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William Henry Fitzhugh Lee
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's8th district
In office March 4, 1887 – October 15, 1891
Preceded by	John S. Barbour Jr.
Succeeded by	Elisha E. Meredith
Member of theVirginia Senate forLoudoun,Alexandria, Fairfax, andPrince William
In office December 6, 1876 – December 3, 1879
Preceded by	Hierome O. Claughton
Succeeded by	Francis L. Smith
Personal details
Born	(1837-05-31)May 31, 1837 Arlington House,Virginia, U.S.
Died	October 15, 1891(1891-10-15) (aged 54) Alexandria,Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	University Chapel
Spouses	Charlotte Wickham ​ ​ (m. 1859; died 1863)​ Mary Tabb Bolling ​ (m. 1867)​
Children	Robert Charlotte Robert III George
Parent(s)	Robert E. Lee (father) Mary Anna Custis (mother)
Alma mater	Harvard University
Military service
Allegiance	United States Confederate States
Branch/service	United States Army  Confederate States Army
Years of service	1857–1859 (USA) 1861–1865 (CSA)
Rank	Second Lieutenant (USA) Major General (CSA)
Commands	9th Virginia Cavalry
Battles/wars	American Civil War

William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (May 31, 1837 – October 15, 1891), known asRooney Lee (often spelled "Roony" among friends and family) orW. H. F. Lee, was the second son of GeneralRobert E. Lee andMary Anna Custis. He was a planter, aConfederatecavalrygeneral in theAmerican Civil War, and later a DemocraticCongressman fromVirginia.^[1]

Lee was born atArlington House inArlington, Virginia, and named forWilliam Henry Fitzhugh (d. 1830), his mother's uncle. At an early age, his father began to call him Rooney; what prompted him to use this nickname is not known, but it stuck as a way to differentiate him from his cousinFitzhugh Lee.^[2]

Rooney Lee attendedHarvard University, where he befriendedHenry Adams, who wrote about his relationship with Lee in chapter four of his autobiography,The Education of Henry Adams.

Lee followed in his father's footsteps after graduation, entering theUnited States Army in 1857 as asecond lieutenant. He served with the6th U.S. Infantry underAlbert Sidney Johnston, and participated in theUtah War against theMormons.

In 1859, Lee resigned from the U.S. Army to operate hisWhite House Plantation, on the south shore of thePamunkey River, inNew Kent County, Virginia.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Lee was commissioned as acaptain in the Confederate Army cavalry and was soon promoted to major. He initially served as a cavalry commander forBrig. Gen.William Loring in the mountains of western Virginia during his father'sWestern Virginia Campaign. Loring's forces were transferred to the lower Shenandoah Valley and the command ofStonewall Jackson in late 1861 and occupied the town ofRomney in early 1862. Lee was soon after assigned to the command ofMaj. Gen.J.E.B. Stuart, who was leading the cavalry forces forJoseph E. Johnston's Army of Northern Virginia, in thePeninsula Campaign. After joining Stuart, Rooney Lee's regiment participated in Stuart's first ride around the Union army, as well as the subsequentSeven Days Battles around Richmond. During this time, Rooney's nearby White House plantation was burned to the ground, and his son Robert died of typhoid fever.

During theNorthern Virginia Campaign, Rooney played a leading role in Stuart's well-crafted attack on General John Pope's supply base at Catlett's Station on August 22, 1862, capturing a paymaster's safe full of Yankee greenbacks.^[3] His cavalry regiment was assigned to the brigade of Brig. Gen.Fitzhugh Lee, his cousin, for theMaryland Campaign. Following theBattle of South Mountain, Lee was knocked unconscious after a horse fell from under him, and was unable to participate in theBattle of Antietam.^[3] Upon his recovery, he temporarily commanded Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry brigade in Stuart'sChambersburg Raid, his conduct earning him promotion to brigadier general. He then commanded the 3rd Brigade of Stuart's Cavalry Division at the Battles ofFredericksburg mere weeks after the death of his infant daughter.^[3] During theBattle of Chancellorsville the following year, Lee was detached from Stuart's cavalry to defend againstStoneman's 1863 Raid.

