Fitzhugh Lee - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Fitzhugh Lee was born in Fairfax County, Virginia and was the grandson of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and the nephew of General Robert E. Lee. He graduated from the United State Military Academy in 1856 and when on to serve as a cavalry officer throughout the Civil War. He personally led the last charge of the Confederate Cavalry on April 9, 1865, which took place near Farmville, Virginia.

Following the war he concentrated on farming in Stafford County, Virginia until he was appointed to the Board of Visitors of the United State Military Academy. He was elected Governor of Virginia and served in that office from 1886 – 1890. After serving as Governor he served as a diplomat in the administrations of Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley. During the Spanish-American War he was one of the three ex-Confederate Generals who were made major-generals of United States Volunteers. He retired from the military in 1901 and lived out his remaining year near Washington, D. C. Fitzhugh Lee died on April 28, 1905 in Washington, D. C. and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Description: Fitzhugh Lee was born on November 19, 1835 at “Clermont,” in Fairfax County, Virginia and was the grandson of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and the nephew of Robert E. Lee. He campaigned against the Comanche in Texas and later was an instructor at West Point when Virginia seceded in May of 1861. He immediately resigned his commission to serve his state. In the Civil War, Lee was made a brigadier general in 1862 for his part in the raid led by J. E. B. Stuart around George B. McClellan's army, and he brilliantly covered the Confederate retreat in the Antietam campaign of 1862. In a cavalry engagement at Kelly's Ford in March 1863, his brigade opposed the superior Union force under Gen. William W. Averell. His discovery of the weakness of Joseph Hooker's right led to Stonewall Jackson's successful flanking movement in the battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863. Lee was with Stuart in the Gettysburg and The Wilderness campaigns in 1863 and 1864. He was promoted to major general in September 1863. Sent to support Jubal A. Early in the Shenandoah Valley in August 1864, Lee was wounded at Winchester and did not return to active service until January 1865. He was chief of the cavalry corps of the Army of Northern Virginia in the last days of the war and covered the retreat to Appomattox. He served as governor of Virginia from 1886 -1890, and in 1896 President Cleveland appointed him consul general at Havana. Lee won national approval by his conduct in the difficult period preceding the Spanish-American War, and in that conflict he reenlisted in the United States Military and was commissioned major general of volunteers. He was military governor of Havana after the war and retired from military service with the rank of brigadier general 1901. In his later years he wrote a biography of his famous uncle, as well as other works about the Civil War. Fitzhugh Lee died on April 28, 1905, in the District of Columbia and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. Source/Credit: http://www.multied.com/bio/CWcGENS/CSALeeFitz.html Date of birth: 11/19/1835 Date of death: 04/28/1905 Area of notoriety: Historical Figure Marker Type: Monument Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daily - 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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