Ulysses S. Grant was in a battle with the chief leader of the Confederate Army.
Robert Edward Lee ( January 19 , 1807 -- October 12 , 1870 ) was an American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865 . Ulysses S. Grant . In July 1863 , after a series of coordinated battles , Grant defeated Confederate armies and seized Vicksburg , giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and dividing the Confederacy in two . Grant confronted Robert E. Lee in a series of bloody battles , trapping Lee 's army in their defense of Richmond .