.
Steven E. Woodworth, "Lee, Fitzhugh," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00428.html.
Date Event
Second Cavalry units under Major Earl Van Dorn defeat hostile Comanche in the northern Indian Territory
- The Army of the Potomac concentrates on Chancellorsville in preparation for an attack on Lee
Union and Confederate armies collide near Chancellorsville in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
"Stonewall" Jackson's flanking movement seizes the initiative in the Battle of Chancellorsville
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia forces back entrenched Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville
- The beaten Union Army retreats across the Rappahannock, ending the Battle of Chancellorsville
Heavy fighting with Union cavalry at Hanover, Pennsylvania again delays Stuart's Confederate cavalry
Shells from General J.E.B. Stuart's horse artillery rain down on Carlisle in an evening bombardment
Stuart's cavalrymen destroy the U.S. Army's Cavalry School at Carlisle Barracks
William Miller of Cumberland County disobeys orders and wins the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg
- Union forces pursue Lee's into Maryland and Stuart's covering Confederates clash with Union cavalry
Union cavalry capture Culpeper, Virginia after a sharp mounted action through the town
- Moving out from newly captured Culpeper, Virginia, Union cavalry units probe Confederate positions
In the Shenandoah Valley, Union forces triumph at the hard-fought Third Battle of Winchester
In Dinwiddie County, Virginia, the Union's Fifth Corps capture a vital crossroads at the Battle of Five Forks
In Richmond, former Confederate president Jefferson Davis appears in federal court under a writ of habeas corpus and is released on bail.
How to Cite This Page: "Lee, Fitzhugh," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/6076.