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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10692-0.txt b/10692-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be61ec7 --- /dev/null +++ b/10692-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18363 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10692 *** + +[Illustration] + + +A LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE. + +BY JOHN ESTEN COOKE. + + + "Duty is the sublimest word in our language." + "Human virtue should be equal to human calamity." + + LEE. + +1876 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +_LEE'S EARLY LIFE_. + + +I.--Introduction + +II.--The Lees of Virginia + +III.--General "Light-Horse Harry" Lee + +IV.--Stratford + +V.--Lee's Early Manhood and Career in the United States Army + +VI.--Lee and Scott + +VII.--Lee resigns + +VIII.--His Reception at Richmond + +IX.--Lee in 1861 + +X.--The War begins + +XI.--Lee's Advance into Western Virginia + +XII.--Lee's Last Interview with Bishop Meade + + +PART II. + +_IN FRONT OF RICHMOND_. + + +I.--Plan of the Federal Campaign + +II.--Johnston is wounded + +III.--Lee assigned to the Command--his Family at the White House + +IV.--Lee resolves to attack + +V.--Stuart's "Ride around McClellan" + + +PART III. + +_ON THE CHICKAHOMINY_. + + +I.--The Two Armies + +II.--Lee's Plan of Assault + +III.--The Battle of the Chickahominy + +IV.--The Retreat + +V.--Richmond in Danger--Lee's Views + +VI.--Lee and McClellan--their Identity of Opinion + + +PART IV. + +_THE WAR ADVANCES NORTHWARD_. + + +I.--Lee's Protest + +II.--Lee's Manoeuvres + +III.--Lee advances from the Rapidan + +IV.--Jackson flanks General Pope + +V.--Lee follows + +VI.--The Second Battle of Manassas + + +PART V. + +_LEE INVADES MARYLAND_. + + +I.--His Designs + +II.--Lee in Maryland + +III.--Movements of the Two Armies + +IV.--The Prelude to Sharpsburg + +V.--The Battle of Sharpsburg + +VI.--Lee and McClellan--their Merits in the Maryland Campaign + +VII.--Lee and his Men + +VIII.--Lee passes the Blue Ridge + +IX.--Lee concentrates at Fredericksburg + +X.--The Battle of Fredericksburg + +XI.--Final Movements of 1862 + +XII.--The Year of Battles + +XIII.--Lee in December, 1862 + + +PART VI. + +_CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG_. + + +I.--Advance of General Hooker + +II--The Wilderness + +III.--Lee's Determination + +IV.--Jackson's Attack and Fall + +V.--The Battle of Chancellorsville + +VI.--Flank Movement of General Sedgwick + +VII.--Lee's Generalship and Personal Demeanor during the Campaign + +VIII.--Personal Relations of Lee and Jackson + +IX.--Circumstances leading to the Invasion of Pennsylvania + +X.--Lee's Plans and Objects + +XI.--The Cavalry-fight at Fleetwood + +XII.--The March to Gettysburg + +XIII.--Lee in Pennsylvania + +XIV.--Concentration at Gettysburg + +XV.--The First Day's Fight at Gettysburg + +XVI.--The Two Armies in Position + +XVII.--The Second Day + +XVIII.--The Last Charge at Gettysburg + +XIX.--Lee after the Charge + +XX.--Lee's Retreat across the Potomac + +XXI.--Across the Blue Ridge again + + +PART VII. + +_LAST CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR_ 1863. + + +I.--The Cavalry of Lee's Army + +II.--Lee flanks General Meade + +III.--A Race between Two Armies + +IV.--The Fight at Buckland + +V.--The Advance to Mine Run + +VI.--Lee in the Autumn and Winter of 1863 + + +PART VIII. + +_LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGNS AND LAST DAYS_. + + +I.--General Grant crosses the Rapidan + +II.--The First Collision in the Wilderness + +III.--The Battle of the 6th of May + +IV.--The 12th of May + +V.--From Spottsylvania to the Chickahominy + +VI.--First Battles at Petersburg + +VII.--The Siege of Richmond begun + +VIII.--Lee threatens Washington + +IX.--The Mine Explosion + +X.--End of the Campaign of 1864 + +XI.--Lee in the Winter of 1864-'65 + +XII.--The Situation at the Beginning of 1865 + +XIII.--Lee attacks the Federal Centre + +XIV.--The Southern Lines broken + +XV.--Lee evacuates Petersburg + +XVI.--The Retreat and Surrender + +XVII.--Lee returns to Richmond + +XVIII.--General Lee after the War + +XIX.--General Lee's Last Years and Death + + + + +_APPENDIX_. + +I.--The Funeral of General Lee + +II.--Tributes to General Lee + + + + +A LIFE + +OF + +GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE. + + + +PART I. + +_LEE'S EARLY LIFE_, + + + + +I. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The name of Lee is beloved and respected throughout the world. Men of +all parties and opinions unite in this sentiment, not only those who +thought and fought with him, but those most violently opposed to his +political views and career. It is natural that his own people should +love and honor him as their great leader and defender in a struggle of +intense bitterness--that his old enemies should share this profound +regard and admiration is due solely to the character of the +individual. His military genius will always be conceded, and his +figure remain a conspicuous landmark in history; but this does not +account for the fact that his very enemies love the man. His private +character is the origin of this sentiment. The people of the North, no +less than the people of the South, feel that Lee was truly great; and +the harshest critic has been able to find nothing to detract from this +view of him. The soldier was great, but the man himself was greater. +No one was ever simpler, truer, or more honest. Those who knew him +best loved him the most. Reserved and silent, with a bearing of almost +austere dignity, he impressed many persons as cold and unsympathetic, +and his true character was long in revealing itself to the world. +To-day all men know what his friends knew during his life--that under +the grave exterior of the soldier, oppressed with care and anxiety, +beat a warm and kindly heart, full of an even extraordinary gentleness +and sweetness; that the man himself was not cold, or stiff, or +harsh, but patient, forbearing, charitable under many trials of his +equanimity, and magnanimous without effort, from the native impulse of +his heart. Friend and foe thus to-day regard him with much the same +sentiment, as a genuinely honest man, incapable of duplicity in +thought or deed, wholly good and sincere, inspired always under all +temptations by that _prisca fides_ which purifies and ennobles, and +resolutely bent, in the dark hour, as in the bright, on the full +performance of his duty. "Duty is the sublimest word in our language," +he wrote to his son; and, if we add that other august maxim, "Human +virtue should be equal to human calamity," we shall have in a few +words a summary of the principles which inspired Lee. + +The crowning grace of this man, who was thus not only great but good, +was the humility and trust in God, which lay at the foundation of his +character. Upon this point we shall quote the words of a gentleman of +commanding intellect, a bitter opponent of the South in the war: + +"Lee is worthy of all praise. As a man, he was fearless among men. As +a soldier, he had no superior and no equal. In the course of Nature my +career on earth may soon terminate. God grant that, When the day of +my death shall come, I may look up to Heaven with that confidence and +faith which the life and character of Robert E. Lee gave him. He +died trusting in God as a good man, with a good life, and a pure +conscience." + +He had lived, as he died, with this supreme trust in an overruling and +merciful Providence; and this sentiment, pervading his whole being, +was the origin of that august calmness with which he greeted the most +crushing disasters of his military career. His faith and humble trust +sustained him after the war, when the woes of the South wellnigh +broke his great spirit; and he calmly expired, as a weary child falls +asleep, knowing that its father is near. + +Of this eminent soldier and man whose character offers so great +an example, a memoir is attempted in this volume. The work will +necessarily be "popular" rather than full and elaborate, as the public +and private correspondence of Lee are not at this time accessible. +These will throw a fuller light on the subject; but sufficient +material is at the disposal of the writer to enable him to present an +accurate likeness of Lee, and to narrate clearly the incidents of his +career. In doing so, the aim of the author is to measure out full +justice to all--not to arouse old enmities, which should be allowed to +slumber, but to treat his subject with the judicial moderation of the +student of history. + +A few words will terminate this preface. The volume before the reader +was begun in 1866. The writer first, however, informed General Lee +of his design, and had the honor to receive from him in reply the +assurance that the work "would not interfere with any he might have in +contemplation; he had not written a line of any work as yet, and might +never do so; but, should he write a history of the campaigns of the +Army of Northern Virginia, the proposed work would be rather an +assistance than a hinderance." + +As the writer had offered promptly to discontinue the work if it were +not agreeable to General Lee, this reply was regarded in the light of +an assurance that he did not disapprove of it. The composition was, +however, interrupted, and the work laid aside. It is now resumed and +completed at a time when the death of the illustrious soldier adds a +new and absorbing interest to whatever is connected with his character +or career. + + + + +II. + +THE LEES OF VIRGINIA. + + +The Lees of Virginia spring from an ancient and respectable family of +Essex, in England. + +Of some members of the family, both in the Old World and the New, a +brief account will be given. The origin of an individual explains much +that is striking and peculiar in his own character; and it will be +found that General Lee inherited many of the traits of his ancestors, +especially of some eminent personages of his name in Virginia. + +The family pedigree is traced back by Lee, in the life of his father, +to Launcelot Lee, of London, in France, who accompanied William the +Conqueror to England. After the battle of Hastings, which subjected +England to the sway of the Normans, Launcelot Lee, like others, was +rewarded by lands wrested from the subdued Saxons. His estate lay in +Essex, and this is all that is known concerning him. Lionel Lee is the +next member of the family of whom mention is made. He lived during the +reign of Richard Coeur de Lion, and, when the king went on his third +crusade, in the year 1192, Lionel Lee raised a company of gentlemen, +and marched with him to the Holy Land. His career there was +distinguished; he displayed special gallantry at the siege of Acre, +and for this he received a solid proof of King Richard's approbation. +On his return he was made first Earl of Litchfield; the king presented +him with the estate of "Ditchley," which became the name afterward of +an estate of the Lees in Virginia; and, when he died, the armor which +he had worn in the Holy Land was placed in the department of "Horse +Armory" in the great Tower of London. + +The name of Richard Lee is next mentioned as one of the followers of +the Earl of Surrey in his expedition across the Scottish border in +1542. Two of the family about this period were "Knights Companions +of the Garter," and their banners, with the Lee arms above, were +suspended in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The coat-of-arms +was a shield "band sinister battled and embattled," the crest a closed +visor surmounted by a squirrel holding a nut. The motto, which may be +thought characteristic of one of General Lee's traits as a soldier, +was, "_Non incautus futuri_" + +Such are the brief notices given of the family in England. They seem +to have been persons of high character, and often of distinction. When +Richard Lee came to Virginia, and founded the family anew there, as +Launcelot, the first Lee, had founded it in England, he brought over +in his veins some of the best and most valiant blood of the great +Norman race. + +This Richard Lee, the _princeps_ of the family in Virginia, was, +it seems, like the rest of his kindred, strongly Cavalier in his +sentiments; indeed, the Lees seem always to have been Cavalier. The +reader will recall the stately old representative of the family in +Scott's "Woodstock"--Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley--who is seen stalking +proudly through the great apartments of the palace, in his laced +doublet, slashed boots, and velvet cloak, scowling darkly at the +Puritan intruders. Sir Henry was not a fanciful person, but a real +individual; and the political views attributed to him were those of +the Lee family, who remained faithful to the royal cause in all its +hours of adversity. + +It will be seen that Richard Lee, the first of the Virginia Lees, was +an ardent monarchist. He came over during the reign of Charles I., but +returned to England, bequeathing all his lands to his servants; he +subsequently came back to Virginia, however, and lived and died there. +In his will he styles himself "Richard Lee, of Strafford Langton, in +the County of Essex, Esquire." It is not certainly known whether he +sought refuge in Virginia after the failure of the king's cause, or +was tempted to emigrate with a view to better his fortunes in the New +World. Either may have been the impelling motive. Great numbers of +Cavaliers "came over" after the overthrow of Charles at Naseby; but a +large emigration had already taken place, and took place afterward, +induced by the salubrity of the country, the ease of living, and +the cheapness and fertility of the lands on the great rivers, where +families impoverished or of failing fortunes in England might "make +new settlements" and build on a new foundation. This would amply +account for the removal of Richard Lee to Virginia, and for the +ambition he seems to have been inspired with, to build and improve, +without attributing to him any apprehension of probable punishment for +his political course. Very many families had the first-named motives, +and commenced to build great manor-houses, which were never finished, +or were too costly for any one of their descendants to possess. The +abolition of primogeniture, despite the opposition of Pendleton and +others, overthrew all this; and the Lees, like other families, now +possess few of the broad acres which their ancestors acquired. + +To return, however, to Richard Lee. He had already visited Virginia in +some official capacity under the royal governor, Sir William Berkeley, +and had been so much pleased with the soil and climate of the country, +that he, as we have said, emigrated finally, and cast his lot in the +new land. He brought a number of followers and servants, and, coming +over to Westmoreland County, in the Northern Neck of Virginia, +"took up" extensive tracts of land there, and set about building +manor-houses upon them. + +Among these, it is stated, was the original "Stratford" House, +afterward destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, however, and became the +birthplace of Richard Henry Lee, and afterward of General Robert E. +Lee. We shall speak of it more in detail after finishing, in a few +words, our notice of Richard Lee, its founder, and the founder of the +Lee family in Virginia. He is described as a person of great force of +character and many virtues--as "a man of good stature, comely visage, +enterprising genius, sound head, vigorous spirit, and generous +nature." This may be suspected to partake of the nature of epitaph; +but, of his courage and energy, the proof remains in the action taken +by him in connection with Charles II. Inheriting, it would seem, in +full measure, the royalist and Cavalier sentiments of his family, he +united with Sir William Berkeley, the royal governor, in the irregular +proclamation of Charles II. in Virginia, a year or two before his +reinstallment on the English throne. He had already, it is reported on +the authority of well-supported tradition, made a voyage across the +Atlantic to Breda, where Charles II. was then in exile, and offered +to erect his standard in Virginia, and proclaim him king there. This +proposition the young monarch declined, shrinking, with excellent good +sense, from a renewal, under less favorable circumstances, of the +struggle which terminated at Worcester. Lee was, therefore, compelled +to return without having succeeded in his enterprise; but he had made, +it seems, a very strong impression in favor of Virginia upon the +somewhat frivolous young monarch. When he came to his throne again, +Charles II. graciously wore a coronation-robe of Virginia silk, and +Virginia, who had proved so faithful to him in the hour of his need, +was authorized, by royal decree, to rank thenceforward, in the British +empire, with England, Scotland, and Ireland, and bear upon her shield +the motto, "_En dat Virginia quartam._" + +Richard Lee returned, after his unsuccessful mission, to the Northern +Neck, and addressed himself thenceforward to the management of his +private fortunes and the affairs of the colony. He had now become +possessed of very extensive estates between the Potomac and +Rappahannock Rivers and elsewhere. Besides Stratford, he owned +plantations called "Mocke Neck," "Mathotick," "Paper-Maker's Neck," +"War Captain's Neck," "Bishop's Neck," and "Paradise," with four +thousand acres besides, on the Potomac, lands in Maryland, three +islands in Chesapeake Bay, an interest in several trading-vessels, and +innumerable indented and other servants. He became a member of the +King's Council, and lived in great elegance and comfort. That he was a +man of high character, and of notable piety for an age of free living +and worldly tendencies, his will shows. In that document he bequeaths +his soul "to that good and gracious God that gave it me, and to my +blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, assuredly trusting, in and by His +meritorious death and passion, to receive salvation." + +The attention of the reader has been particularly called to the +character and career of Richard Lee, not only because he was the +founder of the family in Virginia, but because the traits of the +individual reappear very prominently in the great soldier whose life +is the subject of this volume. The coolness, courage, energy, +and aptitude for great affairs, which marked Richard Lee in the +seventeenth century, were unmistakably present in the character of +Robert E. Lee in the nineteenth century. + +We shall conclude our notice of the family by calling attention to +that great group of celebrated men who illustrated the name in the +days of the Revolution, and exhibited the family characteristics as +clearly. These were Richard Henry Lee, of Chantilly, the famous orator +and statesman, who moved in the American Congress the Declaration of +Independence; Francis Lightfoot Lee, a scholar of elegant attainments +and high literary accomplishments, who signed, with his more renowned +brother, the Declaration; William Lee, who became Sheriff of London, +and ably seconded the cause of the colonies; and Arthur Lee, +diplomatist and representative of America abroad, where he displayed, +as his diplomatic correspondence indicates, untiring energy and +devotion to the interests of the colonies. The last of these brothers +was Philip Ludwell Lee, whose daughter Matilda married her second +cousin, General Henry Lee. This gentleman, afterward famous as +"Light-Horse Harry" Lee, married a second time, and from this union +sprung the subject of this memoir. + + + + +III. + +GENERAL "LIGHT-HORSE HARRY" LEE. + + +This celebrated soldier, who so largely occupied the public eye in the +Revolution, is worthy of notice, both as an eminent member of the Lee +family, and as the father of General Robert E. Lee. + +He was born in 1756, in the county of Westmoreland--which boasts of +being the birthplace of Washington, Monroe, Richard Henry Lee, General +Henry Lee, and General Robert E. Lee, Presidents, statesmen, and +soldiers--and, after graduating at Princeton College, entered the +army, in 1776, as captain of cavalry, an arm of the service afterward +adopted by his more celebrated descendant, in the United States army. +He soon displayed military ability of high order, and, for the capture +of Paulus's Hook, received a gold medal from Congress. In 1781 he +marched with his "Legion" to join Greene in the Carolinas, carrying +with him the high esteem of Washington, who had witnessed his skilful +and daring operations in the Jerseys. His career in the arduous +campaigns of the South against Cornwallis, and the efficient commander +of his cavalry arm. Colonel Tarleton, may be best understood from +General Greene's dispatches, and from his own memoirs of the +operations of the army, which are written with as much modesty as +ability. From these it is apparent that the small body of the "Legion" +cavalry, under its active and daring commander, was the "eye and ear" +of Greene's army, whose movements it accompanied everywhere, preceding +its advances and covering its retreats. Few pages of military history +are more stirring than those in Lee's "Memoirs" describing Greene's +retrograde movement to the Dan; and this alone, if the hard work at +the Eutaws and elsewhere were left out, would place Lee's fame as a +cavalry officer upon a lasting basis. The distinguished soldier under +whose eye the Virginian operated did full justice to his courage and +capacity. "I believe," wrote Greene, "that few officers, either in +Europe or America, are held in so high a position of admiration as you +are. Everybody knows I have the highest opinion of you as an officer, +and you know I love you as a friend. No man, in the progress of the +campaign, had equal merit with yourself." The officer who wrote those +lines was not a courtier nor a diplomatist, but a blunt and honest +soldier who had seen Lee's bearing in the most arduous straits, +and was capable of appreciating military ability. Add Washington's +expression of his "love and thanks," in a letter written in 1789, +and the light in which he was regarded by his contemporaries will be +understood. + +His "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department" is a valuable +military history and a very interesting book. The movements of Greene +in face of Cornwallis are described with a precision which renders the +narrative valuable to military students, and a picturesqueness which +rivets the attention of the general reader. From these memoirs a +very clear conception of the writer's character may be derived, and +everywhere in them is felt the presence of a cool and dashing nature, +a man gifted with the _mens aequa in arduis_, whom no reverse of +fortune could cast down. The fairness and courtesy of the writer +toward his opponents is an attractive characteristic of the work,[1] +which is written with a simplicity and directness of style highly +agreeable to readers of judgment.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See his observations upon the source of his successes +over Tarleton, full of the generous spirit of a great soldier. He +attributes them in no degree to his own military ability, but to the +superior character of his large, thorough-bred horses, which rode over +Tarleton's inferior stock. He does not state that the famous "Legion" +numbered only two hundred and fifty men, and that Tarleton commanded a +much larger force of the best cavalry of the British army.] + +[Footnote 2: A new edition of this work, preceded by a life of the +author, was published by General Robert E. Lee in 1869.] + +After the war General Henry Lee served a term in Congress; was then +elected Governor of Virginia; returned in 1799 to Congress; and, in +his oration upon the death of Washington, employed the well-known +phrase, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of +his countrymen." He died in Georgia, in the year 1818, having made a +journey thither for the benefit of his health. + +General Henry Lee was married twice; first, as we have said, to his +cousin Matilda, through whom he came into possession of the old family +estate of Stratford; and a second time, June 18,1793, to Miss Anne +Hill Carter, a daughter of Charles Carter, Esq., of "Shirley," on +James River. + +The children of this second marriage were three sons and two +daughters--Charles Carter, _Robert Edward_, Smith, Ann, and Mildred. + +[Illustration: "STRATFORD HOUSE." The Birthplace of Gen. Lee.] + + + + +IV. + +STRATFORD. + + +Robert Edward Lee was born at Stratford, in Westmoreland County, +Virginia, on the 19th of January, 1807.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The date of General Lee's birth has been often given +incorrectly. The authority for that here adopted is the entry in the +family Bible, in the handwriting of his mother.] + +Before passing to Lee's public career, and the narrative of the stormy +scenes of his after-life, let us pause a moment and bestow a glance +upon this ancient mansion, which is still standing--a silent and +melancholy relic of the past--in the remote "Northern Neck." As the +birthplace of a great man, it would demand attention; but it has other +claims still, as a venerable memorial of the past and its eminent +personages, one of the few remaining monuments of a state of society +that has disappeared or is disappearing. + +The original Stratford House is supposed, as we have said, to have +been built by Richard Lee, the first of the family in the New World. +Whoever may have been its founder, it was destroyed in the time of +Thomas Lee, an eminent representative of the name, early in the +eighteenth century. Thomas Lee was a member of the King's Council, a +gentleman of great popularity; and, when it was known that his house +had been burned, contributions were everywhere made to rebuild it. The +Governor, the merchants of the colony, and even Queen Anne in person, +united in this subscription; the house speedily rose again, at a +cost of about eighty thousand dollars; and this is the edifice still +standing in Westmoreland. The sum expended in its construction must +not be estimated in the light of to-day. At that time the greater part +of the heavy work in house-building was performed by servants of the +manor; it is fair, indeed, to say that the larger part of the work +thus cost nothing in money; and thus the eighty thousand dollars +represented only the English brick, the carvings, furniture, and +decorations. + +The construction of such an edifice had at that day a distinct object. +These great old manor-houses, lost in the depths of the country, were +intended to become the headquarters of the family in all time. +In their large apartments the eldest son was to uphold the name. +Generation after generation was to pass, and some one of the old name +still live there; and though all this has passed away now, and +may appear a worn-out superstition, and, though some persons may +stigmatize it as contributing to the sentiment of "aristocracy," the +strongest opponents of that old system may pardon in us the expression +of some regret that this love of the hearthstone and old family +memories should have disappeared. The great man whose character is +sought to be delineated in this volume never lost to the last this +home and family sentiment. He knew the kinships of every one, and +loved the old country-houses of the old Virginia families--plain and +honest people, attached, like himself, to the Virginia soil. We pass +to a brief description of the old house in which Lee was born. + +Stratford, the old home of the Lees, but to-day the property of +others, stands on a picturesque bluff on the southern bank of the +Potomac, and is a house of very considerable size. It is built in the +form of the letter H. The walls are several feet in thickness; in the +centre is a saloon thirty feet in size; and surmounting each wing is a +pavilion with balustrades, above which rise clusters of chimneys. The +front door is reached by a broad flight of steps, and the grounds are +handsome, and variegated by the bright foliage of oaks, cedars, and +maple-trees. Here and there in the extensive lawn rises a slender and +ghostly old Lombardy poplar--a tree once a great favorite in Virginia, +but now seen only here and there, the relic of a past generation. + +Within, the Stratford House is as antique as without, and, with its +halls, corridors, wainscoting, and ancient mouldings, takes the +visitor back to the era of powder and silk stockings. Such was the +mansion to which General Harry Lee came to live after the Revolution, +and the sight of the old home must have been dear to the soldier's +heart. Here had flourished three generations of Lees, dispensing a +profuse and open-handed hospitality. In each generation some one of +the family had distinguished himself, and attracted the "best company" +to Stratford; the old walls had rung with merriment; the great door +was wide open; everybody was welcome; and one could see there a good +illustration of a long-passed manner of living, which had at least the +merit of being hearty, open-handed, and picturesque. General Harry +Lee, the careless soldier, partook of the family tendency to +hospitality; he kept open house, entertained all comers, and hence, +doubtless, sprung the pecuniary embarrassments embittering an old age +which his eminent public services should have rendered serene and +happy. + +Our notice of Stratford may appear unduly long to some readers, but it +is not without a distinct reference to the subject of this volume. In +this quiet old mansion--and in the very apartment where Richard Henry +and Francis Lightfoot Lee first saw the light--Robert E. Lee was born. +The eyes of the child fell first upon the old apartments, the great +grounds, the homely scenes around the old country-house--upon the tall +Lombardy poplars and the oaks, through which passed the wind bearing +to his ears the murmur of the Potomac. + +He left the old home of his family before it could have had any very +great effect upon him, it would seem; but it is impossible to estimate +these first influences, to decide the depth of the impression which +the child's heart is capable of receiving. The bright eyes of young +Robert Lee must have seen much around him to interest him and shape +his first views. Critics charged him with family pride sometimes; +if he possessed that virtue or failing, the fact was not strange. +Stratford opened before his childish eyes a memorial of the old +splendor of the Lees. He saw around him old portraits, old plate, and +old furniture, telling plainly of the ancient origin and high position +of his family. Old parchments contained histories of the deeds of his +race; old genealogical trees traced their line far back into the past; +old servants, grown gray in the house, waited upon the child; and, in +a corner of one of the great apartments, an old soldier, gray, too, +and shattered in health, once the friend of Washington and Greene, was +writing the history of the battles in which he had drawn his sword for +his native land. + +Amid these scenes and surroundings passed the first years of Robert +E. Lee. They must have made their impression upon his character at +a period when the mind takes every new influence, and grows in +accordance with it; and, to the last, the man remained simple, hearty, +proud, courteous--the _country Virginian_ in all the texture of his +character. He always rejoiced to visit the country; loved horses; was +an excellent rider; was fond of plain country talk, jests, humorous +anecdote, and chit-chat--was the plain country gentleman, in a word, +preferring grass and trees and streams to all the cities and crowds in +the world. In the last year of his life he said to a lady: "My visits +to Florida and the White Sulphur have not benefited me much; but it +did me good to go to the White House, and see _the mules walking +round, and the corn growing_." + +We notice a last result of the child's residence now, or visits +afterward to the country, and the sports in which he indulged--the +superb physical health and strength which remained unshaken afterward +by all the hardships of war. Lee, to the last, was a marvel of sound +physical development; his frame was as solid as oak, and stood the +strain of exhausting marches, loss of sleep, hunger, thirst, heat, and +cold, without failing him. + +When he died, it was care which crushed his heart; his health was +perfect. + + + + +V. + +LEE'S EARLY MANHOOD AND CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. + + +Of Lee's childhood we have no memorials, except the words of his +father, long afterward. + +"_Robert was always good_," wrote General Henry Lee.[1] + +[Footnote 1: To C.C. Lee, February 9, 1817.] + +That is all; but the words indicate much--that the good man was +"always good." It will be seen that, when he went to West Point, he +never received a demerit. The good boy was the good young officer, and +became, in due time, the good commander-in-chief. + +In the year 1811 General Henry Lee left Stratford, and removed with +his family to Alexandria, actuated, it seems, by the desire of +affording his children facilities for gaining their education. After +his death, in 1818, Mrs. Lee continued to reside in Alexandria; was +a communicant of Christ Church; and her children were taught the +Episcopal catechism by young William Meade, eventually Bishop of +Virginia. We shall see how Bishop Meade, long afterward, recalled +those early days, when he and his pupil, young Robert Lee, were +equally unknown--how, when about to die, just as the war began +in earnest, he sent for the boy he had once instructed, now the +gray-haired soldier, and, when he came to the bedside, exclaimed: "God +bless you, Robert! I can't call you 'general'--I have heard you your +catechism too often!" + +Alexandria continued to be the residence of the family until the young +man was eighteen years of age, when it was necessary for him to make +choice of a profession; and, following the bent of his temperament, he +chose the army. Application was made for his appointment from Virginia +as a cadet at West Point. He obtained the appointment, and, in 1825, +at the age of eighteen, entered the Military Academy. His progress in +his studies was steady, and it is said that, during his stay at West +Point, he was never reprimanded, nor marked with a "demerit." He +graduated, in July, 1829, second in his class, and was assigned to +duty, with the rank of lieutenant, in the corps of Engineers. + +[Illustration: R.E. LEE, AS A YOUNG OFFICER New York D Apololay & Co.] + +He is described, by those who saw him at this time, as a young man of +great personal beauty; and this is probably not an exaggeration, as he +remained to the last distinguished for the elegance and dignity of +his person. He had not yet lost what the cares of command afterward +banished--his gayety and _abandon_--and was noted, it is said, for the +sweetness of his smile and the cordiality of his manners. The person +who gave the writer these details added, "He was a perfect gentleman." +Three years after graduating at West Point--in the year 1832--he +married Mary Custis, daughter of Mr. George Washington Parke Custis, +of Arlington, the adopted son of General Washington; and by this +marriage he came into possession of the estate of Arlington and the +White House--points afterward well known in the war. + +The life of Lee up to the beginning of the great conflict of 1861-'65 +is of moderate interest only, and we shall not dwell at length upon +it. He was employed on the coast defences, in New York and Virginia; +and, in 1835, in running the boundary line between the States of Ohio +and Michigan. In September, 1836, he was promoted to the rank of first +lieutenant; in July, 1838, to a captaincy; in 1844 he became a member +of the Board of Visitors to the Military Academy; in 1845 he was a +member of the Board of Engineers; and in 1846, when the Mexican War +broke out, was assigned to duty as chief engineer of the Central Army +of Mexico, in which capacity he served to the end of the war. + +Up to the date of the Mexican War, Captain Lee had attracted no public +attention, but had impressed the military authorities, including +General Winfield Scott, with a favorable opinion of his ability as a +topographical engineer. For this department of military science he +exhibited endowments of the first class--what other faculties of the +soldier he possessed, it remained for events to show. This opportunity +was now given him in the Mexican War; and the efficient character of +his services may be seen in Scott's Autobiography, where "Captain Lee, +of the Engineers," is mentioned in every report, and everywhere with +commendation. From the beginning of operations, the young officer +seems to have been summoned to the councils of war, and General Scott +particularly mentions that held at Vera Cruz--so serious an affair, +that "a death-bed discussion could hardly have been more solemn." +The passages in which the lieutenant-general mentions Lee are too +numerous, and not of sufficient interest to quote, but two entries +will exhibit the general tenor of this "honorable mention." After +Cerro Gordo, Scott writes, in his official report of the battle: "I am +compelled to make special mention of Captain R.E. Lee, engineer. This +officer greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Vera Cruz; was +again indefatigable during these operations, in reconnoissance as +daring, as laborious, and of the utmost value." After Chapultepec, he +wrote: "Captain Lee, so constantly distinguished, also bore important +orders for me (September 13th), until he fainted from a wound, and the +loss of two nights' sleep at the batteries." + +We may add here the statement of the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, that he +"had heard General Scott more than once say that his success in Mexico +was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. +Lee." + +For these services Lee received steady promotion. For meritorious +conduct at Cerro Gordo, he was made brevet major; for the same at +Contreras and Cherubusco, brevet lieutenant-colonel; and, +after Chapultepec, he received the additional brevet of +colonel--distinctions fairly earned by energy and courage. + +When the war ended, Lee returned to his former duties in the Engineer +Corps of the U.S.A., and was placed in charge of the works, then +in process of construction, at Fort Carroll, near Baltimore. His +assignment to the duty of thus superintending the military defences +of Hampton Roads, New York Bay, and the approaches to Baltimore, in +succession, would seem to indicate that his abilities as engineer were +highly esteemed. Of his possession of such ability there can be no +doubt. The young officer was not only thoroughly trained in this high +department of military science, but had for his duties unmistakable +natural endowments. This fact was clearly indicated on many occasions +in the Confederate struggle--his eye for positions never failed him. +It is certain that, had Lee never commanded troops in the field, he +would have left behind him the reputation of an excellent engineer. + +In 1855 he was called for the first time to command men, for his +duties hitherto had been those of military engineer, astronomer, or +staff-officer. The act of Congress directing that two new cavalry +regiments should be raised excited an ardent desire in the officers of +the army to receive appointments in them, and Lee was transferred from +his place of engineer to the post of lieutenant-colonel in the Second +Cavalry, one of the regiments in question. The extraordinary number +of names of officers in this regiment who afterward became famous +is worthy of notice. The colonel was Albert Sydney Johnston; the +lieutenant-colonel, R.E. Lee; the senior major, William J. Hardee; the +junior major, George H. Thomas; the senior captain, Earl Yan Dorn; +the next ranking captain, Kirby Smith; the lieutenants, Hood, Fields, +Cosby, Major, Fitzhugh Lee, Johnson, Palmer, and Stoneman, all of +whom became general officers afterward on the Southern side, with the +exception of Thomas, and the three last named, who became prominent +generals in the Federal army. It is rare that such a constellation of +famous names is found in the list of officers of a single regiment. +The explanation is, nevertheless simple. Positions in the new +regiments were eagerly coveted by the best soldiers of the army, and, +in appointing the officers, those of conspicuous ability only were +selected. The Second Regiment of cavalry thus became the _corps +d'élite_ of the United States Army; and, after Albert Sydney Johnston, +Robert E. Lee was the ranking officer. + +Lee proceeded with his regiment to Texas, remaining there for several +years on frontier duty, and does not reappear again until 1859. + +Such was the early career in the army of the soldier soon to +become famous on a greater theatre--that of a thoroughly-trained, +hard-working, and conscientious officer. With the single exception +of his brief record in the Mexican War, his life had been passed in +official duties, unconnected with active military operations. He +was undoubtedly what is called a "rising man," but he had had no +opportunity to display the greatest faculties of the soldier. The +time was coming now when he was to be tested, and the measure of his +faculties taken in one of the greatest wars which darken the pages of +history. + +A single incident of public importance marks the life of Lee between +1855 and 1861. This was what is known to the world as the "John Brown +raid"--an incident of the year 1859, and preluding the approaching +storm. This occurrence is too well known to require a minute account +in these pages, and we shall accordingly pass over it briefly, +indicating simply the part borne in the affair by Lee. He was in +Washington at the time--the fall of 1859--on a visit to his family, +then residing at Arlington, near the city, when intelligence came that +a party of desperadoes had attacked and captured Harper's Ferry, with +the avowed intent of arming and inciting to insurrection the slaves +of the neighborhood and entire State. Lee was immediately, thereupon, +directed by President Buchanan to proceed to the point of danger and +arrest the rioters. He did so promptly; found upon his arrival that +Brown and his confederates had shut themselves up in an engine-house +of the town, with a number of their prisoners. Brown was summoned to +surrender, to be delivered over to the authorities for civil trial--he +refused; and Lee then proceeded to assault, with a force of marines, +the stronghold to which Brown had retreated. The doors were driven in, +Brown firing upon the assailants and killing or wounding two; but he +and his men were cut down and captured; they were turned over to the +Virginia authorities, and Lee, having performed the duty assigned him +returned to Washington, and soon afterward to Texas. + +He remained there, commanding the department, until the early spring +of 1861. He was then recalled to Washington at the moment when the +conflict between the North and the South was about to commence. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND SCOTT. + + +Lee found the country burning as with fever, and the air hot with +contending passions. The animosity, long smouldering between the two +sections, was about to burst into the flame of civil war; all men were +taking sides; the war of discussion on the floor of Congress was +about to yield to the clash of bayonets and the roar of cannon on the +battle-field. + +Any enumeration of the causes which led to this unhappy state of +affairs would be worse than useless in a volume like the present. Even +less desirable would be a discussion of the respective blame to be +attached to each of the great opponents in inaugurating the bitter and +long-continued struggle. Such a discussion would lead to nothing, and +would probably leave every reader of the same opinion as before. It +would also be the repetition of a worn-out and wearisome story. These +events are known of all men; for the political history of the United +States, from 1820, when the slavery agitation began, on the question +of the Missouri restriction, to 1861, when it ended in civil +convulsion, has been discussed, rediscussed, and discussed again, in +every journal, great and small, in the whole country. The person who +is not familiar, therefore, with the main points at issue, must be +ignorant beyond the power of any writer to enlighten him. We need +only say that the election of Abraham Lincoln, the nominee of the +Republican party, had determined the Gulf States to leave the Union. +South Carolina accordingly seceded, on the 20th of December, 1860; and +by the 1st of February, 1861, she had been followed by Mississippi, +Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The struggle thus +approached. Military movements began at many points, like those +distant flashes of lightning and vague mutterings which herald the +tempest. Early in February Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was +elected President of the Confederate States, at Montgomery. On the +13th of April Fort Sumter surrendered to General Beauregard, and +on the next day, April 14, 1861, President Lincoln issued his +proclamation declaring the Gulf States in rebellion, and calling upon +the States which had not seceded for seventy-five thousand men to +enforce the Federal authority. + +Tip to this time the older State of Virginia had persistently resisted +secession. Her refusal to array herself against the General Government +had been based upon an unconquerable repugnance, it seemed, for the +dissolution of that Union which she had so long loved; from real +attachment to the flag which she had done so much to make honorable, +and from a natural indisposition to rush headlong into a conflict +whose whole fury would burst upon and desolate her own soil. The +proclamation of President Lincoln, however, decided her course. The +convention had obdurately refused, week after week, to pass the +ordinance of secession. Now the naked question was, whether Virginia +should fight with or against her sisters of the Gulf States. She was +directed to furnish her quota of the seventy-five thousand troops +called for by President Lincoln, and must decide at once. On the 17th +of April, 1861, accordingly, an ordinance of secession passed the +Virginia Convention, and that Commonwealth cast her fortunes for weal +or woe with the Southern Confederacy. + +Such is a brief and rapid summary of the important public events which +had preceded, or immediately followed, Lee's return to Washington in +March, 1861. A grave, and to him a very solemn, question demanded +instant decision. Which side should he espouse--the side of the United +States or that of the South? To choose either caused him acute pain. +The attachment of the soldier to his flag is greater than the civilian +can realize, and Lee had before him the brightest military prospects. +The brief record which we have presented of his military career in +Mexico conveys a very inadequate idea of the position which he had +secured in the army. He was regarded by the authorities at Washington, +and by the country at large, as the ablest and most promising of +all the rising class of army officers. Upon General Winfield Scott, +Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, he had made an impression +which is the most striking proof of his great merit. General Scott was +enthusiastic in his expressions of admiration for the young Virginian; +and with the death of that general, which his great age rendered a +probable event at any moment, Lee was sure to become a candidate for +the highest promotion in the service. To this his great ability gave +him a title at the earliest possible moment; and other considerations +operated to advance his fortunes. He was conceded by all to be a +person of the highest moral character; was the descendant of an +influential and distinguished family, which had rendered important +services to the country in the Revolution; his father had been the +friend of Washington, and had achieved the first glories of arms, and +the ample estates derived from his wife gave him that worldly prestige +which has a direct influence upon the fortunes of an individual. +Colonel Lee could thus look forward, without the imputation of +presumption, to positions of the highest responsibility and honor +under the Government. With the death of Scott, and other aged officers +of the army, the place of commander-in-chief would fall to the most +deserving of the younger generation; and of this generation there was +no one so able and prominent as Lee.[1] + +[Footnote 1: "General Scott stated his purpose to recommend Lee as his +successor in the chief command of the army."--_Hon. Reverdy Johnson_.] + +The personal relations of Lee with General Scott constituted another +powerful temptation to decide him against going over to the Southern +side. We have referred to the great admiration which the old soldier +felt for the young officer. He is said to have exclaimed on one +occasion: "It would be better for every officer in the army, including +myself, to die than Robert Lee." There seems no doubt of the fact that +Scott looked to Lee as his ultimate successor in the supreme command, +for which his character and military ability peculiarly fitted him. +Warm personal regard gave additional strength to his feelings in +Lee's favor; and the consciousness of this regard on the part of his +superior made it still more difficult for Lee to come to a decision. + + + + +VII. + +LEE RESIGNS. + + +It is known that General Scott used every argument to persuade Lee not +to resign. To retain him in the service, he had been appointed, on his +arrival at Washington, a full colonel, and in 1860 his name had been +sent in, with others, by Scott, as a proper person to fill the vacancy +caused by the death of Brigadier-General Jessup. To these tempting +intimations that rapid promotion would attend his adherence to the +United States flag, Scott added personal appeals, which, coming from +him, must have been almost irresistible. + +"For God's sake, don't resign, Lee!" the lieutenant-general is said +to have exclaimed. And, in the protracted interviews which took place +between the two officers, every possible argument was urged by the +elder to decide Lee to remain firm. + +The attempt was in vain. Lee's attachment to the flag he had so long +fought under, and his personal affection for General Scott, were +great, but his attachment to his native State was still more powerful. +By birth a Virginian, he declared that he owed his first duty to her +and his own people. If she summoned him, he must obey the summons. As +long as she remained in the Union he might remain in the United States +Army. When she seceded from the Union, and took part with the Gulf +States, he must follow her fortunes, and do his part in defending her. +The struggle had been bitter, but brief. "My husband has wept tears of +blood," Mrs. Lee wrote to a friend, "over this terrible war; but he +must, as a man and a Virginian, share the destiny of his State, which +has solemnly pronounced for independence." + +The secession of Virginia, by a vote of the convention assembled +at Richmond, decided Lee in his course. He no longer hesitated. To +General Scott's urgent appeals not to send in his resignation, he +replied: "I am compelled to. I cannot consult my own feelings in this +matter." He accordingly wrote to General Scott from Arlington, on +the 20th of April, enclosing his resignation. The letter was in the +following words: + + GENERAL: Since my interview with you, on the 18th instant, I have + felt that I ought not longer to retain my commission in the army. + I therefore tender my resignation, which I request you will + recommend for acceptance. It would have been presented at once but + for the struggle it has cost me to separate myself from a service + to which I have devoted all the best years of my life, and all the + ability I possessed. + + During the whole of that time--more than a quarter of a century--I + have experienced nothing but kindness from my superiors, and the + most cordial friendship from my comrades. To no one, general, have + I been as much indebted as to yourself for uniform kindness and + consideration, and it has always been my ardent desire to merit + your approbation. I shall carry to the grave the most grateful + recollections of your kind consideration, and your name and fame + will always be dear to me. + + Save in defence of my native State, I never desire again to draw + my sword. Be pleased to accept my most earnest wishes for the + continuance of your happiness and prosperity, and believe me, most + truly yours, + + R.E. LEE. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, _Commanding United + States Army_. + +In this letter, full of dignity and grave courtesy, Lee vainly +attempts to hide the acute pain he felt at parting from his friend and +abandoning the old service. Another letter, written on the same day, +expresses the same sentiment of painful regret: + + ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, _April 20,1861_. + + MY DEAR SISTER: I am grieved at my inability to see you ... I have + been waiting "for a more convenient season," which has brought to + many before me deep and lasting regret. Now we are in a state of + war which will yield to nothing. The whole South is in a state of + revolution, into which Virginia, after a long struggle, has been + drawn, and, _though I recognize no necessity for this state of + things_, and would have forborne and pleaded to the end for + redress of grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own person I + had to meet the question, _whether I should take part against my + native State_. With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling + of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able + to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my + children, my home. I have, therefore, resigned my commission + in the army, and, save in defence of my native State, with the + sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I + may never be called on to draw my sword. + + I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as + you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought + right. To show you the feeling and struggle it has cost me, I send + a copy of my letter to General Scott, which accompanied my letter + of resignation. I have no time for more.... May God guard and + protect you and yours, and shower upon you every blessing, is the + prayer of your devoted brother, + + R.E. LEE. + +The expression used in this letter--"though I recognize no necessity +for this state of things"--conveys very clearly the political +sentiments of the writer. He did not regard the election of a +Republican President, even by a strictly sectional vote, as sufficient +ground for a dissolution of the Union. It may be added here, that +such, we believe, was the opinion of a large number of Southern +officers at that time. Accustomed to look to the flag as that which +they were called upon to defend against all comers, they were loath to +admit the force of the reasoning which justified secession, and called +upon them to abandon it. Their final action seems to have been taken +from the same considerations which controlled the course of Lee. Their +States called them, and they obeyed. + +In resigning his commission and going over to the South, Lee +sacrificed his private fortunes, in addition to all his hopes of +future promotion in the United States Army. His beautiful home, +Arlington, situated upon the heights opposite Washington, must be +abandoned forever, and fall into the hands of the enemy. This old +mansion was a model of peaceful loveliness and attraction. "All +around here," says a writer, describing the place, "Arlington Heights +presents a lovely picture of rural beauty. The 'General Lee house,' +as some term it, stands on a grassy lot, surrounded with a grove of +stately trees and underwood, except in front, where is a verdant +sloping ground for a few rods, when it descends into a valley, +spreading away in beautiful and broad expanse to the lovely Potomac. +This part of the splendid estate is apparently a highly-cultivated +meadow, the grass waving in the gentle breeze, like the undulating +bosom of Old Atlantic. To the south, north, and west, the grounds are +beautifully diversified into hill and valley, and richly stored with +oak, willow, and maple, though the oak is the principal wood. The view +from the height is a charming picture. Washington, Georgetown, and the +intermediate Potomac, are all before you in the foreground." + +In this old mansion crowning the grassy hill, the young officer had +passed the happiest moments of his life. All around him were spots +associated with his hours of purest enjoyment. Each object in the +house--the old furniture and very table-sets--recalled the memory of +Washington, and were dear to him. Here were many pieces of the "Martha +Washington china," portions of the porcelain set presented to Mrs. +Washington by Lafayette and others--in the centre of each piece the +monogram "M.W." with golden rays diverging to the names of the old +thirteen States. Here were also fifty pieces, remnants of the set +of one thousand, procured from China by the Cincinnati Society, and +presented to Washington--articles of elaborate decoration in blue and +gold, "with the coat-of-arms of the society, held by Fame, with a blue +ribbon, from which is suspended the eagle of the order, with a green +wreath about its neck, and on its breast a shield representing the +inauguration of the order." Add to these the tea-table used by +Washington and one of his bookcases; old portraits, antique furniture, +and other memorials of the Lee family from Stratford--let the reader +imagine the old mansion stored with these priceless relics, and he +will understand with what anguish Lee must have contemplated what came +duly to pass, the destruction, by rude hands, of objects so dear to +him. That he must have foreseen the fate of his home is certain. To +take sides with Virginia was to give up Arlington to its fate. + +There is no proof, however, that this sacrifice of his personal +fortunes had any effect upon him. If he could decide to change his +flag, and dissolve every tie which bound him to the old service, he +could sacrifice all else without much regret. No one will be found to +say that the hope of rank or emolument in the South influenced him. +The character and whole career of the man contradict the idea. His +ground of action may be summed up in a single sentence. He went with +his State because he believed it was his duty to do so, and because, +to ascertain what was his duty, and perform it, was the cardinal maxim +of his life. + + + + +VIII. + +HIS RECEPTION AT RICHMOND. + + +No sooner had intelligence of Lee's resignation of his commission +in the United States Army reached Richmond, than Governor Letcher +appointed him major-general of the military forces of Virginia. The +appointment was confirmed by the convention, rather by acclamation +than formal vote; and on the 23d of April, Lee, who had meanwhile +left Washington and repaired to Richmond, was honored by a formal +presentation to the convention. + +The address of President Janney was eloquent, and deserves to be +preserved. Lee stood in the middle aisle, and the president, rising, +said: + + "MAJOR-GENERAL LEE: In the name of the people of our native State, + here represented, I bid you a cordial and heart-felt welcome to + this hall, in which we may almost yet hear the echoes of the + voices of the statesmen, the soldiers, and sages of by-gone days, + who have borne your name, and whose blood now flows in your veins. + + "We met in the month of February last, charged with the solemn + duty of protecting the rights, the honor, and the interests of the + people of this Commonwealth. We differed for a time as to the best + means of accomplishing that object, but there never was, at any + moment, a shade of difference among us as to the great object + itself; and now, Virginia having taken her position, as far as + the power of this convention extends, we stand animated by one + impulse, governed by one desire and one determination, and that + is, that she shall be defended, and that no spot of her soil shall + be polluted by the foot of an invader. + + "When the necessity became apparent of having a leader for our + forces, all hearts and all eyes, by the impulse of an instinct + which is a surer guide than reason itself, turned to the old + county of Westmoreland. We knew how prolific she had been in other + days of heroes and statesmen. We knew she had given birth to the + Father of his Country, to Richard Henry Lee, to Monroe, and last, + though not least, to your own gallant father, and we knew well, by + your deeds, that her productive power was not yet exhausted. + + "Sir, we watched with the most profound and intense interest the + triumphal march of the army led by General Scott, to which you + were attached, from Vera Cruz to the capital of Mexico. We read of + the sanguinary conflicts and the blood-stained fields, in all + of which victory perched upon our own banners. We knew of the + unfading lustre that was shed upon the American arms by that + campaign, and we know, also, what your modesty has always + disclaimed, that no small share of the glory of those achievements + was due to your valor and your military genius. + + "Sir, one of the proudest recollections of my life will be the + honor that I yesterday had of submitting to this body confirmation + of the nomination, made by the Governor of this State, of you + as commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of this + Commonwealth. I rose to put the question, and when I asked if this + body would advise and consent to that appointment, there rushed + from the hearts to the tongues of all the members an affirmative + response, which told with an emphasis that could leave no doubt + of the feeling whence it emanated. I put the negative of the + question, for form's sake, but there was an unbroken silence. + + "Sir, we have, by this unanimous vote, expressed our convictions + that you are at this day, among the living citizens of Virginia, + 'first in war.' We pray to God most fervently that you may so + conduct the operations committed to your Charge that it may soon + be said of you that you are 'first in peace,' and when that time + comes you will have earned the still prouder distinction of being + 'first in the hearts of your countrymen.'" + +The president concluded by saying that Virginia on that day intrusted +her spotless sword to Lee's keeping, and Lee responded as follows: + +"MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: Profoundly impressed +with the solemnity of the occasion, for which I must say I was not +prepared, I accept the position assigned me by your partiality. I +would have much preferred had your choice fallen upon an abler man. +Trusting in Almighty God, an approving conscience, and the aid of my +fellow-citizens, I devote myself to the service of my native State, in +whose behalf alone will I ever again draw my sword." + +Such were the modest and dignified expressions of Lee in accepting the +great trust. The reply is brief and simple, but these are very great +merits on such an occasion. No portion of the address contains a +phrase or word denunciatory of the Federal Government, or of the +motives of the opponents of Virginia; and this moderation and absence +of all rancor characterized the utterances of Lee, both oral and +written, throughout the war. He spoke, doubtless, as he felt, and +uttered no expression of heated animosity, because he cherished no +such sentiment. His heart was bleeding still from the cruel trial it +had undergone in abruptly tearing away from the old service to embark +upon civil war; with the emotions of the present occasion, excited by +the great ovation in his honor, no bitterness mingled--or at least, if +there were such bitterness in his heart, he did not permit it to rise +to his lips. He accepted the trust confided to him in terms of dignity +and moderation, worthy of Washington; exchanged grave salutations with +the members of the convention; and then, retiring from the hall where +he had solemnly consecrated his life to his native Commonwealth, +proceeded at once to energetic work to get the State in a posture of +defence. + +The sentiment of the country in reference to Lee was even warmer than +that of the convention. For weeks, reports had been rife that he had +determined to adhere to the Federal Government in the approaching +struggle. Such an event, it was felt by all, would be a public +calamity to Virginia; and the general joy may be imagined when it was +known that Lee had resigned and come to fight with his own people. He +assumed command, therefore, of all the Virginia forces, in the +midst of universal public rejoicing; and the fact gave strength +and consistency to the general determination to resist the Federal +Government to the last. + + + + +IX. + +LEE IN 1861. + + +At this time--April, 1861--General Lee was fifty-four years of age, +and may be said to have been in the ripe vigor of every faculty. +Physically and intellectually he was "at his best," and in the bloom +of manhood. His figure was erect, and he bore himself with the brief, +somewhat stiff air of command derived from his military education +and service in the army. This air of the professional soldier, which +characterized generally the graduates of West Point, was replaced +afterward by a grave dignity, the result of high command and great +responsibilities. In April, 1861, however, he was rather the ordinary +army officer in bearing than the commander-in-chief. + +He had always been remarkable for his manly beauty, both of face and +figure, and the cares of great command had not yet whitened his hair. +There was not a gray hair in his head, and his mustache was dark and +heavy. The rest of his face was clean-shaven, and his cheeks had that +fresh, ruddy hue which indicates high physical health. This was not at +that time or afterward the result of high living. Of all the prominent +personages of his epoch. Lee was, perhaps, the most temperate. He +rarely drank even so much as a single glass of wine, and it was a +matter of general notoriety in the army afterward, that he cared not +what he ate. The ruddy appearance which characterized him from first +to last was the result of the most perfectly-developed physical +health, which no species of indulgence had ever impaired. He used no +tobacco then or afterward, in any shape--that seductive weed which has +been called "the soldier's comfort"--and seemed, indeed, superior +to all those small vices which assail men of his profession. Grave, +silent, with a military composure of bearing which amounted at times, +as we have said, to stiffness, he resembled a machine in the shape of +a man. At least this was the impression which he produced upon those +who saw him in public at this time. + +The writer's design, here, is to indicate the personal appearance and +bearing of General Lee on the threshold of the war. It may be said, by +way of summing up all, that he was a full-blooded "West-Pointer" in +appearance; the _militaire_ as distinguished from the civilian; and +no doubt impressed those who held official interviews with him as a +personage of marked reserve. The truth and frankness of the man under +all circumstances, and his great, warm heart, full of honesty and +unassuming simplicity, became known only in the progress of the war. +How simple and true and honest he was, will appear from a letter to +his son, G.W. Custis Lee, written some time before: + +"You must study," he wrote, "to be frank with the world; frankness +is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on +every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right. If a +friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, +tell him plainly why you cannot: you will wrong him and wrong yourself +by equivocation of any kind. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend +or keep one; the man who requires you to do so, is dearly purchased at +a sacrifice. Deal kindly, but firmly, with all your classmates; you +will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to +others what you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one, +tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous +experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's +face and another behind his back. We should live, act, and say, +nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only best as a matter of +principle, but it is the path to peace and honor. + +"In regard to duty, let me, in conclusion of this hasty letter, inform +you that, nearly a hundred years ago, there was a day of remarkable +gloom and darkness--still known as 'the dark day'--a day when the +light of the sun was slowly extinguished, as if by an eclipse. The +Legislature of Connecticut was in session, and, as its members saw the +unexpected and unaccountable darkness coming on, they shared in the +general awe and terror. It was supposed by many that the last day--the +day of judgment--had come. Some one, in the consternation of the hour, +moved an adjournment. Then there arose an old Puritan legislator, +Davenport, of Stamford, and said that, if the last day had come, he +desired to be found at his place doing his duty, and, therefore, moved +that candles be brought in, so that the House could proceed with +its duty. There was quietness in that man's mind, the quietness of +heavenly wisdom and inflexible willingness to obey present duty. Duty, +then, is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all +things, like the old Puritan. You cannot do more, you should never +wish to do less. Never let me and your mother wear one gray hair for +any lack of duty on your part." + +The maxims of this letter indicate the noble and conscientious +character of the man who wrote it. "Frankness is the child of honesty +and courage." "Say just what you mean to do on every occasion." "Never +do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one." "Duty is the sublimest +word in our language ... do your duty in all things ... you cannot do +more." That he lived up to these great maxims, amid all the troubled +scenes and hot passions of a stormy epoch, is Lee's greatest glory. +His fame as a soldier, great as it is, yields to the true glory of +having placed duty before his eyes always as the supreme object of +life. He resigned his commission from a sense of duty to his native +State; made this same duty his sole aim in every portion of his +subsequent career; and, when all had failed, and the cause he had +fought for was overthrown, it was the consciousness of having +performed conscientiously, and to his utmost, his whole duty, which +took the sting from defeat, and gave him that noble calmness which the +whole world saw and admired. "Human virtue should be equal to human +calamity," were his august words when all was lost, and men's minds +were sinking under the accumulated agony of defeat and despair. +Those words could only have been uttered by a man who made duty the +paramount object of living--the performance of it, the true glory and +crown of virtuous manhood. It may be objected by some critics that +he mistook his duty in espousing the Southern cause. Doubtless many +persons will urge that objection, and declare that the words here +written are senseless panegyric. But that will not affect the truth or +detract from Lee's great character. He performed at least what in his +inmost soul _he_ considered his duty, and, from the beginning of his +career, when all was so bright, to its termination, when all was so +dark, it will be found that his controlling sentiment was, first, +last, and all the time, this performance of duty. The old Puritan, +whose example he admired so much, was not more calm and resolute. +When "the last day" of the cause he fought for came--in the spring of +1865--it was plain to all who saw the man, standing unmoved in the +midst of the general disaster, that his sole desire was to be "found +at his place, and doing his duty." + +From this species of digression upon the moral constituents of the +individual, we pass to the record of that career which made the great +fame of the soldier. The war had already begun when Lee took command +of the provisional forces of Virginia, and the collisions in various +portions of the Gulf States between the Federal and State authorities +were followed by overt acts in Virginia, which all felt would be the +real battle-ground of the war. The North entered upon the struggle +with very great ardor and enthusiasm. The call for volunteers to +enforce obedience to the Federal authority was tumultuously responded +to throughout the entire North, and troops were hurried forward to +Washington, which soon became an enormous camp. The war began in +Virginia with the evacuation and attempted destruction of the works at +Harper's Ferry, by the Federal officer in command there. This was on +the 19th of April, and on the next day reinforcements were thrown into +Fortress Monroe; and the navy-yard at Norfolk, with the shipping, set +on fire and abandoned. + +Lee thus found the Commonwealth in a state of war, and all his +energies were immediately concentrated upon the work of placing her +in a condition of defence. He established his headquarters in the +custom-house at Richmond; orderlies were seen coming and going; bustle +reigned throughout the building, and by night, as well as by day, +General Lee labored incessantly to organize the means of resistance. +From the first moment, all had felt that Virginia, from her +geographical position, adjoining the Federal frontier and facing the +Federal capital, would become the arena of the earliest, longest, and +most determined struggle. Her large territory and moral influence, as +the oldest of the Southern States, also made her the chief object of +the Federal hostility. It was felt that if Virginia were occupied, and +her people reduced under the Federal authority again, the Southern +cause would be deprived of a large amount of its prestige and +strength. The authorities of the Gulf States accordingly hurried +forward to Richmond all available troops; and from all parts of +Virginia the volunteer regiments, which had sprung up like magic, +were in like manner forwarded by railway to the capital. Every train +brought additions to this great mass of raw war material; large camps +rose around Richmond, chief among which was that named "Camp Lee;" and +the work of drilling and moulding this crude material for the great +work before it was ardently proceeded with under the supervision of +Lee. + +An Executive Board, or Military Council, had been formed, consisting +of Governor Letcher and other prominent officials; but these gentlemen +had the good sense to intrust the main work of organizing an army to +Lee. As yet the great question at Richmond was to place Virginia in a +state of defence--to prepare that Commonwealth for the hour of trial, +by enrolling her own people. It will be remembered that Lee held no +commission from the Confederate States; he was major-general of the +Provisional Army of Virginia, and to place this Provisional Army in +a condition to take the field was the first duty before him. It was +difficult, not from want of ardor in the population, but from the want +of the commonest material necessary in time of war. There were +few arms, and but small supplies of ammunition. While the Federal +Government entered upon the war with the amplest resources, the South +found herself almost entirely destitute of the munitions essential +to her protection. All was to be organized and put at once into +operation--the quartermaster, commissary, ordnance, and other +departments. Transportation, supplies of rations, arms, ammunition, +all were to be collected immediately. The material existed, or could +be supplied, as the sequel clearly showed; but as yet there was +almost nothing. And it was chiefly to the work of organizing these +departments, first of all, that General Lee and the Military Council +addressed themselves with the utmost energy. + +The result was, that the State found herself very soon in a condition +to offer a determined resistance. The troops at the various camps of +instruction were successively sent to the field; others took their +places, and the work of drilling the raw material into soldiers went +on; supplies were collected, transportation found, workshops for the +construction of arms and ammunition sprung up; small-arms, cannon, +cartridges, fixed and other ammunition, were produced in quantities; +and, in a time which now seems wholly inadequate for such a result, +the Commonwealth of Virginia was ready to take the field against the +Federal Government. + + + + +X. + +THE WAR BEGINS. + + +Early in May, Virginia became formally a member of the Southern +Confederacy, and the troops which she had raised a portion of the +Confederate States Army. When Richmond became the capital +soon afterward, and the Southern Congress assembled, five +brigadier-generals were appointed, Generals Cooper, Albert S. +Johnston, Lee, J.E. Johnston, and Beauregard. Large forces had been +meanwhile raised throughout the South; Virginia became the centre +of all eyes, as the scene of the main struggle; and early in June +occurred at Bethel, in Lower Virginia, the first prominent affair, in +which General Butler, with about four thousand men, was repulsed and +forced to retire. + +The affair at Bethel, which was of small importance, was followed +by movements in Northern and Western Virginia--the battles at Rich +Mountain and Carrick's Ford; Johnston's movements in the Valley; and +the advance of the main Federal army on the force under Beauregard, +which resulted in the first battle of Manassas. In these events, +General Lee bore no part, and we need not speak of them further than +to present a summary of the results. The Federal design had been to +penetrate Virginia in three columns. One was to advance from the +northwest under General McClellan; a second, under General Patterson, +was to take possession of the Valley; and a third, under General +McDowell, was to drive Beauregard back from Manassas on Richmond. Only +one of these columns--that of McClellan--succeeded in its undertaking. +Johnston held Patterson in check in the Valley until the advance upon +Manassas; then by a flank march the Confederate general hastened to +the assistance of Beauregard. The battle of Manassas followed on +Sunday, the 21st of July. After an unsuccessful attempt to force the +Confederate right, General McDowell assailed their left, making for +that purpose a long _détour_--and at first carried all before him. +Reënforcements were hurried forward, however, and the Confederates +fought with the energy of men defending their own soil. The obstinate +stand made by Evans, Bee, Bartow, Jackson, and their brave associates, +turned the fortunes of the day, and, when reënforcements subsequently +reached the field under General Kirby Smith and General Early, the +Federal troops retreated in great disorder toward Washington. + + + + +XI. + +LEE'S ADVANCE INTO WESTERN VIRGINIA. + + +General Lee nowhere appears, as we have seen, in these first great +movements and conflicts. He was without any specific command, and +remained at Richmond, engaged in placing that city in a state of +defence. The works which he constructed proved subsequently of great +importance to the city, and a Northern officer writes of Lee: "While +the fortifications of Richmond stand, his name will evoke admiration; +the art of war is unacquainted with any defence so admirable." + +Lee's first appearance in the war, as commander of troops in the +field, took place in the fall of 1861, when he was sent to operate +against the forces under General Rosecrans in the fastnesses of +Western Virginia. This indecisive and unimportant movement has been +the subject of various comment; the official reports were burned in +the conflagration at Richmond, or captured, and the elaborate plans +drawn up by Lee of his intended movement against General Reynolds, +at Cheat Mountain, have in the same manner disappeared. Under these +circumstances, and as the present writer had no personal knowledge of +the subject, it seems best to simply quote the brief statement which +follows. It is derived from an officer of high rank and character, +whose statement is only second in value to that of General Lee +himself: + + "After General Garnett's death, General Lee was sent by the + President to ascertain what could be done in the trans-Alleghany + region, and to endeavor to harmonize our movements, etc., in that + part of the State. He was not ordered to take command of the + troops, nor did he do so, during the whole time he was there. + + "Soon after his arrival he came to the decided conclusion that + _that_ was not the line from which to make an offensive movement. + The country, although not hostile, was not friendly; supplies + could not be obtained; the enemy had possession of the Baltimore + and Ohio Railroad, from which, and the Ohio River as a base, he + could operate with great advantage against us, and our only chance + was to drive him from the railroad, take possession, and use it + ourselves. We had not the means of doing this, and consequently + could only try to hold as much country as possible, and occupy as + large a force of the enemy as could be kept in front of us. The + movement against Cheat Mountain, which failed, was undertaken with + a view of causing the enemy to contract his lines, and enable + us to unite the troops under Generals Jackson (of Georgia) and + Loring. After the failure of this movement on our part, General + Rosecrans, feeling secure, strengthened his lines in that part of + the country, and went with a part of his forces to the Kanawha, + driving our forces across the Gauley. General Lee then went to + that line of operations, to endeavor to unite the troops under + Generals Floyd and Wise, and stop the movements under Rosecrans. + General Loring, with a part of his force from Valley Mountain, + joined the forces at Sewell Mountain. Rosecrans's movement was + stopped, and, the season for operations in that country being + over, General Lee was ordered to Richmond, and soon afterward sent + to South Carolina, to meet the movement of the enemy from Port + Royal, etc. He remained in South Carolina until shortly before the + commencement of the campaign before Richmond, in 1862." + +The months spent by General Lee in superintending the coast defences +of South Carolina and Georgia, present nothing of interest, and we +shall therefore pass to the spring of 1862, when he returned to +Richmond. His services as engineer had been highly appreciated by the +people of the South, and a writer of the period said: "The time will +yet come when his superior abilities will be vindicated, both to his +own renown and the glory of his country." The time was now at hand +when these abilities, if the individual possessed them, were to have +an opportunity to display themselves. + + + + +XII. + +LEE'S LAST INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP MEADE. + + +A touching incident of Lee's life belongs to this time--the early +spring of 1862. Bishop Meade, the venerable head of the Episcopal +Church in Virginia, lay at the point of death, in the city of +Richmond. When General Lee was informed of the fact, he exhibited +lively emotion, for the good bishop, as we have said in the +commencement of this narrative, had taught him his catechism when he +was a boy in Alexandria. On the day before the bishop's death. General +Lee called in the morning to see him, but such was the state of +prostration under which the sick man labored, that only a few of his +most intimate friends were permitted to have access to his chamber. In +the evening General Lee called again, and his name was announced +to Bishop Meade. As soon as he heard it, he said faintly, for +his breathing had become much oppressed, and he spoke with great +difficulty: "I must see him, if only for a few moments." + +General Lee was accordingly introduced, and approached the dying man, +with evidences of great emotion in his countenance. Taking the thin +hand in his own, he said: + +"How do you feel, bishop?" + +"Almost gone," replied Bishop Meade, in a voice so weak that it was +almost inaudible; "but I wanted to see you once more." + +He paused for an instant, breathing heavily, and looking at Lee with +deep feeling. + +"God bless you! God bless you, Robert!" he faltered out, "and fit you +for your high and responsible duties. I can't call you 'general'--I +must call you 'Robert;' I have heard you your catechism too often." + +General Lee pressed the feeble hand, and tears rolled down his cheeks. + +"Yes, bishop--very often," he said, in reply to the last words uttered +by the bishop. + +A brief conversation followed, Bishop Meade making inquiries in +reference to Mrs. Lee, who was his own relative, and other members +of the family. "He also," says the highly-respectable clergyman who +furnishes these particulars, "put some pertinent questions to General +Lee about the state of public affairs and of the army, showing the +most lively interest in the success of our cause." + +It now became necessary to terminate an interview which, in the feeble +condition of the aged man, could not be prolonged. Much exhausted, and +laboring under deep emotion, Bishop Meade shook the general by the +hand, and said: + +"Heaven bless you! Heaven bless you! and give you wisdom for your +important and arduous duties!" + +These were the last words uttered during the interview. General Lee +pressed the dying man's hand, released it, stood for several minutes +by the bedside motionless and in perfect silence, and then went out of +the room. + +On the next morning Bishop Meade expired. + +[Illustration: Environs of Richmond.] + + + + +PART II. + +_IN FRONT OF RICHMOND_. + + + + + +I. + +PLAN OF THE FEDERAL CAMPAIGN. + + +The pathetic interview which we have just described took place in the +month of March, 1862. + +By the latter part of that month, General McClellan, in command of an +army of more than one hundred thousand men, landed on the Peninsula +between the James and York Rivers, and after stubbornly-contested +engagements with the forces of General Johnston, advanced up the +Peninsula--the Confederates slowly retiring. In the latter part of +May, a portion of the Federal forces had crossed the Chickahominy, and +confronted General Johnston defending Richmond. + +Such was the serious condition of affairs in the spring of 1862. The +Federal sword had nearly pierced the heart of Virginia, and, as the +course of events was about to place Lee in charge of her destinies, +a brief notice is indispensable of the designs of the adversaries +against whom he was to contend on the great arena of the State. + +While the South had been lulled to sleep, as it were, by the battle of +Manassas, the North, greatly enraged at the disaster, had prepared to +prosecute the war still more vigorously. The military resources of the +South had been plainly underestimated. It was now obvious that the +North had to fight with a dangerous adversary, and that the people of +the South were entirely in earnest. Many journals of the North had +ridiculed the idea of war; and one of them had spoken of the great +uprising of the Southern States from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico +as a mere "local commotion" which a force of fifty thousand men would +be able to put down without difficulty. A column of twenty-five +thousand men, it was said, would be sufficient to carry all before it +in Virginia, and capture Richmond, and the comment on this statement +had been the battle of Manassas, where a force of more than fifty +thousand had been defeated and driven back to Washington. + +It was thus apparent that the war was to be a serious struggle, in +which the North would be compelled to exert all her energies. The +people responded to the call upon them with enthusiasm. All the roving +and adventurous elements of Northern society flocked to the Federal +standard, and in a short time a large force had once more assembled at +Washington. The work now was to drill, equip, and put it in efficient +condition for taking the field. This was undertaken with great energy, +the Congress coöperating with the Executive in every manner. The city +of Washington resounded with the wheels of artillery and the tramp +of cavalry; the workshops were busy night and day to supply arms and +ammunition; and the best officers devoted themselves, without rest, to +the work of drilling and disciplining the mass. + +By the spring of 1862 a force of about two hundred thousand men was +ready to take the field in Virginia. General Scott was not to command +in the coming campaigns. He had retired in the latter part of the +year 1861, and his place had been filled by a young officer of +rising reputation--General George B. McClellan, who had achieved the +successes of Rich Mountain and Carrick's Ford in Western Virginia. +General McClellan was not yet forty, but had impressed the authorities +with a high opinion of his abilities. A soldier by profession, and +enjoying the distinction of having served with great credit in the +Mexican War, he had been sent as United States military commissioner +to the Crimea, and on his return had written a book of marked ability +on the military organizations of the powers of Europe. When the +struggle between the North and South approached, he was said--with +what truth we know not--to have hesitated, before determining upon his +course; but it is probable that the only question with him was whether +he should fight for the North or remain neutral. In his politics he +was a Democrat, and the war on the South is said to have shocked his +State-rights view. But, whatever his sentiments had been, he accepted +command, and fought a successful campaign in Western Virginia. From +that moment his name became famous; he was said to have achieved +"two victories in one day," and he received from the newspapers the +flattering name of "the Young Napoleon." + +The result of this successful campaign, slight in importance as +it was, procured for General McClellan the high post of +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States. Operations in +every portion of the South were to be directed by him; and he was +especially intrusted with the important work of organizing the new +levies at Washington. This he performed with very great ability. Under +his vigorous hand, the raw material soon took shape. He gave his +personal attention to every department; and the result, as we have +said, in the early spring of 1862, was an army of more than two +hundred thousand men, for operations in Virginia alone. + +The great point now to be determined was the best line of operations +against Richmond. President Lincoln was strongly in favor of an +advance by way of Manassas and the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, +which he thought would insure the safety of the Federal capital. This +was always, throughout the whole war, a controlling consideration with +him; and, regarded in the light of subsequent events, this solicitude +seems to have been well founded. More than once afterward, General +Lee--to use his own expression--thought of "swapping queens," that is +to say, advancing upon Washington, without regard to the capture of +Richmond; and President Lincoln, with that excellent good sense which +he generally exhibited, felt that the loss of Washington would prove +almost fatal to the Federal cause.--Such was the origin of the +President's preference for the Manassas line. General McClellan did +not share it. He assented it seems at first, but soon resolved +to adopt another plan--an advance either from Urbanna on the +Rappahannock, or from West Point on the York. Against his views and +determination, the President and authorities struggled in vain. +McClellan treated their arguments and appeals with a want of ceremony +amounting at times nearly to contempt; he adhered to his own plan +resolutely, and in the end the President gave way. In rueful protest +against the continued inactivity of General McClellan, President +Lincoln had exclaimed, "If General McClellan does not want to use the +army, I would like to borrow it;" and "if something is not soon done, +the bottom will be out of the whole affair." + +At last General McClellan carried his point, and an advance against +Richmond from the Peninsula was decided upon. In order to assist this +movement, General Fremont was to march through Northwestern Virginia, +and General Banks up the Valley; and, having thus arranged their +programme, the Federal authorities began to move forward to the great +work. To transport an army of more than one hundred thousand men +by water to the Peninsula was a heavy undertaking; but the ample +resources of the Government enabled them to do so without difficulty. +General McClellan, who had now been removed from his post of +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, and assigned to +the command only of the army to operate against Richmond, landed his +forces on the Peninsula, and, after several actions of an obstinate +description, advanced toward the Chickahominy, General Johnston, the +Confederate commander, deliberately retiring. Johnston took up a +position behind this stream, and, toward the end of May, McClellan +crossed a portion of his forces and confronted him. + + + + +II. + +JOHNSTON IS WOUNDED. + + +The army thus threatening the city which had become the capital of the +Confederacy was large and excellently equipped. It numbered in all, +according to General McClellan's report, one hundred and fifty-six +thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight men, of whom one hundred and +fifteen thousand one hundred and two were effective troops--that is to +say, present and ready for duty as fighting-men in the field. + +Results of such magnitude' were expected from this great army, that +all the resources of the Federal Government had been taxed to bring +it to the highest possible state of efficiency. The artillery was +numerous, and of the most approved description; small-arms of the best +patterns and workmanship were profusely supplied; the ammunition was +of the finest quality, and almost inexhaustible in quantity; and +the rations for the subsistence of the troops, which were equally +excellent and abundant, were brought up in an unfailing stream from +the White House, in General McClellan's rear, over the York River +Railroad, which ran straight to his army. + +Such was the admirable condition of the large force under command of +General McClellan. It would be difficult to imagine an army better +prepared for active operations; and the position which it held had +been well selected. The left of the army was protected by the wellnigh +impassable morass of the White-oak Swamp, and all the approaches from +the direction of Richmond were obstructed by the natural difficulties +of the ground, which had been rendered still more forbidding by an +abattis of felled trees and earthworks of the best description. Unless +the right of McClellan, on the northern bank of the Chickahominy, were +turned by the Confederates, his communications with his base at the +White House and the safety of his army were assured. And even the +apparently improbable contingency of such an assault on his right had +been provided for. Other bodies of Federal troops had advanced into +Virginia to coöperate with the main force on the Peninsula. General +McDowell, the able soldier who had nearly defeated the Confederates at +Manassas, was at Fredericksburg with a force of about forty thousand +men, which were to advance southward without loss of time and unite +with General McClellan's right. This would completely insure the +communications of his army from interruption; and it was no doubt +expected that Generals Fremont and Banks would coöperate in the +movement also. Fremont was to advance from Northwestern Virginia, +driving before him the small Confederate force, under Jackson, in the +Valley; and General Banks, then at Winchester, was to cross the Blue +Ridge Mountains, and, posting his forces along the Manassas Railroad, +guard the approaches to Washington when McDowell advanced from +Fredericksburg to the aid of General McClellan. Thus Richmond would be +half encircled by Federal armies. General McClellan, if permitted by +the Confederates to carry out his plan of operations, would soon be in +command of about two hundred thousand men, and with this force it was +anticipated he would certainly be able to capture Richmond. + +Such was the Federal programme of the war in Virginia. It promised +great results, and ought, it would seem, to have succeeded. The +Confederate forces in Virginia did not number in all one hundred +thousand men; and it is now apparent that, without the able strategy +of Johnston, Lee, and Jackson, General McClellan would have been in +possession of Richmond before the summer. + +Prompt action was thus necessary on the part of the sagacious soldier +commanding the army at Richmond, and directing operations throughout +the theatre of action in Virginia. The officer in question was General +Joseph E. Johnston, a Virginian by birth, who had first held General +Patterson in check in the Shenandoah Valley, and then hastened to the +assistance of General Beauregard at Manassas, where, in right of his +superior rank, he took command. Before the enemy's design to advance +up the Peninsula had been developed, Johnston had made a masterly +retreat from Manassas. Reappearing with his force of about forty +thousand men on the Peninsula, he had obstinately opposed McClellan, +and only retired when he was compelled by numbers to do so, with +the resolution, however, of fighting a decisive battle on the +Chickahominy. In face, figure, and character, General Johnston was +thoroughly the soldier. Above the medium height, with an erect figure, +in a close-fitting uniform buttoned to the chin; with a ruddy face, +decorated with close-cut gray side-whiskers, mustache, and tuft on the +chin; reserved in manner, brief of speech, without impulses of any +description, it seemed, General Johnston's appearance and bearing were +military to stiffness; and he was popularly compared to "a gamecock," +ready for battle at any moment. As a soldier, his reputation +was deservedly high; to unshrinking personal courage he added a +far-reaching capacity for the conduct of great operations. Throughout +his career he enjoyed a profound public appreciation of his abilities +as a commander, and was universally respected as a gentleman and a +patriot. + +General Johnston, surveying the whole field in Virginia, and +penetrating, it would seem, the designs of the enemy, had hastened to +direct General Jackson, commanding in the Valley, to begin offensive +operations, and, by threatening the Federal force there--with +Washington in perspective--relieve the heavy pressure upon the main +arena. Jackson carried out these instructions with the vigor which +marked all his operations. In March he advanced down the Valley in the +direction of Winchester, and, coming upon a considerable force of +the enemy at Kernstown, made a vigorous assault upon them; a heavy +engagement ensued, and, though Jackson was defeated and compelled to +retreat, a very large Federal force was retained in the Valley +to protect that important region. A more decisive diversion soon +followed. Jackson advanced in May upon General Banks, then at +Strasburg, drove him from that point to and across the Potomac; and +such was the apprehension felt at Washington, that President Lincoln +ordered General McDowell, then at Fredericksburg with about forty +thousand men, to send twenty thousand across the mountains to +Strasburg in order to pursue or cut off Jackson. + +Thus the whole Federal programme in Virginia was thrown into +confusion. General Banks, after the fight at Kernstown, was kept in +the Valley. After Jackson's second attack upon him, when General Banks +was driven across the Potomac and Washington threatened, General +McDowell was directed to send half his army to operate against +Jackson. Thus General McClellan, waiting at Richmond for McDowell to +join him, did not move; with a portion of his army on one side of the +stream, and the remainder on the other side, he remained inactive, +hesitating and unwilling, as any good soldier would have been, to +commence the decisive assault. + +His indecision was brought to an end by General Johnston. Discovering +that the force in his front, near "Seven Pines," on the southern bank +of the Chickahominy, was only a portion of the Federal army, General +Johnston determined to attack it. This resolution was not in +consequence of the freshet in the Chickahominy, as has been supposed, +prompting Johnston to attack while the Federal army was cut in two, as +it were. His resolution, he states, had already been taken, and was, +with or without reference to the rains, that of a good soldier. +General Johnston struck at General McClellan on the last day of May, +just at the moment, it appears, when the Federal commander designed +commencing his last advance upon the city. The battle which took place +was one of the most desperate and bloody of the war. Both sides fought +with obstinate courage, and neither gained a decisive advantage. On +the Confederate right, near "Seven Pines," the Federal line was +broken and forced back; but, on the left, at Fair Oaks Station, the +Confederates, in turn, were repulsed. Night fell upon a field where +neither side could claim the victory. The most that could be claimed +by the Southerners was that McClellan had received a severe check; and +they sustained a great misfortune in the wound received by General +Johnston. He was struck by a fragment of shell while superintending +the attack at Fair Oaks, and the nature of his wound rendered it +impossible for him to retain command of the army. He therefore retired +from the command, and repaired to Richmond, where he remained for a +long time an invalid, wholly unable to continue in service in the +field. + +This untoward event rendered it necessary to find a new commander for +the army without loss of time. General Lee had returned some time +before from the South, and to him all eyes were turned. He had had no +opportunity to display his abilities upon a conspicuous theatre--the +sole command he had been intrusted with, that in trans-Alleghany +Virginia, could scarcely be called a real command--and he owed his +elevation now to the place vacated by General Johnston, rather to his +services performed in the old army of the United States, than to any +thing he had effected in the war of the Confederacy. The confidence +of the Virginia people in his great abilities had never wavered, and +there is no reason to suppose that the Confederate authorities were +backward in conceding his merits as a soldier. Whatever may have been +the considerations leading to his appointment, he was assigned on the +3d day of June to the command of the army, and thus the Virginians +assembled to defend the capital of their State found themselves under +the command of the most illustrious of their own countrymen. + + + + +III. + +LEE ASSIGNED TO THE COMMAND--HIS FAMILY AT THE WHITE HOUSE. + + +Lee had up to this time effected, as we have shown, almost nothing in +the progress of the war. Intrusted with no command, and employed +only in organizing the forces, or superintending the construction of +defences, he had failed to achieve any of those successes in the field +which constitute the glory of the soldier. He might possess the great +abilities which his friends and admirers claimed for him, but he was +yet to show the world at large that he did really possess them. + +The decisive moment had now arrived which was to test him. He was +placed in command of the largest and most important army in the +Confederacy, and to him was intrusted the defence of the capital not +only of Virginia, but of the South. If Richmond were to fall, the +Confederate Congress, executive, and heads of departments, would all +be fugitives. The evacuation of Virginia might or might not follow, +but, in the very commencement of the conflict, the enemy would achieve +an immense advantage. Recognition by the European powers would be +hopeless in such an event, and the wandering and fugitive government +of the Confederacy would excite only contempt. + +Such were the circumstances under which General Lee assumed command of +the "Army of Northern Virginia," as it was soon afterward styled. The +date of his assignment to duty was June 3, 1862--three days after +General Johnston had retired in consequence of his wound. Thirty days +afterward the great campaign around Richmond had been decided, and to +the narrative of what followed the appointment of Lee we shall at once +proceed, after giving a few words to another subject connected with +his family. + +When General Lee left "Washington to repair to Richmond," he removed +the ladies of his family from Arlington to the "White House" on the +Pamunkey, near the spot where that river unites with the Mattapony to +form the York River. This estate, like the Arlington property, had +come into possession of General Lee through his wife, and as Arlington +was exposed to the enemy, the ladies had taken refuge here, with the +hope that they would be safe from intrusion or danger. The result was +unfortunate. The White House was a favorable "base" for the Federal +army, and intelligence one day reached Mrs. Lee and her family that +the enemy were approaching. The ladies therefore hastened from the +place to a point of greater safety, and before her departure Mrs. Lee +is said to have affixed to the door a paper containing the following +words: + +"Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to +desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his +wife, now owned by her descendants. + +"A GRAND-DAUGHTER OF MRS. WASHINGTON." + +When the Federal forces took possession of the place, a Northern +officer, it is said, wrote beneath this: + +"A Northern officer has protected your property, in sight of the +enemy, and at the request of your overseer." + +The resolute spirit of Mrs. Lee is indicated by an incident which +followed. She took refuge with her daughters in a friend's house near +Richmond, and, when a Federal officer was sent to search the house, +handed to him a paper addressed to "the general in command," in which +she wrote: + +"Sir: I have patiently and humbly submitted to the search of my house, +by men under your command, who are satisfied that there is nothing +here which they want. All the plate and other valuables have long +since been removed to Richmond, and are now beyond the reach of any +Northern marauders who may wish for their possession. + +"WIFE OF ROBERT LEE, GENERAL C.S.A." + +The ladies finally repaired for safety to the city of Richmond, and +the White House was burned either before or when General McClellan +retreated. The place was not without historic interest, as the scene +of Washington's first interview with Martha Custis, who afterward +became his wife. He was married either at St. Peter's Church near by, +or in the house which originally stood on the site of the one now +destroyed by the Federal forces. Its historic associations thus failed +to protect the White House, and, like Arlington, it fell a sacrifice +to the pitiless hand of war. + +From this species of digression we come back to the narrative of +public events, and the history of the great series of battles which +were to make the banks of the Chickahominy historic ground. On +taking command, Lee had assiduously addressed himself to the task of +increasing the efficiency of the army: riding incessantly to and +fro, he had inspected with his own eyes the condition of the troops; +officers of the commissary, quartermaster, and ordnance departments +were held to a strict accountability; and, in a short time, the army +was in a high state of efficiency. + +"What was the amount of the Confederate force under command of Lee?" +it may be asked. The present writer is unable to state this number +with any thing like exactness. The official record, if in existence, +is not accessible, and the matter must be left to conjecture. It is +tolerably certain, however, that, even after the arrival of Jackson, +the army numbered less than seventy-five thousand. Officers of high +rank and character state the whole force to have been sixty or seventy +thousand only. + +It will thus be seen that the Federal army was larger than the +Confederate; but this was comparatively an unimportant fact. The event +was decided rather by generalship than the numbers of the combatants. + + + + +IV + +LEE RESOLVES TO ATTACK. + + +General Lee assumed command of the army on the 3d of June. A week +afterward, Jackson finished the great campaign of the Valley, by +defeating Generals Fremont and Shields at Port Republic. + +Such had been the important services performed by the famous +"Stonewall Jackson," who was to become the "right arm" of Lee in the +greater campaigns of the future. Retreating, after the defeat of +General Banks, and passing through Strasburg, just as Fremont from the +west, and the twenty thousand men of General McDowell from the east, +rushed to intercept him, Jackson had sullenly fallen back up the +Valley, with all his captured stores and prisoners, and at Cross +Keys and Port Republic had achieved a complete victory over his two +adversaries. Fremont was checked by Ewell, who then hastened across to +take part in the attack on Shields. The result was a Federal defeat +and retreat down the Valley. Jackson was free to move in any +direction; and his army could unite with that at Richmond for a +decisive attack upon General McClellan. + +The attack in question had speedily been resolved on by Lee. Any +further advance of the Federal army would bring it up to the very +earthworks in the suburbs of the city; and, unless the Confederate +authorities proposed to undergo a siege, it was necessary to check the +further advance of the enemy by a general attack. + +How to attack to the best advantage was now the question. The position +of General McClellan's army has been briefly stated. Advancing up the +Peninsula, he had reached and passed the Chickahominy, and was in +sight of Richmond. To this stream, the natural line of defence of the +city on the north and east, numerous roads diverged from the capital, +including the York River Railroad, of which the Federal commander made +such excellent use; and General McClellan had thrown his left wing +across the stream, advancing to a point on the railroad four or five +miles from the city. Here he had erected heavy defences to protect +that wing until the right wing crossed in turn. The tangled thickets +of the White-oak Swamp, on his left flank, were a natural defence; but +he had added to these obstacles, as we have stated, by felling trees, +and guarding every approach by redoubts. In these, heavy artillery +kept watch against an approaching enemy; and any attempt to attack +from that quarter seemed certain to result in repulse. In front, +toward Seven Pines, the chance of success was equally doubtful. The +excellent works of the Federal commander bristled with artillery, and +were heavily manned. It seemed thus absolutely necessary to discover +some other point of assault; and, as the Federal right beyond the +Chickahominy was the only point left, it was determined to attack, if +possible, in that quarter. + +An important question was first, however, to be decided, the character +of the defences, if any, on General McClellan's right, in the +direction of Old Church and Cold Harbor. A reconnoissance in force was +necessary to acquire this information, and General Lee accordingly +directed General Stuart, commanding the cavalry of the army, to +proceed with a portion of his command to the vicinity of Old Church, +in the Federal rear, and gain all the information possible of their +position and defences. + + + + +V. + +STUART'S "RIDE AROUND McCLELLAN." + + +General James E.B. Stuart, who now made his first prominent appearance +upon the theatre of the war, was a Virginian by birth, and not yet +thirty years of age. Resigning his commission of lieutenant in the +United States Cavalry at the beginning of the war, he had joined +Johnston in the Valley, and impressed that officer with a high opinion +of his abilities as a cavalry officer; proceeded thence to Manassas, +where he charged and broke a company of "Zouave" infantry; protected +the rear of the army when Johnston retired to the Rappahannock, and +bore an active part in the conflict on the Peninsula. In person he was +of medium height; his frame was broad and powerful; he wore a heavy +brown beard flowing upon his breast, a huge mustache of the same +color, the ends curling upward; and the blue eyes, flashing beneath a +"piled-up" forehead, had at times the dazzling brilliancy attributed +to the eyes of the eagle. Fond of movement, adventure, bright colors, +and all the pomp and pageantry of war, Stuart had entered on the +struggle with ardor, and enjoyed it as the huntsman enjoys the chase. +Young, ardent, ambitious, as brave as steel, ready with jest or +laughter, with his banjo-player following him, going into the hottest +battles humming a song, this young Virginian was, in truth, an +original character, and impressed powerfully all who approached him. +One who knew him well wrote: "Every thing striking, brilliant, and +picturesque, seemed to centre in him. The war seemed to be to Stuart a +splendid and exciting game, in which his blood coursed joyously, and +his immensely strong physical organization found an arena for the +display of all its faculties. The affluent life of the man craved +those perils and hardships which flush the pulses and make the heart +beat fast. He swung himself into the saddle at the sound of the bugle +as the hunter springs on horseback; and at such moments his cheeks +glowed and his huge mustache curled with enjoyment. The romance and +poetry of the hard trade of arms seemed first to be inaugurated when +this joyous cavalier, with his floating plume and splendid laughter, +appeared upon the great arena of the war in Virginia." Precise people +shook their heads, and called him frivolous, undervaluing his great +ability. Those best capable of judging him were of a different +opinion. Johnston wrote to him from the west: "How can I eat or sleep +in peace without _you_ upon the outpost?" Jackson said, when he fell +at Chancellorsville: "Go back to General Stuart, and tell him to act +upon his own judgment, and do what he thinks best, I have implicit +confidence in him." Lee said, when he was killed at Yellow Tavern: +"I can scarcely think of him without weeping." And the brave General +Sedgwick, of the United States Army, said: "Stuart is the best cavalry +officer ever _foaled_ in North America!" + +In the summer of 1862, when we present him to the reader, Stuart had +as yet achieved little fame in his profession, but he was burning to +distinguish himself. He responded ardently, therefore, to the order of +Lee, and was soon ready with a picked force of about fifteen hundred +cavalry, under some of his best officers. Among them were Colonels +William H.F. Lee and Fitz-Hugh Lee--the first a son of General Lee, a +graduate of West Point, and an officer of distinction afterward; +the second, a son of Smith Lee, brother of the general, and famous +subsequently in the most brilliant scenes of the war as the gay and +gallant "General Fitz Lee," of the cavalry. With his picked force, +officered by the two Lees, and other excellent lieutenants, Stuart set +out on his adventurous expedition to Old Church. He effected more +than he anticipated, and performed a daring feat of arms in addition. +Driving the outposts from Hanover Court-House, he charged and broke a +force of Federal cavalry near Old Church; pushed on to the York River +Railroad, which he crossed, burning or capturing all Federal stores +met with, including enormous wagon-camps; and then, finding the +way back barred against him, and the Federal army on the alert, he +continued his march with rapidity, passed entirely around General +McClellan's army, and, building a bridge over the Chickahominy, +safely reëntered the Confederate lines just as a large force made its +appearance in his rear. The temporary bridge was destroyed, however, +and Stuart hastened to report to his superiors. His information was +important. General McClellan's right and rear were unprotected by +works of any strength. If the Confederate general desired to attack in +that quarter, there was nothing to prevent. + +The results of Stuart's famous "ride around McClellan," as the people +called it, determined General Lee to make the attack on the north bank +of the stream, if he had not already so decided. It was necessary now +to bring Jackson's forces from the Valley without delay, and almost +equally important to mask the movement from General McClellan. To this +end a very simple _ruse_ was adopted. On the 11th of June, Whiting's +division was embarked on the cars of the Danville Railroad at +Richmond, and moved across the river to a point near Belle Isle, where +at that moment a considerable number of Federal prisoners were about +to be released and sent down James River. Here the train, loaded with +Confederate troops, remained for some time, and _the secret_ was +discovered by the released prisoners. General Lee was reënforcing +Jackson, in order that the latter might march on Washington. Such was +the report carried to General McClellan, and it seems to have really +deceived him. [Footnote: "I have no doubt Jackson has been reënforced +from here."