Stephen D. Lee

Lieutenant-General Stephen Dill Lee
Stephen Dill Lee in 1862
Born	(1833-10-22)October 22, 1833 Charleston, South Carolina
Died	May 28, 1908(1908-05-28) (aged 74) Vicksburg, Mississippi
Place of burial	Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, Mississippi
Allegiance	United States of America, Confederate States of America
Service/branch	United States Army  Confederate States Army
Years of service	1854–61 (USA) 1861–65 (CSA)
Rank	First Lieutenant (USA) Lieutenant General (CSA)
Commands held	Second Corps, Army of Tennessee
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Stephen Dill Lee (September 22, 1833 – May 28, 1908) was an American soldier, and the youngest Confederate lieutenant general of the American Civil War.

A regular officer in the U.S. Army, Lee resigned soon after secession, to join the South Carolina Militia, and delivered the historic demand to the Union to evacuate Fort Sumter, effectively starting the war. After serving in the Seven Days Battles, Second Battle of Manassas and Battle of Sharpsburg, he became John C. Pemberton’s chief of artillery in the Vicksburg Campaign, where he distinguished himself at Champion Hill. Captured and exchanged, Lee served at Atlanta and in the abortive Franklin-Nashville Campaign, finally surrendering with Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina in April 1865. Later he was commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans.

Lee was born in 1833 in Charleston, South Carolina, to Thomas Lee and his wife Caroline Allison. He was raised in Abbeville, South Carolina. He possibly volunteered for service with the United States Army during the Mexican–American War. Lee entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1850, graduating four years later and standing 17th out of 46 cadets. On July 1, 1854, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 4th Infantry Regiment. Lee was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant on October 31, 1856. He served as the 4th Regiment's Quartermaster from Sept. 18, 1857, to February 8, 1861.