Chapter 7 f in din g in s Pir AT ion A p p e a l in g to Va l u e s a n d Mo d elin g in the third summer of the American civil War, Jefferson Davis, presi- dent of the confederacy, and Robert e. Lee, commanding general of the Army of northern Virginia, hatched a bold plan they hoped would force an end to the war. months earlier, the south had won the Battle