--_General McClellan to President Lincoln, June 20th_.] +Whiting's division reached Lynchburg, and was thence moved by railway +to Charlottesville--Jackson marched and countermarched with an +elaborate pretence of advancing down the Valley--at last, one morning, +the astute Confederate, who kept his own counsels, had disappeared; he +was marching rapidly to join Lee on the Chickahominy. Not even his own +soldiers knew what direction they were taking. They were forbidden +by general order to inquire even the names of the towns they passed +through; directed to reply "I don't know" to every question; and it +is said that when Jackson demanded the name and regiment of a soldier +robbing a cherry-tree, he could extract from the man no reply but "I +don't know." + +Jackson advanced with rapidity, and, on the 25th of June, was near +Ashland. Here he left his forces, and rode on rapidly to Richmond. +Passing unrecognized through the streets, after night, he went on +to General Lee's headquarters, at a house on the "Nine-mile road," +leading from the New Bridge road toward Fair Oaks Station; and here +took place the first interview, since the commencement of the war, +between Lee and Jackson. + +What each thought of the other will be shown in the course of this +narrative. We shall proceed now with the history of the great series +of battles for which Jackson's appearance was the signal. + + + + +PART III. + +_ON THE CHICKAHOMINY_. + + + + +I. + +THE TWO ARMIES. + + +The Chickahominy, whose banks were now to be the scene of a bitter and +determined conflict between the great adversaries, is a sluggish and +winding stream, which, rising above Richmond, describes a curve around +it, and empties its waters into the James, far below the city. Its +banks are swampy, and thickly clothed with forest or underwood. From +the nature of these banks, which scarcely rise in many places above +the level of the water, the least freshet produces an overflow, and +the stream, generally narrow and insignificant, becomes a sort of +lake, covering the low grounds to the bases of the wooded bluffs +extending upon each side. Numerous bridges cross the stream, from +Bottom's Bridge, below the York River Railroad, to Meadow Bridge, +north of the city. Of these, the Mechanicsville Bridge, about four +miles from the city, and the New Bridge, about nine miles, were points +of the greatest importance. + +General McClellan's position has been repeatedly referred to. He had +crossed a portion of his army east of Richmond, and advanced to within +four or five miles of the city. The remainder, meanwhile, lay on the +north bank of the stream, and swept round, in a sort of crescent, to +the vicinity of Mechanicsville, where it had been anticipated General +McDowell would unite with it, thereby covering its right flank, and +protecting the communications with the Federal base at the White +House. That this disposition of the Federal troops was faulty, in face +of adversaries like Johnston and Lee, there could be no doubt. But +General McClellan was the victim, it seems, of the shifting and +vacillating policy of the authorities at Washington. With the arrival +of the forty thousand men under McDowell, his position would have been +a safe one. General McDowell did not arrive; and this unprotected +right flank--left unprotected from the fact that McDowell's presence +was counted on--became the point of the Confederate attack. + +The amount of blame, if any, justly attributable to General McClellan, +first for his inactivity, and then for his defeat by Lee, cannot be +referred to here, save in a few brief sentences. A sort of feud +seems to have arisen between himself and General Halleck, the +commander-in-chief, stationed at Washington; and General Halleck then +and afterward appears to have regarded McClellan as a soldier without +decision or broad generalship. And yet McClellan does not seem to +have merited the censure he received. He called persistently for +reinforcements, remaining inactive meanwhile, because he estimated +the Confederate army before him at two hundred thousand men, and +was unwilling to assail this force, under command of soldiers +like Johnston and Lee, until his own force seemed adequate to the +undertaking. Another consideration was, the Confederate position in +front of the powerful earthworks of the city. These works would double +the Confederate strength in case of battle in front of them; and, +believing himself already outnumbered, the Federal commander was +naturally loath to deliver battle until reënforced. The faulty +disposition of his army, divided by a stream crossed by few bridges, +has been accounted for in like manner--he so disposed the troops, +expecting reënforcements. But Jackson's energy delayed these. +Washington was in danger, it was supposed, and General McDowell did +not come. It thus happened that General McClellan awaited attack +instead of making it, and that his army was so posted as to expose him +to the greatest peril. + +A last point is to be noted in vindication of this able soldier. +Finding, at the very last moment, that he could expect no further +assistance from the President or General Halleck, he resolved promptly +to withdraw his exposed right wing and change his base of operations +to James River, where at least his communications would be safe. This, +it seems, had been determined upon just before the Confederate attack; +or, if he had not then decided, General McClellan soon determined upon +that plan. + +To pass now to the Confederate side, where all was ready for the +great movement. General Lee's army lay in front of Richmond, exactly +corresponding with the front of General McClellan. The divisions of +Magruder and Huger, supported by those of Longstreet and D.H. Hill, +were opposite McClellan's left, on the Williamsburg and York River +roads, directly east of the city. From Magruder's left, extended the +division of General A.P. Hill, reaching thence up the river toward +Mechanicsville; and a brigade, under General Branch lay on Hill's left +near the point where the Brook Turnpike crosses the Chickahominy north +of Richmond. The approaches from the east, northeast, and north, were +thus carefully guarded. As the Confederates held the interior line, +the whole force could be rapidly concentrated, and was thoroughly in +hand, both for offensive or defensive movements. + +The army thus held in Lee's grasp, and about to assail its great +Federal adversary, was composed of the best portion of the Southern +population. The rank and file was largely made up of men of education +and high social position. And this resulted from the character of the +struggle. The war was a war of invasion on the part of the North; +and the ardent and high-spirited youth of the entire South threw +themselves into it with enthusiasm. The heirs of ancient families and +great wealth served as privates. Personal pride, love of country, +indignation at the thought that a hostile section had sent an army to +reduce them to submission, combined to draw into the Confederate ranks +the flower of the Southern youth, and all the best fighting material. +Deficient in discipline, and "hard to manage," this force was yet of +the most efficient character. It could be counted on for hard work, +and especially for offensive operations. And the officers placed over +it shared its character. + +Among these, General A.P. Hill, a Virginian by birth, was soon to be +conspicuous as commander of the "Light Division," and representative +of the spirit and dash and enthusiasm of the army. Under forty years +of age, with a slender figure, a heavily-bearded face, dark eyes, a +composed and unassuming bearing, characterized when off duty by a +quiet cordiality, he was personally popular with all who approached +him, and greatly beloved, both as man and commander. His chief merit +as a soldier was his dash and impetus in the charge. A braver heart +never beat in human breast; throughout the war he retained the respect +and admiration of the army and the country; and a strange fact in +relation to this eminent soldier is, that his name was uttered by both +Jackson and Lee as they expired. + +Associated with him in the battles of the Chickahominy, and to the +end, was the able and resolute Longstreet--an officer of low and +powerful stature, with a heavy, brown beard reaching to his breast, +a manner marked by unalterable composure, and a countenance whose +expression of phlegmatic tranquillity never varied in the hottest +hours of battle. Longstreet was as famous for his bull-dog obstinacy, +as Hill for his dash and enthusiasm. General Lee styled him his "old +war-horse," and depended upon him, as will be seen, in some of the +most critical operations of the war. + +Of the young and ardent Virginian, General Magruder, the brave +and resolute North-Carolinian, D.H. Hill, and other officers who +subsequently acquired great reputations in the army, we have no space +at present to speak. All were to coöperate in the assault on General +McClellan, and do their part. + +On the night of the 25th of June, all was ready for the important +movement, and the troops rested on their arms, ready for the coming +battle. + + + + +II. + +LEE'S PLAN OF ASSAULT. + + +General Lee had been hitherto regarded as a soldier of too great +caution, but his plan for the assault on General McClellan indicated +the possession of a nerve approaching audacity. + +Fully comprehending his enemy's strength and position, and aware that +a large portion of the Federal army had crossed the Chickahominy, and +was directly in his front, he had resolved to pass to the north +bank of the stream with the bulk of his force, leaving only about +twenty-five thousand men to protect the city, and deliver battle where +defeat would prove ruinous. This plan indicated nothing less than +audacity, as we have already said; but, like the audacity of the flank +movement at Chancellorsville afterward, and the daring march, in +disregard of General Hooker, to Pennsylvania in 1864, it was founded +on profound military insight, and indicated the qualities of a great +soldier. + +Lee's design was to attack the Federal right wing with a part of his +force, while Jackson, advancing still farther to the left, came in on +their communications with the White House, and assailed them on their +right and rear. Meanwhile Richmond was to be protected by General +Magruder with his twenty-five thousand men, on the south bank; if +McClellan fell back down the Peninsula, this force was to cross and +unite with the rest; thus the Federal army would be driven from all +its positions, and the fate of the whole campaign against Richmond +would be decided. + +Lee's general order directing the movement of the troops is here +given. It possesses interest as a clear and detailed statement of his +intended operations; and it will be seen that what was resolved on by +the commander in his tent, his able subordinates translated detail by +detail, with unimportant modifications, into action, under his eyes in +the field: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_June_ 24, 1862. + +GENERAL ORDERS No. 75. + +I. General Jackson's command will proceed to-morrow from Ashland +toward the Slash Church, and encamp at some convenient point west of +the Central Railroad. Branch's brigade, of A.P. Hill's division, will +also, to-morrow evening, take position on the Chickahominy, near Half +Sink. At three o'clock Thursday morning, 26th instant, General Jackson +will advance on the road leading to Pale Green Church, communicating +his march to General Branch, who will immediately cross the +Chickahominy, and take the road leading to Mechanicsville. As soon as +the movements of these columns are discovered, General A.P. Hill, with +the rest of his division, will cross the Chickahominy near Meadow +Bridge, and move direct upon Mechanicsville. To aid his advance, the +heavy batteries on the Chickahominy will at the proper time open +upon the batteries at Mechanicsville. The enemy being driven from +Mechanicsville, and the passage across the bridge opened, General +Longstreet, with his division and that of General D.H. Hill, will +cross the Chickahominy at or near that point--General D.H. Hill moving +to the support of General Jackson, and General Longstreet supporting +General A.P. Hill--the four divisions keeping in communication with +each other, and moving in _echelon_ on separate roads, if practicable; +the left division in advance, with skirmishers and sharp-shooters +extending in their front, will sweep down the Chickahominy and +endeavor to drive the enemy from his position above New Bridge; +General Jackson, bearing well to his left, turning Beaver Dam Creek, +and taking the direction toward Cold Harbor. They will then press +forward toward York River Railroad, closing upon the enemy's rear and +forcing him down the Chickahominy. Any advance of the enemy toward +Richmond will be prevented by vigorously following his rear, and +crippling and arresting his progress. + +II. The divisions under Generals Huger and Magruder will hold their +positions in front of the enemy against attack, and make such +demonstrations, Thursday, as to discover his operations. Should +opportunity offer, the feint will be converted into a real attack; +and, should an abandonment of his intrenchments by the enemy be +discovered, he will be closely pursued. + +III. The Third Virginia cavalry will observe the Charles City road. +The Fifth Virginia, the First North Carolina, and the Hampton Legion +cavalry will observe the Darbytown, Varina, and Osborne roads. Should +a movement of the enemy, down the Chickahominy, be discovered, they +will close upon his flank, and endeavor to arrest his march. + +IV. General Stuart, with the First, Fourth, and Ninth Virginia +cavalry, the cavalry of Cobb's Legion, and the Jeff Davis Legion, will +cross the Chickahominy, to-morrow, and take position to the left +of General Jackson's line of march. The main body will be held in +reserve, with scouts well extended to the front and left. General +Stuart will keep General Jackson informed of the movements of the +enemy on his left, and will coöperate with him in his advance. +The Sixteenth Virginia cavalry, Colonel Davis, will remain on the +Nine-mile road. + +V. General Ransom's brigade, of General Holmes's command, will be +placed in reserve on the Williamsburg road, by General Huger, to whom +he will report for orders. + +VI. Commanders of divisions will cause their commands to be provided +with three days' cooked rations. The necessary ambulances and +ordinance-trains will be ready to accompany the divisions, and receive +orders from their respective commanders. Officers in charge of all +trains will invariably remain with them. Batteries and wagons will +keep on the right of the road. The Chief-Engineer, Major Stevens, will +assign engineer officers to each division, whose duty it will be to +make provision for overcoming all difficulties to the progress of the +troops. The staff-departments will give the necessary instructions to +facilitate the movements herein directed. + +By command of General LEE: R.H. CHILTON, _A.A. General_. + +This order speaks for itself, and indicates Lee's plan of battle in +all its details. Further comment is unnecessary; and we proceed to +narrate the events which followed. In doing so, we shall strive to +present a clear and intelligible account of what occurred, rather than +to indulge in the warlike splendors of style which characterized the +"army correspondents" of the journals during the war. Such a treatment +of the subject is left to others, who write under the influence of +partisan afflatus, rather than with the judicious moderation of +the historian. Nor are battles themselves the subjects of greatest +interest to the thoughtful student. The combinations devised by great +commanders are of more interest than the actual struggles. We have +therefore dwelt at greater length upon the plans of Generals Lee +and McClellan than we shall dwell upon the actual fighting of their +armies. + + + + +III. + +THE BATTLE OF THE CHICKAHOMINY. + + +On the morning of the 26th of June, 1862, all was ready for the great +encounter of arms between the Confederates and the Federal forces on +the Chickahominy. General Jackson had been delayed on his march from +the mountains, and had not yet arrived; but it was known that he was +near, and would soon make his appearance; and, in the afternoon, +General Lee accordingly directed that the movement should commence. +At the word, General A.P. Hill moved from his camps to Meadow Bridge, +north of Richmond; crossed the Chickahominy there, and moved rapidly +on Mechanicsville, where a small Federal force, behind intrenchments, +guarded the head of the bridge. This force was not a serious obstacle, +and Hill soon disposed of it. He attacked the Federal works, stormed +them after a brief struggle, and drove the force which had occupied +them back toward Beaver Dam Creek, below. The Mechanicsville bridge +was thus cleared; and, in compliance with his orders from Lee, General +Longstreet hastened to throw his division across. Hill had meanwhile +pressed forward on the track of the retreating enemy, and, a mile or +two below, found himself in front of a much more serious obstruction +than that encountered at the bridge, namely, the formidable position +held by the enemy on Beaver Dam Creek. + +The ground here is of a peculiar character, and admirably adapted for +a defensive position against an enemy advancing from above. On the +opposite side of a narrow valley, through which runs Beaver Dam Creek, +rises a bold, almost precipitous, bluff, and the road which the +Confederates were compelled to take bends abruptly to the right when +near the stream, thus exposing the flank of the assaulting party to a +fire from the bluff. As Hill's column pushed forward to attack this +position, it was met by a determined fire of artillery and small-arms +from the crest beyond the stream, where a large force of riflemen, in +pits, were posted, with infantry supports. Before this artillery-fire, +raking his flanks and doing heavy execution, Hill was compelled to +fall back. It was impossible to cross the stream in face of the +fusillade and cannon. The attack ended after dark with the withdrawal +of the Confederates; but at dawn Hill resumed the struggle, attempting +to cross at another point, lower down the stream. This attempt was in +progress when the Federal troops were seen rapidly falling back from +their strong position; and intelligence soon came that this was in +consequence of the arrival of Jackson, who had passed around the +Federal right flank above, and forced them to retire toward the main +body of the Federal army below. + +No time was now lost. The memorable 27th of June had dawned clear and +cloudless, and the brilliant sunshine gave promise of a day on which +no interference of the elements would check the bloody work to be +performed. Hill advanced steadily on the track of the retiring Federal +forces, who had left evidences of their precipitate retreat all along +the road, and, about noon, came in front of the very powerful position +of the main body of the enemy, near Cold Harbor. + +General McClellan had drawn up his forces on a ridge along the +southern bank of Powhite Creek, a small water-course which, flowing +from the northeast, empties below New Bridge into the Chickahominy. +His left, nearest the Chickahominy, was protected by a deep ravine in +front, which he had filled with sharp-shooters; and his right rested +upon elevated ground, near the locality known as Maghee's House. In +front, the whole line of battle, which described a curve backward to +cover the bridges in rear, was protected by difficult approaches. The +ground was either swampy, or covered with tangled undergrowth, or +both. The ridge held by the Federal forces had been hastily fortified +by breastworks of felled trees and earth, behind which the long lines +of infantry, supported by numerous artillery, awaited the attack. + +The amount of the Federal force has been variously stated. The +impression of the Confederates differed from the subsequent statements +of Federal writers. "The principal part of the Federal army," says +General Lee, in his report, "was now on the north side of the +Chickahominy." The force has been placed by Northern writers at only +thirty, or at most thirty-five thousand. If this was the whole number +of troops engaged, from first to last, in the battle, the fact is +highly creditable to the Federal arms, as the struggle was long +doubtful. No doubt the exact truth will some day be put upon record, +and justice will be done to both the adversaries. + +The Federal force was commanded by the brave and able General +Fitz-John Porter, with General Morell commanding his right, General +Sykes his left, and General McCall forming a second line. Slocum's +division, and the brigades of Generals French and Meagher, afterward +reënforced Porter, who now prepared, with great coolness, for the +Confederate attack. + +The moment had come. A.P. Hill, pressing forward rapidly, with +Longstreet's division on the right, reached Cold Harbor, in front of +the Federal centre, about noon. Hill immediately attacked, and an +engagement of the most obstinate character ensued. General Lee, +accompanied by General Longstreet, had ridden from his headquarters, +on the Nine-mile road, to the scene of action, and now witnessed in +person the fighting of the troops, who charged under his eye, closing +in in a nearly hand-to-hand conflict with the enemy. This was, no +doubt, the first occasion on which a considerable portion of the men +had seen him--certainly in battle--and that air of supreme calmness +which always characterized him in action must have made a deep +impression upon them. He was clad simply, and wore scarcely any badges +of rank. A felt hat drooped low over the broad forehead, and the eyes +beneath were calm and unclouded. Add a voice of measured calmness, the +air of immovable composure which marked the erect military figure, +evidently at home in the saddle, and the reader will have a correct +conception of General Lee's personal appearance in the first of the +great battles of his career. + +Hill attacked with that dash and obstinacy which from this time +forward characterized him, but succeeded in making no impression on +the Federal line. In every assault he was repulsed with heavy loss. +The Federal artillery, which was handled with skill and coolness, +did great execution upon his column, as it rushed forward, and the +infantry behind their works stood firm in spite of the most determined +efforts to drive them from the ridge. Three of Hill's regiments +reached the crest, and fought hand to hand over the breastworks, but +they were speedily repulsed and driven from the crest, and, after two +hours' hard fighting, Hill found that he had lost heavily and effected +nothing. + +It was now past two o'clock in the afternoon, and General Lee listened +with anxiety for the sound of guns from the left, which would herald +the approach of General Jackson. Nothing was heard from that quarter, +however, and affairs were growing critical. The Confederate attack had +been repulsed--the Federal position seemed impregnable--and "it became +apparent," says General Lee, "that the enemy were gradually gaining +ground." Under these circumstances, General McClellan might +adopt either one of the two courses both alike dangerous to the +Confederates. He might cross a heavy force to the assistance of +General Porter, thus enabling that officer to assume the offensive; +or, finding Lee thus checked, he might advance on Magruder, crush the +small force under him, and seize on Richmond, which would be at his +mercy. It was thus necessary to act without delay, while awaiting the +appearance of Jackson. General Lee, accordingly, directed General +Longstreet, who had taken position to the right of Cold Harbor, to +make a feint against the Federal left, and thus relieve the pressure +on Hill. Longstreet proceeded with promptness to obey the order; +advanced in face of a heavy fire, and with a cross-fire of artillery +raking his right from over the Chickahominy, and made the feint which +had been ordered by General Lee. It effected nothing; and, to attain +the desired result, it was found necessary to turn the feint into a +real attack. This Longstreet proceeded to do, first dispersing with a +single volley a force of cavalry which had the temerity to charge his +infantry. As he advanced and attacked the powerful position before +him, the roar of guns, succeeded by loud cheers, was heard on the left +of Lee's line. + +Jackson had arrived and thrown his troops into action without delay. +He then rode forward to Cold Harbor, where General Lee awaited him, +and the two soldiers shook hands in the midst of tumultuous cheering +from the troops, who had received intelligence that Jackson's corps +had joined them. The contrast between the two men was extremely +striking. We have presented a brief sketch of Lee's personal +appearance upon the occasion--of the grave commander-in-chief, with +his erect and graceful seat in the saddle, his imposing dignity of +demeanor, and his calm and measured tones, as deliberate as though he +were in a drawing-room. Jackson was a very different personage. He was +clad in a dingy old coat, wore a discolored cadet-cap, tilted almost +upon his nose, and rode a rawboned horse, with short stirrups, which +raised his knees in the most ungraceful manner. Neither in his face +nor figure was there the least indication of the great faculties of +the man, and a more awkward-looking personage it would be impossible +to imagine. In his hand he held a lemon, which he sucked from time to +time, and his demeanor was abstracted and absent. + +As Jackson approached, Lee rode toward him and greeted him with a +cordial pressure of the hand. + +"Ah, general," said Lee, "I am very glad to see you. I hoped to be +with you before!" + +Jackson made a twitching movement of his head, and replied in a few +words, rather jerked from the lips than deliberately uttered. + +Lee had paused, and now listened attentively to the long roll of +musketry from the woods, where Hill and Longstreet were engaged; then +to the still more incessant and angry roar from the direction of +Jackson's own troops, who had closed in upon the Federal forces. + +"That fire is very heavy," said Lee. "Do you think your men can stand +it?" + +Jackson listened for a moment, with his head bent toward one shoulder, +as was customary with him, for he was deaf, he said, in one ear, "and +could not hear out of the other," and replied briefly: + +"They can stand almost any thing! They can stand that!" + +He then, after receiving General Lee's instructions, immediately +saluted and returned to his corps--Lee remaining still at Cold Harbor, +which was opposite the Federal centre. + +[Illustration: Lee and Jackson at Cold harbor.] + +The arrival of Jackson changed in a moment the aspect of affairs +in every part of the field. Whitney's division of his command took +position on Longstreet's left; the command of General D.H. Hill, on +the extreme right of the whole line, and Ewell's division, with part +of Jackson's old division, supported A.P. Hill. No sooner had these +dispositions been made, than General Lee ordered an attack along the +whole line. It was now five or six o'clock, and the sun was sinking. +From that moment until night came, the battle raged with a fury +unsurpassed in any subsequent engagement of the war. The Texan troops, +under General Hood, especially distinguished themselves. These, +followed by their comrades, charged the Federal left on the bluff, +and, in spite of a desperate resistance, carried the position. "The +enemy were driven," says General Lee, "from the ravine to the first +line of breastworks, over which one impetuous column dashed, up to the +intrenchments on the crest." Here the Federal artillery was captured, +their line driven from the hill, and in other parts of the field a +similar success followed the attack. As night fell, their line gave +way in all parts, and the remnants of General Porter's command +retreated to the bridges over the Chickahominy. + +The first important passage of arms between General McClellan and +General Lee--and it may be added the really decisive one--had +terminated in a great success on the side of the Confederates. + + + + +IV. + +THE RETREAT. + + +The battle of Cold Harbor--or, as General Lee styles it in his report, +the "battle of the Chickahominy"--was the decisive struggle between +the great adversaries, and determined the fate of General McClellan's +campaign against Richmond. + +This view is not held by writers on the Northern side, who represent +the battle in question as only the first of a series of engagements, +all of pretty nearly equal importance, and mere incidents attending +General McClellan's change of base to the shores of the James River. +Such a theory seems unfounded. If the battle at Cold Harbor had +resulted in a Federal victory, General McClellan would have advanced +straight on Richmond, and the capture of the city would inevitably +have followed. But at Cold Harbor he sustained a decisive defeat. +His whole campaign was reversed, and came to naught, from the events +occurring between noon and nightfall on the 27th of June. The result +of that obstinate encounter was not a Federal success, leading to the +fall of Richmond, but a Federal defeat, which led to the retreat to +the James River, and the failure of the whole campaign against the +Confederate capital. + +It is conceded that General McClellan really intended to change his +base; but after the battle of Cold Harbor every thing had changed. +He no longer had under him a high-spirited army, moving to take up +a stronger position, but a weary and dispirited multitude of human +beings, hurrying along to gain the shelter of the gunboats on the +James River, with the enemy pursuing closely, and worrying them at +every step. To the condition of the Federal army one of their own +officers testifies, and his expressions are so strong as wellnigh +to move the susceptibilities of an opponent. "We were ordered to +retreat," says General Hooker, "and it was like the retreat of a +whipped army. We retreated like a parcel of sheep; everybody on the +road at the same time; and a few shots from the rebels would have +panic-stricken the whole command."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, part +i., p. 580.] + +Such was the condition of that great army which had fought so bravely, +standing firm so long against the headlong assaults of the flower +of the Southern troops. It was the battle at Cold Harbor which had +produced this state of things, thereby really deciding the result +of the campaign. To attribute to that action, therefore, no more +importance than attached to the engagements on the retreat to James +River, seems in opposition to the truth of history. + +We shall present only a general narrative of the famous retreat which +reflected the highest credit upon General McClellan, and will remain +his greatest glory. He, at least, was too good a soldier not to +understand that the battle of the 27th was a decisive one. He +determined to retreat, without risking another action, to the banks +of the James River, where the Federal gunboats would render a second +attack from the Confederates a hazardous undertaking; and, "on the +evening of the 27th of June," as he says in his official report, +"assembled the corps commanders at his headquarters, and informed +them of his plan, its reasons, and his choice of route, and method of +execution." Orders were then issued to General Keyes to move with his +corps across the White-Oak Swamp Bridge, and, taking up a position +with his artillery on the opposite side, cover the passage of the rest +of the troops; the trains and supplies at Savage Station, on the +York River Railroad, were directed to be withdrawn; and the corps +commanders were ordered to move with such provisions, munitions, +and sick, as they could transport, on the direct road to Harrison's +Landing. + +These orders were promptly carried out. Before dawn on the 29th the +Federal army took up the line of march, and the great retrograde +movement was successfully begun. An immense obstacle to its success +lay in the character of the country through which it was necessary to +pass. White Oak Swamp is an extensive morass, similar to that skirting +the banks of the Chickahominy, and the passage through it is over +narrow, winding, and difficult roads, which furnish the worst possible +pathways for wagons, artillery, or even troops. It was necessary, +however, to use these highways or none, and General McClellan +resolutely entered upon his critical movement. + +General Lee was yet in doubt as to his opponent's designs, and the +fact is highly creditable to General McClellan. A portion of the +Federal army still remained on the left bank of the Chickahominy, and +it might be the intention of McClellan to push forward reënforcements +from the Peninsula, fight a second battle for the protection of his +great mass of supplies at the White House, or, crossing his whole army +to the left bank of the Chickahominy by the lower bridges, retreat +down the Peninsula by the same road followed in advancing. All that +General Lee could do, under these circumstances, was to remain near +Cold Harbor with his main body, send a force toward the York River +road, on the eastern bank of the Chickahominy, to check any Federal +attempt to cross there, and await further developments. + +It was not until the morning of the 29th that General McClellan's +designs became apparent. It was then ascertained that he had commenced +moving toward James River with his entire army, and Lee issued prompt +orders for the pursuit. While a portion of the Confederate army +followed closely upon the enemy's rear, other bodies were directed to +move by the Williamsburg and Charles City roads, and intercept him, +or assail his flanks. If these movements were promptly made, and no +unnecessary delay took place, it was expected that the Federal army +would be brought to bay in the White-Oak Swamp, and a final victory be +achieved by the Confederates. + +These complicated movements were soon in full progress, and at +various points on the line of retreat fierce fighting ensued. General +Magruder, advancing to Savage Station, an important depot of Federal +stores, on the York River Railroad, encountered on the 29th, the +powerful Federal rear-guard, which fought obstinately until night, +when it retired. Next day Generals Longstreet and A.P. Hill had pushed +down the Long Bridge road, and on the next day (June 30th) came on the +retreating column which was vigorously engaged. From the character +of the ground, little, however, was effected. The enemy fought with +obstinate courage, and repulsed every assault. The battle raged until +after nightfall, when the Federal army continued to retreat. + +These actions were the most important, and in both the Confederates +had failed to effect any important results. + +Even Jackson, who had been delayed, by the destruction of the +Chickahominy bridges, in crossing to the south bank from the vicinity +of Cold Harbor, and had followed in rear of the rest of the army, +found himself checked by General McClellan's admirable disposition +for the protection of his rear. Jackson made every effort to strike a +decisive blow at the Federal rear in the White-Oak Swamp, but he found +a bridge in his front destroyed, the enemy holding the opposite side +in strong force, and, when he endeavored to force a passage, the +determined fire from their artillery rendered it impossible for him to +do so. General McClellan had thus foiled the generalship of Lee, +and the hard fighting of Stonewall Jackson. His excellent military +judgement had defeated every attempt made to crush him. On the 1st of +July he had successfully passed the terrible swamp, in spite of all +his enemies, and his army was drawn up on the wellnigh impregnable +heights of Malvern Hill. + +A last struggle took place at Malvern Hill, and the Confederate +assault failed at all points. Owing to the wooded nature of the +ground, and the absence of accurate information in regard to it, the +attack was made under very great difficulties and effected nothing. +The Federal troops resisted courageously, and inflicted heavy loss +upon the assailing force, which advanced to the muzzles of the Federal +cannon, but did not carry the heights; and at nightfall the battle +ceased, the Confederates having suffered a severe repulse. + +On the next morning, General McClellan had disappeared toward +Harrison's Landing, to which he conducted his army safely, without +further molestation, and the long and bitter struggle was over. + + + + +V. + +RICHMOND IN DANGER--LEE'S VIEWS. + + +We have presented a sufficiently full narrative of the great battles +of the Chickahominy to enable the reader to form his own opinion of +the events, and the capacity of the two leaders who directed them. +Full justice has been sought to be done to the eminent military +abilities of General McClellan, and the writer is not conscious that +he has done more than justice to General Lee. + +Lee has not escaped criticism, and was blamed by many persons for not +putting an end to the Federal army on the retreat through White-Oak +Swamp. To this criticism, it may be said in reply, that putting an +end to nearly or quite one hundred thousand men is a difficult +undertaking; and that in one instance, at least, the failure of one of +his subordinates in arriving promptly, reversed his plans at the most +critical moment of the struggle. General Lee himself, however, states +the main cause of failure: "Under ordinary circumstances," he says, +"the Federal army should have been destroyed. Its escape is due to the +causes already stated. Prominent among them is the want of timely and +correct information. This fact, attributed chiefly to the character +of the country, enabled General McClellan skilfully to conceal his +retreat, and to add much to the obstruction with which Nature had +beset the way of our pursuing columns. But regret that more was not +accomplished, gives way to gratitude to the Sovereign Ruler of the +Universe for the results achieved." + +The reader will form his own opinion whether Lee was or was not +to blame for this want of accurate information, which would seem, +however, to be justly attributable to the War Department at Richmond, +rather than to an officer who had been assigned to command only three +or four weeks before. Other criticisms of Lee referred to his main +plan of operations, and the danger to which he exposed Richmond by +leaving only twenty-five thousand men in front of it, when he began +his movement against General McClellan's right wing, beyond the +Chickahominy. General Magruder, who commanded this force of +twenty-five thousand men left to guard the capital, expressed +afterward, in his official report, his views of the danger to which +the city had been exposed. He wrote: + +"From the time at which the enemy withdrew his forces to this side +of the Chickahominy, and destroyed the bridges, to the moment of his +evacuation, that is, from Friday night until Saturday morning, I +considered the situation of our army as extremely critical and +perilous. The larger portion of it was on the opposite side of +the Chickahominy. The bridges had been all destroyed; but one was +rebuilt--the New Bridge--which was commanded fully by the enemy's guns +from Goulding's; and there were but twenty-five thousand men between +his army of one hundred thousand and Richmond.... Had McClellan massed +his whole force in column, and advanced it against any point of our +line of battle, as was done at Austerlitz under similar circumstances +by the greatest captain of any age, though the head of his column +would have suffered greatly, its momentum would have insured him +success, and the occupation of our works about Richmond, and +consequently the city, might have been his reward. His failure to do +so is the best evidence that our wise commander fully understood the +character of his opponent." + +To this portion of General Magruder's report General Lee appended the +following "Remarks" in forwarding it: + +"General Magruder is under a misapprehension as to the separation of +troops operating on the north side of the Chickahominy from those +under himself and General Huger on the south side. He refers to this +subject on pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, of his report. + +"The troops on the two sides of the river were only separated until we +succeeded in occupying the position near what is known as New Bridge, +which occurred before twelve o'clock M. on Friday, June 27th, and +before the attack on the enemy at Gaines's Mill. + +"From the time we reached the position referred to, I regarded +communication between the two wings of our army as reëstablished. + +"The bridge referred to, and another about three-quarters of a mile +above, were ordered to be repaired before noon on Friday, and the New +Bridge was sufficiently rebuilt to be passed by artillery on Friday +night, and the one above it was used for the passage of wagons, +ambulances, and troops, early on Saturday morning. + +"Besides this, all other bridges above New Bridge, and all the fords +above that point, were open to us." + +To this General Magruder subsequently responded as follows: + +"New Bridge was finished on Friday evening, the 27th, instead of +Saturday, 28th of June. + +"I wrote from memory in reference to the time of its being finished. + +"It was reported to me that the bridge three-quarters of a mile above +was attempted to be crossed by troops (I think Ransom's brigade), on +Saturday morning, from the south to the north side, but that, finding +the bridge or the approach to it difficult, they came down and crossed +at New Bridge on the same morning. + +"My statement in regard to these bridges was not intended as a +criticism on General Lee's plan, but to show the position of the +troops, with a view to the proper understanding of my report, and to +prove that the enemy might have reasonably entertained a design, after +concentrating his troops, to march on Richmond." + +We shall not detain the reader by entering upon a full discussion of +the interesting question here raised. General Lee, as his observations +on General Magruder's report show, did not regard Richmond as exposed +to serious danger, and was confident of his ability to recross the +Chickahominy and go to its succor in the event of an attack on the +city by General McClellan. Had this prompt recrossing of the stream +here, even, been impracticable, it may still be a question whether +General Lee did not, in his movement against the Federal right wing +with the bulk of his army, follow the dictates of sound generalship. +In war, something must be risked, and occasions arise which render +it necessary to disregard general maxims. It is one of the first +principles of military science that a commander should always keep +open his line of retreat; but the moment may come when his best policy +is to burn the bridges behind him. Of Lee's movement against General +McClellan's right, it may be said that it was based on the broadest +good sense and the best generalship. The situation of affairs rendered +an attack in some quarter essential to the safety of the capital, +which was about to be hemmed in on all sides. To attack the left of +General McClellan, promised small results. It had been tried and had +failed; his right alone remained. It was possible, certainly, that he +would mass his army, and, crushing Magruder, march into Richmond; +but it was not probable that he would make the attempt. The Federal +commander was known to be a soldier disposed to caution rather than +audacity. The small amount of force under General Magruder was a +secret which he could not be expected to know. That General Lee took +these facts into consideration, as General Magruder intimates, may or +may not have been the fact; and the whole discussion may be fairly +summed up, perhaps, by saying that success vindicated the course +adopted. "Success, after all, is the test of merit," said the brave +Albert Sydney Johnston, and Talleyrand compressed much sound reasoning +in the pithy maxim, "Nothing succeeds like success." + +On the 2d of July the campaign was over, and General McClellan must +have felt, in spite of his hopeful general orders to the troops, and +dispatches to his Government, that the great struggle for Richmond had +virtually ended. A week before, he had occupied a position within a +few miles of the city, with a numerous army in the highest spirits, +and of thorough efficiency. Now, he lay on the banks of James River, +thirty miles away from the capital, and his army was worn out by the +tremendous ordeal it had passed through, and completely discouraged. +We have not dwelt upon the horrors of the retreat, and the state of +the army, which Northern writers painted at the time in the gloomiest +colors. For the moment, it was no longer the splendid war-engine it +had been, and was again afterward. Nothing could be done with it, +and General McClellan knew the fact. Without fresh troops, a renewed +advance upon Richmond was a mere dream. + +No further attack was made by General Lee, who remained for some +days inactive in the hot forests of Charles City. His reasons for +refraining from a new assault on General McClellan are summed up in +one or two sentences of his report: "The Federal commander," he says, +"immediately began to fortify his position, which was one of great +natural strength, flanked on each side by a creek, and the approach to +his front commanded by the heavy guns of his shipping, in addition +to those mounted in his intrenchments. It was deemed inexpedient to +attack him, and in view of the condition of our troops, who had been +marching and fighting almost incessantly for seven days under the +most trying circumstances, it was determined to withdraw, in order to +afford them the repose of which they stood so much in need." + +On the 8th of July, General Lee accordingly directed his march back +toward Richmond, and the troops went into camp and rested. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND McCLELLAN--THEIR IDENTITY OF OPINION. + + +General Lee had thus, at the outset of his career, as commander of the +Confederate army, saved the capital by a blow at the enemy as sudden +as it was resistless. The class of persons who are never satisfied, +and delight in fault-finding under all circumstances, declared that +a great general would have crushed the enemy on their retreat; these +certainly were in a minority; the people at large greeted Lee as the +author of a great deliverance worked out for them, and, on his return +to Richmond, he was received with every mark of gratitude and honor. +He accepted this public ovation with the moderation and dignity which +characterized his demeanor afterward, under all circumstances, either +of victory or defeat. It was almost impossible to discover in his +bearing at this time, as on other great occasions, any evidences +whatever of elation. Success, like disaster, seemed to find him calm, +collected, and as nearly unimpressible as is possible for a human +being. + +The character of the man led him to look upon success or failure with +this supreme composure, which nothing seemed able to shake; but in +July, 1862, he probably understood that the Confederate States were +still as far as ever from having achieved the objects of the war. +General McClellan had been defeated in battle, but the great resources +of the United States Government would enable it promptly to put other +and larger armies in the field. Even the defeated army was still +numerous and dangerous, for it consisted, according to McClellan's +report, of nearly or quite ninety thousand men; and the wise brain of +its commander had devised a plan of future operations which +promised far greater results than the advance on Richmond from the +Chickahominy. + +We shall touch, in passing, on this interesting subject, but shall +first ask the reader's attention to a communication addressed, by +General McClellan, at this time to President Lincoln. It is one of +those papers which belong to history, and should be placed upon +record. It not only throws the clearest light on the character and +views of General Lee's great adversary, but expresses with admirable +lucidity the sentiments of a large portion of the Federal people at +the time. The President had invited a statement of General McClellan's +views on the conduct of the war, and on July 7th, in the very midst of +the scenes of disaster at Harrison's Landing, McClellan wrote these +statesmanlike words: + +"This rebellion has assumed the character of a war; as such it should +be regarded, and it should be conducted upon the highest principles +know to Christian civilization. It should not be a war looking to the +subjugation of the people of any State in any event. It should not be +at all a war upon population, but against armed forces and political +organization. Neither confiscation of property, political executions, +territorial organizations of States, nor forcible abolition of +slavery, should be contemplated for a moment. In prosecuting the war +all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected, +subject only to the necessity of military operations. All private +property taken for military use should be paid or receipted for; +pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary +trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military +toward citizens promptly rebuked. Military arrests should not be +tolerated, except in places where active hostilities exist, and oaths +not required by enactments constitutionally made should be neither +demanded nor received. Military government should be confined to the +preservation of public order and the protection of political right. +Military power should not be allowed to interfere with the relations +of servitude, either by supporting or impairing the authority of the +master, except for repressing disorder, as in other cases. Slaves +contraband under the Act of Congress, seeking military protection, +should receive it. The right of the Government to appropriate +permanently to its own service claims to slave-labor should be +asserted, and the right of the owner to compensation therefor should +be recognized. + +"This principle might be extended upon grounds of military necessity +and security to all the slaves of a particular State, thus working +manumission in such State; and in Missouri, perhaps in Western +Virginia also, and possibly even in Maryland, the expediency of such a +measure is only a question of time. + +"A system of policy thus constitutional, and pervaded by the +influences of Christianity and freedom, would receive the support of +almost all truly loyal men, would deeply impress the rebel masses +and all foreign nations, and it might be humbly hoped that it would +commend itself to the favor of the Almighty. + +"Unless the principles governing the future conduct of our struggle +shall be made known and approved, the effort to obtain requisite +forces will be almost hopeless. A declaration of radical views, +especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies. + +"The policy of the Government must be supported by concentrations +of military power. The national forces should not be dispersed in +expeditions, posts of occupation, and numerous armies; but should be +mainly collected into masses, and brought to bear upon the armies +of the Confederate States. Those armies thoroughly defeated, the +political structure which they support would soon cease to exist. + + "In carrying out any system of policy which you may form, you will + require a commander-in-chief of the army--one who possesses your + confidence, understands your views, and who is competent to + execute your orders, by directing the military forces of the + nation to the accomplishment of the objects by you proposed. I do + not ask that place for myself. I am willing to serve you in such + positions as you may assign me, and I will do so as faithfully + as ever subordinate served superior. I may be on the brink of + eternity, and, as I hope forgiveness from my Maker, I have written + this letter with sincerity toward you, and from love for my + country." + +This noble and earnest exposition of his opinion, upon the proper mode +of conducting the war, will reflect honor upon General McClellan when +his military achievements are forgotten. It discusses the situation +of affairs, both from the political and military point of view, in a +spirit of the broadest statesmanship, and with the acumen of a great +soldier. That it had no effect, is the clearest indication upon which +the war was thenceforward to be conducted. + +The removal of General McClellan, as holding views opposed to the +party in power, is said to have resulted from this communication. +It certainly placed him in open antagonism to General Halleck, the +Federal Secretary of War, and, as this antagonism had a direct effect +upon even connected with the subject of our memoir, we shall briefly +relate now it was now displayed. + +Defeated on the Chickahominy, and seeing little to encourage an +advance, on the left bank of the James, upon Richmond, General +McClellan proposed to cross that river and operate against the capital +and its communications, near Petersburg. The proof of McClellan's +desire to undertake this movement, which afterward proved so +successful under General Grant, is found in a memorandum, by General +Halleck himself, of what took place on a visit paid by him to +McClellan, at Harrison's Landing, on July 25, 1862. + +"I stated to him," says General Halleck, "that the object of my visit +was to ascertain from him his views and wishes in regard to future +operations. He said that he proposed to cross the James River at that +point, attack Petersburg, and cut off the enemy's communications by +that route South, making no further demonstration for the present +against Richmond. I stated to him very frankly my views in regard to +the manner and impracticability of the plan;" and nothing further, it +seems, was said of this highly "impracticable" plan of operations. It +became practicable afterward under General Grant; McClellan was not +permitted to essay it in July, 1862, from the fact that it had been +resolved to relieve him from command, or from General Halleck's +inability to perceive its good sense. + +General Lee's views upon this subject coincided completely with those +of General McClellan. He expressed at this time, to those in his +confidence, the opinion that Richmond could be assailed to greater +advantage from the South, as a movement of the enemy in that direction +would menace her communications with the Gulf States; and events +subsequently proved the soundness of this view. Attacks from all +other quarters failed, including a repetition by General Grant of +McClellan's attempt from the side of the Chickahominy. When General +Grant carried out his predecessor's plan of assailing the city from +the direction of Petersburg, he succeeded in putting an end to the +war. + + + + +PART IV. + +_THE WAR ADVANCES NORTHWARD_ + + + + +I. + +LEE'S PROTEST. + + +General Lee remained in front of Richmond, watching General McClellan, +but intelligence soon reached him from the upper Rappahannock that +another army was advancing in that quarter, and had already occupied +the county of Culpepper, with the obvious intention of capturing +Gordonsville, the point of junction of the Orange and Alexandria and +Virginia Central Railroads, and advancing thence upon Richmond. + +The great defeat on the Chickahominy had only inspired the Federal +authorities with new energy. Three hundred thousand new troops +were called for, large bounties were held out as an inducement to +enlistment, negro-slaves in regions occupied by the United States +armies were directed to be enrolled as troops, and military commanders +were authorized to seize upon whatever was "necessary or convenient +for their commands," without compensation to the owners. This +indicated the policy upon which it was now intended to conduct the +war, and the army occupying Culpepper proceeded to carry out the new +policy in every particular. + +This force consisted of the troops which had served under Generals +Banks, McDowell, and Fremont--a necleus--and reënforcements from the +army of McClellan, together with the troops under General Burnside, +were hastening to unite with the newly-formed army. It was styled the +"Army of Virginia," and was placed under command of Major-General John +Pope, who had hitherto served in the West. General Pope had procured +the command, it is said, by impressing the authorities with a high +opinion of his energy and activity. In these qualities, General +McClellan was supposed to be deficient; and the new commander, coming +from a region where the war was conducted on a different plan, it was +said, would be able to infuse new life into the languid movements in +Virginia. General Pope had taken special pains to allay the fears of +the Federal authorities for the safety of Washington. He intended +to "lie off on the flanks" of Lee's army, he said, and render it +impossible for the rebels to advance upon the capital while he +occupied that threatening position. When asked if, with an army like +General McClellan's, he would find any difficulty in marching through +the South to New Orleans, General Pope replied without hesitation, "I +should suppose not." + +This confident view of things seems to have procured General Pope his +appointment, and it will soon be seen that he proceeded to conduct +military operations upon principles very different from those +announced by General McClellan. War, as carried on by General Pope, +was to be war _à l'outrance._ General McClellan had written: "The war +should not be at all a war upon population, but against armed forces +... all private property, taken for military use, should be paid for; +pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary +trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military +toward citizens promptly rebuked." The new commander intended to act +upon a very different principle, and to show that he possessed more +activity and resolution than his predecessor. + +General Pope's assumption of the command was signalized by much pomp +and animated general orders. He arrived in a train decked out with +streamers, and issued an order in which he said to the troops: "I +desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am sorry +to find much in vogue among you. I hear constantly of taking strong +positions and holding them, _of lines of retreat and bases of +supplies_. Let us discard such ideas. The strongest position which +a soldier should desire to occupy is the one from which he can most +easily advance upon the enemy. Let us study the probable line of +retreat of our opponents, _and leave our own to take care of itself. +Let us look before, and not behind. Disaster and shame look in the +rear_." The result, as will be seen, furnished a grotesque commentary +upon that portion of General Pope's order which we have italicized. In +an address to the army, he added further: "I have come to you from the +West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies--from an army +whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and beat him when +found--where policy has been attack, and not defence. I presume I have +been called here to pursue the same system." + +Such was the tenor of General Pope's orders on assuming +command--orders which were either intended seriously as an +announcement of his real intentions, or as a blind to persuade the +Confederates that his force was large. + +Unfortunately for the region in which he now came to operate, General +Pope did not confine himself to these flourishes of rhetoric. He +proceeded to inaugurate a military policy in vivid contrast to General +McClellan's. His "expatriation orders" directed that all male citizens +disloyal to the United States should be immediately arrested; the oath +of allegiance to the United States Government should be proffered +them, and, "if they furnished sufficient security for its observance," +they should be set free again. If they refused the oath, they should +be sent beyond the Federal lines; and, if afterward found within his +lines, they should be treated as spies, "and shot, their property +to be seized and applied to the public use." All communication +with persons living within the Southern lines was forbidden; such +communication should subject the individual guilty of it to be treated +as _a spy_. Lastly, General Pope's subordinates were directed to +arrest prominent citizens, and hold them as hostages for the good +behavior of the population. If his soldiers were "bushwhacked"--that +is to say, attacked on their foraging expeditions--the prominent +citizens thus held as hostages were to _suffer death_. + +It is obvious that war carried on upon such principles is rapine. +General Pope ventured, however, upon the new programme; and a foreign +periodical, commenting upon the result, declared that this commander +had prosecuted hostilities against the South "in a way that cast +mankind two centuries back toward barbarism." We shall not pause to +view the great outrages committed by the Federal troops in Culpepper. +They have received thus much comment rather to introduce the following +communication to the Federal authorities, from General Lee, than +to record what is known now to the Old World as well as the New. +Profoundly outraged and indignant at these cruel and oppressive acts, +General Lee, by direction of the Confederate authorities, addressed, +on the 2d of August, the following note to General Halleck: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE C.S., / + + NEAR RICHMOND, VA., _August_ 2, 1862.; + + _To the General commanding the U.S. Army, Washington_: + + GENERAL: In obedience to the order of his Excellency, the + President of the Confederate States, I have the honor to make you + the following communication: + + On the 22d of July last a cartel for a general exchange of + prisoners was signed by Major-General John A. Dix, on behalf of + the United States, and by Major-General D.H. Hill, on the part of + this government. By the terms of that cartel it is stipulated that + all prisoners of war hereafter taken shall be discharged on parole + until exchanged. Scarcely had the cartel been signed, when the + military authorities of the United States commenced a practice + changing the character of the war, from such as becomes civilized + nations, into a campaign of indiscriminate robbery and murder. + + A general order issued by the Secretary of War of the United + States, in the city of Washington, on the very day that the cartel + was signed in Virginia, directs the military commanders of + the United States to take the property of our people, for the + convenience and use of the army, without compensation. + + A general order issued by Major-General Pope, on the 23d of July + last, the day after the date of the cartel, directs the murder of + our peaceful citizens as spies, if found quietly tilling their + farms in his rear, even outside of his lines. + + And one of his brigadier-generals, Steinwehr, has seized innocent + and peaceful inhabitants, to be held as hostages, to the end that + they may be murdered in cold blood if any of his soldiers + are killed by some unknown persons whom he designates as + "bushwhackers." Some of the military authorities seem to suppose + that their end will be better attained by a savage war in which no + quarter is to be given, and no age or sex is to be spared, than by + such hostilities as are alone recognized to be lawful in modern + times. We find ourselves driven by our enemies by steady progress + toward a practice which we abhor, and which we are vainly + struggling to avoid. + + Under these circumstances, this Government has issued the + accompanying general order, which I am directed by the President + to transmit to you, recognizing Major-General Pope and his + commissioned officers to be in the position which they have chosen + for themselves--that of robbers and murderers, and not that of + public enemies, entitled, if captured, to be treated as prisoners + of war. The President also instructs me to inform you that we + renounce our right of retaliation on the innocent, and will + continue to treat the private soldiers of General Pope's army as + prisoners of war; but if, after notice to your Government that + they confine repressive measures to the punishment of commissioned + officers who are willing to participate in these crimes, the + savage practices threatened in the orders alluded to be persisted + in, we shall reluctantly be forced to the last resort of accepting + the war on the terms chosen by our enemies, until the voice of an + outraged humanity shall compel a respect for the recognized usages + of war. While the President considers that the facts referred to + would justify a refusal on our part to execute the cartel by which + we have agreed to liberate an excess of prisoners of war in our + hands, a sacred regard for plighted faith, which shrinks from the + semblance of breaking a promise, precludes a resort to such an + extremity, nor is it his desire to extend to any other forces of + the United States the punishment merited by General Pope and such + commissioned officers as choose to participate in the execution of + his infamous order. + + I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + + R.E. LEE, _General commanding_. + +This communication requires no comment. It had the desired effect, +although General Halleck returned it as couched in language too +insulting to be received. On the 15th of August, the United States War +Department so far disapproved of General Pope's orders as to direct +that "no officer or soldier might, without proper authority, leave his +colors or ranks to take private property, or to enter a private house +for the purpose, under penalty of death." + + + + +II. + +LEE'S MANOEUVRES. + + +General Pope had promptly advanced, and his army lay in Culpepper, the +right reaching toward the Blue Ridge, and the left extending nearly to +the Rapidan. + +The campaign now became a contest of brains between Lee and the +Federal authorities. Their obvious aim was to leave him in doubt +whether a new advance was intended under McClellan from James River, +or the real movement was to be against Richmond from the North. Under +these circumstances, General Lee remained with the bulk of his army +in front of Richmond; but, on the 13th of July, sent Jackson with two +divisions in the direction of Gordonsville. The game of wits had thus +begun, and General Lee moved cautiously, looking in both directions, +toward James River and the Upper Rappahannock. As yet the real design +of the enemy was undeveloped. The movement of General Pope might or +might not be a real advance. But General McClellan remained inactive, +and, on the 27th of July, A.P. Hill's division was sent up to +reënforce Jackson--while, at the same time, General D.H. Hill, +commanding a force on the south bank of the James River, was directed +to make demonstrations against McClellan's communications by opening +fire on his transports. + +The moment approached now when the game between the two adversaries +was to be decided. On the 2d of August, Jackson assumed the offensive, +by attacking the enemy at Orange Court-House; and, on the 5th, General +McClellan made a prompt demonstration to prevent Lee from sending him +further reinforcements. A large Federal force advanced to Malvern +Hill, and was drawn up there in line of battle, with every indication +on the part of General McClellan of an intention to advance anew upon +Richmond. Lee promptly went to meet him, and a slight engagement +ensued on Curl's Neck. But, on the next morning, the Federal army had +disappeared, and the whole movement was seen to have been a feint. + +This state of indecision continued until nearly the middle of August. +An incident then occurred which clearly indicated the enemy's +intentions. General Burnside was known to have reached Hampton Roads +from the Southern coast with a considerable force, and the direction +which his flotilla now took would show the design of the Federal +authorities. If a new advance was intended from the James, the +flotilla would ascend that river; if General Pope's army was looked to +for the real movement, General Burnside would go in that direction. +The secret was discovered by the afterward celebrated Colonel John S. +Mosby, then a private, and just returned, by way of Fortress Monroe, +from prison in Washington. He ascertained, when he disembarked, that +Burnside's flotilla was about to move toward the Rappahannock, and, +aware of the importance of the information, hastened to communicate +it to General Lee. He was admitted, at the headquarters of the latter +near Richmond, to a private interview, and when General Lee had +finished his conversation with the plain-looking individual, then +almost unknown, he was in possession of the information necessary to +determine his plans. The Rappahannock, and not the James, was seen +to be the theatre of the coming campaign, and General Lee's whole +attention was now directed to that quarter. + +Jackson had already struck an important blow there, coöperating +vigorously, as was habitual with him, in the general plan of action. +General McClellan had endeavored by a feint to hold Lee at Richmond. +By a battle now, Jackson hastened the retreat of the army under +McClellan from James River. With his three divisions, Jackson crossed +the Rapidan, and, on the 9th of August, attacked the advance force of +General Pope at Cedar Mountain. The struggle was obstinate, and at +one time Jackson's left was driven back, but the action terminated at +nightfall in the retreat of the Federal forces, and the Confederate +commander remained in possession of the field. He was too weak, +however, to hold his position against the main body of the Federal +army, which was known to be approaching; he accordingly recrossed +the Rapidan to the vicinity of Gordonsville, and here he was +soon afterward joined by General Lee, with the great bulk of the +Confederate army. + +Such were the events which succeeded the battles of the Chickahominy, +transferring hostilities to a new theatre, and inaugurating the great +campaigns of the summer and autumn of 1862 in Northern Virginia and +Maryland. + + + + +III. + +LEE ADVANCES FROM THE RAPIDAN. + + +General Lee, it will thus be seen, had proceeded in his military +manoeuvres with the utmost caution, determined to give his adversaries +no advantage, and remain in front of the capital until it was free +from all danger. But for the daring assault upon General McClellan, +on the Chickahominy, his critics would no doubt have charged him with +weakness and indecision now; but, under any circumstances, it is +certain that he would have proceeded in the same manner, conducting +operations in the method which his judgment approved. + +At length the necessity of caution had disappeared. General Burnside +had gone to reënforce General Pope, and a portion of McClellan's army +was believed to have followed. "It therefore seemed," says +General Lee, "that active operations on the James were no longer +contemplated," and he wisely concluded that "the most effectual way to +relieve Richmond from any danger of attack from that quarter would +be to reënforce General Jackson, and advance upon General Pope." In +commenting upon these words, an able writer of the North exclaims: +"Veracious prophecy, showing that _insight_ which is one of the +highest marks of generalship!" The movement, indeed, was the right +proceeding, as the event showed; and good generalship may be defined +to be the power of seeing what is the proper course, and the decision +of character which leads to its adoption. + +General Lee exhibited throughout his career this mingled good judgment +and daring, and his cautious inactivity was now succeeded by one +of those offensive movements which, if we may judge him, by his +subsequent career, seemed to be the natural bent of his character. +With the bulk of his army, he marched in the direction of General +Pope; the rest were speedily ordered to follow, and active operations +began for driving the newly-formed Federal "Army of Virginia" back +toward Washington. + +We have presented Lee's order for the attack on General McClellan, and +here quote his order of march for the advance against General Pope, +together with a note addressed to Stuart, commanding his cavalry, for +that officer's guidance. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_August_ 19, 1862. + +SPECIAL ORDER No. 185. + +I. General Longstreet's command, constituting the right wing of +the army, will cross the Rapidan at Raccoon Ford, and move in the +direction of Culpepper Court-House. General Jackson's command, +constituting the left wing, will cross at Summerville Ford, and move +in the same direction, keeping on the left of General Longstreet. +General Anderson's division will cross at Summerville Ford, follow the +route of General Jackson, and act in reserve. The battalion of light +artillery, under Colonel S.D. Lee, will take the same route. The +cavalry, under General Stuart, will cross at Morton's Ford, pursue the +route by Stevensburg to Rappahannock Station, destroy the railroad +bridge, cut the enemy's communications, telegraph line, and, +operating toward Culpepper Court-House, will take position on General +Longstreet's right. + +II. The commanders of each wing will designate the reserve for their +commands. Medical and ammunition wagons will alone follow the troops +across the Rapidan. The baggage and supply trains will be parked under +their respective officers, in secure positions on the south side, so +as not to embarrass the different roads. + +III. Cooked rations for three days will be carried in the haversacks +of the men, and provision must be made for foraging the animals. +Straggling from the ranks is strictly prohibited, and commanders will +make arrangements to secure and punish the offenders. + +IV. The movements herein directed will commence to-morrow, 20th +instant, at dawn of day. + +By command of General R.E. Lee: + +A.P. MASON, _A.A. G_. + +HEADQUARTERS CRENSHAW'S FARM,} + _August_ 19, 1862.} + +_General J.E.B. Stuart, commanding Cavalry_: + +General: I desire you to rest your men to-day, refresh your horses, +prepare rations and every thing for the march to-morrow. Get what +information you can of fords, roads, and position of the enemy, so +that your march can be made understandingly and with vigor. I send to +you Captain Mason, an experienced bridge-builder, etc., whom I think +will be able to aid you in the destruction of the bridge, etc. When +that is accomplished, or when in train of execution, as circumstances +permit, I wish you to operate back toward Culpepper Court-House, +creating such confusion and consternation as you can, without +unnecessarily exposing your men, till you feel Longstreet's right. +Take position there on his right, and hold yourself in reserve, and +act as circumstances may require. I wish to know during the day how +you proceed in your preparations. They will require the personal +attention of all your officers. The last reports from the +signal-stations yesterday evening were, that the enemy was breaking +up his principal encampments, and moving in direction of Culpepper +Court-House. + +Very respectfully, etc., R.E. LEE, _General_. + +These orders indicate General Lee's design--to reach the left flank +of the enemy, prevent his retreat by destroying the bridges on the +Rappahannock, and bring him to battle in the neighborhood of Culpepper +Court-House. The plan failed in consequence of a delay of two days, +which took place in its execution--a delay, attributed at that time, +we know not with what justice, to the unnecessarily deliberate +movements of the corps commanded by General Longstreet. This delay +enabled the enemy to gain information of the intended movement; and +when General Lee advanced on the 20th of August, instead of on the +18th, as he had at first determined to do, it was found that General +Pope had broken up his camps, and was in rapid retreat. Lee followed, +and reached the Rappahannock only to find that the Federal army had +passed that stream. General Pope, who had promised to conduct none but +offensive operations, and never look to the rear, had thus hastened +to interpose the waters of the Rappahannock between himself and his +adversary, and, when General Lee approached, he found every crossing +of the river heavily defended by the Federal infantry and artillery. + +In face of this large force occupying a commanding position on the +heights, General Lee made no effort to cross. He determined, he says, +"not to attempt the passage of the river at that point with the army," +but to "seek a more favorable place to cross, higher up the river, and +thus gain the enemy's right." This manoeuvre was intrusted to Jackson, +whose corps formed the Confederate left wing. Jackson advanced +promptly to the Warrenton Springs Ford, which had been selected as +the point of crossing, drove away a force of the enemy posted at the +place, and immediately began to pass the river with his troops. The +movement was however interrupted by a severe rain-storm, which swelled +the waters of the Rappahannock, and rendered a further prosecution of +it impracticable. General Lee was thus compelled to give up that plan, +and ordered Jackson to withdraw the force which had crossed. This was +done, and General Lee was now called upon to adopt some other method +of attack; or to remain inactive in face of the enemy. + +But to remain inactive was impossible. The army must either advance +or retire; information which had just reached the Confederate general +rendered one of these two proceedings indispensable. The information +referred to had been obtained by General Stuart. The activity and +energy of this officer, especially in gaining intelligence, now +proved, as they proved often afterward, of the utmost importance to +Lee. Stuart had been directed by General Lee to make an attack, with a +cavalry force, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, in the enemy's +rear; he had promptly carried out his orders by striking the Federal +communications at Catlett's Station, had destroyed there all that he +found, and torn up the railroad, but, better than all, had captured +a box containing official papers belonging to General Pope. These +papers, which Stuart hastened--marching day and night, through storm +and flood--to convey to General Lee, presented the clearest evidence +of the enemy's movements and designs. Troops were hastening from every +direction to reënforce General Pope, the entire force on James River +especially was to be brought rapidly north of the Rappahannock, and +any delay in the operations of the Confederates would thus expose them +to attack from the Federal forces concentrated from all quarters in +their front. + +[Illustration: Map--Upper Rappahannock] + + + + +IV. + +JACKSON FLANKS GENERAL POPE. + + +It was thus necessary to act with decision, and General Lee resolved +upon a movement apparently of the most reckless character. This was to +separate his army into two parts, and, while one remained confronting +the enemy on the Rappahannock, send the other by a long circuit to +fall on the Federal rear near Manassas. This plan of action was +opposed to the first rule of the military art, that a general should +never divide his force in the face of an enemy. That Lee ventured to +do so on this occasion can only be explained on one hypothesis, that +he did not highly esteem the military ability of his opponent. These +flank attacks undoubtedly, however, possessed a great attraction for +him, as they did for Jackson, and, in preferring such movement, Lee +was probably actuated both by the character of the troops on both +sides and by the nature of the country. The men of both armies were +comparatively raw levies, highly susceptible to the influence of +"surprise," and the appearance of an enemy on their flanks, or in +their rear, was calculated to throw them into disorder. The wooded +character of the theatre of war generally rendered such movements +practicable, and all that was requisite was a certain amount of daring +in the commander who was called upon to decide upon them. This daring +Lee repeatedly exhibited, and the uniform success of the movements +indicates his sound generalship. + +To command the force which was now to go on the perilous errand of +striking General Pope's rear, General Lee selected Jackson, who had +exhibited such promptness and decision in the campaigns of the Valley +of Virginia. Rapidity of movement was necessary above all things, +and, if any one could be relied upon for that, it was the now famous +Stonewall Jackson. To him the operation was accordingly intrusted, and +his corps was at once put in motion. Crossing the Rappahannock at an +almost forgotten ford, high up and out of view of the Federal right, +Jackson pushed forward day and night toward Manassas, reached +Thoroughfare Gap, in the Bull Run Mountain, west of that place, passed +through, and completely destroyed the great mass of supplies in the +Federal depot at Manassas. The whole movement had been made with +such rapidity, and General Stuart, commanding the cavalry, had so +thoroughly guarded the flank of the advancing column from observation, +that Manassas was a mass of smoking ruins almost before General Pope +was aware of the real danger. Intelligence soon reached him, however, +of the magnitude of the blow aimed by Lee, and, hastily breaking +up his camps on the Rappahannock, he hurried to attack the force +assailing his communications. + +The first part of General Lee's plan had thus fully succeeded. General +Pope, who had occupied every ford of the Rappahannock, so as to render +the passage difficult, if not impossible, had disappeared suddenly, to +go and attack the enemy in his rear. General Lee promptly moved in +his turn, with the great corps under Longstreet, and pushed +toward Manassas, over nearly the same road followed by Jackson. + +[Illustration: T.J. Jackson] + + + + +V. + +LEE FOLLOWS. + + +The contest of generalship had now fully begun, and the brain of +General Lee was matched against the brain of General Pope. It is no +part of the design of the writer of this volume to exalt unduly the +reputation of Lee, and detract from the credit due his adversaries. +Justice has been sought to be done to General McClellan; the same +measure of justice will be dealt out to his successors on the Federal +side; nor is it calculated to elevate the fame of Lee, to show that +his opponents were incapable and inefficient. Of General Pope, +however, it must be said that he suffered himself to be outgeneralled +in every particular; and the pithy comment of General Lee, that he +"did not appear to be aware of his situation," sums up the whole +subject. + +It is beyond our purpose to enter upon any thing resembling a detailed +narrative of the confused and complicated movements of the various +corps of the army under General Pope. These have been the subject of +the severest criticism by his own followers. We shall simply notice +the naked events. Jackson reached Manassas on the night of August +26th, took it, and on the next day destroyed the great depot. General +Pope was hastening to protect it, but was delayed by Ewell at Bristoe, +and a force sent up from Washington, under the brave General Taylor, +was driven off with loss. Then, having achieved his aim, Jackson fell +back toward Sudley. + +If the reader will look at the map, he will now understand the +exact condition of affairs. Jackson had burned the Federal depot of +supplies, and retired before the great force hastening to rescue them. +He had with him about twenty thousand men, and General Pope's force +was probably triple that number. Thus, the point was to hold General +Pope at arm's-length until the arrival of Lee; and, to accomplish this +great end, Jackson fell back beyond Groveton. There he formed line of +battle, and waited. + +It is obvious that, under these circumstances, the true policy of +General Pope was to obstruct Thoroughfare Gap, the only road by which +Lee could approach promptly, and then crush Jackson. On the night of +the 27th, General McDowell was accordingly sent thither with forty +thousand men; but General Pope ordered him, on the next morning, to +Manassas, where he hoped to "bag the whole crowd," he said--that is +to say, the force under Jackson. This was the fatal mistake made by +General Pope. Thoroughfare Gap was comparatively undefended. While +General Pope was marching to attack Jackson, who had disappeared, it +was the next thing to a certainty that General Lee would attack _him_. + +All parties were thus moving to and fro; but the Confederates enjoyed +the very great advantage over General Pope of knowing precisely +how affairs stood, and of having determined upon their own plan of +operations. Jackson, with his back to the mountain, was waiting for +Lee. Lee was approaching rapidly, to unite the two halves of his army. +General Pope, meanwhile, was marching and countermarching, apparently +ignorant of the whereabouts of Jackson,[1] + +General Lee, in personal command of Longstreet's corps, reached the +western end of Thoroughfare Gap about sunset, on the 28th, and the +sound of artillery from the direction of Groveton indicated that +Jackson and General Pope had come in collision. Jackson had himself +brought on this engagement by attacking the flank of one of General +Pope's various columns, as it marched across his front, over the +Warrenton road, and this was the origin of the sound wafted to General +Lee's ears as he came in sight of Thoroughfare. It was certainly +calculated to excite his nerves if they were capable of being excited. +Jackson was evidently engaged, and the disproportion between his +forces and those of General Pope rendered such an engagement extremely +critical. Lee accordingly pressed forward, reached the Gap, and the +advance force suddenly halted: the Gap was defended. The Federal force +posted here, at the eastern opening of the Gap, was small, and wholly +inadequate for the purpose; but this was as yet unknown to General +Lee. His anxiety under these circumstances must have been great. +Jackson might be crushed before his arrival. He rode up to the +summit of the commanding hill which rises just west of the Gap, and +dismounting directed his field-glass toward the shaggy defile in +front. + +[Footnote 1: "Not knowing at the time where was the enemy."--_General +Porter_.] and undecided what course to pursue. + +[Illustration: Lee Reconnoitring at Throughfare Gap.] + +The writer of these pages chanced to be near the Confederate commander +at this moment, and was vividly impressed by the air of unmoved +calmness which marked his countenance and demeanor. Nothing in the +expression of his face, and no hurried movement, indicated excitement +or anxiety. Here, as on many other occasions, Lee impressed the writer +as an individual gifted with the most surprising faculty of remaining +cool and unaffected in the midst of circumstances calculated to arouse +the most phlegmatic. After reconnoitring for some moments without +moving, he closed his glass slowly, as though he were buried in +reflection, and deliberating at his leisure, and, walking back slowly +to his horse, mounted and rode down the hill. + +The attack was not delayed, and flanking columns were sent to cross +north of the Gap and assail the enemy's rear. But the assault in front +was successful. The small force of the enemy at the eastern opening of +the Gap retired, and, by nine o'clock at night, General Longstreet's +corps was passing through. + +All the next morning (August 29th), Longstreet's troops were coming +into position on the right of Jackson, under the personal supervision +of Lee. By noon the line of battle was formed.[1] Lee's army was +once more united. General Pope had not been able to crush less than +one-half that army, for twenty-four hours nearly in his clutches, and +it did not seem probable that he would meet with greater success, now +that the whole was concentrated and held in the firm hand of Lee. + +[Footnote 1: The hour of Longstreet's arrival has been strangely a +subject of discussion. The truth is stated in the reports of Lee, +Longstreet, Jones, and other officers. But General Pope was ignorant +of Longstreet's presence _at five in the evening_; and General Porter, +his subordinate, was dismissed from the army for not at that hour +attacking Jackson's right, declared by General Pope to be undefended. +Longstreet was in line of battle by noon.] + + + + +VI. + +THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS. + + +Lee's order of battle for the coming action was peculiar. It resembled +an open V, with the opening toward the enemy--Jackson's corps forming +the left wing, and extending from near Sudley, to a point in rear of +the small village of Groveton, Longstreet's corps forming the right +wing, and reaching from Jackson's right to and beyond the Warrenton +road which runs to Stonebridge. + +The field of battle was nearly identical with that of July 21, 1861. +The only difference was, that the Confederates occupied the ground +formerly held by the Federal troops, and that the latter attacked, as +Johnston and Beauregard had attacked, from the direction of Manassas, +and the tableland around the well-known Henry House. + +The Southern order of battle seems to have contemplated a movement on +one or both of General Pope's flanks while he attacked in front. An +assault on either wing would expose him to danger from the other, +and it will be seen that the fate of the battle was decided by this +judicious arrangement of the Confederate commander. + +The action began a little after noon, when the Federal right, +consisting of the troops of Generals Banks, Sigel, and others, +advanced and made a vigorous attack on Jackson's left, under A.P. +Hill. An obstinate conflict ensued, the opposing lines fighting almost +bayonet to bayonet, "delivering their volleys into each other at the +distance of ten paces." At the first charge, an interval between two +of Hill's brigades was penetrated by the enemy, and that wing of +Jackson's corps was in great danger of being driven back. This +disaster was, however, prevented by the prompt stand made by two or +three regiments; the enemy was checked, and a prompt counter-charge +drove the Federal assaulting columns back into the woods. + +The attempt to break Jackson's line at this point was not, however, +abandoned. The Federal troops returned again and again to the +encounter, and General Hill reported "six separate and distinct +assaults" made upon him. They were all repulsed, in which important +assistance was rendered by General Early. That brave officer attacked +with vigor, and, aided by the fire of the Confederate artillery from +the elevated ground in Jackson's rear, drove the enemy before him with +such slaughter that one of their regiments is said to have carried +back but three men. + +This assault of the enemy had been of so determined a character, that +General Lee, in order to relieve his left, had directed Hood and +Evans, near his centre, to advance and attack the left of the +assaulting column. Hood was about to do so, when he found a heavy +force advancing to charge his own line. A warm engagement followed, +which resulted in the repulse of the enemy, and Hood followed them a +considerable distance, inflicting heavy loss. + +It was now nearly nine o'clock at night, and the darkness rendered +further operations impossible. The troops which had driven the enemy +were recalled from their advanced position, the Southern line was +reformed on the same ground occupied at the commencement of the +action, and General Lee prepared for the more decisive struggle of the +next day. + +Morning came (August 30th), but all the forenoon passed without a +resumption of the battle. Each of the adversaries seemed to await some +movement on the part of the other, and the Federal commander made +heavy feints against both the Confederate right and left, with the +view of discovering some weak point, or of inducing Lee to lay himself +open to attack. These movements had, however, no effect. Lee remained +obstinately in his strong position, rightly estimating the advantage +it gave him, and no doubt taking into consideration the want of +supplies General Pope must labor under, a deficiency which rendered a +prompt assault on his part indispensable. The armies thus remained in +face of each other, without serious efforts upon either side, until +nearly or quite the hour of three in the afternoon. + +General Pope then resumed the assault on Lee's left, under Jackson, +with his best troops. The charge was furious, and a bloody struggle +ensued; but Jackson succeeded in repulsing the force. It fell back in +disorder, but was succeeded by a second and a third line, which rushed +forward at the "double-quick," in a desperate attempt to break the +Southern line. These new attacks were met with greater obstinacy than +at first, and, just as the opponents had closed in, a heavy fire was +directed against the Federal column by Colonel S.D. Lee, commanding +the artillery at Lee's centre. This fire, which was of the most rapid +and destructive character, struck the enemy in front and flank at +once, and seemed to sweep back the charging brigades as they came. The +fire of the cannon was then redoubled, and Jackson's line advanced +with cheers. Before this charge, the Federal line broke, and Jackson +pressed forward, allowing them no respite. + +General Lee then threw forward Longstreet, who, knowing what was +expected of him, was already moving. The enemy were pressed thus in +front and on their flank, as Lee had no doubt intended, in forming his +peculiar line. The corps of Jackson and Longstreet closed in like two +iron arms; the Federal forces were driven from position to position; +the glare of their cannon, more and more distant, indicated that they +had abandoned further contest, and at ten at night the darkness put an +end to the battle and pursuit. General Pope was retreating with his +defeated forces toward Washington. + +On the next day, Lee dispatched Jackson to turn Centreville and cut +off the retreat of General Pope. The result was a severe engagement +near Germantown, which was put an end to by a violent storm. General +Pope, now reënforced by the commands of Generals Sumner and Franklin, +had been enabled to hold his ground until night. When, on the next day +(September 2d), the Confederates advanced to Fairfax Court-House, +it was found that the entire Federal army was in rapid retreat upon +Washington. + +Such had been the fate of General Pope. + + + + +PART V. + +_LEE INVADES MARYLAND_. + + + + +I. + +HIS DESIGNS. + + +The defeat of General Pope opened the way for movements not +contemplated, probably, by General Lee, when he marched from Richmond +to check the advance in Culpepper. His object at that time was +doubtless simply to arrest the forward movement of the new force +threatening Gordonsville. Now, however, the position of the pieces +on the great chess-board of war had suddenly changed, and it was +obviously Lee's policy to extract all the advantage possible from the +new condition of things. + +He accordingly determined to advance into Maryland--the fortifications +in front of Washington, and the interposition of the Potomac, a +broad stream easily defended, rendering a movement in that direction +unpromising. On the 3d of September, therefore, and without waiting to +rest his army, which was greatly fatigued with the nearly continuous +marching and fighting since it had left the Rapidan, General Lee moved +toward Leesburg, crossed his forces near that place, and to the +music of the bands playing the popular air, "Maryland, my Maryland," +advanced to Frederick City, which he occupied on the 7th of September. + +Lee's object in invading Maryland has been the subject of much +discussion, one party holding the view that his sole aim was to +surround and capture a force of nine or ten thousand Federal troops +stationed at Harper's Ferry; and another party maintaining that he +proposed an invasion of Pennsylvania as far as the Susquehanna, +intending to fight a decisive battle there, and advance thereafter +upon Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington. The course pursued by an +army commander is largely shaped by the progress of events. It can +only be said that General Lee, doubtless, left the future to +decide his ultimate movements; meanwhile he had a distinct and +clearly-defined aim, which he states in plain words. + +His object was to draw the Federal forces out of Virginia first. The +movement culminating in the victory over the enemy at Manassas had +produced the effect of paralyzing them in every quarter. On the coast +of North Carolina, in Western Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley, +had been heard the echo of the great events in Middle and Northern +Virginia. General Burnside's force had been brought up from the +South, leaving affairs at a stand-still in that direction; and, +contemporaneously with the retreat of General Pope, the Federal forces +at Washington and beyond had fallen back to the Potomac. This left +the way open, and Lee's farther advance, it was obvious, would now +completely clear Virginia of her invaders. The situation of affairs, +and the expected results, are clearly stated by General Lee: + +"The war was thus transferred," he says, "from the interior to the +frontier, and the supplies of rich and productive districts made +accessible to our army. To prolong a state of affairs in every way +desirable, and not to permit the season for active operations to pass +without endeavoring to inflict other injury upon the enemy, the best +course appeared to be the transfer of the army into Maryland." + +The state of things in Maryland was another important consideration. +That great Commonwealth was known to be sectionally divided in its +sentiment toward the Federal Government, the eastern portion adhering +generally to the side of the South, and the western portion generally +to the Federal side. But, even as high up as Frederick, it was hoped +that the Southern cause would find adherents and volunteers to march +under the Confederate banner. If this portion of the population had +only the opportunity to choose their part, unterrified by Federal +bayonets, it was supposed they would decide for the South. In any +event, the movement would be important. The condition of affairs in +Maryland, General Lee says, "encouraged the belief that the presence +of our army, however inferior to that of the enemy, would induce the +Washington Government to retain all its available force to provide for +contingencies which its course toward the people of that State gave +it reason to apprehend," and to cross the Potomac "might afford us an +opportunity to aid the citizens of Maryland in any efforts they might +be disposed to make to recover their liberty." + +It may be said, in summing up on this point, that Lee expected +volunteers to enroll themselves under his standard, tempted to do so +by the hope of throwing off the yoke of the Federal Government, and +the army certainly shared this expectation. The identity of sentiment +generally between the people of the States of Maryland and Virginia, +and their strong social ties in the past, rendered this anticipation +reasonable, and the feeling of the country at the result afterward was +extremely bitter. + +Such were the first designs of Lee; his ultimate aim seems as clear. +By advancing into Maryland and threatening Baltimore and Washington, +he knew that he would force the enemy to withdraw all their troops +from the south bank of the Potomac, where they menaced the Confederate +communications with Richmond; when this was accomplished, as it +clearly would be, his design was, to cross the Maryland extension of +the Blue Ridge, called there the South Mountain, advance by way of +Hagerstown into the Cumberland Valley, and, by thus forcing the enemy +to follow him, draw them to a distance from their base of supplies, +while his own communications would remain open by way of the +Shenandoah Valley. This was essentially the same plan pursued in +the campaign of 1863, which terminated in the battle of Gettysburg. +General Lee's movements now indicated similar intentions. He doubtless +wished, in the first place, to compel the enemy to pursue him--then +to lead them as far as was prudent--and then, if circumstances were +favorable, bring them to decisive battle, success in which promised to +open for him the gates of Washington or Baltimore, and end the war. + +It will now be seen how the delay caused by the movement of Jackson +against Harper's Ferry, and the discovery by General McClellan of the +entire arrangement devised by Lee for that purpose, caused the failure +of this whole ulterior design. + +[Illustration: Map--Map of the MARYLAND CAMPAIGN.] + + + + +II. + +LEE IN MARYLAND. + + +The Southern army was concentrated in the neighborhood of Frederick +City by the 7th of September, and on the next day General Lee issued +an address to the people of Maryland. + +We have not burdened the present narrative with Lee's army orders and +other official papers; but the great force and dignity of this address +render it desirable to present it in full: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,} + NEAR FREDERICKTOWN, _September_ 8, 1862.} + + _To the People of Maryland_: + + It is right that you should know the purpose that has brought the + army under my command within the limits of your State, so far as + that purpose concerns yourselves. + + The people of the Confederate States have long watched with the + deepest sympathy the wrongs and outrages that have been inflicted + upon the citizens of a Commonwealth allied to the States of the + South by the strongest social, political, and commercial ties. + + They have seen, with profound indignation, their sister State + deprived of every right, and reduced to the condition of a + conquered province. Under the pretence of supporting the + Constitution, but in violation of its most valuable provisions, + your citizens have been arrested and imprisoned upon no charge, + and contrary to all forms of law. The faithful and manly protest + against this outrage, made by the venerable and illustrious + Marylanders--to whom in better days no citizen appealed for right + in vain--was treated with scorn and contempt. The government + of your chief city has been usurped by armed strangers; your + Legislature has been dissolved by the unlawful arrest of its + members; freedom of the press and of speech have been suppressed; + words have been declared offences by an arbitrary desire of the + Federal Executive, and citizens ordered to be tried by military + commission for what they may dare to speak. + + Believing that the people of Maryland possessed a spirit too lofty + to submit to such a government, the people of the South have long + wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke, to enable + you again to enjoy the inalienable rights of freemen, and restore + independence and sovereignty to your State. + + In obedience to this wish, our army has come among you, and is + prepared to assist you, with the power of its arms, in regaining + the rights of which you have been despoiled. This, citizens + of Maryland, is our mission, so far as you are concerned. No + constraint upon your free will is intended--no intimidation will + be allowed. Within the limits of this army, at least, Marylanders + shall once more enjoy their ancient freedom of thought and speech. + We know no enemies among you, and will protect all of every + opinion. It is for you to decide your destiny, freely, and without + constraint. This army will respect your choice, whatever it may + be; and, while the Southern people will rejoice to welcome you to + your natural position among them, they will only welcome you when + you come of your own free will. + + R.E. LEE, _General commanding_. + +This address, full of grave dignity, and highly characteristic of the +Confederate commander, was in vivid contrast with the harsh orders of +General Pope in Culpepper. The accents of friendship and persuasion +were substituted for the "rod of iron." There would be no coercive +measures; no arrests, with the alternative presented of an oath to +support the South, or instant banishment. No intimidation would be +permitted. In the lines of the Southern army, at least, Marylanders +should enjoy freedom of thought and speech, and every man should +"decide his destiny freely, and without constraint." + +This address, couched in terms of such dignity, had little effect +upon the people. Either their sentiment in favor of the Union was too +strong, or they found nothing in the condition of affairs to encourage +their Southern feelings. A large Federal force was known to be +advancing; Lee's army, in tatters, and almost without supplies, +presented a very uninviting appearance to recruits, and few joined his +standard, the population in general remaining hostile or neutral. + +The condition of the army was indeed forlorn. It was worn down by +marching and fighting; the men had scarcely shoes upon their feet; +and, above the tattered figures, flaunting their rags in the sunshine, +were seen gaunt and begrimed faces, in which could be read little of +the "romance of war." The army was in no condition to undertake +an invasion; "lacking much of the material of war, feeble in +transportation, poorly provided with clothing, and thousands of them +destitute of shoes," is Lee's description of his troops. Such was the +condition of the better portion of the force; on the opposite side of +the Potomac, scattered along the hills, could be seen a weary, ragged, +hungry, and confused multitude, who had dragged along in rear of the +rest, unable to keep up, and whose miserable appearance said little +for the prospects of the army to which they belonged. + +From these and other causes resulted the general apathy of the +Marylanders, and Lee soon discovered that he must look solely to his +own men for success in his future movements. He faced that conviction +courageously; and, without uttering a word of comment, or indulging in +any species of crimination against the people of Maryland, resolutely +commenced his movements looking to the capture of Harper's Ferry and +the invasion of Pennsylvania.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The reader will perceive that the intent to _invade_ +Pennsylvania is repeatedly attributed in these pages to General Lee. +His own expression is, "by _threatening_ Pennsylvania, to induce +the enemy," etc. That he designed invasion, aided by the recruits +anticipated in Maryland, seems unquestionable; since, even after +discovering the lukewarmness of the people there by the fact that few +joined his standard, he still advanced to Hagerstown, but a step from +the Pennsylvania line. These facts have induced the present writer to +attribute the design of actual invasion to Lee with entire confidence; +and all the circumstances seem to him to support that hypothesis.] + +The promises of his address had been kept. No one had been forced to +follow the Southern flag; and now, when the people turned their backs +upon it, closing the doors of the houses in the faces of the Southern +troops, they remained unmolested. Lee had thus given a practical proof +of the sincerity of his character. He had promised nothing which he +had not performed; and in Maryland, as afterward in Pennsylvania, +in 1863, he remained firm against the temptation to adopt the harsh +course generally pursued by the commanders of invading armies. He +seems to have proceeded on the principle that good faith is as +essential in public affairs as in private, and to have resolved that, +in any event, whether of victory or disaster, his enemies should not +have it in their power to say that he broke his plighted word, or +acted in a manner unbecoming a Christian gentleman. + +Prompt action was now necessary. The remnants of General Pope's army, +greatly scattered and disorganized by the severe battle of Manassas, +had been rapidly reformed and brought into order again, and to this +force was added a large number of new troops, hurried forward from the +Northern States to Washington. This new army was not to be commanded +by General Pope, who had been weighed and found wanting in ability to +contend with Lee. The force was intrusted to General McClellan, in +spite of his unpopularity with the Federal authorities; and the urgent +manner in which he had been called upon to take the head of affairs +and protect the Federal capital, is the most eloquent of all +commentaries upon the position which he held in the eyes of the +country and the army. It was felt, indeed, by all that the Federal +ship was rolling in the storm, and an experienced pilot was necessary +for her guidance. General McClellan was accordingly directed, after +General Pope's defeat, to take command of every thing, and see to the +safety of Washington; and, finding himself at length at the head of an +army of about one hundred thousand men, he proceeded, after the manner +of a good soldier, to protect the Federal capital by advancing into +upper Maryland in pursuit of Lee. + + + + +III. + +MOVEMENTS OF THE TWO ARMIES. + + +General Lee was already moving to the accomplishment of his designs, +the capture of Harper's Ferry, and an advance into the Cumberland +Valley. + +His plan to attain the first-mentioned object was simple, and promised +to be successful. Jackson was to march around by way of "Williamsport +and Martinsburg," and thus approach from the south. A force was +meanwhile to seize upon and occupy the Maryland Heights, a lofty +spot of the mountain across the Potomac, north of the Ferry. In like +manner, another body of troops was to cross the Potomac, east of the +Blue Ridge, and occupy the Loudon Heights, looking down upon Harper's +Ferry from the east. By this arrangement the retreat of the enemy +would be completely cut off in every direction. Harper's Ferry must +be captured, and, having effected that result, the whole Confederate +force, detached for the purpose, was to follow the main body of this +army in the direction of Hagerstown, to take part in the proposed +invasion of Pennsylvania. + +This excellent plan failed, as will be seen, from no fault of the +great soldier who devised it, but in consequence of unforeseen +obstacles, and especially of one of those singular incidents which +occasionally reverse the best-laid schemes and abruptly turn aside the +currents of history. + +Jackson and the commanders coöperating with him moved on September +10th. General Lee then with his main body crossed the South Mountain, +taking the direction of Hagerstown. Meanwhile, General McClellan had +advanced cautiously and slowly, withheld by incessant dispatches from +Washington, warning him not to move in such a manner as to expose that +city to danger. Such danger existed only in the imaginations of the +authorities, as the army in advancing extended its front from the +Potomac to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. General McClellan, +nevertheless, moved with very great precaution, feeling his way, step +by step, like a man in the dark, when on reaching Frederick City, +which the Confederates had just evacuated, good fortune suddenly came +to his assistance. This good fortune was the discovery of a copy of +General Lee's orders of march for the army, in which his whole plan +was revealed. General McClellan had therein the unmistakable evidence +of his opponent's intentions, and from that moment his advance was as +rapid as before it had been deliberate. + +The result of this fortunate discovery was speedily seen. General Lee, +while moving steadily toward Hagerstown, was suddenly compelled to +turn his attention to the mountain-passes in his rear. It had not been +the intention of Lee to oppose the passage of the enemy through the +South Mountain, as he desired to draw General McClellan as far as +possible from his base, but the delay in the fall of Harper's +Ferry now made this necessary. It was essential to defend the +mountain-defiles in order to insure the safety of the Confederate +troops at Harper's Ferry; and Lee accordingly directed General +D.H. Hill to oppose the passage of the enemy at Boonsboro Gap, and +Longstreet was sent from Hagerstown to support him. + +An obstinate struggle now ensued for the possession of the main South +Mountain Gap, near Boonsboro, and the roar of Jackson's artillery from +Harper's Ferry must have prompted the assailants to determined efforts +to force the passage. The battle continued until night (September +14th), and resulted in heavy loss on both sides, the brave General +Reno, of the United States army, among others, losing his life. +Darkness put an end to the action, the Federal forces not having +succeeded in passing the Gap; but, learning that a column of the enemy +had crossed below and threatened him with an attack in flank, General +Lee determined to retire in the direction of Sharpsburg, where Jackson +and the forces coöperating with him could join the main body of the +army. This movement was effected without difficulty, and Lee notices +the skill and efficiency of General Fitz Lee in covering the rear with +his cavalry. The Federal army failed to press forward as rapidly as +it is now obvious it should have done. The head of the column did +not appear west of the mountain until eight o'clock in the morning +(September 15th), and, nearly at the same moment ("the attack began at +dawn; in about two hours the garrison surrendered," says General Lee), +Harper's Ferry yielded to Jackson. + +Fast-riding couriers brought the welcome intelligence of Jackson's +success to General Lee, as the latter was approaching Sharpsburg, +and official information speedily came that the result had been +the capture of more than eleven thousand men, thirteen thousand +small-arms, and seventy-three cannon. It was probably this large +number of men and amount of military stores falling into the hands of +the Confederates which afterward induced the opinion that Lee's sole +design in invading Maryland had been the reduction of Harper's Ferry. + +General McClellan had thus failed, in spite of every effort which he +had made, to relieve Harper's Ferry,[1] and no other course remained +now but to follow Lee and bring him to battle. The Federal army +accordingly moved on the track of its adversary, and, on the afternoon +of the same day (September 15th), found itself in sight of Lee's +forces drawn up on the western side of Antietam Creek, near the +village of Sharpsburg. + +[Footnote 1: All along the march he had fired signal-guns to inform +the officer in command at Harper's Ferry of his approach.] + +At last the great opponents were in face of each other, and a battle, +it was obvious, could not long be delayed. + + + + +IV. + +THE PRELUDE TO SHARPSBURG. + + +General Lee had once more sustained a serious check from the skill and +soldiership of the officer who had conducted the successful retreat of +the Federal army from the Chickahominy to James River. + +The defeat and dispersion of the army of General Pope on the last day +of August seemed to have opened Pennsylvania to the Confederates. On +the 15th of September, a fortnight afterward, General McClellan, at +the head of a new army, raised in large measure by the magic of his +name, had pursued the victorious Confederate, checked his further +advance, and, forcing him to abandon his designs of invasion, brought +him to bay a hundred miles from the capital. This was generalship, +it would seem, in the true acceptation of the term, and McClellan, +harassed and hampered by the authorities, who looked but coldly upon +him, could say, with Coriolanus, "Alone I did it." + +Lee was thus compelled to give up his movement in the direction of +Pennsylvania, and concentrate his army to receive the assault of +General McClellan. Jackson, marching with his customary promptness, +joined him with a portion of the detached force on the next day +(September 16th), and almost immediately those thunders which prelude +the great struggles of history began. + +General Lee had drawn up his army on the high ground west of the +Antietam, a narrow and winding stream which flows, through fields +dotted with homesteads and clumps of fruit and forest trees, to the +Potomac. Longstreet's corps was posted on the right of the road from +Sharpsburg to Boonsboro, his right flank guarded by the waters of the +stream, which here bends westward; on the left of the Boonsboro road +D.H. Hill's command was stationed; two brigades under General Hood +were drawn up on Hill's left; and when Jackson arrived Lee directed +him to post his command on the left of Hood, his right resting on the +Hagerstown road, and his left extending backward obliquely toward the +Potomac, here making a large bend, where Stuart with his cavalry and +horse-artillery occupied the ground to the river's bank. + +This arrangement of his troops was extremely judicious, as the sequel +proved. It was probable that General McClellan would direct his main +attack against the Confederate left, with the view of turning that +flank and hemming in the Southern army, or driving it into the river. +By retiring Jackson's left, Lee provided for this contingency, and it +will be seen that the design attributed by him to his adversary was +that determined upon. + +General McClellan occupied the ground on the eastern bank of the +Antietam. He had evidently massed his forces opposite the Confederate +left, but a heavy order of battle stood opposite the centre and right +of Lee, where bridges crossed the stream. + +The respective numbers of the adversaries can be stated with accuracy. +"Our forces at the battle of Antietam," said General McClellan, when +before the committee of investigation afterward, "were, total in +action, eighty-seven thousand one hundred and sixty-four." + +General Lee says in his report: "This great battle was fought by less +than forty thousand men on our side." + +Colonel Walter H. Taylor, a gentleman of the highest character, and +formerly adjutant-general of the army, makes the Confederate numbers +somewhat less. In a memorandum before the writer, he says: + +Our strength at Sharpsburg. I think this is correct: + + Jackson _(including A.P. Hill_) 10,000 + + Longstreet 12,000 + + D.H. Hill and Walker 7,000 + ______ + Effective infantry 29,000 + + Cavalry and artillery 8,000 + ______ + Total of all arms 37,000 + +This disproportion was very great, amounting, as it did, to more than +two for one. But this was unavoidable. The Southern army had been worn +out by their long marching and fighting. Portions of the command were +scattered all over the roads of Northern Virginia, wearily dragging +their half-clothed limbs and shoeless feet toward Winchester, whither +they were directed to repair. This was the explanation of the fact +that, in spite of the ardent desire of the whole army to participate +in the great movement northward, Lee had in line of battle at +Sharpsburg "less than forty thousand men." + +General McClellan made a demonstration against his adversary on the +evening of the 16th, before the day of the main struggle. He threw his +right, commanded by General Hooker, across the Antietam at a point out +of range of fire from the Confederates, and made a vigorous attack +on Jackson's two divisions lying near the Hagerstown road running +northward, and thus parallel with Lee's line of battle. A brief +engagement took place in the vicinity of the "Dunker Church," in a +fringe of woods west of the road, but it was too late to effect any +thing of importance; night fell, and the engagement ceased. General +Hooker retaining his position on the west side of the stream. + +The opposing lines then remained at rest, waiting for the morning +which all now saw would witness the commencement of the more serious +conflict. + + + + +V. + +THE BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG. + + +The battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, for it is known by both names, +began at early dawn on the 17th of September. + +General McClellan had obviously determined to direct his main assault +against the Confederate left, a movement which General Lee had +foreseen and provided for,[1] and at dawn commenced a rapid fire of +artillery upon that portion of the Confederate line. Under cover +of this fire, General Hooker then advanced his infantry and made +a headlong assault upon Jackson's line, with the obvious view of +crushing that wing of Lee's army, or driving it back on Sharpsburg and +the river. The Federal force making this attack, or advancing promptly +to support it, consisted of the corps of Generals Hooker, Mansfield, +and Sumner, and numbered, according to General Sumner, forty thousand +men, of whom eighteen thousand belonged to General Hooker's corps. + +[Footnote 1: "In anticipation of a movement to turn the line of +Antietam, Hood's two brigades had been transferred from the right to +the left," etc.--_Lee_.] + +Jackson's whole force was four thousand men. Of the truth of this +statement of the respective forces, proof is here given: + +"I have always believed," said General Sumner afterward, before the +war committee, "that, instead of sending these troops into that action +in driblets, had General McClellan authorized me to march _there forty +thousand men_ on the left flank of the enemy," etc. + +"Hooker formed his corps of _eighteen thousand_ men," etc., says Mr. +Swinton, the able and candid Northern historian of the war. + +Jackson's force is shown by the Confederate official reports. His +corps consisted of Ewell's division and "Jackson's old division." +General Jones, commanding the latter, reported: "The division at the +beginning of the fight numbered not over one thousand six hundred +men." Early, commanding Ewell's division,[1] reported the three +brigades to number: + + Lawton's 1,150 + + Hayes's 550 + + Walker's 700 + + 2,400 + + "Old Division," as above 1,600 + + Jackson's corps 4,000 + +[Footnote 1: After General Lawton was disabled.] + + +This was the entire force carried by General Jackson into the fight, +and these four thousand men, as the reader will perceive, bore the +brunt of the first great assault of General McClellan. + +Just as the light broadened in the east above the crest of mountains +rising in rear of the Federal lines. General Hooker made his assault. +His aim was plainly to drive the force in his front across the +Hagerstown road and back on the Potomac, and in this he seemed +about to succeed. Jackson had placed in front Ewell's division of +twenty-four hundred men. This force received General Hooker's charge, +and a furious struggle followed, in which the division was nearly +destroyed. A glance at the casualties will show this. They were +remarkable. General Lawton, division commander, was wounded and +carried from the field; Colonel Douglas, brigade commander, was +killed; Colonel Walker, also commanding brigade, was disabled; +Lawton's brigade lost five hundred and fifty-four killed and wounded +out of eleven hundred and fifty, and five out of six regimental +commanders. Hayes's brigade lost three hundred and twenty-three out of +five hundred and fifty, and all the regimental commanders. Walker's +brigade lost two hundred and twenty-eight out of less than seven +hundred, and three out of four regimental commanders; and, of the +staff-officers of the division, scarcely one remained. + +In an hour after dawn, this heavy slaughter had been effected in +Ewell's division, and the detailed statement which we have given will +best show the stubborn resistance offered by the Southern troops. +Still, they were unable to hold their ground, and fell back at last +in disorder before General Hooker, who pressed forward to seize the +Hagerstown road and crush the whole Confederate left. He was met, +however, by Jackson's Old Division of sixteen hundred men, who had +been held in reserve; and General Lee hastened to the point threatened +Hood's two small brigades, one of which. General Hood states, numbered +but eight hundred and sixty-four men. With this force Jackson now met +the advancing column of General Hooker, delivering a heavy fire +from the woods upon the Federal forces. In face of this fire they +hesitated, and Hood made a vigorous charge, General Stuart opening at +the same time a cross-fire on the enemy with his horse-artillery. The +combined fire increased their disorganization, and it now turned into +disorder. Jackson seized the moment, as always, throwing forward his +whole line, and the enemy were first checked, and then driven back in +confusion, the Confederates pursuing and cheering. + +The first struggle had thus resulted in favor of the +Confederates--with about six thousand they had repulsed eighteen +thousand--and it was obvious to General McClellan that, without +reinforcements, his right could not hold its ground. He accordingly, +just at sunrise, sent General Mansfield's corps to the aid of General +Hooker, and at nine o'clock General Sumner's corps was added, making +in all forty thousand men. + +The appearance of affairs at this moment was discouraging to the +Federal commander. His heavy assaulting column had been forced back +with great slaughter; General Hooker had been wounded and borne +from the field; General Mansfield, while forming his line, had been +mortally wounded; and now, at nine o'clock, when the corps of General +Sumner arrived, the prospect was depressing. Of the condition of the +Federal forces, General Sumner's own statement conveys a very distinct +conception: "On going upon the field," said General Sumner, before the +war committee, "I found that General Hooker's corps had been dispersed +and routed. I passed him some distance in the rear, where he had been +carried wounded, but I saw nothing of his corps at all, as I +was advancing with my command on the field. I sent one of my +staff-officers to find where they were, and General Ricketts, the only +officer we could find, stated that he could not raise three hundred +men of the corps." General Mansfield's corps also had been checked, +and now "began to waver and break." + +Such had been the result of the great Federal assault, and it was +highly creditable to the Confederate arms. With a comparatively +insignificant force, Jackson had received the attack of the entire +Federal right wing, and had not only repulsed, but nearly broken to +pieces, the large force in his front. + +The arrival of General Sumner, however, completely changed the face of +affairs, and, as his fresh troops advanced, those which had been so +roughly handled by Jackson had an opportunity to reform. This was +rapidly effected, and, having marshalled his troops, General Sumner, +an officer of great dash and courage, made a vigorous charge. From +this moment the battle began to rage with new fury. General Lee had +sent to the left the brigades of Colquitt, Ripley, and McRae, and with +these, the troops of Hood, and his own shattered division, Jackson +presented a stubborn front, but his loss was heavy. General Starke, +of the Old Division, was killed; the brigade, regimental, and company +officers fell almost without an exception, and the brigades dwindled +to mere handfuls. + +Under the great pressure, Jackson was at length forced back. One of +General Sumner's divisions drove the right of the Confederates beyond +the Hagerstown road, and, at this moment the long struggle seemed +ended; the great wrestle in which the adversaries had so long +staggered to and fro, advancing and retreating in turn, seemed at last +virtually decided in favor of the Federal arms. + +This was undoubtedly the turning-point of the battle of Sharpsburg, +and General Lee had witnessed the conflict upon his left with great +anxiety. It was impossible, however, to send thither more troops than +he had already sent. As will be seen in a moment, both his centre +and right were extremely weak. A.P. Hill and General McLaws had not +arrived from Harper's Ferry. Thus the left had been reënforced to the +full extent of Lee's ability, and now that portion of his line seemed +about to be crushed. + +Fortunately, however, General McLaws, who had been delayed longer than +was expected by General Lee, at last arrived, and was hurried to the +left. It was ten o'clock, and in that one hour the fighting of an +entire day seemed to have been concentrated. Jackson was holding his +ground with difficulty when the divisions of McLaws and Walker were +sent to him. As soon as they reached the field, they were thrown into +action, and General Lee had the satisfaction of witnessing a new order +of things. The advance--it might rather be called the onward rush--of +the Federal line was checked. Jackson's weary men took fresh heart; +that great commander promptly assumed the offensive, and, advancing +his whole line, drove the enemy before him until he reoccupied the +ground from which General Sumner had forced him to retire. + +From the ground thus occupied, the Federal forces were unable to +dislodge him, and the great struggle of "the left at Sharpsburg" was +over. It had begun at dawn and was decided by ten or eleven o'clock, +and the troops on both sides had fought as resolutely as in any other +action of the war. The event had been decided by the pertinacity of +the Southern troops, and by the prompt movement of reënforcements by +General Lee from his right and centre. Posted near his centre, he +had surveyed at one glance the whole field of action; the design of +General McClellan to direct his main assault upon the Confederate left +was promptly penetrated, and the rapid concentration of the Southern +forces in that quarter had, by defeating this movement, decided the +result of the battle. + +Attacks on the Confederate centre and right followed that upon the +left. In the centre a great disaster was at one time imminent. Owing +to a mistake of orders, the brave General Rhodes had drawn back his +brigade posted there--this was seen by the enemy--and a sudden +rush was made by them with the view of piercing Lee's centre. The +promptness and courage of a few officers and a small body of troops +defeated this attempt. General D.H. Hill rallied a few hundred men, +and opened fire with a single gun, and Colonel Cooke faced the enemy +with his regiment, "standing boldly in line," says General Lee, +"without a cartridge." The stand made by this small force saved the +army from serious disaster; the Federal line retired, but a last +assault was soon begun, this time against the Confederate right. It +continued in a somewhat desultory manner until four in the evening, +when, having massed a heavy column under General Burnside, opposite +the bridge in front of Lee's right wing, General McClellan forced the +bridge and carried the crest beyond. + +The moment was critical, as the Confederate force at this point +was less than three thousand men. But, fortunately, reënforcements +arrived, consisting of A.P. Hill's forces from Harper's Ferry. These +attacked the enemy, drove him from the hill across the Antietam again; +and so threatening did the situation at that moment appear to General +McClellan, that he is said to have sent General Burnside the message: +"Hold your ground! If you cannot, then the bridge, to the last man. +Always the bridge! If the bridge is lost, all is lost!" + +The urgency of this order sufficiently indicates that the Federal +commander was not without solicitude for the safety of his own left +wing. Ignorant, doubtless, of the extremely small force which had thus +repulsed General Burnside, in all four thousand five hundred men, he +feared that General Lee would cross the bridge, assail his left, and +that the hard-fought day might end in disaster to his own army. That +General Lee contemplated this movement, in spite of the disproportion +of numbers, is intimated in his official report. "It was nearly dark," +he says, "and the Federal artillery was massed to defend the bridge, +with General Porter's corps, consisting of fresh troops, behind it. +Under these circumstances," he adds, "it was deemed injudicious to +push our advantage further in the face of fresh troops of the enemy +much exceeding our own." + +The idea of an advance against the Federal left was accordingly +abandoned, and a movement of Jackson's command, which Lee directed, +with the view of turning the Federal right, was discontinued from the +same considerations. Night had come, both sides were worn out, neither +of the two great adversaries cared to risk another struggle, and the +bitterly-contested battle of Sharpsburg was over. + +The two armies remained facing each other throughout the following +day. During the night of this day, Lee crossed with his army back into +Virginia. He states his reasons for this: "As we could not look for a +material increase of strength," he says, "and the enemy's force could +be largely and rapidly augmented, it was not thought prudent to wait +until he should be ready again to offer battle." + +General McClellan does not seem to have been able to renew the +struggle at that time. "The next morning," he says, referring to the +day succeeding the battle, "I found that our loss had been so great, +and there was so much disorganization in some of the commands, that I +did not consider it proper to renew the attack that day." + +This decision of General McClellan's subjected him subsequently to +very harsh criticism from the Federal authorities, the theory having +obtained at Washington that he had had it in his power, by renewing +the battle, to cut Lee to pieces. Of the probability of such a +result the reader will form his own judgment. The ground for such a +conclusion seems slight. The loss and disorganization were, it would +seem, even greater on the Federal than on the Confederate side, and +Lee would have probably been better able to sustain an attack than +General McClellan to make it. It will be seen that General Meade +afterward, under circumstances more favorable still, declined to +attack Lee at Williamsport. If one of the two commanders be greatly +censured, the other must be also, and the world will be always apt +to conclude that they knew what could be effected better than the +civilians. + +But General McClellan did make an attempt to "crush Lee," such as the +authorities at Washington desired, and its result may possibly throw +light on the point in discussion. + +On the night of the 19th, Lee having crossed the Potomac on the night +of the 18th, General McClellan sent a considerable force across the +river near Shepherdstown, which drove off the Confederate artillery +there, and at daylight formed line of battle on the south bank, +protected by their cannon north of the river. Of the brief but bloody +engagement which followed--an incident of the war little dwelt upon in +the histories--General A.P. Hill, who was sent by Lee to repulse the +enemy, gives an animated account. "The Federal artillery, to the +number of seventy pieces," he says, "lined the opposite heights, and +their infantry was strongly posted on the crest of the Virginia hills. +When he advanced with his division, he was met by the most tremendous +fire of artillery he ever saw," but the men continued to move on +without wavering, and the attack resulted in the complete rout of the +enemy, who were "driven pell-mell into the river," the current of +which was "blue with floating bodies." General Hill chronicles this +incident in terms of unwonted eloquence, and declares that, by the +account of the enemy themselves, they lost "three thousand men killed +and drowned from one brigade," which appears to be an exaggeration. +His own loss was, in killed and wounded, two hundred and sixty-one. + +This repulse was decisive, and General McClellan made no further +attempt to pursue the adversary, who, standing at bay on the soil of +Virginia, was still more formidable than he had been on the soil of +Maryland. As we have intimated on a preceding page, the result of this +attempt to pursue would seem to relieve General McClellan from the +criticism of the Washington authorities. If he was repulsed with heavy +slaughter in his attempt to strike at Lee on the morning of September +20th, it is not probable that an assault on his adversary on September +18th would have had different results. + +No further crossing at that time was undertaken by the Federal +commander. His army was moved toward Harper's Ferry, an important base +for further operations, and Lee's army went into camp along the banks +of the Opequan. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND McCLELLAN--THEIR MERITS IN THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN. + + +General Lee and his adversary had displayed conspicuous merit in the +campaign thus terminated, and we shall pause for a moment to glance +back upon this great passage at arms. + +To give precedence to General McClellan, he had assembled an army, +after the defeat at Manassas, with a promptness for which only his +own great personal popularity can adequately account, had advanced to +check Lee, and had fully succeeded in doing so; and had thus not only +protected the fertile territory of Pennsylvania from invasion, but had +struck a death-blow for the time to any designs General Lee might have +had to advance on the Federal capital. If the situation of affairs at +that moment be attentively considered, the extreme importance of these +results will not fail to appear. It may perhaps be said with justice, +that General McClellan had saved the Federal cause from decisive +defeat. There was no army to protect Washington but the body of troops +under his command; these were largely raw levies, which defeat would +have broken to pieces, and thus the way would have been open for +Lee's march upon Washington or toward Philadelphia--a movement whose +probable result would have been a treaty of peace and the independence +of the Southern Confederacy. All these hopes were reversed by +McClellan's rapid march and prompt attack. In the hours of a single +autumn day, on the banks of the Antietam, the triumphant advance of +the Confederates was checked and defeated. And, if the further fact be +considered that the adversary thus checkmated was Lee, the military +ability of General McClellan must be conceded. It is the fashion, it +would appear, in some quarters, to deny him this quality. History will +decide. + +The merit of Lee was equally conspicuous, and his partial failure in +the campaign was due to circumstances over which he had no control. +His plan, as was always the case with him, was deep-laid, and every +contingency had been provided for. He was disappointed in his aim by +three causes which he could not foresee. One was the great diminution +of his force, owing to the rapidity of his march, and the incessant +fighting; another, the failure in obtaining recruits in Maryland; and +a third, the discovery by General McClellan of the "lost dispatch," +as it is called, which revealed Lee's whole plan to his adversary. In +consequence of the "finding" of the order of march, McClellan advanced +with such rapidity that the laggards of the Southern army on the hills +north of Leesburg had no opportunity of joining the main body. The +gaps in the ranks of the army thus made were not filled up by Maryland +recruits; Lee fell back, and his adversary followed, no longer fearful +of advancing too quickly; Jackson had no time after reducing Harper's +Ferry to rejoin Lee at Hagerstown; thus concentration of his troops, +and a battle somewhere near Sharpsburg, were rendered a necessity with +General Lee. + +In this tissue of adverse events, the discovery of the order of march +by General McClellan occupies a very prominent place. This incident +resembles what the French call a fatality. Who was to blame for the +circumstance still remains a mystery; but it may be said with entire +certainty that the brave officer upon whom it was charged was entirely +guiltless of all fault in the matter. + +[Footnote: The officer here referred to is General D.H. Hill. General +McClellan said in his testimony afterward, before the congressional +committee: "When at Frederick, we found the original order issued to +D.H. Hill," etc. The inference was thus a natural one that General +Hill was to blame, but that officer has proved clearly that he had +nothing to do with the affair. He received but one copy of the order, +which was handed to him by General Jackson in person, and, knowing its +great importance, he placed it in his pocket-book, and still retains +it in his possession. This fact is conclusive, since General Hill +could not have "lost" what he continues to hold in his hands. This +mystery will be cleared up at some time, probably; at present, but one +thing is certain, that General Hill was in no manner to blame. The +present writer desires to make this statement as explicit as possible, +as, in other accounts of these transactions, he was led by General +McClellan's language to attribute blame to General Hill where he +deserved none.] + +Whatever may have been the secret history of the "lost dispatch," +however, it certainly fell into General McClellan's hands, and largely +directed the subsequent movements of the opposing armies. + +From what is here written, it will be seen that Lee was not justly +chargeable with the result of the Maryland campaign. He had provided +for every thing as far as lay in his power. Had he not been +disappointed in events to be fairly anticipated, it seemed his force +would have received large accessions, his rear would have closed up, +and the advance into Pennsylvania would have taken place. Instead +of this, he was forced to retire and fight a pitched battle at +Sharpsburg; and this action certainly exhibited on Lee's part military +ability of the highest order. The force opposed to him had been at +least double that of his own army, and the Federal troops had fought +with a gallantry unsurpassed in any other engagement of the war. That +their assault on Lee failed, was due to the fighting qualities of his +troops and his own generalship. His army had been manoeuvred with a +rapidity and precision which must have excited even the admiration of +the distinguished soldier opposed to him. He had promptly concentrated +his forces opposite every threatened point in turn, and if he had not +been able to carry out the axiom of Napoleon, that a commander should +always be superior to the enemy at the point of contact, he had at +least done all that was possible to effect that end, and had so far +succeeded as to have repulsed if not routed his adversary. This is +the main feature to be noticed in Lee's handling of his troops at +Sharpsburg. An unwary or inactive commander would have there suffered +decisive defeat, for the Confederate left wing numbered, throughout +the early part of the battle, scarcely more than four thousand men, +while the column directed against it amounted first to eighteen +thousand, and in all to forty thousand men. To meet the impact of +this heavy mass, not only desperate fighting, but rapid and skilful +manoeuvring, was necessary. The record we have presented will enable +the reader to form his own opinion whether Lee was equal to this +emergency involving the fate of his army. + +Military critics, examining this great battle with fair and candid +eyes, will not fail, we think, to discern the truth. That the Southern +army, of less than forty thousand men, repulsed more than eighty +thousand in the battle of Sharpsburg, was due to the hard fighting of +the smaller force, and the skill with which its commander manoeuvred +it. + + + + +VII. + +LEE AND HIS MEN. + + +General Lee and his army passed the brilliant days of autumn in the +beautiful valley of the Shenandoah. This region is famous for its +salubrity and the beauty of its scenery. The mountain winds are pure +and invigorating, and the forests, which in the season of autumn +assume all the colors of the rainbow, inspire the mind with the most +agreeable sensations. The region, in fact, is known as the "Garden of +Virginia," and the benign influence of their surroundings was soon +seen on the faces of the troops. + +A Northern writer, who saw them at Sharpsburg, describes them as +"ragged, hungry, and in all ways miserable;" but their forlorn +condition, as to clothing and supplies of every description, made no +perceptible difference in their demeanor now. In their camps along +the banks of the picturesque little stream called the Opequan, which, +rising south of Winchester, wanders through beautiful fields and +forests to empty into the Potomac, the troops laughed, jested, sang +rude camp-ballads, and exhibited a joyous indifference to their +privations and hardships, which said much for their courage and +endurance. Those who carefully considered the appearance and demeanor +of the men at that time, saw that much could be effected with such +tough material, and had another opportunity to witness, under +circumstances calculated to test it, the careless indifference, to the +past as well as the future, peculiar alike to soldiers and children. +These men, who had passed through a campaign of hard marches and +nearly incessant battles, seemed to have forgotten all their troubles +and sufferings. The immense strain upon their energies had left them +apparently as fresh and efficient as when the campaign begun. There +was no want of rebound; rather an excessive elasticity and readiness +to undertake new movements. They had plainly acquired confidence in +themselves, rightly regarding the event of the battle of Sharpsburg, +where they were so largely outnumbered, as highly honorable to them, +and they had acquired still greater confidence in the officers who +commanded them. + +We shall hereafter speak more particularly of the sentiment of the +troops toward General Lee at this period of his connection with the +army. The great events of the war continually modified the relations +between him and his men; as they came to know him better and better, +he steadily rose in their admiration and regard. At this time--the +autumn of 1862--it may be said that the troops had already begun to +love their leader, and had bestowed upon him as an army commander +their implicit confidence. + +Without this confidence on the part of his men, a general can effect +little; with it, he may accomplish almost any thing. The common +soldier is a child, and feels that the directing authority is above +him; that he should look upon that authority with respect and +confidence is the first necessity of effecting military organization. +Lee had already inspired the troops with this sentiment, and it was +mainly the secret of his often astounding successes afterward. The +men universally felt that their commander was equal to any and every +emergency. Such a repute cannot be usurped. Troops measure their +leaders with instinctive acumen, and a very astonishing accuracy. They +form their opinions for themselves on the merits of the question; and +Lee had already impressed the army with a profound admiration for his +soldiership. From this to the sentiment of personal affection the +transition was easy; and the kindness, consideration, and simplicity +of the man, made all love him. Throughout the campaign, Lee had not +been heard to utter one harsh word; a patient forbearance and kindness +had been constantly exhibited in all his dealings with officers and +men; he was always in front, indifferent plainly to personal +danger, and the men looked now with admiring eyes and a feeling of +ever-increasing affection on the erect, soldierly figure in the plain +uniform, with scarce any indication of rank, and the calm face, +with its expression of grave dignity and composure, which remained +unchanged equally on the march and in battle. It may be said that, +when he assumed command of the army before Richmond, the troops +had taken him on trust; now they had come to love him, and when he +appeared the camps buzzed, the men ran to the road, called out to each +other: "There goes Mas' Robert!" or "Old Uncle Robert!" and cheers +followed him as he rode by. + +The country generally seemed to share the opinion of the army. There +was exhibited, even at this early period of the war, by the people at +large, a very great admiration and affection for General Lee. While +in the Shenandoah Valley, where Jackson was beloved almost beyond +expression, Lee had evidences of the position which he occupied in the +eyes of the people, which must have been extremely gratifying to him. +Gray-haired men came to his camp and uttered prayers for his health +and happiness as the great leader of the South; aged ladies greeted +him with faltering expressions full of deep feeling and pathetic +earnestness; and, wherever he went, young girls and children received +him with their brightest smiles. The august fame of the great soldier, +who has now passed away, no doubt renders these memories of personal +interviews with him dear to many. Even the most trifling incidents are +cherished and kept fresh by repetition; and the writer of these +pages recalls at the moment one of these trifles, which may possibly +interest some readers. There stood and still stands an ancient and +hospitable homestead on the south bank of the Opequan, the hearts +of whose inmates, one and all, were ardently with the South in her +struggle. Soon after Sharpsburg, General Lee one day visited the old +manor-house crowning the grassy hill and overshadowed by great oaks; +Generals Jackson, Longstreet, and Stuart, accompanied him, and the +reception which he met with, though we cannot describe it, was such as +would have satisfied the most exacting. The children came to him and +held out their small hands, the ladies divided their attention between +him and the beloved "hero of the Valley," Jackson; and the lady of the +manor could only express her sense of the great honor of receiving +such company, by declaring, with a smile, that the dinner resembled +the famous _breakfast at Tillietudlem_ in Scott's "Old Mortality." +General Lee highly enjoyed this, and seemed disposed to laugh when +the curious fact was pointed out to him that he had seated himself at +table in a chair with an open-winged _United States eagle_ delineated +upon its back. The result of this visit, it appeared afterward, was a +sentiment of great regard and affection for the general personally by +all at the old country-house. Old and young were charmed by his grave +sweetness and mild courtesy, and doubtless he inspired the same +sentiment in other places. + +His headquarters were at this time in a field some miles from +Winchester. An Englishman, who visited him there, described the +general and his surroundings with accuracy, and, from the account +printed in _Blackwood's Magazine_, we quote the following sentences: + +"In visiting the headquarters of the Confederate generals, but +particularly those of General Lee, any one accustomed to see European +armies in the field cannot fail to be struck with the great absence +of all the 'pomp and circumstance of war' in and around their +encampments. Lee's headquarters consisted of about seven or eight +pole-tents, pitched with their backs to a stake fence, upon a piece +of ground so rocky that it was unpleasant to ride over it, its only +recommendation being a little stream of good water which flowed +close by the general's tent. In front of the tents were some three +four-wheeled wagons, drawn up without any regularity, and a number +of horses roamed loose about the field. The servants, who were, of +course, slaves, and the mounted soldiers, called 'couriers,' who +always accompany each general of division in the field, were +unprovided with tents, and slept in or under the wagons. Wagons, +tents, and some of the horses, were marked 'U.S.,' showing that +part of that huge debt in the North has gone to furnishing even the +Confederate generals with camp equipments. No guard or sentries were +to be seen in the vicinity; no crowd of aides-de-camp loitering about, +making themselves agreeable to visitors, and endeavoring to save their +generals from receiving those who had no particular business. A large +farm-house stands close by, which, in any other army, would have been +the general's residence _pro tem_., but, as no liberties are allowed +to be taken with personal property in Lee's army, he is particular in +setting a good example himself. His staff are crowded together, two or +three in a tent; none are allowed to carry more baggage than a small +box each, and his own kit is but very little larger. Every one who +approaches him does so with marked respect, although there is none +of that bowing and flourishing of forage caps which occurs in the +presence of European generals; and, while all honor him, and place +implicit faith in his courage and ability, those with whom he is most +intimate feel for him the affection of sons to a father. Old General +Scott was correct in saying that, when Lee joined the Southern cause, +it was worth as much as the accession of twenty thousand men to the +'rebels.' Since then every injury that it was possible to inflict, the +Northerners have heaped upon him. Notwithstanding all these personal +losses, however, when speaking of the Yankees, he neither evinced +any bitterness of feeling, nor gave utterance to a single violent +expression, but alluded to many of his former friends and companions +among them in the kindest terms. He spoke as a man proud of the +victories won by his country, and confident of ultimate success, under +the blessing of the Almighty, whom he glorified for past successes, +and whose aid he invoked for all future operations." + +The writer adds that the troops "regarded him in the light of +infallible love," and had "a fixed and unshakable faith in all he +did--a calm confidence of victory when serving under him." The +peculiarly interesting part of this foreign testimony, however, is +that in which the writer speaks of General Lee's religious sentiment, +of his gratitude for past mercies, and prayers for the assistance of +the Almighty in the hours of conflict still to come. This point we +shall return to, endeavoring to give it that prominence which it +deserves. At present we shall leave the subject of General Lee, in +his private and personal character, and proceed to narrate the last +campaign of the year 1862. + + + + +VIII. + +LEE PASSES THE BLUE RIDGE + + +From the central frontier of his headquarters, near Winchester, the +key of the lower Valley, General Lee was able to watch at once the +line of the Potomac in his front, beyond which lay General McClellan's +army, and the gaps of the Blue Ridge on his right, through which it +was possible for the enemy, by a rapid movement, to advance and attack +his flank and rear. + +If Lee had at any time the design of recrossing into Maryland, he +abandoned it. General McClellan attributed that design to him. "I have +since been confirmed in the belief," he wrote, "that if I had crossed +the Potomac below Harper's Ferry in the early part of October, General +Lee would have recrossed into Maryland." Of Lee's ability to thus +reënter Maryland there can be no doubt. His army was rested, +provisioned, and in high spirits; the "stragglers" had rejoined their +commands, and it is certain that the order for a new advance would +have been hailed by the mercurial troops with enthusiasm. No such +order was, however, issued, and soon the approach of winter rendered +the movement impossible. + +More than a month thus passed, the two armies remaining in face of +each other. No engagement of any importance occurred during this +period of inactivity, but once or twice the Federal commander sent +heavy reconnoitring forces across the Potomac; and Stuart, now +mounting to the zenith of his reputation as a cavalry-officer, +repeated his famous "ride around McClellan," on the Chickahominy. + +The object of General Lee in directing this movement of the cavalry +was the ordinary one, on such occasions, of obtaining information and +inflicting injury upon the enemy. Stuart responded with ardor to the +order. He had conceived a warm affection for General Lee, mingled with +a respect for his military genius nearly unbounded, and at this time, +as always afterward, received the orders of his commander for active +operations with enthusiasm. With about eighteen hundred troopers +and four pieces of horse-artillery, Stuart crossed the Potomac above +Williamsport, marched rapidly to Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where +he destroyed the machine-shops, and other buildings containing a large +number of arms and military stores; and continued his way thence +toward Frederick City, with the bold design of completely passing +around the Federal army, and recrossing the river east of the Blue +Ridge. In this he succeeded, thanks to his skill and audacity, in +spite of every effort of the enemy to cut off and destroy him. +Reaching White's Ford, on the Potomac, north of Leesburg, he disposed +his horse-artillery so as to cover this movement, cut his way through +the Federal cavalry disputing his passage, and recrossed into Virginia +with a large number of captured horses, and without losing a man. + +This expedition excited astonishment, and a prominent officer of +the Federal army declared that he would not have believed that +"horse-flesh could stand it," as the distance passed over in about +forty-eight hours, during which considerable delay had occurred at +Chambersburg, was nearly or quite one hundred miles. General McClellan +complained that his orders had not been obeyed, and said that after +these orders he "did not think it possible for Stuart to recross," and +believed "the destruction or capture of his entire force perfectly +certain." + +Soon afterward the Federal commander attempted reconnoissances in +his turn. A considerable force of infantry, supported by artillery, +crossed the Potomac and advanced to the vicinity of the little village +of Leetown, but on the same evening fell back rapidly, doubtless +fearful that Lee would interpose a force between them and the river +and cut off their retreat. This was followed by a movement of the +Federal cavalry, which crossed at the same spot and advanced up the +road leading toward Martinsburg. These were met and subsequently +driven back by Colonel W.H.F. Lee, son of the general. A third and +more important attempt to reconnoitre took place toward the end of +October. General McClellan then crossed a considerable body of troops +both at Shepherdstown and Harper's Ferry; the columns advanced to +Kearneysville and Charlestown respectively, and near the former +village a brief engagement took place, without results. General +McClellan, who had come in person as far as Charlestown, then returned +with his troops across the Potomac, and further hostilities for the +moment ceased. + +These reconnoissances were the prelude, however, of an important +movement which the Federal authorities had been long urging General +McClellan to make. Although the battle of Sharpsburg had been +indecisive in one acceptation of the term, in another it had been +entirely decisive. A drawn battle of the clearest sort, it yet decided +the future movements of the opposing armies. General Lee had invaded +Maryland with the design of advancing into Pennsylvania--the result of +Sharpsburg was, that he fell back into Virginia. General McClellan +had marched from Washington with no object but an offensive-defensive +campaign to afford the capital protection; he was now enabled to +undertake anew the invasion of Virginia. + +To the success of such a movement the Federal commander seems rightly +to have considered a full and complete equipment of his troops +absolutely essential. He was directed at once, after Sharpsburg, to +advance upon Lee. He replied that it was impossible, neither his men +nor his horses had shoes or rations. New orders came--General Halleck +appearing to regard the difficulties urged by General McClellan as +imaginary. New protests followed, and then new protests and new orders +again, until finally a peremptory dispatch came. This dispatch was, +"Cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south," +an order bearing the impress of the terse good sense and rough +directness of the Federal President. This order it was necessary in +the end to obey, and General McClellan, having decided in favor of +a movement across the Potomac east instead of west of the mountain, +proceeded, in the last days of October, to cross his army. His plan +was excellent, and is here set forth in his own words: + +"The plan of campaign I adopted during this advance," he says, "was +to move the army well in hand, parallel to the Blue Ridge, taking +Warrenton as the point of direction for the main army, seizing each +pass on the Blue Ridge by detachments as we approached it, and +guarding them after we had passed, as long as they would enable the +enemy to trouble our communications with the Potomac.... We depended +upon Harper's Ferry and Berlin for supplies until the Manassas Gap +Railway was reached. When that occurred, the passes in our rear were +to be abandoned, and the army massed ready for action or movement in +any direction. It was my intention, if, upon reaching Ashby's or any +other pass, the enemy were in force between it and the Potomac, in the +Valley of the Shenandoah, to move into the Valley and endeavor to gain +their rear." + +From this statement of General McClellan it will be seen that his plan +was judicious, and displayed a thorough knowledge of the country in +which he was about to operate. The conformation of the region is +peculiar. The Valley of the Shenandoah, in which Lee's army lay +waiting, is separated from "Piedmont Virginia," through which General +McClellan was about to advance, by the wooded ramparts of the Blue +Ridge Mountains, passable only at certain points. These _gaps_, as +they are called in Virginia, are the natural doorways to the Valley; +and as long as General McClellan held them, as he proposed to do, +by strong detachments, he would be able both to protect his own +communications with the Potomac, and, if he thought fit to do so, +enter the Valley and assail the Confederate rear. That he ever +seriously contemplated the latter design is, however, extremely +doubtful. It is not credible that he would have undertaken to "cut +off" Lee's whole army; and, if he designed a movement of that +description against any portion of the Southern army which might be +detached, the opportunity was certainly presented to him by Lee, when +Jackson was left, as will be seen, at Millwood. + +No sooner had General McClellan commenced crossing the Potomac, east +of the mountain, than General Lee broke up his camp along the Opequan, +and moved to check this new and formidable advance into the heart of +Virginia. It was not known, however, whether the whole of the Federal +forces had crossed east of the Blue Ridge; and, to guard against a +possible movement on his rear from the direction of Harper's Ferry, +as well as on his flank through the gaps of the mountain, Lee sent +Jackson's corps to take position on the road from Charlestown to +Berryville, where he could oppose an advance of the enemy from either +direction. The rest of the army then moved guardedly, but rapidly, +across the mountain into Culpepper. + +Under these circumstances, General McClellan had an excellent +opportunity to strike a heavy blow at Jackson, who seemed to invite +that movement by crossing soon afterward, in accordance with +directions from Lee, one of his divisions to the east side of the +mountain on the Federal rear. That General McClellan did not strike +is not creditable to him as a commander. The Confederate army was +certainly divided in a very tempting manner. Longstreet was in +Culpepper on the 3d of November, the day after General McClellan's +rear-guard had passed the Potomac, and nothing would seem to have been +easier than to cut the Confederate forces by interposing between them. +By seizing the Blue Ridge gaps, and thus shutting up all the avenues +of exit from the Valley, General McClellan would have had it in his +power, it would seem, to crush Jackson; or if that wily commander +escaped, Longstreet in Culpepper was exposed to attack. General +McClellan did not embrace this opportunity of a decisive blow, and Lee +seems to have calculated upon the caution of his adversary. Jackson's +presence in the Valley only embarrassed McClellan, as Lee no doubt +intended it should. No attempt was made to strike at him. On the +contrary, the Federal army continued steadily to concentrate upon +Warrenton, where, on the 7th of November, General McClellan was +abruptly relieved of the command. + +He was in his tent, at Rectortown, at the moment when the dispatch was +handed to him--brought by an officer from Washington through a heavy +snow-storm then falling. General Ambrose E. Burnside was in the tent. +McClellan read the dispatch calmly, and, handing it indifferently to +his visitor, said, "Well, Burnside, you are to command the army." + +Such was the abrupt termination of the military career of a commander +who fills a large space in the history of the war in Virginia. The +design of this volume is not such as to justify an extended notice of +him, or a detailed examination of his abilities as a soldier. That he +possessed military endowments of a very high order is conceded by most +persons, but his critics add that he was dangerously prone to caution +and inactivity. Such was the criticism of his enemies at Washington +and throughout the North, and his pronounced political opinions had +gained him a large number. It may, however, be permitted one who can +have no reason to unduly commend him, to say that the retreat to +James River, and the arrest of Lee in his march of invasion toward +Pennsylvania, seem to indicate the possession of something more than +"inactivity," and of that species of "caution" which achieves success. +It will probably, however, be claimed by few, even among the +personal friends of this general, that he was a soldier of the first +ability--one competent to oppose Lee. + +As to the personal qualities of General McClellan, there seems to be +no difference of opinion. He was a gentleman of high breeding, and +detested all oppression of the weak and non-combatants. Somewhat prone +to _hauteur_, in presence of the importunities of the Executive and +other civilians unskilled in military affairs, he was patient, mild, +and cordial with his men. These qualities, with others which he +possessed, seem to have rendered him peculiarly acceptable to the +private soldier, and it is certain that he was, beyond comparison, the +most popular of all the generals who, one after another, commanded the +"Army of the Potomac." + + + + +IX. + +LEE CONCENTRATES AT FREDERICKSBURG. + + +In returning from the Valley, General Lee had exhibited that +combination of boldness and caution which indicates in a commander the +possession of excellent generalship. + +One of two courses was necessary: either to make a rapid march with +his entire army, in order to interpose himself between General +McClellan and what seemed to be his objective point, Gordonsville; or, +to so manoeuvre his forces as to retard and embarrass his adversary. +Of these, Lee chose the latter course, exposing himself to what seemed +very great danger. Jackson was left in the Valley, and Longstreet sent +to Culpepper; under these circumstances, General McClellan might have +cut off one of the two detached bodies; but Lee seems to have read +the character of his adversary accurately, and to have felt that a +movement of such boldness would not probably be undertaken by him. +Provision had nevertheless been made for this possible contingency. +Jackson was directed by Lee, in case of an attack by General +McClellan, to retire, by way of Strasburg, up the Valley, and so +rejoin the main body. That this movement would become necessary, +however, was not, as we have said, contemplated. It was not supposed +by Lee that his adversary would adopt the bold plan of crossing the +Blue Ridge to assail Jackson; thus, to leave that commander in +the Valley, instead of being a military blunder, was a stroke of +generalship, a source of embarrassment to General McClellan, and a +standing threat against the Federal communications, calculated to clog +the movements of their army. That Lee aimed at this is obvious from +his order to Jackson to cross a division to the eastern side of the +Blue Ridge, in General McClellan's rear. When this was done, the +Federal commander abandoned, if he had ever resolved upon, the design +of striking in between the Confederate detachments, as is claimed +by his admirers to have been his determination; gave up all idea of +"moving into the Valley and endeavoring to gain their rear;" and from +that moment directed his whole attention to the concentration of his +army near Warrenton, with the obvious view of establishing a new +base, and operating southward on the line of the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad. + +Lee's object in these manoeuvres, besides the general one of +embarrassing his adversary, seems to have been to gain time, and thus +to render impossible, from the lateness of the season, a Federal +advance upon Richmond. Had General McClellan remained in command, it +is probable that this object would have been attained, and the battle +of Fredericksburg would not have taken place. The two armies would +have lain opposite each other in Culpepper and Fauquier respectively, +with the Upper Rappahannock between them throughout the winter; and +the Confederate forces, weary and worn by the long marches and hard +combats of 1862, would have had the opportunity to rest and recover +their energies for the coming spring. + +The change of commanders defeated these views, if they were +entertained by General Lee. On assuming command, General Burnside +conceived the project, in spite of the near approach of winter, of +crossing the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and marching on Richmond. +This he now proceeded to attempt, by steadily moving from Warrenton +toward the Lower Rappahannock, and the result, as will be seen, was a +Federal disaster to wind up this "year of battles." + +We have spoken with some particularity of the character and military +abilities of General McClellan, the first able commander of the +Federal forces in Virginia. Of General Burnside, who appears but +once, and for a brief space only, on that great theatre, it will be +necessary to say only a few words. A modest and honorable soldier, +cherishing for General McClellan a cordial friendship, he was +unwilling to supersede that commander, both from personal regard and +distrust of his own abilities. He had not sought the position, which +had rather been thrust upon him. He was "surprised" and "shocked," he +said, at his assignment to the command; he "did not want it, it had +been offered to him twice before, and he did not feel that he could +take it; he had told them that he was not competent to command such +an army as this; he had said the same over and over again to the +President and the Secretary of War." He was, however, directed to +assume command, accepted the responsibility, and proceeded to +carry out the unexpected plan of advancing upon Richmond by way of +Fredericksburg. + +To cover this movement, General Burnside made a heavy feint as though +designing to cross into Culpepper. This does not seem to have deceived +Lee, who, on the 17th of November, knew that his adversary was moving. +No sooner had the fact been discovered that General Burnside was +making for Fredericksburg, than the Confederate commander, by a +corresponding movement, passed the Rapidan and hastened in the same +direction. As early as the 17th, two divisions of infantry, with +cavalry and artillery, were in motion. On the morning of the 19th, +Longstreet's corps was sent in the same direction; and when, on +November 20th, General Burnside arrived with his army, the Federal +forces drawn up on the hills north of Fredericksburg saw, on the +highlands south of the city, the red flags and gray lines of their old +adversaries. + +As General Jackson had been promptly directed to join the main body, +and was already moving to do so, Lee would soon be able to oppose +General Burnside with his whole force. + +Such were the movements of the opposing armies which brought them face +to face at Fredericksburg. Lee had acted promptly, and, it would seem, +with good judgment; but the question has been asked, why he did not +repeat against General Burnside the strategic movement which +had embarrassed General McClellan, and arrest the march upon +Fredericksburg by threatening, with the detachment under Jackson, +the Federal rear. The reasons for not adopting this course will be +perceived by a glance at the map. General Burnside was taking up a +new base--Aquia Creek on the Potomac--and, from the character of the +country, it was wholly impossible for Lee to prevent him from doing +so. He had only to fall back before Jackson, or any force moving +against his flank or rear; the Potomac was at hand, and it was not +in the power of Lee to further annoy him. The latter accordingly +abandoned all thought of repeating his old manoeuvre, moved Longstreet +and the other troops in Culpepper toward Fredericksburg, and, +directing Jackson to join him there, thus concentrated his forces +directly in the Federal front with the view of fighting a pitched +battle, army against army. + +This detailed account of Lee's movements may appear tedious to some +readers, but it was rather in grand tactics than in fighting battles +that he displayed his highest abilities as a soldier. He uniformly +adopted the broadest and most judicious plan to bring on battle, and +personally directed, as far as was possible, every detail of his +movements. When the hour came, it may be said of him that he felt he +had done his best--the actual fighting was left largely in the hands +of his corps commanders. + +The feints and slight encounters preceding the battle of +Fredericksburg are not of much interest or importance. General +Burnside sent a force to Port Royal, about twenty-five miles below the +city, but Lee promptly detached a portion of his army to meet it, if +it attempted to cross, and that project was abandoned. No attempt was +made by General Burnside to cross above, and it became obvious that he +must pass the river in face of Lee or not at all. + +Such was the condition of affairs at Fredericksburg in the first days +of December. + + + + +X. + +THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. + + +To a correct understanding of the interesting battle of +Fredericksburg, a brief description of the ground is essential. + +The city lies on the south bank of the Rappahannock, which here makes +a considerable bend nearly southward; and along the northern bank, +opposite, extends a range of hills which command the city and the +level ground around it. South of the river the land is low, but from +the depth of the channel forms a line of bluffs, affording good +shelter to troops after crossing to assail a force beyond. The only +good position for such a force, standing on the defensive, is a range +of hills hemming in the level ground. This range begins near the +western suburbs of the city, where it is called "Marye's Hill," and +sweeps round to the southward, gradually receding from the stream, +until, at Hamilton's Crossing, on the Richmond and Potomac Railroad, a +mile or more from the river, it suddenly subsides into the plain. This +plain extends to the right, and is bounded by the deep and difficult +channel of Massaponnax Creek. As Marye's Hill is the natural position +for the left of an army posted to defend Fredericksburg, the crest +above Hamilton's Crossing is the natural position for the right +of such a line, care being taken to cover the extreme right with +artillery, to obstruct the passage of the ground between the crest and +the Massaponnax. + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of Fredericksburg.] + +Behind the hills on the north side General Burnside's army was posted, +having the railroad to Aquia Creek for the transportation of their +supplies. On the range of hills which we have described south of the +city, General Lee was stationed, the same railroad connecting him with +Richmond. Longstreet's corps composed his left wing, and extended +from Marye's Hill to about the middle of the range of hills. There +Jackson's line began, forming the right wing, and extending to the +termination of the range at Hamilton's Crossing. On Jackson's right, +to guard the plain reaching to the Massaponnax, Stuart was posted with +cavalry and artillery. + +The numbers of the adversaries at Fredericksburg can be stated with +accuracy upon one side, but not upon the other. General Lee's force +may be said to have been, in round numbers, about fifty thousand of +all arms. It could scarcely have exceeded that, unless he received +heavy reënforcements after Sharpsburg; and the present writer +has never heard or read that he received reënforcements of any +description. The number, fifty thousand, thus seems to have been the +full amount of the army. That of General Burnside's forces seems to +have been considerably larger. The Federal army consisted of the +First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Corps; the +latter a corps of reserve and large. If these had been recruited to +the full number reported by General McClellan at Sharpsburg, and the +additional troops (Fifth and Eleventh Corps) be estimated, the Federal +army must have exceeded one hundred thousand men. This estimate is +borne out by Federal authorities. "General Franklin," says a Northern +writer, "had now with him about one-half the whole army;" and General +Meade says that Franklin's force "amounted to from fifty-five thousand +to sixty thousand men," which would seem to indicate that the whole +army numbered from one hundred and ten thousand to one hundred and +twenty thousand men. + +A strong position was obviously essential to render it possible for +the Southern army, of about fifty thousand men, to successfully oppose +the advance of this force of above one hundred thousand. Lee had found +this position, and constructed earthworks for artillery, with the view +of receiving the attack of the enemy after their crossing. He was +unable to obstruct this crossing in any material degree; and he states +clearly the grounds of this inability. "The plain of Fredericksburg," +he says, "is so completely commanded by the Stafford heights, that no +effectual opposition could be made to the construction of bridges, +or the passage of the river, without exposing our troops to the +destructive fire of the numerous batteries of the enemy.... Our +position was, therefore, selected with a view to resist the enemy's +advance after crossing, and the river was guarded only by a +force sufficient to impede his movements until the army could be +concentrated." + +The brief description we have presented of the character of the ground +around Fredericksburg, and the position of the adversaries, will +sufficiently indicate the conditions under which the battle was +fought. Both armies seem to have been in excellent spirits. That of +General Burnside had made a successful march, during which they had +scarcely seen an enemy, and now looked forward, probably, to certain +if not easy victory. General Lee's army, in like manner, had undergone +recently no peculiar hardships in marching or fighting; and, to +whatever cause the fact may be attributed, was in a condition of the +highest efficiency. The men seemed to be confident of the result of +the coming conflict, and, in their bivouacs on the line of battle, in +the woods fringing the ridge which they occupied, laughed, jested, +cheered, on the slightest provocation, and, instead of shrinking from, +looked forward with eagerness to, the moment when General Burnside +would advance to attack them. This buoyant and elastic spirit in the +Southern troops was observable on the eve of nearly every battle of +the war. Whether it was due to the peculiar characteristics of the +race, or to other causes, we shall not pause here to inquire; but the +fact was plain to the most casual observation, and was never more +striking than just before Fredericksburg, unless just preceding the +battle of Gettysburg. + +Nothing of any importance occurred, from the 20th of November, when +General Burnside's army was concentrated on the heights north of +Fredericksburg, until the 11th of December, when the Federal army +began crossing the Rappahannock to deliver battle. Lee's reasons for +not attempting to resist the passage of the river have been given +above. The plain on which it would have been necessary to draw up +his army, in order to do so, was too much exposed to the numerous +artillery of the enemy on the northern bank. Lee resolved, therefore, +not to oppose the crossing of the Federal troops, but to await their +assault on the commanding ground west and south of the city. + +On the morning of December 11th, before dawn, the dull boom of Lee's +signal-guns indicated that the enemy were moving, and the Southern +troops formed line of battle to meet the coming attack. General +Burnside had made arrangements to cross the river on pontoon bridges, +one opposite the city, and another a mile or two lower down the +stream. General Franklin, commanding the two corps of the left Grand +Division, succeeded, without trouble, in laying the lower bridge, as +the ground did not permit Lee to offer material obstruction; and this +large portion of the army was now ready to cross. The passage of the +stream at Fredericksburg was more difficult. Although determined not +to make a serious effort to prevent the enemy from crossing, General +Lee had placed two regiments of Barksdale's Mississippians along the +bank of the river, in the city, to act as sharp-shooters, and impede +the construction of the pontoon bridges, with the view, doubtless, of +thus giving time to marshal his troops. The success of this device +was considerable. The workmen, busily engaged in laying the Federal +pontoons, were so much interrupted by the fire of the Confederate +marksmen--who directed their aim through the heavy fog by the noise +made in putting together the boats--that, after losing a number of +men, the Federal commander discontinued his attempt. It was renewed +again and again, without success, as before, when, provoked apparently +by the presence of this hornet's nest, which reversed all his plans, +General Burnside, about ten o'clock, opened a furious fire of +artillery upon the city. The extent of this bombardment will be +understood from the statement that one hundred and forty-seven pieces +of artillery were employed, which fired seven thousand three hundred +and fifty rounds of ammunition, in one instance piercing a single +small house with fifty round-shot. An eye-witness of this scene says: +"The enemy had planted more than a hundred pieces of artillery on the +hills to the northern and eastern sides of the town, and, from an +early hour in the forenoon, swept the streets with round-shot, shell, +and case-shot, firing frequently a hundred guns a minute. The quick +puffs of smoke, touched in the centre with tongues of flame, ran +incessantly along the lines of their batteries on the slopes, and, +as the smoke slowly drifted away, the bellowing roar came up in one +continuous roll. The town was soon fired, and a dense cloud of smoke +enveloped its roofs and steeples. The white church-spires still rose +serenely aloft, defying shot or shell, though a portion of one of them +was torn off. The smoke was succeeded by lurid flame, and the crimson +mass brought to mind the pictures of Moscow burning." The same writer +says: "Men, women, and children, were driven from the town, and +hundreds of ladies and children were seen wandering, homeless, and +without shelter, over the frozen highway, in thin clothing, knowing +not where to find a place of refuge." + +[Illustration: FREDERICKSBURG] + +General Lee watched this painful spectacle from a redoubt to the right +of the telegraph road, not far from his centre, where a shoulder +jutting out from the ridge, and now called "Lee's Hill," afforded +him a clear view of the city. The destruction of the place, and the +suffering of the inhabitants, aroused in him a deep melancholy, +mingled with exasperation, and his comment on the scene was probably +as bitter as any speech which he uttered during the whole war. +Standing, wrapped in his cape, with only a few officers near, he +looked fixedly at the flames rising from the city, and, after +remaining for a long time silent, said, in his grave, deep voice: +"These people delight to destroy the weak, and those who can make no +defence; it just suits them." + +General Burnside continued the bombardment for some hours, the +Mississippians still holding the river-bank and preventing the laying +of the pontoons, which was again begun and again discontinued. At +about four in the afternoon, however, a force was sent across in +barges, and by nightfall the city was evacuated by Lee, and General +Burnside proceeded rapidly to lay his pontoon bridge, upon which his +army then began to pass over. The crossing continued throughout the +next day, not materially obstructed by the fire of Lee's artillery, +as a dense fog rendered the aim of the cannoneers unreliable. By +nightfall (of the 12th) the Federal army was over, with the exception +of General Hooker's Centre Grand Division, which was held in reserve +on the north bank. General Burnside then proceeded to form his line of +battle. It stretched from the western suburbs of Fredericksburg down +the river, along what is called the River road, for a distance of +about four miles, and consisted of the Right Grand Division, under +General Sumner, at the city, and the Left Grand Division, under +General Franklin, lower down, and opposite Lee's right. General +Franklin's Grand Division numbered, according to General Meade, from +fifty-five to sixty thousand men; the numbers of Generals Sumner and +Hooker are not known to the present writer, but are said by Federal +authorities, as we have stated, to have amounted together to about the +same. + +At daybreak, on the morning of December 13th, a muffled sound, issuing +from the dense fog covering the low ground, indicated that the Federal +lines were preparing to advance. + +To enable the reader to understand General Burnside's plan of attack, +it is necessary that brief extracts should be presented from his +orders on the occasion, and from his subsequent testimony before the +committee on the conduct of the war. Despite the length of time since +his arrival at Fredericksburg--a period of more than three weeks--the +Federal commander had, it appears, been unable to obtain full and +accurate information of the character of the ground occupied by Lee, +and thus moved very much in the dark. He seems to have formed his plan +of attack in consequence of information from "a colored man." His +words are: "The enemy had cut a road along in the rear of the line of +heights where we made our attack.... I obtained, from a colored man +at the other side of the town, information in regard to this new road +which proved to be correct. I wanted to obtain possession of that +new road, and that was my reason for making an attack on the extreme +left." It is difficult for those familiar with the ground referred to, +to understand how this "new road," a mere country bridle-path, as it +were, extending along in the rear of Lee's right wing, could have been +regarded as a topographical feature of any importance. The road, +which remains unchanged, and may be seen by any one to-day, was +insignificant in a military point of view, and, in attaching such +importance to seizing it, the Federal commander committed a grave +error. + +What seems to have been really judicious in his plan, was the turning +movement determined on against Lee's right, along the old Richmond +road, running from the direction of the river past the end of the +ridge occupied by the Confederates, and so southward. To break through +at this point was the only hope of success, and General Burnside had +accordingly resolved, he declared, upon "a rapid movement down the old +Richmond road" with Franklin's large command. Unfortunately, however, +this wise design was complicated with another, most unwise, to send +forward _a division_, first, to seize the crest of the ridge near the +point where it sinks into the plain. On this crest were posted the +veterans of Jackson, commanded in person by that skilful soldier. +Three lines of infantry, supported by artillery, were ready to receive +the Federal attack, and, to force back this stubborn obstacle, General +Burnside sent a division. The proof is found in his order to General +Franklin at about six o'clock on the morning of the battle: "Send +out a division at least ... to seize, if possible, the heights near +Captain Hamilton's," which was the ground whereon Jackson's right +rested. + +An attack on the formidable position known as Marye's Hill, on Lee's +left, west of Fredericksburg, was also directed to be made by the same +small force. The order to General Sumner was to "form a column of +_a division_, for the purpose of pushing in the direction of the +Telegraph and Plank roads, for the purpose of seizing the heights in +the rear of the town;" or, according to another version, "up the Plank +road to its intersection with the Telegraph road, where they will +divide, with the object of seizing the heights on both sides of those +roads." + +The point of "intersection" here referred to was the locality of what +has been called "that sombre, fatal, terrible stone wall," just under +Marye's Hill, where the most fearful slaughter of the Federal forces +took place. Marye's Hill is a strong position, and its importance was +well understood by Lee. Longstreet's infantry was in heavy line of +battle behind it, and the crest bristled with artillery. There was +still less hope here of effecting any thing with "a division" than on +the Confederate right held by Jackson. + +General Burnside seems, however, to have regarded success as probable. +He added in his order: "Holding these heights, with the heights near +Captain Hamilton's, will, I hope, compel the enemy to evacuate the +whole ridge between these points." In his testimony afterward, he said +that, in the event of failure in these assaults on Lee's flanks, he +"proposed to make a direct attack on their front, and drive them out +of their works." + +These extracts from General Burnside's orders and testimony clearly +indicate his plan, which was to assail both Lee's right and left, and, +in the event of failure, direct a heavy blow at his centre. That the +whole plan completely failed was mainly due, it would seem, to the +inconsiderable numbers of the assaulting columns. + +We return now to the narrative of the battle which these comments have +interrupted. + +General Lee was ready to receive the Federal attack, and, at an early +hour of the morning, rode from his headquarters, in rear of his +centre, along his line of battle toward the right, where he probably +expected the main assault of the enemy to take place. He was clad in +his plain, well-worn gray uniform, with felt hat, cavalry-boots, and +short cape, without sword, and almost without any indications of his +rank. In these outward details, he differed much from Generals Jackson +and Stuart, who rode with him. The latter, as was usual with him, wore +a fully-decorated uniform, sash, black plume, sabre, and handsome +gauntlets. General Jackson, also, on this day, chanced to have +exchanged his dingy old coat and sun-scorched cadet-cap for a new +coat[1] covered with dazzling buttons, and a cap brilliant with a +broad band of gold lace, in which (for him) extraordinary disguise his +men scarcely knew him. + +[Footnote 1: This coat was a present from Stuart.] + +As Lee and his companions passed along in front of the line of battle, +the troops cheered them. It was evident that the army was in excellent +spirits, and ready for the hard work which the day would bring. Lee +proceeded down the old Richmond, or stage road--that mentioned in +General Burnside's order as the one over which his large flanking +column was to move--and rode on with Stuart until he was near the +River road, running toward Fredericksburg, parallel to the Federal +line of battle. Here he stopped, and endeavored to make out, through +the dense fog covering the plain, whether the Federal forces were +moving. A stifled hum issued from the mist, but nothing could be seen. +It seemed, however, that the enemy's skirmishers--probably concealed +in the ditches along the River road--had sharper eyes, as bullets +began to whistle around the two generals, and soon a number of black +specks were seen moving forward. General Lee remained for some time +longer, in spite of the exposure, conversing with great calmness and +gravity with Stuart, who was all ardor. He then rode back slowly, +passed along his line of battle, greeted wherever he was seen with +cheers, and took his position on the eminence in his centre, near the +Telegraph road, the same commanding point from which he had witnessed +the bombardment of Fredericksburg. + +The battle did not commence until ten o'clock, owing to the dense fog, +through which the light of the sun could scarcely pierce. At that hour +the mist lifted and rolled away, and the Confederates posted on the +ridge saw a heavy column of infantry advancing to attack their right, +near the Hamilton House. This force was Meade's division, supported +by Gibbon's, with a third in reserve, General Franklin having put in +action as many troops as his orders ("a division at least") permitted. +General Meade was arrested for some time by a minute but most annoying +obstacle. Stuart had placed a single piece of artillery, under Major +John Pelham, near the point where the old Richmond and River roads +meet--that is, directly on the flank of the advancing column--and this +gun now opened a rapid and determined fire upon General Meade. Major +Pelham--almost a boy in years--continued to hold his exposed position +with great gallantry, although the enemy opened fire upon him with +several batteries, killing a number of his gunners. General Lee +witnessed this duel from the hill on which he had taken his stand, and +is said to have exclaimed, "It is glorious to see such courage in one +so young!" [Footnote: General Lee's opinion of Major Pelham appears +from his report, in which he styles the young officer "the gallant +Pelham," and says: "Four batteries immediately turned upon him, but +he sustained their heavy fire with the unflinching courage that ever +distinguished him." Pelham fell at Kelly's Ford in March, 1863.] + +Pelham continued the cannonade for about two hours, only retiring when +he received a peremptory order from Jackson to do so; and it would +seem that this one gun caused a considerable delay in the attack. +"Meade advanced across the plain, but had not proceeded far," says Mr. +Swinton, "before he was compelled to stop and silence a battery that +Stuart had posted on the Port Royal road." Having brushed away this +annoying obstacle, General Meade, with a force which he states to have +amounted to ten thousand men, advanced rapidly to attack the hill upon +which the Confederates awaited him. He was suffered to approach within +a few hundred yards, when Jackson's artillery, under Colonel Walker, +posted near the end of the ridge, opened a sudden and furious fire, +which threw the Federal line into temporary confusion. The troops soon +rallied, however, and advanced again to the attack, which fell on +Jackson's front line under A.P. Hill. The struggle which now ensued +was fierce and bloody, but, a gap having been left between the +brigades of Archer and Lane, the enemy pierced the opening, turning +the left of one brigade and the right of the other, pressed on, +attacked Gregg's brigade of Hill's reserve, threw it into confusion, +and seemed about to carry the crest. Gregg's brigade was quickly +rallied, however, by its brave commander, who soon afterward fell, +mortally wounded; the further progress of the enemy was checked, and, +Jackson's second line rapidly advancing, the enemy were met and forced +back, step by step, until they were driven down the slope again. Here +they were attacked by the brigades of Hoke and Atkinson, and driven +beyond the railroad, the Confederates cheering and following them into +the plain. The repulse had been complete, and the slope and ground +in front of it were strewed with Federal dead. They had returned as +rapidly as they had charged, pursued by shot and shell, and General +Lee, witnessing the spectacle from his hill, murmured, in his grave +and measured voice: "It is well this is so terrible! we should grow +too fond of it!" + +The assault on the Confederate right had thus ended in disaster, but +almost immediately another attack took place, whose results were more +bloody and terrible still. As General Meade fell back, pursued by the +men of Jackson, the sudden roar of artillery from the Confederate left +indicated that a heavy conflict had begun in that quarter. The Federal +troops were charging Marye's Hill, which was to prove the Cemetery +Hill of Fredericksburg. This frightful charge--for no other adjective +can describe it--was made by General French's division, supported by +General Hancock. The Federal troops rushed forward over the broken +ground in the suburbs of the city, and, "as soon as the masses became +dense enough,"[1] were received with a concentrated artillery fire +from the hill in front of them. This fire was so destructive that it +"made gaps that could be seen at the distance of a mile." The charging +division had advanced in column of brigades, and the front was nearly +destroyed. The troops continued to move forward, however, and had +nearly reached the base of the hill, when the brigades of Cobb and +Cooke, posted behind a stone wall running parallel with the Telegraph +road, met them with a sudden fire of musketry, which drove them back +in terrible disorder. Nearly half the force was killed or lay disabled +on the field, and upon the survivors, now in full retreat, was +directed a concentrated artillery-fire from, the hill. + +[Footnote 1: Longstreet.] + +In face of this discharge of cannon, General Hancock's force, +supporting French, now gallantly advanced in its turn. The charge +lasted about fifteen minutes, and in that time General Hancock lost +more than two thousand of the five thousand men of his command. The +repulse was still more bloody and decisive than the first. The second +column fell back in disorder, leaving the ground covered with their +dead. + +General Burnside had hitherto remained at the "Phillips House," a mile +or more from the Rappahannock. He now mounted his horse, and, riding +down to the river, dismounted, walked up and down in great agitation, +and exclaimed, looking at Marye's Hill: "That crest must be carried +to-night."