[General Lee and his Confederate generals]

Share

A group portrait built around Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, who surrendered at Appomattox Court House in April 1865. The record does not name the officers shown, so their identities are not confirmed here. Images like this were made more than half a century after the war, when Lee and his subordinates had become central figures in the Lost Cause movement, which often presented Confederate leaders in heroic terms. Prints from this period can tell us as much about how the war was remembered as about the events themselves.

More from the Historic Print Archive collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.