William Henry Fitzhugh “Rooney” Lee (1837-1891)

Civil War Confederate Major General, US Congressman. He was the third child and second son of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. After graduation from Harvard University he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army, serving from 1857 until he resigned in 1859 to become a planter. At the start of the Civil War, he was commissioned a Captain in the Confederate Cavalry and made Major in the Virginia Volunteers. In April 1862, he was promoted Colonel of the 9th Virginia Cavalry Regiment and participated the Antietam Campaign. He was promoted Brigadier General and commanded the 3rd Cavalry Brigade at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and at Brandy Station where he captured. He was exchanged in March 1864 and was promoted as the youngest Confederate Army Major General in April 1864. He commanded a Cavalry Division at Petersburg and was second in command of Cavalry at Appomattox at the end of the war. In 1886 he was elected as a Democrat to represent Virginia’s 8th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1887 until his death in office in 1891.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith