Charles Lee ( general ) Charles Lee ( February 6 , 1732 – October 2 , 1782 ) was a British soldier who served as a General of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence . Lee also served earlier in the British army during the Seven Years War . After the war he sold his commission and served for a time in the Polish army of King Stanislaus II . In 1773 Lee , who had Whig views , moved to America and bought an estate in Virginia . When the fighting broke out in the American War of Independence in 1775 he volunteered to serve with rebel forces . Lee ' s ambitions to become Commander in Chief of the Continental Army were thwarted by the appointment of George Washington . During 1776 , forces under his command repulsed a British attempt to capture Charleston , which boosted his standing with the army and Congress . Later that year he was captured by British cavalry under Banastre Tarleton and held as a prisoner until exchanged in 1778 . During the indecisive Battle of Monmouth later that year , Lee led an assault on the British which miscarried . He was subsequently court - martialed and his military service brought to an end . He died in Philadelphia in 1782 . Early life . Lee was born in Cheshire , England , the son of General John Lee and Isabella Bunbury ( daughter of Sir Henry Bunbury , 3rd Baronet ) . He was sent to school in Switzerland and became proficient in several languages . He returned to England in 1746 at the age of fourteen to attend grammar school at Bury St Edmunds . That same year his father , then Colonel of the 55th Foot ( later renumbered the 44th ) , purchased a commission for Charles as an Ensign in the same regiment . He soon became an important person in the revolution Seven Years ' War and after . North America . After completing his schooling , Lee reported for duty with his regiment in Ireland . He purchased a Lieutenant ' s commission in 1751 . He was sent with the regiment to America in 1754 for service in the French and Indian War under Major General Edward Braddock , and was at his defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755 . During this time in America , he married the daughter of a Mohawk Indian chief . His wife ( name unknown ) gave birth to twins . Lee was known to the Mohawks as Ounewaterika , or " Boiling Water " . Lee purchased a Captain ' s commission in the 44th in 1756 . The following year he took part in an expedition against the French fortress of Louisbourg , and in 1758 he was wounded in a failed assault on Fort Ticonderoga . After recovering , he took part in the capture of Fort Niagara in 1759 and Montreal in 1760 , which brought the war on the North American theater to an end by completing the Conquest of Canada . Portugal . Lee went back to Europe , transferred to the 103rd Foot as a major , and served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Portuguese army , fighting against the Spanish invasion of Portugal ( 1762 ) in which he distinguished himself under John Burgoyne at the Battle of Vila Velha . Poland . He returned to England in 1763 following the Peace of Paris which ended the Seven Years ' War . His regiment was disbanded and he was retired on half pay as a Major . In May 1772 , although still inactive , he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel . In 1765 he fought in Poland , serving as an aide - de - camp under King Stanislaus II . After many adventures he came home to England . Unable to secure promotion in the British Army , in 1769 he returned to Poland and saw action in the Russo - Turkish War , and lost two fingers in a duel in which he killed his opponent . Returning to England once again , he found that he was sympathetic to the American colonists in their quarrel with Britain . He moved to the colonies in 1773 and purchased an estate in Virginia , in an area now part of West Virginia , which he named Prato Rio . American Revolution . Continental Army . When war appeared inevitable , he volunteered his services to the colonies . He expected to be named Commander - in - Chief of the Continental Army , being the most experienced candidate . On the other hand , he was born in Britain , somewhat eccentric , slovenly in appearance , coarse in language , and perhaps most of all , he wanted to be paid : by joining the rebellion , he forfeited all his properties in England , and wanted to be compensated . George Washington , on the other hand , was sober , steady , calm , and best of all , would work without pay , asking only that the Continental Congress should cover his expenses . Washington also was a good political choice : a southern commander to pair with a primarily New England fighting force . Washington received the appointment , and Lee was offered the subordinate rank of Major General . Because of this , Lee had nothing but the utmost disdain for his superior . He once remarked , " Washington is not fit enough to command a Sergeant ' s Guard " . Lee was often considered second in command of the Continental forces , although Artemas Ward , who was not in good health , officially held this position . During the encampment at Valley Forge in late - 1777 and early - 1778 , his headquarters was at the David Harvard House . Southern command . Lee also received various other titles : in 1776 , he was named Commander of the so - called Canadian Department , although he never got to serve in this capacity . Instead , he was appointed as the first Commander of the Southern Department . He served in this post for six months , until he was recalled