Why General Lee Wore a Colonel's Rank During the Civil War?-- Part 1

Well, this was a new one on me.

From the October 18, 2019, We Are the Mighty by  Blake Stilwell.

When Robert E. Lee left the Union Army for the Confederacy, he was a colonel in his former vocation.  Despite his promotion in the Confederate cause and eventual command of its main army, the Army of Northern Virginia,technically he still wore the rank of his former country.

That is, the rank of colonel.

He wore that rank even as he negotiated the surrender of his army at Appomattox.

When the Confederacy broke away from the Union, they didn't adopt every single  military custom and design.  They took on the color gray and did keep many of the customs, but they completely revamped officer ranking symbols.

Find Out Why in the Next Post.  --Old Secesh