[Robert Edward Lee, 1807-1870, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left, in uniform]

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Robert E. Lee, the Virginia-born officer who would lead the Army of Northern Virginia, appears here in a head-and-shoulders view turned to the left, dressed in uniform. Steel engraving was the dominant method for reproducing portraits in books and periodicals in the mid-nineteenth century, and engravings like this one circulated widely before photography became the standard for such images. Lee's reputation was still being shaped when prints like this were made, and his later role as a Confederate commander made him one of the most studied figures of the Civil War. The caption card gives no date, so the exact year of this engraving is uncertain.

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