[1] + +[Footnote 1: The authority for this incident is Mr. William Swinton, +who was present.] + +In spite of the murderous results of the first charges, the Federal +commander determined on a third. General Hooker's reserve was ordered +to make it, and, although that officer protested against it, General +Burnside was immovable, and repeated his order. General Hooker +sullenly obeyed, and opened with artillery upon the stone wall at the +foot of the hill, in order to make a breach in it. This fire continued +until nearly sunset, when Humphrey's division was formed for the +charge. The men were ordered to throw aside their knapsacks, and not +to load their guns, "for there was no time there to load and fire," +says General Hooker. The word was given about sunset, and the division +charged headlong over the ground already covered with dead. A few +words will convey the result. Of four thousand men who charged, +seventeen hundred and sixty were left dead or wounded on the field. +The rest retreated, pursued by the fire of the batteries and infantry; +and night fell on the battle-field. + +This charge was the real termination of the bloody battle of +Fredericksburg, but, on the Confederate right, Jackson had planned and +begun to execute a decisive advance on the force in his front. This he +designed to undertake "precisely at sunset," and his intention was +to depend on the bayonet, his military judgment or instinct having +satisfied him that the _morale_ of the Federal army was destroyed. The +advance was discontinued, however, in consequence of the lateness of +the hour and the sudden artillery-fire which saluted him as he began +to move. A striking feature of this intended advance is the fact that +Jackson had placed his artillery _in front_ of his line of battle, +intending to attack in that manner. + +As darkness settled down, the last guns of Stuart, who had defended +the Confederate right flank with about thirty pieces of artillery, +were heard far in advance, and apparently advancing still. The Federal +lines had fallen back, wellnigh to the banks of the river, and there +seems little room to doubt that the _morale_ of the men was seriously +impaired. "From what I knew of our want of success upon the right," +says General Franklin, when interrogated on this point, "and the +demoralized condition of the troops upon the right and centre, as +represented to me by their commanders, I confess I believe the order +to recross was a very proper one." + +General Burnside refused to give the order; and, nearly overwhelmed, +apparently, by the fatal result of the attack, determined to form the +ninth corps in column of regiments, and lead it in person against +Marye's Hill, on the next morning. Such a design, in a soldier of +ability, indicates desperation. To charge Marye's Hill with a corps in +column of regiments, was to devote the force to destruction. It was +nearly certain that the whole command would be torn to pieces by the +Southern artillery, but General Burnside seems to have regarded the +possession of the hill as worth any amount of blood; and, in face of +the urgent appeals of his officers, gave orders for the movement. At +the last moment, however, he yielded to the entreaties of General +Sumner, and abandoned his bloody design. + +Still it seemed that the Federal commander was unable to come to the +mortifying resolution of recrossing the Rappahannock. The battle +was fought on the 13th of December, and until the night of the 15th +General Burnside continued to face Lee on the south bank of the +river--his bands playing, his flags flying, and nothing indicating an +intention of retiring. To that resolve he had however come, and on the +night of the 15th, in the midst of storm and darkness, the Federal +army recrossed to the north bank of the Rappahannock. + + + + +XI FINAL MOVEMENTS OF 1862 + + +The battle of Fredericksburg was another defeat of the Federal +programme of invasion, as decisive, and in one sense as disastrous, as +the second battle of Manassas. General Burnside had not lost as many +men as General Pope, and had not retreated in confusion, pursued by a +victorious enemy; but, brief as the conflict had been--two or three +hours summing up all the real fighting--its desperate character, and +the evident hopelessness of any attempt to storm Lee's position, +profoundly discouraged and demoralized the Northern troops. We have +quoted the statement of General Franklin, commanding the whole left +wing, that from "the demoralized condition of the troops upon the +right and centre, as represented to him by their commanders, he +believed the order to recross was a very proper one." Nor is there +any ground to suppose that the feeling of the left wing was greatly +better. That wing of the army had not suffered as heavily as the +right, which had recoiled with such frightful slaughter from Marye's +Hill; but the repulse of General Meade in their own front had been +equally decisive, and the non-success of the right must have reacted +on the left, discouraging that also. Northern writers, in a position +to ascertain the condition of the troops, fully bear out this view: +"That the _morale_ of the Army of the Potomac became seriously +impaired after the disaster at Fredericksburg," says Mr. Swinton, the +able and candid historian of the campaign, "was only too manifest. +Indeed, it would be impossible to imagine a graver or gloomier, a more +sombre or unmusical body of men than the Army of the Potomac a month +after the battle. And, as the days went by, despondency, discontent, +and all evil inspirations, with their natural consequent, desertion, +seemed to increase rather than to diminish, until, for the first time, +the Army of the Potomac could be said to be really demoralized." +General Sumner noticed that a spirit of "croaking" had become diffused +throughout the forces. For an army to display that tendency clearly +indicates that the troops have lost the most important element of +victory--confidence in themselves and their leader. And for this +sentiment there was valid reason. Columns wholly inadequate in numbers +had been advanced against the formidable Confederate positions, +positions so strong and well defended that it is doubtful if thrice +the force could have made any impression upon them, and the result +was such as might have been expected. The men lost confidence in the +military capacity of their commander, and in their own powers. After +the double repulse at Marye's Hill and in front of Jackson, the +troops, looking at the ground strewed with dead and wounded, were +in no condition to go forward hopefully to another struggle which +promised to be equally bloody. + +The Southern army was naturally in a condition strongly in contrast +with that of their adversary. They had repulsed the determined assault +of the Federal columns with comparative ease on both flanks. Jackson's +first line, although pierced and driven back, soon rallied, and +checked the enemy until the second line came up, when General Meade +was driven back, the third line not having moved from its position +along the road near the Hamilton House. On the left, Longstreet had +repulsed the Federal charge with his artillery and two small brigades. +The loss of the Confederates in both these encounters was much +less than that of their adversaries[1], a natural result of the +circumstances; and thus, instead of sharing the depression of their +opponents, the Southern troops were elated, and looked forward to +a renewal of the battle with confidence in themselves and in their +leader. + +[Footnote 1: "Our loss during the operation, since the movements +of the enemy began, amounts to about eighteen hundred killed and +wounded."--_Lee's Report_. Federal authorities state the Northern loss +at a little over twelve thousand; the larger part, no doubt, in the +attack on Marye's Hill.] + +It is not necessary to offer much comment upon the manner in which +General Burnside had attacked. He is said, by his critics, not to +have, at the time, designed the turning movement against General Lee's +right, upon which point the present writer is unable to decide. That +movement would seem to have presented the sole and only chance of +success for the Federal arms, as the successful advance of General +Franklin's fifty-five or sixty thousand men up the old Richmond road +would have compelled Lee to retire his whole right wing, to protect it +from an assault in flank and reverse. What dispositions he would have +made under these circumstances must be left to conjecture; but, it is +certain that the blow would have proved a serious one, calling for the +display of all his military ability. In the event, however, that this +was the main great aim of General Burnside, his method of carrying out +his design insured, it would seem, its failure. Ten thousand men only +were to clear the way for the flanking movement, in order to effect +which object it was necessary to crush Jackson. So that it may be said +that the success of the plan involved the repulse of one-half Lee's +army with ten thousand men. + +The assault on Marye's Hill was an equally fatal military mistake. +That the position could not be stormed, is proved by the result of the +actual attempt. It is doubtful if, in any battle ever fought by any +troops, men displayed greater gallantry. They rushed headlong, not +only once, but thrice, into the focus of a frightful front and cross +fire of artillery and small-arms, losing nearly half their numbers in +a few minutes; the ground was littered with their dead, and yet the +foremost had only been able to approach within sixty yards of the +terrible stone wall in advance of the hill. There they fell, throwing +up their hands to indicate that they saw at last that the attempt to +carry the hill was hopeless. + +These comments seem justified by the circumstances, and are made with +no intention of casting obloquy upon the commander who, displaying +little ability, gave evidences of unfaltering courage. He had urged +his inability to handle so large an army, but the authorities had +forced the command upon him; he had accepted it and done his best, +and, like a brave soldier, determined to lead the final charge in +person, dying, if necessary, at the head of his men. + +General Lee has not escaped criticism any more than General Burnside. +The Southern people were naturally dissatisfied with the result--the +safe retreat of the Federal army--and asked why they had not been +attacked and captured or destroyed. The London _Times_, at that +period, and a military critic recently, in the same journal, declared +that Lee had it in his power to crush General Burnside, "horse, foot, +and dragoons," and, from his failure to do so, argued his want of +great generalship. A full discussion of the question is left by the +present writer to those better skilled than himself in military +science. It is proper, however, to insert here General Lee's own +explanation of his action: + +"The attack on the 13th," he says, "had been so easily repulsed, and +by so small a part of our army, that it was not supposed the enemy +would limit his efforts to one attempt, which, in view of the +magnitude of his preparations, and the extent of his force, seemed to +be comparatively insignificant. Believing, therefore, that he would +attack us, it was not deemed expedient to lose the advantages of +our position and expose the troops to the fire of his inaccessible +batteries beyond the river, by advancing against him. But we were +necessarily ignorant of the extent to which he had suffered, and only +became aware of it when, on the morning of the 16th, it was discovered +that he had availed himself of the darkness of night, and the +prevalence of a violent storm of wind and rain, to recross the river." + +This statement was no doubt framed by General Lee to meet the +criticisms which the result of the battle occasioned. In conversing +with General Stuart on the subject, he added that he felt too great +responsibility for the preservation of his troops to unnecessarily +hazard them. "No one knows," he said, "how _brittle_ an army is." + +The word may appear strange, applied to the Army of Northern Virginia, +which had certainly vindicated its claim, under many arduous trials, +to the virtues of toughness and endurance. But Lee's meaning was +plain, and his view seems to have been founded on good sense. The +enemy had in all, probably, two hundred pieces of artillery, a large +portion of which were posted on the high ground north of the river. +Had Lee descended from his ridge and advanced into the plain to +attack, this large number of guns would have greeted him with a rapid +and destructive fire, which must have inflicted upon him a loss as +nearly heavy as he had inflicted upon General Burnside at Marye's +Hill. From such a result he naturally shrunk. It has been seen that +the Federal troops, brave as they were, had been demoralized by such +a fire; and Lee was unwilling to expose his own troops to similar +slaughter. + +There is little question, it seems, that an advance of the description +mentioned would have resulted in a conclusive victory, and the +probable surrender of the whole or a large portion of the Federal +army. Whether the probability of such a result was sufficient to +compensate for the certain slaughter, the reader will decide for +himself. General Lee did not think so, and did not order the advance. +He preferred awaiting, in his strong position, the second assault +which General Burnside would probably make; and, while he thus waited, +the enemy secretly recrossed the river, rendering an attack upon them +by Lee impossible. + +General Burnside made a second movement to cross the +Rappahannock--this time at Banks's Ford, above Fredericksburg--in the +inclement month of January; but, as he might have anticipated, the +condition of the roads was such that it was impossible to advance. His +artillery, with the horses dragging the pieces, sank into the almost +bottomless mud, where they stuck fast--even the foot-soldiers found it +difficult to march through the quagmire--and the whole movement was +speedily abandoned. + +When General Burnside issued the order for this injudicious advance, +two of his general officers met, and one asked: + +"What do you think of it?" + +"It don't seem to have the _ring_" was the reply. + +"No--the bell is broken," the other added. + +This incident, which is given on the authority of a Northern writer, +probably conveys a correct idea of the feeling of both the +officers and men of General Burnside's army. The disastrous day of +Fredericksburg had seriously injured the troops. + +"The Army of the Potomac," the writer adds, "was sadly fractured, and +its tones had no longer the clear, inspiring ring of victory." + + + + +XII. + +THE YEAR OF BATTLES. + + +The stormy year 1862 had terminated, thus, in a great Confederate +success. In its arduous campaigns, following each other in rapid +succession, General Lee had directed the movements of the main great +army, and the result of the year's fighting was to gain him that high +military reputation which his subsequent movements only consolidated +and increased. + +A rapid glance at the events of the year in their general outlines +will indicate the merit due the Southern commander. The Federal plan +of invasion in the spring had been extremely formidable. Virginia was +to be pierced by no less than four armies--from the northwest, the +Shenandoah Valley, the Potomac, and the Peninsula--the whole force to +converge upon Richmond, the "heart of the rebellion." Of these, the +army of General McClellan was the largest and most threatening. It +advanced, with little opposition, until it reached the Chickahominy, +crossed, and lay in sight of Richmond. The great force of one hundred +and fifty thousand men was about to make the decisive assault, when +Lee attacked it, and the battle which ensued drove the Federal army +to a point thirty miles from the city, with such loss as to render +hopeless any further attempt to assail the capital. + +Such was the first act of the drama; the rest speedily followed. A new +army was raised promptly by the Federal authorities, and a formidable +advance was made against Richmond again, this time from the direction +of Alexandria. Lee was watching General McClellan when intelligence of +the new movement reached him. Remaining, with a portion of his troops, +near Richmond, he sent Jackson to the Rapidan. The battle of Cedar +Mountain resulted in the repulse of General Pope's vanguard; and, +discovering at last that the real danger lay in the direction of +Culpepper, Lee moved thither, drove back General Pope, flanked him, +and, in the severe battle of Manassas, routed his army, which was +forced to retire upon Washington. + +Two armies had thus been driven from the soil of Virginia, and the +Confederate commander had moved into Maryland, in order to draw the +enemy thither, and, if practicable, transfer the war to the heart of +Pennsylvania. Unforeseen circumstances had defeated the latter of +these objects. The concentration on Sharpsburg was rendered necessary; +an obstinately-fought battle ensued there; and, not defeated, but +forced to abandon further movements toward Pennsylvania, Lee had +retired into Virginia, where he remained facing his adversary. This +was the first failure of Lee up to that point in the campaigns of the +year; and an attentive consideration of the circumstances will show +that the result was not fairly attributable to any error which he +had committed. Events beyond his control had shaped his action, and +directed all his movements; and it will remain a question whether the +extrication of his small force from its difficult position did not +better prove Lee's generalship than the victory at Manassas. + +The subsequent operations of the opposing armies indicated clearly +that the Southern forces were still in excellent fighting condition; +and the movements of Lee, during the advance of General McClellan +toward Warrenton, were highly honorable to his military ability. +With a force much smaller than that of his adversary, he greatly +embarrassed and impeded the Federal advance; confronted them on the +Upper Rappahannock, completely checking their forward movement in that +direction; and, when they moved rapidly to Fredericksburg, crossed the +Rapidan promptly, reappearing in their front on the range of hills +opposite that city. The battle which followed compensated for the +failure of the Maryland campaign and the drawn battle of Sharpsburg. +General Burnside had attacked, and sustained decisive defeat. The +stormy year, so filled with great events and arduous encounters, had +thus wound up with a pitched battle, in which the enemy suffered a +bloody repulse; and the best commentary on the decisive character of +this last struggle of the year, was the fault found with General Lee +for not destroying his adversary. + +In less than six months Lee had thus fought four great pitched +battles--all victories to his arms, with the exception of Sharpsburg, +which was neither a victory nor a defeat. The result was thus highly +encouraging to the South; and, had the Army of Northern Virginia had +its ranks filled up, as the ranks of the Northern armies were, the +events of the year 1862 would have laid the foundation of assured +success. An inquiry into the causes of failure in this particular is +not necessary to the subject of the volume before the reader. It is +only necessary to state the fact that the Army of Northern Virginia, +defending what all conceded to be the territory on which the decisive +struggle must take place, was never sufficiently numerous to follow up +the victories achieved by it. At the battles of the Chickahominy the +army numbered at most about seventy-five thousand; at the second +Manassas, about fifty thousand; at Sharpsburg, less than forty +thousand; and at Fredericksburg, about fifty thousand. In the +following year, it will be seen that these latter numbers were at +first but little exceeded, and, as the months passed on, that they +dwindled more and more, until, in April, 1865, the whole force in line +of battle at Petersburg was scarcely more than thirty thousand men. + +Such had been the number of the troops under command of Lee in 1862. +The reader has been informed of the number of the Federal force +opposed to him. This was one hundred and fifty thousand on the +Chickahominy, of whom one hundred and fifteen thousand were effective; +about one hundred thousand, it would seem, under General Pope, at the +second battle of Manassas; eighty-seven thousand actually engaged at +the battle of Sharpsburg; and at Fredericksburg from one hundred and +ten to one hundred and twenty thousand. + +These numbers are stated on the authority of Federal officers or +historians, and Lee's force on the authority of his own reports, or of +gentlemen of high character, in a situation to speak with accuracy. +Of the truth of the statements the writer of these pages can have no +doubt; and, if the fighting powers of the Northern and Southern troops +be estimated as equal, the fair conclusion must be arrived at that Lee +surpassed his adversaries in generalship. + +The result, at least, of the year's fighting, had been extremely +encouraging to the South, and after the battle of Fredericksburg no +attempts were made to prosecute hostilities during the remainder +of the year. The scheme of crossing above Fredericksburg proved a +_fiasco_, beginning and ending in a day. Thereafter all movements +ceased, and the two armies awaited the return of spring for further +operations. + + + + +XIII. + +LEE IN DECEMBER, 1862. + + +Before passing to the great campaigns of the spring and summer of +1863, we propose to say a few words of General Lee, in his private and +personal character, and to attempt to indicate the position which +he occupied at this time in the eyes of the army and the country. +Unknown, save by reputation, when he assumed command of the forces in +June, 1862, he had now, by the winter of the same year, become one of +the best-known personages in the South. Neither the troops nor the +people had perhaps penetrated the full character of Lee; and they seem +to have attributed to him more reserve and less warmth and impulse +than he possessed; but it was impossible for a human being, occupying +so prominent a station before the general eye, to hide, in any +material degree, his main great characteristics, and these had +conciliated for Lee an exalted and wellnigh universal public regard. +He was felt by all to be an individual of great dignity, sincerity, +and earnestness, in the performance of duty. Destitute plainly of that +vulgar ambition which seeks personal aggrandizement rather than the +general good, and dedicated as plainly, heart and soul, to the cause +for which he fought, he had won, even from those who had denounced +him for the supposed hesitation in his course in April, 1861, and had +afterward criticised his military operations, the repute of a truly +great man, as well as of a commander of the first ability. It was felt +by all classes that the dignity of the Southern cause was adequately +represented in the person and character of the commander of her most +important army. While others, as brave and patriotic, no doubt, but of +different temperament, had permitted themselves to become violent and +embittered in their private and public utterances in reference to the +North, Lee had remained calm, moderate, and dignified, under every +provocation. His reports were without rhodomontade or exaggeration, +and his tone uniformly modest, composed, and uninflated. After his +most decisive successes, his pulse had remained calm; he had written +of those successes with the air of one who sees no especial merit in +any thing which he has performed; and, so marked was this tone of +moderation and dignity, that, in reading his official reports to-day, +it seems wellnigh impossible that they could have been written in the +hot atmosphere of a war which aroused the bitterest passions of the +human soul. + +Upon this point of Lee's personal and official dignity it is +unnecessary to dwell further, as the quality has long since been +conceded by every one acquainted with the character of the individual, +in the Old World and the New. It is the trait, perhaps, the most +prominent to the observer, looking back now upon the individual; and +it was, doubtless, this august moderation, dignity, and apparent +exemption from natural infirmity, which produced the impression upon +many persons that Lee was cold and unimpressible. We shall speak, in +future, at greater length of his real character than is necessary in +this place; but it may here be said, that the fancy that he was cold +and unimpressible was a very great error. No man had stronger or +warmer feelings, or regarded the invasion of the South with greater +indignation, than himself. The sole difference was, that he had +his feelings under greater control, and permitted no temptation to +overcome his sense of that august dignity and composure becoming +in the chief leader of a great people struggling for independent +government. + +The sentiment of the Southern people toward Lee may be summed up in +the statement that they regarded him, in his personal and private +character, with an admiration which was becoming unbounded, and +reposed in him, as commander of the army, the most implicit +confidence. + +These expressions are strong, but they do not convey more than the +truth. And this confidence was never withdrawn from him. It remained +as strong in his hours of disaster as in his noontide of success. +A few soured or desponding people might lose heart, indulge in +"croaking," and denounce, under their breath, the commander of +the army as responsible for failure when it occurred; but these +fainthearted people were in a small minority, and had little +encouragement in their muttered criticisms. The Southern people, from +Virginia to the utmost limits of the Gulf States, resolutely persisted +in regarding Lee as one of the greatest soldiers of history, and +retained their confidence in him unimpaired to the end. + +The army had set the example of this implicit reliance upon Lee as +the chief leader and military head of the Confederacy. The brave +fighting-men had not taken his reputation on trust, but had seen him +win it fairly on some of the hardest-contested fields of history. The +heavy blow at General McClellan on the Chickahominy had first shown +the troops that they were under command of a thorough soldier. The +rout of Pope at Manassas had followed in the ensuing month. At +Sharpsburg, with less than forty thousand men, Lee had repulsed the +attack of nearly ninety thousand; and at Fredericksburg General +Burnside's great force had been driven back with inconsiderable loss +to the Southern army. These successes, in the eyes of the troops, +were the proofs of true leadership, and it did not detract from Lee's +popularity that, on all occasions, he had carefully refrained from +unnecessary exposure of the troops, especially at Fredericksburg, +where an ambitious commander would have spared no amount of bloodshed +to complete his glory by a great victory. Such was Lee's repute as +army commander in the eyes of men accustomed to close scrutiny of +their leaders. He was regarded as a thorough soldier, at once brave, +wise, cool, resolute, and devoted, heart and soul, to the cause. + +Personally, the commander-in-chief was also, by this time, extremely +popular. He did not mingle with the troops to any great extent, nor +often relax the air of dignity, somewhat tinged with reserve, which +was natural with him. This reserve, however, never amounted to +stiffness or "official" coolness. On the contrary, Lee was markedly +free from the chill demeanor of the martinet, and had become greatly +endeared to the men by the unmistakable evidences which he had given +them of his honesty, sincerity, and kindly feeling for them. It +cannot, indeed, be said that he sustained the same relation toward the +troops as General Jackson. For the latter illustrious soldier, the men +had a species of familiar affection, the result, in a great degree, of +the informal and often eccentric demeanor of the individual. There +was little or nothing in Jackson to indicate that he was an officer +holding important command. He was without reserve, and exhibited none +of that formal courtesy which characterized Lee. His manners, on the +contrary, were quite informal, familiar, and conciliated in return a +familiar regard. We repeat the word _familiar_ as conveying precisely +the idea intended to be expressed. It indicated the difference between +these two great soldiers in their outward appearance. Lee retained +about him, upon all occasions, more or less of the commander-in-chief, +passing before the troops on an excellent and well-groomed horse, his +figure erect and graceful in the saddle, for he was one of the best +riders in the army; his demeanor grave and thoughtful; his whole +bearing that of a man intrusted with great responsibilities and the +general care of the whole army. Jackson's personal appearance and air +were very different. His dress was generally dingy: a faded cadet-cap +tilted over his eyes, causing him to raise his chin into the air; his +stirrups were apt to be too short, and his knees were thus elevated +ungracefully, and he would amble along on his rawboned horse with a +singularly absent-minded expression of countenance, raising, from time +to time, his right hand and slapping his knee. This brief outline of +the two commanders will serve to show the difference between them +personally, and it must be added that Jackson's eccentric bearing was +the source, in some degree, of his popularity. The men admired him +immensely for his great military ability, and his odd ways procured +for him that familiar liking to which we have alluded. + +It is not intended, however, in these observations to convey the idea +that General Lee was regarded as a stiff and unapproachable personage +of whom the private soldiers stood in awe. Such a statement would not +express the truth. Lee was perfectly approachable, and no instance is +upon record, or ever came to the knowledge of the present writer, in +which he repelled the approach of his men, or received the humblest of +them with any thing but kindness. He was naturally simple and kind, +with great gentleness and patience; and it will not be credible, +to any who knew the man, that he ever made any difference in his +treatment of those who approached him from a consideration of their +rank in the army. His theory, expressed upon many occasions, was, that +the private soldiers--men who fought without the stimulus of rank, +emolument, or individual renown--were the most meritorious class of +the army, and that they deserved and should receive the utmost respect +and consideration. This statement, however, is doubtless unnecessary. +Men of Lee's pride and dignity never make a difference in their +treatment of men, because one is humble, and the other of high rank. +Of such human beings it may be said that _noblesse oblige_. + +The men of the army had thus found their commander all that they could +wish, and his increasing personal popularity was shown by the greater +frequency with which they now spoke of him as "Marse Robert," "Old +Uncle Robert," and by other familiar titles. This tendency in troops +is always an indication of personal regard; these nicknames had been +already showered upon Jackson, and General Lee was having his turn. +The troops regarded him now more as their fellow-soldier than +formerly, having found that his dignity was not coldness, and that he +would, under no temptation, indulge his personal convenience, or fare +better than themselves. It was said--we know not with what truth--that +the habit of Northern generals in the war was to look assiduously to +their individual comfort in selecting their quarters, and to take +pleasure in surrounding themselves with glittering staff-officers, +body-guards, and other indications of their rank, and the +consideration which they expected. In these particulars Lee differed +extremely from his opponents, and there were no evidences whatever, +at his headquarters, that he was the commander-in-chief, or even an +officer of high rank. He uniformly lived in a tent, in spite of +the urgent invitations of citizens to use their houses for his +headquarters; and this refusal was the result both of an indisposition +to expose these gentlemen to annoyance from the enemy when he himself +retired, and of a rooted objection to fare better than his troops. +They had tents only, often indeed were without even that much +covering, and it was repugnant to Lee's feelings to sleep under a good +roof when the troops were so much exposed. His headquarters tent, +at this time (December, 1862), as before and afterward, was what is +called a "house-tent," not differing in any particular from those used +by the private soldiers of the army in winter-quarters. It was pitched +in an opening in the wood near the narrow road leading to Hamilton's +Crossing, with the tents of the officers of the staff grouped near; +and, with the exception of an orderly, who always waited to summon +couriers to carry dispatches, there was nothing in the shape of a +body-guard visible, or any indication that the unpretending group of +tents was the army headquarters. + +Within, no article of luxury was to be seen. A few plain and +indispensable objects were all which the tent contained. The covering +of the commander-in-chief was an ordinary army blanket, and his fare +was plainer, perhaps, than that of the majority of his officers and +men. This was the result of an utter indifference, in Lee, to personal +convenience or indulgence. Citizens frequently sent him delicacies, +boxes filled with turkeys, hams, wine, cordials, and other things, +peculiarly tempting to one leading the hard life of the soldier, but +these were almost uniformly sent to the sick in some neighboring +hospital. Lee's principle in so acting seems to have been to set the +good example to his officers of not faring better than their men; +but he was undoubtedly indifferent naturally to luxury of all +descriptions. In his habits and feelings he was not the self-indulgent +man of peace, but the thorough soldier, willing to live hard, to sleep +upon the ground, and to disregard all sensual indulgence. In his other +habits he was equally abstinent. He cared nothing for wine, whiskey, +or any stimulant, and never used tobacco in any form. He rarely +relaxed his energies in any thing calculated to amuse him; but, when +not riding along his lines, or among the camps to see in person that +the troops were properly cared for, generally passed his time in close +attention to official duties connected with the well-being of the +army, or in correspondence with the authorities at Richmond. When he +relaxed from this continuous toil, it was to indulge in some quiet and +simple diversion, social converse with ladies in houses at which he +chanced to stop, caresses bestowed upon children, with whom he was +a great favorite, and frequently in informal conversation with his +officers. At "Hayfield" and "Moss Neck," two hospitable houses below +Fredericksburg, he at this time often stopped and spent some time in +the society of the ladies and children there. One of the latter, a +little curly-headed girl, would come up to him always to receive her +accustomed kiss, and one day confided to him, as a personal friend, +her desire to kiss General Jackson, who blushed like a girl when Lee, +with a quiet laugh, told him of the child's wish. On another occasion, +when his small friend came to receive his caress, he said, laughing, +that she would show more taste in selecting a younger gentleman than +himself, and, pointing to a youthful officer in a corner of the room, +added, "There is the handsome Major Pelham!" which caused that modest +young soldier to blush with confusion. The bearing of General Lee +in these hours of relaxation, was quite charming, and made him warm +friends. His own pleasure and gratification were plain, and gratified +others, who, in the simple and kindly gentleman in the plain gray +uniform, found it difficult to recognize the commander-in-chief of the +Southern army. + +These moments of relaxation were, however, only occasional. All the +rest was toil, and the routine of hard work and grave assiduity went +on month after month, and year after year, with little interruption. +With the exceptions which we have noted, all pleasures and +distractions seemed of little interest to Lee, and to the present +writer, at least, he seemed on all occasions to bear the most striking +resemblance to the traditional idea of Washington. High principle and +devotion to duty were plainly this human being's springs of action, +and he went through the hard and continuous labor incident to army +command with a grave and systematic attention, wholly indifferent, it +seemed, to almost every species of diversion and relaxation. + +This attempt to show how Lee appeared at that time to his solders, has +extended to undue length, and we shall be compelled to defer a full +notice of the most interesting and beautiful trait of his character. +This was his humble and profound piety. The world has by no means done +him justice upon this subject. No one doubted during the war that +General Lee was a sincere Christian in conviction, and his exemplary +moral character and life were beyond criticism. Beyond this it is +doubtful if any save his intimate associates understood the depth +of his feeling on the greatest of all subjects. Jackson's strong +religious fervor was known and often alluded to, but it is doubtful +if Lee was regarded as a person of equally fervent convictions and +feelings. And yet the fact is certain that faith in God's providence +and reliance upon the Almighty were the foundation of all his actions, +and the secret of his supreme composure under all trials. He was +naturally of such reserve that it is not singular that the extent of +this sentiment was not understood. Even then, however, good men +who frequently visited him, and conversed with him upon religious +subjects, came away with their hearts burning within them. When the +Rev. J. William Jones, with another clergyman, went, in 1863, to +consult him in reference to the better observance of the Sabbath in +the army, "his eye brightened, and his whole countenance glowed with +pleasure; and as, in his simple, feeling words, he expressed his +delight, we forgot the great warrior, and only remembered that we were +communing with an humble, earnest Christian." When he was informed +that the chaplains prayed for him, tears started to his eyes, and he +replied: "I sincerely thank you for that, and I can only say that I +am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and that I need all the +prayers you can offer for me." + +On the day after this interview he issued an earnest general order, +enjoining the observance of the Sabbath by officers and men, urging +them to attend public worship in their camps, and forbidding the +performance on Sunday of all official duties save those necessary +to the subsistence or safety of the army. He always attended public +worship, if it were in his power to do so, and often the earnestness +of the preacher would "make his eye kindle and his face glow." He +frequently attended the meetings of his chaplains, took a warm +interest in the proceedings, and uniformly exhibited, declares one +who could speak from personal knowledge, an ardent desire for the +promotion of religion in the army. He did not fail, on many occasions, +to show his men that he was a sincere Christian. When General Meade +came over to Mine Run, and the Southern army marched to meet him, Lee +was riding along his line of battle in the woods, when he came upon a +party of soldiers holding a prayer-meeting on the eve of battle. Such +a spectacle was not unusual in the army then and afterward--the rough +fighters were often men of profound piety--and on this occasion +the sight before him seems to have excited deep emotion in Lee. He +stopped, dismounted--the staff-officers accompanying him did the +same--and Lee uncovered his head, and stood in an attitude of profound +respect and attention, while the earnest prayer proceeded, in the +midst of the thunder of artillery and the explosion of the enemy's +shells.[1] + +[Footnote 1: These details are given on the authority of the Rev. J. +William Jones, of Lexington, Va.] + +[Illustration: Lee at the Soldiers' Prayer Meeting.] + +Other incidents indicating the simple and earnest piety of Lee will be +presented in the course of this narrative. The fame of the soldier has +in some degree thrown into the background the less-imposing trait of +personal piety in the individual. No delineation of Lee, however, +would be complete without a full statement of his religious principles +and feelings. As the commander-in-chief of the Army of Northern +Virginia, he won that august renown which encircles his name with a +halo of military glory, both in America and Europe. His battles and +victories are known to all men. It is not known to all that the +illustrious soldier whose fortune it was to overthrow, one after +another, the best soldiers of the Federal army, was a simple, humble, +and devoted Christian, whose eyes filled with tears when he was +informed that his chaplains prayed for him; and who said, "I am a poor +sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and need all the prayers you can +offer for me." + + + + +PART VI. + +CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG + + + + +I. + +ADVANCE OF GENERAL HOOKER. + + +Lee remained throughout the winter at his headquarters in the woods +south of Fredericksburg, watching the Northern army, which continued +to occupy the country north of the city, with the Potomac River as +their base of supplies. + +With the coming of spring, it was obviously the intention of the +Federal authorities to again essay the crossing of the Rappahannock at +some point either above or below Fredericksburg; and as the movement +above was less difficult, and promised more decisive results, it was +seen by General Lee that this would probably be the quarter from +which he might expect an attack. General Stuart, a soldier of sound +judgment, said, during the winter, "The next battle will take place at +Chancellorsville," and the position of Lee's troops seemed to indicate +that this was also his own opinion. His right remained still "opposite +Fredericksburg," barring the direct approach to Richmond, but his left +extended up the Rappahannock beyond Chancellorsville, and all the +fords were vigilantly guarded to prevent a sudden flank movement by +the enemy in that direction. As will be seen, the anticipations of Lee +were to be fully realized. The heavy blow aimed at him, in the first +days of spring, was to come from the quarter in which he had expected +it. + +The Federal army was now under command of General Joseph Hooker, an +officer of dash, energy, excellent administrative capacity, and, +Northern writers add, extremely prone to "self-assertion." General +Hooker had harshly criticised the military operations both of +General McClellan on the Chickahominy, and of General Burnside at +Fredericksburg, and so strong an impression had these strictures made +upon the minds of the authorities, that they came to the determination +of intrusting the command of the army to the officer who made them, +doubtless concluding that his own success would prove greater than +that of his predecessors. This opinion seemed borne out by the first +proceedings of General Hooker. He set to work energetically to +reorganize and increase the efficiency of the army, did away +with General Burnside's defective "grand division" arrangement, +consolidated the cavalry into an effective corps, enforced strict +discipline among officers and men alike, and at the beginning of +spring had brought his army to a high state of efficiency. His +confident tone inspired the men; the depression resulting from the +great disaster at Fredericksburg was succeeded by a spirit of buoyant +hope, and the army was once more that great war-engine, ready for any +undertaking, which it had been under McClellan. + +It numbered, according to one Federal statement, one hundred and +fifty-nine thousand three hundred men; but according to another, which +appears more reliable, one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and +artillery, and twelve thousand cavalry; in all, one hundred and +thirty-two thousand troops. The army of General Lee was considerably +smaller. Two divisions of Longstreet's corps had been sent to Suffolk, +south of James River, to obtain supplies in that region, and this +force was not present at the battle of Chancellorsville. The actual +numbers under Lee's command will appear from the following statement +of Colonel Walter H. Taylor, assistant adjutant-general of the army: + + Our strength at Chancellorsville: + Anderson and McLaws........................... 13,000 + Jackson (Hill, Rodes, and Trimble)............ 21,000 + Early (Fredericksburg)........................ 6,000 + _______ + 40,000 + Cavalry and artillery......................... 7,000 + _______ + Total of all arms............................. 47,000 + +As the Federal infantry numbered one hundred and twenty thousand, +according to the smallest estimate of Federal authorities, and Lee's +infantry forty thousand, the Northern force was precisely three times +as large as the Southern. + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of Chancellorsville.] + +General Hooker had already proved himself an excellent administrative +officer, and his plan of campaign against Lee seemed to show that he +also possessed generalship of a high order. He had determined to pass +the Rappahannock above Fredericksburg, turn Lee's flank, and thus +force him to deliver battle under this disadvantage, or retire upon +Richmond. The safe passage of the stream was the first great object, +and General Hooker's dispositions to effect this were highly +judicious. A force of about twenty thousand men was to pass the +Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and thus produce upon Lee the +impression that the Federal army was about to renew the attempt in +which they had failed under General Burnside. While General Lee's +attention was engaged by the force thus threatening his right, the +main body of the Northern army was to cross the Rappahannock and +Rapidan above Chancellorsville, and, sweeping down rapidly upon +the Confederate left flank, take up a strong position between +Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. The column which had crossed at +the latter point to engage the attention of the Confederate commander, +was then to recross to the northern bank, move rapidly to the upper +fords, which the advance of the main body would by that time have +uncovered; and, a second time crossing to the southern bank, unite +with the rest. Thus the whole Federal army would be concentrated +on the southern bank of the Rappahannock, and General Lee would be +compelled to leave his camps on the hills of the Massaponnax, and +fight upon ground dictated by his adversary. If he did not thus accept +battle, but one other course was left. He must fall back in the +direction of Richmond, to prevent his adversary from attacking his +rear, and capturing or destroying his army. + +In order to insure the success of this promising plan of attack, a +strong column of well-mounted cavalry was to cross in advance of the +army and strike for the railroads in Lee's rear, connecting him with +Richmond and the Southwest. Thus flanked or cut off, and with all his +communications destroyed, it seemed probable that General Lee would +suffer decisive defeat, and that the Federal army would march in +triumph to the capture of the Confederate capital. + +This plan was certainly excellent, and seemed sure to succeed. It was, +however, open to some criticism, as the event showed. General Hooker +was detaching, in the beginning of the movement, his whole cavalry +force for a distant operation, and dividing his army by the _ruse_ +at Fredericksburg, in face of an adversary not likely to permit that +great error to escape him. While advancing thus, apparently to the +certain destruction of Lee, General Hooker was leaving a vulnerable +point in his own armor. Lee would probably discover that point, and +aim to pierce his opponent there. At most, General Hooker was wrapping +in huge folds the sword of Lee, not remembering that there was danger +to the _cordon_ as well as to the weapon. + +Such was the plan which General Hooker had devised to bring back that +success of the Federal arms in the spring of 1863 which had attended +them in the early spring of 1862. At this latter period a heavy cloud +rested upon the Confederate cause. Donaldson and Roanoke Island, Fort +Macon, and the city of New Orleans, had then fallen; at Elkhorn, +Kernstown, Newbern, and other places, the Federal forces had achieved +important successes. These had been followed, however, by the Southern +victories on the Chickahominy, at Manassas, and at Fredericksburg. +Near this last-named spot now, where the year had wound up with so +mortifying a Federal failure, General Hooker hoped to reverse events, +and recover the Federal glories of the preceding spring. + +Operations began as early as the middle of March, when General +Averill, with about three thousand cavalry, crossed the Rappahannock +at Kelly's Ford, above its junction with the Rapidan, and made a +determined attack upon nearly eight hundred horsemen there, under +General Fitz Lee, with the view of passing through Culpepper, crossing +the Rapidan, and cutting Lee's communications in the direction of +Gordonsville. The obstinate stand of General Fitz Lee's small force, +however, defeated this object, and General Averill was forced to +retreat beyond the Rappahannock again with considerable loss, and +abandon his expedition. In this engagement fell Major John Pelham, who +had been styled in Lee's first report of the battle of Fredericksburg +"the gallant Pelham," and whose brave stand on the Port Royal road had +drawn from Lee the exclamation, "It is glorious to see such courage in +one so young." Pelham was, in spite of his youth, an artillerist of +the first order of excellence, and his loss was a serious one, in +spite of his inferior rank. + +After this action every thing remained quiet until toward the end of +April--General Lee continuing to hold the same position with his right +at Fredericksburg, his left at the fords near Chancellorsville, and +his cavalry, under Stuart, guarding the banks of the Rappahannock in +Culpepper. On the 27th of April, General Hooker began his forward +movement, by advancing three corps of his army--the Fifth, Eleventh, +and Twelfth--to the banks of the river, near Kelly's Ford; and, on the +next day, this force was joined by three additional corps--the First, +Third, and Sixth--and the whole, on Wednesday (the 29th), crossed the +river without difficulty. That this movement was a surprise to Lee, +as has been supposed by some persons, is a mistake. Stuart was an +extremely vigilant picket-officer, and both he and General Lee were in +the habit of sending accomplished scouts to watch any movements in the +Federal camps. As soon as these movements--which, in a large army, +cannot be concealed--took place, information was always promptly +brought, and it was not possible that General Hooker could move three +large army corps toward the Rappahannock, as he did on April 27th, +without early knowledge on the part of his adversary of so important a +circumstance. + +As the Federal infantry thus advanced, the large cavalry force began +also to move through Culpepper toward the Central Railroad in Lee's +rear. This column was commanded by General Stoneman, formerly a +subordinate officer in Lee's old cavalry regiment in the United States +Army; and, as General Stoneman's operations were entirely separate +from those of the infantry, and not of much importance, we shall here +dismiss them in a few words. He proceeded rapidly across Culpepper, +harassed in his march by a small body of horse, under General William +H.F. Lee; reached the Central Railroad at Trevillian's, below +Gordonsville, and tore up a portion of it; passed on to James River, +ravaging the country, and attempted the destruction of the Columbia +Aqueduct, but did not succeed in so doing; when, hearing probably of +the unforeseen result at Chancellorsville, he hastened back to the +Rapidan, pursued and harassed as in his advance, and, crossing, +regained the Federal lines beyond the Rappahannock. + +To return to the movements of the main Federal force, under the +personal command of General Hooker. This advanced rapidly across the +angle between the two rivers, with no obstruction but that offered by +the cavalry under Stuart, and on Thursday, April 30th, had crossed the +Rapidan at Germanna and Ely's Fords, and was steadily concentrating +around Chancellorsville. At the same time the Second Corps, under +General Couch, was preparing to cross at United States Ford, a few +miles distant; and General Sedgwick, commanding the detached force at +Fredericksburg, having crossed and threatened Lee, in obedience to +orders, now began passing back to the northern bank again, in order to +march up and join the main body. Thus all things seemed in train to +succeed on the side of the Federal army. General Hooker was over with +about one hundred thousand men--twenty thousand additional troops +would soon join him. Lee's army seemed scattered, and not "in hand" +to oppose him; and there was some ground for the ebullition of joy +attributed to General Hooker, as he saw his great force massing +steadily in the vicinity of Chancellorsville. To those around him he +exclaimed: "The rebel army is now the legitimate property of the Army +of the Potomac. They may as well pack up their haversacks and make for +Richmond, and I shall be after them!" + +In a congratulatory order to his troops, he declared that they +occupied now a position so strong that "the enemy must either +ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defences and give us +battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." + +Such were the joyful anticipations of General Hooker, who seems to +have regarded the campaign as virtually ended by the successful +passage of the river. His expressions and his general order would seem +to indicate an irrepressible joy, but it is doubtful if the skilful +soldiers under him shared this somewhat juvenile enthusiasm. The gray +cavalier at Fredericksburg was not reported to be retiring, as was +expected. On the contrary, the Southern troops seemed to be moving +forward with the design of accepting battle. + +Lee had determined promptly upon that course as soon as Stuart sent +him information of the enemy's movements. Chancellorsville was at once +seen to be the point for which General Hooker was aiming, and Lee's +dispositions were made for confronting him there and fighting a +pitched battle. The brigades of Posey and Mahone, of Anderson's +Division, had been in front of Banks's and Ely's Fords, and this force +of about eight thousand men was promptly ordered to fall back on +Chancellorsville. At the same time Wright's brigade was sent up to +reënforce this column; but the enemy continuing to advance in great +force, General Anderson, commanding the whole, fell back from +Chancellorsville to Tabernacle Church, on the road to Fredericksburg, +where he was joined on the next day by Jackson, whom Lee had sent +forward to his assistance. + +The _ruse_ at Fredericksburg had not long deceived the Confederate +commander. General Sedgwick, with three corps, in all about twenty-two +thousand men, had crossed just below Fredericksburg on the 29th, and +Lee had promptly directed General Jackson to oppose him there. Line of +battle was accordingly formed in the enemy's front beyond Hamilton's +Crossing; but as, neither on that day nor the next, any further +advance was made by General Sedgwick, the whole movement was seen to +be a feint to cover the real operations above. Lee accordingly turned +his attention in the direction of Chancellorsville. Jackson, as we +have related, was sent up to reënforce General Anderson, and Lee +followed with the rest of the army, with the exception of about six +thousand men, under General Early, whom he left to defend the crossing +at Fredericksburg. + +Such were the positions of the opposing forces on the 1st day of May. +Each commander had displayed excellent generalship in the preliminary +movements preceding the actual fighting. At last, however, the +opposing lines were facing each other, and the real struggle was about +to begin. + + + + +II. + +THE WILDERNESS. + + +The "Wilderness," as the region around Chancellorsville is called, is +so strange a country, and the character of the ground had so important +a bearing upon the result of the great battle fought there, that a +brief description of the locality will be here presented. + +The region is a nearly unbroken expanse of dense thicket pierced only +by narrow and winding roads, over which the traveller rides, mile +after mile, without seeing a single human habitation. It would seem, +indeed, that the whole barren and melancholy tract had been given up +to the owl, the whippoorwill, and the moccasin, its original tenants. +The plaintive cries of the night-birds alone break the gloomy silence +of the desolate region, and the shadowy thicket stretching in +every direction produces a depressing effect upon the feelings. +Chancellorsville is in the centre of this singular territory, on +the main road, or rather roads, running from Orange Court-House to +Fredericksburg, from which latter place it is distant about ten miles. +In spite of its imposing name, Chancellorsville was simply a large +country-house, originally inhabited by a private family, but afterward +used as a roadside inn. A little to the westward the "Old Turnpike" +and Orange Plank-road unite as they approach the spot, where they +again divide, to unite a second time a few miles to the east, where +they form the main highway to Fredericksburg. From the north come in +roads from United States and Ely's Fords; Germanna Ford is northwest; +from the south runs the "Brock Road" in the direction of the Rapidan, +passing a mile or two west of the place. + +The whole country, the roads, the chance houses, the silence, the +unending thicket, in this dreary wilderness, produce a sombre effect. +A writer, familiar with it, says: "There all is wild, desolate, and +lugubrious. Thicket, undergrowth, and jungle, stretch for miles, +impenetrable and untouched. Narrow roads wind on forever between +melancholy masses of stunted and gnarled oak. Little sunlight shines +there. The face of Nature is dreary and sad. It was so before the +battle; it is not more cheerful to-day, when, as you ride along, you +see fragments of shell, rotting knapsacks, rusty gun-barrels, bleached +bones, and grinning skulls.... Into this jungle," continues the same +writer, "General Hooker penetrated. It was the wolf in his den, ready +to tear any one who approached. A battle there seemed impossible. +Neither side could see its antagonist. Artillery could not move; +cavalry could not operate; the very infantry had to flatten their +bodies to glide between the stunted trees. That an army of one hundred +and twenty thousand men should have chosen that spot to fight forty +thousand, and not only chosen it, but made it a hundred times more +impenetrable by felling trees, erecting breastworks, disposing +artillery _en masse_ to sweep every road and bridle-path which led to +Chancellorsville--this fact seemed incredible." + +It was no part of the original plan of the Federal commander to permit +himself to be cooped up in this difficult and embarrassing region, +where it was impossible to manoeuvre his large army. The selection of +the Wilderness around Chancellorsville, as the ground of battle, was +dictated by Lee. General Hooker, it seems, endeavored to avoid being +thus shut up in the thicket, and hampered in his movements. Finding +that the Confederate force, retiring from in front of Ely's and United +States Fords, had, on reaching Chancellorsville, continued to fall +back in the direction of Fredericksburg, he followed them steadily, +passed through the Wilderness, and, emerging into the open country +beyond, rapidly began forming line of battle on ground highly +favorable to the manoeuvring of his large force in action. A glance at +the map will indicate the importance of this movement, and the great +advantages secured by it. The left of General Hooker's line, nearest +the river, was at least five miles in advance of Chancellorsville, and +commanded Banks's Ford, thereby shortening fully one-half the distance +of General Sedgwick's march from Fredericksburg, by enabling him to +use the ford in question as a place of crossing to the south bank, and +uniting his column with the main body. The centre and right of the +Federal army had in like manner emerged from the thickets of the +Wilderness, and occupied cleared ground, sufficiently elevated to +afford them great advantages. + +This was in the forenoon of the 1st of May, when there was no force in +General Hooker's front, except the eight thousand men of Anderson +at Tabernacle Church. Jackson had marched at midnight from the +Massaponnax Hills, with a general order from Lee to "attack and +repulse the enemy," but had not yet arrived. There was thus no serious +obstacle in the path of the Federal commander, who had it in his +power, it would seem, to mass his entire army on the commanding ground +which his vanguard already occupied. Lee was aware of the importance +of the position, and, had he not been delayed by the feint of General +Sedgwick, would himself have seized upon it. As it was, General Hooker +seemed to have won the prize in the race, and Lee would, apparently, +be forced to assail him on his strong ground, or retire in the +direction of Richmond. + +The movements of the enemy had, however, been so rapid that Lee's +dispositions seem to have been made before they were fully developed +and accurately known to him. He had sent forward Jackson, and now +proceeded to follow in person, leaving only a force of about six +thousand men, under Early, to defend the crossing at Fredericksburg. +The promptness of these movements of the Confederate commander is +noticed by Northern writers. "Lee, with instant perception of the +situation," says an able historian, "now seized the masses of his +force, and, with the grasp of a Titan, swung them into position, as +a giant might fling a mighty stone from a sling." [Footnote: Mr. +Swinton, in "Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac." Whether the force +under Lee could be justly described as "mighty," however, the reader +will form his own opinion.] + +Such were the relative positions of the two armies on the 1st of May: +General Hooker's forces well in advance of Chancellorsville, and +rapidly forming line of battle on a ridge in open country; General +Lee's, stretching along the whole distance, from Fredericksburg to +Tabernacle Church, and certainly not in any condition to deliver +or accept battle. The Federal commander seemed to have clearly +outgeneralled his adversary, and, humanly speaking, the movements of +the two armies, up to this time, seemed to point to a decisive Federal +success. + +General Hooker's own act reversed all this brilliant promise. At the +very moment when his army was steadily concentrating on the favorable +ground in advance of Chancellorsville, the Federal commander, for some +reason which has never been divulged, sent a peremptory order that +the entire force should fall back into the Wilderness. This order, +reversing every thing, is said to have been received "with mingled +amazement and incredulity" by his officers, two of whom sent him word +that, from the great advantages of the position, it should be "held at +all hazards." General Hooker's reply was, "Return at once." The army +accordingly fell back to Chancellorsville. + +This movement undoubtedly lost General Hooker all the advantages which +up to that moment he had secured. What his motive for the order in +question was, it is impossible for the present writer to understand, +unless the approach of Lee powerfully affected his imagination, and he +supposed the thicket around Chancellorsville to be the best ground to +receive that assault which the bold advance of his opponent appeared +to foretell. Whatever his motive, General Hooker withdrew his lines +from the open country, fell back to the vicinity of Chancellorsville, +and began to erect elaborate defences, behind which to receive Lee's +attack. + +In this backward movement he was followed and harassed by the forces +of Jackson, the command of Anderson being in front. Jackson's maxim +was to always press an enemy when he was retiring; and no sooner had +the Federal forces begun to move, than he made a prompt attack. He +continued to follow them up toward Chancellorsville until nightfall, +when the fighting ceased, the Confederate advance having been pushed +to Alrich's house, within about two miles of Chancellorsville. Here +the outer line of the Federal works was found, and Jackson paused. He +was unwilling at so late an hour to attempt an assault upon them with +his small force, and, directing further movements to cease, awaited +the arrival of the commander-in-chief. + +Lee arrived, and a consultation was held. The question now was, the +best manner, with a force of about thirty-five thousand, to drive the +Federal army, of about one hundred thousand, beyond the Rappahannock. + + + + +III. + +LEE'S DETERMINATION. + + +On this night, of the 1st of May, the situation of affairs was strange +indeed. + +General Hooker had crossed the Rappahannock with a force of one +hundred and twenty thousand infantry, and had, without obstruction, +secured a position so strong, he declared, that Lee must either +"ingloriously fly," or fight a battle in which "certain destruction +awaited him." So absolutely convinced, indeed, was the Federal +commander, of the result of the coming encounter, that he had +jubilantly described the Southern army as "the legitimate property of +the Army of the Potomac," which, in the event of the retreat of the +Confederates, would "be after them." There seemed just grounds for +this declaration, whatever question may have arisen of the good taste +displayed by General Hooker in making it. The force opposed to him was +in all about forty-seven thousand men, but, as cavalry take small +part in pitched battles, Lee's fighting force was only about forty +thousand. To drive back forty thousand with one hundred and twenty +thousand would not apparently prove difficult, and it was no doubt +this conviction which had occasioned the joyous exclamation of General +Hooker. + +But his own act, and the nerve of his adversary, had defeated every +thing. Instead of retreating with his small force upon Richmond, Lee +had advanced to accept or deliver battle. This bold movement, which +General Hooker does not seem to have anticipated, paralyzed his +energies. He had not only crossed the two rivers without loss, but +had taken up a strong position, where he could manoeuvre his army +perfectly, when, in consequence of Lee's approach with the evident +intent of fighting, he had ceased to advance, hesitated, and ended by +retiring. This is a fair summary of events up to the night of the 1st +of May. General Hooker had advanced boldly; he was now falling back. +He had foretold that his adversary would "ingloriously fly;" and that +adversary was pressing him closely. The Army of the Potomac, he had +declared, would soon be "after" the Army of Northern Virginia; but, +from the appearance of things at the moment, the Army of Northern +Virginia seemed "after" the Army of the Potomac. We use General +Hooker's own phrases--they are expressive, if not dignified. They +are indeed suited to the subject, which contains no little of the +grotesque. That anticipations and expressions so confident should have +been met with a "commentary of events" so damaging, was sufficient, +had the occasion not been so tragic, to cause laughter in the gravest +of human beings. + +Lee's intent was now unmistakable. Instead of falling back from the +Rappahannock to some line of defence nearer Richmond, where the force +under Longstreet, at Suffolk, might have rejoined him, with other +reënforcements, he had plainly resolved, with the forty or fifty +thousand men of his command, to meet General Hooker in open battle, +and leave the event to Providence. A design so bold would seem to +indicate in Lee a quality which at that time he was not thought to +possess--the willingness to risk decisive defeat by military movements +depending for their success upon good fortune alone. Such seemed now +the only _deus ex machina_ that could extricate the Southern army from +disaster; and a crushing defeat at that time would have had terrible +results. There was no other force, save the small body under +Longstreet and a few local troops, to protect Richmond. Had Lee been +disabled and afterward pressed by General Hooker, it is impossible to +see that any thing but the fall of the Confederate capital could have +been the result. + +From these speculations and comments we pass to the narrative of +actual events. General Hooker had abandoned the strong position in +advance of Chancellorsville, and retired to the fastnesses around +that place, to receive the Southern attack. His further proceedings +indicated that he anticipated an assault from Lee. The Federal troops +had no sooner regained the thicket from which they had advanced in +the morning, than they were ordered to erect elaborate works for the +protection of infantry and artillery. This was promptly begun, and by +the next morning heavy defences had sprung up as if by magic. Trees +had been felled, and the trunks interwoven so as to present a +formidable obstacle to the Southern attack. In front of these works +the forest had been levelled, and the fallen trunks were left lying +where they fell, forming thus an _abatis_ sufficient to seriously +delay an assaulting force, which would thus be, at every step of +the necessarily slow advance, under fire. On the roads piercing the +thicket in the direction of the Confederates, cannon were posted, to +rake the approaches to the Federal position. Having thus made his +preparations to receive Lee's attack, General Hooker awaited that +attack, no doubt confident of his ability to repulse it. + +His line resembled in some degree the two sides of an oblong +square--the longer side extending east and west in front, that is to +say, south of Chancellorsville, and the shorter side north and south +nearly, east of the place. His right, in the direction of Wilderness +Tavern, was comparatively undefended, as it was not expected that Lee +would venture upon a movement against that remote point. This line, +it would appear, was formed with a view to the possible necessity of +falling back toward the Rappahannock. A commander determined to risk +everything would, it seems, have fronted Lee boldly, with a line +running north and south, east of Chancellorsville. General Hooker's +main front was nearly east and west, whatever may have been his object +in so establishing it. + +On the night of the 1st of May, as we have said, Lee and Jackson held +a consultation to determine the best method of attacking the Federal +forces on the next day. All the information which they had been able +to obtain of the Federal positions east and south of Chancellorsville, +indicated that the defences in both these quarters were such as +to render an assault injudicious. Jackson had found his advance +obstructed by strong works near Alrich's house, on the road running +eastward from the enemy's camps; and General Stuart and General +Wright, who had moved to the left, and advanced upon the enemy's front +near the point called "The Furnace," had discovered the existence of +powerful defences in that quarter also. They had been met by a fierce +and sudden artillery-fire from Federal epaulements; and here, as to +the east of Chancellorsville, the enemy had evidently fortified their +position. + +Under these circumstances, it was necessary to discover, if possible, +some more favorable opening for an attack. There remained but one +other--General Hooker's right, west of Chancellorsville; but to divide +the army, as would be necessary in order to attack in that quarter, +seemed an undertaking too hazardous to be thought of. To execute such +a plan of assault with any thing like a hope of success, General Lee +would be compelled to detach considerably more than half of his entire +force. This would leave in General Hooker's front a body of troops too +inconsiderable to make any resistance if he advanced his lines, and +thus the movement promised to result in the certain destruction of +one portion of the army, to be followed by a triumphant march of the +Federal forces upon Richmond. In the council of war between Lee and +Jackson, on the night of the 1st of May, these considerations were +duly weighed, and the whole situation discussed. In the end, +the hazardous movement against General Hooker's right, beyond +Chancellorsville, was determined upon. This was first suggested, it is +said, by Jackson--others have attributed the suggestion to Lee. The +point is not material. The plan was adopted, and Lee determined to +detach a column of about twenty-one thousand men, under Jackson, to +make the attack on the next day. His plan was to await the arrival +of Jackson at the point selected for attack, meanwhile engaging the +enemy's attention by demonstrations in their front. When Jackson's +guns gave the signal that he was engaged, the force in front of the +enemy was to advance and participate in the assault; and thus, struck +in front and flank at once. General Hooker, it was hoped, would be +defeated and driven back across the Rappahannock. + +There was another possible result, the defeat of Lee and Jackson by +General Hooker. But the desperate character of the situation rendered +it necessary to disregard this risk. + +By midnight this plan had been determined upon, and at dawn Jackson +began to move. + +JACKSON'S ATTACK AND FALL. + +On the morning of the 2d of May, General Lee was early in the saddle, +and rode to the front, where he remained in personal command of the +force facing the enemy's main line of battle throughout the day. + +This force consisted of the divisions of Anderson and McLaws, and +amounted to thirteen thousand men. That left at Fredericksburg, as we +have said, under General Early, numbered six thousand men; and the +twenty-one thousand which Jackson had taken with him, to strike at the +enemy's right, made up the full body of troops under Lee, that is to +say, a little over forty thousand, artillerymen included. The cavalry, +numbering four or five thousand, were, like the absent Federal +cavalry, not actually engaged. + +In accordance with the plan agreed upon between Lee and Jackson, the +force left in the enemy's front proceeded to engage their attention, +and desultory fighting continued throughout the day. General +Lee meanwhile awaited the sound of Jackson's guns west of +Chancellorsville, and must have experienced great anxiety at this +trying moment, although, with his accustomed self-control, he +displayed little or none. We shall now leave this comparatively +interesting portion of the field, and invite the attention of the +reader to the movements of General Jackson, who was about to strike +his last great blow, and lose his own life in the moment of victory. + +Jackson set out at early dawn, having under him three divisions, +commanded by Rhodes and Trimble, in all about twenty-one thousand men, +and directed his march over the Old Mine road toward "The Furnace," +about a mile or so from and in front of the enemy's main line. Stuart +moved with his cavalry on the flank of the column, with the view of +masking it from observation; and it reached and passed "The Furnace," +where a regiment with artillery was left to guard the road leading +thence to Chancellorsville, and repel any attack which might be made +upon the rear of the column. Just as the rear-guard passed on, the +anticipated attack took place, and the regiment thus left, the +Twenty-third Georgia, was suddenly surrounded and the whole force +captured. The Confederate artillery, however, opened promptly upon the +assailing force, drove it back toward Chancellorsville, and Jackson +proceeded on his march without further interruption. He had thus been +seen, but it seems that the whole movement was regarded by General +Hooker as a retreat of the Confederates southward, a bend in the road +at this point toward the south leading to that supposition. + +"We know the enemy is flying," General Hooker wrote, on the afternoon +of this day, to General Sedgwick, "trying to save his trains; two of +Sickles's divisions are among them." + +Soon after leaving "The Furnace," however, Jackson, following the same +wood-road, turned westward, and, marching rapidly between the walls of +thicket, struck into the Brock road, which runs in a direction nearly +northwest toward Germanna and Ely's Fords. This would enable him to +reach, without discovery, the Orange Plank-road, or Old Turnpike, west +of Chancellorsville, as the woods through which the narrow highway +ran completely barred him from observation. Unless Federal spies were +lurking in the covert, or their scouting-parties of cavalry came in +sight of the column, it would move as secure from discovery as though +it were a hundred miles distant from the enemy; and against the +latter danger of cavalry-scouts, Stuart's presence with his horsemen +provided. The movement was thus made without alarming the enemy, and +the head of Jackson's column reached the Orange Plank-road, near +which point General Fitz Lee invited Jackson to ride up to a slight +elevation, from which the defences of the enemy were visible. Jackson +did so, and a glance showed him that he was not yet sufficiently upon +the enemy's flank. He accordingly turned to an aide and said, pointing +to the Orange Plank-road: "Tell my column to cross that road." + +The column did so, continuing to advance toward the Rapidan until it +reached the Old Turnpike running from the "Old Wilderness Tavern" +toward Chancellorsville. At this point, Jackson found himself full on +the right flank of General Hooker, and, halting his troops, proceeded +promptly to form line of battle for the attack. It was now past four +in the afternoon, and the declining sun warned the Confederates to +lose no time. The character of the ground was, however, such as to +dismay any but the most resolute, and it seemed impossible to execute +the intended movement with any thing like rapidity in such a jungle. +On both sides of the Old Turnpike rose a wall of thicket, through +which it was impossible to move a regular line of battle. All the +rules of war must be reversed in face of this obstacle, and the +assault on General Hooker's works seemed destined to be made in column +of infantry companies, and with the artillery moving in column of +pieces. + +Despite these serious obstacles, Jackson hastened to form such order +of battle as was possible, and with Rodes's division in front, +followed by Colston (Trimble) and Hill, advanced steadily down the +Old Turnpike, toward Chancellorsville. He had determined, not only to +strike the enemy's right flank, but to execute, if possible, a still +more important movement. This was, to extend his lines steadily to +the left, swing round his left wing, and so interpose himself between +General Hooker and the Rapidan. This design of unsurpassed boldness +continued to burn in Jackson's brain until he fell, and almost his +last words were an allusion to it. + +The Federal line of works, which the Confederates thus advanced to +assault, extended across the Old Turnpike near the house of Melzi +Chancellor, and behind was a second line, which was covered by the +Federal artillery in the earthworks near Chancellorsville. The +Eleventh Corps, under General Howard, was that destined to receive +Jackson's assault. This was made at a few minutes past five in the +evening, and proved decisive. The Federal troops were surprised at +their suppers, and were wholly unprepared. They had scarcely time to +run to their muskets, which were stacked[1] near at hand, when Rodes +burst upon them, stormed their works, over which the troops marched +almost unresisted, and in a few minutes the entire corps holding the +Federal right was in hopeless disorder. Rodes pressed on, followed by +the division in his rear, and the affair became rather a hunt than a +battle. The Confederates pursued with yells, killing or capturing all +with whom they could come up; the Federal artillery rushed off at a +gallop, striking against tree-trunks and overturning, and the army +of General Hooker seemed about to be hopelessly routed. This is +the account given by Northern writers, who represent the effect of +Jackson's sudden attack as indescribable. It had a serious effect, as +will be subsequently shown, on the _morale_ both of General Hooker and +his army. While opposing the heavy demonstrations of General Lee's +forces on their left and in front, this storm had burst upon them from +a quarter in which no one expected it; they were thus caught between +two fires, and, ignorant as they were of the small number of the +Confederates, must have regarded the army as seriously imperilled. + +[Footnote 1: "Their arms were stacked, and the men were away from +them and scattered about for the purpose of cooking their +suppers."--_General Hooker_.] + +Jackson continued to pursue the enemy on the road to Chancellorsville, +intent now upon making his blow decisive by swinging round his left +and cutting off the Federal army from the Rappahannock. It was +impossible, however, to execute so important a movement until his +troops were well in hand, and the two divisions which had made the +attack had become mixed up in a very confused manner. They were +accordingly directed to halt, and General A.P. Hill, whose division +had not been engaged, was sent for and ordered to advance to the +front, thus affording the disordered divisions an opportunity to +reform their broken lines. + +Soon after dispatching this order, Jackson rode out in front of his +line, on the Chancellorsville road, in order to reconnoitre in person, +and ascertain, if possible, the position and movements of the enemy, +then within a few hundred yards of him. It was now between nine and +ten o'clock at night. The fighting had temporarily ceased, and the +moon, half-seen through misty clouds, lit up the dreary thickets, in +which no sound was heard but the incessant and melancholy cries of the +whippoorwills. Jackson had ridden forward about a hundred yards in +advance of his line, on the turnpike, accompanied by a few officers, +and had checked his horse to listen for any sound coming from the +direction of Chancellorsville, when suddenly a volley was fired by his +own infantry on the right of the road, apparently directed at him +and his companions, under the impression that they were a Federal +reconnoitring-party. Several of the party fell from their horses, +and, wheeling to the left, Jackson galloped into the wood to escape a +renewal of the fire. The result was melancholy. He passed directly in +front of his men, who had been warned to guard against an attack of +cavalry. In their excited state, so near the enemy, and surrounded by +darkness, Jackson was supposed to be a Federal cavalryman. The men +accordingly fired upon him, at not more than twenty paces, and wounded +him in three places--twice in the left arm, and once in the right +hand. At the instant when he was struck he was holding his bridle with +his left hand, and had his right hand raised, either to protect his +face from boughs, or in the strange gesture habitual to him in battle. +As the bullets passed through his arm he dropped the bridle of his +horse from his left hand, but seized it again with the bleeding +fingers of his right hand, when the animal, wheeling suddenly, darted +toward Chancellorsville. In doing so he passed beneath the limb of a +pine-tree, which struck the wounded man in the face, tore off his cap, +and threw him back on his horse, nearly dismounting him. He succeeded, +however, in retaining his seat, and regained the road, where he was +received in the arms of Captain Wilbourn, one of his staff-officers, +and laid at the foot of a tree. + +The fire had suddenly ceased, and all was again still. Only Captain +Wilbourn and a courier were with Jackson, but a shadowy figure +on horseback was seen in the edge of the wood near, silent and +motionless. When Captain Wilbourn called to this person, and directed +him to ride back and see what troops had thus fired upon them, the +silent figure disappeared, and did not return. Who this could have +been was long a mystery, but it appears, from a recent statement of +General Revere, of the Federal army, that it was himself. He had +advanced to the front to reconnoitre, had come on the group at the +foot of the tree, and, receiving the order above mentioned, had +thought it prudent not to reveal his real character. He accordingly +rode into the wood, and regained his own lines. + +A few words will terminate our account of this melancholy event in the +history of the war--the fall of Jackson. He was supported to the rear +by his officers, and during this painful progress gave his last order. +General Pender recognized him, and stated that he feared he could +not hold his position. Jackson's eye flashed, and he replied with +animation, "You must hold your ground, General Pender! You must hold +your ground, sir!" + +He was now so weak as to be unable to walk, even leaning on the +shoulders of his officers. He was accordingly placed on a litter, +and borne toward the rear. Before the litter had gone far a furious +artillery-fire swept the road from the direction of Chancellorsville, +and the bearers lowered it to the earth and lay down beside it. The +fire relaxing, they again moved, but one of the bearers stumbled over +a root and let the litter fall. Jackson groaned, and as the moonlight +fell upon his face it was seen to be so pale that he appeared to be +about to die. When asked if he was much hurt, he opened his eyes, +however, and said, "No, my friend, don't trouble yourself about me." + +He was then borne to the rear, placed in an ambulance, and carried to +the hospital at the Old Wilderness Tavern, where he remained until he +was taken to Guinea's station, where he died. + +Such was the fate of Lee's great lieutenant--the man whom he spoke of +as his "right arm"--whose death struck a chill to the hearts of the +Southern people from which they never recovered. + + + + +V. + +THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. + + +General Lee was not informed of the misfortune which had befallen his +great lieutenant until toward daybreak on the next morning. + +This fact was doubtless attributable to the difficult character of +the country; the interposition of the Federal army between the two +Confederate wings, which rendered a long détour necessary in reaching +Lee; and the general confusion and dismay attending Jackson's fall. +It would be difficult, indeed, to form an exaggerated estimate of the +condition of Jackson's corps at this time. The troops had been thrown +into what seemed inextricable disorder, in consequence of the darkness +and the headlong advance of the Second (Calston's) Division upon the +heels of Rhodes, which had resulted in a complete intermingling of +the two commands; and, to make matters worse, General A.P. Hill, the +second in command, had been wounded and disabled, nearly at the +same moment with Jackson, by the artillery-fire of the enemy. This +transferred the command, of military right, to the brave and skilful +General Rhodes, the ranking officer after Hill; but Rhodes was only a +brigadier-general, and had, for that reason, never come into personal +contact with the whole corps, who knew little of him, and was not +aware of Jackson's plans, and distrusted, under these circumstances, +his ability to conduct to a successful issue so vitally important an +operation as that intrusted to this great wing of the Southern army. +Stuart, who had gone with his cavalry toward Ely's Ford to make a +demonstration on the Federal rear, was therefore sent for, and rode +as rapidly as possible to the scene of action, and the command was +formally relinquished to him by General Rhodes. Jackson sent Stuart +word from Wilderness Tavern to "act upon his own judgment, and do +what he thought best, as he had implicit confidence in him;" but, +in consequence of the darkness and confusion, it was impossible for +Stuart to promptly reform the lines, and thus all things remained +entangled and confused. + +It was essential, however, to inform General Lee of the state of +affairs, and Jackson's chief-of-staff, Colonel Pendleton, requested +Captain Wilbourn, who had witnessed all the details of the painful +scene in the wood, to go to General Lee and acquaint him with what +had taken place, and receive his orders. From a MS. statement of this +meritorious officer, we take these brief details of the interview: + +Lee was found lying asleep in a little clump of pines near his front, +covered with an oil-cloth to protect him from the dews of the night, +and surrounded by the officers of his staff, also asleep. It was +not yet daybreak, and the darkness prevented the messenger from +distinguishing the commander-in-chief from the rest. He accordingly +called for Major Taylor, Lee's adjutant-general, and that officer +promptly awoke when he was informed of what had taken place. As the +conversation continued, the sound awoke General Lee, who asked, "Who +is there?" Major Taylor informed him, and, rising upon his elbow, Lee +pointed to his blankets, and said: "Sit down here by me, captain, and +tell me all about the fight last evening." + +He listened without comment during the recital, but, when it was +finished, said with great feeling: "Ah! captain, any victory is dearly +bought which deprives us of the services of General Jackson, even for +a short time." + +From this reply it was evident that he did not regard the wounds +received by Jackson as of a serious character--as was natural, from +the fact that they were only flesh-wounds in the arm and hand--and +believed that the only result would be a temporary absence of his +lieutenant from command. As Captain Wilbourn continued to speak of the +incident, Lee added with greater emotion than at first: "Ah! don't +talk about it; thank God it is no worse!" + +He then remained silent, but seeing Captain Wilbourn rise, as if to +go, he requested him to remain, as he wished to "talk with him some +more," and proceeded to ask a number of questions in reference to the +position of the troops, who was in command, etc. When informed that +Rhodes was in temporary command, but that Stuart had been sent for, he +exclaimed: "Rhodes is a gallant, courageous, and energetic officer;" +and asked where Jackson and Stuart could be found, calling for paper +and pencil to write to them. Captain Wilbourn added that, from what he +had heard Jackson say, he thought he intended to get possession, if +possible, of the road to United States Ford in the Federal rear, and +so cut them off from the river that night, or early in the morning. At +these words, Lee rose quickly and said with animation, "These people +must be pressed to-day." + +It would seem that at this moment a messenger--probably Captain +Hotchkiss, Jackson's skilful engineer--arrived from Wilderness Tavern, +bringing a note from the wounded general. Lee read it with much +feeling, and dictated the following reply: + + GENERAL: I have just received your note informing me that you were + wounded. I cannot express my regret at the occurrence. Could I + have directed events, I should have chosen, for the good of the + country, to have been disabled in your stead. + + I congratulate you upon the victory, which is due to your skill + and energy. R.E. LEE, _General_. + +This was dispatched with a second note to Stuart, directing him to +assume command, and press the enemy at dawn. Lee then mounted his +horse, and, just as the day began to break, formed line of battle +opposite the enemy's front, his line extending on the right to +the plank-road running from Chancellorsville in the direction of +Fredericksburg. This force, under the personal command of Lee, +amounted, as we have said, originally to about thirteen thousand men; +and, as their loss had not been very severe in the demonstrations made +against the enemy on the preceding days, they were in good condition. +The obvious course now was to place the troops in a position which +would enable them, in the event of Stuart's success in driving the +Federal right, to unite the left of Lee's line with the right of +Stuart, and so press the Federal army back on Chancellorsville and the +river. We shall now return to the left wing of the army, which, in +spite of the absence of the commanding general, was the column of +attack, which was looked to for the most important results. + +In response to the summons of the preceding night, Stuart had come +back from the direction of Ely's Ford, at a swift gallop, burning with +ardor at the thought of leading Jackson's great corps into battle. The +military ambition of this distinguished commander of Lee's horse was +great, and he had often chafed at the jests directed at the cavalry +arm, and at himself as "only a cavalry-officer." He had now presented +to him an opportunity of showing that he was a trained soldier, +competent by his nerve and military ability to lead any arm of the +service, and greeted the occasion with delight. The men of Jackson had +been accustomed to see that commander pass slowly along their lines +on a horse as sedate-looking as himself, a slow-moving figure, with +little of the "poetry of war" in his appearance. They now found +themselves commanded by a youthful and daring cavalier on a spirited +animal, with floating plume, silken sash, and a sabre which gleamed in +the moonlight, as its owner galloped to and fro cheering the men and +marshalling them for the coming assault As he led the lines afterward +with joyous vivacity, his sabre drawn, his plume floating proudly, one +of the men compared him to Henry of Navarre at the battle of Ivry. But +Stuart's spirit of wild gayety destroyed the romantic dignity of the +scene. He led the men of Jackson against General Hooker's breastworks +bristling with cannon, singing "Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of +the Wilderness!" + +This sketch will convey a correct idea of the officer who had now +grasped the bâton falling from the hand of the great marshal of +Lee. It was probable that the advance of the infantry under such a +commander would partake of the rush and rapidity of a cavalry-charge; +and the sequel justified this view. + +At early dawn the Southern lines began to move. Either in consequence +of orders from Lee, or following his own conception, Stuart reversed +the movement of Jackson, who had aimed to swing round his left and cut +off the enemy. He seemed to have determined to extend his right, with +the view of uniting with the left of Anderson's division under Lee, +and enclosing the enemy in the angle near Chancellorsville. Lee had +moved at the same moment on their front, advancing steadily over all +obstacles, and a Northern writer, who witnessed the combined attack, +speaks of it in enthusiastic terms: "From the large brick house +which gives the name to this vicinity," says the writer, speaking +of Chancellorsville, "the enemy could be seen, sweeping slowly but +confidently, determinedly and surely, through the clearings which +extended in front. Nothing could excite more admiration for the +qualities of the veteran soldiers than the manner in which the enemy +swept out, as they moved steadily onward, the forces which were +opposed to them. We say it reluctantly, and for the first time, that +the enemy have shown the finest qualities, and we acknowledge on this +occasion their superiority in the open field to our own men. They +delivered their fire with precision, and were apparently inflexible +and immovable under the storm of bullets and shell which they were +constantly receiving. Coming to a piece of timber, which was occupied +by a division of our own men, half the number were detailed to clear +the woods. It seemed certain that here they would be repulsed, but +they marched right through the wood, driving our own soldiers out, who +delivered their fire and fell back, halted again, fired, and fell back +as before, seeming to concede to the enemy, as a matter of course, the +superiority which they evidently felt themselves. Our own men fought +well. There was no lack of courage, but an evident feeling that they +were destined to be beaten, and the only thing for them to do was to +fire and retreat." + +This description of the steady advance of the Southern line applies +rather to the first portion of the attack, which compelled the front +line of the Federal army to retire to the stronger ground in rear. +When this was reached, and the troops of Lee saw before them the last +citadel, the steady advance became a rush. The divisions of Anderson +and McLaws, on the right, made a determined charge upon the great +force under Generals Hancock, Slocum, and others, in that quarter, and +Stuart closed in on the Federal right, steadily extending his line to +join on to Anderson. + +The spectacle here was superb. As the troops rushed on, Stuart +shouted, "Charge! and remember Jackson!" and this watchword seemed to +drive the line forward. With Stuart leading them, and singing, in +his joyous voice, "Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of the +Wilderness!"