to the main army . During his time in the South , the British sent an expedition under Henry Clinton to recover Charleston , South Carolina . Lee oversaw the fortification of the city . Fort Sullivan was a fortification built out of palmetto logs , later named for commander Col . William Moultrie . Lee ordered the army to evacuate the fort because as he said it would only last thirty minutes and all soldiers would be killed . Governor John Rutledge forbade Moultrie to evacuate and the fort held . The spongy palmetto logs repelled the cannonball from the British ships . Thus a British assault on Sullivan ' s Island was driven off and Clinton then abandoned his attempts to capture the city . New York . When he arrived in New York to join General Washington and the main part of the Continental Army , Washington chose to show his appreciation of General Lee ( who was a very popular general officer among not only the army , but Congress ) by changing the name of Fort Constitution , which was located on the New Jersey side of the Hudson opposite Fort Washington , to Fort Lee . Toward the end of 1776 , Lee ' s animosity for Washington began to show . During the retreat from Forts Washington and Lee , he dawdled with his army , and intensified a letter campaign to convince various Congress members that he should replace Washington as Commander - in - Chief . Around this time , Washington was accidentally given and opened a letter from Lee to a Colonel Reed , in which Lee condemned Washington ' s leadership and abilities , and blamed Washington entirely for the dire straits of the Army . Though he was the victim of the letter , Washington was not angry . He was suspicious and disappointed at both Lee and himself , Washington being inclined to take much responsibility and little credit for himself . He sent the letters to Reed and wrote an accompanying letter apologizing for the mistake . Capture . Although his army was supposed to join that of Washington ' s in Pennsylvania , Lee set a very slow pace . On the night of December 12 , Lee and a dozen of his guard inexplicably stopped for the night at White ' s Tavern in Basking Ridge , New Jersey , some three miles from his main army . The next morning , a British patrol of two dozen mounted soldiers found Lee writing letters in his dressing gown , and captured him . Among the members of the British patrol was Banastre Tarleton . Lee returned to service after he was exchanged for General Richard Prescott . Battle of Monmouth . Lee is most notorious for his actions during the Battle of Monmouth in June , 1778 . Washington needed a secondary commander to lead the frontal assault . He unwillingly chose to put Lee in charge , as he was the most senior of his generals . Washington ordered him to attack the retreating enemy , but instead , Lee ordered a retreat . He retreated directly into Washington and his troops , who were advancing , and Washington dressed him down publicly . Lee responded with insubordination , was arrested , and shortly thereafter court - martialed . Lee was found guilty , and he was relieved of command for a period of one year . ( In his " Narrative " , Joseph Plumb Martin recounted that Washington rode up during the retreat and asked Martin ' s officers " by whose order the troops [ are ] retreating " . Being told it was " by Gen . Lee ' s " , he said something that Martin wasn ' t close enough to hear . Martin was told later , by those who had been close enough , that Washington had said " damn him ! " as he rode off , which Martin found unusual but plausible since Washington had been " in a great passion " because of the retreat . ) It is not clear that Lee had made a bad strategic decision : he believed himself outnumbered ( which he in fact was : British commander Sir Henry Clinton had 10 , 000 troops to Lee ' s 5 , 440 ) , and that a retreat was reasonable . However , he disobeyed his orders , and he publicly expressed disrespect to his Commander - in - Chief . Furthermore , Washington had wanted to test the abilities of Lee ' s troops , since they were among the first to be trained in European tactics by Baron von Steuben . Treachery may have been the reason for Lee ' s retreat at the Battle of Monmouth . While Lee had been held prisoner by the British General Sir William Howe , 5th Viscount Howe in March , 1777 , Lee drafted a plan for British military operations against the Americans . At the time , Lee was under a threat of being tried as a deserter from the British Army , because he hadn ' t resigned his British commission as Lieutenant - Colonel until several days after he accepted an American commission . The plan in Lee ' s handwriting was found in the Howe family archives in 1857 . Later life . Lee tried to get Congress to overturn the court - martial ' s verdict , and when this failed , he resorted to open attacks on Washington ' s character . Lee ' s popularity then plummeted . Colonel John Laurens , an aide to Washington , challenged him to a duel , one in which Lee was wounded in his side . He was challenged to many more duels . He was released from his duty on January 10 , 1780 . He retired to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , where he was stricken with fever and died . Lee was very fond of dogs , and was seldom seen without half a dozen at his heels . Fort Lee , New Jersey , on the New Jersey side of the Hudson river , across the river from Fort Washington , was named for him , as were Lee , Massachusetts , Lee , New Hampshire and Leetown , West Virginia .