Robert Edward Lee was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army

She left New Orleans for Portland, Kentucky, for dismantling, mid-April, 1876, and several thousand came to see her off, with many salutes en route to mark the closing of her career. Her hull was taken to Memphis for use as a wharf boat. Much of her equipment went into her successor, also known as the second Robert E Lee (1876–1882). She carried much of the equipment and furnishings from her predecessor.

Robert E. Lee’s father’s financial mismanagement left Lee, his mother, and his siblings in circumstances that rendered them less wealthy than the plantation owners in his extended family.

 Although turned back at Antietam, Lee had crafted an overall success that drove major Union forces from Virginia, raised Confederate civilian morale, sent tremors through the North, and laid the foundation for a powerful bond between himself and his extended family.