The first in a new series of studies of great military men as battlefield commanders and controllers of fighting forces. Known as a fine motivator of men and a master of utilizing his resources, Lee has been assessed by many historians. This is not another biography but more a study of how he maximised the potential of his Northern Virginia army, structuring it to meet the needs of his extensive campaign in the eastern theatre of the American Civil War, revising it as the battle situation required it and producing from it a performance which belied its size, firepower and opposition.