Teacher's Guide for Cobblestone: Robert E. Lee
EDITOR'S NOTE (page 2)
1. When and where did Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrender his forces?
LEE TIME LINE (page 4)
2. Into what social class was Lee born?
3. By what were the experiences of his life characterized?
4. What did his conduct earn for him?
5. Even in defeat, how did Lee conduct himself?
6. At Appomattox Court House, Virginia, what did he immediately secure for his starving troops? What promise did he obtain from the Union?
1. At what family mansion was Lee born?
FALLEN FAMILY: LEE'S EARLY YEARS (page 6)
2. Why did the Lee family move to Alexandria, Virginia, in 1811?
3. On what date did Lee graduate from West Point?
4. With what men did Lee serve in the Mexican War?
5. In what two 1847 Mexican War battles did Lee play an important part? What Mexican general fled? What did he leave behind?
6. When did Lee assume command of naval and military forces in Virginia?
7. What happened on July 21, 1861?
8. When was the Battle of Chancellorsville fought?
9. When was the Battle of Gettysburg fought?
10. When did Vicksburg surrender?
11. What two battles were fought in September and November of 1863?
12. What kept Grant at bay at Cold Harbor in 1864?
13. When did Lee accept the presidency of Washington College?
14. How old was Lee when he died?
1. Why didn't Ann Hill Carter's parents want her to marry Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee? Of what war was he a hero?
A FAMILY PORTRAIT (page 10)
2. When was Robert Edward Lee born? For whom was he named? When Robert was born, how many children did Ann and Harry Lee already have?
3. When Robert was two years old, what happened to his father?
4. In what year did Harry Lee travel to Baltimore to help a journalist friend who opposed the new war? What happened to him and his friend?
5. Where and when did Harry Lee go into exile?
6. What activities did Robert participate in and enjoy when he was a child? In what subjects did he excel?
7. To what academy did Robert apply in 1824? When he graduated, what was his standing in his class?
1. After the Civil War, what advice did Lee give to former soldiers?
SOLDIER OF HONOR: LEE'S EARLY MILITARY CAREER (page 13)
2. What did Ulysses S. Grant threaten to do if treason charges against Lee were not dropped?
3. When did Lee sign a loyalty oath? When was his citizenship restored? What do some scholars believe about the disappearance of his citizenship papers?
4. What were the names of Lee's two sons who became generals during the Civil War? Which one became a career soldier?
5. Why was Lee physically exhausted after taking a sightseeing trip?
6. Whom did Lee marry? How many children did they have?
7. Describe the family concerns and grief of Lee's personal life.
1. How many men began their education with Lee at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point? Of those men, how many graduated with him?
CONTEST: DEAR MR. PRESIDENT (page 18)
2. What distinction was Lee the first to achieve at West Point?
3. Why was Lee appointed to the elite U.S. Army Corps of Engineers?
4. What was his first assignment? Why did Lee have most of the project's responsibilities? What did Lee learn because of this duty?
5. What was Lee assigned to survey in 1835? What task was he given the following year?
6. What did Lee design that stopped the formation of sandbars? What was the result of his success?
7. In what year did the United States annex Texas?
8. Under what general's command did Lee serve in 1846? After Lee reported for duty in Texas, what three tasks did engineers execute under his direction?
9. What led to Lee's becoming a scout? How did he ensure General Zachary Taylor's success at Buena Vista?
10. What general requested that Lee join his command? What did he say about Lee?
11. What did Lee make it possible for the American troops to do at Cerro Gordo?
12. Lee was promoted to brevet colonel for his services in what battle?
13. What were four improvements he made as superintendent of West Point?
14. Why did Lee leave his assignment in Texas in 1857? What was his rank?
15. What did Lee do in October 1859 as commander of a force of U.S. Marines?
16. Who was John Brown? What did he do at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859?
17. What was Lee offered in 1861? What was he forced to decide?
What did the letters Lee wrote reveal about his character and personality?
THE CIVIL WAR YEARS (page 20)
1. When and where did the Civil War start?
TRAVELLER (page 27)
2. What made John Bell Hood a successful fighter? What did he do after the war?
3. Who was the great strategist who engineered the First Battle of Bull Run? When he was severely wounded in the Battle of Fair Oaks, who replaced him?
4. Who was the Confederate president?
5. Although he possessed a great military mind, who had trouble handling troops in the field? What did he do after the war?