At the beginning of theGettysburg campaign, Lee was shot in the thigh during combat atBrandy Station. He spent the next two weeks recovering atHickory Hill, Virginia, before being captured by Union forces. As aprisoner of war, he was sent toFort Monroe for several months, before being shipped toNew York, where he was held until returned to the Confederate Army on February 25, 1864, in exchange for Union Brig. Gen.Neal S. Dow.^[4]

In April 1864, Lee was promoted tomajor general and commanded adivision in the Cavalry Corps during the battles ofThe Wilderness,Todd's Tavern,Spotsylvania Court House, andNorth Anna in theOverland Campaign. With the death of Jeb Stuart, Rooney Lee's role increased. Lee's cavalry division patrolled the extreme right of the Confederate lines during theSiege of Petersburg, defending against theWilson-Kautz Raid atStaunton River Bridge,Sappony Church andFirst Ream's Station. His division was then sent north to briefly aid in the defense of Richmond at theSecond Battle of Deep Bottom, before supporting GeneralWade Hampton III'sBeefsteak Raid, and then returning to Petersburg for theBattle of Boydton Plank Road.

By the last year of the war, Rooney Lee had risen to second-in-command of the Confederate cavalry in Virginia, General Hampton having been transferred to South Carolina to raise troops, and Lee's cousin, Fitzhugh, promoted to overall command. Lee's cavalry division screened the Confederate evacuation of Petersburg, notably at theBattle of Namozine Church during theAppomattox Campaign. He surrendered along with his father atAppomattox Court House with only 300 officers and men, one-tenth the size of the command during the Petersburg Campaign.^[3]

Lee returned to White House Plantation and planting after the war. Nearby, his younger brotherRob lived at Romancoke Plantation across the river inKing William County.

After their mother died in 1873, Rooney inheritedRavensworth Plantation, the old Fitzhugh family property (near present-daySpringfield) inFairfax County with 563 acres (2.28 km²) of land. He moved there with his family from White House.

In 1875 Rooney was elected to theVirginia Senate, serving until 1878. He was elected as aDemocrat to theUnited States House of Representatives in 1887. He served in the House until his death at Ravensworth in 1891. He is interred in theUniversity Chapel atWashington and Lee University inLexington, Virginia, with his parents and siblings.

Lee married twice, first in 1859 to Charlotte Georgiana Wickham, daughter of George and Charlotte Carter Wickham and a descendant of the attorneyJohn Wickham and his wife. They had two children, Robert Edward Lee (March 11, 1860 – June 30, 1862) and Charlotte Carter Lee (October 19, 1862 – December 6, 1862). Charlotte Georgiana Wickham Lee died December 26, 1863.

On November 28, 1867, he married Mary Tabb Bolling. They had two sons, who both lived to adulthood: Robert Edward Lee III (February 11, 1869, at Petersburg – September 7, 1922, at Roanoke, VA) and George Bolling Lee (August 30, 1872 at Lexington – July 13, 1948, at New York, NY).

Lee's mother, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, was the only surviving child ofGeorge Washington Parke Custis andMary Lee Fitzhugh. George was the grandson ofMartha Dandridge and step-grandson of PresidentGeorge Washington.

Lee was also a descendant ofCharles II of England throughLady Charlotte Lee (granddaughter ofBarbara Villiers), who marriedthe 4th Baron Baltimore, and possibly, a descendant ofGeorge I, throughBenedict Swingate Calvert (grandson of Lady Charlotte Lee), the illegitimate son of5th Baron Baltimore and of an unknown mother, who was supposed to beMelusina von der Schulenburg, illegitimate daughter of the King.

• List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)
• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)

• Byrne, Frank L. (1961).Prophet of Prohibition: Neal Dow and His Crusade. Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin.OCLC 2126034.
• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher,Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
• Freeman, Douglas S.R. E. Lee, A Biography. 4 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934–35.OCLC 166632575.
• Longacre, Edward G.Lee's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of Northern Virginia. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002.ISBN 0-8117-0898-5.
• Sifakis, Stewart.Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988.ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
• Warner, Ezra J.Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959.ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWilliam Henry Fitzhugh Lee.

• Charlotte Lee, Wife of William Henry Fitzhugh Lee
• About Famous People: William Henry Fitzhugh Lee

• United States Congress."W. H. F. Lee (id: L000208)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• 1837 births
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