--for courage, poetry, and seeming frivolity, were +strangely mingled in this great soldier--the troops went headlong +at the Federal works, and in a few moments the real struggle of the +battle of Chancellorsville had begun. + +From this instant, when the lines, respectively commanded in person +by Lee and by Stuart, closed in with the enemy, there was little +manoeuvring of any description. It was an open attempt of Lee, by hard +fighting, to crush in the enemy's front, and force them back upon the +river. In this arduous struggle it is due to Stuart to say that his +generalship largely decided the event, and the high commendation which +he afterward received from General Lee justifies the statement. As his +lines went to the attack, his quick military eye discerned an elevated +point on his right, from which it appeared an artillery-fire woulden +filade the Federal line. About thirty pieces of cannon were at once +hastened to this point, and a destructive fire opened on the lines +of General Slocum, which threw his troops into great confusion. So +serious was this fire that General Slocum sent word to General Hooker +that his front was being swept away by it, to which the sullen +response was, "I cannot make soldiers or ammunition!" + +General Hooker was indeed, it seems, at this moment in no mood to take +a hopeful view of affairs. The heavy assault of Jackson appears to +have as much demoralized the Federal commander as his troops. During +the night he had erected a semicircular line of works, in the form of +a redan, in his rear toward the river, behind which new works he no +doubt contemplated falling back. He now awaited the result of the +Southern attack, leaning against a pillar of the porch at the +Chancellorsville House, when a cannon-ball struck the pillar, throwing +it down, and so stunning the general as to prevent him from retaining +the command, which was delegated to General Couch. + +[Illustration: Chancellorsville] + +The fate of the day had now been decided. The right wing of the +Southern army, under Lee, had gradually extended its left to meet the +extension of Stuart's right; and this junction of the two wings having +been effected, Lee took personal command of all, and advanced his +whole front in a decisive assault. Before this the Federal front gave +way, and the disordered troops were huddled back--now only a confused +and disorganized mass--upon Chancellorsville. The Southern troops +pursued with yells, leaping over the earthworks, and driving all +before them. A scene of singular horror ensued. The Chancellorsville +House, which had been set on fire by shell, was seen to spout flame +from every window, and the adjoining woods had, in like manner, caught +fire, and were heard roaring over the dead and wounded of both sides +alike. The thicket had become the scene of the cruellest of all +agonies for the unfortunates unable to extricate themselves. The whole +spectacle in the vicinity of the Chancellorsville House, now in Lee's +possession, was frightful. Fire, smoke, blood, confused yells, and +dying groans, mingled to form the dark picture. + +Lee had ridden to the front of his line, following up the enemy, and +as he passed before the troops they greeted him with one prolonged, +unbroken cheer, in which those wounded and lying upon the ground +united. In that cheer spoke the fierce joy of men whom the hard combat +had turned into blood-hounds, arousing all the ferocious instincts +of the human soul. Lee sat on his horse, motionless, near the +Chancellorsville House, his face and figure lit up by the glare of the +burning woods, and gave his first attention, even at this exciting +moment, to the unfortunates of both sides, wounded, and in danger of +being burned to death. While issuing his orders on this subject, a +note was brought to him from Jackson, congratulating him upon his +victory. After reading it, with evidences of much emotion, he turned +to the officer who had brought it and said: "Say to General Jackson +that the victory is his, and that the congratulation is due to him." + +The Federal army had fallen back in disorder, by this time, toward +their second line. It was about ten o'clock in the morning, and +Chancellorsville was in Lee's possession. + +FLANK MOVEMENT OF GENERAL SEDGWICK. + +Lee hastened to bring the Southern troops into order again, and +succeeded in promptly reforming his line of battle, his front +extending, unbroken, along the Old Turnpike, facing the river. + +His design was to press General Hooker, and reap those rich rewards of +victory to which the hard fighting of the men had entitled them. Of +the demoralized condition of the Federal forces there can be no doubt, +and the obvious course now was to follow up their retreat and endeavor +to drive them in disorder beyond the Rappahannock. + +The order to advance upon the enemy was about to be given, when a +messenger from Fredericksburg arrived at full gallop, and communicated +intelligence which arrested the order just as it was on Lee's lips. + +A considerable force of the enemy was advancing up the turnpike from +Fredericksburg, to fall upon his right flank, and upon his rear in +case he moved beyond Chancellorsville. The column was that of General +Sedgwick. This officer, it will be remembered, had been detached to +make a heavy demonstration at Fredericksburg, and was still at that +point, with his troops drawn up on the southern bank, three miles +below the city, on Saturday night, while Jackson was fighting. On that +morning General Hooker had sent for Reynolds's corps, but, even in +the absence of this force, General Sedgwick retained under him about +twenty-two thousand men; and this column was now ordered to storm the +heights at Fredericksburg, march up the turnpike, and attack Lee in +flank. + +General Sedgwick received the order at eleven o'clock on Saturday +night, about the time when Jackson was carried wounded to the rear. He +immediately made his preparations to obey, and at daylight moved up +from below the city to storm the ridge at Marye's, and march straight +upon Chancellorsville. In the first assaults he failed, suffering +considerable loss from the fire of the Southern troops under General +Barksdale, commanding the line at that point; but, subsequently +forming an assaulting column for a straight rush at the hill, he went +forward with impetuosity; drove the Southern advanced line from behind +the "stone wall," which Generals Sumner and Hooker had failed in +reaching, and, about eleven in the morning, stormed Marye's Hill, and +killed, captured, or dispersed, the entire Southern force there. The +Confederates fought hand to hand over their guns with the enemy for +the possession of the crest, but their numbers were inadequate; the +entire surviving force fell back over the Telegraph road southward, +and General Sedgwick promptly advanced up the turnpike leading from +Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville, to assail General Lee. + +It was the intelligence of this threatening movement which now reached +Lee, and induced him to defer further attack at the moment upon +General Hooker. He determined promptly to send a force against General +Sedgwick, and this resolution seems to have been based upon sound +military judgment. There was little to be feared now from General +Hooker, large as the force still was under that officer. He was +paralyzed for the time, and would not probably venture upon any +attempt to regain possession of Chancellorsville. With General +Sedgwick it was different. His column was comparatively fresh, was +flushed with victory, and numbered, even after his loss of one +thousand, more than twenty thousand men. Compared with the entire +Federal army, this force was merely a detachment, it was true, but it +was a detachment numbering as many men, probably, as the effective of +Lee's entire army at Chancellorsville. He had carried into that fight +about thirty-four thousand men. His losses had been heavy, and the +commands were much shaken. To have advanced under these circumstances +upon General Hooker, without regard to General Sedgwick's twenty +thousand troops, inspired by recent victory, would have resulted +probably in disaster. + +These comments may detract from that praise of audacity accorded to +Lee in making this movement. It seems rather to have been the dictate +of common-sense; to have advanced upon General Hooker would have been +the audacity. + +It was thus necessary to defer the final blow at the main Federal army +in his front, and General Lee promptly detached a force of about five +brigades to meet General Sedgwick, which, with Early's command, now in +rear of the Federal column, would, it was supposed, suffice. + +This body moved speedily down the turnpike to check the enemy, and +encountered the head of his column about half-way, near Salem Church. +General Wilcox, who had been sent by Lee to watch Banks's Ford, had +already moved to bar the Federal advance. When the brigades sent by +Lee joined him, the whole force formed line of battle: a brisk action +ensued, continuing from about four in the afternoon until nightfall, +when the fighting ceased, and General Sedgwick made no further attempt +to advance on that day. + +These events took place, as we have said, on Sunday afternoon, the +day of the Federal defeat at Chancellorsville. On Monday morning (May +4th), the theatre of action on the southern bank of the Rappahannock +presented a very remarkable complication. General Early had been +driven from the ridge at Fredericksburg; but no sooner had General +Sedgwick marched toward Chancellorsville, than Early returned and +seized upon Marye's Heights again. He was thus in General Sedgwick's +rear, and ready to prevent him from recrossing the Rappahannock at +Fredericksburg. Sedgwick meanwhile was moving to assail Lee's flank +and rear, and Lee was ready to attack General Hooker in front. Such +was the singular entanglement of the Northern and Southern forces on +Monday morning after the battle of Chancellorsville. What the result +was to be the hours of that day were now to decide. + +Lee resolved first, if possible, to crush General Sedgwick, when it +was his design to return and make a decisive assault upon General +Hooker. In accordance with this plan, he on Monday morning went in +personal command of three brigades of Anderson's division, reached the +vicinity of Salem Church, and proceeded to form line of battle with +the whole force there. Owing to unforeseen delays, the attack was not +begun until late in the afternoon, when the whole line advanced upon +General Sedgwick, Lee's aim being to cut him off from the river. In +this he failed, the stubborn resistance of the Federal forces enabling +them to hold their ground until night. At that time, however, they +seemed to waver and lose heart, whether from receiving intelligence of +General Hooker's mishap, or from other causes, is not known. They were +now pressed by the Southern troops, and finally gave way. General +Sedgwick retreated rapidly but in good order to Banks's Ford, where a +pontoon had been fortunately laid, and this enabled him to cross his +men. The passage was effected under cover of darkness, the Southern +cannon firing upon the retreating column; and, with this, ended the +movement of General Sedgwick. + +On Tuesday morning Lee returned with his men toward Chancellorsville, +and during the whole day was busily engaged in preparation for a +decisive attack upon General Hooker on the next morning. + +When, however, the Southern sharp-shooters felt their way, at +daylight, toward the Federal position, it was found that the works +were entirely deserted. + +General Hooker had recrossed the river, spreading pine-boughs on the +pontoon bridge to muffle the sound of his artillery-wheels. + +So the great advance ended. + + + + +VII. + +LEE'S GENERALSHIP AND PERSONAL DEMEANOR DURING THE CAMPAIGN. + + +The movements of the two armies in the Chancellorsville campaign, as +it is generally styled, have been so fully described in the foregoing +pages, that little comment upon them is here necessary. The main +feature which attracts attention, in surveying the whole series of +operations, is the boldness, amounting to apparent recklessness, of +Lee; and, first, the excellent generalship, and then the extraordinary +tissue of military errors, of General Hooker. + +Up to the 1st of May, when he emerged from the Chancellorsville +thicket, every thing had succeeded with the Federal commander, and +deserved to succeed. He had successfully brought over his great force, +which he himself described as the "finest army on the planet," and +occupied strong ground east of Chancellorsville, on the road to +Fredericksburg. General Sedgwick was absent at the latter place with a +strong detachment of the army, but the main body covered Banks's Ford, +but twelve miles from the city, and by the afternoon of this day the +whole army might have been concentrated. Then the fate of Lee would +seem to have been decided. He had not only a very small army, but +that army was scattered, and liable to be cut off in detail. General +Sedgwick menaced his right at Fredericksburg--General Hooker was in +front of his left near Chancellorsville--and to crush one of these +wings before the other could come to its assistance seemed a work of +no very great difficulty. General Hooker appears, however, to have +distrusted his ability to effect this result, and, finding that +General Lee was advancing with his main body to attack him, retired, +from his strong position in the open country, to the dense thicket +around Chancellorsville. That this was a grave military error there +can be no doubt, as, by this retrograde movement, General Hooker not +only discouraged his troops, who had been elated by his confident and +inspiring general orders, but lost the great advantage of the open +country, where his large force could be successfully manoeuvred. + +Lee took instant advantage of this fault in his adversary, and boldly +pressed the force retiring into the Wilderness, where, on the night +of the 1st of May, General Hooker was shut up with his army. This +unforeseen result presented the adversaries now in an entirely new +light. The Federal army, which had been promised by its commander +a speedy march upon Richmond in pursuit of Lee, had, instead of +advancing, made a backward movement; and Lee, who it had been supposed +would retreat, was now following and offering them battle. + +The daring resolution of Lee, to divide his army and attack the +Federal right, followed. It would seem unjust to General Hooker +greatly to blame him for the success of that blow, which could not +have been reasonably anticipated. In determining upon this, one of +the most extraordinary movements of the war, General Lee proceeded in +defiance of military rules, and was only justified in his course by +the desperate character of the situation of affairs. It was impossible +to make any impression upon General Hooker's front or left, owing to +the elaborate defences in both quarters; it was, therefore, necessary +either to retire, or attack in a different direction. As a retreat, +however, upon Richmond would have surrendered to the enemy a large and +fertile tract of country, it was desirable, if possible, to avoid that +alternative; and the attack on the Federal right followed. The results +of this were truly extraordinary. The force routed and driven back in +disorder by General Jackson was but a single corps, and that corps, it +is said, not a legitimate part of the old Army of the Potomac; but the +disorder seems to have communicated itself to the whole army, and to +have especially discouraged General Hooker. In describing the scene +in question, we refrained from dwelling upon the full extent of the +confusion into which the Federal forces were thrown: some sentences, +taken from Northern accounts, may lead to a better understanding of +the result. After Jackson's assault, a Northern historian says: "The +open plain around Chancellorsville presented such a spectacle as +a simoom sweeping over the desert might make. Through the dusk of +nightfall a rushing whirlwind of men and artillery and wagons swept +down the road, past headquarters, and on toward the fords of the +Rappahannock; and it was in vain that the staff opposed their persons +and drawn sabres to the panic-stricken fugitives." Another writer, an +eye-witness, says the spectacle presented was that of "solid columns +of infantry retreating at double-quick; a dense mass of beings flying; +hundreds of cavalry-horses, left riderless at the first discharge from +the rebels, dashing frantically about in all directions; scores of +batteries flying from the field; battery-wagons, ambulances, horses, +men, cannon, caissons, all jumbled and tumbled together in one +inextricable mass--the stampede universal, the disgrace general." + +After all, however, it was but one corps of the Federal army which +had been thus thrown into disorder, and General Hooker had no valid +grounds for distrusting his ability to defeat Lee in a more decisive +action. There are many reasons for coming to the conclusion that he +did from that moment distrust his powers. He had courageously hastened +to the assailed point, ordering the men to "throw themselves into the +breach," and receive Jackson's troops "on the bayonet;" but, after +this display of soldierly resolution, General Hooker appears to have +lost some of that nerve which should never desert a soldier, and on +the same night sent engineers to trace out a new line of defences in +his rear, to which, it seems, he already contemplated the probability +of being forced to retire. Why he came to take this depressed view +of the situation of affairs, it is difficult to say. One of General +Sedgwick's corps reached him on this night, and his force at +Chancellorsville still amounted to between ninety and one hundred +thousand men, about thrice that of Lee. No decisive trial of strength +had yet taken place between the two armies; and yet the larger force +was constructing defences in rear to protect them from the smaller--a +circumstance not tending, it would seem, to greatly encourage the +troops whose commander was thus providing for a safe retreat. + +The subsequent order to General Sedgwick to march up from +Fredericksburg and assail Lee's right was judicious, and really +saved the army from a great disaster. Lee was about to follow up the +discouraged forces of General Hooker as they fell back toward the +river; and, as the Southern army was flushed with victory, the +surrender of the great body might have ensued. This possible result +was prevented by the flank movement of General Sedgwick, and some +gratitude for assistance so important from his able lieutenant would +have seemed natural and graceful in General Hooker. This view of the +subject does not seem, however, to have been taken by the Federal +commander. He subsequently charged the defeat of Chancellorsville upon +General Sedgwick, who he declared had "failed in a prompt compliance +with his orders."[1] The facts do not bear out this charge, as the +reader has seen. General Sedgwick received the order toward midnight +on Saturday, and, at eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, had passed +over that stubborn "stone wall" which, in the battle of the preceding +December, General Hooker's column had not even been able to reach; +had stormed Marye's Hill, which General Hooker had described, in +vindication of his own failure to carry the position, as "masonry," "a +fortification," and "a mountain of rock;" and had marched thereafter +so promptly as to force Lee, in his own defence, to arrest the second +advance upon the Federal main body, and divert a considerable force to +meet the attack on his flank. + +[Footnote 1: General Hooker in Report of the Committee on the Conduct +of the War, Part I., page 130. This great collection is a valuable +repository of historic details, and contains the explanation of many +interesting questions.] + +After the repulse of General Sedgwick, and his retreat across +the Rappahannock, General Hooker seems to have been completely +discouraged, and hastened to put the river between himself and Lee. +His losses in the battles of Saturday and Sunday had amounted to +seventeen thousand one hundred and ninety-seven killed and wounded and +missing, fourteen pieces of artillery, and twenty thousand stand +of arms. The Confederate loss was ten thousand two hundred and +eighty-one. Contrary to the ordinary course of things the assailing +force had lost a less number of men than that assailed. + +The foregoing reflections, which necessarily involve a criticism of +General Hooker, arise naturally from a review of the events of the +campaign, and seem justified by the circumstances. There can be no +inducement for the present writer to underrate the military ability of +the Federal commander, as that want of ability rather detracts from +than adds to the merit of General Lee in defeating him. It may be +said, indeed, that without these errors and shortcomings of General +Hooker, Lee, humanly speaking, must have been either defeated or +forced to retire upon Richmond. + +After giving full weight, however, to all the advantages derived from +the extraordinary Federal oversights and mistakes, General Lee's merit +in this campaign was greater, perhaps, than in any other during his +entire career. Had he left behind him no other record than this, it +alone would have been sufficient to have conferred upon him the first +glories of arms, and handed his name down to posterity as that of one +of the greatest soldiers of history. It is difficult to discover a +single error committed by him, in the whole series of movements, from +the moment when General Sedgwick crossed at Fredericksburg, to the +time of General Hooker's retreat beyond the Rappahannock. It may +appear that there was unnecessary delay in permitting Tuesday to pass +without a final advance upon General Hooker, in his second line of +intrenchments; but, no doubt, many circumstances induced Lee to defer +this attack--the fatigue of his troops, consequent upon the fighting +of the four preceding days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; the +necessity of reforming his battalions for the final blow; and the +anticipation that General Hooker, who still had at his command a +force of more than one hundred thousand men, would not so promptly +relinquish his campaign, and retire. + +With the exception of this error, if it be such, Lee had made no +single false step in the whole of his movements. The campaign was +round, perfect, and complete--such as a student of the art of war +might pore over, and analyze as an instance of the greatest principles +of military science "clothed in act." The most striking features of +Lee's movements were their rapidity and audacity. It had been the +fashion with some persons to speak of Lee as slow and cautious in his +operations, and this criticism had not been completely silenced even +in the winter of 1862, when his failure to crush General Burnside +afforded his detractors another opportunity of repeating the old +charge. After the Chancellorsville campaign these fault-finders were +silenced--no one could be found to listen to them. The whole +Southern movement completely contradicted their theory. At the first +intelligence of the advance of General Hooker's main body across the +upper Rappahannock, Lee rode rapidly in that direction, and ordered +his troops at the fords of the river to fall back to Chancellorsville. +He then returned, and, finding that General Sedgwick had crossed at +Fredericksburg, held a prompt consultation with Jackson, when it was +decided at once to concentrate the main body of the army in front of +General Hooker's column. At the word, Jackson moved; Lee followed. On +the 1st of May, the enemy were pressed back upon Chancellorsville; on +the 2d, his right was crushed, and his army thrown into confusion; on +the 3d, he was driven from Chancellorsville, and, but for the flank +movement of General Sedgwick, which Lee was not in sufficient force to +prevent, General Hooker would, upon that same day, Sunday, have in all +probability suffered a decisive defeat. + +In the course of four days Lee had thus advanced, and checked, and +then attacked and repulsed with heavy slaughter, an army thrice +as large as his own. On the last day of April he had been nearly +enveloped by a host of about one hundred and twenty thousand men. On +the 3d day of May their main body was in disorderly retreat; and at +daylight on the morning of the 6th there was not a Federal soldier, +with the exception of the prisoners taken, on the southern bank of the +Rappahannock. + +During all these critical scenes, when the fate of the Confederate +capital, and possibly of the Southern cause, hung suspended in the +balance, General Lee preserved, as thousands of persons can testify, +the most admirable serenity and composure, without that jubilant +confidence displayed by General Hooker in his address to the troops, +and the exclamations to his officers. Lee was equally free from gloom +or any species of depression. His spirits seemed to rise under the +pressure upon him, and at times he was almost gay. When one of General +Jackson's aides hastened into his tent near Fredericksburg, and with +great animation informed him that the enemy were crossing the +river, in heavy force in his front, he seemed to be amused by that +circumstance, and said, smiling: "Well, I _heard_ firing, and I was +beginning to think it was time some of you lazy young fellows were +coming to tell me what it was all about. Say to General Jackson that +he knows just as well what to do with the enemy as I do." + +The commander-in-chief who could find time at such a moment to +indulge in _badinage_, must have possessed excellent nerve; and this +composure, mingled with a certain buoyant hopefulness, as of one sure +of the event, remained with Lee throughout the whole great wrestle +with General Hooker. He retained to the end his simple and quiet +manner, divested of every thing like excitement. In the consultation +with Jackson, on the night of the 1st of May, when the crisis was so +critical, his demeanor indicated no anxiety; and when, as we have +said, the news came of Jackson's wound, he said simply, "Sit +down here, by me, captain, and tell me all about the fight last +evening"--adding, "Ah! captain, any victory is dearly bought which +deprives us of the services of General Jackson even for a short +time. Don't talk about it--thank God, it is no worse!" The turns of +expression here are those of a person who permits nothing to disturb +his serenity, and indulges his gentler and tenderer feelings even +in the hot atmosphere of a great conflict. The picture presented is +surely an interesting and beautiful one. The human being who uttered +the good-natured criticism at the expense of the "lazy young fellows," +and who greeted the news of Jackson's misfortune with a sigh as tender +as that of a woman, was the soldier who had "seized the masses of his +force with the grasp of a Titan, and swung them into position as a +giant might fling a mighty stone." To General Hooker's threat to crush +him, he had responded by crushing General Hooker; nearly surrounded by +the huge cordon of the Federal army, he had cut the cordon and emerged +in safety. General Hooker with his one hundred thousand men had +retreated to the north bank of the Rappahannock, and, on the south +bank, Lee with his thirty thousand remained erect, threatening, and +triumphant. + +We have not presented in these pages the orders of Lee, on various +occasions, as these papers are for the most part of an "official" +character, and not of great interest to the general reader. We shall, +however, occasionally present these documents, and here lay before the +reader the orders of both General Hooker and General Lee, after the +battle of Chancellorsville, giving precedence to the former. The order +of the Federal commander was as follows: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, _May_ 6,1863. + + The major-general commanding tenders to this army his + congratulations on its achievements of the last seven days. If it + has not accomplished all that was expected, the reasons are + well known to the army. It is sufficient to say, they were of a + character not to be foreseen or prevented by human sagacity or + resources. + + In withdrawing from the south bank of the Rappahannock, before + delivering a general battle to our adversaries, the army has given + renewed evidence in its confidence in itself, and its fidelity to + the principles it represents. + + By fighting at a disadvantage, we would have been recreant to our + trust, to ourselves, to our cause, and to our country. Profoundly + loyal, and conscious of its strength, the Army of the Potomac will + give or decline battle whenever its interests or honor may command + it. + + By the celerity and secrecy of our movements, our advance and + passage of the river were undisputed, and on our withdrawal not + a rebel dared to follow us. The events of the last week may well + cause the heart of every officer and soldier of the army to swell + with pride. + + We have added new laurels to our former renown. We have made long + marches, crossed rivers, surprised the enemy in his intrenchments, + and, whenever we have fought, we have inflicted heavier blows than + those we have received. + + We have taken from the enemy five thousand prisoners, and fifteen + colors, captured seven pieces of artillery, and placed _hors de + combat_ eighteen thousand of our foe's chosen troops. + + We have destroyed his depots filled with vast amounts of stores, + damaged his communications, captured prisoners within the + fortifications of his capital, and filled his country with fear + and consternation. + + We have no other regret than that caused by the loss of our brave + companions, and in this we are consoled by the conviction that + they have fallen in the holiest cause ever submitted to the + arbitration of battle. + + By command of Major-General HOOKER: + + S. WILLIAMS, _Assistant Adjutant-General_ + +General Lee's order was as follows: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + + _May_ 7,1863. + + With heart-felt gratification, the general commanding expresses to + the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and + men during the arduous operations in which they have just been + engaged. + + Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm you attacked the + enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, + and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant, + and by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields forced him + once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this + glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the + nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful + thanks to the only Giver of victory, for the signal deliverances + He has wrought. + + It is therefore earnestly recommended that the troops unite on + Sunday next in ascribing unto the Lord of hosts the glory due unto + His name. + + Let us not forget, in our rejoicing, the brave soldiers who have + fallen in defence of their country; and, while we mourn their + loss, let us resolve to emulate their noble example. + + The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of + one to whose bravery, energy, and skill, they are so much indebted + for success. + + The following letter from the President of the Confederate States + is communicated to the army, as an expression of his appreciation + of their success: + + "I have received your dispatch, and reverently unite with you in + giving praise to God for the success with which He has crowned our + arms. In the name of the people I offer my cordial thanks, and the + troops under your command, for this addition to the unprecedented + series of great victories which our army has achieved. The + universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be mingled + with a general regret for the good and the brave who are numbered + among the killed and the wounded." + + R.E. LEE, _General_. + + + + +VIII. + +PERSONAL RELATIONS OF LEE AND JACKSON. + + +The most important incident of the great battle of Chancellorsville +was the fall of Jackson. The services of this illustrious soldier had +now become almost indispensable to General Lee, who spoke of him +as his "right arm;" and the commander-in-chief had so long been +accustomed to lean upon the strong shoulder of his lieutenant, that +now, when this support was withdrawn, he seems to have felt the loss +of it profoundly. + +In the war, indeed, there had arisen no soldier who so powerfully drew +the public eye as Jackson. In the opinion of many persons, he was a +greater and abler commander than Lee himself; and, although such +an opinion will not be found to stand after a full review of the +characters and careers of the two leaders, there was sufficient ground +for it to induce many fair and intelligent persons to adopt it. +Jackson had been almost uniformly successful. He had conducted to a +triumphant issue the arduous campaign of the Valley, where he was +opposed in nearly every battle by a force much larger than his own; +and these victories, in a quarter so important, and at a moment so +critical, had come, borne on the wind of the mountain, to electrify +and inspire the hearts of the people of Richmond and the entire +Confederacy. Jackson's rapid march and assault on General McClellan's +right on the Chickahominy had followed; he then advanced northward, +defeated the vanguard of the enemy at Cedar Mountain, led the great +column of Lee against the rear of General Pope, destroyed Manassas, +held his ground until Lee arrived, and bore an important part in the +battle which ensued. Thence he had passed to Maryland, fallen upon +Harper's Ferry and captured it, returned to fight with Lee at +Sharpsburg, and in that battle had borne the brunt of the enemy's main +assault with an unbroken front. That the result was a drawn battle, +and not a Southern defeat, was due to Lee's generalship and Jackson's +fighting. The retrograde movement to the lowland followed, and Jackson +was left in the Valley to embarrass McClellan's advance. In this he +perfectly succeeded, and then suddenly reappeared at Fredericksburg, +where he received and repulsed one of the two great assaults of the +enemy. The battle of Chancellorsville followed, and Lee's statement +of the part borne in this hard combat by Jackson has been given. The +result was due, he said, not to his own generalship, but to the skill +and energy of his lieutenant, whose congratulations he refused to +receive, declaring that the victory was Jackson's. + +Here had at last ended the long series of nearly unbroken victories. +Jackson had become the _alter ego_ of Lee, and it is not difficult +to understand the sense of loss felt by the commander-in-chief. In +addition to this natural sentiment, was deep regret at the death of +one personally dear to him, and to whom he was himself an object of +almost reverent love. The personal relations of Lee and Jackson had, +from first to last, remained the same--not the slightest cloud had +ever arisen to disturb the perfect union in each of admiration and +affection for the other. It had never occurred to these two great +soldiers to ask what their relative position was in the public +eye--which was most spoken of and commended or admired. Human nature +is weak at best, and the fame of Jackson, mounting to its dazzling +zenith, might have disturbed a less magnanimous soul than Lee's. There +is not, however, the slightest reason to believe that Lee ever gave +the subject a thought. Entirely free from that vulgar species of +ambition which looks with cold eyes upon the success of others, as +offensive to its own _amour-propre_ Lee never seems to have instituted +any comparison between himself and Jackson--greeted praise of his +famous lieutenant with sincere pleasure--and was the first upon +every occasion, not only to express the fullest sense of Jackson's +assistance, and the warmest admiration of his genius as a soldier, but +to attribute to him, as after the battle of Chancellorsville, _all_ +the merit of every description. + +It is not possible to contemplate this august affection and admiration +of the two soldiers for each other, without regarding it as a greater +glory to them than all their successes in arms. Lee's opinion of +Jackson, and personal sentiment toward him, have been set forth in the +above sentences. The sentiment of Jackson for Lee was as strong or +stronger. He regarded him with mingled love and admiration. To excite +such feelings in a man like Jackson, it was necessary that Lee should +be not only a soldier of the first order of genius, but also a good +and pious man. It was in these lights that Jackson regarded his +commander, and from first to last his confidence in and admiration for +him never wavered. He had defended Lee from the criticism of unskilled +or ignorant persons, from the time when he assumed command of the +army, in the summer of 1862. At that time some one spoke of Lee, in +Jackson's presence, as "slow." The criticism aroused the indignation +of the silent soldier, and he exclaimed: "General Lee is _not_ 'slow.' +No one knows the weight upon his heart--his great responsibilities. +He is commander-in-chief, and he knows that, if an army is lost, it +cannot be replaced. No! there may be some persons whose good opinion +of me may make them attach some weight to my views, and, if you ever +hear that said of General Lee, I beg you will contradict it in my +name. I have known General Lee for five-and-twenty years. He is +cautious. He ought to be. But he is _not_ 'slow.' Lee is a phenomenon. +He is the only man whom I would follow blindfold!" + +The abrupt and energetic expressions of Jackson on this occasion +indicate his profound sense of the injustice done Lee by these +criticisms; and it would be difficult to imagine a stronger statement +than that here made by him. It will be conceded that he himself was +competent to estimate soldiership, and in Jackson's eyes Lee was +"a phenomenon--the only man whom he would follow blindfold." The +subsequent career of Lee seems to have strengthened and intensified +this extreme admiration. What Lee advised or did was always in +Jackson's eyes the very best that could be suggested or performed. He +yielded his own opinions, upon every occasion, with perfect readiness +and cheerfulness to those of Lee, as to the master-mind; loved him, +revered him, looked up to him, and never seems to have found fault +with him but upon one occasion--when he received Lee's note of +congratulation after Chancellorsville. He then said: "General Lee is +very kind; but he should give the glory to God." + +This affection and admiration were fully returned by General Lee, who +consulted Jackson upon every occasion, and confided in him as his +personal friend. There was seldom any question between them of +superior and subordinate--never, except when the exigency required +that the decision should be made by Lee as commander-in-chief. +Jackson's supreme genius, indeed, made this course natural, and no +further praise is due Lee in this particular, save that of modesty and +good sense; but these qualities are commendable and not universal. +He committed the greatest undertakings to Jackson with the utmost +confidence, certain that he would do all that could be done; and some +words of his quoted above express this entire confidence. "Say +to General Jackson," he replied to the young staff-officer at +Fredericksburg, "that he knows just as well what to do with the enemy +as I do." + +Lee's personal affection was strikingly displayed after the battle +of Chancellorsville, when Jackson lay painfully, but no one supposed +mortally, wounded, first at Wilderness Tavern, and then at Ginney's. +Prevented from visiting the wounded man, by the responsibilities of +command, now all the greater from Jackson's absence, and not regarding +his hurt as serious, as indeed it did not appear to be until toward +the last, Lee sent him continual messages containing good wishes +and inquiries after his health. The tone of these messages is very +familiar and affectionate, and leaves no doubt of the character of the +relations between the two men. + +"Give him my affectionate regards," he said to one officer, "and tell +him to make haste and get well, and come back to me as soon as he can. +He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right." + +When the wound of the great soldier took a bad turn, and it began to +be whispered about that the hurt might prove fatal, Lee was strongly +moved, and said with deep feeling: "Surely General Jackson must +recover! God will not take him from us, now that we need him so much. +Surely he will be spared to us, in answer to the many prayers which +are offered for him!" + +He paused after uttering these words, laboring evidently under very +deep and painful emotion. After remaining silent for some moments, +he added: "When you return I trust you will find him better. When +a suitable occasion offers, give him my love, and tell him that I +wrestled in prayer for him last night, as I never prayed, I believe, +for myself." + +The tone of these messages is, as we have said, that of familiar +affection, as from one valued friend to another. The expression, "Give +him my love," is a Virginianism, which is used only when two persons +are closely and firmly bound by long association and friendship. Such +had been the case with Lee and Jackson, and in the annals of the war +there is no other instance of a friendship so close, affectionate, and +unalloyed. + +Jackson died on the 10th of May, and the unexpected intelligence +shocked Lee profoundly. He mourned the death of the illustrious +soldier with a sorrow too deep almost to find relief in tears; and +issued a general order to the troops, which was in the following +words: + + With deep grief the commanding general announces to the army the + death of Lieutenant-General T.J. Jackson, who expired on the 10th + inst., at quarter-past three P.M. The daring, skill, and energy + of this great and good soldier, by the decree of an All-wise + Providence, are now lost to us. But, while we mourn his death, we + feel that his spirit still lives, and will inspire the whole army + with his indomitable courage and unshaken confidence in God, as + our hope and strength. Let his name be a watchword to his corps, + who have followed him to victory on so many fields. Let his + officers and soldiers emulate his invincible determination to + do every thing in defence of our beloved country. R.E. LEE, + _General_. + +It is probable that the composition of this order cost General Lee one +of the severest pangs he ever experienced. + + + + +IX. + +CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA. + + +The defeat of General Hooker at Chancellorsville was the turning-point +of the war, and for the first time there was apparently a possibility +of inducing the Federal Government to relinquish its opposition to the +establishment of a separate authority in the South. The idea of the +formation of a Southern Confederacy, distinct from the old Union, had, +up to this time, been repudiated by the authorities at Washington as a +thing utterly out of the question; but the defeat of the Federal arms +in the two great battles of the Rappahannock had caused the most +determined opponents of separation to doubt whether the South could +be coerced to return to the Union; and, what was equally or more +important, the proclamations of President Lincoln, declaring the +slaves of the South free, and placing the United States virtually +under martial law, aroused a violent clamor from the great Democratic +party of the North, who loudly asserted that all constitutional +liberty was disappearing. + +This combination of non-success in military affairs and usurpation by +the Government emboldened the advocates of peace to speak out plainly, +and utter their protest against the continuance of the struggle, +which they declared had only resulted in the prostration of all +the liberties of the country. Journals and periodicals, violently +denunciatory of the course pursued by the Government, all at once made +their appearance in New York and elsewhere. A peace convention was +called to meet in Philadelphia. Mr. Vallandigham, nominee of the +Democratic party for Governor of Ohio, eloquently denounced the whole +policy of endeavoring to subjugate the sovereign States of the South; +and Judge Curtis, of Boston, formerly Associate Judge of the Supreme +Court of the United States, published a pamphlet in which the Federal +President was stigmatized as a usurper and tyrant. "I do not see," +wrote Judge Curtis, "that it depends upon the Executive decree whether +a servile war shall be invoked to help twenty millions of the white +race to assert the rightful authority of the Constitution and laws of +their country over those who refuse to obey them. But I do see that +this proclamation" (emancipating the Southern slaves) "asserts the +power of the Executive to make such a decree! I do not perceive how it +is that my neighbors and myself, residing remote from armies and their +operations, and where all the laws of the land may be enforced by +constitutional means, should be subjected to the possibility of +arrest and imprisonment and trial before a military commission, and +punishment at its discretion, for offences unknown to the law--a +possibility to be converted into a fact at the mere will of the +President, or of some subordinate officer, clothed by him with this +power. But I do perceive that this Executive power is asserted.... It +must be obvious to the meanest capacity that, if the President of +the United States has an _implied_ constitutional right, as +Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, in time of war, to disregard +any one positive prohibition of the Constitution, or to exercise any +one power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, +because in his judgment he may thereby 'best subdue the enemy,' he +has the same right, for the same reason, to disregard each and every +provision of the Constitution, and to exercise all power _needful in +his opinion_ to enable him 'best to subdue the enemy.' ... The time +has certainly come when the people of the United States _must_ +understand and _must_ apply those great rules of civil liberty which +have been arrived at by the self-devoted efforts of thought and action +of their ancestors during seven hundred years of struggle against +arbitrary power." + +So far had reached the thunder of Lee's guns at Chancellorsville. +Their roar seemed to have awakened throughout the entire North the +great party hitherto lulled to slumber by the plea of "military +necessity," or paralyzed by the very extent of the Executive +usurpation which they saw, but had not had heart to oppose. On all +sides the advocates of peace on the basis of separation were heard +raising their importunate voices; and in the North the hearts of the +people began to thrill with the anticipation of a speedy termination +of the bloody and exhausting struggle. The occasion was embraced by +Mr. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States, to propose +negotiations. This able gentleman wrote from Georgia on the 12th of +June to President Davis, offering to go to Washington and sound the +authorities there on the subject of peace. He believed that the moment +was propitious, and wished to act before further military movements +were undertaken--especially before any further projects of invasion by +Lee--which would tend, he thought, to silence the peace party at the +North, and again arouse the war spirit. The letter of Mr. Stephens +was written on the 12th of June, and President Davis responded by +telegraph a few days afterward, requesting Mr. Stephens to come to +Richmond. He reached that city on the 22d or 23d of June, but by that +time Lee's vanguard was entering Maryland, and Gettysburg speedily +followed, which terminated all hopes of peace. + +The plan of moving the Southern army northward, with the view of +invading the Federal territory, seems to have been the result of many +circumstances. The country was elated with the two great victories of +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and the people were clamorous for +active operations against an enemy who seemed powerless to stand the +pressure of Southern steel. The army, which had been largely augmented +by the return of absentees to its ranks, new levies, and the recall +of Longstreet's two divisions from Suffolk, shared the general +enthusiasm; and thus a very heavy pressure was brought to bear upon +the authorities and on General Lee, in favor of a forward movement, +which, it was supposed, would terminate in a signal victory and a +treaty of peace. + +Lee yielded to this view of things rather than urged it. He was not +opposed to an offensive policy, and seems, indeed, to have shared the +opinion of Jackson that "the Scipio Africanus policy" was the best for +the South. His theory from the beginning of the war had been, that the +true policy of the South was to keep the enemy as far as possible +from the interior, fighting on the frontier or on Federal soil, if +possible. That of the South would there thus be protected from the +ravages of the enemy, and the further advantage would accrue, that the +Confederate capital, Richmond, would at all times be safe from danger. +This was an important consideration, as events subsequently showed. +As long as the enemy were held at arm's-length, north of the +Rappahannock, Richmond, with her net-work of railroads connecting with +every part of the South, was safe, and the Government, undisturbed in +their capital, remained a power in the eyes of the world. But, with an +enemy enveloping the city, and threatening her lines of communication, +the tenure of the place by the Government was uncertain. When General +Grant finally thus enveloped the city, and laid hold upon the +railroads, Lee's army was defeated, and the Government became +fugitive, which alone would have struck a mortal blow to its prestige +and authority. + +It was to arrive at these results, which his sagacity discerned, that +Lee always advocated such movements as would throw back the enemy, and +drive him, if possible, from the soil of Virginia. Another important +consideration was the question of supplies. These were at all times +deficient in the Confederate armies, and it was obviously the best +policy to protect as much territory, from which supplies might be +drawn, as possible. More than ever before, these supplies were now +needed; and when General Lee sent, in May or June, a requisition for +rations to Richmond, the commissary-general is said to have endorsed +upon the paper, "If General Lee wishes rations, let him seek them in +Pennsylvania." + +The considerations here stated were the main inducements for +that great movement northward which followed the battle of +Chancellorsville. The army and country were enthusiastic; the +Government rather followed than led; and, throughout the month of May, +Lee was busily engaged in organizing and equipping his forces for the +decisive advance. Experience had now dictated many alterations and +improvements in the army. It was divided into three _corps d'armée_, +each consisting of three divisions, and commanded by an officer with +the rank of lieutenant-general. Longstreet remained at the head of his +former corps, Ewell succeeded Jackson in command of "Jackson's old +corps," and A.P. Hill was assigned to a third corps made up of +portions of the two others. The infantry was thus rearranged in a +manner to increase greatly its efficiency, and the artillery arm +was entirely reorganized. The old system of assigning one or more +batteries or battalions to each division or corps was done away with, +and the artillery of the army was made a distinct command, and placed +under General W.N. Pendleton, a brave and energetic officer, who was +thenceforward Lee's "chief of artillery." The last arm, the cavalry, +was also increased in efficiency; and, on the last day of May, +General Lee had the satisfaction of finding himself in command of a +well-equipped and admirably-officered army of sixty-eight thousand +three hundred and fifty-two bayonets, and nearly ten thousand cavalry +and artillery--in all, about eighty thousand men. Never before had +the Southern army had present for duty, as fighting men, so large a +number, except just before the battles on the Chickahominy. There was, +however, this great difference between the army then and at this time: +in those first months of 1862, it was made up largely of raw troops +who had never heard the discharge of a musket in their lives: while +now, in May, 1863 the bulk of the army consisted of Lee's veterans, +men who had followed him through the fire of Manassas, Sharpsburg, +Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, and could be counted on +to effect any thing not absolutely beyond human power. General +Longstreet, conversing after the war with a gentleman of the North, +declared as much. The army at that time, he said, was in a condition +to undertake _any thing_. + + + + +X. + +LEE'S PLANS AND OBJECTS. + + +The great game of chess was now about to commence, and, taking an +illustration from that game, General Lee is reported to have said that +he believed he would "swap queens," that is, advance and attempt to +capture the city of Washington, leaving General Hooker at liberty, if +he chose so to do, to seize in turn upon Richmond. What the result of +so singular a manoeuvre would have been, it is impossible to say; it +would certainly have proved one of the strangest incidents of a war +fruitful in varied and shifting events. + +Such a plan of operations, however, if ever seriously contemplated +by Lee, was speedily abandoned. He nowhere makes mention of any such +design in his published reports, and he probably spoke of it only in +jest. His real aim in the great movement now about to commence, is +stated with brevity and reserve--then absolutely necessary--but also +with sufficient clearness, in his official report. The position of +the enemy opposite Fredericksburg was, he says, such as to render an +attack upon him injudicious. It was, therefore, desirable to manoeuvre +him out of it--force him to return toward Maryland--and thus free +the country of his forces. A further result was expected from this +movement. The lower Shenandoah Valley was occupied by the enemy under +General Milroy, who, with his headquarters at Winchester, harassed the +whole region, which he ruled with a rod of iron. With the withdrawal +of the Federal army under General Hooker, and before the advance of +the Confederates, General Milroy would also disappear, and the fertile +fields of the Valley be relieved. The whole force of the enemy would +thus, says Lee, "be compelled to leave Virginia, and possibly to draw +to its support troops designed to operate against other parts of the +country." He adds: "In this way it was supposed that the enemy's plan +of campaign for the summer would be broken up, and part of the season +of active operations be consumed in the formation of new combinations +and the preparations that they would require. In addition to these +advantages, it was hoped that other valuable results might be attained +by military success," that is to say, by a battle which Lee intended +to fight when circumstances were favorable. That he expected to fight, +not merely to manoeuvre the enemy from Virginia, is apparent from +another sentence of the report. "It was thought," he says, "that the +corresponding movements on the part of the enemy, to which those +contemplated by us would probably give rise, might _offer a fair +opportunity to strike a blow at the army therein, commanded by General +Hooker_" the word "therein" referring to the region "north of the +Potomac." In the phrase, "other valuable results which might be +attained by military success," the reference is plainly to the +termination of the contest by a treaty of peace, based upon the +independence of the South. + +These sentences, taken from the only publication ever made by Lee +on the subject of the Gettysburg campaign, express guardedly, but +distinctly, his designs. He aimed to draw General Hooker north of the +Potomac, clear the Valley, induce the enemy to send troops in other +quarters to the assistance of the main Federal army, and, when the +moment came, attack General Hooker, defeat him if possible, and thus +end the war. That a decisive defeat of the Federal forces at that time +in Maryland or Pennsylvania, would have virtually put an end to the +contest, there seems good reason to believe. Following the Southern +victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, a third bloody +disaster would, in all human probability, have broken the resolution +of the Federal authorities. With Lee thundering at the gates of +Washington or Philadelphia, and with the peace party encouraged to +loud and importunate protest, it is not probable that the war would +have continued. Intelligent persons in the North are said to have so +declared, since the war, and the declaration seems based upon good +sense. + +Before passing from this necessary preface to the narrative of events, +it is proper to add that, in the contemplated battle with General +Hooker, when he had drawn him north of the Potomac, Lee did not intend +to assume a _tactical offensive_, but to force the Federal commander, +if possible, to make the attack. [Footnote: "It had not been intended +to fight a general battle at such a distance from our base, unless +attacked by the enemy."--_Lee's Report_] From this resolution he was +afterward induced by circumstances to depart, and the result is known. + +What is above written will convey to the reader a clear conception of +Lee's views and intentions in undertaking his last great offensive +campaign; and we now proceed to the narrative of the movements of the +two armies, and the battle of Gettysburg. + + + + +XI. + +THE CAVALRY-FIGHT AT FLEETWOOD. + + +Lee began his movement northward on the 3d day of June, just one month +after the battle of Chancellorsville. From this moment to the time +when his army was concentrated in the vicinity of Gettysburg, his +operations were rapid and energetic, but with a cautious regard to the +movements of the enemy. + +Pursuing his design of manoeuvring the Federal army out of Virginia, +without coming to action, Lee first sent forward one division of +Longstreet's corps in the direction of Culpepper, another then +followed, and, on the 4th and 5th of June, Ewell's entire corps was +sent in the same direction--A.P. Hill remaining behind on the south +bank of the Rappahannock, near Fredericksburg, to watch the enemy +there, and bar the road to Richmond. These movements became speedily +known to General Hooker, whose army lay north of the river near that +point, and on the 5th he laid a pontoon just below Fredericksburg, +and crossed about a corps to the south bank, opposite Hill. This +threatening demonstration, however, was not suffered by Lee to arrest +his own movements. Seeing that the presence of the enemy there was +"intended for the purpose of observation rather than attack," and only +aimed to check his operations, he continued the withdrawal of his +troops, by way of Culpepper, in the direction of the Shenandoah +Valley. + +A brilliant pageant, succeeded by a dramatic and stirring incident, +was now to prelude the march of Lee into the enemy's territory. On +the 8th of June, the day of the arrival of Lee's head of column in +Culpepper, a review of Stuart's cavalry took place in a field east of +the court-house. The review was a picturesque affair. General Lee was +present, sitting his horse, motionless, on a little knoll--the erect +figure half concealed by the short cavalry-cape falling from his +shoulders, and the grave face overshadowed by the broad gray +hat--while above him, from a lofty pole, waved the folds of a large +Confederate flag. The long column of about eight thousand cavalry was +first drawn up in line, and afterward passed in front of Lee at a +gallop--Stuart and his staff-officers leading the charge with sabres +at tierce point, a species of military display highly attractive to +the gallant and joyous young commander. The men then charged in mimic +battle the guns of the "Stuart Horse-Artillery," which were posted +upon an adjoining hill; and, as the column of cavalry approached, +the artillerists received them with a thunderous discharge of blank +ammunition, which rolled like the roar of actual battle among the +surrounding hills. This sham-fight was kept up for some time, and no +doubt puzzled the enemy on the opposite shore of the Rappahannock. On +the next morning--either in consequence of a design formed before the +review, or to ascertain what this discharge of artillery meant--two +divisions of Federal cavalry, supported by two brigades of "picked +infantry," were sent across the river at Kelly's and Beverley's Fords, +east of the court-house, to beat up the quarters of Stuart and find +what was going on in the Southern camps. + +The most extensive cavalry-fight, probably, of the whole war, +followed. One of Stuart's brigades, near Beverley's Ford, was nearly +surprised and resolutely attacked at daylight by Buford's division, +which succeeded in forcing back the brigade a short distance toward +the high range called Fleetwood Hill, in the rear. From this eminence, +where his headquarters were established, Stuart went to the front at a +swift gallop, opened a determined fire of artillery and sharp-shooters +upon the advancing enemy, and sent Hampton's division to attack them +on their left. Meanwhile, however, the enemy were executing a rapid +and dangerous movement against Stuart's, rear. General Gregg, +commanding the second Federal cavalry division, crossed at Kelly's +Ford below, passed the force left in that quarter, and came in +directly on Stuart's rear, behind Fleetwood Hill. In the midst of the +hard fight in front, Stuart was called now to defend his rear. He +hastened to do so by falling back and meeting the enemy now charging +the hill. The attack was repulsed, and the enemy's artillery charged +in turn by the Southerners. This was captured and recaptured two or +three times, but at last remained in the hands of Stuart. + +General Gregg now swung round his right, and prepared to advance +along the eastern slope of the hill. Stuart had, however, posted his +artillery there, and, as the Federal line began to move, arrested +it with a sudden and destructive fire of shell. At the same time a +portion of Hampton's division, under the brave Georgian, General +P.M.B. Young, was ordered to charge the enemy. The assault was +promptly made with the sabre, unaided by carbine or pistol fire, and +Young cut down or routed the force in front of him, which dispersed +in disorder toward the river. The dangerous assault on the rear of +Fleetwood Hill was thus repulsed, and the advance of the enemy on the +left, near the river, met with the same ill success. General W.H.F. +Lee, son of the commanding general, gallantly charged them in that +quarter, and drove them back to the Rappahannock, receiving a severe +wound, which long confined him to his bed. Hampton had followed the +retreating enemy on the right, under the fire of Stuart's guns from +Fleetwood Hill; and by nightfall the whole force had recrossed the +Rappahannock, leaving several hundred dead and wounded upon the field. +[Footnote: The Southern loss was also considerable. Colonel Williams +was killed, Generals Lee and Butler severely wounded--the latter +losing his foot--and General Stuart's staff had been peculiarly +unfortunate. Of the small group of officers, Captain Farley was +killed, Captain White wounded, and Lieutenant Goldsborough captured. +The Federal force sustained a great loss in the death of the gallant +Colonel Davis, of the Eighth New-York Cavalry, and other officers.] + +This reconnoissance in force--the Federal numbers probably amounting +to fifteen thousand--had no other result than the discovery of the +fact that Lee had infantry in Culpepper. Finding that the event of the +fight was critical, General Lee had moved a body of infantry in the +direction of the field of action, and the gleam of the bayonets was +seen by the enemy. The infantry was not, however, engaged on either +side, unless the Federal infantry participated in the initial skirmish +near Beverley's Ford, and General Lee's numbers and position were not +discovered. + +We have dwelt with some detail upon this cavalry combat, which was an +animated affair, the hand-to-hand encounter of nearly twenty thousand +horsemen throughout a whole day. General Stuart was censured at the +time for allowing himself to be "surprised," and a ball at Culpepper +Court-House, at which some of his officers were present several days +before, was pointed to as the origin of this surprise. The charge was +wholly unjust, Stuart not having attended the ball. Nor was there any +truth in the further statement that "his headquarters were captured" +in consequence of his negligence. His tents on Fleetwood Hill were all +sent to the rear soon after daylight; nothing whatever was found there +but a section of the horse-artillery, who fought the charging cavalry +with sabres and sponge-staffs over the guns; that Fleetwood Hill +was at one time in the hands of the enemy, was due not to Stuart's +negligence, but to the numbers and excellent soldiership of General +Gregg, who made the flank and rear attack while Stuart was breasting +that in front. + +These detached statements, which may seem unduly minute, are made in +justice to a brave soldier, who can no longer defend himself. + + + + +XII. + +THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. + + +This attempt of the enemy to penetrate his designs had not induced +General Lee to interrupt the movement of his infantry toward the +Shenandoah Valley. The Federal corps sent across the Rappahannock at +Fredericksburg, still remained facing General Hill; and, two days +after the Fleetwood fight. General Hooker moved up the river with his +main body, advancing the Third Corps to a point near Beverley's Ford. +But these movements were disregarded by Lee. On the same day Ewell's +corps moved rapidly toward Chester Gap, passed through that defile in +the mountain, pushed on by way of Front Royal, and reached Winchester +on the evening of the 13th, having in three days marched seventy +miles. + +The position of the Southern army now exposed it to very serious +danger, and at first sight seemed to indicate a deficiency of +soldiership in the general commanding it. In face of an enemy whose +force was at least equal to his own,[Footnote: General Hooker stated +his "effective" at this time to have been diminished to eighty +thousand infantry.] Lee had extended his line until it stretched over +a distance of about one hundred miles. When Ewell came in sight of +Winchester, Hill was still opposite Fredericksburg, and Longstreet +half-way between the two in Culpepper. Between the middle and rear +corps was interposed the Rapidan River, and between the middle and +advanced corps the Blue Ridge Mountains. General Hooker's army was on +the north bank of the Rappahannock, well in hand, and comparatively +massed, and the situation of Lee's army seemed excellent for the +success of a sudden blow at it. + +It seems that the propriety of attacking the Southern army while +thus _in transitu_, suggested itself both to General Hooker and to +President Lincoln, but they differed as to the point and object of the +attack. In anticipation of Lee's movement, General Hooker had written +to the President, probably suggesting a counter-movement across the +Rappahannock, somewhere near Fredericksburg, to threaten Richmond, and +thus check Lee's advance. This, however. President Lincoln refused to +sanction. + +"In case you find Lee coming to the north of the Rappahannock," +President Lincoln wrote to General Hooker, "I would by no means cross +to the south of it. I would not take any risk of being entangled upon +the river, _like an ox jumped half over a fence, and liable to be torn +by dogs, front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick +the other_" + +Five days afterward the President wrote: "I think Lee's army, and not +Richmond, is your true objective point. If he comes toward the Upper +Potomac, fight him when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, +_fret him and fret him_." + +When intelligence now reached Washington that the head of Lee's column +was approaching the Upper Potomac, while the rear was south of the +Rappahannock, the President wrote to General Hooker: "_If the head of +Lee's army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the plank road_ +between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the _animal must be very +slim somewhere--could you not break him?_" + +General Hooker did not seem to be able to determine upon a decisive +course of action, in spite of the tempting opening presented to him by +Lee. It would seem that nothing could have been plainer than the good +policy of an attack upon Hill at Fredericksburg, which would certainly +have checked Lee's movement by recalling Longstreet from Culpepper, +and Ewell from the Valley. But this bold operation did not appear to +commend itself to the Federal authorities. Instead of reënforcing the +corps sent across at Fredericksburg and attacking Hill, General Hooker +withdrew the corps, on the 13th, to the north bank of the river, got +his forces together, and began to fall back toward Manassas, and even +remained in ignorance, it seems, of all connected with his adversary's +movements. Even as late as the 17th of June, his chief-of-staff, +General Butterfield, wrote to one of his officers; "Try and hunt up +somebody from Pennsylvania who knows something, and has a cool enough +head to judge what is the actual state of affairs there with regard to +the enemy. _My impression is, that Lee's movement on the Upper Potomac +is a cover for a cavalry-raid on the south side of the river.... We +cannot go boggling around until we know what we are going after._" + +Such was the first result of Lee's daring movement to transfer +military operations to the region north of the Potomac. A Northern +historian has discerned in his plan of campaign an amount of boldness +which "seemed to imply a great contempt for his opponent." This +is perhaps a somewhat exaggerated statement of the case. Without +"boldness" a commander is but half a soldier, and it may be declared +that a certain amount of that quality is absolutely essential to +successful military operations. But the question is, Did Lee expose +himself, by these movements of his army, to probable disaster, if his +adversary--equal to the occasion--struck at his flank? A failure of +the campaign of invasion would probably have resulted from such an +attack either upon Hill at Fredericksburg, or upon Longstreet in +Culpepper, inasmuch as Ewell's column, in that event, must have fallen +back. But a _defeat_ of the combined forces of Hill and Longstreet, +who were within supporting distance of each other, was not an event +which General Hooker could count upon with any degree of certainty. +The two corps numbered nearly fifty thousand men--that is to say, +two-thirds of the Southern army; General Hooker's whole force was +but about eighty thousand; and it was not probable that the +eighty thousand would be able to rout the fifty thousand, when at +Chancellorsville less than this last number of Southerners had +defeated one hundred and twenty thousand. + +There seems little reason to doubt that General Lee took this view of +the subject, and relied on Hill and Longstreet to unite and repulse +any attack upon them, while Ewell's great "raiding column" drove +forward into the heart of the enemy's territory. That the movement was +bold, there can certainly be no question; that it was a reckless and +hazardous operation, depending for its success, in Lee's eyes, solely +on the supposed inefficiency of General Hooker, does not appear. +These comments delay the narrative, but the subject is fruitful in +suggestion. It may be pardoned a Southern writer if he lingers over +this last great offensive movement of the Southern army. The last, it +was also one of the greatest and most brilliant. The war, therefore, +was to enter upon its second stage, in which the South was to simply +maintain the defensive. But Lee was terminating the first stage of +the contest by one of those great campaigns which project events and +personages in bold relief from the broad canvas, and illumine the +pages of history. + +Events were now in rapid progress. Ewell's column--the sharp head of +the Southern spear--reached Winchester on the 13th of June, and +Rodes, who had been detached at Front Royal to drive the enemy from +Berryville, reached the last-named village on the same day when the +force there retreated to Winchester. On the next morning Early's +division attacked the forces of Milroy at Winchester, stormed and +captured their "Star Fort," on a hill near the place, and so complete +was the rout of the enemy that their commander, General Milroy, had +scarcely time to escape, with a handful of his men, in the direction +of the Potomac. + +For this disaster the unfortunate officer was harshly criticised by +General Hooker, who wrote to his Government, "In my opinion, Milroy's +men will fight better _under a soldier_." + +After thus clearing the country around Winchester, Ewell advanced +rapidly on Martinsburg, where he took a number of prisoners and some +artillery. The captures in two days had been more than four thousand +prisoners and twenty-nine cannon, with four hundred horses and a large +amount of stores. Ewell continued then to advance, and, entering +Maryland, sent a portion of his cavalry, under General Imboden, +westward, to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and another +body, under General Jenkins, in advance, toward Chambersburg. +Meanwhile, the rest of the army was moving to join him. Hill, finding +that the enemy had disappeared from his front near Fredericksburg, +hastened to march from that vicinity, and was sent forward by Lee, on +the track of Ewell, passing in rear of Longstreet, who had remained +in Culpepper. The latter was now directed by Lee to move along +the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, and, by occupying Ashby's and +Snicker's Gaps, protect the flank of the column in the Valley from +attack--a work in which Stuart's cavalry, thrown out toward the enemy, +assisted. + +Such was the posture of affairs when General Hooker's chief-of-staff +became so much puzzled, and described the Federal army as "boggling +around," and not knowing "what they were going after." Lee's whole +movement, it appears, was regarded as a feint to "cover a cavalry-raid +on the south side of the river"--a strange conclusion, it would seem, +in reference to a movement of such magnitude. It now became absolutely +necessary that Lee's designs should be unmasked, if possible; and +to effect this object Stuart's cavalry force, covering the southern +flank, east of the Blue Ridge, must be driven back. This was +undertaken in a deliberate manner. Three corps of cavalry, with a +division of infantry and a full supply of artillery, were sent forward +from the vicinity of Manassas, to drive Stuart in on all the roads +leading to the mountain. A fierce struggle followed, in which Stuart, +who knew the importance of his position, fought the great force +opposed to him from every hill and knoll. But he was forced back +steadily, in spite of a determined resistance, and at Upperville a +hand-to-hand sabre-fight wound up the movement, in which the Federal +cavalry was checked, when Stuart fell back toward Paris, crowned the +mountain-side with his cannon, and awaited a final attack. This was +not, however, made. Night approaching, the Federal force fell back +toward Manassas, and on the next morning Stuart followed them, on the +same road over which he had so rapidly retreated, beyond Middleburg. + +Lee paid little attention to these operations on his flank east of +the mountains, but proceeded steadily, in personal command of his +infantry, in the direction of the Cumberland Valley. Ewell was moving +rapidly toward Harrisburg, with orders to "take" that place "if he +deemed his force adequate,"[1] General Jenkins, commanding cavalry, +preceding the advance of his infantry. He had thus pierced the enemy's +territory, and it was necessary promptly to support him. Hill +and Longstreet were accordingly directed to pass the Potomac at +Shepherdstown and Williamsport. The columns united at Hagerstown, and +on the 27th of June entered Chambersburg. + +[Footnote 1: This statement of Lee's orders is derived by the writer +from Lieutenant-General Ewell.] + +General Hooker had followed, crossing the Potomac, opposite Leesburg, +at about the moment when Lee's rear was passing from Maryland into +Pennsylvania. The direction of the Federal march was toward Frederick, +from which point General Hooker could move in either one of two +directions--either across the mountain toward Boonsboro, which would +throw him upon Lee's communications, or northward to Westminster, or +Gettysburg, which would lead to an open collision with the invading +army in a pitched battle. + +At this juncture of affairs, just as the Federal army was +concentrating near Frederick, General Hooker, at his own request, was +relieved from command. The occasion of this unexpected event seems to +have been a difference of opinion between himself and General +Halleck, the Federal general-in-chief, on the question whether the +fortifications at Harper's Ferry should or should not be abandoned. +The point at issue would appear to have been unimportant, but ill +feeling seems to have arisen: General Hooker resented the action +of the authorities, and requested to be relieved; his request was +complied with, and his place was filled by Major-General George G. +Meade. + +[Illustration: Map--Sketch of the Country Around GETTYSBURG.] + +General Meade, an officer of excellent soldiership, and enjoying the +repute of modesty and dignity, assumed command of the Federal army, +and proceeded rapidly in pursuit of Lee. The design of moving directly +across the South Mountain on Lee's communications, if ever entertained +by him, was abandoned. The outcry from Pennsylvania drew him perforce. +Ewell, with one division, had penetrated to Carlisle; and Early, with +another division, was at York; everywhere the horses, cattle, and +supplies of the country, had been seized upon for the use of the +troops; and General Meade was loudly called upon to go to the +assistance of the people thus exposed to the terrible rebels. His +movements were rapid. Assuming command on June 28th, he began to +move on the 29th, and on the 30th was approaching the town of +Gettysburg.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The movements of the Federal commander were probably +hastened by the capture, about this time at Hagerstown, of a dispatch +from President Davis to General Lee. Lee, it seems, had suggested +that General Beauregard should be sent to make a demonstration in the +direction of Culpepper, and by thus appearing to threaten Washington, +embarrass the movements of the Northern army. To this suggestion the +President is said to have replied that he had no troops to make such +a movement; and General Meade had thus the proof before him that +Washington was in no danger. The Confederacy was thus truly +unfortunate again, as in September, 1862, when a similar incident came +to the relief of General McClellan.] + + + + +XIII. + +LEE IN PENNSYLVANIA. + + +Lee, in personal command of the corps of Hill and Longstreet, had +meanwhile moved on steadily in the direction of the Susquehanna, and, +reaching Chambersburg on the 27th of June, "made preparations to +advance upon Harrisburg." + +At Chambersburg he issued an order to the troops, which should find a +place in every biography of this great soldier. The course pursued +by many of the Federal commanders in Virginia had been merciless and +atrocious beyond words. General Pope had ravaged the counties north +of the Rappahannock, especially the county of Culpepper, in a manner +which reduced that smiling region wellnigh to a waste; General Milroy, +with his headquarters at Winchester, had so cruelly oppressed the +people of the surrounding country as to make them execrate the very +mention of his name; and the excesses committed by the troops of these +officers, with the knowledge and permission of their commanders, had +been such, said a foreign writer, as to "cast mankind two centuries +back toward barbarism." + +Now, the tables were turned, and the world looked for a sudden and +merciless retaliation on the part of the Southerners. Lee was in +Pennsylvania, at the head of an army thirsting to revenge the +accumulated wrongs against their helpless families. At a word from +him the fertile territory of the North would be made to feel the iron +pressure of military rule, proceeding on the theory that retaliation +is a just principle to adopt toward an enemy. Fire, slaughter, and +outrage, would have burst upon Pennsylvania, and the black flag, which +had been virtually raised by Generals Pope and Milroy, would have +flaunted now in the air at the head of the Southern army. + +Instead of permitting this disgraceful oppression of non-combatants, +Lee issued, at Chambersburg, the following general order to his +troops: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +CHAMBERSBURG, PA., _June_ 27, 1863. + +The commanding general has observed with much satisfaction the conduct +of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results +commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested. No troops +could have displayed greater fortitude, or better performed the +arduous marches of the past ten days. Their conduct in other respects +has, with few exceptions, been in keeping with their character as +soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise. + +There have, however, been instances of forgetfulness, on the part of +some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of +the army, and that the duties exacted of us by civilization and +Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than +in our own. + +The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace could befall +the army, and, through it, our whole people, than the perpetration of +the barbarous outrages on the innocent and defenceless, and the wanton +destruction of private property, that have marked the course of the +enemy in our own country. Such proceedings not only disgrace the +perpetrators, and all connected with them, but are subversive of the +discipline and efficiency of the army, and destructive of the ends of +our present movements. It must be remembered that we make war only +upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our +people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all +whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemy, +without offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without +whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain. + +The commanding general, therefore, earnestly exhorts the troops to +abstain, with most scrupulous care, from unnecessary or wanton injury +to private property; and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and +bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against +the orders on this subject. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The noble maxims and truly Christian spirit of this paper will +remain the undying glory of Lee. Under what had been surely a bitter +provocation, he retained the calmness and forbearance of a great soul, +saying to his army: "The duties exacted of us by civilization and +Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than +in our own.... No greater disgrace could befall the army, and through +it our whole people, than the perpetration of outrage upon the +innocent and defenceless.... We make war only upon armed men, and +cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without +offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor +and support our efforts must all prove in vain." + +Such were the utterances of Lee, resembling those we might attribute +to the ideal Christian warrior; and, indeed, it was such a spirit that +lay under the plain uniform of the great Virginian. What he ordered +was enforced, and no one was disturbed in his person or property. Of +this statement many proofs could be given. A Pennsylvania farmer said +to a Northern correspondent, in reference to the Southern troops: "I +must say they acted like gentlemen, and, their cause aside, I would +rather have forty thousand rebels quartered on my premises than one +thousand Union troops." From the journal of Colonel Freemantle, +an English officer accompanying the Southern army, we take these +sentences: + +"In passing through Greencastle we found all the houses and windows +shut up, the natives in their Sunday clothes, standing at their doors +regarding the troops in a very unfriendly manner. I saw no straggling +into the houses, nor were any of the inhabitants disturbed or annoyed +by the soldiers. Sentries were placed at the doors of many of the +best houses, to prevent any officer or soldier from getting in on any +pretence.... I entered Chambersburg at 6 P.M.... Sentries were placed +at the doors of all the principal houses, and the town was cleared +of all but the military passing through or on duty.... No officer or +soldier under the rank of a general is allowed in Chambersburg without +a special order from General Lee, which he is very chary of giving, +and I hear of officers of rank being refused this pass.... I went into +Chambersburg again, and witnessed the singularly good behavior of the +troops toward the citizens. I heard soldiers saying to one another +that they did not like being in a town in which they were very +naturally detested. To any one who has seen, as I have, the ravages +of the Northern troops in Southern towns, this forbearance seems most +commendable and surprising." + +A Northern correspondent said of the course pursued by General +Jenkins, in command of Ewell's cavalry: "By way of giving the devil +his due, it must be said that, although there were over sixty acres +of wheat and eighty acres of corn and oats in the same field, he +protected it most carefully, and picketed his horses so that it could +not be injured. No fences were wantonly destroyed, poultry was not +disturbed, nor did he compliment our blooded cattle so much as to test +the quality of their steak and roast." + +Of the feeling of the troops these few words from the letter of an +officer written to one of his family will convey an idea: "I felt +when I first came here that I would like to revenge myself upon these +people for the devastation they have brought upon our own beautiful +home--that home where we could have lived so happily, and that we +loved so much, from which their vandalism has driven you and my +helpless little ones. But, though I had such severe wrongs and +grievances to redress, and such great cause for revenge, yet, when +I got among these people, I could not find it in my heart to molest +them." + +Such was the treatment of the people of Pennsylvania by the Southern +troops in obedience to the order of the commander-in-chief. Lee +in person set the example. A Southern journal made the sarcastic +statement that he became irate at the robbing of cherry-trees; and, if +he saw the _top rail_ of a fence lying upon the ground as he rode by, +would dismount and replace it with his own hands. + + + + +XIV. + +CONCENTRATION AT GETTYSBURG. + + +This was the position of the great adversaries in the last days of +June. Lee was at Chambersburg, in the Cumberland Valley, about to +follow Ewell, who was approaching Harrisburg. Early had captured York; +and the Federal army was concentrating rapidly on the flank of the +Southern army, toward Gettysburg. + +Lee had ordered the movement of Early upon York, with the object of +diverting the attention of the Federal commander from his own rear, +in the Cumberland Valley. The exact movements and position of General +Meade were unknown to him; and this arose in large measure from the +absence of Stuart's cavalry. This unfortunate incident has given rise +to much comment, and Stuart has been harshly criticised for an alleged +disobedience of Lee's plain orders. The question is an embarrassing +one. Lee's statement is as follows: "General Stuart was left to guard +the passes of the mountains" (Ashby's and other gaps in the Blue +Ridge, in Virginia), "and observe the movements of the enemy, whom +he was instructed to harass and impede as much as possible should +he attempt to cross the Potomac. _In that event, General Stuart was +directed to move into Maryland, crossing the Potomac east or west of +the Blue Ridge, as in his judgment should be best, and take position +on the right of our column as it advanced._" + +This order was certainly plain up to a certain point. Stuart was +to harass and embarrass the movements of the enemy, in case they +attempted to cross to the north bank of the Potomac. When they did +cross, he also was to pass the river, either east or west of the Blue +Ridge, "as in his judgment should seem best." So far the order was +unmistakable. The river was to be crossed at such point as Stuart +should select, either on the lower waters, or in the Valley. Lee +added, however, that this movement should be made in such a manner as +to enable Stuart to "take position on the right of our column as it +advanced"--the meaning appearing to be that the cavalry should move +_between_ the two armies, in order to guard the Southern flank as it +advanced into the Cumberland Valley. Circumstances arose, however, +which rendered it difficult for Stuart to move on the line thus +indicated with sufficient promptness to render his services valuable. +The enemy crossed at Leesburg while the Southern cavalry was near +Middleburg; and, from the jaded condition of his horses, Stuart feared +that he would be unable, in case he crossed above, to place his column +between the two armies then rapidly advancing. He accordingly took the +bold resolution of passing the Potomac _below_ Leesburg, designing to +shape his course due northward toward Harrisburg, the objective point +of the Southern army. This he did--crossing at Seneca Falls--but on +the march he was delayed by many incidents. Near Rockville he stopped +to capture a large train of Federal wagons; at Westminster and +Hanovertown he was temporarily arrested by combats with the Federal +cavalry; and, ignorant as he was of the concentration of Lee's troops +upon Gettysburg, he advanced rapidly toward Carlisle, where, in the +midst of an attack on that place, he was recalled by Lee. + +Such were the circumstances leading to, and the incidents attending, +this movement. The reader must form his own opinion of the amount +of blame to be justly attached to Stuart. He always declared, and +asserted in his report of these occurrences, that he had acted in +exact obedience to his orders; but, on the contrary, as appears from +General Lee's report, those orders were meant to prescribe a different +movement. He had marched in one sense on "the right" of the Southern +column "as it advanced;" but in another sense he had not done so. +Victory at Gettysburg would have silenced all criticism of this +difference of construction; but, unfortunately, the event was +different, and the strictures directed at Stuart were natural. The +absence of the cavalry unquestionably embarrassed Lee greatly; but, in +his report, he is moderate and guarded, as usual, in his expressions. +"The absence of cavalry," he says, "rendered it impossible to obtain +accurate information" of General Meade's movements; and "the march +toward Gettysburg was conducted more slowly than it would have been +had the movements of the Federal army been known." + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of GETTYSBURG] + +To return now to the movements of Lee's infantry, after the arrival of +the main body at Chambersburg. Lee was about to continue his advance +in the direction of Harrisburg, when, on the night of the 29th, his +scouts brought him intelligence that the Federal army was rapidly +advancing, and the head of the column was near the South Mountain. A +glance at the map will indicate the importance of this intelligence. +General Meade would be able, without difficulty, in case the Southern +army continued its march northward, to cross the South-Mountain range, +and place himself directly in Lee's rear, in the Cumberland Valley. +Then the Southern forces would be completely intercepted--General +Meade would be master of the situation--and Lee must retreat east of +the mountain or cut his way through the Federal army. + +A battle was thus clearly about to be forced upon the Southern +commander, and it only remained for him to so manoeuvre his army as to +secure a position in which he could receive the enemy's attack with +advantage. Lee accordingly put his column in motion across the +mountain toward Gettysburg, and, sending couriers to Ewell and Early +to return from Harrisburg and York toward the same point, made his +preparations to take position and fight. + +On the morning of the 1st day of July, this was then the condition of +affairs. General Meade was advancing with rapidity upon the town +of Gettysburg, and Lee was crossing the South Mountain, opposite +Chambersburg, to meet him. + +When the heads of the two columns came together in the vicinity of +Gettysburg, the thunders of battle began. + + + + +XV. + +THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHT AT GETTYSBURG. + + +The sanguinary struggle which now ensued between the Army of Northern +Virginia and the Army of the Potomac continued for three days, and the +character of these battles, together with their decisive results, have +communicated to the events an extraordinary interest. Every fact has +thus been preserved, and the incidents of the great combat, down to +the most minute details, have been placed upon record. The subject is, +indeed, almost embarrassed by the amount of information collected and +published; and the chief difficulty for a writer, at this late day, is +to select from the mass such salient events as indicate clearly the +character of the conflict. + +This difficulty the present writer has it in his power to evade, +in great measure, by confining himself mainly to the designs and +operations of General Lee. These were plain and simple. He had been +forced to relinquish his march toward the Susquehanna by the dangerous +position of General Meade so near his line of retreat; this rendered +a battle unavoidable; and Lee was now moving to accept battle, +designing, if possible, to secure such a position as would give him +the advantage in the contest. Before he succeeded in effecting this +object, battle was forced upon him--not by General Meade, but by +simple stress of circumstances. The Federal commander had formed the +same intention as that of his adversary--to accept, and not deliver, +battle--and did not propose to fight near Gettysburg. He was, rather, +looking backward to a strong position in the direction of Westminster, +when suddenly the head of his column became engaged near Gettysburg, +and this determined every thing. + +A few words are necessary to convey to the reader some idea of the +character of the ground. Gettysburg is a town, nestling down in a +valley, with so many roads centring in the place that, if a circle +were drawn around it to represent the circumference of a wheel, the +roads would resemble the spokes. A short distance south of the town is +a ridge of considerable height, which runs north and south, bending +eastward in the vicinity of Gettysburg, and describing a curve +resembling a hook. From a graveyard on this high ground it is called +Cemetery Hill, or Ridge. Opposite this ridge, looking westward, is a +second and lower range called Seminary Ridge. This extends also north +and south, passing west of Gettysburg. Still west of Seminary Ridge +are other still lower ranges, between which flows a small stream +called Willoughby Run; and beyond these, distant about ten miles, rise +the blue heights of the South Mountain. + +Across the South Mountain, by way of the village of Cashtown, Lee, on +the morning of the 1st of July, was moving steadily toward Gettysburg, +when Hill, holding the front, suddenly encountered the head of the +enemy's column in the vicinity of Willoughby Run. This consisted of +General Buford's cavalry division, which had pushed on in advance +of General Reynolds's infantry corps, the foremost infantry of the +Federal army, and now, almost before it was aware of Hill's presence, +became engaged with him. General Buford posted his horse-artillery +to meet Hill's attack, but it soon became obvious that the Federal +cavalry could not stand before the Southern infantry fire, and General +Reynolds, at about ten in the morning, hastening forward, reached +the field. An engagement immediately took place between the foremost +infantry divisions of Hill and Reynolds. A brigade of Hill's, from +Mississippi, drove back a Federal brigade, seizing upon its artillery; +but, in return, Archer's brigade was nearly surrounded, and several +hundred of the men captured. Almost immediately after this incident +the Federal forces sustained a serious loss; General Reynolds--one +of the most trusted and energetic lieutenants of General Meade--was +mortally wounded while disposing his men for action, and borne from +the field. The Federal troops continued, however, to fight with +gallantry. Some of the men were heard exclaiming, "We have come to +stay!" in reference to which, one of their officers afterward said, +"And a very large portion of them never left that ground."[1] + +[Footnote 1: General Doubleday: Report of Committee on the Conduct of +the War, Part I., p. 307.] + +Battle was now joined in earnest between the two heads of column, and +on each side reënforcements were sent forward to take part in this +unexpected encounter. Neither General Lee nor General Meade had +expected or desired it. Both had aimed, in manoeuvring their forces, +to select ground suitable for receiving instead of making an attack, +and now a blind chance seemed about to bring on a battle upon ground +unknown to both commanders. When the sound of the engagement was first +heard by Lee, he was in the rear of his troops at the headquarters +which Hill had just vacated, near Cashtown, under the South Mountain. +The firing was naturally supposed by him to indicate an accidental +collision with some body of the enemy's cavalry, and, when +intelligence reached him that Hill was engaged with the Federal +infantry, the announcement occasioned him the greatest astonishment. +General Meade's presence so near him was a circumstance completely +unknown to Lee, and certainly was not desired by him. But a small +portion of his forces were "up." Longstreet had not yet passed the +mountain, and the forces of General Ewell, although that officer +had promptly fallen back, in obedience to his orders, from the +Susquehanna, were not yet in a position to take part in the +engagement. Under these circumstances, if the whole of General Meade's +army had reached Gettysburg, directly in Lee's front, the advantage in +the approaching action must be largely in favor of the Federal army, +and a battle might result in a decisive Confederate defeat. + +No choice, however, was now left General Lee. The head of his +advancing column had come into collision with the enemy, and it was +impossible to retire without a battle. Lee accordingly ordered Hill's +corps to be closed up, and reënforcements to be sent forward rapidly +to the point of action. He then mounted his horse and rode in the +direction of the firing, guided by the sound, and the smoke which rose +above the tranquil landscape. + +It was a beautiful day and a beautiful season of the year. The fields +were green with grass, or golden with ripening grain, over which +passed a gentle breeze, raising waves upon the brilliant surface. The +landscape was broken here and there by woods; in the west rose the +blue range of the South Mountain; the sun was shining through showery +clouds, and in the east the sky was spanned by a rainbow. This +peaceful scene was now disturbed by the thundering of artillery and +the rattle of musketry. The sky was darkened, here and there, by +clouds of smoke rising from barns or dwelling-houses set on fire by +shell; and beneath rose red tongues of flame, roaring in response to +the guns. + +Each side had now sent forward reinforcements to support the +vanguards, and an obstinate struggle ensued, the proportions of the +fight gradually increasing, until the action became a regular battle. +Hill, although suffering from indisposition, which the pallor of his +face indicated, met the Federal attack with his habitual resolution. +He was hard pressed, however, when fortunately one of General Ewell's +divisions, under Rodes, débouched from the Carlisle road, running +northward from Gettysburg, and came to his assistance. Ewell had just +begun to move from Carlisle toward Harrisburg--his second division, +under Early, being at York--when a dispatch from Lee reached him, +directing him to return, and "proceed to Gettysburg or Cashtown, as +his circumstances might direct." He promptly obeyed, encamped within +about eight miles of Gettysburg on the evening of the 30th, and was +now moving toward Cashtown, where Johnson's division of his corps then +was, when Hill sent him word that he needed his assistance. Rodes was +promptly sent forward to the field of action. Early was ordered to +hurry back, and Rodes soon reached the battle-field, where he formed +his line on high ground, opposite the Federal right. + +The appearance of this important reënforcement relieved Hill, and +caused the enemy to extend his right to face Rodes. The Federal line +thus resembled a crescent, the left half, fronting Hill, toward the +northwest; and the right, half-fronting Rodes, toward the north--the +town of Gettysburg being in rear of the curve. An obstinate attack was +made by the enemy and by Rodes at nearly the same moment. The loss +on both sides was heavy, but Rodes succeeded in shaking the Federal +right, when Early made his appearance from the direction of York. This +compelled the Federal force to still farther extend its right, to meet +the new attack. The movement greatly weakened them. Rodes charged +their centre with impetuosity; Early came in on their right, with +Gordon's brigade in front, and under this combined attack the Federal +troops gave way, and retreated in great disorder to and through +Gettysburg, leaving the ground covered with their dead and wounded to +the number of about five thousand, and the same number of prisoners in +the hands of the Confederates. + +The first collision of the two armies had thus resulted in a clear +Southern victory, and it is to be regretted that this important +success was not followed up by the seizure of the Cemetery Range, +south of the town, which it was in the power of the Southern forces +at that time to do. To whom the blame--if blame there be--of this +failure, is justly chargeable, the writer of these pages is unable to +state. All that he has been able to ascertain with certainty is the +following: As soon as the Federal forces gave way, General Lee rode +forward, and at about four o'clock in the afternoon was posted on an +elevated point of Seminary Ridge, from which he could see the broken +lines of the enemy rapidly retreating up the slope of Cemetery Range, +in his front. The propriety of pursuit, with a view to seizing this +strong position, was obvious, and General Lee sent an officer of his +staff with a message to General Ewell, to the effect that "he could +see the enemy flying, that they were disorganized, and that it was +only necessary to push on vigorously, and the Cemetery heights were +ours." [Footnote: The officer who carried the order is our authority +for this statement.] Just about the moment, it would seem, when this +order was dispatched--about half-past four--General Hill, who had +joined Lee on the ridge, "received a message from General Ewell, +requesting him (Hill) to press the enemy in front, while he performed +the same operation on his right." This statement is taken from the +journal of Colonel Freemantle, who was present and noted the hour. He +adds: "The pressure was accordingly applied, in a mild degree, but the +enemy were too strongly posted, and it was too late in the evening +for a regular attack." General Ewell, an officer of great courage and +energy, is said to have awaited the arrival of his third division +(Johnson's) before making a decisive assault. Upon the arrival of +Johnson, about sunset, General Ewell prepared to advance and seize +upon the eastern terminus of the Cemetery Range, which commanded the +subsequent Federal position. At this moment General Lee sent him word +to "proceed with his troops to the [Confederate] right, in case he +could do nothing where he was;" he proceeded to General Lee's tent +thereupon to confer with him, and the result was that it was agreed +to first assault the hill on the right. It was now, however, after +midnight, and the attack was directed by Lee to be deferred until the +next morning. + +It was certainly unfortunate that the advance was not then made; but +Lee, in his report, attributes no blame to any one. "The attack," +he says, "was not pressed that afternoon, _the enemy's force being +unknown, and it being considered advisable to await the arrival of the +rest of our troops._" + +The failure to press the enemy immediately after their retreat, with +the view of driving them from and occupying Cemetery Heights, is +susceptible of an explanation which seems to retrieve the Southern +commander and his subordinates from serious criticism. The Federal +forces had been driven from the ground north and west of Gettysburg, +but it was seen now that the troops thus defeated constituted only +a small portion of General Meade's army, and Lee had no means of +ascertaining, with any degree of certainty, that the main body was not +near at hand. The fact was not improbable, and it was not known that +Cemetery Hill was not then in their possession. The wooded character +of the ground rendered it difficult for General Lee, even from his +elevated position on Seminary Ridge, to discover whether the heights +opposite were, or were not, held by a strong force. Infantry were +visible there; and in the plain in front the cavalry of General Buford +were drawn up, as though ready to accept battle. It was not until +after the battle that it was known that the heights might have been +seized upon--General Hancock, who had succeeded Reynolds, having, to +defend them, but a single brigade. This fact was not known to Lee; the +sun was now declining, and the advance upon Cemetery Hill was deferred +until the next day. + +When on the next morning, between daybreak and sunrise, General Lee, +accompanied by Hill, Longstreet, and Hood, ascended to the same point +on Seminary Ridge, and reconnoitred the opposite heights through his +field-glass, they were seen to be occupied by heavy lines of infantry +and numerous artillery. The moment had passed; the rampart in his +front bristled with bayonets and cannon. General Hancock, in command +of the Federal advance, had hastened back at nightfall to General +Meade, who was still some distance in rear, and reported the position +to be an excellent one for receiving the Southern attack. Upon this +information General Meade had at once acted; by one o'clock in the +morning his headquarters were established upon the ridge; and when +Lee, on Seminary Hill opposite, was reconnoitring the heights, the +great bulk of the Federal army was in position to receive his assault. + +The adversaries were thus face to face, and a battle could not well +be avoided. Lee and his troops were in high spirits and confident of +victory, but every advantage of position was seen to be on the side of +the enemy. + + + + +XVI. + +THE TWO ARMIES IN POSITION. + + +The morning of the 2d of July had arrived, and the two armies were in +presence of each other and ready for battle. The question was, which +of the great adversaries would make the attack. + +General Meade was as averse to assuming the offensive as his opponent. +Lee's statement on this subject has been given, but is here repeated: +"It had not been intended to fight a general battle," he wrote, "at +such a distance from our base, _unless attacked by the enemy_." +General Meade said before the war committee afterward, "It was my +desire to fight a defensive rather than an offensive battle," and he +adds the obvious explanation, that he was "satisfied his chances of +success were greater in a defensive battle than an offensive one." +There was this great advantage, however, on the Federal side, that +the troops were on their own soil, with their communications +uninterrupted, and could wait, while General Lee was in hostile +territory, a considerable distance from his base of supplies, and +must, for that reason, either attack his adversary or retreat. + +He decided to attack. To this decision he seems to have been impelled, +in large measure, by the extraordinary spirit of his troops, whose +demeanor in the subsequent struggle was said by a Federal officer +to resemble that of men "drunk on champagne." General Longstreet +described the army at this moment as able, from the singular afflatus +which bore it up, to undertake "any thing," and this sanguine spirit +was the natural result of a nearly unbroken series of victories. At +Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and in the preliminary struggle of +Gettysburg, they had driven the enemy before them in disorder, and, on +the night succeeding this last victory, both officers and men spoke of +the coming battle "as a certainty, and the universal feeling in the +army was one of profound contempt for an enemy whom they had beaten so +constantly, and under so many disadvantages."