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Picture of the day

Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) was an American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. When Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, Lee followed his home state. After a year as senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis, Lee took command of the main field army in 1862 and soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander. After the war, Lee supported President Andrew Johnson's program of Reconstruction and intersectional friendship.Photograph: Levin Corbin Handy; restoration: Adam Cuerden