George Washington Custis Lee

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George Washington Custis Lee
September 16, 1832 – February 18, 1913 (age 81)
Image:GWCLee.jpg
Allegiance	United States of America, Confederate States of America
Years of service	1854–61 (USA), 1861–65 (CSA)
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Relations	Son of Robert E. Lee

Major General George Washington Custis Lee (also known as Custis Lee) (September 16, 1832 – February 18, 1913) was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee.

From 1850–54 he attended West Point, graduating first in his class. His father was the superintendent at the time of his graduation. Custis Lee was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers like his father before him and served until he resigned from the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant in the Spring of 1861 after Virginia seceded from the Union.

During the American Civil War, Custis Lee rose to the rank of major general and spent most of the war as an aide-de-camp to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Shortly before the end of the war, Custis Lee commanded troops in the field and was captured at Sayler's Creek three days before his father surrendered to General U.S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.

Upon the death of his father, he served as the ninth president of Washington and Lee University between 1871 and 1897. He is buried in the Lee Chapel near his family members.

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Preceded by Nicholas Worthington	President of the Maryland Agricultural College 1867	Succeeded by Charles Minor
Preceded by Robert E. Lee	President of Washington and Lee University 1871-1897	Succeeded by William Lyne Wilson