Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh, known as Rooney Lee, 1837–91, Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, b. Arlington House, near Alexandria, Va.; son of Robert E. Lee. He entered Harvard in 1854 but left in 1857 when he secured a commission in the infantry. After serving under Albert S. Johnston in the campaign against the Mormons, he resigned (1859) and lived at White House, his Virginia plantation, until the Civil War. Like his cousin Fitzhugh Lee, Rooney served in J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry. Wounded at Brandy Station in June, 1863, he was subsequently captured. Upon his exchange in Mar., 1864, he was promoted to major general and served until the end of the war. From 1887 to his death, Lee was a Democratic Representative in Congress.
See D. S. Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants (3 vol., 1942–44).
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