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This biography focuses too much on Lee's Civil War military actions, and not enough about his private life. Having been made Quartermaster General of the Federal army, Meigs led the way to appropriation of the Lee estate, its conversion to a cemetery for Union dead, and ultimately the establishment of the Arlington National Cemetery on the site. The Lees regained the property nevertheless, and sold it back to the government which could not at that stage abandon the well established burial place. One thing I found unsettling is the erroneous descriptions of Lee's relationship with Montgomery Meigs, the army engineer who worked for Lee on the Mississippi River projects when they were both young officers. This conclusion doesn't result from lack of information, because the facts were known in 1934 when Freeman wrote the book, and it leads you to wonder what else is incorrect in the book. Meigs ultimately grew to become a force in the founding of Arlington National Cemetery, on the property where Lee's mansion was located. Also, it needs a lot more maps to fully follow the descriptions of the battles. After the war, Meigs advocated the deportation of Lee, and fought the Lee family's effort to regain title to the Arlington property.
It is well known that although Lee and Meigs worked well together on the early project, and parted friends at the time, they developed a very hostile relationship later when Lee decided to cast his lot with the South. Meigs even advocated that Lee should be sentenced to death if caught. In contrast to these facts, Freeman states that after leaving the Mississippi projects, "Lee parted from Meigs when they reached Washington and was not again fortunate enough to have him as an assistant, but he was always affectionately remembered by the younger man, even when war divided them".
No doubt Lee was a great general; he was not God and he was bested by Grant.Freeman fails to give credit where due. Sheridan and Sherman are dismissed and Meade gets lost in the battle of Gettysburg; he didn't win; Lee lost because of Stuart's disappearance, problems with Longstreet, etc.
Freeman is not at all objective. According to Freeman, the South lost, rather than the Union won.
I got through the first three volumes but it was hard to take. Grant gets denigrated at the expense of Lee.
When Lee lost it was not because the Union defeated him but because Lee had a bad day, his lieutenants blundered. While Lee won many battles because of the incompetence of his Union opponents, Freeman fails to recognize the bravery of Union soldiers.
This gets quite tiresome. After three volumes, I gave it up.
I immensely like this book and it is taking me a long time to read, but, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Mr. Lee and the Civil War. I will also read a bio on U.S.Grant later in the year.
Not much is written about Lee, the man, and this book solves that problem. Excellent.
Harwell captured both the beauty and depth of Freeman's style without diminishing any of the wonder or essence of General Robert E. I was so impressed with both the author and the General that I have been a Civil War buff ever since. Richard Harwell's abridgement of the 4-volume biography was masterful in every since. Harwell's abridged version of Freeman's masterpiece is wonderful and although 600+ pages is really a rather quick read due to the excellent writing.
Freeman gets to the nub of it all in beautifully written concise statements. In the pantheon of great Americans he stands tall, very tall. Although I was walking old literary ground, I was amazed at how wonderful it was to again read about the amazing life of one of America's true icons. Hill, my interest in Lee was again piqued and I picked up the abridged version of Douglas Freeman's Pulitzer Prize winning classic to refresh my history of Marse Robert. Lee 35 years ago.
Lee the man and general. He artfully examines how Lee reacted to various situation and how his prior experiences and nature influenced both his decisions and personal relationships. Freeman captured the essence of both Robert E. Absolutely magnificent in all respects. Lee the man and General.
Freeman's style was to view the Civil War events through Lee's eyes, ears, and available information rather than examine events through post war after-the-fact analysis: What did General Lee know at the time with the information he had and could "feel". Magnificent5+ Stars.I originally read Douglas Southall Freeman's 4 Volume biography of Robert E. All in all the absolute best biography ever written on General Robert E. Lee and a requirement in any Civil War expert or buff's library.Note: The final 4 chapters are an incredible summation of what made Lee, Lee.
The most amazing thing of all is that the characteristics of what made General Robert E. Lee great are as timely today as they were back then. I found it very hard to put down and read the entire book in only 3 days.
Recently, after rereading James Robertson's biography on General A.P. Do yourself a favor and read a magnificent biography on a true American icon. Extremely well crafted in all respects that none of the Freeman magic was lost or diluted.
Without going into an in-depth biographical review of General Lee, suffice it to say Mr. Must read for anyone interested in the Civil War.
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