Robert E. Lee

General Robert E. Lee, leading commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, was also a graduate of West Point and veteran of the Mexican-American War. He was sought for a high-ranking position in the Union Army at the outbreak of war in 1861, but Lee chose instead to defend his home state of Virginia. He remained in command in Virginia, eventually becoming General in Chief of Confederate Forces in January of 1865. By that time, four years of war had worn on the Confederate troops, who were spread thin defending the base of Confederate operations along the Petersburg-Richmond line.