Sydney Lee

Sydney Smith Lee (September 2, 1802 – July 22, 1869) was a United States Navy officer and older brother to Robert E. Lee. Born in Camden, New Jersey, Lee joined the navy as midshipman on December 30, 1820 was promoted to lieutenant on May 17, 1828. During the Mexican War, he was stationed at Veracruz. He was promoted to commander on June 4. 1850 and accompanied Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan in 1853, commanding his flagship

He served as commandant at the United States Naval Academy and Philadelphia Navy Yard. He resigned from the service on April 17, 1861, the day Virginia seceded, though the resignation was not accepted. After dismissal on April 22, 1861 he accepted a commission as commander in the Confederate States Navy.

When the US Navy abandoned Norfolk, Virginia, Lee became the commander there. When Union forces regained it, Sydney was put in charge of batteries at Drewry's Bluffs, Virginia. On May 6, 1864, he became chief of the Confederate Navy's Bureau of Orders and Detail, replacing Captain John K. Mitchell. Sidney was promoted to captain, and remained at this post until the end of the war.

Sydney Lee in The Guns of the South
Sydney Lee, a navy man, was the older brother of General Robert E. Lee, the Confederacy's leading land based commander. While staying up late awaiting results for the national election, Robert E. Lee refused more coffee from a waiter at the Powhatan because, while Sydney was the naval officer of the family, Robert felt that at the moment he was shipping more water than he.