6. What was Lee's first military assignment as a Confederate? What was he unable to prevent?
7. Lee's critics called him by what two nicknames?
8. Who had faith in him and made him his military advisor?
9. Describe the crisis Lee faced when he took command of the Confederate forces. Whom did Lee summon to join him?
10. What was the result of the Seven Days Battles?
11. Where was Bull Run? Which army won the second battle there?
12. Why did Lee march his troops into Maryland in September 1862?
13. How many men were killed at the Battle of Antietam? What was Lee forced to do as a result of this battle? What did Lee's defeat encourage Abraham Lincoln to do?
14. What battle took place on December 13, 1862? Which army was defeated? What were the Confederates able to do?
15. What did Lee's strategy produce at the Battle of Chancellorsville?
16. To whom did Lee give "Stonewall" Jackson's Second Corps? For what did he receive the blame?
17. Describe the personality of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. How and where did he earn his nickname? What battle strategy did he use? What happened to him at Chancellorsville?
18. When Lee went on the offensive in July 1863, what did he do?
19. In what state is Gettysburg located? At the Battle of Gettysburg, what were the Confederate troops unable to win from the Union army? What attack was the most controversial decision of Lee's career? What were the results of the attack? If Union troops had pursued him, what would have happened?
20. As commander of one of Lee's infantry corps, who was accused of excessive caution at Gettysburg?
21. Who marched against Richmond in 1864? List three battles where Lee kept this man at bay.
22. What three things made Lee realize that his army would not be able to survive?
23. As commander of all Confederate armies, what did he convince his government to allow him to do? Although the plan was not put into action, why does the article say "this proposal was not his finest moment"?
24. What was Lee finally forced to do in 1865?
25. What happened when Lee made an attempt to link up with Confederate forces in North Carolina? How many men were left in Lee's army?
26. When the Civil War ended, how old was Lee? How did the war age him?
27. List five battle strategies that made Lee one of America's great military leaders.
1. When and where did Lee purchase Traveller? What two names did the horse previously have?
DIGNITY IN DEFEAT (page 30)
2. How many other horses did Lee have in his entourage?
3. Briefly describe Traveller.
4. To what place did Lee ride Traveller on April 9, 1865?
5. What was Traveller's final act of service?
1. Who recorded the terms of surrender? What did Lee say to him? What reply did Lee receive?
A NATIONAL CEMETERY: THE FATE OF LEE'S ARLINGTON PLANTATION (page 36)
2. What did Lee propose that Ulysses S. Grant refused? Instead, what did Grant insist?
3. Whose home in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, was chosen for the surrender ceremony?
4. Describe the contrast in appearance between Lee and Grant at Appomattox. How did they greet each other? Where did they sit?
5. For what did Lee thank Grant?
6. What did Grant say about Lee's composure?
7. When was the only time Lee betrayed his emotions?
8. As Lee slowly rode back to camp, what did his men do?
1. Why was Union quartermaster general Montgomery Meigs angry at Lee? As time passed and thousands of Union soldiers died, what did he want?
A SCHOOL FOR GENTLEMEN (page 40)
2. In the war's fourth year, what was Meigs told to do? What site did he pick?
3. When Lee came home in 1857, in what condition did he find his home? Describe his efforts to restore the Virginia plantation.
4. To whom was the house built as a monument?
5. Describe the location of Arlington.
6. When did Lee leave Arlington? What did the Union army do?
7. What did the government build at Arlington in 1863? What was it called?
8. When was the first Union soldier buried on the property? How many men were buried there by the end of the year?
9. When the war ended in 1865, why didn't Lee try to reclaim Arlington?
10. After how many years did Freedmen's Village close? As the years passed, what happened to Arlington?
11. How many people are buried at Arlington today? Where is Montgomery Meigs buried?
12. What are the Tombs of the Unknowns?
13. What two brothers have memorials at Arlington?
1. What oath did Lee take in October 1865?
FROM THE ARCHIVES
2. Briefly describe Washington College when Lee became its president.
3. What did Lee believe students should learn?
4. What wealthy native of Lexington, Virginia, donated money to the college?
5. What influence did the veterans have on other students? What weekly reports did Lee receive?
6. What did Lee say about rules?
7. Who selected the design of the new college chapel? Who supervised its construction?
8. In honor of Lee, to what was the name of the college changed?
Be sure to check "From the Archives" on page 45 for related title suggestions. You also may want to check the following issues:
Abraham Lincoln (May 1994),
Famous Dates (January 1995).