Sydney Smith Lee

Sydney Smith Lee (September 2, 1802 – July 22, 1869), called Smith Lee in his lifetime, was an American naval officer who served as a captain in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. He was a descendant of the Lee Family of Virginia, the third child of Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee and Anne Hill Carter Lee, and the older brother of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

Lee was born in Camden, New Jersey,^[1] on September 2, 1802. At the age of 18 on December 30, 1820, he was appointed midshipman in the United States Navy and 8 years later promoted to lieutenant on May 17, 1828. During the Mexican–American War Lee fought in the Battle of Veracruz with his brother Robert E. Lee, and afterwards was stationed there. He was promoted to commander on June 4. 1850 and accompanied CommodorePerry to Japan in 1853, commanding his flagship USS Mississippi.

Commander Lee served as commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy and Philadelphia Navy Yard. He resigned from the service on April 17, 1861, the day Virginia declared it had seceded, though the resignation was not accepted. After dismissal on April 22, 1861, he accepted a commission as commander in the Confederate States Navy.

When the U.S. Navy abandoned the Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia, Commander Lee became the commanding officer there. When Union forces regained it, he was put in charge of batteries at Drewry's Bluffs, Virginia. On May 6, 1864, he became chief of the Confederate Navy's Bureau of Orders and Detail, replacing Captain John K. Mitchell. Lee was promoted to captain, and remained at this post until the end of the war.

Lee fought for the Confederacy reluctantly. As late as 1863 he denounced South Carolina for "getting us into this snarl" of secession, complaining that Robert and his family had persuaded him to act against his love of the U.S. Navy.^[2]

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  Commander Sidney Smith Lee, USN.
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  Lee, on the left, in 1860. The other officers are Samuel F. Du Pont and David D. Porter.
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  Smith Lee in mufti.

リーの妻はバージニア州出身のアン・マリー・メイソンであった。彼らの息子の一人は、後にバージニア州知事、外交官、作家となり、米西戦争中はアメリカ義勇軍の少将を務めた南軍のフィッツヒュー・リー少将である。彼の息子のうち少なくとも4人は南軍の陸軍または海軍に所属していた。戦後、リーは農夫となり、1869年7月22日、バージニア州スタッフォード郡リッチランドの自宅で死去した。

• ウィキメディア・コモンズにあるシドニー・スミス・リー関連のメディア