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Colonel Freemantle. He was present, and speaks from +observation.] Contempt of an adversary is dangerous, and pride goes +before a fall. The truth of these pithy adages was now about to be +shown. + +General Lee, it is said, shared the general confidence of his troops, +and was carried away by it. He says in his report "Finding ourselves +unexpectedly confronted by the Federal army, it became a matter of +difficulty to withdraw through the mountain with our large trains; at +the same time, the country was unfavorable for collecting supplies +while in the presence of the enemy's main body, as he was enabled to +restrain our foraging-parties by occupying the passes of the mountains +with regular and local troops. A battle thus became in a measure +unavoidable." But, even after the battle, when the Southern army +was much weaker, it was found possible, without much difficulty, to +"withdraw through the mountains" with the trains. A stronger motive +than this is stated in the next sentence of General Lee's report:" +_Encouraged by the successful issue of the engagement of the first +day, and in view of the valuable results that would ensue from the +defeat of the army of General Meade_, it was thought advisable to +renew the attack." The meaning of the writer of these words is plain. +The Federal troops had been defeated with little difficulty in the +first day's fight; it seemed probable that a more serious conflict +would have similar results; and a decisive victory promised to end the +war. + +General Meade, it seems, scarcely expected to be attacked. He +anticipated a movement on Lee's part, over the Emmetsburg road +southward. [Footnote: Testimony of General Meade before the war +committee.] By giving that direction to his army, General Lee would +have forced his adversary to retire from his strong position on +Cemetery Hill, or come out and attack him; whether, however, it was +desirable on General Lee's part to run the risk of such an attack on +the Southern column _in transitu_, it is left to others better able +than the present writer to determine. + +This unskilled comment must pass for what it is worth. It is easy, +after the event, for the smallest to criticise the greatest. Under +whatever influences, General Lee determined not to retreat, either +through the South Mountain or toward Emmetsburg, but marshalled his +army for an attack on the position held by General Meade. + +The Southern lines were drawn up on Seminary Ridge, and on the ground +near Gettysburg. Longstreet's corps was posted on the right, opposite +the Federal left, near the southern end of Cemetery Ridge. Next came +Hill's corps, extending along the crest nearly to Gettysburg. There +it was joined by Ewell's line, which, passing through the town, bent +round, adapting itself to the position of the Federal right which held +the high ground, curving round in the shape of a hook, at the north +end of the ridge. + +The Federal lines thus occupied the whole Cemetery Range--which, being +higher, commanded Seminary Ridge--and consisted, counting from right +to left, of the troops of Generals Howard, Hancock, Sickles, Sykes, +and Sedgwick; the two latter forming a strong reserve to guard the +Federal left. The position was powerful, as both flanks rested upon +high ground, which gave every advantage to the assailed party; but on +the Federal left an accidental error, it seems, had been committed by +General Sickles. He had advanced his line to a ridge in front of the +main range, which appeared to afford him a better position; but this +made it necessary to retire the left wing of his corps, to cover the +opening in that direction. The result was, an angle--the effect +of which is to expose troops to serious danger--and this faulty +disposition of the Federal left seems to have induced General Lee to +direct his main attack at the point in question, with the view of +breaking the Federal line, and seizing upon the main ridge in rear. +"In front of General Longstreet," he says, "the enemy held a position +from which, if he could be driven, it was thought that our army could +be used to advantage in assailing the more elevated ground beyond." In +order to coöperate in this, the main attack, Ewell was ordered at the +same time to assail the Federal right toward Gettysburg, and Hill +directed to threaten their centre, and, if there were an opening, make +a real attack. These demonstrations against the enemy's right and +centre, Lee anticipated, would prevent him from reënforcing his left. +Longstreet would thus, he hoped, be "enabled to reach the west of the +ridge" in rear of the Federal line; and General Meade afterward said, +"If they had succeeded in occupying that, it would have prevented +me from holding any of the ground which I subsequently held at the +last"--that is to say, that he would have been driven from the entire +Cemetery Range. + +Such was the position of the two adversaries, and such the design of +Lee, on the 2d of July, when the real struggle was about to begin. + + + + +XVII. + +THE SECOND DAY. + + +Throughout the forenoon of the day about to witness one of those great +passages of arms which throw so bloody a glare upon the pages of +history, scarcely a sound disturbed the silence, and it was difficult +to believe that nearly two hundred thousand men were watching each +other across the narrow valley, ready at the word to advance and do +their best to tear each other to pieces. + +During all these long hours, when expectation and suspense were +sufficient to try the stoutest nerves, the two commanders were +marshalling their lines for the obstinate struggle which was plainly +at hand. General Meade, who knew well the ability of his opponent, was +seeing, in person, to every thing, and satisfying himself that +his lines were in order to receive the attack. Lee was making his +preparations to commence the assault, upon which, there could be +little doubt, the event of the whole war depended. + +From the gallantry which the Federal troops displayed in this battle, +they must have been in good heart for the encounter. It is certain +that the Southern army had never been in better condition for a +decisive conflict. We have spoken of the extraordinary confidence +of the men, in themselves and in their commander. This feeling now +exhibited itself either in joyous laughter and the spirit of jesting +among the troops, or in an air of utter indifference, as of men sure +of the result, and giving it scarcely a thought. The swarthy gunners, +still begrimed with powder from the work of the day before, lay down +around the cannon in position along the crest, and passed the moments +in uttering witticisms, or in slumber; and the lines of infantry, +seated or lying, musket in hand, were as careless. The army was +plainly ready, and would respond with alacrity to Lee's signal. Of the +result, no human being in this force of more than seventy thousand men +seemed to have the least doubt. + +Lee was engaged during the whole morning and until past noon in +maturing his preparations for the assault which he designed making +against the enemy's left in front of Longstreet. All was not ready +until about four in the afternoon; then he gave the word, and +Longstreet suddenly opened a heavy artillery-fire on the position +opposite him. At this signal the guns of Hill opened from the ridge +on his left, and Ewell's artillery on the Southern left in front of +Gettysburg thundered in response. Under cover of his cannon-fire, +Longstreet then advanced his lines, consisting of Hood's division on +the right, and McLawe's division on the left, and made a headlong +assault upon the Federal forces directly in his front. + +The point aimed at was the salient, formed by the projection of +General Sickles's line forward to the high ground known as "The Peach +Orchard." Here, as we have already said, the Federal line of battle +formed an angle, with the left wing of Sickles's corps bending +backward so as to cover the opening between his line and the main +crest in his rear. Hood's division swung round to assail the portion +of the line thus retired, and so rapid was the movement of this +energetic soldier, that in a short space of time he pushed his right +beyond the Federal left flank, had pierced the exposed point, and was +in direct proximity to the much-coveted "crest of the ridge," upon the +possession of which depended the fate of the battle. Hood was fully +aware of its importance, and lost not a moment in advancing to seize +it. His troops, largely composed of those famous Texas regiments which +Lee had said "fought grandly and nobly," and upon whom he relied "in +all tight places," responded to his ardent orders: a small run was +crossed, the men rushed up the slope, and the crest was almost in +their very grasp. + +Success at this moment would have decided the event of the battle +of Gettysburg, and in all probability that of the war. All that was +needed was a single brigade upon either side--a force sufficient to +seize the crest, for neither side held it--and with this brigade a +rare good fortune, or rather the prompt energy of a single officer, +according to Northern historians, supplied the Federal commander. +Hood's line was rushing up with cheers to occupy the crest, which here +takes the form of a separate peak, and is known as "Little Round Top," +when General Warren, chief-engineer of the army, who was passing, saw +the importance of the position, and determined, at all hazards, to +defend it. He accordingly ordered the Federal signal-party, which had +used the peak as a signal-station, but were hastily folding up their +flags, to remain where they were, laid violent hands upon a brigade +which was passing, and ordered it to occupy the crest; and, when +Hood's men rushed up the rocky slope with yells of triumph, they were +suddenly met by a fusillade from the newly-arrived brigade, delivered +full in their faces. A violent struggle ensued for the possession of +the heights. The men fought hand to hand on the summit, and the issue +remained for some time doubtful. At last it was decided in favor of +the Federal troops, who succeeded in driving Hood's men from the hill, +the summit of which was speedily crowned with artillery, which opened +a destructive fire upon the retreating Southerners. They fell back +sullenly, leaving the ground strewed with their dead and wounded. Hood +had been wounded, and many of his best officers had fallen. For an +instant he had grasped in his strong hand the prize which would have +been worth ten times the amount of blood shed; but he had been unable +to retain his hold; he was falling back from the coveted crest, +pursued by that roar of the enemy's cannon which seemed to rejoice in +his discomfiture. + +An obstinate struggle was meanwhile taking place in the vicinity of +the Peach Orchard, where the left of Hood and the division of McLaws +had struck the front of General Sickles, and were now pressing his +line back steadily toward the ridge in his rear. In spite of resolute +resistance the Federal troops at this point were pushed back to a +wheat-field in the rear of the Peach Orchard, and, following up this +advantage, Longstreet charged them and broke their line, which fell +back in disorder toward the high ground in rear. In this attack McLaws +was assisted by Hill's right division--that of Anderson. With this +force Longstreet continued to press forward, and, piercing the Federal +line, seemed about to inflict upon them a great disaster by seizing +the commanding position occupied by the Federal left. Nothing appears +to have saved them at this moment from decisive defeat but the +masterly concentration of reënforcements after reënforcements at the +point of danger. The heavy reserves under Generals Sykes and Sedgwick +were opposite this point, and other troops were hastened forward to +oppose Longstreet. This reënforcement was continuous throughout the +entire afternoon. In spite of Lee's demonstrations in other quarters +to direct attention, General Meade--driven by necessity--continued to +move fresh troops incessantly to protect his left; and success finally +came as the reward of his energy and soldiership. Longstreet found his +weary troops met at every new step in advance by fresh lines, and, as +night had now come, he discontinued the attack. The Federal lines had +been driven considerably beyond the point which they had held before +the assault, and were now east of the wheat-field, where some of the +hardest fighting of the day had taken place, but, in spite of this +loss of ground, they had suffered no serious disaster, and, above +all, Lee had not seized upon that "crest of the ridge," which was the +keystone of the position. + +Thus Longstreet's attack had been neither a success nor a failure. He +had not accomplished all that was expected, but he had driven back the +enemy from their advanced position, and held strong ground in their +front. A continuance of the assault was therefore deferred until the +next day--night having now come--and General Longstreet ordered the +advance to cease, and the firing to be discontinued. + +During the action on the right, Hill had continued to make heavy +demonstrations on the Federal centre, and Ewell had met with excellent +success in the attack, directed by Lee, to be made against the enemy's +right. This was posted upon the semicircular eminence, a little +southeast of Gettysburg, and the Federal works were attacked by Ewell +about sunset. With Early's division on his right, and Johnson's on +his left, Ewell advanced across the open ground in face of a heavy +artillery-fire, the men rushed up the slope, and in a brief space of +time the Federal artillerists and infantry were driven from the works, +which at nightfall remained in Ewell's hands. + +Such had been the fate of the second struggle around Gettysburg. The +moon, which rose just as the fighting terminated, threw its ghastly +glare upon a field where neither side had achieved full success. + +Lee had not failed, and he had not succeeded. He had aimed to drive +the Federal forces from the Cemetery Range, and had not been able to +effect that object; but they had been forced back upon both their +right and left, and a substantial advantage seemed thus to have been +gained. That the Confederate success was not complete, seems to have +resulted from the failure to seize the Round-Top Hill. The crisis +of the battle had undoubtedly been the moment when Hood was so near +capturing this position--in reference to the importance of which we +quoted General Meade's own words. It was saved to the Federal army by +the presence of mind, it seems, of a single officer, and the gallantry +of a single brigade. Such are the singular chances of battle, in which +the smallest causes so often effect the greatest results. + +General Lee, in company with General Hill, had, during the battle, +occupied his former position on Seminary Ridge, near the centre of his +line--quietly seated, for the greater portion of the time, upon the +stump of a tree, and looking thoughtfully toward the opposite heights +which Longstreet was endeavoring to storm. His demeanor was entirely +calm and composed. An observer would not have concluded that he was +the commander-in-chief. From time to time he raised his field-glass to +his eyes, and rising said a few words to General Hill or General Long, +of his staff. After this brief colloquy, he would return to his seat +on the stump, and continue to direct his glass toward the wooded +heights held by the enemy. A notable circumstance, and one often +observed upon other occasions, was that, during the entire action, he +scarcely sent an order. During the time Longstreet was engaged--from +about half-past four until night--he sent but one message, and +received but one report. Having given full directions to his able +lieutenants, and informed them of the objects which he desired to +attain, he, on this occasion as upon others, left the execution of his +orders to them, relying upon their judgment and ability. + +A singular incident occurred at this moment, which must have diverted +Lee, temporarily, from his abstracted mood. In the midst of the most +furious part of the cannonade, when the air was filled with exploding +shell, a Confederate band of music, between the opposing lines, just +below General Lee's position, began defiantly playing polkas and +waltzes on their instruments. The incident was strange in the midst +of such a hurly-burly. The bloody battle-field seemed turned into a +ballroom. + +With nightfall the firing sunk to silence. The moon had risen, and the +pale light now lit up the faces of the dead and wounded of both sides. + +Lee's first great assault had failed to secure the full results which +he had anticipated from it. + + + + +XVIII. + +THE LAST CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. + + +The weird hours of the moonlit night succeeding the "second day at +Gettysburg" witnessed a consultation between Lee and his principal +officers, as to the propriety of renewing the attack on the Federal +position, or falling back in the direction of the Potomac. In favor of +the latter course there seemed to be many good reasons. The supplies, +both of provisions and ammunition, were running short. The army, +although unshaken, had lost heavily in the obstinately-disputed +attack. In the event of defeat now, its situation might become +perilous, and the destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia was +likely to prove that of the Southern cause. On the other hand, the +results of the day's fighting, if not decisive, had been highly +encouraging. On both the Federal wings the Confederates had gained +ground, which they still held. Longstreet's line was in advance of the +Peach Orchard, held by the enemy on the morning of the second, +and Ewell was still rooted firmly, it seemed, in their works near +Gettysburg. These advantages were certainly considerable, and promised +success to the Southern arms, if the assault were renewed. But the +most weighty consideration prompting a renewal of the attack was the +condition of the troops. They were undismayed and unshaken either in +spirit or efficiency, and were known both to expect and to desire +a resumption of the assault. Even after the subsequent charge of +Pickett, which resulted so disastrously, the ragged infantry were +heard exclaiming: "We've not lost confidence in the old man! This +day's work won't do him no harm! Uncle Robert will get us into +Washington yet!" Add to this the fact that the issue of the second day +had stirred up in Lee himself all the martial ardor of his nature; +and there never lived a more thorough _soldier_, when he was fully +aroused, than the Virginian. All this soldiership of the man revolted +at the thought of retreating and abandoning his great enterprise. He +looked, on the one hand, at his brave army, ready at the word to again +advance upon the enemy--at that enemy scarce able on the previous +day to hold his position--and, weighing every circumstance in his +comprehensive mind, which "looked before and after," Lee determined on +the next morning to try a decisive assault upon the Federal troops; +to storm, if possible, the Cemetery Range, and at one great blow +terminate the campaign and the war. + +The powerful influences which we have mentioned, coöperating, shaped +the decision to which Lee had come. He would not retreat, but fight. +The campaign should not be abandoned without at least one great charge +upon the Federal position; and orders were now given for a renewal +of the attack on the next morning. "The general plan of attack," Lee +says, "was unchanged, except that one division and two brigades of +Hill's corps were ordered to support Longstreet." From these words it +is obvious that Lee's main aim now, as on the preceding day, was to +force back the Federal left in front of Longstreet, and seize the high +ground commanding the whole ridge in flank and reverse. To this +end Longstreet was reënforced, and the great assault was evidently +intended to take place in that quarter. But circumstances caused +an alteration, as will be seen, in Lee's plans. The centre, thus +weakened, was from stress of events to become the point of decisive +struggle. The assaults of the previous day had been directed against +the two extremities of the enemy; the assault of the third day, which +would decide the fate of the battle and the campaign, was to be the +furious rush of Pickett's division of Virginian troops at the enemy's +centre, on Cemetery Hill. + +A preliminary conflict, brought on by the Federal commander, took +place early in the morning. Ewell had continued throughout the night +to hold the enemy's breastworks on their right, from which he had +driven them in the evening. As dawn approached now, he was about to +resume the attack; and, in obedience to Lee's orders, attempt to +"dislodge the enemy" from other parts of the ridge, when General Meade +took the initiative, and opened upon him a furious fire of cannon, +which was followed by a determined infantry charge to regain the hill. +Ewell held his ground with the obstinate nerve which characterized +him, and the battle raged about four hours--that is, until about eight +o'clock. At that time, however, the pressure of the enemy became too +heavy to stand. General Meade succeeded in driving Ewell from the +hill, and the Federal lines were reëstablished on the commanding +ground which they had previously occupied. + +This event probably deranged, in some degree, General Lee's +plans, which contemplated, as we have seen, an attack by Ewell +contemporaneous with the main assault by Longstreet. Ewell was in no +condition at this moment to assume the offensive again; and the pause +in the fighting appears to have induced General Lee to reflect and +modify his plans. Throughout the hours succeeding the morning's +struggle, Lee, attended by Generals Hill and Longstreet, and their +staff-officers, rode along the lines, reconnoitring the opposite +heights, and the cavalcade was more than once saluted by bullets from +the enemy's sharp-shooters, and an occasional shell. The result of +the reconnoissance seems to have been the conclusion that the Federal +left--now strengthened by breastworks, behind which powerful reserves +lay waiting--was not a favorable point for attack. General Meade, +no doubt, expected an assault there; and, aroused to a sense of his +danger by the Confederate success of the previous day, had made every +preparation to meet a renewal of the movement. The Confederate left +and centre remained, but it seemed injudicious to think of attacking +from Ewell's position. A concentration of the Southern force there +would result in a dangerous separation of the two wings of the army; +and, in the event of failure, the enemy would have no difficulty in +descending and turning Lee's right flank, and thus interposing between +him and the Potomac. + +The centre only was left, and to this Lee now turned his attention. A +determined rush, with a strong column at Cemetery Hill in his front, +might wrest that point from the enemy. Then their line would be +pierced; the army would follow; Lee would be rooted on this commanding +ground, directly between the two Federal wings, upon which their own +guns might be turned, and the defeat of General Meade must certainly +follow. Such were, doubtless, the reflections of General Lee, as he +rode along the Seminary Range, scanning, through his field-glass, the +line of the Federal works. His decision was made, and orders were +given by him to prepare the column for the assault. For the hard +work at hand, Pickett's division of Virginian troops, which had just +arrived and were fresh, was selected. These were to be supported by +Heth's division of North Carolina troops, under General Pettigrew, who +was to move on Pickett's left; and a brigade of Hill's, under General +Wilcox, was to cover the right of the advancing column, and protect it +from a flank attack. + +The advance of the charging column was preceded by a tremendous +artillery-fire, directed from Seminary Ridge at the enemy's left and +centre. This began about an hour past noon, and the amount of thunder +thus unloosed will be understood from the statement that Lee employed +one hundred and forty-five pieces of artillery, and the enemy +replied with eighty--in all _two hundred and twenty-five_ guns, all +discharging at the same time. For nearly two hours this frightful +hurly-burly continued, the harsh roar reverberating ominously in the +gorges of the hills, and thrown back, in crash after crash, from the +rocky slopes of the two ridges. To describe this fire afterward, +the cool soldier, General Hancock, could find no other but the word +_terrific_. "Their artillery-fire," he says, "was the most terrific +cannonade I ever witnessed, and the most prolonged.... It was a +most terrific and appalling cannonade--one possibly hardly ever +paralleled." + +While this artillery-duel was in progress, the charging column was +being formed on the west of Seminary Ridge, opposite the Federal +centre on Cemetery Hill. Pickett drew up his line with Kemper's and +Garnett's brigades in front, and Armistead's brigade in rear. The +brigade under General Wilcox took position on the right, and on the +left was placed the division under Pettigrew, which was to participate +in the charge. The force numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand +men; but, as will be seen, nearly in the beginning of the action +Pickett was left alone, and thus his force of about five thousand was +all that went forward to pierce the centre of the Federal army. + +The opposing ridges at this point are about one mile asunder, and +across this space Pickett moved at the word, his line advancing +slowly, and perfectly "dressed," with its red battle-flags flying, and +the sunshine darting from the gun-barrels and bayonets. The two armies +were silent, concentrating their whole attention upon this slow and +ominous advance of men who seemed in no haste, and resolved to allow +nothing to arrest them. When the column had reached a point about +midway between the opposing heights the Federal artillery suddenly +opened a furious fire upon them, which inflicted considerable loss. +This, however, had no effect upon the troops, who continued to advance +slowly in the same excellent order, without exhibiting any desire +to return the fire. It was impossible to witness this steady and +well-ordered march under heavy fire without feeling admiration for the +soldiership of the troops who made it. Where shell tore gaps in the +ranks, the men quietly closed up, and the hostile front advanced in +the same ominous silence toward the slope where the real struggle, all +felt, would soon begin. + +They were within a few hundred yards of the hill, when suddenly a +rapid cannon-fire thundered on their right, and shell and canister +from nearly fifty pieces of artillery swept the Southern line, +enfilading it, and for an instant throwing the right into some +disorder. This disappeared at once, however. The column closed up, and +continued to advance, unmoved, toward the height. At last the moment +came. The steady "common-time" step had become "quick time;" this had +changed to "double-quick;" then the column rushed headlong at the +enemy's breastworks on the slope of the hill. As they did so, the real +thunder began. A fearful fire of musketry burst forth, and struck them +in the face, and this hurricane scattered the raw troops of Pettigrew +as leaves are scattered by a wind. That whole portion of the line gave +way in disorder, and fled from the field, which was strewed with their +dead; and, as the other supports had not kept up, the Virginians under +Pickett were left alone to breast the tempest which had now burst upon +them in all its fury. + +They returned the fire from the breastworks in their front with a +heavy volley, and then, with loud cheers, dashed at the enemy's works, +which they reached, stormed, and took possession of at the point of +the bayonet. Their loss, however, was frightful. Garnett was killed; +Armistead fell, mortally wounded, as he leaped on the breastworks, +cheering and waving his hat; Kemper was shot and disabled, and the +ranks of the Virginians were thinned to a handful. The men did not, +however, pause. The enemy had partially retreated, from their first +line of breastworks, to a second and stronger one about sixty yards +beyond, and near the crest; and here the Federal reserve, as Northern +writers state, was drawn up "four deep." This line, bristling with +bayonets and cannon, the Virginians now charged, in the desperate +attempt to storm it with the bayonet, and pierce, in a decisive +manner, the centre of the Federal army. But the work was too great +for their powers. As they made their brave rush they were met by a +concentrated fire full in their faces, and on both flanks at the +same moment. This fire did not so much cause them to lose heart, as +literally hurl them back. Before it the whole charging column seemed +to melt and disappear. The bravest saw now that further fighting was +useless--that the works in their front could not be stormed--and, with +the frightful fire of the enemy still tearing their lines to pieces, +the poor remnants of the brave division retreated from the hill. As +they fell back, sullenly, like bull-dogs from whom their prey had been +snatched just as it was in their grasp, the enemy pursued them with a +destructive fire both of cannon and musketry, which mowed down large +numbers, if large numbers, indeed, can be said to have been left. +The command had been nearly annihilated. Three generals, fourteen +field-officers, and three-fourths of the men, were dead, wounded, or +prisoners. The Virginians had done all that could be done by soldiers. +They had advanced undismayed into the focus of a fire unsurpassed, +perhaps, in the annals of war; had fought bayonet to bayonet; had left +the ground strewed with their dead; and the small remnant who +survived were now sullenly retiring, unsubdued; and, if repulsed, not +"whipped." + +Such was the last great charge at Gettysburg. Lee had concentrated in +it all his strength, it seemed. When it failed, the battle and the +campaign failed with it. + +[Illustration: Lee at Gettysburg.] + + + + +XIX. + +LEE AFTER THE CHARGE. + + +The demeanor of General Lee at this moment, when his hopes were all +reversed, and his last great blow at the enemy had failed, excited the +admiration of all who witnessed it, and remains one of the greatest +glories of his memory. + +Seeing, from his place on Seminary Ridge, the unfortunate results +of the attack, he mounted his horse and rode forward to meet and +encourage the retreating troops. The air was filled with exploding +shell, and the men were coming back without order. General Lee now met +them, and with his staff-officers busied himself in rallying them, +uttering as he did so words of hope and encouragement. Colonel +Freemantle, who took particular notice of him at this moment, +describes his conduct as "perfectly sublime." "Lee's countenance," he +adds, "did not show signs of the slightest disappointment, care, or +annoyance," but preserved the utmost placidity and cheerfulness. The +hurry and confusion of the scene seemed not to move him in any manner, +and he rode slowly to and fro, saying in his grave, kindly voice to +the men: "All this will come right in the end. We'll talk it over +afterward, but in the mean time all good men must rally. We want all +good and true men just now." + +Numbers of wounded passed him, some stretched on litters, which men +wearing the red badge of the ambulance corps were bearing to the rear, +others limping along bleeding from hurts more or less serious. To the +badly wounded Lee uttered words of sympathy and kindness; to those +but slightly injured, he said: "Come, bind up your wound and take a +musket," adding "my friend," as was his habit. + +An evidence of his composure and absence of flurry was presented by a +slight incident. An officer near him was striking his horse violently +for becoming frightened and unruly at the bursting of a shell, when +General Lee, seeing that the horse was terrified and the punishment +would do no good, said, in tones of friendly remonstrance: "Don't +whip him, captain, don't whip him. I've got just such a foolish horse +myself, and whipping does no good." + +Meanwhile the men continued to stream back, pursued still by that +triumphant roar of the enemy's artillery which swept the whole valley +and slope of Seminary Ridge with shot and shell. Lee was everywhere +encouraging them, and they responded by taking off their hats and +cheering him--even the wounded joining in this ceremony. Although +exposing himself with entire indifference to the heavy fire, he +advised Colonel Freemantle, as that officer states, to shelter +himself, saying: "This has been a sad day for us, colonel, a sad day. +But we can't expect always to gain victories." + +As he was thus riding about in the fringe of woods, General Wilcox, +who, about the time of Pickett's repulse, had advanced and speedily +been thrown back with loss, rode up and said, almost sobbing as he +spoke, that his brigade was nearly destroyed. Lee held out his hand to +him as he was speaking, and, grasping the hand of his subordinate in +a friendly manner, replied with great gentleness and kindness: "Never +mind, general, all this has been _my_ fault. It is _I_ who have lost +this fight, and you must help me out of it in the best way you can." + +This supreme calmness and composure in the commander-in-chief rapidly +communicated itself to the troops, who soon got together again, and +lay down quietly in line of battle in the fringe of woods along the +crest of the ridge, where Lee placed them as they came up. In front of +them the guns used in the great cannonade were still in position, and +Lee was evidently making every preparation in his power for the highly +probable event of an instant assault upon him in his disordered +condition, by the enemy. It was obvious that the situation of affairs +at the moment was such as to render such an attack highly perilous to +the Southern troops--and a sudden cheering which was now heard running +along the lines of the enemy on the opposite heights, seemed clearly +to indicate that their forces were moving. Every preparation possible +under the circumstances was made to meet the anticipated assault; the +repulsed troops of Pickett, like the rest of the army, were ready and +even eager for of the attack--but it did not come. The cheering was +afterward ascertained to have been simply the greeting of the men to +some one of their officers as he rode along the lines; and night fell +without any attempt on the Federal side to improve their success. + +That success was indeed sufficient, and little would have been gained, +and perhaps much perilled, by a counter-attack. Lee was not defeated, +but he had not succeeded. General Meade could, with propriety, refrain +from an attack. The battle of Gettysburg had been a Federal victory. + +Thus had ended the last great conflict of arms on Northern soil--in a +decisive if not a crushing repulse of the Southern arms. The chain of +events has been so closely followed in the foregoing pages, and the +movements of the two armies have been described with such detail, +that any further comment or illustration is unnecessary. The opposing +armies had been handled with skill and energy, the men had never +fought better, and the result seems to have been decided rather by +an occult decree of Providence than by any other circumstance. The +numbers on each side were nearly the same, or differed so slightly +that, in view of past conflicts, fought with much greater odds in +favor of the one side, they might be regarded as equal. The Southern +army when it approached Gettysburg numbered sixty-seven thousand +bayonets, and the cavalry and artillery probably made the entire force +about eighty thousand. General Meade's statement is that his own force +was about one hundred thousand. The Federal loss was twenty-three +thousand one hundred and ninety. The Southern losses were also severe, +but cannot be ascertained. They must have amounted, however, to at +least as large a number, even larger, perhaps, as an attacking army +always suffers more heavily than one that is attacked. + +What is certain, however, is that the Southern army, if diminished in +numbers and strength, was still unshaken. + + + + +XX. + +LEE'S RETREAT ACROSS THE POTOMAC. + + +Lee commenced his retreat in the direction of the Potomac on the night +of the 4th of July. That the movement did not begin earlier is the +best proof of the continued efficiency of his army and his own +willingness to accept battle if the enemy were inclined to offer it. + +After the failure of the attack on the Federal centre, he had +withdrawn Ewell from his position southeast of Gettysburg, and, +forming a continuous line of battle on Seminary Ridge, awaited the +anticipated assault of General Meade. What the result of such an +assault would have been it is impossible to say, but the theory that +an attack would have terminated in the certain rout of the Southern +army has nothing whatever to support it. The _morale_ of Lee's army +was untouched. The men, instead of being discouraged by the tremendous +conflicts of the preceding days, were irate, defiant, and ready to +resume the struggle. Foreign officers, present at the time, testify +fully upon this point, describing the demeanor of the troops as all +that could be desired in soldiers; and General Longstreet afterward +stated that, with his two divisions under Hood and McLaws, and his +powerful artillery, he was confident, had the enemy attacked, of +inflicting upon them a blow as heavy as that which they had +inflicted upon Pickett. The testimony of General Meade himself fully +corroborates these statements. When giving his evidence afterward +before the war committee, he said: + +"My opinion is, now, that General Lee evacuated that position, _not +from the fear that he would be dislodged from it by any active +operations on my part_, but that he was fearful that a force would be +sent to Harper's Ferry to cut off his communications.... That was what +caused him to retire." + +When asked the question, "Did you discover, after the battle of +Gettysburg, any symptoms of demoralization in Lee's army?" General +Meade replied, "No, sir; I saw nothing of that kind."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Report of Committee on Conduct of War, Part I., page +337.] + +There was indeed no good reason why General Lee should feel any +extreme solicitude for the safety of his army, which, after all its +losses, still numbered more than fifty thousand troops; and, with that +force of veteran combatants, experience told him, he could count upon +holding at bay almost any force which the enemy could bring against +him. At Chancellorsville, with a less number, he had nearly routed a +larger army than General Meade's. If the _morale_ of the men remained +unbroken, he had the right to feel secure now; and we have shown that +the troops were as full of fight as ever. The exclamations of the +ragged infantry, overheard by Colonel Freemantle, expressed the +sentiment of the whole army. Recoiling from the fatal charge on +Cemetery Hill, and still followed by the terrible fire, they had heart +to shout defiantly: "We've not lost confidence in the old man! This +day's work won't do him no harm! Uncle Robert will get us into +Washington yet--you bet he will!" + +Lee's reasons for retiring toward the Potomac were unconnected with +the _morale_ of his army. "The difficulty of procuring supplies," he +says, "rendered it impossible to continue longer where we were." What +he especially needed was ammunition, his supply of which had been +nearly exhausted by the three days' fighting, and it was impossible to +count upon new supplies of these essential stores now that the enemy +were in a condition to interrupt his communications in the direction +of Harper's Ferry and Williamsport. The danger to which the army was +thus exposed was soon shown not to have been overrated. General Meade +promptly sent a force to occupy Harper's Ferry, and a body of his +cavalry, hastening across the South Mountain, reached the Potomac near +Falling Waters, where they destroyed a pontoon bridge laid there for +the passage of the Southern army. + +Lee accordingly resolved to retire, and, after remaining in line of +battle on Seminary Ridge throughout the evening and night of the 3d +and the whole of the 4th, during which time he was busy burying his +dead, began to withdraw, by the Fairfield and Chambersburg roads, on +the night of this latter day. The movement was deliberate, and without +marks of haste, the rear-guard not leaving the vicinity of Gettysburg +until the morning of the 5th. Those who looked upon the Southern army +at this time can testify that the spirit of the troops was unsubdued. +They had been severely checked, but there every thing had ended. +Weary, covered with dust, with wounds whose bandages were soaked in +blood, the men tramped on in excellent spirits, and were plainly ready +to take position at the first word from Lee, and meet any attack of +the enemy with a nerve as perfect as when they had advanced. + +For the reasons stated by himself, General Meade did not attack. He +had secured substantial victory by awaiting Lee's assault on strong +ground, and was unwilling now to risk a disaster, such as he had +inflicted, by attacking Lee in position. The enthusiasm of the +authorities at Washington was not shared by the cool commander of +the Federal army. He perfectly well understood the real strength and +condition of his adversary, and seems never to have had any intention +of striking at him unless a change of circumstances gave him some +better prospect of success than he could see at that time. + +The retrograde movement of the Southern army now began, Lee's trains +retiring by way of Chambersburg, and his infantry over the Fairfield +road, in the direction of Hagerstown. General Meade at first moved +directly on the track of his enemy. The design of a "stern chase" was, +however, speedily abandoned by the Federal commander, who changed the +direction of his march and moved southward toward Frederick. When near +that point he crossed the South Mountain, went toward Sharpsburg, and +on the 12th of July found himself in front of the Southern army near +Williamsport, where Lee had formed line of battle to receive his +adversary's attack. + +The deliberate character of General Meade's movements sufficiently +indicates the disinclination he felt to place himself directly in his +opponent's front, and thus receive the full weight of his attack. +There is reason, indeed, to believe that nothing could better have +suited the views of General Meade than for Lee to have passed the +Potomac before his arrival--which event would have signified the +entire abandonment of the campaign of invasion, leaving victory on the +side of the Federal army. But the elements seemed to conspire to bring +on a second struggle, despite the reluctance of both commanders. The +recent rains had swollen the Potomac to such a degree as to render it +unfordable, and, as the pontoon near Williamsport had been destroyed +by the Federal cavalry, Lee was brought to bay on the north bank of +the river, where, on the 12th, as we have said, General Meade found +him in line of battle. + +Lee's demeanor, at this critical moment, was perfectly undisturbed, +and exhibited no traces whatever of anxiety, though he must have felt +much. In his rear was a swollen river, and in his front an adversary +who had been reënforced with a considerable body of troops, and now +largely outnumbered him. In the event of battle and defeat, the +situation of the Southern army must be perilous in the extreme. +Nothing would seem to be left it, in that event, but surrender, or +dispersion among the western mountains, where the detached bodies +would be hunted down in detail and destroyed or captured. Confidence +in himself and his men remained, however, with General Lee, and, +with his line extending from near Hagerstown to a point east of +Williamsport, he calmly awaited the falling of the river, resolved, +doubtless, if in the mean time the enemy attacked him, to fight to the +last gasp for the preservation of his army. + +No attack was made by General Meade, who, arriving in front of Lee on +the 12th, did no more, on that day, than feel along the Southern lines +for a point to assault. On the next day he assembled a council of war, +and laid the question before them, whether or not it were advisable +to make an assault. The votes of the officers were almost unanimously +against it, as Lee's position seemed strong and the spirit of his army +defiant; and the day passed without any attempt of the Federal army to +dislodge its adversary. + +While General Meade was thus hesitating, Lee was acting. A portion +of the pontoon destroyed by the enemy was recovered, new boats were +built, and a practicable bridge was completed, near Falling Waters, by +the evening of the 13th. The river had also commenced falling, and by +this time was fordable near Williamsport. Toward dawn on the 14th the +army commenced moving, in the midst of a violent rain-storm, across +the river at both points, and Lee, sitting his horse upon the river's +bank, superintended the operation, as was his habit on occasions of +emergency. Loss of rest and fatigue, with that feeling of suspense +unavoidable under the circumstances, had impaired the energies of even +his superb physical constitution. As the bulk of the rear-guard of the +army safely passed over the shaky bridge, which Lee had looked at +with some anxiety as it swayed to and fro, lashed by the current, he +uttered a sigh of relief, and a great weight seemed taken from his +shoulders. Seeing his fatigue and exhaustion. General Stuart gave him +some coffee; he drank it with avidity, and declared, as he handed back +the cup, that nothing had ever refreshed him so much. + +When General Meade, who is said to have resolved on an attack, in +spite of the opposition of his officers, looked, on the morning of the +14th, toward the position held on the previous evening by the Southern +army, he saw that the works were deserted. The Army of Northern +Virginia had vanished from the hills on which it had been posted, and +was at that moment crossing the Potomac. Pressing on its track toward +Falling Waters, the Federal cavalry came up with the rear, and in the +skirmish which ensued fell the brave Pettigrew, who had supported +Pickett in the great charge at Gettysburg, where he had waved his hat +in front of his men, and, in spite of a painful wound, done all in his +power to rally his troops. With this exception, and a few captures +resulting from accident, the army sustained no losses. The movement +across the Potomac had been effected, in face of the whole Federal +army, as successfully as though that army had been a hundred miles +distant.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Upon this point different statements were subsequently +made by Generals Lee and Meade, and Lee's reply to the statements of +his opponent is here given: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_July 21, 1863._ + +_General S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector-General C.S.A., Richmond, +Va_.: + +GENERAL: I have seen in Northern papers what purported to be an +official dispatch from General Meade, stating that he had captured +a brigade of Infantry, two pieces of artillery, two caissons, and a +large number of small-arms, as this army retired to the south bank of +the Potomac, on the 13th and 14th inst. + +This dispatch has been copied into the Richmond papers, and, as its +official character may cause it to be believed, I desire to state that +it is incorrect. The enemy did not capture any organized body of men +on that occasion, but only stragglers, and such as were left asleep +on the road, exhausted by the fatigue and exposure of one of the most +inclement nights I have ever known at this season of the year. It +rained without cessation, rendering the road by which our troops +marched to the bridge at Falling Waters very difficult to pass, and +causing so much delay that the last of the troops did not cross the +river at the bridge until 1 P.M. on the 14th. While the column was +thus detained on the road a number of men, worn down by fatigue, lay +down in barns, and by the roadside, and though officers were sent +back to arouse them, as the troops moved on, the darkness and rain +prevented them from finding all, and many were in this way left +behind. Two guns were left on the road. The horses that drew them +became exhausted, and the officers went forward to procure others. +When they returned, the rear of the column had passed the guns so far +that it was deemed unsafe to send back for them, and they were thus +lost. No arms, cannon, or prisoners, were taken by the enemy in +battle, but only such as were left behind under the circumstances I +have described. The number of stragglers thus lost I am unable to +state with accuracy, but it is greatly exaggerated in the dispatch +referred to. + +I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The solicitude here exhibited by the Southern commander, that the +actual facts should be recorded, is natural, and displayed Lee's +spirit of soldiership. He was unwilling that his old army should +appear in the light of a routed column, retreating in disorder, with +loss of men and munitions, when they lost neither.] + + + + +XXI. + +ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE AGAIN. + + +Lee moved his army to the old encampment on the banks of the Opequan +which it had occupied after the retreat from Sharpsburg, in September, +1862, and here a few days were spent in resting. + +We have, in the journal of a foreign officer, an outline of Lee's +personal appearance at this time, and, as we are not diverted from +these characteristic details at the moment by the narrative of great +events, this account of Lee, given by the officer in question--Colonel +Freemantle, of the British Army--is laid before the reader: + + "General Lee is, almost without exception, the handsomest man of + his age I ever saw. He is tall, broad-shouldered, very well made, + well set up--a thorough soldier in appearance--and his manners are + most courteous, and full of dignity. He is a perfect gentleman + in every respect. I imagine no man has so few enemies, or is so + universally esteemed. Throughout the South, all agree in + pronouncing him as near perfection as man can be. He has none of + the small vices, such as smoking, drinking, chewing, or swearing; + and his bitterest enemy never accused him of any of the greater + ones. He generally wears a well-worn, long gray jacket, a high + black-felt hat, and blue trousers, tucked into his Wellington + boots. I never saw him carry arms, and the only marks of his + military rank are the three stars on his collar. He rides a + handsome horse, which is extremely well governed. He himself is + very neat in his dress and person, and in the most arduous marches + he always looks smart and clean.... It is understood that General + Lee is a religious man, though not so demonstrative in that + respect as Jackson, and, unlike his late brother-in-arms, he is a + member of the Church of England. His only faults, so far as I can + learn, arise from his excessive amiability." + +This personal description is entirely correct, except that the word +"jacket" conveys a somewhat erroneous idea of Lee's undress uniform +coat, and his hat was generally gray. Otherwise, the sketch is exactly +accurate, and is here presented as the unprejudiced description and +estimate of a foreign gentleman, who had no inducement, such as might +be attributed to a Southern writer, to overcolor his portrait. Such, +in personal appearance, was the leader of the Southern army--a plain +soldier, in a plain dress, without arms, with slight indications of +rank, courteous, full of dignity, a "perfect gentleman," and with no +fault save an "excessive amiability." The figure is attractive to the +eye--it excited the admiration of a foreign officer, and remains in +many memories now, when the sound of battle is hushed, and the great +leader, in turn, has finished his life-battle and lain down in peace. + +The movements of the two armies were soon resumed, and we shall +briefly follow those movements, which led the adversaries back to the +Rappahannock. + +Lee appears to have conceived the design, after crossing the Potomac +at Williamsport, to pass the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge, and +thus place himself in the path of General Meade if he crossed east +of the mountain, or threaten Washington. This appears from his own +statement. "Owing," he says, "to the swollen condition of _the +Shenandoah River, the plan of operations which had been contemplated +when we recrossed the Potomac could not be put in execution_". The +points fixed upon by Lee for passing the mountain were probably +Snicker's and Ashby's Gaps, opposite Berryville and Millwood. The +rains had, however, made the river, in these places, unfordable. On +the 17th and 18th days of July, less than a week after Lee's crossing +at Williamsport, General Meade passed the Potomac above Leesburg, and +Lee moved his army in the direction of Chester Gap, near Front Royal, +toward Culpepper. + +The new movements were almost identically the same as the old, when +General McClellan advanced, in November, 1862, and the adoption of +the same plans by General Meade involves a high compliment to his +predecessor. He acted with even more energy. As Lee's head of column +was defiling toward Chester Gap, beyond Front Royal, General Meade +struck at it through Manassas Gap, directly on its flank, and an +action followed which promised at one time to become serious. The +enemy was, however, repulsed, and the Southern column continued its +way across the mountain. The rest of the army followed, and descended +into Culpepper, from which position, when Longstreet was detached to +the west, Lee retired, taking post behind the Rapidan. + +General Meade thereupon followed, and occupied Culpepper, his advance +being about half-way between Culpepper Court-House and the river. + +Such was the position of the two armies in the first days of October, +when Lee, weary, it seemed, of inactivity, set out to flank and fight +his adversary. + + + + +PART VII. + +_LAST CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR_ 1863. + + + + +I. + +THE CAVALRY OF LEE'S ARMY. + + +In a work of the present description, the writer has a choice between +two courses. He may either record the events of the war in all +quarters of the country, as bearing more or less upon his narrative, +or may confine himself to the life of the individual who is the +immediate subject of his volume. Of these two courses, the writer +prefers the latter for many reasons. To present a narrative of +military transactions in all portions of the South would expand this +volume to undue proportions; and there is the further objection that +these occurrences are familiar to all. It might be necessary, in +writing for persons ignorant of the events of the great conflict, to +omit nothing; but this ignorance does, not probably exist in the +case of the readers of these pages; and the writer will continue, +as heretofore, to confine himself to the main subject, only noting +incidentally such prominent events in other quarters as affected Lee's +movements. + +One such event was the fall of Vicksburg, which post surrendered at +the same moment with the defeat at Gettysburg, rendering thereafter +impossible all movements of invasion; and another was the advance of +General Rosecrans toward Atlanta, which resulted, in the month of +September, in a Southern victory at Chickamauga. + +The immediate effect of the Federal demonstration toward Chattanooga +had been to detach Longstreet's corps from General Lee's army, for +service under General Bragg. General Meade's force is said to have +also been somewhat lessened by detachments sent to enforce the draft +in New York; and these circumstances had, in the first days of +October, reduced both armies in Virginia to a less force than they had +numbered in the past campaign. General Meade, however, presented a +bold front to his adversary, and, with his headquarters near Culpepper +Court-House, kept close watch upon Lee, whose army lay along the south +bank of the Rapidan. + +For some weeks no military movements took place, and an occasional +cavalry skirmish between the troopers of the two armies was all which +broke the monotony of the autumn days. This inactivity, however, was +now about to terminate. Lee had resolved to attempt a flank movement +around General Meade's right, with the view of bringing him to battle; +and a brief campaign ensued, which, if indecisive, and reflecting +little glory upon the infantry, was fruitful in romantic incidents and +highly creditable to the cavalry of the Southern army. + +In following the movements, and describing the operations of the main +body of the army--the infantry--we have necessarily been compelled to +pass over, to a great extent, the services of the cavalry in the past +campaign. These had, nevertheless, been great--no arm of the service +had exhibited greater efficiency; and, but for the fact that in all +armies the brunt of battle falls upon the foot-soldiers, it might be +added that the services of the cavalry had been as important as those +of the infantry. Stuart was now in command of a force varying from +five to eight thousand sabres, and among his troopers were some of +the best fighting-men of the South. The cavalry had always been the +favorite arm with the Southern youth; it had drawn to itself, as +privates in the ranks, thousands of young men of collegiate education, +great wealth, and the highest social position; and this force was +officered, in Virginia, by such resolute commanders as Wade Hampton, +Fitz Lee, William H.F. Lee, Rosser, Jones, Wickham, Young, +Munford, and many others. Under these leaders, and assisted by +the hard-fighting "Stuart Horse-Artillery" under Pelham and his +successors, the cavalry had borne their full share in the hard +marches and combats of the army. On the Chickahominy; in the march +to Manassas, and the battles in Maryland; in the operations on +the Rappahannock, and the incessant fighting of the campaign to +Gettysburg, Stuart and his troopers had vindicated their claim to the +first honors of arms; and, if these services were not duly estimated +by the infantry of the army, the fact was mainly attributable to the +circumstance that the fighting of the cavalry had been done at a +distance upon the outposts, far more than in the pitched battles, +where, in modern times, from the improved and destructive character +of artillery, playing havoc with horses, the cavalry arm can achieve +little, and is not risked. The actual losses in Stuart's command left, +however, no doubt of the obstinate soldiership of officers and men. +Since the opening of the year he had lost General Hampton, cut down in +a hand-to-hand sabre-fight at Gettysburg; General W.H.F. Lee, shot in +the fight at Fleetwood; Colonels Frank Hampton and Williams, killed in +the same action; Colonel Butler, torn by a shell; Major Pelham, Chief +of Artillery, killed while leading a charge; [Footnote: In this +enumeration the writer mentions only such names as occur at the moment +to his memory. A careful examination of the records of the cavalry +would probably furnish the names of ten times as many, equally brave +and unfortunate.] about six officers of his personal staff either +killed, wounded, or captured; and in the Gettysburg campaign he had +lost nearly one-third of his entire command. Of its value to the army, +the infantry might have their doubts, but General Lee had none. Stuart +and his horsemen had been the eyes and ears of the Army of Northern +Virginia; had fought incessantly as well as observed the enemy; and +Lee never committed the injustice of undervaluing this indispensable +arm, which, if his official commendation of its operations under +Stuart is to be believed, was only second in importance in his +estimation to the infantry itself. + +The army continued, nevertheless, to amuse itself at the expense of +the cavalry, and either asserted or intimated, on every favorable +occasion, that the _real fighting_ was done by themselves. This +flattering assumption might be natural under the circumstances, but it +was now about to be shown to be wholly unfounded. A campaign was at +hand in which the cavalry were to turn the tables upon their jocose +critics, and silence them; where the infantry were doomed to failure +in nearly all which they attempted, and the troopers were to do the +greater part of the fighting and achieve the only successes. + +To the narrative of this brief and romantic episode of the war we now +proceed. General Lee's aim was to pass around the right flank of his +adversary, and bring him to battle; and, although the promptness +of General Meade's movements defeated the last-named object nearly +completely, the manoeuvres of the two armies form a highly-interesting +study. The eminent soldiers commanding the forces played a veritable +game of chess with each other. There was little hard fighting, but +more scientific manoeuvring than is generally displayed in a campaign. +The brains of Lee and Meade, rather than the two armies, were matched +against each other; and the conflict of ideas proved more interesting +than the actual fighting. + + + + +II. + +LEE FLANKS GENERAL MEADE. + + +In prosecution of the plan determined upon, General Lee, on the +morning of the 9th of October, crossed the Rapidan at the fords +above Orange Court-House, with the corps of Ewell and A.P. Hill, and +directed his march toward Madison Court-House. + +Stuart moved with Hampton's cavalry division on the right of the +advancing column--General Fitz Lee having been left with his division +to guard the front on the Rapidan--and General Imboden, commanding +west of the Blue Ridge, was ordered by Lee to "advance down the +Valley, and guard the gaps of the mountains on our left." + +We have said that Lee's design was to bring General Meade to battle. +It is proper to state this distinctly, as some writers have attributed +to him in the campaign, as his real object, the design of manoeuvring +his adversary out of Culpepper, and pushing him back to the Federal +frontier. His own words are perfectly plain. He set out "with the +design," he declares, "of _bringing on an engagement with the Federal +army_"--that is to say, of _fighting_ General Meade, not simply +forcing him to fall back. His opponent, it seems, was not averse to +accepting battle; indeed, from expressions attributed to him, he +appears to have ardently desired it, in case he could secure an +advantageous position for receiving the Southern attack. It is +desirable that this readiness in both commanders to fight should be +kept in view. The fact adds largely to the interest of this brief +"campaign of manoeuvres," in which the army, falling back, like that +advancing, sought battle. + +To proceed to the narrative, which will deal in large measure with the +operations of the cavalry--that arm of the service, as we have said, +having borne the chief share of the fighting, and achieved the only +successes. Stuart moved out on the right of the infantry, which +marched directly toward Madison Court-House, and near the village +of James City, directly west of Culpepper Court-House, drove in the +cavalry and infantry outposts of General Kilpatrick on the main body +beyond the village. Continuous skirmishing ensued throughout the rest +of the day--Stuart's object being to occupy the enemy, and divert +attention from the infantry movement in his rear. In this he seems to +have fully succeeded. Lee passed Madison Court-House, and moving, as +he says, "by circuitous and concealed roads," reached the vicinity of +Griffinsburg, on what is called the Sperryville Road, northwest of +Culpepper Court-House. A glance at the map will show the relative +positions of the two armies at this moment. General Meade lay around +Culpepper Court-House, with his advance about half-way between that +place and the Rapidan, and Lee had attained a position which gave him +fair hopes of intercepting his adversary's retreat. That retreat must +be over the line of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad; but from +Griffinsburg to Manassas was no farther than from Culpepper +Court-House to the same point. If the Federal army fell back, as Lee +anticipated, it would be a question of speed between the retreating +and pursuing columns; and, as the narrative will show, the race was +close--a few hours lost making the difference between success and +failure in Lee's movement. + +On the morning of the 10th while the infantry were still near +Griffinsburg, General Stuart moved promptly down upon Culpepper +Court-House, driving the enemy from their large camps near Stonehouse +Mountain. These were elaborately provided with luxuries of every +description, and there were many indications of the fact that the +troops had expected to winter there. No serious fighting occurred. +A regiment of infantry was charged and dispersed by the Jefferson +Company of Captain Baylor, and Stuart then proceeded rapidly to +Culpepper Court-House, where the Federal cavalry, forming the +rear-guard of the army, awaited him. + +General Meade was already moving in the direction of the Rappahannock. +The presence of the Southern army near Griffinsburg had become known +to him; he was at no loss to understand Lee's object; and, leaving +his cavalry to cover his rear, he moved toward the river. As Stuart +attacked the Federal horse posted on the hills east of the village, +the roar of cannon on his right, steadily drawing nearer, indicated +that General Fitz Lee was forcing the enemy in that direction to fall +back. Stuart was now in high spirits, and indulged in hearty laughter, +although the enemy's shells were bursting around him. + +"Ride back to General Lee," he said to an officer of his staff, "and +tell him we are forcing the enemy back on the Rappahannock, and I +think I hear Fitz Lee's guns toward the Rapidan." + +The officer obeyed, and found General Lee at his headquarters, which +consisted of one or two tents, with a battle-flag set up in front, on +the highway, near Griffinsburg. He was conversing with General Ewell, +and the contrast between the two soldiers was striking. Ewell was +thin, cadaverous, and supported himself upon a crutch, for he had not +yet recovered from the wound received at Manassas. General Lee, on +the contrary, was erect, ruddy, robust, and exhibited indications of +health and vigor in every detail of his person. When Stuart's message +was delivered to him, he bowed with that grave courtesy which he +exhibited alike toward the highest and the lowest soldier in his army, +and said: "Thank you. Tell General Stuart to continue to press them +back toward the river." + +He then smiled, and added, with that accent of sedate humor which at +times characterized him: "But tell him, too, to spare his horses--to +spare his horses. It is not necessary to send so many messages." + +He turned as he spoke to General Ewell, and, pointing to the officer +who had come from Stuart, and another who had arrived just before him, +said, with lurking humor: "I think these two young gentlemen make +_eight_ messengers sent me by General Stuart!" + +He then said to Ewell: "You may as well move on with your troops, I +suppose, general;" and soon afterward the infantry began to advance. + +Stuart was meanwhile engaged in an obstinate combat with the Federal +cavalry near Brandy, in the immediate vicinity of Fleetwood Hill, the +scene of the great fight in June. The stand made by the enemy was +resolute, but the arrival of General Fitz Lee decided the event. That +officer had crossed the Rapidan and driven General Buford before him. +The result now was that, while Stuart was pressing the enemy in his +front, General Buford came down on Stuart's rear, and Fitz Lee on the +rear of Buford. The scene which ensued was a grand commingling of the +tragic and serio-comic. Every thing was mingled in wild confusion, but +the day remained with the Southern cavalry, who, at nightfall, had +pressed their opponents back toward the river, which the Federal army +crossed that night, blowing up the railroad bridge behind them. + +Such was the first act of the bustling drama. At the approach of Lee, +General Meade had vanished from Culpepper, and so well arranged was +the whole movement, in spite of its rapidity, that scarce an empty box +was left behind. Lee's aim to bring his adversary to battle south of +the Rappahannock had thus failed; but the attempt was renewed by a +continuation of the flanking movement toward Warrenton Springs, +"with the design," Lee says, "of reaching the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad, north of the river, and interrupting the retreat of the +enemy." Unfortunately, however, for this project, which required of +all things rapidity of movement, it was found necessary to remain +nearly all day on the 11th near Culpepper Court-House, to supply the +army with provisions. It was not until the 12th that the army again +moved. Stuart preceded it, and after a brisk skirmish drove the enemy +from Warrenton Springs--advancing in person in front of his column +as it charged through the river and up the hill beyond, where a +considerable body of Federal marksmen were put to flight. The cavalry +then pressed on toward Warrenton, and the infantry, who had witnessed +their prowess and cheered them heartily, followed on the same road. +The race between Lee and General Meade was in full progress. + +It was destined to become complicated, and an error committed by +General Meade came very near exposing him to serious danger. It +appears that, after retreating across the Rappahannock, the Federal +commander began to entertain doubt whether the movement had not been +hasty, and would not justly subject him to the charge of yielding to +sudden panic. Influenced apparently by this sentiment, he now ordered +three corps of the Federal army, with a division of cavalry, back to +Culpepper; and this, the main body, accordingly crossed back, leaving +but one corps north of the river. Such was now the very peculiar +situation of the two armies. General Lee was moving steadily in the +direction of Warrenton to cut off his adversary from Manassas, and +that adversary was moving back into Culpepper to hunt up Lee there. +The comedy of errors was soon terminated, but not so soon as it +otherwise would have been but for a _ruse de guerre_ played by +Generals Rosser and Young. General Rosser had been left by Stuart near +Brandy, with about two hundred horsemen and one gun; and, when the +three infantry corps and the cavalry division of General Meade moved +forward from the river, they encountered this obstacle. Insignificant +as was his force. General Rosser so manoeuvred it as to produce the +impression that it was considerable; and, though forced, of course, to +fall back, he did so fighting at every step. Assistance reached him +just at dusk in the shape of a brigade of cavalry, from above the +court-house under General Young, the same officer whose charge at the +Fleetwood fight had had so important a bearing upon the result there. +Young now formed line with his men dismounted, and, advancing with a +confident air, opened fire upon the Federal army. The darkness proved +friendly, and, taking advantage of it, General Young kindled fires +along a front of more than a mile, ordered his band to play, and must +have caused the enemy to doubt whether Lee was not still in large +force near Culpepper Court-House. They accordingly went into camp to +await the return of daylight, when at midnight a fast-riding courier +came with orders from General Meade. + +These orders were urgent, and directed the Federal troops to recross +the river with all haste. General Lee, it was now ascertained, had +left an insignificant force in Culpepper, and, with nearly his whole +army, was moving rapidly toward Warrenton to cut off his adversary. + + + + +III. + +A RACE BETWEEN TWO ARMIES. + + +The game of hide-and-seek--to change the figure--was now in full +progress, and nothing more dramatic could be conceived of than the +relative positions of the two armies. + +At midnight, on Monday, October 12th, Lee's army was near Warrenton +Springs, ready to advance in the morning upon Warrenton, while three +of the four corps under General Meade were half-way between the +Rappahannock and Culpepper Court-House, expecting battle there. Thus a +choice of two courses was presented to the Federal commander: to order +back his main force, and rapidly retreat toward Manassas, or move the +Fourth Corps to support it, and place his whole army directly in Lee's +rear. The occasion demanded instant decision. Every hour now counted. +But, unfortunately for General Meade, he was still in the dark as to +the actual amount of Lee's force in Culpepper. The movement toward +Warrenton might be a mere _ruse_. The great master of the art of war +to whom he was opposed might have laid this trap for him--have counted +upon his falling into the snare--and, while a portion of the Southern +force was engaged in Culpepper, might design an attack with the rest +upon the Federal right flank or rear. In fact, the situation of +affairs was so anomalous and puzzling that Lee might design almost any +thing, and succeed in crushing his adversary. + +The real state of the case was, that Lee designed nothing of this +description, having had no intimation whatever of General Meade's new +movement back toward Culpepper. He was advancing toward Warrenton, +under the impression that his adversary was retreating, and aimed to +come up with him somewhere near that place and bring him to battle. +Upon this theory his opponent now acted by promptly ordering back his +three corps to the north bank of the Rappahannock. They began to march +soon after midnight; recrossed the river near the railroad; and on +the morning of the 13th hastened forward by rapid marches to pass the +dangerous point near Warrenton, toward which Lee was also moving with +his infantry. + +In this race every advantage seemed to be on the side of Lee. The +three Federal corps had fully twice as far to march as the Southern +forces. Lee was concentrating near Warrenton, while they were far in +the rear; and, if the Confederates moved with only half the rapidity +of their adversaries, they were certain to intercept them, and compel +them either to surrender or cut their way through. + +These comments--tedious, perhaps--are necessary to the comprehension +of the singular "situation." We proceed now with the narrative. Stuart +had pushed on past Warrenton with his cavalry, toward the Orange +Railroad, when, on the night of the 13th, he met with one of those +adventures which were thickly strewed throughout his romantic career. +He was near Auburn, just at nightfall, when, as his rear-guard closed +up, information reached him from that quarter that the Federal +army was passing directly in his rear. Nearly at the same moment +intelligence arrived that another column of the enemy, consisting, +like the first, of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, was moving across +his front. + +Stuart was now in an actual trap, and his situation was perilous in +the extreme. He was enclosed between two moving walls of enemies, and, +if discovered, his fate seemed sealed. But one course was left him: to +preserve, if possible, complete silence in his command; to lie _perdu_ +in the wood, and await the occurrence of some fortunate event to +extricate him from his highly-embarrassing situation. He accordingly +issued stringent orders to the men that no noise of any description +should be made, and not a word be uttered; and there was little +necessity to repeat this command. The troopers remained silent and +motionless in the saddle throughout the night, ready at any instant +to move at the order; and thus passed the long hours of darkness--the +Southern horsemen as silent as phantoms; the Federal columns +passing rapidly, with the roll of artillery-wheels, the tramp of +cavalry-horses, and the shuffling sound of feet, on both sides of the +command--the column moving in rear of Stuart being distant but two or +three hundred yards. + +This romantic incident was destined to terminate fortunately for +Stuart, who, having dispatched scouts to steal through the Federal +column, and announce his situation to General Lee, prepared to seize +upon the first opportunity to release his command from its imminent +peril. The opportunity came at dawn. The Federal rear, under General +Caldwell, had bivouacked near, and had just kindled fires to cook +their breakfast, when, from the valley beneath the hill on which +the troops had halted, Stuart opened suddenly upon them with his +Horse-Artillery, and, as he says in his report, knocked over +coffee-pots and other utensils at the moment when the men least +expected it. He then advanced his sharp-shooters and directed a rapid +fire upon the disordered troops; and, under cover of this fire, +wheeled to the left and emerged safely toward Warrenton. The army +greeted him with cheers, and he was himself in the highest spirits. +He had certainly good reason for this joy, for he had just grazed +destruction. + +As Stuart's artillery opened, the sound was taken up toward Warrenton, +where Ewell, in obedience to Lee's orders, had attacked the Federal +column. Nothing resulted, however, from this assault: General Meade +had concentrated his army, and was hastening toward Manassas. All now +depended again upon the celerity of Lee's movements in pursuit. He had +lost many hours at Warrenton, where "another halt was made," he says, +"to supply the troops with provisions." Thus, on the morning of the +14th he was as far from intercepting General Meade as before; and all +now depended upon the movements of Hill, who, while Ewell moved toward +Greenwich, had been sent by way of New Baltimore to come in on the +Federal line of retreat at Bristoe Station, near Manassas. In spite, +however, of his excellent soldiership and habitual promptness, Hill +did not arrive in time. He made the détour prescribed by Lee, passed +New Baltimore, and hastened on toward Bristoe, where, on approaching +that point, he found only the rear-guard of the Federal army--the +whole force, with this exception, having crossed Broad Run, and +hastened on toward Manassas. Hill's arrival had thus been tardy: it +would have been fortunate for him if he had not arrived at all. Seeing +the Federal column under General Warren hastening along the railroad +to pass Broad Run, he ordered a prompt attack, and Cooke's brigade led +the charge. The result was unfortunate for the Confederates. General +Warren, seeing his peril, had promptly disposed his line behind the +railroad embankment at the spot, where, protected by this impromptu +breastwork, the men rested their guns upon the iron rails and poured a +destructive fire upon the Southerners rushing down the open slope in +front. By this fire General Cooke was severely wounded and fell, and +his brigade lost a considerable part of its numbers. Before a new +attack could be made, General Warren hastily withdrew, carrying +off with him in triumph a number of prisoners, and five pieces of +artillery, captured on the banks of the run. Before his retreat could +be again interrupted, he was safe on the opposite side of the stream, +and lost no time in hurrying forward to join the main body, which was +retreating on Centreville. + +General Meade had thus completely foiled his adversary. Lee had set +out with the intention of bringing the Federal commander to battle; +had not succeeded in doing so, owing to the rapidity of his retreat; +had come up only with his rear-guard, under circumstances which seemed +to seal the fate of that detached force, and the small rear-guard had +repulsed him completely, capturing prisoners and artillery from him, +and retiring in triumph. Such had been the issue of the campaign; all +the success had been on the side of General Meade. He is said to have +declared that "it was like pulling out his eye-teeth not to have had a +fight;" but something resembling _bona-fide_ fighting had occurred on +the banks of Broad Run, and the victory was clearly on the side of the +Federal troops. + +To turn to General Lee, it would be an interesting question to discuss +whether he really desired to _intercept_ General Meade, if there +were any data upon which to base a decision. The writer hazards the +observation that it seems doubtful whether this was Lee's intention. +He had a high opinion of General Meade, and is said to have declared +of that commander, that he "gave him" (Lee) "as much trouble as any of +them." Lee was thus opposed to a soldier whose ability he respected, +and it appears doubtful whether he desired to move so rapidly as to +expose his own communications to interruption by his adversary. This +view seems to derive support from the apparently unnecessary delays +at Culpepper Court-House and Warrenton. There was certainly no good +reason why, under ordinary circumstances, an army so accustomed to +rapid marches as the Army of Northern Virginia should not have been +able to reach Warrenton from the neighborhood of Culpepper Court-House +in less than _four days._ "We were _compelled_ to halt," Lee writes +of the delay at Culpepper; but of that at Warrenton he simply says, +"Another halt was made." Whether these views have, or have not +foundation, the reader must judge. We shall aim, in a few pages, to +conclude our account of this interesting campaign. + + + + +IV. + +THE FIGHT AT BUCKLAND. + + +Lee rode forward to the field upon which General Hill had sustained +his bloody repulse, and Hill--depressed and mortified at the +mishap--endeavored to explain the _contretemps_ and vindicate himself +from censure. Lee is said to have listened in silence, as they rode +among the dead bodies, and to have at length replied, gravely and +sadly: "Well, well, general, bury these poor men, and let us say no +more about it." + +He had issued orders that the troops should cease the pursuit, and +riding on the next morning, with General Stuart, to the summit of a +hill overlooking Broad Run, dismounted, and held a brief conversation +with the commander of his cavalry, looking intently, as he spoke, in +the direction of Manassas. His demeanor was that of a person who is +far from pleased with the course of events, and the word _glum_ best +describes his expression. The safe retreat of General Meade, with the +heavy blow struck by him in retiring, was indeed enough to account for +this ill-humor. The campaign was altogether a failure, since General +Meade's position at Centreville was unassailable; and, if he were only +driven therefrom, he had but to retire to the defences at Washington. +Lee accordingly gave Stuart directions to follow up the enemy in the +direction of Centreville, and, ordering the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad to be torn up back to the Rappahannock, put his infantry in +motion, and marched back toward Culpepper. + +We shall now briefly follow the movements of the cavalry. Stuart +advanced to Manassas, following up the Federal rear, and hastening +their retreat across Bull Run beyond. He then left Fitz Lee's division +near Manassas in the Federal front, and moving, with Hampton's +division, to the left toward Groveton, passed the Little Catharpin, +proceeded thence through the beautiful autumn forest toward Frying +Pan, and there found and attacked, with his command dismounted and +acting as sharp-shooters, the Second Corps of the Federal army. This +sudden appearance of Southern troops on the flank of Centreville, is +said to have caused great excitement there, as it was not known that +the force was not General Lee's army. The fact was soon apparent, +however, that it was merely a cavalry attack. The Federal infantry +advanced, whereupon Stuart retired; and the adventurous Southern +horsemen moved back in the direction of Warrenton. + +They were not to rejoin Lee's army, however, before a final conflict +with the Federal cavalry; and the circumstances of this conflict +were as dramatic and picturesque as the _ruse de guerre_ of Young in +Culpepper, and the midnight adventure of Stuart near Auburn. The bold +assault on the Second Corps seemed to have excited the ire of the +Federal commander, and he promptly sent forward a considerable body +of his cavalry, under General Kilpatrick, to pursue Stuart, and if +possible come up with and defeat him. + +Stuart was near the village of Buckland, on the road to Warrenton, +when intelligence of the approach of the Federal cavalry reached him. +The movement which followed was suggested by General Fitz Lee. He +proposed that Stuart should retire toward Warrenton with Hampton's +division, while he, with his own division, remained on the enemy's +left flank. Then, at a given signal, Stuart was to face about; he, +General Fitz Lee, would attack them in flank; when their rout would +probably ensue. This plan was carried out to the letter. General +Kilpatrick, who seems to have been confident of his ability to drive +Stuart before him, pressed forward on the Warrenton road, closely +following up his adversary, when the sudden boom of artillery from +General Fitz Lee gave the signal. Stuart wheeled at the signal, and +made a headlong charge upon his pursuers. Fitz Lee came in at the same +moment and attacked them in flank; and the result was that General +Kilpatrick's entire command was routed, and retreated in confusion, +Stuart pursuing, as he wrote, "from within three miles of Warrenton to +Buckland, the horses at full speed the whole distance." So terminated +an incident afterward known among the troopers of Stuart by the jocose +title of "The Buckland Races," and the Southern cavalry retired +without further molestation behind the Rappahannock. + +The coöperation of General Imboden in the campaign should not be +passed over. That officer, whose special duty had been to guard the +gaps in the Blue Ridge, advanced from Berryville to Charlestown, +attacked the Federal garrison at the latter place, drove them in +disorder toward Harper's Ferry, and carried back with him four or five +hundred prisoners. The enemy followed him closely, and he was forced +to fight them off at every step. He succeeded, however, in returning +in safety, having performed more than the duty expected of him. + +Lee was now behind the Rappahannock, and it remained to be seen what +course General Meade would pursue--whether he would remain near +Centreville, or strive to regain his lost ground. + +All doubt was soon terminated by the approach of the Federal army, +which, marching from Centreville on October 19th, and repairing the +railroad as it advanced, reached the Rappahannock on the 7th of +November. Lee's army at this time was in camp toward Culpepper +Court-House, with advanced forces in front of Kelly's Ford and the +railroad bridge. General Meade acted with vigor. On his arrival he +promptly sent a force across at Kelly's Ford; the Southern troops +occupying the rifle-pits there were driven off, with the loss of many +prisoners; and an attack near the railroad bridge had still more +unfortunate results for General Lee. A portion of Early's division had +been posted in the abandoned Federal works, on the north bank at this +point, and these were now attacked, and, after a fierce resistance, +completely routed. Nearly the whole command was captured--the remnant +barely escaping--and, the way having thus been cleared, General Meade +threw his army across into Culpepper. + +General Lee retired before him with a heavy heart and a deep +melancholy, which, in spite of his great control over himself, was +visible in his countenance. The infantry-fighting of the campaign had +begun, and ended in disaster for him. In the thirty days he had lost +at least two thousand men, and was back again in his old camps, having +achieved absolutely nothing. + + + + +V. + +THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. + + +November of the bloody year 1863 had come; and it seemed not +unreasonable to anticipate that a twelvemonth, marked by such +incessant fighting at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Salem +Church, Winchester, Gettysburg, Front Royal, Bristoe, and along the +Rappahannock, would now terminate in peace, permitting the +combatants on both sides, worn out by their arduous work, to go into +winter-quarters, and recuperate their energies for the operations of +the ensuing spring. + +But General Meade had otherwise determined. He had resolved to try +a last advance, in spite of the inclement weather; and Lee's +anticipations of a season of rest and refreshment for his troops, +undisturbed by hostile demonstrations on the part of the enemy, were +destined speedily to be disappointed. The Southern army had gone +regularly into winter-quarters, south of the Rapidan, and the men were +felicitating themselves upon the prospect of an uninterrupted season +of leisure and enjoyment in their rude cabins, built in sheltered +nooks, or under their breadths of canvas raised upon logs, and fitted +with rough but comfortable chimneys, built of notched pine-saplings, +when suddenly intelligence was brought by scouts that the Federal army +was in motion. The fact reversed all their hopes of rest, and song, +and laughter, by the good log-fires. The musket was taken from its +place on the rude walls, the cartridge-box assumed, and the army was +once more ready for battle--as gay, hopeful, and resolved, as in the +first days of spring. + +General Meade had, indeed, resolved that the year should not end +without another blow at his adversary, and the brief campaign, known +as the "Advance to Mine Run," followed. It was the least favorable +of all seasons for active operations; but the Federal commander is +vindicated from the charge of bad soldiership by two circumstances +which very properly had great weight with him. The first was, the +extreme impatience of the Northern authorities and people at the small +results of the bloody fighting of the year. Gettysburg had seemed +to them a complete defeat of Lee, since he had retreated thereafter +without loss of time to Virginia; and yet three months afterward the +defeated commander had advanced upon and forced back his victorious +adversary. That such should be the result of the year's campaigning +seemed absurd to the North. A clamorous appeal was made to the +authorities to order another advance; and this general sentiment is +said to have been shared by General Meade, who had declared himself +bitterly disappointed at missing a battle with Lee in October. A +stronger argument in favor of active operations lay in the situation, +at the moment, of the Southern army. Lee, anticipating no further +fighting during the remainder of the year, opposed the enemy on the +Rapidan with only one of his two corps--that of Ewell; while the +other--that of Hill--was thrown back, in detached divisions, at +various points on the Orange and the Virginia Central Railroads, for +the purpose of subsistence during the winter. This fact, becoming +known to General Meade, dictated, it is said, his plan of operations. +An advance seemed to promise, from the position of the Southern +forces, a decisive success. Ewell's right extended no farther than +Morton's Ford, on the Rapidan, and thus the various fords down to +Chancellorsville were open. If General Meade could cross suddenly, and +by a rapid march interpose between Ewell and the scattered divisions +of Hill far in rear, it appeared not unreasonable to conclude that +Lee's army would be completely disrupted, and that the two corps, one +after another, might be crushed by the Federal army. + +This plan, which is given on the authority of Northern writers, +exhibited good soldiership, and, if Lee were to be caught unawares, +promised to succeed. Without further comment we shall now proceed to +the narrative of this brief movement, which, indecisive as it was in +its results, was not uninteresting, and may prove as attractive to the +military student as other operations more imposing and accompanied by +bloodier fighting. + +General Meade began to move toward the Rapidan on November 26th, +and every exertion was made by him to advance with such secrecy and +rapidity as to give him the advantage of a surprise. In this, however, +he was disappointed. No sooner had his orders been issued, and the +correspondent movements begun, than the accomplished scouts of Stuart +hurried across the Rapidan with the intelligence. Stuart, whose +headquarters were in a hollow of the hills near Orange, and not +far from General Lee's, promptly communicated in person to the +commander-in-chief this important information, and Lee dispatched +immediately an order to General A.P. Hill, in rear, to march at once +and form a junction with Ewell in the vicinity of Verdierville. The +latter officer was directed to retire from his advanced position upon +the Rapidan, which exposed him to an attack on his right flank and +rear, and to fall back and take post behind the small stream called +Mine Run. + +In following with a critical eye the operations of General Lee, the +military student must be struck particularly by one circumstance, that +in all his movements he seemed to proceed less according to the nice +technicalities of the art of war, than in accordance with the dictates +of a broad and comprehensive good sense. It may be said that, in +choosing position, he always chose the right and never the wrong one; +and the choice of Mine Run now as a defensive line was a proof of +this. The run is a small water-course which, rising south of the great +highway between Orange and Chancellorsville, flows due northward amid +woods and between hills to the Rapidan, into which it empties itself a +few miles above Germanna, General Meade's main place of crossing. This +stream is the natural defence of the right flank of an army posted +between Orange and the Rapidan. It is also the natural and obvious +line upon which to receive the attack of a force marching from below +toward Gordonsville. Behind Mine Run, therefore, just east of the +little village of Verdierville, General Lee directed his two corps to +concentrate; and at the word, the men, lounging but now carelessly in +winter-quarters, sprung to arms, "fell in," and with burnished muskets +took up the line of march. + +We have spoken of the promptness with which the movement was made, and +it may almost be said that General Meade had scarcely broken up his +camps north of the Rapidan, when Lee was in motion to go and meet him. +On the night of the 26th, Stuart, whose cavalry was posted opposite +the lower fords, pushed forward in person, and bivouacked under some +pines just below Verdierville; and before daylight General Lee was +also in the saddle, and at sunrise had reached the same point. The +night had been severely cold, for winter had set in in earnest; but +General Lee, always robust and careless of weather, walked down, +without wrapping, and wearing only his plain gray uniform, to Stuart's +_impromptu_ headquarters under the pines, where, beside a great fire, +and without other covering than his army-blanket, the commander of the +cavalry had slept since midnight. + +As Lee approached, Stuart came forward, and Lee said, admiringly, +"What a hardy soldier!" + +They consulted, Stuart walking back with General Lee, and receiving +his orders. He then promptly mounted, and hastened to the front, +where, taking command of his cavalry, he formed it in front of the +advancing enemy, and with artillery and dismounted sharp-shooters, +offered every possible impediment to their advance. + +General Meade made the passage of the Rapidan without difficulty; and, +as his expedition was unencumbered with wagons, advanced rapidly. The +only serious obstruction to his march was made by Johnson's division +of Ewell's corps, which had been thrown out beyond the run, toward the +river. Upon this force the Federal Third Corps, under General French, +suddenly blundered, by taking the wrong road, it is said, and +an active engagement followed, which resulted in favor of the +Southerners. The verdict of Lee's troops afterward was, that the enemy +fought badly; but General French probably desired nothing better than +to shake off this hornets'-nest into which he had stumbled, and to +reach, in the time prescribed by General Meade, the point of Federal +concentration near Robertson's Tavern. + +Toward that point the Northern forces now converged from the various +crossings of the river; and Stuart continued to reconnoitre and feel +them along the entire front, fighting obstinately, and falling back +only when compelled to do so. Every step was thus contested with +sharp-shooters and the Horse-Artillery, from far below to above +New-Hope Church. The Federal infantry, however, continued steadily to +press forward, forcing back the cavalry, and on the 27th General Meade +was in face of Mine Run. + +Lee was ready. Hill had promptly marched, and his corps was coming +into position on the right of Ewell. Receiving intelligence of the +enemy's movement only upon the preceding day, Lee had seemed to move +the divisions of Hill, far back toward Charlottesville, as by the wave +of his hand. The army was concentrated; the line of defence occupied; +and General Meade's attempt to surprise his adversary, by interposing +between his widely-separated wings, had resulted in decisive failure. +If he fought now, the battle must be one of army against army; and, +what was worst of all, it was Lee who held all the advantages of +position. + +We have spoken of Mine Run: it is a strong defensive position, on its +right bank and on its left. Flowing generally between hills, and with +densely-wooded banks, it is difficult to cross from either side in +face of an opposing force; and it was Lee's good fortune to occupy the +attitude of the party to be assailed. He seemed to feel that he had +nothing to fear, and was in excellent spirits, as were the men; an +eye-witness describes them as "gay, lively, laughing, magnificent." In +front of his left wing he had already erected works; his centre and +right were as yet undefended, but the task of strengthening the line +at these points was rapidly prosecuted. Lee superintended in person +the establishment of his order of battle, and it was plain to those +who saw him thus engaged that the department of military engineering +was a favorite one with him. Riding along the western bank of the +water-course, a large part of which was densely clothed in oak, +chestnut, and hickory, he selected, with the quick eye of the trained +engineer, the best position for his line--promptly moved it when it +had been established on bad ground--pointed out the positions for +artillery; and, as he thus rode slowly along, the works which he had +directed seemed to spring up behind him as though by magic. As the +troops of Hill came up and halted in the wood, the men seized axes, +attacked the large trees, which soon fell in every direction, and the +heavy logs were dragged without loss of time to the prescribed line, +where they were piled upon each other in double walls, which were +filled in rapidly with earth; and thus, in an inconceivably short +space of time the men had defences breast-high which would turn a +cannon-shot. In front, for some distance, too, the timber had been +felled and an _abatis_ thus formed. A few hours after the arrival of +the troops on the line marked out by Lee, they were rooted behind +excellent breastworks, with forest, stream, and _abatis_ in front, to +delay the assailing force under the fire of small-arms and cannon. + +This account of the movements of the army, and the preparations made +to receive General Meade's attack, may appear of undue length and +minuteness of detail, in view of the fact that no battle ensued. But +the volume before the reader is not so much a history of the battles +of Virginia, which have often been described, as an attempt to +delineate the military and personal character of General Lee, which +displayed itself often more strikingly in indecisive events than in +those whose results attract the attention of the world. It was the +vigorous brain, indeed, of the great soldier, that made events +indecisive--warding off, by military acumen and ability, the disaster +with which he was threatened. At Mine Run, Lee's quick eye for +position, and masterly handling of his forces, completely checkmated +an adversary who had advanced to deliver decisive battle. With felled +trees, breastworks, and a crawling stream, Lee reversed all the +calculations of the commander of the Federal army. + +From the 27th of November to the night of the 1st of December, General +Meade moved to and fro in front of the formidable works of his +adversary, feeling them with skirmishers and artillery, and essaying +vainly to find some joint in the armor through which to pierce. There +was none. Lee had inaugurated that great system of breastworks which +afterward did him such good service in his long campaign with General +Grant. A feature of the military art unknown to Jomini had thus its +birth in the woods of America; and this fact, if there were naught +else of interest in the campaign, would communicate to the Mine-Run +affair the utmost interest. + +General Meade, it seems, was bitterly opposed to foregoing an attack. +In spite of the powerful position of his adversary, he ordered an +assault, it is said; but this did not take place, in consequence, +it would appear, of the reluctance of General Warren to charge the +Confederate right. This seemed so strong that the men considered it +hopeless. When the order was communicated to them, each one wrote his +name on a scrap of paper and pinned it to his breast, that his corpse +might be recognized, and, if possible, conveyed to his friends. This +was ominous of failure: General Warren suspended the attack; and +General Meade, it is said, acquiesced in his decision. He declared, it +is related, that he could carry the position _with a loss of thirty +thousand men_; but, as that idea was frightful, there seemed nothing +to do but retreat. + +Lee seemed to realize the embarrassment of his adversary, and was in +excellent heart throughout the whole affair. Riding to and fro along +his line among his "merry men"--and they had never appeared in finer +spirits, or with greater confidence in their commander--he addressed +encouraging words to them, exposed himself with entire indifference to +the shelling, and seemed perfectly confident of the result. It was on +this occasion that, finding a party of his ragged soldiers devoutly +kneeling in one of the little glades behind the breastworks, and +holding a praying-meeting in the midst of bursting shells, he +dismounted, took off his hat, and remained silently and devoutly +listening until the earnest prayer was concluded. A great revival was +then going on in the army, and thousands were becoming professors of +religion. The fact may seem strange to those who have regarded Lee +as only a West-Pointer and soldier, looking, like all soldiers, to +military success; but the religious enthusiasm of his men in this +autumn of 1863 probably gave him greater joy than any successes +achieved over his Federal adversary. Those who saw him on the lines at +Mine Run will remember the composed satisfaction of his countenance. +An eye-witness recalls his mild face, as he rode along, accompanied +by "Hill, in his drooping hat, simple and cordial; Early, laughing; +Ewell, pale and haggard, but with a smile _de bon coeur_" [Footnote: +Journal of a staff-officer.] He was thus attended, sitting his horse +upon a hill near the left of his line, when a staff officer rode up +and informed him that the enemy were making a heavy demonstration +against his extreme right. + +"Infantry or cavalry?" he asked, with great calmness. + +"Infantry, I think, general, from the appearance of the guns. General +Wilcox thinks so, and has sent a regiment of sharp-shooters to meet +them." + +"Who commands the regiment?" asked General Lee; and it was to +introduce this question that this trifle has been mentioned. Lee knew +his army man by man almost, and could judge of the probable result +of the movement here announced to him by the name of the officer in +command. + +Finding that General Meade would not probably venture to assail him. +Lee determined, on the night of December 1st, to attack his adversary +on the next morning. His mildness on this night yielded to soldierly +ardor, and he exclaimed: + +"They must be attacked! they must be attacked!" + +His plan is said to have contemplated a movement of his right wing +against the Federal left flank, for which the ground afforded great +advantages. All was ready for such a movement, and the orders are +said to have been issued, when, as the dawn broke over the hills, the +Federal camps were seen to be deserted. General Meade had abandoned +his campaign, and was in full retreat toward the Rapidan. + +The army immediately moved in pursuit, with Lee leading the column. +The disappearance of the enemy was an astounding event to them, and +they could scarcely realize it. An entertaining illustration of this +fact is found in the journal of a staff-officer, who was sent with an +order to General Hampton. "In looking for him," says the writer, "I +got far to our right, and in a hollow of the woods found a grand +guard of the Eleventh Cavalry, with pickets and videttes out, gravely +sitting their horses, and watching the wood-roads for the advance +of an enemy who was then retreating across Ely's Ford!" Stuart was +pressing their rear with his cavalry, while the infantry were steadily +advancing. But the pursuit was vain. General Meade had disappeared +like a phantom, and was beyond pursuit, to the extreme regret and +disappointment of General Lee, who halted his troops, in great +discouragement, at Parker's Store. + +"Tell General Stuart," he said, with an air of deep melancholy, to an +officer whom he saw passing, "that I had received his dispatch when +he turned into the Brock Road, and have halted my infantry here, not +wishing to march them unnecessarily." + +Even at that early hour all chance of effective pursuit was lost. +General Meade, without wagons, and not even with the weight of the +rations brought over, which the men had consumed, had moved with the +rapidity of cavalry, and was already crossing the river far below. He +was afterward asked by a gentleman of Culpepper whether in crossing +the Rapidan he designed a real advance. + +"Certainly," he is reported by the gentleman in question to have +replied, "I meant to go to Richmond if I could, but Lee's position was +so strong that to storm it would have cost me thirty thousand men. I +could not remain without a battle--the weather was so cold that my +sentinels froze to death on post." + +The pursuit was speedily abandoned by General Lee as entirely +impracticable, and the men were marched back between the burning +woods, set on fire by the Federal campfires. The spectacle was +imposing--the numerous fires, burning outerward in the carpet of +thick leaves, formed picturesque rings of flame resembling brilliant +necklaces; and, as the flames reached the tall trees, wrapped to +the summit in dry vines, these would blaze aloft like gigantic +torches--true "torches of war"--let fall by the Federal commander in +his hasty retrograde. + +Twenty-four hours afterward the larger part of General Lee's army +were back in their winter-quarters. In less than a week the Mine-Run +campaign had begun and ended. The movement of General Meade might have +been compared to that of the King of France and his forty thousand +men in the song; but the campaign was not ill devised, was rather +the dictate of sound military judgment. All that defeated it was the +extreme promptness of Lee, the excellent choice of position, and +the beginning of that great system of impromptu breastworks which +afterward became so powerful an engine against General Grant. + + + + +VI. + +LEE IN THE AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1863. + + +General Lee's headquarters remained, throughout the autumn and winter +of 1863, in a wood on the southern slope of the spur called Clarke's +Mountain, a few miles east of Orange Court-House. + +Here his tents had been pitched, in a cleared space amid pines and +cedars; and the ingenuity of the "couriers," as messengers and +orderlies were called in the Southern army, had fashioned alleys and +walks leading to the various tents, the tent of the commanding general +occupying the centre. Of the gentlemen of General Lee's staff we have +not considered it necessary to speak; but it may here be said that it +was composed of officers of great efficiency and of the most courteous +manners, from Colonel Taylor, the indefatigable adjutant-general, to +the youngest and least prominent member of the friendly group. Among +these able assistants of the commander-in-chief were Colonel Marshall, +of Maryland, a gentleman of distinguished intellect; Colonel Peyton, +who had entered the battle of Manassas as a private in the ranks, but, +on the evening of that day, for courage and efficiency, occupied the +place of a commissioned officer on Beauregard's staff; and others +whose names were comparatively unknown to the army, but whose part in +the conduct of affairs, under direction of Lee, was most important. + +With the gentlemen of his staff General Lee lived on terms of the most +kindly regard. He was a strict disciplinarian, and abhorred the theory +that a commissioned officer, from considerations of rank, should hold +himself above the private soldiers; but there was certainly no fault +of this description to be found at army headquarters, and the general +and his staff worked together in harmonious coöperation. The respect +felt for him by gentlemen who saw him at all hours, and under none of +the guise of ceremony, was probably greater than that experienced +by the community who looked upon him from a distance. That distant +perspective, hiding little weaknesses, and revealing only the great +proportions of a human being, is said to be essential generally to the +heroic sublime. No man, it has been said, can be great to those always +near him; but in the case of General Lee this was far from being the +fact. He seemed greater and nobler, day by day, as he was better and +more intimately known; and upon this point we shall quote the words of +the brave John B. Gordon, one of his most trusted lieutenants: + +"It has been my fortune in life," says General Gordon, "from +circumstances, to have come in contact with some whom the world +pronounced great--some of the earth's celebrated and distinguished; +but I declare it here to-day, that of any mortal man whom it has ever +been my privilege to approach, he was the greatest; and I assert here, +that, _grand as might be your conception of the man before, he arose +in incomparable majesty on more familiar acquaintance_. This can be +affirmed of few men who have ever lived or died, and of no other man +whom it has ever been my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more +you gazed, the more its grandeur grew upon you, the more its majesty +expanded and filled your spirit with a full satisfaction that left a +perfect delight without the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly +majestic and dignified in all his deportment, he was genial as the +sunlight of this beautiful day; and not a ray of that cordial social +intercourse but brought warmth to the heart as it did light to the +understanding." + +Upon this point, General Breckinridge, too, bears his testimony: +"During the last year of that unfortunate struggle," he says, "it was +my good fortune to spend a great deal of time with him. I was almost +constantly by his side, and it was during the two months immediately +preceding the fall of Richmond that I came to know and fully +understand the true nobility of his character. In all those long +vigils, he was considerate and kind, gentle, firm, and self-poised. I +can give no better idea of the impression it made upon me, than to +say it inspired me with an ardent love of the man and a profound +veneration of his character. It was so massive and noble, so grand in +its proportions, that all men must admire its heroism and gallantry, +yet so gentle and tender that a woman might adopt and claim it as her +own." + +We beg the reader to observe that in these two tributes to the worth +of the great soldier, his distinguished associates dwell with peculiar +emphasis upon the charms of private intercourse with him, and bear +their testimony to the fact that to know him better was to love and +admire him more and more. The fact is easily explained. There was in +this human being's character naught that was insincere, assumed, or +pretentious. It was a great and massive soul--as gentle, too, and +tender, as a woman's or a child's--that lay beneath the reserved +exterior, and made the soldier more beloved as its qualities +were better known. Other men reveal their weaknesses on nearer +acquaintance--Lee only revealed his greatness; and he was more and +more loved and admired. + +The justice of these comments will be recognized by all who had +personal intercourse with the illustrious soldier; and, in this autumn +and winter of 1863, his army, lying around him along the Rapidan, +began to form that more intimate acquaintance which uniformly resulted +in profound admiration for the man. In the great campaigns of the two +past years the gray soldier had shared their hardships, and never +relaxed his fatherly care for all their wants; he had led them in +battle, exposing his own person with entire indifference; had never +exposed _them_ when it was possible to avoid it; and on every occasion +had demanded, often with disagreeable persistence from the civil +authorities, that the wants of his veterans should be supplied if all +else was neglected. These facts were now known to the troops, and +made Lee immensely popular. From the highest officers to the humblest +private soldiers he was universally respected and beloved. The whole +army seemed to feel that, in the plainly-clad soldier, sleeping, like +themselves, under canvas, in the woods of Orange, they had a guiding +and protecting head, ever studious of their well-being, jealous of +their hard-earned fame, and ready, both as friend and commander, to +represent them and claim their due. + +We have spoken of the great revival of religion which at this time +took place in the army. The touching spectacle was presented of +bearded veterans, who had charged in a score of combats, kneeling +devoutly under the rustic roofs of evergreens, built for religious +gatherings, and praying to the God of battles who had so long +protected them. A commander-in-chief of the old European school might +have ridiculed these emotional assemblages, or, at best, passed them +without notice, as freaks in which he disdained to take part. Lee, +on the contrary, greeted the religious enthusiasm of his troops +with undisguised pleasure. He went among them, conversed with the +chaplains, assisted the good work by every means in his power; and +no ordained minister of the Gospel could have exhibited a simpler, +sincerer, or more heartfelt delight than himself at the general +extension of religious feeling throughout the army. We have related +how, in talking with army-chaplains, his cheeks flushed and his eyes +filled with tears at the good tidings. He begged them to pray for him +too, as no less needing their pious intercession; and in making the +request he was, as always, simple and sincere. Unaccustomed to exhibit +his feelings upon this, the profoundest and most sacred of subjects, +he was yet penetrated to his inmost soul by a sense of his own +weakness and dependence on divine support; and, indeed, it may be +questioned whether any other element of the great soldier's character +was so deep-seated and controlling as his spirit of love to God. It +took, in the eyes of the world, the form of a love of duty; but with +Lee the word duty was but another name for the will of the Almighty; +and to discover and perform this was, first and last, the sole aim of +his life. + +We elaborate this point before passing to the last great campaign of +the war, since, to understand Lee in those last days, it is absolutely +necessary to keep in view this utter subjection of the man's heart to +the sense of an overruling Providence--that Providence which "shapes +our ends, rough-hew them how we will." We shall be called upon to +delineate the soldier meeting adverse circumstances and disaster at +every turn with an imperial calmness and a resolution that never +shook; and, up to a certain point, this noble composure may be +attributed to the stubborn courage of the man's nature. There came in +due time, however, a moment of trial when military courage simply +was of no avail--when that human being never lived, who, looking to +earthly support alone, would not have lost heart and given up the +contest. Lee did not, in this hour of conclusive trial, either lose +heart or give up the struggle; and the world, not understanding the +phenomenon, gazed at him with wonder. Few were aware of the true +explanation of his utter serenity when all things were crumbling +around him, and when he knew that they were crumbling. The stout heart +of the soldier who will not yield to fate was in his breast; but he +had a still stronger sentiment than manly courage to support him--the +consciousness that he was doing his duty, and that God watched over +him, and would make all things work together for good to those who +loved Him. + +As yet that last great wrestle of the opposing armies lay in the +future. The veterans of the Army of Northern Virginia defended the +line of the Rapidan, and the gray commander-in-chief, in his tent +on Clarke's Mountain, serenely awaited the further movements of the +enemy. During the long months of winter he was busily engaged, as +usual, in official correspondence, in looking to the welfare of his +men, and in preparations for the coming campaign. He often rode among +the camps, and the familiar figure in the well-known hat, cape, +and gray uniform, mounted upon the powerful iron-gray--the famous +"Traveller," who survived to bear his master after the war--was +everywhere greeted by the ragged veterans with cheers and marks of the +highest respect and regard. At times his rides were extended to +the banks of the Rapidan, and, in passing, he would stop at the +headquarters of General Stuart, or other officers. On these occasions +he had always some good-humored speech for all, not overlooking the +youngest officer; but he shone in the most amiable light, perhaps, in +conversing with some old private soldier, gray-haired like himself. +At such moments the general's countenance was a pleasant spectacle. A +kindly smile lit up the clear eyes, and moved the lips half-concealed +by the grizzled mustache. The _bonhomie_ of this smile was +irresistible, and the aged private soldier, in his poor, tattered +fighting-jacket, was made to feel by it that his commander-in-chief +regarded him as a friend and comrade. + +We dwell at too great length, perhaps, upon these slight personal +traits of the soldier, but all relating to such a human being is +interesting, and worthy of record. To the writer, indeed, this is the +most attractive phase of his subject. The analysis and description of +campaigns and battles is an unattractive task to him; but the personal +delineation of a good and great man, even in his lesser and more +familiar traits, is a pleasing relief--a portion of his subject upon +which he delights to linger. What the writer here tries to draw, he +looked upon with his own eyes, the figure of a great, calm soldier, +with kindly sweetness and dignity, but, above all, a charming +sincerity and simplicity in every movement, accent, and expression. +Entirely free from the trappings of high command, and with nothing to +distinguish him from any other soldier save the well-worn stars on the +collar of his uniform-coat, the commander-in-chief was recognizable at +the very first glance, and no less the simple and kindly gentleman. +His old soldiers remember him as he appeared on many battle-fields, +and will describe his martial seat in the saddle as he advanced with +the advancing lines. But they will speak of him with even greater +pleasure as he appeared in the winters of 1862 and 1863, on the +Rappahannock and the Rapidan--a gray and simple soldier, riding among +them and smiling kindly as his eyes fell upon their tattered uniforms +and familiar faces. + + + + +PART VIII. + +_LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGNS AND LAST DAYS_. + + + + +I. + +GENERAL GRANT CROSSES THE RAPIDAN. + + +In the first days of May, 1864, began the immense campaign which was +to terminate only with the fall of the Confederacy. + +For this, which was regarded as the decisive trial of strength, the +Federal authorities had made elaborate preparations. New levies were +raised by draft to fill up the ranks of the depleted forces; great +masses of war material were accumulated at the central depots at +Washington, and the Government summoned from the West an officer of +high reputation to conduct hostilities on what was more plainly than +ever before seen to be the theatre of decisive conflict--Virginia. The +officer in question was General Ulysses S. Grant, who had received the +repute of eminent military ability by his operations in the West; +he was now commissioned lieutenant-general, and President Lincoln +assigned him to the command of "all the armies of the United States," +at that time estimated to number one million men. + +General Grant promptly accepted the trust confided to him, and, +relinquishing to Major-General Sherman the command of the Western +forces, proceeded to Culpepper and assumed personal command of the +Army of the Potomac, although nominally that army remained under +command of General Meade. The spring campaign was preceded, in +February, by two movements of the Federal forces: one the advance of +General B.F. Butler up the Peninsula to the Chickahominy, where for a +few hours he threatened Richmond, only to retire hastily when opposed +by a few local troops; the other the expedition of General Kilpatrick +with a body of cavalry, from the Rapidan toward Richmond, with the +view of releasing the Federal prisoners there. This failed completely, +like the expedition up the Peninsula. General Kilpatrick, after +threatening the city, rapidly retreated, and a portion of his command, +under Colonel Dahlgren, was pursued, and a large portion killed, +including their commander. It is to be hoped, for the honor of human +nature, that Colonel Dahlgren's designs were different from those +which are attributed to him on what seems unassailable proof. Papers +found upon his body contained minute directions for releasing the +prisoners and giving up the city to them, and for putting to death the +Confederate President and his Cabinet. + +To return to the more important events on the Rapidan. General Grant +assumed the direction of the Army of the Potomac under most favorable +auspices. Other commanders--especially General McClellan--had labored +under painful disadvantages, from the absence of coöperation and good +feeling on the part of the authorities. The new leader entered upon +the great struggle under very different circumstances. Personally and +politically acceptable to the Government, he received their hearty +coöperation: all power was placed in his hands; he was enabled to +concentrate in Virginia the best troops, in large numbers; and the +character of this force seemed to promise him assured victory. General +McClellan and others had commanded troops comparatively raw, and +were opposed by Confederate armies in the full flush of anticipated +success. General Grant had now under him an army of veterans, and the +enemy he was opposed to had, month by month, lost strength. Under +these circumstances it seemed that he ought to succeed in crushing his +adversary. + +The Federal army present and ready for duty May 1, 1864, numbered one +hundred and forty-one thousand one hundred and sixty-six men. That of +General Lee numbered fifty-two thousand six hundred and twenty-six. +Colonel Taylor, adjutant-general of the Army, states the strictly +effective at a little less, viz.: + + Ewell 13,000 + Hill 17,000 + Longstreet 10,000 + + Infantry 40,000 + Cavalry and artillery 10,000 + + Total 50,000 + +The two statements do not materially differ, and require no +discussion. The force at Lee's command was a little over one-third +of General Grant's; and, if it be true that the latter commander +continued to receive reënforcements between the 1st and 4th days of +May, when he crossed the Rapidan, Lee's force was probably less than +one-third of his adversary's. + +Longstreet, it will be seen, had been brought back from the West, but +the Confederates labored under an even more serious disadvantage than +want of sufficient force. Lee's army, small as it was, was wretchedly +supplied. Half the men were in rags, and, worse still, were but +one-fourth fed. Against this suicidal policy, in reference to an army +upon which depended the fate of the South, General Lee had protested +in vain. Whether from fault in the authorities or from circumstances +over which they could exercise no control, adequate supplies of food +did not reach the army; and, when it marched to meet the enemy, in the +first days of May, the men were gaunt, half-fed, and in no condition +to enter upon so arduous a campaign. There was naught to be done, +however, but to fight on to the end. Upon the Army of Northern +Virginia, depleted by casualties, and unprovided with the commonest +necessaries, depended the fate of the struggle. Generals Grant and Lee +fully realized that fact; and the Federal commander had the acumen to +perceive that the conflict was to be long and determined. He indulged +no anticipations of an early or easy success. His plan, as stated in +his official report, was "to _hammer continuously_ against the armed +force of the enemy and his resources, until _by mere attrition_, if +by nothing else, there should be nothing left of him but an equal +submission with the loyal section of our common country to the +Constitution and the laws." The frightful cost in blood of this policy +of hammering continuously and thus wearing away his adversary's +strength by mere attrition, did or did not occur to General Grant. In +either case he is not justly to be blamed. + +It was the only policy which promised to result in Federal success. +Pitched battles had been tried for nearly three years, and in victory +or in defeat the Southern army seemed equally unshaken and dangerous. +This fact was now felt and acknowledged even by its enemies. "Lee's +army," said a Northern writer, referring to it at this time, "is an +army of veterans: it is an instrument sharpened to a perfect edge. You +turn its flanks--well, its flanks are made to be turned. This effects +little or nothing. All that we reckon as gained, therefore, is the +loss of life inflicted on the enemy." With an army thus trained in +many combats, and hardened against misfortune, defeat in one or a +dozen battles decided nothing. General Grant seems to have +understood this, and to have resolutely adopted the programme of +"attrition"--coldly estimating that, even if he lost ten men to +General Lee's one, he could better endure that loss, and could afford +it, if thereby he "crushed the rebellion." + +The military theory of the Federal commander having thus been set +forth in his own words, it remains to notice his programme for the +approaching campaign. He had hesitated between two plans--"one to +cross the Rapidan below Lee, moving by his right flank; the other +above, moving by his left." The last was abandoned, from the +difficulty of keeping open communication with any base of supplies, +and the latter adopted. General Grant determined to "fight Lee between +Culpepper and Richmond, if he would stand;" to advance straight upon +the city and invest it from the north and west, thereby cutting its +communications in three directions; and then, crossing the James River +above the city, form a junction with the left of Major-General Butler, +who, moving with about thirty thousand men from Fortress Monroe, at +the moment when the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan, was to +occupy City Point, advance thence up the south side of James River, +and reach a position where the two armies might thus unite. + +It is proper to keep in view this programme of General Grant. Lee +completely reversed it by promptly moving in front of his adversary +at every step which he took in advance; and it will be seen that the +Federal commander was finally compelled to adopt a plan which does not +seem to have entered his mind, save as a _dernier ressort_, at the +beginning of the campaign. + +On the morning of the 4th of May, General Grant commenced crossing the +Rapidan at Germanna and other fords above Chancellorsville, and by the +morning of the 5th his army was over. It appears from his report that +he had not anticipated so easy a passage of the stream, and greatly +felicitated himself upon effecting it so successfully. "This I +regarded," he says, "as a great success, and it removed from my mind +the most serious apprehension I had entertained, that of crossing +the river in the face of an active, large, well-appointed, and +ably-commanded army." Lee had made no movement to dispute the passage +of the stream, from the fact, perhaps, that his army was _not_ either +"large" or "well-appointed." He preferred to await the appearance of +his adversary, and direct an assault on the flank of his column as it +passed across his front. From a speech attributed to General Meade, it +would seem to have been the impression in the Federal army that Lee +designed falling back to a defensive position somewhere near the South +Anna. His movements were, however, very different. Instead of retiring +before General Grant in the direction of Richmond, he moved with his +three corps toward the Wilderness, to offer battle. + +[Illustration: Routes of Lee & Grant, May and June 1864.] + +The head of the column consisted of Ewell's corps, which had retained +its position on the Rapidan, forming the right of Lee's line. General +A.P. Hill, who had been stationed higher up, near Liberty Mills, +followed; and Longstreet, who lay near Gordonsville, brought up the +rear. These dispositions dictated, as will be seen, the positions of +the three commands in the ensuing struggle. Ewell advanced in front +down the Old Turnpike, that one of the two great highways here running +east and west which is nearest the Rapidan; Hill came on over the +Orange Plank-road, a little south of the turnpike, and thus formed +on Ewell's right; and Longstreet, following, came in on the right of +Hill. + +General Grant had plunged with his army into the dense and melancholy +thicket which had been the scene of General Hooker's discomfiture. His +army, followed by its great train of four thousand wagons, indicating +the important nature of the movement, had reached Wilderness Tavern +and that Brock Road over which Jackson advanced in his secret +flank-march against the Federal right in May, 1863. In May of 1864, +now, another Federal army had penetrated, the sombre and depressing +shadows of the interminable thickets of the Wilderness, and a more +determined struggle than the first was to mark with its bloody hand +this historic territory. + + + + +II. + +THE FIRST COLLISION IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +To understand the singular combat which now ensued, it is necessary to +keep in view the fact that nothing more surprised General Grant than +the sudden appearance of his adversary face to face with him in the +Wilderness. + +It had not been supposed, either by the lieutenant-general or his +corps-commanders, that Lee, with his small army, would have recourse +to a proceeding so audacious. It was anticipated, indeed, that, +somewhere on the road to Richmond, Lee would make a stand and fight, +in a carefully-selected position which would enable him to risk +collision with his great adversary; but that Lee himself would bring +on this collision by making an open attack, unassisted by position +of any sort, was the last thing which seems to have occurred to his +adversary. + +Such, however, as has been said, was the design, from the first, of +the Southern commander, and he moved with his accustomed celerity +and energy. As soon as General Grant broke up his camps north of the +Rapidan, Lee was apprised of the fact, and ordered his three corps +to concentrate in the direction of Chancellorsville. Those who were +present in the Southern army at this time will bear record to the +soldierly promptness of officers and men. On the evening of the 3d of +May the camps were the scenes of noise, merriment, and parade: the +bands played; the woods were alive; nothing disturbed the scene of +general enjoyment of winter-quarters. On the morning of the 4th all +this was changed. The camps were deserted; no sound was anywhere +heard; the troops were twenty miles away, fully armed and ready for +battle. General Lee was in the saddle, and his presence seemed to push +forward his column. Ewell, marching with celerity, bivouacked +that night directly in face of the enemy; and it was the +suddenly-discovered presence of the troops of this commander which +arrested General Grant, advancing steadily in the direction of +Spottsylvania Court-House. + +He must have inwardly chafed at a circumstance so unexpected and +embarrassing. It had been no part of his plan to fight in the thickets +of the Wilderness, and yet an adversary of but one-third his own +strength was about to reverse his whole programme, and dictate the +terms of the first battles of the campaign. There was nothing to do, +however, but to fight, and General Grant hastened to form order of +battle for that purpose, with General Sedgwick commanding his right, +Generals Warren and Burnside his centre, and General Hancock his left, +near the Brock Road. The line thus formed extended from northwest to +southeast, and, as the right wing was in advance with respect to Lee, +that circumstance occasioned the first collision. + +This occurred about mid-day on the 5th of May, and was brought on by +General Warren, who attacked the head of Swell's column, on the Old +Turnpike. An obstinate engagement ensued, and the division which +received the assault was forced back. It quickly, however, reformed, +and being reënforced advanced in turn against General Warren, and, +after a hard fight, he was driven back with a loss of three thousand +men and two pieces of artillery. + +This first collision of the armies on the Confederate left was +followed almost immediately by a bloody struggle on the centre. This +was held by A.P. Hill, who had marched down the Plank-road, and was +near the important point of junction of that road with the Brock Road, +when he was suddenly attacked by the enemy. The struggle which ensued +was long and determined. General Lee wrote: "The assaults were +repeated and desperate, but every one was repulsed." When night fell, +Hill had not been driven back, but had not advanced; and the two +armies rested on their arms, awaiting the return of light to continue +the battle. + + + + +III. + +THE BATTLE OF THE 6TH OF MAY. + + +The morning of the 6th of May came, and, with the first light of dawn, +the adversaries, as by a common understanding, advanced at the same +moment to attack each other. + +The battle which followed is wellnigh indescribable, and may be said, +in general terms, to have been naught but the blind and desperate +clutch of two great bodies of men, who could scarcely see each other +when they were but a few feet apart, and who fired at random, rather +by sound than sight. A Southern writer, describing the country and +the strange combat, says: "The country was sombre--a land of thicket, +undergrowth, jungle, ooze, where men could not see each other twenty +yards off, and assaults had to be made by the compass. The fights +there were not even as easy as night attacks in open country, for +at night you can travel by the stars. Death came unseen; regiments +stumbled on each other, and sent swift destruction into each other's +ranks, guided by the crackling of the bushes. It was not war--military +manoeuvring: science had as little to do with it as sight. Two wild +animals were hunting each other; when they heard each other's steps, +they sprung and grappled. The conqueror advanced, or went elsewhere. +The dead were lost from all eyes in the thicket. The curious spectacle +was here presented of officers advancing to the charge, in the jungle, +_compass in hand_, attacking, not by sight, but by the bearing of the +needle. In this mournful and desolate thicket did the great campaign +of 1864 begin. Here, in blind wrestle as at midnight, did two hundred +thousand men in blue and gray clutch each other--bloodiest and +weirdest of encounters. War had had nothing like it. The genius of +destruction, tired apparently of the old commonplace killing, had +invented the 'unseen death.' At five in the morning, the opponents +closed in, breast to breast, in the thicket. Each had thrown up here +and there slight, temporary breastworks of saplings and dirt; beyond +this, they were unprotected. The question now was, which would succeed +in driving his adversary from these defences, almost within a few +yards of each other, and from behind which crackled the musketry. +Never was sight more curious. On the low line of these works, dimly +seen in the thicket, rested the muzzles spouting flame; from the +depths rose cheers; charges were made and repulsed, the lines scarcely +seeing each other; men fell and writhed, and died unseen--their +bodies lost in the bushes, their death-groans drowned in the steady, +continuous, never-ceasing crash." + +These sentences convey a not incorrect idea of the general character +of this remarkable engagement, which had no precedent in the war. We +shall now proceed to speak of General Lee's plans and objects, and to +indicate where they failed or succeeded. The commanders of both armies +labored under great embarrassments. General Grant's was the singular +character of the country, with which he was wholly unacquainted; and +General Lee's, the delay in the arrival of Longstreet. Owing to the +distance of the camps of the last-named officer, he had not, at dawn, +reached the field of battle. As his presence was indispensable to a +general assault, this delay in his appearance threatened to result in +unfortunate consequences, as it was nearly certain that General Grant +would make an early and resolute attack. Under these circumstances, +Lee resolved to commence the action, and did so, counting, doubtless, +on his ability, with the thirty thousand men at his command, to at +least maintain his ground. His plan seems to have been to make a heavy +demonstration against the Federal right, and, when Longstreet arrived, +throw the weight of his whole centre and right against the Federal +left, with the view of seizing the Brock Road, running southward, +and forcing back the enemy's left wing into the thickets around +Chancellorsville. This brilliant conception, which, if carried out, +would have arrested General Grant in the beginning of his campaign, +was very near meeting with success. The attack on the Federal right, +under General Sedgwick, commenced at dawn, and the fighting on both +sides was obstinate. It continued with indecisive results throughout +the morning, gradually involving the Federal centre; but, nearly +at the moment when it began, a still more obstinate conflict was +inaugurated between General Hancock, holding the Federal left, and +Hill, who opposed him on the Plank-road. The battle raged in this +quarter with great fury for some time, but, attacked in front and +flank at once by his able opponent, Hill was forced back steadily, and +at last, in some disorder, a considerable distance from the ground +which had witnessed the commencement of the action. At this point, +however, he was fortunately met by Longstreet. That commander rapidly +brought his troops into line, met the advancing enemy, attacked +them with great fury, and, after a bloody contest, in which General +Wadsworth was killed, drove them back to their original position on +the Brock Road. + +It now seemed nearly certain that Lee's plan of seizing upon this +important highway would succeed. General Hancock had been forced back +with heavy loss, Longstreet was pressing on, and, as he afterward +said, he "thought he had another Bull Run on them," when a singular +casualty defeated all. General Longstreet, who had ridden in front of +his advancing line, turned to ride back, when he was mistaken by +his own men for a Federal cavalryman, fired upon, and disabled by +a musket-ball. This threw all into disorder, and the advance was +discontinued. General Lee, as soon as he was apprised of the accident, +hastened to take personal command of the corps, and, as soon as order +was restored, directed the line to press forward. The most bloody and +determined struggle of the day ensued. The thicket filled the valleys, +and, as at Chancellorsville, a new horror was added to the horror +of battle. A fire broke out in the thicket, and soon wrapped the +adversaries in flame and smoke. They fought on, however, amid the +crackling flames. Lee continued to press forward; the Federal +breastworks along a portion of their front were carried, and a part of +General Hancock's line was driven from the field. The struggle had, +however, been decisive of no important results, and, from the lateness +of the hour when it terminated, it could not be followed up. On the +left Lee had also met with marked but equally indecisive success. +General Gordon had attacked the Federal right, driven the force at +that point in disorder from their works, and but for the darkness this +success might have been followed up and turned into a complete defeat +of that wing of the enemy. It was only discovered on the next morning +what important successes Gordon had effected with a single brigade; +and there is reason to believe that with a larger force this able +soldier might have achieved results of a decisive character.[1] + +[Footnote 1: General Early, in his "Memoir of the Last Year of the War +for Independence," bears his testimony to the important character of +the blow struck by General Gordon. He says: "At light, on the morning +of the 7th, an advance was made, which disclosed the fact that the +enemy had given up his line of works in front of my whole line and a +good portion of Johnson's. Between the lines a large number of his +dead had been left, and at his breastworks a large number of muskets +and knapsacks had been abandoned, and there was every indication of +great confusion. It was not till then that we understood the full +extent of the success attending the movement of the evening before." +General Gordon had proposed making the attack on the _morning_ of the +6th, but was overruled.] + +Such had been the character and results of the first conflicts between +the two armies in the thickets of the Wilderness. As we have already +said, the collision there was neither expected nor desired by General +Grant, who, unlike General Hooker, in May of the preceding year, seems +fully to have understood the unfavorable nature of the region for +manoeuvring a large army. His adversary had, however, forced him to +accept battle, leaving him no choice, and the result of the actions of +the 5th and 6th had been such as to determine the Federal commander to +emerge as soon as possible from the tangled underwood which hampered +all his movements. On the 7th he accordingly made no movement to +attack Lee, and on the night of that day marched rapidly in the +direction of Hanover Junction, following the road by Todd's Tavern +toward Spottsylvania Court-House. + +For this determination to avoid further fighting in the Wilderness, +General Grant gives a singular explanation. "On the morning of the +7th," he says, "reconnoissance showed that the enemy _had fallen +behind his intrenched lines_, with pickets to the front, covering a +part of the battle-field. From this it was evident that the two-days' +fighting had satisfied him of his inability to further maintain +the contest in the open field, _notwithstanding his advantage of +position_, and that he would wait an attack behind his works." The +"intrenched lines" and "advantage of position" of Lee, were both +imaginary. No lines of intrenchment had been made, and the ground was +not more favorable on General Lee's side than on General Grant's. Both +armies had erected impromptu breastworks of felled trees and earth, +as continued to be their habit throughout the campaign, and the flat +country gave no special advantage to either. The forward movement of +General Grant is susceptible of much easier explanation. The result of +the two-days' fighting had very far from pleased him; he desired +to avoid further conflict in so difficult a country, and, taking +advantage of the quiescence of Lee, and the hours of darkness, he +moved with his army toward the more open country. + + + + +IV. + +THE 12TH OF MAY. + + +Throughout the entire day succeeding this first great conflict, +General Lee remained quiet, watching for some movement of his +adversary. His success in the preliminary straggle had been +gratifying, considering the great disproportion of numbers, but he +indulged no expectation of a retrograde movement across the Rapidan, +on the part of General Grant. He expected him rather to advance, and +anxiously awaited some development of this intention. There were no +indications of such a design up to the night of the 7th, but at that +time, to use the words of a confidential member of Lee's staff, "he +all at once seemed to conceive the idea that his enemy was preparing +to forsake his position, and move toward Hanover Junction _via_ the +Spottsylvania Court-House, and, believing this, he at once detailed +Anderson's division with orders to proceed rapidly toward the +court-house." + +General Anderson commenced his march about nine o'clock at night, when +the Federal column was already upon its way. A race now began for +the coveted position, and General Stuart, with his dismounted +sharp-shooters behind improvised breastworks, harassed and impeded the +Federal advance, at every step, throughout the night. This greatly +delayed their march, and their head of column did not reach the +vicinity of Spottsylvania Court-House until past sunrise. General +Warren, leading the Federal advance, then hurried forward, followed +by General Hancock, when suddenly he found himself in front of +breastworks, and was received with a fire of musketry. Lee had +succeeded in interposing himself between General Grant and Richmond. + +On the same evening the bulk of the two armies were facing each other +on the line of the Po. + +By the rapidity of his movements General Lee had thus completely +defeated his adversary's design to seize on the important point, +Spottsylvania Court-House. General Grant, apparently conceiving some +explanation of this untoward event to be necessary, writes: "The +enemy, having become aware of our movement, and _having the shorter +line_, was enabled to reach there first." The statement that General +Lee had the shorter of the two lines to march over is a mistake. The +armies moved over parallel roads until beyond Todd's Tavern, after +which the distance to the south bank of the Po was greater by Lee's +route than General Grant's. The map will sufficiently indicate this. +Two other circumstances defeated General Grant's attempt to reach the +point first--the extreme rapidity of the march of the Confederate +advance force, and the excellent fighting of Stuart's dismounted men, +who harassed and delayed General Warren, leading the Federal advance +throughout the entire night. + +An additional fact should be mentioned, bearing upon this point, and +upon General Lee's designs. "General Lee's orders to me," says General +Early, who, from the sickness of A.P. Hill, had been assigned to the +command of the corps, "were to _move by Todd's Tavern along the Brock +Road_, to Spottsylvania Court-House, as soon as our front was clear of +the enemy." From this order it would appear either that General Lee +regarded the Brock Road, over which General Grant moved, as the +"shorter line," or that he intended the movement of Early on the +enemy's rear to operate as a check upon them, while he went forward to +their front with his main body. + +These comments may seem tedious to the general reader, but all that +illustrates the military designs, or defends the good soldiership of +Lee, is worthy of record. + +We proceed now to the narrative. In the Wilderness General Grant had +found a dangerous enemy ready to strike at his flank. He now saw in +his front the same active and wary adversary, prepared to bar the +direct road to Richmond. General Lee had taken up his position on the +south bank of one of the four tributaries of the Mattapony. These four +streams are known as the Mat, Ta, Po, and Nye Rivers, and bear the +same relation to the main stream that the fingers of the open hand do +to the wrist. General Lee was behind the Po, which is next to the Nye, +the northernmost of these water-courses. Both were difficult to cross, +and their banks heavily wooded. It was now to be seen whether, either +by a front attack or a turning movement, General Grant could oust his +adversary, and whether General Lee would stand on the defensive or +attack. + +All day, during the 9th, the two armies were constructing breastworks +along their entire fronts, and these works, from the Rapidan to the +banks of the Chickahominy, remain yet in existence. On the evening of +this day a Federal force was thrown across the Po, on the Confederate +left, but soon withdrawn; and on the 10th a similar movement took +place near the same point, which resulted in a brief but bloody +conflict, during which the woods took fire, and many of the assaulting +troops perished miserably in the flames. The force was then recalled, +and, during that night and the succeeding day, nothing of importance +occurred, although heavy skirmishing and an artillery-fire took place +along the lines. + +On the morning of the 12th, at the first dawn of day, General Grant +made a more important and dangerous assault than any yet undertaken in +the campaign. This was directed at a salient on General Lee's right +centre, occupied by Johnson's division of Ewell's corps, and was one +of the bloodiest and most terrible incidents of the war. For this +assault General Grant is said to have selected his best troops. These +advanced in a heavy charging column, through the half darkness of +dawn, passed silently over the Confederate skirmishers, scarcely +firing a shot, and, just as the first streak of daylight touched the +eastern woods, burst upon the salient, which they stormed at the point +of the bayonet. In consequence of the suddenness of the assault and +the absence of artillery--against whose removal General Johnston is +stated to have protested, and which arrived too late--the Federal +forces carried all before them, and gained possession of the works, in +spite of a stubborn and bloody resistance. + +Such was the excellent success of the Federal movement, and the +Southern line seemed to be hopelessly disrupted. Nearly the whole of +Johnson's division were taken prisoners--the number amounting to about +three thousand--and eighteen pieces of artillery fell into the hands +of the assaulting column. + +The position of affairs was now exceedingly critical; and, unless +General Lee could reform his line at the point, it seemed that nothing +was left him but an abandonment of his whole position. The Federal +army had broken his line; was pouring into the opening; and, to +prevent him from concentrating at the point to regain possession of +the works, heavy attacks were begun by the enemy on his right and left +wings. It is probable that at no time during the war was the Southern +army in greater danger of a bloody and decisive disaster. + +At this critical moment General Lee acted with the nerve and coolness +of a soldier whom no adverse event can shake. Those who saw him will +testify to the stern courage of his expression; the glance of the eye, +which indicated a great nature, aroused to the depth of its powerful +organization. Line of battle was promptly formed a short distance +in rear of the salient then in the enemy's possession, and a fierce +charge was made by the Southerners, under the eye of Lee, to regain +it. It was on this occasion that, on fire with the ardor of battle, +which so seldom mastered him, Lee went forward in front of his line, +and, taking his station beside the colors of one of his Virginian +regiments, took off his hat, and, turning to the men, pointed toward +the enemy. A storm of cheers greeted the general, as he sat his gray +war-horse, in front of the men--his head bare, his eyes flashing, and +his cheeks flushed with the fighting-blood of the soldier. General +Gordon, however, spurred to his side and seized his rein. + +"General Lee!" he exclaimed, "this is no place for you. Go to the +rear. These are Virginians and Georgians, sir--men who have never +failed!--Men, you will not fail now!" he cried, rising in his stirrups +and addressing the troops. + +"No, no!" was the reply of the men; and from the whole line burst the +shout, "Lee to the rear! Lee to the rear!" + +Instead of being needed, it was obvious that his presence was an +embarrassment, as the men seemed determined not to charge unless he +retired. He accordingly did so, and the line advanced to the attack, +led by General Gordon and other officers of approved ability and +courage. The charge which followed was resolute, and the word +ferocious best describes the struggle which followed. It continued +throughout the entire day, Lee making not less than five distinct +assaults in heavy force to recover the works. The fight involved the +troops on both flanks, and was desperate and unyielding. The opposing +flags were at times within only a few yards of each other, and so +incessant and concentrated was the fire of musketry, that a tree of +about eighteen inches in diameter was cut down by bullets, and is +still preserved, it is said, in the city of Washington, as a memorial +of this bloody struggle. + +[Illustration: The Wilderness. "Lee to the Rear"] + +The fighting only ceased several hours after dark. Lee had not +regained his advanced line of works, but he was firmly rooted in an +interior and straighter line, from which the Federal troops had found +it impossible to dislodge him. This result of the stubborn action was +essentially a success, as General Grant's aim in the operation had +been to break asunder his adversary's army--in which he very nearly +succeeded. + +At midnight all was again silent. The ground near the salient was +strewed with dead bodies. The loss of the three thousand men and +eighteen guns of Johnson had been followed by a bloody retaliation, +the Federal commander having lost more than eight thousand men. + + + + +V. + +FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE CHICKAHOMINY. + + +After the bloody action of the 12th of May, General Grant remained +quiet for many days, "awaiting," he says, "the arrival of +reënforcements from Washington." The number of these fresh troops is +not known to the present writer. General Lee had no reinforcements to +expect, and continued to confront his adversary with his small army, +which must have been reduced by the heavy fighting to less than forty +thousand men, while that of General Grant numbered probably about one +hundred and forty thousand. + +Finding that his opponent was not disposed to renew hostilities. +General Lee, on the 19th of May, sent General Ewell to turn his right +flank; but this movement resulted in nothing, save the discovery by +General Ewell that the Federal army was moving. This intelligence was +dispatched to General Lee on the evening of the 21st, and reached +him at Souther's House, on the banks of the Po, where he was calmly +reconnoitring the position of the enemy. + +As soon as he read the note of General Ewell, he mounted his horse, +saying, in his grave voice, to his staff, "Come, gentlemen;" and +orders were sent to the army to prepare to move. The troops began +their march on the same night, in the direction of Hanover Junction, +which they reached on the evening of the 22d. When, on May 23d, +General Grant reached the banks of the North Anna, he found Lee +stationed on the south bank, ready to oppose his crossing. + +The failure of General Grant to reach and seize upon the important +point of Hanover Junction before the arrival of Lee, decided the fate +of the plan of campaign originally devised by him. If the reader will +glance at the map of Virginia, this fact will become apparent. Hanover +Junction is the point where the Virginia Central and Richmond and +Fredericksburg Railroads cross each other, and is situated in the +angle of the North Anna and South Anna Rivers, which unite a short +distance below to form the Pamunkey. Once in possession of this point, +General Grant would have had easy communication with the excellent +base of supplies at Aquia Creek; would have cut the Virginia Central +Railroad; and a direct march southward would have enabled him to +invest Richmond from the north and northwest, in accordance with his +original plan. Lee had, however, reached the point first, and from +that moment, unless the Southern force were driven from its position, +the entire plan of campaign must necessarily be changed. + +The great error of General Grant in this arduous campaign would seem +to have been the feebleness of the attack which he here made upon +Lee. The position of the Southern army was not formidable, and on +his arrival they had had no time to erect defences. The river is not +difficult of crossing, and the ground on the south bank gives +no decided advantage to a force occupying it. In spite of +these facts--which it is proper to say General Grant denies, +however--nothing was effected, and but little attempted. A few words +will sum up the operations of the armies during the two or three days. +Reaching the river, General Grant threw a column across some miles +up the stream, at a point known as Jericho Ford, where a brief but +obstinate encounter ensued between Generals Hill and Warren, and +this was followed by the capture of an old redoubt defending the +Chesterfield bridge, near the railroad crossing, opposite Lee's right, +which enabled another column to pass the stream at that point. These +two successful passages of the river on Lee's left and right seemed to +indicate a fixed intention on the part of his adversary to press both +the Southern flanks, and bring on a decisive engagement; and, to +coöperate in this plan, a third column was now thrown over opposite +Lee's centre. + +These movements were, however, promptly met. Lee retired his two +wings, but struck suddenly with his centre at the force attempting to +cross there; and then active operations on both sides ceased. In spite +of having passed the river with the bulk of his army, and formed line +of battle, General Grant resolved not to attack. His explanation of +this is that Lee's position was found "stronger than either of his +previous ones." + +Such was the result of the able disposition of the Southern force +at this important point. General Grant found his whole programme +reversed, and, on the night of the 26th, silently withdrew and +hastened down the north bank of the Pamunkey toward Hanovertown +preceded by the cavalry of General Sheridan. + +That officer had been detached from the army as it approached +Spottsylvania Court-House, to make a rapid march toward Richmond, +and destroy the Confederate communications. In this he partially +succeeded, but, attempting to ride into Richmond, was repulsed +with considerable loss. The only important result, indeed, of the +expedition, was the death of General Stuart. This distinguished +commander of General Lee's cavalry had been directed to pursue General +Sheridan; had done so, with his customary promptness, and intercepted +his column near Richmond, at a spot known as the Yellow Tavern; and +here, in a stubborn engagement, in which Stuart strove to supply his +want of troops by the fury of his attack, the great chief of cavalry +was mortally wounded, and expired soon afterward. His fall was a +grievous blow to General Lee's heart, as well as to the Southern +cause. Endowed by nature with a courage which shrunk from nothing; +active, energetic, of immense physical stamina, which enabled him to +endure any amount of fatigue; devoted, heart and soul, to the cause +in which he fought, and looking up to the commander of the army with +childlike love and admiration, Stuart could be ill spared at this +critical moment, and General Lee was plunged into the deepest +melancholy at the intelligence of his death. When it reached him he +retired from those around him, and remained for some time communing +with his own heart and memory. When one of his staff entered, and +spoke of Stuart, General Lee said, in a low voice, "I can scarcely +think of him without weeping." + +The command of the cavalry devolved upon General Hampton, and it +was fought throughout the succeeding campaign with the nerve and +efficiency of a great soldier; but Stuart had, as it were, formed and +moulded it with his own hands; he was the first great commander of +horse in the war; and it was hard for his successors, however great +their genius, to compete with his memory. His name will thus remain +that of the greatest and most prominent cavalry-officer of the war. + +Crossing the Pamunkey at Hanovertown, after a rapid night-march, +General Grant sent out a force toward Hanover Court-House to cut off +Lee's retreat or discover his position. This resulted in nothing, +since General Lee had not moved in that direction. He had, as soon as +the movement of General Grant was discovered, put his lines in motion, +directed his march across the country on the direct route to Cold +Harbor, and, halting behind the Tottapotomoi, had formed his line +there, to check the progress of his adversary on the main road from +Hanovertown toward Richmond. For the third time, thus, General Grant +had found his adversary in his path; and no generalship, or rapidity +in the movement of his column, seemed sufficient to secure to him the +advantages of a surprise. On each occasion the march of the Federal +army had taken place in the night; from the Wilderness on the night of +May 7th; from Spottsylvania on the night of May 21st; and from near +the North Anna on the night of May 26th. Lee had imitated these +movements of his opponent, interposing on each occasion, at the +critical moment, in his path, and inviting battle. This last statement +may be regarded as too strongly expressed, as it seems the opinion of +Northern writers that Lee, in these movements, aimed only to maintain +a strict defensive, and, by means of breastworks, simply keep his +adversary at arm's length. This is an entire mistake. Confident of the +efficiency of his army, small as it was, he was always desirous to +bring on a decisive action, under favorable circumstances. General +Early bears his testimony to the truth of this statement. "I happen to +know," says this officer, "that General Lee had always the greatest +anxiety to strike at Grant in the open field." During the whole +movement from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, the Confederate commander +was in excellent spirits. When at Hanover Junction he spoke of the +situation almost jocosely, and said to the venerable Dr. Gwathmey, +speaking of General Grant, "If I can get one more pull at him, I will +defeat him." + +This expression does not seem to indicate any depression or want of +confidence in his ability to meet General Grant in an open pitched +battle. It may, however, be asked why, if such were his desire, he did +not come out from behind his breastworks and fight. The reply is, that +General Grant invariably defended his lines by breastworks as powerful +as--in many cases much more powerful than--his adversary's. The +opposing mounds of earth and trees along the routes of the two armies +remain to prove the truth of what is here stated. At Cold Harbor, +especially, the Federal works are veritable forts. In face of them, +the theory that General Grant uniformly acted upon the offensive, +without fear of offensive operations in turn on the part of Lee, +will be found untenable. Nor is this statement made with the view of +representing General Grant as over-cautious, or of detracting from his +merit as a commander. It was, on the contrary, highly honorable to +him, that, opposed to an adversary of such ability, he should have +neglected nothing. + +Reaching the Tottapotomoi, General Grant found his opponent in a +strong position behind that sluggish water-course, prepared to dispute +the road to Richmond; and it now became necessary to force the passage +in his front, or, by another flank march, move still farther to the +left, and endeavor to cross the Chickahominy somewhere in the vicinity +of Cold Harbor. This last operation was determined upon by General +Grant, and, sending his cavalry toward Cold Harbor, he moved rapidly +in the same direction with his infantry. This movement was discovered +at once by Lee; he sent Longstreet's corps forward, and, when the +Federal army arrived, the Southern forces were drawn up in their +front, between them and Richmond, thus barring, for the fourth time in +the campaign, the road to the capital. + +During these movements, nearly continuous fighting had taken place +between the opposing columns, which clung to each other, as it were, +each shaping its march more or less by that of the other. At last they +had reached the ground upon which the obstinate struggle of June, +1862, had taken place, and it now became necessary for General Grant +either to form some new plan of campaign, or, by throwing his whole +army, in one great mass, against his adversary, break through all +obstacles, cross the Chickahominy, and seize upon Richmond. This was +now resolved upon. + +Heavy fighting took place on June 2d, near Bethesda Church and at +other points, while the armies were coming into position; but this was +felt to be but the preface to the greater struggle which General Lee +now clearly divined. It came without loss of time. On the morning of +the 3d of June, soon after daylight, General Grant threw his whole +army straightforward against Lee's front--all along his line. The +conflict which followed was one of those bloody grapples, rather +than battles, which, discarding all manoeuvring or brain-work in the +commanders, depend for the result upon the brute strength of the +forces engaged. The action did not last half an hour, and, in that +time, the Federal loss was thirteen thousand men. When General Lee +sent a messenger to A.P. Hill, asking the result of the assault on +his part of the line, Hill took the officer with him in front of his +works, and, pointing to the dead bodies which were literally lying +upon each other, said: "Tell General Lee it is the same all along my +front." + +The Federal army had, indeed, sustained a blow so heavy, that even the +constant mind and fixed resolution of General Grant and the Federal +authorities seem to have been shaken. The war seemed hopeless to many +persons in the North after the frightful bloodshed of this thirty +minutes at Cold Harbor, of which fact there is sufficient proof. "So +gloomy," says a Northern historian,[1] "was the military outlook after +the action on the Chickahominy, and to such a degree, by consequence, +had the moral spring of the public mind become relaxed, that there was +at this time great danger of a collapse of the war. The history of +this conflict, truthfully written, will show this. The archives of the +State Department, when one day made public, will show how deeply the +Government was affected by the want of military success, and to what +resolutions the Executive had in consequence come. Had not success +elsewhere come to brighten the horizon, it would have been difficult +to have raised new forces to recruit the Army of the Potomac, which, +shaken in its structure, its valor quenched in blood, and thousands of +its ablest officers killed and wounded, was the Army of the Potomac no +more." + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Swinton, in his able and candid "Campaigns of the +Army of the Potomac."] + +The campaign of one month--from May 4th to June 4th--had cost +the Federal commander sixty thousand men and three thousand +officers--numbers which are given on the authority of Federal +historians--while the loss of Lee did not exceed eighteen thousand. +The result would seem an unfavorable comment upon the choice of the +route across the country from Culpepper instead of that by the James. +General McClellan, two years before, had reached Cold Harbor with +trifling losses. To attain the same point had cost General Grant +a frightful number of lives. Nor could it be said that he had any +important successes to offset this loss. He had not defeated his +adversary in any of the battle-fields of the campaign; nor did it +seem that he had stricken him any serious blow. The Army of Northern +Virginia, not reënforced until it reached Hanover Junction, and then +only by about nine thousand men under Generals Breckinridge and +Pickett, had held its ground against the large force opposed to it; +had repulsed every assault; and, in a final trial of strength with a +force largely its superior, had inflicted upon the enemy, in about an +hour, a loss of thirteen thousand men. + +These facts, highly honorable to Lee and his troops, are the plainest +and most compendious comment we can make upon the campaign. The whole +movement of General Grant across Virginia is, indeed, now conceded +even by his admirers to have been unfortunate. It failed to accomplish +the end expected from it--the investment of Richmond on the north and +west--and the lives of about sixty thousand men were, it would seem, +unnecessarily lost, to reach a position which might have been attained +with losses comparatively trifling, and without the unfortunate +prestige of defeat. + + + + +VI. + +FIRST BATTLES AT PETERSBURG. + + +General Lee remained facing his adversary in his lines at Cold Harbor, +for many days after the bloody struggle of the 3d of June, confident +of his ability to repulse any new attack, and completely barring the +way to Richmond. The Federal campaign, it was now seen, was at an end +on that line, and it was obvious that General Grant must adopt some +other plan, in spite of his determination expressed in the beginning +of the campaign, to "fight it out on that line if it took all the +summer." The summer was but begun, and further fighting on that line +was hopeless. Under these circumstances the Federal commander resolved +to give up the attempt to assail Richmond from the north or east, and +by a rapid movement to Petersburg, seize upon that place, cut the +Confederate railroads leading southward, and thus compel an evacuation +of the capital. + +[Illustration: Map of Petersburg and Environs.] + +It would be interesting to inquire what the course of General Lee +would have been in the event of the success of this plan, and how the +war would have resulted. It would seem that, under such circumstances, +his only resource would have been to retire with his army in the +direction of Lynchburg, where his communications would have remained +open with the south and west. If driven from that point, the +fastnesses of the Alleghanies were at hand; and, contemplating +afterward the possibility of being forced to take refuge there, he +said: "With my army in the mountains of Virginia, I could carry on +this war for twenty years longer." That spectacle was lost to the +world--Lee and his army fighting from mountain fastness to mountain +fastness--and the annals of war are not illustrated by a chapter so +strange. That Lee was confident of his ability to carry on such a +struggle successfully is certain; and Washington had conceived the +same idea in the old Revolution, when he said that if he were driven +from the seaboard he would take refuge in West Augusta, and thereby +prolong the war interminably. + +To return from these speculations to the narrative of events. General +Grant remained in front of Lee until the 12th of June, when, moving +again by his left flank, he crossed the Chickahominy, proceeded in +the direction of City Point, at which place the Appomattox and James +Rivers mingle their waters, and, crossing the James on pontoons, +hastened forward in order to seize upon Petersburg. This important +undertaking had been strangely neglected by Major-General Butler, +who, in obedience to General Grant's orders, had sailed from Fortress +Monroe on the 4th of May, reached Bermuda Hundred, the peninsula +opposite City Point, made by a remarkable bend in James River, and +proceeded to intrench himself. It was in his power on his arrival to +have seized upon Petersburg, but this he failed to do at that time, +and the appearance of a force under General Beauregard, from the +south, soon induced him to give his entire attention to his own +safety. An attack by Beauregard had been promptly made, which nearly +resulted in General Butler's destruction. He succeeded, however, in +retiring behind his works across the neck of the Peninsula, in which +he now found himself completely shut up; and so powerless was his +situation, with his large force of thirty thousand men, that General +Grant wrote, "His army was as completely shut off ... as if it had +been in a bottle strongly corked." + +The attempt of General Grant to seize upon Petersburg by a surprise +failed. His forces were not able to reach the vicinity of the place +until the 15th, when they were bravely opposed behind impromptu works +by a body of local troops, who fought like regular soldiers, and +succeeded in holding the works until night ended the contest. + +When morning came long lines were seen defiling into the breastworks, +and the familiar battle-flags of the Army of Northern Virginia rose +above the long line of bayonets giving assurance that the possession +of Petersburg would be obstinately disputed. + +General Lee had moved with his accustomed celerity, and, as usual, +without that loss of time which results from doubt of an adversary's +intentions. If General Grant retired without another battle on the +Chickahominy, it was obvious to Lee that he must design one of two +things: either to advance upon Richmond from the direction of Charles +City, or attempt a campaign against the capital from the south of +James River. Lee seems at once to have satisfied himself that the +latter was the design. An inconsiderable force was sent to feel the +enemy near the White-Oak Swamp; he was encountered there in some +force, but, satisfied that this was a feint to mislead him, General +Lee proceeded to cross the James River above Drury's Bluff, near +"Wilton," and concentrate his army at Petersburg. On the 16th he was +in face of his adversary there. General Grant had adopted the plan of +campaign which Lee expected him to adopt. General McClellan had +not been permitted in 1862 to carry out the same plan; it was now +undertaken by General Grant, who sustained better relations toward +the Government, and the result would seem to indicate that General +McClellan was, after all, a soldier of sound views. + +As soon as General Lee reached Petersburg, he began promptly to draw a +regular line of earthworks around the city, to the east and south, for +its defence. It was obvious that General Grant would lose no time in +striking at him, in order to take advantage of the slight character +of the defences already existing; and this anticipation was speedily +realized. General Lee had scarcely gotten his forces in position on +the 16th when he was furiously attacked, and such was the weight of +this assault that Lee was forced from his advanced position, east of +the city, behind his second line of works, by this time well forward +in process of construction. Against this new line General Grant threw +heavy forces, in attack after attack, on the 17th and 18th, losing, it +is said, more than four thousand men, but effecting nothing. On the +21st General Lee was called upon to meet a more formidable assault +than any of the preceding ones--this time more to his right, in the +vicinity of the Weldon Railroad, which runs southward from Petersburg. +A heavy line was advanced in that quarter by the enemy; but, observing +that an interval had been left between two of their corps, General Lee +threw forward a column under General Hill, cut the Federal lines, and +repulsed their attack, bearing off nearly three thousand prisoners. + +On the same night an important cavalry expedition, consisting of the +divisions of General Wilson and Kautz, numbering about six thousand +horse, was sent westward to cut the Weldon, Southside, and Danville +Railroads, which connected the Southern army with the South and West. +This raid resulted in apparently great but really unimportant injury +to the Confederate communications against which it was directed. The +Federal cavalry tore up large portions of the tracks of all three +railroads, burning the wood-work, and laying waste the country around; +but the further results of the expedition were unfavorable. They were +pursued and harassed by a small body of cavalry under General W. H.F. +Lee, and, on their return in the direction of Reams's Station, were +met near Sapponey Church by a force of fifteen hundred cavalry under +General Hampton. That energetic officer at once attacked; the fighting +continued furiously throughout the entire night, and at dawn the +Federal horse retreated in confusion. Their misfortunes were not, +however, ended. Near Reams's, at which point they attempted to cross +the Weldon Railroad, they were met by General Fitz Lee's horsemen +and about two hundred infantry under General Mahone, and this force +completed their discomfiture. After a brief attempt to force their +way through the unforeseen obstacle, they broke in disorder, leaving +behind them twelve pieces of artillery, and more than a thousand +prisoners, and, with foaming and exhausted horses, regained the +Federal lines. + +Such was the result of an expedition from which General Grant +probably expected much. The damage done to Lee's communications was +inconsiderable, and did not repay the Federal commander for the losses +sustained. The railroads were soon repaired and in working order +again; and the Federal cavalry was for the time rendered unfit for +further operations. + +It was now the end of June, and every attempt made by General Grant +to force Lee's lines had proved unsuccessful. It was apparent that +surprise of the able commander of the Confederate army was hopeless. +His works were growing stronger every day, and nothing was left to +his great adversary but to lay regular siege to the long line of +fortifications; to draw lines for the protection of his own front from +attack; and, by gradually extending his left, reach out toward the +Weldon and Southside Railroads. + +To obtain possession of these roads was from this time General Grant's +great object; and all his movements were shaped by that paramount +consideration. + + + + +VII. + +THE SIEGE OF RICHMOND BEGUN. + + +The first days of July, 1864, witnessed, at Petersburg, the +commencement of a series of military manoeuvres, for which few, if +any, precedents existed in all the annals of war. An army of forty or +fifty thousand men, intrenched along a line extending finally over +a distance of nearly forty miles, was defending, against a force of +about thrice its numbers, a capital more than twenty miles in its +rear; and, from July of one year to April of the next, there never +was a moment when, to have broken through this line, would not +have terminated the war, and resulted in the destruction of the +Confederacy. + +A few words in reference to the topography of the country and the +situation will show this. Petersburg is twenty-two miles south of +Richmond, and is connected with the South and West by the Weldon and +Southside Railroads, which latter road crosses the Danville Railroad, +the main line of communication between the capital and the Gulf +States. With the enemy once holding these roads and those north of the +city, as they were preparing to do, the capital would be isolated, and +the Confederate Government must evacuate Virginia. In that event the +Army of Northern Virginia had also nothing left to it but retreat. +Virginia must be abandoned; the Federal authority would be extended +over the oldest and one of the largest and most important members of +the Confederacy; and, under circumstances so adverse, it might well be +a question whether, disheartened as they would be by the loss of so +powerful an ally, the other States of the Confederacy would have +sufficient resolution to continue the contest. + +These considerations are said to have been fully weighed by General +Lee, whose far-reaching military sagacity divined the exact situation +of affairs, and the probable results of a conflict so unequal as +that which General Grant now forced upon him. We have noticed, on +a preceding page, his opinions upon this subject, expressed to a +confidential friend as far back as 1862. He then declared that the +true line of assault upon Richmond was that now adopted by General +Grant. As long as the capital was assailed from the north or the east, +he might hope with some reason, by hard fighting, to repulse the +assault, and hold Richmond. But, with an enemy at Petersburg, +threatening with a large force the Southern railroads, it was +obviously only a question of time when Richmond, and consequently +Virginia, must be abandoned. + +General Lee, we repeat, fully realized the facts here stated, when +his adversary, giving up all other lines, crossed James River to +Petersburg. Lee is said, we know not with what truth, to have coolly +recommended an evacuation of Richmond. But this met with no favor. +A powerful party, including both the friends and enemies of the +Executive, spoke of the movement as a "pernicious idea." If +recommended by Lee, it was speedily abandoned, and all the energies of +the Government were concentrated upon the difficult task of holding +the enemy at arm's length south of the Appomattox and in Charles City. + +In a few weeks after the appearance of the adversaries opposite each +other at Petersburg, the lines of leaguer and defence were drawn, +and the long struggle began. General Grant had crossed a force into +Charles City, on the north bank of James River, and thus menaced +Richmond with an assault from that quarter. His line extended thence +across the neck of the Peninsula of Bermuda Hundred, and east and +south of Petersburg, where, day by day, it gradually reached westward, +approaching nearer and nearer to the railroads feeding the Southern +army and capital. Lee's line conformed itself to that of his +adversary. In addition to the works east and southeast of Richmond, an +exterior chain of defences had been drawn, facing the hostile force +near Deep Bottom; and the river at Drury's Bluff, a fortification of +some strength, had been guarded, by sunken obstructions, against the +approach of the Federal gunboats. The Southern lines then continued, +facing those of the enemy north of the Appomattox, and, crossing that +stream, extended around the city of Petersburg, gradually moving +westward in conformity with the works of General Grant. A glance at +the accompanying diagram will clearly indicate the positions and +relations to each other of the Federal and Confederate works. These +will show that the real struggle was anticipated, by both commanders, +west of Petersburg; and, as the days wore on, it was more and more +apparent that somewhere in the vicinity of Dinwiddie Court-House the +last great wrestle of the opposing armies must take place. + +To that conclusive trial of strength we shall advance with as few +interruptions as possible. The operations of the two armies at +Petersburg do not possess, for the general reader, that dramatic +interest which is found in battles such as those of Chancellorsville +and Gettysburg, deciding for the time the fates of great campaigns. +At Petersburg the fighting seemed to decide little, and the bloody +collisions had no names. The day of pitched battles, indeed, seemed +past. It was one long battle, day and night, week after week, and +month after month--during the heat of summer, the sad hours of autumn, +and the cold days and nights of winter. It was, in fact, the siege +of Richmond which General Grant had undertaken, and the fighting +consisted less of battles, in the ordinary acceptation of that word, +than of attempts to break through the lines of his adversary--now +north of James River, now east of Petersburg, now at some point in +the long chain of redans which guarded the approaches to the coveted +Southside Railroad, which, once in possession of the Federal +commander, would give him victory. + +Of this long, obstinate, and bloody struggle we shall describe only +those prominent incidents which rose above the rest with a species +of dramatic splendor. For the full narrative the reader must have +recourse to military histories aiming to chronicle the operations of +each corps, division, and brigade in the two armies--a minuteness of +detail beyond our scope, and probably not desired by those who will +peruse these pages. + + + + +VIII. + +LEE THREATENS WASHINGTON. + + +The month of July began and went upon its way, with incessant fighting +all along the Confederate front, both north of James River and south +of the Appomattox. General Grant was thus engaged in the persistent +effort to, at some point, break through his opponent's works, when +intelligence suddenly reached him, by telegraph from Washington, that +a strong Confederate column had advanced down the Shenandoah Valley, +crossed the Potomac, and was rapidly moving eastward in the direction +of the Federal capital. + +This portentous incident was the result of a plan of great boldness +devised by General Lee, from which he expected much. A few words will +explain this plan. + +A portion of General Grant's plan of campaign had been an advance up +the Valley, and another from Western Virginia, toward the Lynchburg +and Tennessee Railroad--the two columns to coöperate with the main +army by cutting the Confederate communications. The column in Western +Virginia effected little, but that in the Valley, under General +Hunter, hastened forward, almost unopposed, from the small numbers of +the Southern force, and early in June threatened Lynchburg. The news +reached Lee at Cold Harbor soon after his battle there with General +Grant, and he promptly detached General Early, at the head of about +eight thousand men, with orders to "move to the Valley through +Swift-Run Gap, or Brown's Gap, attack Hunter, and then cross the +Potomac and threaten Washington." [Footnote: This statement of his +orders was derived from Lieutenant-General Early.] + +General Early, an officer of great energy and intrepidity, moved +without loss of time, and an engagement ensued between him and General +Hunter near Lynchburg. The battle was soon decided. General Hunter, +who had more cruelly oppressed the inhabitants of the Valley than even +General Milroy, was completely defeated, driven in disordered flight +toward the Ohio, and Early hastened down the Valley, and thence into +Maryland, with the view of threatening Washington, as he had been +ordered to do by Lee. His march was exceedingly rapid, and he found +the road unobstructed until he reached the Monocacy near Frederick +City, where he was opposed by a force under General Wallace. This +force he attacked, and soon drove from the field; he then pressed +forward, and on the 11th of July came in sight of Washington. + +It was the intelligence of this advance of a Confederate force into +Maryland, and toward the capital, which came to startle General Grant +while he was hotly engaged with Lee at Petersburg. The Washington +authorities seem to have been completely unnerved, and to have +regarded the capture of the city as nearly inevitable. General Grant, +however, stood firm, and did not permit the terror of the civil +authorities to affect him. He sent forward to Washington two army +corps, and these arrived just in time. If it had been in the power of +General Early to capture Washington--which seems questionable--the +opportunity was lost. He found himself compelled to retire across the +Potomac again to avoid an attack in his rear; and this he effected +without loss, taking up, in accordance with orders from Lee, a +position in the Valley, where he remained for some months a standing +threat to the enemy. + +Such was the famous march of General Early to Washington; and there +seems at present little reason to doubt that the Federal capital had a +narrow escape from capture by the Confederates. What the result of so +singular an event would have been, it is difficult to say; but it +is certain that it would have put an end to General Grant's entire +campaign at Petersburg. Then--but speculations of this character are +simply loss of time. The city was not captured; the war went upon its +way, and was destined to terminate by pure exhaustion of one of the +combatants, unaffected by _coups de main_ in any part of the theatre +of conflict. + +We have briefly spoken of the engagement between Generals Early and +Hunter, near Lynchburg, and the abrupt retreat of the latter to the +western mountains and thence toward the Ohio. It may interest the +reader to know General Lee's views on the subject of this retreat, +which, it seems, were drawn from him by a letter addressed to him by +General Hunter: + +"As soon after the war as mail communications were opened," writes +the gentleman of high character from whom we derive this incident, +"General David Hunter wrote to General Lee, begging that he would +answer him frankly on two points:" + +'I. His (Hunter's) campaign in 1864 was undertaken on information +received by General Halleck that General Lee was about to detach forty +thousand picked troops to send to Georgia. Did not his (Hunter's) move +prevent this? + +'II. When he found it necessary to retreat from Lynchburg, did he not +take the most feasible route?' + +General Lee wrote a very courteous reply, in which he said: + +'I. General Halleck was misinformed. I had _no troops to spare_, and +forty thousand would have taken nearly my whole army. + +'II. I am not advised as to the motives which induced you to adopt +your line of retreat, and am not, perhaps, competent to judge of the +question; _but I certainly expected you to retreat by way_ of the +Shenandoah Valley.' + +"General Hunter," adds our correspondent, "never published this +letter, but I heard General Lee tell of it one day with evident +pleasure." + +Lee's opinion of the military abilities of both Generals Hunter +and Sheridan was indeed far from flattering. He regarded those two +commanders--especially General Sheridan--as enjoying reputations +solely conferred upon them by the exhaustion of the resources of +the Confederacy, and not warranted by any military efficiency in +themselves. + + + + +IX. + +THE MINE EXPLOSION. + + +The end of the month of July was now approaching, and every attempt +made by General Grant to break through Lee's lines had resulted in +failure. At every point which he assailed, an armed force, sufficient +to repulse his most vigorous attacks, seemed to spring from the earth; +and no movement of the Federal forces, however sudden and rapid, had +been able to take the Confederate commander unawares. The campaign was +apparently settling down into stubborn fighting, day and night, in +which the object of General Grant was to carry out his programme of +attrition. Such was the feeling in both armies when, at dawn on the +30th of July, a loud explosion, heard for thirty miles, took place on +the lines near Petersburg, and a vast column of smoke, shooting upward +to a great height, seemed to indicate the blowing up of an extensive +magazine. + +Instead of a magazine, it was a mine which had thus been exploded; and +the incident was not the least singular of a campaign unlike any which +had preceded it. + +The plan of forming a breach in the Southern works, by exploding a +mine beneath them, is said by Northern writers to have originated with +a subordinate officer of the Federal army, who, observing the close +proximity of the opposing works near Petersburg, conceived it feasible +to construct a subterranean gallery, reaching beneath those of General +Lee. The undertaking was begun, the earth being carried off in +cracker-boxes; and such was the steady persistence of the workmen that +a gallery five hundred feet long, with lateral openings beneath the +Confederate works, was soon finished; and in these lateral recesses +was placed a large amount of powder. + +All was now ready, and the question was how to utilize the explosion. +General Grant decided to follow it by a sudden charge through the +breach, seize a crest in rear, and thus interpose a force directly in +the centre of Lee's line. A singular discussion, however, arose, and +caused some embarrassment. Should the assaulting column consist of +white or negro troops? This question was decided, General Grant +afterward declared, by "pulling straws or tossing coppers"--the white +troops were the fortunate or unfortunate ones--and on the morning of +July 30th the mine was exploded. The effect was frightful, and the +incident will long be remembered by those present and escaping +unharmed. The small Southern force and artillery immediately above the +mine were hurled into the air. An opening, one hundred and fifty feet +long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep, suddenly appeared, where +a moment before had extended the Confederate earthworks; and the +Federal division, selected for the charge, rushed forward to pierce +the opening. + +The result did not justify the sanguine expectations which seem to +have been excited in the breasts of the Federal officers. A Southern +writer thus describes what ensued: + +"The 'white division' charged, reached the crater, stumbled over +the _débris_, were suddenly met by a merciless fire of artillery, +enfilading them right and left, and of infantry fusillading them in +front; faltered, hesitated, were badly led, lost heart, gave up the +plan of seizing the crest in rear, huddled into the crater, man on +top of man, company mingled with company; and upon this disordered, +unstrung, quivering mass of human beings, white and black--for the +black troops had followed--was poured a hurricane of shot, shell, +canister, musketry, which made the hideous crater a slaughter-pen, +horrible and frightful beyond the power of words. All order was lost; +all idea of charging the crest abandoned. Lee's infantry was seen +concentrating for the carnival of death; his artillery was massing to +destroy the remnants of the charging divisions; those who deserted the +crater, to scramble over the _débris_ and run back, were shot down; +then all that was left to the shuddering mass of blacks and whites in +the pit was to shrink lower, evade the horrible _mitraille_, and wait +for a charge of their friends to rescue them or surrender." + +These sentences sufficiently describe the painful scene which followed +the explosion of the mine. The charging column was unable to advance +in face of the very heavy fire directed upon them by the Southern +infantry and artillery; and the effect of this fire was so appalling +that General Mahone, commanding at the spot, is said to have ordered +it to cease, adding that the spectacle made him sick. The Federal +forces finally succeeded in making their way back, with a loss of +about four thousand prisoners; and General Lee, whose losses had been +small, reëstablished his line without interruption. + +Before passing from this incident, a singular circumstance connected +with it is deserving of mention. This was the declaration of the +Congressional Committee, which in due time investigated the whole +affair. + +The conclusion of the committee was not flattering to the veteran Army +of the Potomac. The report declared that "the first and great cause of +disaster was the employment of white instead of black troops to make +the charge." + + + + +X. + +END OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1864. + + +Throughout the months of August and September, Lee continued to be +attacked at various points along his entire front, but succeeded +in repulsing every assault. General Grant's design may be said, in +general terms, to have been a steady extension of his left toward +the Confederate communications west of Petersburg, while taking the +chances, by attacks north of James River, to break through in that +quarter and seize upon Richmond. It is probable that his hopes of +effecting the last-mentioned object were small; but operations in that +direction promised the more probable result of causing Lee to weaken +his right, and thus uncover the Southside Railroad. + +An indecisive attack on the north of James River was followed, toward +the end of August, by a heavy advance, to seize upon the Weldon +Railroad near Petersburg. In this General Grant succeeded, an event +clearly foreseen by Lee, who had long before informed the authorities +that he could not hold this road. General Grant followed up this +success by sending heavy forces to seize Reams's Station, on the same +road, farther south, and afterward to destroy it to Hicksford--which, +however, effected less favorable results, Lee meeting and defeating +both forces after obstinate engagements, in which the Federal troops +lost heavily, and were compelled to retreat. + +These varying successes did not, however, materially affect the +general result. The Federal left gradually reached farther and farther +westward, until finally it had passed the Vaughan, Squirrel Level, and +other roads, running south-westward from Petersburg, and in October +was established on the left bank of Hatcher's Run, which unites with +Gravelly Run to form the Rowanty. It was now obvious that a further +extension of the Federal left would probably enable General Grant to +seize upon the Southside Railroad. An energetic attempt was speedily +made by him to effect this important object, to which it is said +he attached great importance from its anticipated bearing on the +approaching presidential election. + +On the 27th of October a heavy column was thrown across Hatcher's +Run, in the vicinity of Burgess's Mill, on the Boydton Road, and +an obstinate attack was made on Lee's lines there with the view of +breaking through to the Southside Road. In this, however, General +Grant did not succeed. His column was met in front and flank by +Generals Hampton--who here lost his brave son, Preston--and W.H.F. +Lee, with dismounted sharp-shooters; infantry was hastened to the +threatened point by General Lee, and, after an obstinate struggle, +the Federal force was driven back. General Lee reporting that General +Mahone charged and "broke three lines of battle."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Dispatch of Lee, October_ 28, 1864.--It was the habit +of General Lee, throughout the last campaign of the war, to send to +Richmond, from time to time, brief dispatches announcing whatever +occurred along the lines; and these, in the absence of official +reports of these occurrences on the Confederate side, are valuable +records of the progress of affairs. These brief summaries are reliable +from the absence of all exaggeration, but cannot be depended upon +by the historian, for a very singular reason, namely, that almost +invariably the Confederate successes are understated. On the present +occasion, the Federal loss in prisoners near Burgess's Mill and east +of Richmond--where General Grant had attacked at the same time to +effect a diversion--are put down by General Lee at eight hundred, +whereas thirteen hundred and sixty-five were received at Richmond. + +Lee's dispatch of October 28th is here given, as a specimen of these +brief military reports. