Born in 1805, Sydney Smith Lee was the older brother of Robert E. Lee and the father of General Fitzhugh Lee. One of five children, Smith Lee was affectionately called "Rose" by his brother Robert. He was commissioned a midshipman in the U.S. Navy at the age of fourteen. During the Mexican War, the Lee brothers valiantly fought side by side at the siege of Vera Cruz.

After the Mexican War, Smith Lee built a national reputation by becoming commander of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, then became commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. As part of Commodore Matthew Perry's expedition, Smith Lee commanded the U.S.S. Mississippi, one of four ships that brought western civilization to Japan. When secession was at hand, Smith Lee, like his brother, made the decision to resign his post as a member of the U.S. Navy. Upon joining the Confederate Navy, he was made a captain.

Assigned to a key naval command, Smith Lee was sent to Norfolk, Virginia and ordered by Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory to ready an ironclad ship. Although doubtful of the value of such a ship, Smith Lee readied the Merrimack and recommissioned her the Virginia, sparing no expense to prepare her for battle again. At Mallory's request, Smith Lee quickly and quietly managed to salvage much of the material at Norfolk, largely helping the Confederacy to field an army and navy in the early months of 1862.

In May, 1862, Smith Lee was sent to Drewry's Bluff, where in the midst of a disastrous assault, he refused to take the command and remained as second in charge. Consequently, even after the battle was won, there was no mention of Smith Lee in the dispatches. He served out the rest of the war on several courts-martial and headed the Bureau of Orders and Detail.

He retired to Virginia and like so many other southerners, he entered hard times. His last years were spent struggling to make something productive of a stubborn old farm in Stafford County. He died on July 24, 1869.

Union Naval Officer Samuel Francis Du Pont

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