ocr: Robert Edward Lee (1807-70), Index Characters Getfysburg superintendent of the West Point Exit Help military academy, took the side of the South on the outbreak Back of the Civil War, becoming the chief adviser to the Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He was given command of the army of Virginia and, with the exception of the battle of Gettysburg (1863) and the final one at Five Forks Bookmark (April 1865), always triumphed over the Unionists, even though at a disadvantage in terms of material and men. After the war, he abstained from any political activity. In1 1865, he was made principa ...