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Lee wore colonel's rank insignia during his surrender to Grant. Since being placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia in 1862, Lee has held the rank of "general" which, of course, makes him senior in rank to the lieutenant generals under his command (Jackson, Longstreet, etc..) Nevertheless, Lee continued to wear a simple coat with the 3 stars on the collar, which is the rank insignia of a Conferderate colonel. The coat worn at the surrender is believed to be a separate coat that Lee kept for formal occasions and likely was worn rarely, if at all, during the war. He also woar a sash and his sword at the surrender, which he never wore day-to-day. Grant, on the other hand, wore his equally simple private's coat with the 3-star lieutenant general's shoulder epaulets that he had worn throughout the Overland campaign.

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Though he was a general every known photograph and painted portrait of Robert E. Lee in the uniform of the army of Confederate States of America (CSA) showed him wearing the rank of a full colonel. The collar insignia of rank for a full colonel was three stars. The collar rank for general in the CSA was three stars surrounded by a wreath.

It should be noted though that General Lee likely wore the rank of a full general when he surrendered to General Grant (the commanding general of the Union Army (the army of the United States) at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.

Lee himself decided to wear his last and best uniform to his meeting with Grant. He wanted to make his best appearance as he expected to be Grant's prisoner.

There is no known photograph of what he wore that fateful day as there were no photographers present (they were in Richmond covering the fall of the city to Union forces only a short time before). A witness to Lee's arrival noted that the General was wearing a full dress uniform (but did not comment on the rank insignia).

However, the Museum of the Confederacy in Appomattox, VA (located less than a mile from the Appomattox National Historic Park on Old Courthouse Road) has on display the tunic which they claim had been donated in the 19th century by General Lee's son Custis. A placard with the display states, though, not as a quotation, that this tunic was the one his father wore to surrender to Grant. I have seen this tunic and it does indeed have the three wreathed stars of a full Confederate general on its collar.

As there is no attributed quote here, this is hearsay; however, there is no good reason not to believe that this attribution to Custis Lee is anything but true.

Given this it is possible, therefore, to answer this question as:

By and large, General Lee wore the Confederate rank insignia of a full colonel (three stars on the collar) throughout the Civil War; however, he owned a full dress uniform with a tunic, which he wore at very special and singular occasions (such as the surrender at Appomattox), which had the insignia of Confederate General on it - three wreathed stars as well as the sleeve decorations appropriate to that rank.

For the curious, see the related link (for as long as it lasts) to the page as the "Museum of the Confederacy" which shows a photo image of the Lee's Appomattox surrender tunic. Click on it and zoom in on its collar and three wreathed stars will be quite visible.

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Q: What rank insignia did Robert E. Lee wear during the war?
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