George Washington Custis Lee George Washington Custis Lee ( September 16 , 1832 – February 18 , 1913 ) , also known as Custis Lee , was the eldest son of Robert E . Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee . His grandfather — George Washington Custis — was the step - grandson and adopted son of George Washington . He served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War , primarily as an aide - de - camp to President Jefferson Davis , and succeeded his father as president of Washington and Lee University in Lexington , Virginia . Early life . Lee was born in Fort Monroe , Virginia . He was educated at numerous boarding schools to prepare him in his father ' s footsteps . He was educated at the classical school of Reverend George A . Smith in his younger years . He then entered the mathematical school of Benjamin Hallowell . Lee was not given admission to West Point at age sixteen . Lee ' s father , Robert E . Lee , then sent a letter to General Winfield Scott on his son ' s behalf . Zachary Taylor then nominated Lee to West Point . Lee was then accepted to West Point at age seventeen . West Point . From 1850 to 1854 , Lee attended West Point . During his first year , Lee excelled both academically and militarily . Toward the end of his first year he was almost expelled , when alcohol was found in his room . He claimed that he did not put it there , and got away with only minor punishments . He did well his second year also . At the beginning of his third year , his father became the Superintendent of West Point . Lee graduated first in his class of forty - six , in 1854 . Other members of his class included Major General J . E . B . Stuart , Major General William Dorsey Pender , Brigadier General John Pegram , Brigadier General James Deshler , Colonel and Acting Brigadier General Horace Randal , and Brigadier General John Villepigue . United States Army . Lee was then commissioned in the Corps of Engineers , as his father before him . He was given the rank of brevet Second Lieutenant . He served primarily in California , Georgia , and Florida during his time in the U . S . Army . In 1855 , he was given the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army . In 1859 , Lee was commissioned a full First Lieutenant . Lee was then stationed in Washington D . C . , during the period of secession and Fort Sumter . He then resigned from the U . S . Army , in the spring of 1861 after Virginia seceded from the Union . He resigned about two weeks after his father had done the same . Lee then offered his services to his father ' s Virginia state forces . Civil War . Lee served in the Virginia state forces , until July 1861 . At that time he was given a commission as a Captain in the Confederate Army . During the next few months , Lee worked in the Confederate engineers corps . He spent his time constructing fortifications for the new capital city , Richmond . At the end of August 1861 , Lee was offered and accepted the position of aide - de - camp to Confederate President Jefferson Davis . He was then promoted to the rank of Colonel . Lee served in his position for the next three years of the war . He was often sent on missions to assess the military , and would then return to report to Davis . When Robert E . Lee became the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia , Custis Lee had constant contact with his father . In 1862 , during the Peninsula Campaign , Lee was put in charge of supervising the engineers at Drewry ' s Bluff . In June 1863 , he was promoted to Brigadier General . Lee was discouraged from taking a field command by Davis , but encouraged by his father . Lee asked his father for a field command , but his father replied that his highest duty was obedience to his superiors . For the most part , he obeyed Davis , but during the Battle of Gettysburg , Lee was given the command of the troops in Richmond . In 1864 , Lee was placed in command of Richmond ' s local defenses against General Grant and General Benjamin Butler . He did so well that he was given command of Richmond ' s eastern defenses at Chaffin ' s Bluff . Lee remained at Chaffin ' s Bluff throughout the next months , and in 1864 , he was promoted to Major General . Shortly before the end of the war , he commanded troops in the field and was captured at Sayler ' s Creek , three days before his father surrendered on Palm Sunday April 9 , 1865 to Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant at the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House , Virginia ( see : Appomattox Court House National Historical Park ) . Postbellum career . In late 1865 , Lee was hired as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute . Lee held this position until the death of his father . Between 1871 and 1897 , Lee served as the ninth president of Washington and Lee University . In 1877 , after his father ' s death , Custis Lee sued in a case that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court to regain title to the family mansion , Arlington House and plantation , which had become Arlington Cemetery . Lee ' s case , United States v . Lee ( 106 U . S . 196 ) , was decided in his favor by a 5 – 4 vote , in 1882 . Lee won both the house and the surrounding the mansion . In 1883 , Lee sold Arlington House to the United States Government for $ 150 , 000 . In 1897 , Lee resigned as president of Washington and Lee University . He then moved to the home of his late brother , Major General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee , Ravensworth Mansion . Lee died on February 18 , 1913 in Alexandria , Virginia , and is buried in the Lee Chapel , near his family members .