William Raymond Lee

William Raymond Lee
Born(1807-08-15)August 15, 1807
DiedDecember 26, 1891(1891-12-26) (aged 84)
Allegiance United States
Service / branchUnion Army
RankBrevetted Brigadier General
Unit20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
Battles / warsAmerican Civil War

William Raymond Lee (August 15, 1807 – December 26, 1891) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts. His father was also named William Raymond Lee and his mother was Hannah Lee (née Tracy). He married Helen Maria Amory and had 3 children: Elizabeth Amory (b. 1843), Arthur Tracy (1844–1870) and Robert Ives (b. 1846). He served as colonel of the 20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and led it during the Battle of Antietam. A veteran of several major battles, Lee suffered a mental break down the morning after Antietam and abandoned his regiment. According to a subordinate, Lee was found a few weeks later “without a cent in his pocket, without anything to eat, without having changed his clothes for 4 weeks, during all which time he had this terrible diarrhea…. He was just like a little child wandering away from home.”[1][2] After the war ended he was brevetted brigadier general.

  1. ^ McPherson, James M. (2002). Crossroads of freedom: Antietam. Pivotal moments in American history. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513521-3.
  2. ^ Steckel, Francis C. (1993). "<i>Fallen Leaves: The Civil War Letters of Major Henry Livermore Abbott</i> (review)". Civil War History. 39 (2): 185–186. doi:10.1353/cwh.1993.0024. ISSN 1533-6271.