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_October_ 28, 1864. + +_Hon. Secretary of War_: + +General Hill reports that the attack of General Heth upon the enemy +on the Boydton Plank-road, mentioned in my dispatch last evening, was +made by three brigades under General Mahone in front, and General +Hampton in the rear. Mahone captured four hundred prisoners, three +stand of colors, and six pieces of artillery. The latter could not be +brought off, the enemy having possession of the bridge. + +In the attack subsequently made by the enemy General Mahone broke +three lines of battle, and during the night the enemy retreated from +the Boydton Road, leaving his wounded and more than two hundred and +fifty dead on the field. + +About nine o'clock P.M. a small force assaulted and took possession of +our works on the Baxter Road, in front of Petersburg, but were soon +driven out. + +On the Williamsburg Road General Field captured upward of four hundred +prisoners and seven stand of colors. The enemy left a number of dead +in front of our works, and to-day retreated to his former position. + +R.E. Lee] + +With this repulse of the Federal forces terminated active operations +of importance for the year; and but one other attempt was made, during +the winter, to gain ground on the left. This took place early in +February, and resulted in failure like the former--the Confederates +losing, however, the brave General John Pegram. + +The presidential election at the North had been decided in favor +of Mr. Lincoln--General McClellan and Mr. Pendleton, the supposed +advocates of peace, suffering defeat. The significance of this fact +was unmistakable. It was now seen that unless the Confederates +fought their way to independence, there was no hope of a favorable +termination of the war, and this conclusion was courageously faced by +General Lee. The outlook for the coming year was far from encouraging; +the resources of the Confederacy were steadily being reduced; her +coasts were blockaded; her armies were diminishing; discouragement +seemed slowly to be invading every heart--but, in the midst of this +general foreboding, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia +retained an august composure; and, conversing with one of the Southern +Senators, said, "For myself, I intend to die sword in hand." + +That his sense of duty did not afterward permit him to do so, was +perhaps one of the bitterest pangs of his whole life. + + + + +XI. + +LEE IN THE WINTER OF 1864-'65. + + +Before entering upon the narrative of the last and decisive campaign +of the war, we shall speak of the personal demeanor of General Lee at +this time, and endeavor to account for a circumstance which astonished +many persons--his surprising equanimity, and even cheerfulness, under +the pressure of cares sufficient, it would seem, to crush the most +powerful organization. + +He had established his headquarters a mile or two west of Petersburg, +on the Cox Road, nearly opposite his centre, and here he seemed to +await whatever the future would bring with a tranquillity which was a +source of surprise and admiration to all who were thrown in contact +with him. Many persons will bear their testimony to this extraordinary +composure. His countenance seldom, if ever, exhibited the least traces +of anxiety, but was firm, hopeful, and encouraged those around him in +the belief that he was still confident of success. That he did not, +however, look forward with any thing like hope to such success, we +have endeavored already to show. From the first, he seems to have +regarded his situation, unless his army were largely reënforced, as +almost desperate; those reënforcements did not come; and yet, as he +saw his numbers day by day decreasing, and General Grant's increasing +a still larger ratio, he retained his courage, confronting the +misfortunes closing in upon him with unmoved composure, and at no time +seemed to lose his "heart of hope." + +Of this phenomenon the explanation has been sought in the +constitutional courage of the individual, and that instinctive +rebound against fate which takes place in great organizations. This +explanation, doubtless, is not without a certain amount of truth; but +an attentive consideration of the principles which guided this eminent +soldier throughout his career, will show that his equanimity, at a +moment so trying, was due to another and more controlling sentiment. +This sentiment was his devotion to Duty--"the sublimest word in our +language." Throughout his entire life he had sought to discover and +perform his duty, without regard to consequences. That had been with +him the great question in April, 1861, when the war broke out: he had +decided in his own mind what he ought to do, and had not hesitated. + +From that time forward he continued to do what Duty commanded without +a murmur. In the obscure campaign of Western Virginia--in the unnoted +work of fortifying the Southern coast--in the great campaigns which he +had subsequently fought--and everywhere, his consciousness of having +performed his duty to the best of his knowledge and ability sustained +him. It sustained him, above all, at Gettysburg, where he had done his +best, giving him strength to take upon himself the responsibility of +that disaster; and, now, in these last dark days at Petersburg, it +must have been the sense of having done his whole duty, and expended +upon the cause every energy of his being, which enabled him to meet +the approaching catastrophe with a calmness which seemed to those +around him almost sublime. + +If this be not the explanation of the composure of General Lee, +throughout the last great struggle with the Federal Army, the writer +of these pages is at a loss to account for it. The phenomenon was +plain to all eyes, and crowned the soldier with a glory greater than +that which he had derived from his most decisive military successes. +Great and unmoved in the dark hour as in the bright, he seemed to have +determined to perform his duty to the last, and to shape his conduct, +under whatever pressure of disaster, upon the two maxims, "Do your +duty," and "Human virtue should be equal to human calamity." + +There is little reason to doubt that General Lee saw this "calamity" +coming, for the effort to reënforce his small army with fresh levies +seemed hopeless. The reasons for this unfortunate state of things must +be sought elsewhere. The unfortunate fact will be stated, without +comment, that, while the Federal army was regularly and largely +reënforced, so that its numbers at no time fell below one hundred +and fifty thousand men. Lee's entire force at Petersburg at no time +reached sixty thousand, and in the spring of 1865, when he still +continued to hold his long line of defences, numbered scarcely half +of sixty thousand. This was the primary cause of the failure of the +struggle. General Grant's immense hammer continued to beat upon his +adversary, wearing away his strength day by day. No new troops arrived +to take the places of those who had fallen; and General Lee saw, +drawing closer and closer, the inevitable hour when, driven from his +works, or with the Federal army upon his communications, he must cut +his way southward or surrender. + +A last circumstance in reference to General Lee's position at this +time should be stated; the fact that, from the autumn of 1864 to the +end in the spring of 1865, he was felt by the country and the army to +be the sole hope of the Confederacy. To him alone now all men +looked as the _deus ex machinâ_ to extricate them from the dangers +surrounding them. This sentiment needed no expression in words. It was +seen in the faces and the very tones of voice of all. Old men visited +him, and begged him with faltering voices not to expose himself, for, +if he were killed, all would be lost. The troops followed him with +their eyes, or their cheers, whenever he appeared, feeling a singular +sense of confidence from the presence of the gray-haired soldier in +his plain uniform, and assured that, as long as Lee led them, the +cause was safe. All classes of the people thus regarded the fate +of the Confederacy as resting, not partially, but solely, upon the +shoulders of Lee; and, although he was not entitled by his rank in the +service to direct operations in other quarters than Virginia, there +was a very general desire that the whole conduct of the war everywhere +should be intrusted to his hands. This was done, as will be seen, +toward the spring of 1865, but it was too late. + +These notices of General Lee individually are necessary to a clear +comprehension of the concluding incidents of the great conflict. It is +doubtful if, in any other struggle of history, the hopes of a people +were more entirely wrapped up in a single individual. All criticisms +of the eminent soldier had long since been silenced, and it may, +indeed, be said that something like a superstitious confidence in his +fortunes had become widely disseminated. It was the general sentiment, +even when Lee himself saw the end surely approaching, that all was +safe while he remained in command of the army. This hallucination must +have greatly pained him, for no one ever saw more clearly, or was less +blinded by irrational confidence. Lee fully understood and represented +to the civil authorities--with whom his relations were perfectly +friendly and cordial--that if his lines were broken at any point, the +fate of the campaign was sealed. Feeling this truth, of which his +military sagacity left him in no doubt, he had to bear the further +weight of that general confidence which he did not share. He did not +complain, however, or in any manner indicate the desperate straits to +which he had come. He called for fresh troops to supply his losses; +when they did not arrive he continued to oppose his powerful adversary +with the remnant still at his command. These were now more like old +comrades than mere private soldiers under his orders. What was left +of the army was its best material. The fires of battle had tested the +metal, and that which emerged from the furnace was gold free from +alloy. The men remaining with Lee were those whom no peril of the +cause in which they were fighting could dishearten or prompt to desert +or even temporarily absent themselves from the Southern standard; and +this _corps d' élite_ was devoted wholly to their commander. For this +devotion they certainly had valid reason. Never had leader exhibited a +more systematic, unfailing, and almost tender care of his troops. Lee +seemed to feel that these veterans in their ragged jackets, with their +gaunt faces, were personal friends of his own, who were entitled to +his most affectionate exertions for their welfare. His calls on the +civil authorities in their behalf were unceasing. The burden of +these demands was that, unless his men's wants were attended to, the +Southern cause was lost; and it plainly revolted his sense of the +fitness of things that men upon whom depended the fate of the South +should be shoeless, in tatters, and forced to subsist on a quarter +of a pound of rancid bacon and a little corn bread, when thousands +remaining out of the army, and dodging the enrolling-officers, were +well clothed and fed, and never heard the whistle of a bullet. The +men understood this care for them, and returned the affectionate +solicitude of their commander in full. He was now their ideal of a +leader, and all that he did was perfect in their eyes. All awe of him +had long since left them--they understood what treasures of kindness +and simplicity lay under the grave exterior. The tattered privates +approached the commander-in-chief without embarrassment, and his +reception of them was such as to make them love him more than ever. +Had we space we might dwell upon this marked respect and attention +paid by General Lee to his private soldiers. He seemed to think them +more worthy of marks of regard than his highest officers. And there +was never the least air of condescension in him when thrown with them, +but a perfect simplicity, kindness, and unaffected sympathy, which +went to their hearts. This was almost a natural gift with Lee, and +arose from the genuine goodness of his heart. His feeling toward his +soldiers is shown in an incident which occurred at this time, and was +thus related in one of the Richmond journals: "A gentleman who was in +the train from this city to Petersburg, a very cold morning not long +ago, tells us his attention was attracted by the efforts of a young +soldier, with his arm in a sling, to get his overcoat on. His teeth, +as well as his sound arm, were brought into use to effect the object; +but, in the midst of his efforts, an officer rose from his seat, +advanced to him, and very carefully and tenderly assisted him, drawing +the coat gently over his wounded arm, and buttoning it up comfortably; +then, with a few kind and pleasant words, returning to his seat. Now +the officer in question was not clad in gorgeous uniform, with a +brilliant wreath upon his collar, and a multitude of gilt lines upon +the sleeves, resembling the famous labyrinth of Crete, but he was clad +in a simple suit of gray, distinguished from the garb of a civilian +only by the three stars which every Confederate colonel in the +service, by the regulations, is entitled to wear. And yet he was no +other than our chief, General Robert E. Lee, who is not braver than he +is good and modest." + +To terminate this brief sketch of General Lee, personally, in the +winter of 1864. He looked much older than at the beginning of the war, +but by no means less hardy or robust. On the contrary, the arduous +campaigns through which he had passed seemed to have hardened +him--developing to the highest degree the native strength of his +physical organization. His cheeks were ruddy, and his eye had that +clear light which indicates the presence of the calm, self-poised +will. But his hair had grown gray, like his beard and mustache, which +were worn short and well-trimmed. His dress, as always, was a plain +and serviceable gray uniform, with no indications of rank save the +stars on the collar. Cavalry-boots reached nearly to his knees, and he +seldom wore any weapon. A broad-brimmed gray-felt hat rested low upon +the forehead; and the movements of this soldierly figure were as firm, +measured, and imposing, as ever. It was impossible to discern in +General Lee any evidences of impaired strength, or any trace of the +wearing hardships through which he had passed. He seemed made of iron, +and would remain in his saddle all day, and then at his desk half the +night, without apparently feeling any fatigue. He was still almost an +anchorite in his personal habits, and lived so poorly that it is said +he was compelled to borrow a small piece of meat when unexpected +visitors dined with him. + +Such, in brief outline, was the individual upon whose shoulders, +in the last months of 1864 and the early part of 1865, rested the +Southern Confederacy. + + + + +XII. + +THE SITUATION AT THE BEGINNING OF 1865. + + +In approaching the narrative of the last tragic scenes of the +Confederate struggle, the writer of these pages experiences emotions +of sadness which will probably be shared by not a few even of those +readers whose sympathies, from the nature of things, were on the side +of the North. To doubt this would be painful, and would indicate a +contempt for human nature. Not only in the eyes of his friends and +followers, but even in the eyes of his bitterest enemies, Lee must +surely have appeared great and noble. Right or wrong in the struggle, +he believed that he was performing his duty; and the brave army at +his back, which had fought so heroically, were inspired by the same +sentiment, and risked all on the issue. + +This great soldier was now about to suffer the cruellest pang which +the spite of Fate can inflict, and his army to be disbanded, to return +in poverty and defeat to their homes. That spectacle was surely +tragic, and appealed to the hardest heart; and if any rejoiced in such +misery he must have been unsusceptible of the sentiment of admiration +for heroism in misfortune. + +The last and decisive struggle between the two armies at Petersburg +began in March, 1865. But events of great importance in many quarters +had preceded this final conflict, the result of which had been to +break down all the outer defences of the Confederacy, leaving only the +inner citadel still intact. The events in question are so familiar to +those who will peruse these pages, that a passing reference to them is +all that is necessary. Affairs in the Valley of Virginia, from autumn +to spring, had steadily proceeded from bad to worse. In September, +General Sheridan, with a force of about forty-five thousand, had +assailed General Early near Winchester, with a force of about eight +or nine thousand muskets, and succeeded in driving him up the Valley +beyond Strasburg, whence, attacked a second time, he had retreated +toward Staunton. This was followed, in October, by another battle at +Cedar Run, where Early attacked and nearly crushed General Sheridan, +but eventually was again repulsed, and forced a second time to retreat +up the Valley to Waynesboro', where, in February, his little remnant +was assailed by overwhelming numbers and dispersed. General Sheridan, +who had effected this inglorious but important success, then proceeded +to the Lowlands, joined General Grant's army, and was ready, with his +large force of horse, to take part in the coming battles. + +A more important success had attended the Federal arms in the West. +General Johnston, who had been restored to command there at the +solicitation of Lee, had found his force insufficient to oppose +General Sherman's large army; the Confederates had accordingly +retreated; and General Sherman, almost unresisted, from the exhaustion +of his adversary, marched across the country to Savannah, which fell +an easy prize, and thence advanced to Goldsborough, in North Carolina, +where he directly threatened Lee's line of retreat from Virginia. + +Such was the condition of affairs in the months of February and +March, 1865. In the former month, commissioners from the Confederate +Government had met President Lincoln in Hampton Roads, but no terms of +peace could be agreed upon; the issue was still left to be decided by +arms, and every advantage was upon the Federal side. General Lee, who +had just been appointed "General-in-Chief"--having thus imposed upon +him the mockery of a rank no longer of any value--saw the armies of +the enemy closing in upon him, and did not deceive himself with the +empty hope that he could longer hold his lines at Petersburg. The +country, oppressed as it was, and laboring under a sentiment akin +to despair, still retained in almost undiminished measure its +superstitious confidence in him; but he himself saw clearly the +desperate character of the situation. General Grant was in his front +with a force of about one hundred and fifty thousand men, and General +Sherman was about to enter Virginia with an army of about the same +numbers. Lee's force at Petersburg was a little over thirty thousand +men--that of Johnston was not so great, and was detained by Sherman. +Under these circumstances, it was obviously only a question of time +when the Army of Northern Virginia would be overwhelmed. In February, +1865, these facts were perfectly apparent to General Lee: but one +course was left to him--to retreat from Virginia; and he promptly +began that movement in the latter part of the month, ordering his +trains to Amelia Court-House, and directing pontoons to be got ready +at Roanoke River. His aim was simple--to unite his army with that of +General Johnston, and retreat into the Gulf States. In the mountains +of Virginia he could carry on the war, he had said, for twenty years; +in the fertile regions of the South he might expect to prolong +hostilities, or at least make favorable terms of peace--which would be +better than to remain in Virginia until he was completely surrounded, +and an unconditional submission would alone be left him. + +It will probably remain a subject of regret to military students, that +Lee was not permitted to carry out this retreat into the Gulf States. +The movement was arrested after a consultation with the civil +authorities at Richmond. Upon what grounds a course so obviously +necessary was opposed, the present writer is unable to declare. +Whatever the considerations, Lee yielded his judgment; the movement +suddenly stopped; and the Army of Northern Virginia--if a skeleton can +be called such--remained to await its fate. + +The condition of the army in which "companies" scarce existed, +"regiments" were counted by tens, and "divisions" by hundreds only, +need not here be elaborately dwelt upon. It was indeed the phantom of +an army, and the gaunt faces were almost ghostly. Shoeless, in rags, +with just sufficient coarse food to sustain life, but never enough +to keep at arm's-length the gnawing fiend Hunger, Lee's old veterans +remained firm, scattered like a thin skirmish-line along forty miles +of works; while opposite them lay an enemy in the highest state of +efficiency, and numbering nearly five men to their one. That the +soldiers of the army retained their nerve under circumstances so +discouraging is surely an honorable fact, and will make their names +glorious in history. They remained unshaken and fought undismayed to +the last, although their courage was subjected to trials of the most +exhausting character. Day and night, for month after month, the +incessant fire of the Federal forces had continued, and every engine +of human destruction had been put in play to wear away their strength. +They fought all through the cheerless days of winter, and, when they +lay down in the cold trenches at night, the shell of the Federal +mortars rained down upon them, bursting, and mortally wounding them. +All day long the fire of muskets and cannon--then, from sunset to +dawn, the curving fire of the roaring mortars, and the steady, +never-ceasing crack of the sharp-shooters along the front. Snow, or +blinding sleet, or freezing rains, might be falling, but the fire went +on--it seemed destined to go on to all eternity. + +In March, 1865 however, the end was approaching, and General Lee +must have felt that all was lost. His last hope had been the retreat +southward in the month of February. That hope had been taken from +him; the result was at hand; and his private correspondence, if he +intrusted to paper his views of the situation, will probably show that +from that moment he gave up all anticipation of success, and prepared +to do his simple duty as a soldier, leaving the issue of affairs +to Providence. Whatever may have been his emotions, they were not +reflected in his countenance. The same august composure which had +accompanied him in his previous campaigns remained with him still, and +cheered the fainting hearts around him. To the 2d of April, and even +up to the end, this remarkable calmness continued nearly unchanged, +and we can offer no explanation of a circumstance so astonishing, save +that which we have already given in a preceding chapter. + + + + +XIII. + +LEE ATTACKS THE FEDERAL CENTRE. + + +General Lee became aware, as the end of March drew near, that +preparations were being made in the Federal army for some important +movement. What that movement would be, there was little reason to +doubt. The Federal lines had been extended gradually toward the +Southside Railroad; and it was obvious now that General Grant had in +view a last and decisive advance in that quarter, which should place +him on his opponent's communications, and completely intercept his +retreat southward. + +The catastrophe which General Lee had plainly foreseen for many months +now stared him in the face, and, unless he had recourse to some +expedient as desperate as the situation, the end of the struggle must +soon come. The sole course left to him was retreat, but this now +seemed difficult, if not impossible. General Grant had a powerful +force not far from the main roads over which Lee must move; and, +unless a diversion of some description were made, it seemed barely +possible that the Southern army could extricate itself. This diversion +General Lee now proceeded to make; and although we have no authority +to state that his object was to follow up the blow, if it were +successful, by an evacuation of his lines at Petersburg, it is +difficult to conceive what other design he could have had in risking +an operation so critical. He had resolved to throw a column against +the Federal centre east of Petersburg, with the view to break through +there and seize the commanding ground in rear of the line. He would +thus be rooted in the middle of General Grant's army, and the Federal +left would probably be recalled, leaving the way open if he designed +to retreat. If he designed, however, to fight a last pitched battle +which should decide all, he would be able to do so, in case the +Federal works were broken, to greater advantage than under any other +circumstances. + +The point fixed upon was Fort Steadman, near the south bank of the +Appomattox, where the opposing works were scarcely two hundred yards +from each other. The ground in front was covered with _abatis_, and +otherwise obstructed, but it was hoped that the assaulting column +would be able to pass over the distance undiscovered. In that event a +sudden rush would probably carry the works--a large part of the army +would follow--the hill beyond would be occupied--and General Grant +would be compelled to concentrate his army at the point, for his own +protection. + +On the morning of March 25th, before dawn, the column was ready. It +consisted of three or four thousand men under General Gordon, but an +additional force was held in reserve to follow up the attack if it +succeeded. Just as dawn appeared, Gordon put his column in motion. +It advanced silently over the intervening space, made a rush for the +Federal works, mounted them, drove from them in great confusion the +force occupying them, and a loud cheer proved that the column of +Gordon had done its work. But this auspicious beginning was the only +success achieved by the Confederates. For reasons unknown to the +present writer, the force directed by Lee to be held in readiness, and +to move at once to Gordon's support, did not go forward; the brave +commander and his men were left to breast the whole weight of the +Federal onslaught which ensued; and disaster followed the first great +success. The forts to the right and left of Fort Steadman suddenly +opened their thunders, and something like a repetition of the scene +succeeding the mine explosion ensued. A considerable portion of the +assaulting column was unable to get back, and fell into the enemy's +hands; their works were quickly reoccupied; and Lee saw that his last +hope had failed. Nothing was left to him now but such courageous +resistance as it was in his power to make, and he prepared, with the +worn weapon which he still held in his firm grasp, to oppose as +he best could the immense "hammer"--to use General Grant's own +illustration--which was plainly about to be raised to strike. + + + + +XIV. + +THE SOUTHERN LINES BROKEN. + + +The hour of the final struggle now rapidly drew near. On the 29th of +March, General Lee discovered that a large portion of the Federal army +was moving steadily in the direction of his works beyond Burgen Mill, +and there could be no doubt what this movement signified. General +Grant was plainly about to make a decisive attack on the Confederate +right, on the White-Oak Road; and, if that attack succeeded, Lee was +lost. + +Had not General Lee and his men become accustomed to retain their +coolness under almost any circumstances of trial, the prospect now +before them must have filled them with despair. The bulk of the +Federal army was obviously about to be thrown against the Confederate +right, and it was no secret in the little body of Southerners that +Lee would be able to send thither only a painfully inadequate force, +unless his extensive works were left in charge of a mere line of +skirmishers. This could not be thought of; the struggle on the right +must be a desperate one, and the Southern troops must depend upon hard +fighting rather than numbers if they hoped to repulse the attack of +the enemy. + +Such was the situation of affairs, and neither the Confederate +commander nor his men shrunk in the hour of trial. Leaving Longstreet +to confront the enemy north of the James, and Gordon in command of +Ewell's corps--if it could be called such--in front of Petersburg, Lee +moved with nearly the whole remainder of his small force westward, +beyond Hatcher's Run, to meet the anticipated attack. The force thus +moved to the right to receive General Grant's great assault consisted +of about fifteen thousand infantry, and about two thousand cavalry +under General Fitz Lee, who, in consequence of the departure of +Hampton to North Carolina, now commanded the cavalry of the army. This +force, however, was cavalry only in name; and General Lee, speaking +afterward of General Sheridan, said that his victories were won +"when we had no horses for our cavalry, and no men to ride the few +broken-down steeds that we could muster." + +With this force, amounting in all to about seventeen thousand men, +Lee proceeded to take position behind the works extending along +the White-Oak Road, in the direction of Five Forks, an important +_carrefour_ beyond his extreme right. The number of men left north +of James River and in front of Petersburg was a little under twenty +thousand. As General Grant had at his command a force about four times +as great as his adversary's, it seemed scarcely possible that Lee +would be able to offer serious resistance. + +It soon became evident, however, that, in spite of this great +disproportion of force, General Lee had determined to fight to the +last. To attribute this determination to despair and recklessness, +would be doing injustice to the great soldier. It was still possible +that he might be able to repulse the assault upon his right, and, by +disabling the Federal force there, open his line of retreat. To this +hope he no doubt clung, and the fighting-blood of his race was now +thoroughly aroused. At Chancellorsville and elsewhere the odds had +been nearly as great, and a glance at his gaunt veterans showed him +that they might still be depended upon for a struggle as obstinate as +any in the past history of the war. + +The event certainly vindicated the justice of this latter view, and +we shall briefly trace the occurrences of the next three or four days +which terminated the long conflict at Petersburg. + +General Grant's assaulting force was not in position near the Boydton +Road, beyond Hatcher's Run, until March 31st, when, before he could +attack, Lee suddenly advanced and made a furious onslaught on the +Federal front. Before this attack, the divisions first encountered +gave way in confusion, and it seemed that the Confederate commander, +at a single blow, was about to extricate himself from his embarrassing +situation. The force opposed to him, however, was too great, and he +found himself unable to encounter it in the open field. He therefore +fell back to his works, and the fighting ceased, only to be renewed, +however, at Five Forks. This had been seized by the cavalry of General +Sheridan, and, as the point was one of importance, Lee detached a +small body of infantry to drive away the Federal horse. This was done +without difficulty, and the Confederate infantry then advanced toward +Dinwiddie Court-House; but late at night it was withdrawn, and the +day's fighting ended. + +On the next day, the 1st of April, a more determined struggle ensued, +for the possession of Five Forks, where Lee had stationed the small +remnants of the divisions of Pickett and Johnson. These made a brave +resistance, but were wholly unable to stand before the force brought +against them. They maintained their ground as long as possible, but +were finally broken to pieces and scattered in confusion, the whole +right of the Confederate line and the Southside Road falling into the +hands of the enemy. + +[Illustration: Lee at Petersburg] + +This was virtually the end of the contest, but General Grant, it would +appear, deemed it inexpedient to venture any thing. So thinly manned +were the lines in front of Petersburg, in the absence of Longstreet +north of James River, and the troops sent beyond Hatcher's Run, that +on the 1st of April the Federal commander might have broken through +the works at almost any point. He elected to wait, however, until the +following day, thereby running the risk of awaking to find that Lee +had retreated. + +At dawn on the 2d the long struggle ended. The Federal forces advanced +all along the Confederate front, made a furious attack, and, breaking +through in front of the city, carried all before them. The forts, +especially Fort Gregg, made a gallant resistance. This work was +defended by the two hundred and fifty men of Harris's Mississippi +Brigade, and these fought until their numbers were reduced to thirty, +killing or wounding five hundred of the assailants. The fort was taken +at last, and the Federal lines advanced toward the city. In this +attack fell the eminent soldier General A.P. Hill, whose record had +been so illustrious, and whose fortune it was to thus terminate his +life while the Southern flag still floated. + + + + +XV. + +LEE EVACUATES PETERSBURG. + + +Any further resistance upon the part of General Lee seemed now +impossible, and nothing appeared to be left him but to surrender his +army. This course he does not seem, however, to have contemplated. It +was still possible that he might be able to maintain his position on +an inner line near the city until night; and, if he could do so, the +friendly hours of darkness might enable him to make good his retreat +to the north bank of the Appomattox, and shape his course toward North +Carolina, where General Johnston awaited him. If the movements of the +Federal forces, however, were so prompt as to defeat his march in that +direction, he might still be able to reach Lynchburg, beyond which +point the defiles of the Alleghanies promised him protection against +the utmost efforts of his enemy. Of his ability to reach North +Carolina, following the line of the Danville Railroad, Lee, however, +seems to have had no doubt. The Federal army would not probably +be able to concentrate in sufficient force in his path to bar his +progress if his march were rapid; if detached bodies only opposed +him on his line of retreat, there was little doubt that the Army of +Northern Virginia, reduced as it was, would be able to cut its way +through them. + +This preface is necessary to an intelligent comprehension of Lee's +movements on the unfortunate 2d of April when his lines were broken. +This occurrence took place, as we have said, about sunrise, and, an +hour or two afterward, the Federal forces pressed forward all along +the line, surging toward the suburbs of Petersburg. We have mentioned +the position of General Lee's headquarters, about a mile and a half +west of the city, on the Cox Road, nearly opposite the tall Federal +observatory. Standing on the lawn, in front of his headquarters, +General Lee now saw, approaching rapidly, a heavy column of Federal +infantry, with the obvious design of charging a battery which had +opened fire upon them from a hill to the right. The spectacle was +picturesque and striking. Across the extensive fields houses set on +fire by shell were sending aloft huge clouds of smoke and tongues +of flame; at every instant was seen the quick glare of the Federal +artillery, firing from every knoll, and in front came on the charging +column, moving at a double quick, with burnished gun-barrels and +bayonets flashing in the April sunshine. + +General Lee watched with attention, but with perfect composure, this +determined advance of the enemy; and, although he must have realized +that his army was on the verge of destruction, it was impossible to +discern in his features any evidences of emotion. He was in full +uniform, and had buckled on his dress-sword, which he seldom +wore--having, on this morning declared, it is said, that if he were +compelled to surrender he would do so in full harness. Of his calmness +at this trying moment the writer is able to bear his personal +testimony. Chancing to hear a question addressed to a member of his +staff, General Lee turned with great courtesy, raised his gray hat in +response to the writer's salute, and gave him the desired information +in a voice entirely measured and composed. It was impossible to regard +a calmness so striking without strong sentiments of admiration, and +Lee's appearance and bearing at this moment will always remain vividly +impressed upon the writer's memory. + +The Federal column was soon in dangerous proximity to the battery on +the hill, and it was obliged to retire at a gallop to escape capture. +An attempt was made to hold the ground near the headquarters, but a +close musketry-fire from the enemy rendered this also impossible--the +artillery was withdrawn--and General Lee, mounting his iron-gray, +slowly rode back, accompanied by a number of officers, toward his +inner line. He still remained entirely composed, and only said to one +of his staff, in his habitual tone: "This is a bad business, colonel." + +"Well, colonel," he said afterward to another officer, "it has +happened as I told them it would at Richmond. The line has been +stretched until it has broken." + +The Federal column was now pressing forward along the Cox Road toward +Petersburg, and General Lee continued to ride slowly back in the +direction of the city. He was probably recognized by officers of the +Federal artillery, or his _cortége_ drew their fire. The group was +furiously shelled, and one of the shells burst a few feet in rear +of him, killing the horse of an officer near him, cutting the +bridle-reins of others, and tearing up the ground in his immediate +vicinity. This incident seemed to arouse in General Lee his +fighting-blood. He turned his head over his right shoulder, his +cheeks became flushed, and a sudden flash of the eye showed with what +reluctance he retired before the fire directed upon him. No other +course was left him, however, and he continued to ride slowly toward +his inner line--a low earthwork in the suburbs of the city--where a +small force was drawn up, ardent, hopeful, defiant, and saluting the +shell, now bursting above them, with cheers and laughter. It was plain +that the fighting-spirit of the ragged troops remained unbroken; and +the shout of welcome with which they received Lee indicated their +unwavering confidence in him, despite the untoward condition of +affairs. + +Arrangements were speedily made to hold the inner line, if possible, +until night. To General Gordon had been intrusted the important duty +of defending the lines east of the city, and General Longstreet had +been directed to vacate the works north of James River, and march at +once to the lines of Petersburg. This officer made his appearance, +with his small force, at an early hour of the day; and, except that +the Federal army continued firing all along the front, no other active +operations took place. To those present on the Confederate side this +fact appeared strange. As the force beyond Hatcher's Run had been +completely defeated and dispersed, General Lee's numbers for the +defence of Petersburg on this day did not amount to much, if any, more +than fifteen thousand men. General Grant's force was probably one +hundred and fifty thousand, of whom about one hundred thousand might, +it would appear, have been concentrated in an hour or two directly in +front of the city. That, with this large force at his disposal, the +Federal commander did not at once attack, and so end all on that day, +surprised the Confederate troops, and still continues to surprise the +writer. + +Night came at last, and General Lee began his retreat. He had sent, +early in the morning, a dispatch to the civil authorities, at +Richmond, informing them of the fact that his lines had been broken, +and that he would that night retreat from Petersburg. Orders had also +been sent to all the forces holding the lines north of James River +to move at once and join him, and, just at nightfall, the army at +Petersburg began crossing the Appomattox. This movement was effected +without interruption from the enemy; and the army, turning into what +is called the Hickory Road, leading up the north bank of the river, +moved on steadily through the half light. Its march was superintended +by Lee in person. He had stationed himself at the mouth of the Hickory +Road, and, standing with the bridle of his horse in his hand, gave his +orders. His bearing still remained entirely composed, and his voice +had lost none of its grave strength of intonation. When the rear was +well closed up, Lee mounted his horse, rode on slowly with his men; +and, in the midst of the glare and thunder of the exploding magazines +at Petersburg, the small remnant of the Army of Northern Virginia, +amounting to about fifteen thousand men, went on its way through the +darkness. + + + + +XVI. + +THE RETREAT AND SURRENDER. + + +On the morning of the 3d of April, General Lee, after allowing his +column a brief period of rest, continued his march up the north bank +of the Appomattox. + +The aspect of affairs at this time was threatening, and there seemed +little ground to hope that the small force would be able to make good +its retreat to North Carolina. General Grant had a short and direct +route to the Danville Railroad--a considerable portion of his army was +already as far west as Dinwiddie Court-House--and it was obvious that +he had only to use ordinary diligence to completely cut General Lee +off in the vicinity of Burkesville Junction. A glance at the map will +indicate the advantages possessed by the Federal commander. He could +move over the chord, while Lee was compelled to follow the arc of the +circle. Unless good fortune assisted Lee and ill fortune impeded his +opponent, the event seemed certain; and it will be seen that these +conditions were completely reversed. + +Under the circumstances here stated, it appeared reasonable to +expect in Lee and his army some depression of spirits. The fact was +strikingly the reverse. The army was in excellent spirits, probably +from the highly-agreeable contrast of the budding April woods with +the squalid trenches, and the long-unfelt joy of an unfettered march +through the fields of spring. General Lee shared this hopeful feeling +in a very remarkable degree. His expression was animated and buoyant, +his seat in the saddle erect and commanding, and he seemed to look +forward to assured success in the critical movement which he had +undertaken. + +"I have got my army safe out of its breastworks," he said, on the +morning of this day, "and, in order to follow me, the enemy must +abandon his lines, and can derive no further benefit from his +railroads or James River." + +The design of the Confederate commander has been already stated, but +an important condition upon which he depended for success has not been +mentioned. This was a supply of food for his army. The troops, during +the whole winter, had lived, from day to day, on quarter-rations, +doled out to them with a sparing hand; and, in moving now from +Petersburg, Lee saw that he must look to supplies somewhere upon his +line of retreat. These he had directed to be brought from the south +and deposited at Amelia Court-House; and the expectation of finding at +that point full subsistence for his men, had doubtless a great effect +in buoying up his spirits. An evil chance, however, reversed all the +hopes based on this anticipation. From fault or misapprehension, the +train loaded with supplies proceeded to Richmond without depositing +the rations at Amelia Court-House; there was no time to obtain other +subsistence, and when, after unforeseen delay, in consequence of +high water in the Appomattox, Lee, at the head of his half-starved +soldiers, reached Amelia Court-House, it was only to find that there +was nothing there for the support of his army, and to realize that a +successful retreat, under the circumstances, was wellnigh hopeless. + +Those who accompanied the Southern army on this arduous march will +recall the dismayed expression of the emaciated faces at this +unlooked-for calamity; and no face wore a heavier shadow than that of +General Lee. The failure of the supply of rations completely paralyzed +him. He had intended, and was confident of his ability, to cut his way +through the enemy; but an army cannot march and fight without food. +It was now necessary to halt and send out foraging parties into the +impoverished region around. Meanwhile General Grant, with his great +force, was rapidly moving to bar his adversary's further advance; +the want of a few thousand pounds of bread and meat had virtually +terminated the war. + +An anxious and haggard expression came to General Lee's face when he +was informed of this great misfortune; and, at once abandoning his +design of cutting his way through to North Carolina, he turned +westward, and shaped his march toward Lynchburg. This movement began +on the night of the 5th of April, and it would seem that General Grant +had had it in his power to arrest it by an attack on Lee at Amelia +Court-House. General Sheridan was in the immediate vicinity, with a +force of about eighteen thousand well-mounted cavalry, and, although +it was not probable that this command could effect any thing against +Lee's army of about the same number of infantry, it might still have +delayed him by constructing breastworks in his way, and thus giving +the Federal infantry time to come up and attack. + +[Illustration: LEE AT THE SURRENDER.] + +The opportunity of crushing his adversary at Amelia Court-House was +thus allowed to pass, and General Grant now pressed forward his +infantry, to bring Lee to bay, if possible, before he reached +Lynchburg. From this moment began the struggle between the adversaries +which was to continue, day and night, without intermission, for the +next four days. The phenomenon was here presented of an army, reduced +to less than twenty thousand men, holding at arm's-length an enemy +numbering about one hundred and fifty thousand, and very nearly +defeating every effort of the larger force to arrest their march. It +would not interest the reader, probably, to follow in minute detail +the circumstances of this melancholy retreat. From the importance of +the transactions, and the natural attention directed to them, both +North and South, they are doubtless familiar to all who will read +these pages. We shall only speak of one or two incidents of the +retreat, wherein General Lee appeared prominent personally, leaving +to the imagination of the reader the remainder of the long and tragic +struggle whose result decided the fate of the Confederacy. + +General Grant doubtless saw now that every thing depended upon the +celerity of his movements, and, sending in advance his large body of +cavalry, he hastened forward as rapidly as possible with his infantry, +bent on interposing, if possible, a heavy force in his adversary's +front. Lee's movements were equally rapid. He seemed speedily to have +regained his old calmness, after the trying disappointment at Amelia +Court-House; and those who shared his counsels at this time can +testify that the idea of surrender scarcely entered his mind for a +moment--or, if it did so, was speedily banished. Under the pressure of +circumstances so adverse that they seemed calculated to break down the +most stubborn resolution. General Lee did not falter; and throughout +the disheartening scenes of the retreat, from the moment when he left +Amelia Court-House to the hour when his little column was drawing near +Appomattox, still continued to believe that the situation was not +desperate, and that he would be able to force his way through to +Lynchburg. + +On the evening of the 6th, when the army was near Farmville, a sudden +attack was made by the Federal cavalry on the trains of the army +moving on a parallel road; and the small force of infantry guarding +them was broken and scattered. This occurrence took place while +General Lee was confronting a body of Federal infantry near Sailor's +Creek; and, taking a small brigade, he immediately repaired to the +scene of danger. The spectacle which followed was a very striking and +imposing one, and is thus described by one who witnessed it: "The +scene was one of gloomy picturesqueness and tragic interest. On a +plateau raised above the forest from which they had emerged, were +the disorganized troops of Ewell and Anderson, gathered in groups, +un-officered, and uttering tumultuous exclamations of rage and +defiance. Rising above the weary groups which had thrown themselves +upon the ground, were the grim barrels of cannon, in battery, ready +to fire, as soon as the enemy appeared. In front of all was the still +line of battle, just placed by Lee, and waiting calmly. General Lee +had rushed his infantry over, just at sunset, leading it in person, +his face animated, and his eye brilliant with the soldier's spirit of +fight, but his bearing unflurried as before. An artist desiring to +paint his picture, ought to have seen the old cavalier at this moment, +sweeping on upon his large iron-gray, whose mane and tail floated in +the wind; carrying his field-glass half-raised in his right hand; with +head erect, gestures animated, and in the whole face and form +the expression of the hunter close upon his game. The line once +interposed, he rode in the twilight among the disordered groups +above mentioned, and the sight of him aroused a tumult. Fierce cries +resounded on all sides, and, with hands clinched violently and raised +aloft, the men called on him to lead them against the enemy. 'It's +General Lee!' 'Uncle Robert!' 'Where's the man who won't follow Uncle +Robert?' I heard on all sides--the swarthy faces full of dirt and +courage, lit up every instant by the glare of the burning wagons. +Altogether, the scene was indescribable." + +On the 7th the army pressed on beyond Farmville, still harassed as it +advanced by the Federal infantry and cavalry; but, in some of these +encounters, the pursuing force met with what was probably a very +unexpected discomfiture. General Fitz Lee, bringing up the rear of the +army with his force of about fifteen hundred cavalry on broken-down +horses, succeeded not only in repulsing the attacks of the large and +excellently-mounted force under General Sheridan, but achieved over +them highly-honorable successes. One such incident took place on the +7th, when General Gregg attacked with about six thousand horse, but +was met, defeated, and captured by General Fitz Lee, to the great +satisfaction of General Lee, who said to his son, General W.H.F. Lee: + +"Keep your command together and in good spirits, general--don't let +them think of surrender--I will get you out of this." + +On the 8th and 9th, however, this hope seemed unwarranted by the +circumstances, and the commander-in-chief appeared to be almost the +only human being who remained sanguine of the result. The hardships +of the retreat, arising chiefly from want of food, began to seriously +impair the resolution of the troops, and the scenes through which they +advanced were not calculated to raise their spirits. "These scenes," +declares one who witnessed them, "were of a nature which can be +apprehended only by men who are thoroughly familiar with the harrowing +details of war. Behind and on either flank, a ubiquitous and +increasingly adventurous enemy--every mud-hole and every rise in the +road choked with blazing wagons--the air filled with the deafening +reports of ammunition exploding, and shells bursting when touched +by the flames, dense columns of smoke ascending to heaven from the +burning and exploding vehicles, exhausted men, worn-out mules and +horses, lying down side by side--gaunt Famine glaring hopelessly +from sunken, lack-lustre eyes--dead mules, dead horses, dead +men everywhere--death many times welcomed as God's messenger in +disguise--who can wonder if many hearts, tried in the fiery furnace of +four unparalleled years, and never hitherto found wanting, should have +quailed in presence of starvation, fatigue, sleeplessness, misery, +unintermitted for five or six days, and culminating in hopelessness?" +It cannot, however, be said with truth, that any considerable portion +of the Southern forces were greatly demoralized, to use the military +phrase, as the fighting of the last two days, when the suffering +of the retreat culminated, will show. The men were almost entirely +without food, and were glad to find a little corn to eat; but those +who were not physically unable longer to carry their muskets--and +the number of these latter was large--still marched and fought with +soldierly cheerfulness and resolution. + +General Lee's spirits do not seem at any time to have flagged, and +up to a late period of the retreat he had not seriously contemplated +surrender. The necessity for this painful course came home to his +corps commanders first, and they requested General Pendleton, the +efficient chief of artillery of the army, to inform General Lee that +in their opinion further struggle was hopeless. General Pendleton +informed General Lee of this opinion of his officers, and it seemed to +communicate something like a shock to him. + +"Surrender!" he exclaimed with a flash of the eye, "I have too many +good fighting-men for that!" + +Nevertheless, the necessity of seriously contemplating this result was +soon forced upon him. Since the morning of the 7th, a correspondence +had taken place between himself and General Grant; and, as these notes +are interesting, we here present those which were exchanged up to the +night of the 8th: + +_April_ 7, 1865. + +_General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A._: + +GENERAL: The result of the last week must convince you of the +hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern +Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my +duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion +of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the +Confederate Southern Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. + +Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +U.S. GRANT, + +_Lieutenant-General commanding Armies of the United States_. + +_April_ 7, 1865. + +GENERAL: I have received your note of this day. Though not entirely of +the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on +the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire +to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering +your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its +surrender. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U.S. GRANT, + +_Commanding Armies of the United States_. + +_April_ 8, 1865. + +_To General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A_.: + +GENERAL: Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of the same date, +asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army +of Northern Virginia is just received. + +In reply, I would say, that peace being my first desire, there is but +one condition that I insist upon, viz.: + +That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms +again against the Government of the United States until properly +exchanged. + +I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any officers you may +name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the +purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of +the Army of Northern Virginia will he received. + +Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant-General, commanding Armies of the United +States_. + +_April_ 8, 1865. + +GENERAL: I received, at a late hour, your note of to-day, in answer to +mine of yesterday. + +I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern +Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do +not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender. + +But as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I +desire to know whether your proposals would tend to that end. + +I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of +Northern Virginia; but so far as your proposition may affect the +Confederate States forces under my command and tend to the restoration +of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 A.M. to-morrow, on +the old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two +armies. Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General C.S.A._ + +To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, + +_Commanding Armies of the United States_. + +[Illustration: Last Council of War.] + +No reply was received to this last communication from General Lee, +on the evening of the 8th, and that night there was held, around a +bivouac-fire in the woods, the last council of war of the Army of +Northern Virginia. The scene was a very picturesque one. The red glare +from the bivouac-fire lit up the group, and brought out the details +of each figure. None were present but General Lee and Generals +Longstreet, Gordon, and Fitz Lee, all corps commanders. Generals +Gordon and Fitz Lee half reclined upon an army-blanket near the fire; +Longstreet sat upon a log, smoking; and General Lee stood by the +fire, holding in his hand the correspondence which had passed between +himself and General Grant. The question what course it was advisable +to pursue, was then presented, in a few calm words, by General Lee +to his corps commanders, and an informal conversation ensued. It was +finally agreed that the army should advance, on the next morning, +beyond Appomattox Court-House, and, if only General Sheridan's cavalry +were found in front, brush that force from its path, and proceed on +its way to Lynchburg. If, however, the Federal infantry was discovered +in large force beyond the Court-House, the attempt to break through +was to be abandoned, and a flag dispatched to General Grant requested +an interview for the arrangement of the terms of a capitulation of the +Southern army. + +With a heavy heart, General Lee acquiesced in this plan of proceeding, +and soon afterward the council of war terminated--the corps commanders +saluting the commander-in-chief, who returned their bows with grave +courtesy, and separating to return to their own bivouacs. + +In spite, however, of the discouraging and almost desperate condition +of affairs, General Lee seems still to have clung to the hope that he +might be able to cut his way through the force in his front. He woke +from brief slumber beside his bivouac-fire at about three o'clock in +the morning, and calling an officer of his staff, Colonel Venable, +sent him to General Gordon, commanding the front, to ascertain his +opinion, at that moment, of the probable result of an attack upon the +enemy. General Gordon's reply was, "Tell General Lee that my old corps +is reduced to a frazzle, and, unless I am supported by Longstreet +heavily, I do not think we can do any thing more." + +General Lee received this announcement with an expression of great +feeling, and after a moment's silence said: "There is nothing left but +to go to General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths!" + +His staff-officers had now gathered around him, and one of them said: +"What will history say of our surrendering if there is any possibility +of escape? Posterity will not understand it." To these words, General +Lee replied: "Yes, yes, they will not understand our situation; but +that is not the question. The question is, whether it is _right_; and, +if it is right, I take the responsibility." + +His expression of buoyant hopefulness had now changed to one of deep +melancholy, and it was evident to those around him that the thought of +surrender was worse to him than the bitterness of death. For the first +time his courage seemed to give way, and he was nearly unmanned. +Turning to an officer standing near him, he said, his deep voice +filled with hopeless sadness: "How easily I could get rid of this, and +be at rest! I have only to ride along the line and all will be over!" + +He was silent for a short time after uttering these words, and then +added, with a heavy sigh: "But it is our duty to live. What will +become of the women and children of the South, if we are not here to +protect them?" + +The moment had now come when the fate of the retreat was to be +decided. To General Gordon, who had proved himself, in the last +operations of the war, a soldier of the first ability, had been +intrusted the command of the advance force; and this was now moved +forward against the enemy beyond Appomattox Court-House. Gordon +attacked with his infantry, supported by Fitz Lee's cavalry, and the +artillery battalion of Colonel Carter, and such was the impetuosity +of his advance that he drove the Federal forces nearly a mile. But +at that point he found himself in face of a body of infantry, stated +afterward, by Federal officers, to number about eighty thousand. +As his own force was less than five thousand muskets, he found it +impossible to advance farther; and the Federal lines were already +pressing forward to attack him, in overwhelming force, when the +movement suddenly ceased. Seeing the hopelessness of further +resistance. General Lee had sent a flag to General Grant, requesting +an interview looking to the arrangement, if possible, of terms of +surrender; and to this end the forward movement of the Federal forces +was ordered to be discontinued. + +The two armies then remained facing each other during the interview +between the two commanders, which took place in a farm-house in +Appomattox Court-House. General Lee was accompanied only by Colonel +Marshall, of his staff, and on the Federal side only a few officers +were present. General Grant's demeanor was courteous, and that of +General Lee unmarked by emotion of any description. The hardships of +the retreat had somewhat impaired his strength, and his countenance +exhibited traces of fatigue; but no other change had taken place +in his appearance. He was erect, calm, courteous, and confined his +observations strictly to the disagreeable business before him. The +interview was brief; and, seated at a plain table, the two commanders +wrote and exchanged the accompanying papers: + +APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, _April_ 9, 1865. + +_General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A._.: + +In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., +I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on +the following terms, to wit: + +Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to +be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by +such officers as you may designate. + +The officers to give their individual parole not to take arms against +the Government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each +company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of +their commands. + +The arms, artillery, and public property, to be parked and stacked, +and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This +will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private +horses or baggage. + +This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their +homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they +observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside. + +Very respectfully, + +U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant-General_. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_April_ 9,1865. + +_Lieut.-General U.S. Grant, commanding U.S.A_.: + +GENERAL: I have received your letter of this date, containing the +terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by +you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your +letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to +designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. + +Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The two generals then bowed to each other, and, leaving the house, +General Lee mounted his gray, and rode back to his headquarters. + +The scene as he passed through the army was affecting. The men +gathered round him, wrung his hand, and in broken words called +upon God to help him. This pathetic reception by his old soldiers +profoundly affected Lee. The tears came to his eyes, and, looking at +the men with a glance of proud feeling, he said, in suppressed tones, +which trembled slightly: "We have fought through the war together. I +have done the best I could for you. My heart is too full to say more!" + +These few words seemed to be all he could utter. He rode on, and, +reaching his headquarters in the woods, disappeared in his tent, +whither we shall not follow him. + +On the next day the Army of Northern Virginia, numbering about +twenty-six thousand men, of whom but seven thousand eight hundred +carried muskets, was formally surrendered, and the Confederate War was +a thing of the past. + + + + +XVII. + +LEE RETURNS TO RICHMOND. + + +General Lee, on the day following the capitulation of his army, issued +an address to his old soldiers, which they received and read with very +deep emotion. The address was in these words: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_April_ 10, 1865. + +After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and +fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield +to overwhelming numbers and resources. + +I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have +remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result +from no distrust of them; but, feeling that valor and devotion could +accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have +attended the continuation of the contest, I have determined to avoid +the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them +to their countrymen. + +By the terms of agreement, officers and men can return to their homes +and remain there until exchanged. + +You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the +consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray that +a merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection. + +With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to +your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous +consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The painful arrangements connected with the capitulation were on this +day concluded; and General Lee prepared to set out on his return to +Richmond--like his men, a "paroled prisoner of the Army of Northern +Virginia." The parting between him and his soldiers was pathetic. He +exchanged with all near him a close pressure of the hand, uttered +a few simple words of farewell, and, mounting his iron-gray, +"Traveller," who had passed through all the fighting of the campaign +unharmed, rode slowly in the direction of Richmond. He was escorted by +a detachment of Federal cavalry, preceded only by a guidon; and the +party, including the officers who accompanied him, consisted of about +twenty-five horsemen. The _cortége_ was followed by several wagons +carrying the private effects of himself and his companions, and by +the well-known old black open vehicle which he had occasionally +used during the campaigns of the preceding year, when indisposition +prevented him from mounting his horse. In this vehicle it had been his +custom to carry stores for the wounded--it had never been used for +articles contributing to his personal convenience. + +General Lee's demeanor on his way to Richmond was entirely composed, +and his thoughts seemed much more occupied by the unfortunate +condition of the poor people, at whose houses he stopped, than by +his own situation. When he found that all along his route the +impoverished people had cooked provisions in readiness for him, and +were looking anxiously for him, with every indication of love and +admiration, he said to one of his officers: "These good people are +kind--too kind. Their hearts are as full as when we began our first +campaigns in 1861. They do too much--more than they are able to +do--for us." + +His soldierly habits remained unchanged, and he seemed unwilling to +indulge in any luxuries or comforts which could not be shared by the +gentlemen accompanying him At a house which he reached just as night +came, a poor woman had prepared an excellent bed for him, but, with a +courteous shake of the head, he spread his blanket, and slept upon the +floor. Stopping on the next day at the house of his brother, Charles +Carter Lee, in Powhatan, he spent the evening in conversation; but, +when bedtime came, left the house, in spite of the fact that it had +begun to rain, and, crossing the road into the woods, took up his +quarters for the night on the hard planks of his old black vehicle. On +the route he exhibited great solicitude about a small quantity of +oats which he had brought with him, in one of the wagons, for his old +companion, "Traveller," mentioning it more than once, and appearing +anxious lest it should be lost or used by some one. + +[Illustration: LEE'S ENTRY INTO RICHMOND AFTER THE SURRENDER.] + +The party came in sight of Richmond at last, and, two or three miles +from the city, General Lee rode ahead of his escort, accompanied only +by a few officers, and, crossing the pontoon bridge below the ruins of +Mayo's bridge, which had been destroyed when the Confederate forces +retreated, entered the capital. The spectacle which met his eyes +at this moment must have been exceedingly painful. In the great +conflagration which had taken place on the morning of the 3d of April, +a large portion of the city had been burned; and, as General Lee rode +up Main Street, formerly so handsome and attractive, he saw on either +hand only masses of blackened ruins. As he rode slowly through the +opening between these masses of _débris_, he was recognized by the few +persons who were on the street, and instantly the intelligence of his +presence spread through the city. The inhabitants hastened from their +houses and flocked to welcome him, saluting him with cheers and the +waving of hats and handkerchiefs. He seemed desirous, however, of +avoiding this ovation, and, returning the greeting by simply raising +his hat, rode on and reached his house on Franklin Street, where, +respecting his desire for privacy under circumstances so painful, his +admirers did not intrude upon him. + +We have presented this brief narrative of the incidents attending +General Lee's return to his home after the surrender, to show with +what simplicity and good sense he accepted his trying situation. A +small amount of diplomacy--sending forward one of his officers to +announce his intended arrival; stopping for a few moments as he +ascended Main Street; making an address to the citizens who first +recognized him, and thus affording time for a crowd to assemble--these +proceedings on the part of General Lee would have resulted in an +ovation such as a vanquished commander never before received at the +hands of any people. Nothing, however, was less desired by General Lee +than this tumultuous reception. The native modesty of the man not only +shrunk from such an ovation; he avoided it for another reason--the +pretext it would probably afford to the Federal authorities to proceed +to harsh measures against the unfortunate persons who took part in it. +In accordance with these sentiments, General Lee had not announced his +coming, had not stopped as he rode through the city; and now, shutting +himself up in his house, signified his desire to avoid a public +reception, and to be left in privacy. + +This policy he is well known to have pursued from that time to the end +of his life. He uniformly declined, with great courtesy, but firmly, +invitations to attend public gatherings of any description, where his +presence might arouse passions or occasion discussions connected with +the great contest in which he had been the leader of the South. A +mind less firm and noble would doubtless have yielded to this great +temptation. It is sweet to the soldier, who has been overwhelmed and +has yielded up his sword, to feel that the love and admiration of a +people still follow him; and to have the consolation of receiving +public evidences of this unchanged devotion. That this love of the +Southern people for Lee deeply touched him, there can be no doubt; but +it did not blind him to his duty as the representative individual of +the South. Feeling that nothing was now left the Southern people but +an honest acceptance of the situation, and a cessation, as far as +possible, of all rancor toward the North, he refused to encourage +sentiments of hostility between the two sections, and did all in his +power to restore amicable feeling. "I am very glad to learn," he said +in a note to the present writer, "that your life of General Jackson +is of the character you describe. I think all topics or questions +calculated to excite angry discussion or hostile feelings should be +avoided." These few words convey a distinct idea of General Lee's +views and feelings. He had fought to the best of his ability for +Southern independence of the North; the South had failed in the +struggle, and it was now, in his opinion, the duty of every good +citizen to frankly acquiesce in the result, and endeavor to avoid all +that kept open the bleeding wounds of the country. + +His military career had placed him, in the estimation of the first men +of his time, among the greatest soldiers of history; but the dignity +and moderation of the course pursued by him, from the end of the war +to the time of his death, will probably remain, in the opinion of both +his friends and enemies, the noblest illustration of the character of +the man. + + + + +XVIII. + +GENERAL LEE AFTER THE WAR. + + +In the concluding pages of this volume we shall not be called upon to +narrate either military or political events. With the surrender at +Appomattox Court-House the Confederate War ended--no attempt was made +by General Johnston or other commanders to prolong it--in that great +whirlpool all hopes of further resistance disappeared. + +We have, therefore, now no task before us but to follow General Lee +into private life, and present a few details of his latter years, and +his death. These notices will be brief, but will not, we hope, be +devoid of interest. The soldier who had so long led the Confederate +armies was to enter in his latter days upon a new field of labor; and, +if in this field he won no new glories, he at least displayed the +loftiest virtues, and exhibited that rare combination of greatness and +gentleness which makes up a character altogether lovely. + +Adhering to the resolution, formed in 1861, never again to draw his +sword except in defence of Virginia, General Lee, after the surrender, +sought for some occupation, feeling the necessity, doubtless, of in +some manner employing his energies. He is said to have had offered to +him, but to have courteously declined, estates in England and Ireland; +and to have also declined the place of commercial agent of the South +in New York, which would have proved exceedingly lucrative. In the +summer of 1865, however, he accepted an offer more congenial to +his feelings--that of the presidency of Washington College at +Lexington--and in the autumn of that year entered upon his duties, +which he continued to perform with great energy and success to the +day of his death. Of the excellent judgment and great administrative +capacity which he displayed in this new field of labor, we have never +heard any question. It was the name and example, however, of Lee which +proved so valuable, drawing to the college more than five hundred +students from all portions of the South, and some even from the North. + +Upon the subject of General Lee's life at Washington College, a more +important authority than that of the present writer will soon speak. +In the "Memorial Volume," whose publication will probably precede or +immediately follow the appearance of this work, full details will, no +doubt, be presented of this interesting period. The subject possesses +rare interest, and the facts presented will, beyond all question, +serve to bring out new beauties in a character already regarded with +extraordinary love and admiration by men of all parties and opinions. +To the volume in question we refer the reader who desires the +full-length portrait of one concerning whom too much cannot be +written. + +During the period extending between the end of the war and General +Lee's death, he appeared in public but two or three times--once at +Washington, as a "witness" before a Congressional committee, styled +"The Reconstruction Committee," to inquire into the condition of +things in the South; again, as a witness on the proposed trial of +President Davis; and perhaps on one or two additional occasions not of +great interest or importance. His testimony was not taken on the trial +of the President, which was deferred and finally abandoned; but he +was subjected before the Washington committee to a long and searching +examination, in which it is difficult to decide whether his own +calmness, good sense, and outspoken frankness, or the bad taste of +some of the questions prepounded to him, were the more remarkable. +As the testimony of General Lee, upon this occasion, presents a +full exposition of his views upon many of the most important points +connected with the condition of the South, and the "reconstruction" +policy, a portion of the newspaper report of his evidence is here +given, as both calculated to interest the reader, and to illustrate +the subject. + +The examination of General Lee took place in March, 1866, and the +following is the main portion of it: + +General ROBERT E. LEE, sworn and examined by Mr. Howard: + +Question. Where is your present residence? + +Answer. Lexington, Va. + +Q. How long have you resided in Lexington? + +A. Since the 1st of October last--nearly five months. + +THE FEELING IN VIRGINIA. + +Q. Are you acquainted with the state of feeling among what we call +secessionists in Virginia, at present, toward the Government of the +United States? + +A. I do not know that I am; I have been living very retired, and have +had but little communication with politicians; I know nothing more +than from my own observation, and from such facts as have come to my +knowledge. + +Q. From your observation, what is your opinion as to the loyalty +toward the Government of the United States among the secession portion +of the people of that State at this time? + +A. So far as has come to my knowledge, I do not know of a single +person who either feels or contemplates any resistance to the +Government of the United States, or indeed any opposition to it; no +word has reached me to either purpose. + +Q. From what you have observed among them, is it your opinion that +they are friendly toward the Government of the United States, and +that they will coöperate to sustain and uphold the Government for the +future? + +A. I believe that they entirely acquiesce in the Government of the +United States, and, so far as I have heard any one express an opinion, +they are for coöperating with President Johnson in his policy. + +Q. In his policy in regard to what? + +A. His policy in regard to the restoration of the whole country; I +have heard persons with whom I have conversed express great confidence +in the wisdom of his policy of restoration, and they seem to look +forward to it as a hope of restoration. + +Q. How do they feel in regard to that portion of the people of the +United States who have been forward and zealous in the prosecution of +the war against the rebellion? + +A. Well, I don't know as I have heard anybody express any opinion in +regard to it; as I said before, I have not had much communication with +politicians in the country, if there are any; every one seems to be +engaged in his own affairs, and endeavoring to restore the civil +government of the State; I have heard no expression of a sentiment +toward any particular portion of the country. + +Q. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the payment of the debt +of the United States contracted in the prosecution of the war? + +A. I have never heard anyone speak on the subject; I suppose they must +expect to pay the taxes levied by the Government; I have heard them +speak in reference to the payment of taxes, and of their efforts to +raise money to pay taxes, which, I suppose, are for their share of the +debt; I have never heard any one speak in opposition to the payment of +taxes, or of resistance to their payment; their whole effort has been +to try and raise the money for the payment of the taxes. + +THE DEBT. + +Q. From your knowledge of the state of public feeling in Virginia, is +it your opinion that the people would, if the question were left to +them, repudiate and reject that debt? + +A. I never heard any one speak on that subject; but, from my knowledge +of the people, I believe that they would be in favor of the payment of +all just debts. + +Q. Do they, in your opinion, regard that as a just debt? + +A. I do not know what their opinion is on the subject of that +particular debt; I have never heard any opinion expressed contrary +to it; indeed, as I said in the beginning, I have had very little +discussion or intercourse with the people; I believe the people +will pay the debts they are called upon to pay; I say that from my +knowledge of the people generally. + +Q. Would they pay that debt, or their portion of it, with as much +alacrity as people ordinarily pay their taxes to their Government? + +A. I do not know that they would make any distinction between the two. +The taxes laid by the Government, so far as I know, they are prepared +to pay to the best of their ability. I never heard them make any +distinction. + +Q. What is the feeling of that portion of the people of Virginia in +regard to the payment of the so-called Confederate debt? + +A. I believe, so far as my opinion goes--I have no facts to go upon, +but merely base my opinion on the knowledge I have of the people--that +they would be willing to pay the Confederate debt, too. + +Q. You think they would? + +A. I think they would, if they had the power and ability to do so. I +have never heard any one in the State, with whom I have conversed, +speak of repudiating any debt. + +Q. I suppose the Confederate debt is almost entirely valueless, even +in the market in Virginia? + +A. Entirely so, as far as I know. I believe the people generally look +upon it as lost entirely. I never heard any question on the subject. + +Q. Do you recollect the terms of the Confederate bonds--when they were +made payable? + +A. I think I have a general recollection that they were made payable +six months after a declaration of peace. + +Q. Six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the +United States and the Confederate Government? + +A. I think they ran that way. + +Q. So that the bonds are not due yet by their terms? + +A. I suppose, unless it is considered that there is a peace now, they +are not due. + +THE FREEDMEN. + +Q. How do the people of Virginia, secessionists more particularly, +feel toward the freedmen? + +A. Every one with whom I associate expresses the kindest feelings +toward the freedmen. They wish to see them get on in the world, and +particularly to take up some occupation for a living, and to turn +their hands to some work. I know that efforts have been made among the +farmers near where I live to induce them to engage for the year at +regular wages. + +Q. Do you think there is a willingness on the part of their old +masters to give them fair living wages for their labor? + +A. I believe it is so; the farmers generally prefer those servants who +have been living with them before; I have heard them express their +preferences for the men whom they knew, who had lived with them +before, and their wish to get them to return to work. + +Q. Are you aware of the existence of any combination among the +"whites" to keep down the wages of the "blacks?" + +A. I am not; I have heard that in several counties the land-owners +have met in order to establish a uniform rate of wages, but I never +heard, nor do I know of any combination to keep down wages or +establish any rule which they did not think fair; the means of paying +wages in Virginia are very limited now, and there is a difference of +opinion as to how much each person is able to pay. + +Q. How do they feel in regard to the education of the blacks? Is there +a general willingness to have them educated? + +A. Where I am, and have been, the people have exhibited a willingness +that the blacks should be educated, and they express an opinion that +it would be better for the blacks and better for the whites. + +Q. General, you are very competent to judge of the capacity of black +men for acquiring knowledge--I want your opinion on that capacity as +compared with the capacity of white men? + +A. I do not know that I am particularly qualified to speak on that +subject, as you seem to intimate, but I do not think that the black +man is as capable of acquiring knowledge as the white man. There are +some more apt than others. I have known some to acquire knowledge and +skill in their trade or profession. I have had servants of my own who +learned to read and write very well. + +Q. Do they show a capacity to obtain knowledge of mathematics and the +exact sciences? + +A. I have no knowledge on that subject; I am merely acquainted with +those who have learned the common rudiments of education. + +Q. General, are you aware of the existence among the blacks of +Virginia, anywhere within the limits of the State, of combinations, +having in view the disturbance of the peace, or any improper or +unlawful acts? + +A. I am not; I have seen no evidence of it, and have heard of none; +wherever I have been they have been quiet and orderly; not disposed to +work; or, rather, not disposed to any continuous engagement to work, +but just very short jobs to provide them with the immediate means of +subsistence. + +Q. Has the colored race generally as great love of money and property +as the white race possesses? + +A. I do not think it has; the blacks with whom I am acquainted look +more to the present time than to the future. + +Q. Does that absence of a lust of money and property arise more from +the nature of the negro than from his former servile condition? + +A. Well, it may be in some measure attributed to his former condition; +they are an amiable, social race; they like their ease and comfort, +and I think look more to their present than to their future condition. + +IN CASE OF WAR, WOULD VIRGINIA JOIN OUR ENEMIES? + +Q. In the event of a war between the United States and any foreign +power, such as England or France, if there should be held out to the +secession portion of the people of Virginia, or the other recently +rebel States, a fair prospect of gaining their independence and +shaking off the Government of the United States, is it or is it not +your opinion that they would avail themselves of that opportunity? + +A. I cannot answer with any certainty on that point; I do not know how +far they might be actuated by their feelings; I have nothing whatever +to base an opinion upon; so far as I know, they contemplate nothing of +the kind now; what may happen in the future I cannot say. + +Q. Do you not frequently hear, in your intercourse with secessionists +in Virginia, expressions of a hope that such a war may break out? + +A. I cannot say that I have heard it; on the contrary, I have heard +persons--I do not know whether you could call them secessionists or +not, I mean those people in Virginia with whom I associate--express +the hope that the country may not be led into a war. + +Q. In such an event, do you not think that that class of people whom I +call secessionists would join the common enemy? + +A. It is possible; it depends upon the feeling of the individual. + +Q. If it is a fair question--you may answer or not, as you +choose--what, in such an event, might be your choice? + +A. I have no disposition now to do it, and I never have had. + +Q. And you cannot foresee that such would be your inclination in such +an event? + +A. No; I can only judge from the past; I do not know what +circumstances it may produce; I cannot pretend to foresee events; so +far as I know the feeling of the people of Virginia, they wish for +peace. + +Q. During the civil war, was it not contemplated by the Government +of the Confederacy to form an alliance with some foreign nation if +possible? + +A. I believe it was their wish to do so if they could; it was their +wish to have the Confederate Government recognized as an independent +government; I have no doubt that if it could have made favorable +treaties it would have done so, but I know nothing of the policy of +the government; I had no hand or part in it; I merely express my own +opinion. + +Q. The question I am about to put to you, you may answer or not, as +you choose. Did you take an oath of fidelity, or allegiance, to the +Confederate Government? + +A. I do not recollect having done so, but it is possible that when I +was commissioned I did; I do not recollect whether it was required; if +it was required, I took it, or if it had been required I would have +taken it; but I do not recollect whether it was or not. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) In reference to the effect of President Johnson's +policy, if it were adopted, would there be any thing like a return +of the old feeling? I ask that because you used the expression +"acquiescing in the result." + +A. I believe it would take time for the feelings of the people to be +of that cordial nature to the Government they were formerly. + +Q. Do you think that their preference for that policy arises from a +desire to have peace and good feeling in the country, or from the +probability of their regaining political power? + +PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S POLICY. + +A. So far as I know the desire of the people of the South, it is for +restoration of their civil government, and they look upon the policy +of President Johnson as the one which would most clearly and most +surely reëstablish it. + +CONDITION OF THE POORER CLASSES. + +Q. Do you see any change among the poorer classes in Virginia, in +reference to industry? Are they as much, or more, interested in +developing their material interests than they were? + +A. I have not observed any change; every one now has to attend to his +business for his support. + +Q. The poorer classes are generally hard at work, are they? + +A. So far as I know, they are; I know nothing to the contrary. + +Q. Is there any difference in their relations to the colored people? +Is their prejudice increased or diminished? + +A. I have noticed no change; so far as I do know the feelings of all +the people of Virginia, they are kind to the colored people; I have +never heard any blame attributed to them as to the present condition +of things, or any responsibility. + +Q. There are very few colored laborers employed, I suppose? + +A. Those who own farms have employed, more or less, one or two colored +laborers; some are so poor that they have to work themselves. + +Q. Can capitalists and workingmen from the North go into any portion +of Virginia with which you are familiar and go to work among the +people? + +A. I do not know of any thing to prevent them. Their peace and +pleasure there would depend very much on their conduct. If they +confined themselves to their own business and did not interfere to +provoke controversies with their neighbors, I do not believe they +would be molested. + +Q. There is no desire to keep out capital? + +A. Not that I know of. On the contrary, they are very anxious to get +capital into the State. + +Q. You see nothing of a disposition to prevent such a thing? + +A. I have seen nothing, and do not know of any thing, as I said +before; the manner in which they would be received would depend +entirely upon the individuals themselves; they might make themselves +obnoxious, as you can understand. + +Q. (By Mr. Howard.) Is there not a general dislike of Northern men +among secessionists? + +A. I suppose they would prefer not to associate with them; I do not +know that they would select them as associates. + +Q. Do they avoid and ostracize them socially? + +A. They might avoid them; they would not select them as associates +unless there was some reason; I do not know that they would associate +with them unless they became acquainted; I think it probable they +would not admit them into their social circles. + +THE POSITION OF THE COLORED RACE. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) What is the position of the colored men in Virginia +with reference to persons they work for? Do you think they would +prefer to work for Northern or Southern men? + +A. I think it very probable they would prefer the Northern man, +although I have no facts to go upon. + +Q. That having been stated very frequently in reference to the cotton +States, does it result from a bad treatment on the part of the +resident population, or from the idea that they will be more fairly +treated by the new-comers? What is your observation in that respect in +regard to Virginia? + +A. I have no means of forming an opinion; I do not know any case in +Virginia; I know of numbers of the blacks engaging with their old +masters, and I know of many to prefer to go off and look for new +homes; whether it is from any dislike of their former masters, or from +any desire to change, or they feel more free and independent, I don't +know. + +THE MATERIAL INTERESTS OF VIRGINIA. + +Q. What is your opinion in regard to the material interests of +Virginia; do you think they will be equal to what they were before the +rebellion under the changed aspect of affairs? + +A. It will take a long time for them to reach their former standard; I +think that after some years they will reach it, and I hope exceed it; +but it cannot be immediately, in my opinion. + +Q. It will take a number of years? + +A. It will take a number of years, I think. + +Q. On the whole, the condition of things in Virginia is hopeful both +in regard to its material interests and the future peace of the +country? + +A. I have heard great hopes expressed, and there is great cheerfulness +and willingness to labor. + +Q. Suppose this policy of President Johnson should be all you +anticipate, and that you should also realize all that you expect in +the improvement of the material interests, do you think that the +result of that will be the gradual restoration of the old feeling? + +A. That will be the natural result, I think; and I see no other way in +which that result can be brought about. + +Q. There is a fear in the public mind that the friends of the policy +in the South adopt it because they see in it the means of repairing +the political position which they lost in the recent contest. Do you +think that that is the main idea with them, or that they merely look +to it, as you say, as the best means of restoring civil government and +the peace and prosperity of their respective States? + +A. As to the first point you make, I do not know that I ever heard any +person speak upon it; I never heard the points separated; I have heard +them speak generally as to the effect of the policy of President +Johnson; the feeling is, so far as I know now, that there is not that +equality extended to the Southern States which is enjoyed by the +North. + +Q. You do not feel down there that, while you accept the result, we +are as generous as we ought to be under the circumstances? + +A. They think that the North can afford to be generous. + +Q. That is the feeling down there? + +A. Yes; and they think it is the best policy; those who reflect upon +the subject and are able to judge. + +Q. I understand it to be your opinion that generosity and liberality +toward the entire South would be the surest means of regaining their +good opinion? + +A. Yes, and the speediest. + +Q. (By Mr. Howard.) I understand you to say generally that you had no +apprehension of any combination among the leading secessionists to +renew the war, or any thing of the kind? + +A. I have no reason in the world to think so. + +Q. Have you heard that subject talked over among any of the +politicians? + +A. No, sir; I have not; I have not heard that matter even suggested. + +Q. Let me put another hypothetical state of things. Suppose the +executive government of the United States should be held by a +President who, like Mr. Buchanan, rejected the right of coercion, so +called, and suppose a Congress should exist here entertaining the +same political opinions, thus presenting to the once rebel States the +opportunity to again secede from the Union, would they, or not, in +your opinion, avail themselves of that opportunity, or some of them? + +A. I suppose it would depend: upon the circumstances existing at the +time; if their feelings should remain embittered, and their affections +alienated from the rest of the States, I think it very probable they +might do so, provided they thought it was to their interests. + +Q. Do you not think that at the present time there is a deep-seated +feeling of dislike toward the Government of the United States on the +part of the secessionists? + +A. I do not know that there is any deep-seated dislike; I think it is +probable there may be some animosity still existing among the people +of the South. + +Q. Is there not a deep-seated feeling of disappointment and chagrin at +the result of the war? + +A. I think that at the time they were disappointed at the result of +the war. + +Q. Do you mean to be understood as saying that there is not a +condition of discontent against the Government of the United States +among the secessionists generally? + +A. I know none. + +Q. Are you prepared to say that they respect the Government of the +United States, and the loyal people of the United States, so much at +the present time as to perform their duties as citizens of the United +States, and of the States, faithfully and well? + +A. I believe that they will perform all the duties that they are +required to perform; I think that is the general feeling so far as I +know. + +Q. Do you think it would be practicable to convict a man in Virginia +of treason for having taken part in this rebellion against the +Government by a Virginian jury without packing it with direct +reference to a verdict of guilty? + +A. On that point I have no knowledge, and I do not know what they +would consider treason against the United States--if you refer to past +acts. + +Mr. Howard: Yes, sir. + +Witness: I have no knowledge what their views on that subject in the +past are. + +Q. You understand my question. Suppose a jury was impanelled in your +own neighborhood, taken by lot, would it be possible to convict, for +instance, Jefferson Davis, for having levied war upon the United +States, and thus having committed the crime of treason? + +A. I think it is very probable that they would not consider he had +committed treason. + +THEIR VIEWS OF TREASON. + +Q. Suppose the jury should be clearly and plainly instructed by the +Court that such an act of war upon the part of Mr. Davis or any other +leading man constituted the crime of treason under the Constitution of +the United States, would the jury be likely to heed that instruction, +and, if the facts were plainly in proof before them, convict the +offender? + +A. I do not know, sir, what they would do on that question. + +Q. They do not generally suppose that it was treason against the +United States, do they? + +A. I do not think that they so consider it. + +Q. In what light would they view it? What would be their excuse or +justification? How would they escape, in their own mind? I refer to +the past--I am referring to the past and the feelings they would have? + + +A. So far as I know, they look upon the action of the State in +withdrawing itself from the Government of the United States as +carrying the individuals of the State along with it; that the State +was responsible for the act, not the individuals, and that the +ordinance of secession, so called, or those acts of the State which +recognized a condition of war between the State and the General +Government stood as their justification for their bearing arms against +the Government of the United States; yes, sir, I think they would +consider the act of the State as legitimate; that they were merely +using the reserved rights, which they had a right to do. + +Q. State, if you please--and if you are disinclined to answer the +question you need not do so--what your own personal views on that +question are? + +A. That was my view; that the act of Virginia in withdrawing herself +from the United States carried me along as a citizen of Virginia, and +that her laws and her acts were binding on me. + +Q. And that you felt to be your justification in taking the course you +did? + +A. Yes, sir. + +Q. I have been told, general, that you have remarked to some of your +friends, in conversation, that you were rather wheedled or cheated +into that course by politicians? + +A. I do not recollect ever making any such remark; I do not think I +ever made it. + +Q. If there be any other matter about which you wish to speak on this +occasion, do so, freely. + +A. Only in reference to that last question you put to me. I may have +said and may have believed that the positions of the two sections +which they held to each other was brought about by the politicians of +the country; that the great masses of the people, if they understood +the real question, would have avoided it; but not that I had been +individually wheedled by the politicians. + +Q. That is probably the origin of the whole thing. + +A. I may have said that, but I do not even recollect that; but I did +believe at the time that it was an unnecessary condition of affairs, +and might have been avoided if forbearance and wisdom had been +practised on both sides. + +Q. You say that you do not recollect having sworn allegiance and +fidelity to the Confederate Government? + +A. I do not recollect it, nor do I know it was ever required. I was +regularly commissioned in the army of the Confederate States, but I do +not really recollect that that oath was required. If it was required, +I have no doubt I took it; or, if it had been required, I would have +taken it. + +Q. Is there any other matter which you desire to state to the +committee? + +A. No, sir; I am ready to answer any question which you think proper +to put to me. + +NEGRO CITIZENSHIP. + +Q. How would an amendment to the Constitution be received by the +secessionists, or by the people at large, allowing the colored people, +or certain classes of them, to exercise the right of voting at +elections? + +A. I think, so far as I can form an opinion, in such an event they +would object. + +Q. They would object to such an amendment? + +A. Yes, sir. + +Q. Suppose an amendment should nevertheless be adopted, conferring on +the blacks the right of suffrage, would that, in your opinion, lead to +scenes of violence or breaches of the peace between the two races in +Virginia? + +A. I think it would excite unfriendly feelings between the two races; +I cannot pretend to say to what extent it would go, but that would be +the result. + +Q. Are you acquainted with the proposed amendment now pending in the +Senate of the United States? + +A. No, sir, I am not; I scarcely ever read a paper. [The substance +of the proposed amendment was here explained to the witness by Mr. +Conkling.] So far as I can see, I do not think that the State of +Virginia would object to it. + +Q. Would she consent, under any circumstances, to allow the +black people to vote, even if she were to gain a large number of +representatives in Congress? + +A. That would depend upon her interests; if she had the right of +determining that, I do not see why she would object; if it were to her +interest to admit these people to vote, that might overrule any other +objection that she had to it. + +Q. What, in your opinion, would be the practical result? Do you think +that Virginia would consent to allow the negro to vote? + +A. I think that at present she would accept the smaller +representation; I do not know what the future may develop; if it +should be plain to her that these persons will vote properly and +understandingly, she might admit them to vote. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) Do you not think it would turn a good deal, in the +cotton States, upon the value of the labor of the black people? Upon +the amount which they produce? + +A. In a good many States in the South, and in a good many counties in +Virginia, if the black people were allowed to vote, it would, I think, +exclude proper representation--that is, proper, intelligent people +would not be elected, and, rather than suffer that injury, they would +not let them vote at all. + +Q. Do you not think that the question as to whether any Southern State +would allow the colored people the right of suffrage in order to +increase representation would depend a good deal on the amount which +the colored people might contribute to the wealth of the State, in +order to secure two things--first, the larger representation, and, +second, the influence desired from those persons voting? + +A. I think they would determine the question more in reference +to their opinion as to the manner in which those votes would be +exercised, whether they consider those people qualified to vote; my +own opinion is, that at this time they cannot vote intelligently, and +that giving them the right of suffrage would open the door to a good +deal of demagogism, and lead to embarrassments in various ways; what +the future may prove, how intelligent they may become, with what +eyes they may look upon the interests of the State in which they may +reside, I cannot say more than you can. + +The above extract presents the main portion of General Lee's +testimony, and is certainly an admirable exposition of the clear +good sense and frankness of the individual. Once or twice there is +obviously an under-current of dry satire, as in his replies upon the +subject of the Confederate bonds. When asked whether he remembered at +what time these bonds were made payable, he replied that his "general +recollection was, that they were made payable six months after +a declaration of peace." The correction was at once made by his +interrogator in the words "six months after _the ratification of a +treaty of peace_" etc. "I think they ran that way," replied General +Lee. "So that," retorted his interrogator, "the bonds are not yet due +by their terms?" General Lee's reply was, "I suppose, _unless it is +considered that there is a peace now, they are not due_." + +This seems to have put an abrupt termination to the examination on +that point. To the question whether he had taken an oath of allegiance +to the Confederate Government, he replied: "I do not recollect having +done so, but it is possible that when I was commissioned I did; I do +not recollect whether it was required; if it was required, I took it, +or if it had been required, I would have taken it." + +If this reply of General Lee be attentively weighed by the reader, +some conception may be formed of the bitter pang which he must have +experienced in sending in, as he did, to the Federal Government, +his application for pardon. The fact cannot be concealed that this +proceeding on the part of General Lee was a subject of deep regret to +the Southern people; but there can be no question that his motive was +disinterested and noble, and that he presented, in so doing, the most +remarkable evidence of the true greatness of his character. He had no +personal advantage to expect from a pardon; cared absolutely nothing +whether he were "pardoned" or not; and to one so proud, and so +thoroughly convinced of the justice of the cause in which he had +fought, to appear as a supplicant must have been inexpressibly +painful. He, nevertheless, took this mortifying step--actuated +entirely by that sense of duty which remained with him to the last, +overmastering every other sentiment of his nature. He seems in this, +as in many other things, to have felt the immense import of his +example. The old soldiers of his army, and thousands of civilians, +were obliged to apply for amnesty, or remain under civic disability. +Brave men, with families depending upon them, had been driven to this +painful course, and General Lee seems to have felt that duty to +his old comrades demanded that he, too, should swallow this bitter +draught, and share their humiliation as he had shared their dangers +and their glory. If this be not the explanation of the motives +controlling General Lee's action, the writer is unable to account for +the course which he pursued. That it is the sole explanation, the +writer no more doubts than he doubts the fact of his own existence. + + + + +XIX. + +GENERAL LEE'S LAST YEARS AND DEATH. + + +For about five years--from the latter part of 1865 nearly to the end +of 1870--General Lee continued to concentrate his entire attention and +all his energies upon his duties as President of Washington College, +to which his great name, and the desire of Southern parents to have +their sons educated under a guide so illustrious, attracted, as we +have said, more than five hundred students. The sedentary nature of +these occupations was a painful trial to one so long accustomed to +lead a life of activity; but it was not in the character of the +individual to allow personal considerations to interfere with the +performance of his duty; and the laborious supervision of the +education of this large number of young gentlemen continued, day after +day, and year after year, to occupy his mind and his time, to the +exclusion, wellnigh, of every other thought. His personal popularity +with the students was very great, and it is unnecessary to add that +their respect for him was unbounded. By the citizens of Lexington, and +especially the graver and more pious portion, he was regarded with a +love and admiration greater than any felt for him during the progress +of his military career. + +This was attributable, doubtless, to the franker and clearer +exhibition by General Lee, in his latter years, of that extraordinary +gentleness and sweetness, culminating in devoted Christian piety, +which--concealed from all eyes, in some degree, during the war--now +plainly revealed themselves, and were evidently the broad foundation +and controlling influences of his whole life and character. To +speak first of his gentleness and moderation in all his views and +utterances. Of these eminent virtues--eminent and striking, above +all, in a defeated soldier with so much to embitter him--General Lee +presented a very remarkable illustration. The result of the war seemed +to have left his great soul calm, resigned, and untroubled by the +least rancor. While others, not more devoted to the South, permitted +passion and sectional animosity to master them, and dictate acts and +expressions full of bitterness toward the North, General Lee refrained +systematically from every thing of that description; and by simple +force of greatness, one would have said, rose above all prejudices and +hatreds of the hour, counselling, and giving in his own person to all +who approached him the example of moderation and Christian charity. He +aimed to keep alive the old Southern traditions of honor and virtue; +but not that sectional hatred which could produce only evil. To a lady +who had lost her husband in the war, and, on bringing her two sons to +the college, indulged in expressions of great bitterness toward the +North, General Lee said, gently: "Madam, do not train up your children +in hostility to the Government of the United States. Remember that we +are one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and +bring them up to be Americans." + +A still more suggestive exhibition of his freedom from rancor was +presented in an interview which is thus described: + + "One day last autumn the writer saw General Lee standing at his + gate, talking pleasantly to an humbly-clad man, who seemed very + much pleased at the cordial courtesy of the great chieftain, and + turned off, evidently delighted, as we came up. After exchanging + salutations, the general said, pointing to the retreating + form, 'That is one of our old soldiers, who is in necessitous + circumstances.' I took it for granted that it was some veteran + Confederate, when the noble-hearted chieftain quietly added, + 'He fought on the other side, but we must not think of that.' I + afterward ascertained--not from General Lee, for he never alluded + to his charities--that he had not only spoken kindly to this 'old + soldier' who had 'fought on the other side,' but had sent him on + his way rejoicing in a liberal contribution to his necessities." + +Of the extent of this Christian moderation another proof was given +by the soldier, at a moment when he might not unreasonably have been +supposed to labor under emotions of the extremest bitterness. Soon +after his return to Richmond, in April, 1865, when the _immedicabile +vulnus_ of surrender was still open and bleeding, a gentleman was +requested by the Federal commander in the city to communicate to +General Lee the fact that he was about to be indicted in the United +States courts for treason.[1] In acquitting himself of his commission, +the gentleman expressed sentiments of violent indignation at such a +proceeding. But these feelings General Lee did not seem to share. The +threat of arraigning him as a traitor produced no other effect upon +him than to bring a smile to his lips; and, taking the hand of his +friend, as the latter rose to go, he said, in his mildest tones: "We +must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed +since the war began that I have not prayed for them." + +[Footnote 1: This was afterward done by one of the Federal judges, but +resulted in nothing.] + +The incidents here related define the views and feelings of General +Lee as accurately as they could be set forth in a whole volume. The +defeated commander, who could open his poor purse to "one of _our_ old +soldiers who _fought on the other side_," and pray daily during the +bitterest of conflicts for his enemies, must surely have trained his +spirit to the perfection of Christian charity. + +Of the strength and controlling character of General Lee's religious +convictions we have more than once spoken in preceding pages of this +volume. These now seemed to exert a more marked influence over his +life, and indeed to shape every action and utterance of the man. +During the war he had exhibited much greater reserve upon this the +most important of all subjects which can engage the attention of +a human being; and, although he had been from an early period, we +believe, a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he +seldom discussed religious questions, or spoke of his own feelings, +presenting in this a marked contrast, as we have said, to his +illustrious associate General Jackson. + +Even during the war, however, as the reader has seen in our notices of +his character at the end of 1863, General Lee's piety revealed itself +in conversations with his chaplains and other good men; and was not +concealed from the troops, as on the occasion of the prayer-meeting +in the midst of the fighting at Mine Run. On another occasion, when +reviewing his army near Winchester, he was seen to raise his hat to a +chaplain with the words, "I salute the Church of God;" and again, near +Petersburg, was observed kneeling in prayer, a short distance from +the road, as his troops marched by. Still another incident of the +period--that of the war--will be recorded here in the words of the +Rev. J. William Jones, who relates it: + + "Not long before the evacuation of Petersburg, the writer was one + day distributing tracts along the trenches, when he perceived + a brilliant cavalcade approaching. General Lee--accompanied by + General John B. Gordon, General A.P. Hill, and other general + officers, with their staffs--was inspecting our lines and + reconnoitring those of the enemy. The keen eye of Gordon + recognized, and his cordial grasp detained, the humble + tract-distributor, as he warmly inquired about his work. General + Lee at once reined in his horse and joined in the conversation, + the rest of the party gathered around, and the humble colporteur + thus became the centre of a group of whose notice the highest + princes of earth might well be proud. General Lee asked if we ever + had calls for prayer-books, and said that if we would call at his + headquarters he would give us some for distribution--'that some + friend in Richmond had given him a new prayer-book, and, upon his + saying that he would give his old one, that he had used ever since + the Mexican War, to some soldier, the friend had offered him a + dozen new books for the old one, and he had, of course, accepted + so good an offer, and now had twelve instead of one to give away.' + We called at the appointed hour. The general had gone out on some + important matter, but (even amid his pressing duties) had left + the prayer-books with a member of his staff, with instructions + concerning them. He had written on the fly-leaf of each, + 'Presented by R.E. Lee,' and we are sure that those of the gallant + men to whom they were given who survive the war will now cherish + them as precious legacies, and hand them down as heirlooms in + their families." + +These incidents unmistakably indicate that General Lee concealed, +under the natural reserve of his character, an earnest religious +belief and trust in God and our Saviour. Nor was this a new sentiment +with him. After his death a well-worn pocket Bible was found in his +chamber, in which was written, "R.E. Lee, Lieutenant-Colonel, U.S. +Army." It was plain, from this, that, even during the days of his +earlier manhood, in Mexico and on the Western prairies, he had read +his Bible, and striven to conform his life to its teachings. + +With the retirement of the great soldier, however, from the cares of +command which necessarily interfered in a large degree with pious +exercises and meditations, the religious phase of his character +became more clearly defined, assuming far more prominent and striking +proportions. The sufferings of the Southern people doubtless had a +powerful effect upon him, and, feeling the powerlessness of man, he +must have turned to God for comfort. But this inquiry is too profound +for the present writer. He shrinks from the attempt to sound the +depths of this truly great soul, with the view of discovering the +influences which moulded it into an almost ideal perfection. General +Lee was, fortunately for the world, surrounded in his latter days +by good and intelligent men, fully competent to present a complete +exposition of his views and feelings--and to these the arduous +undertaking is left. Our easier task is to place upon record such +incidents as we have gathered, bearing upon the religious phase of the +illustrious soldier's character. + +His earnest piety cannot be better displayed than in the anxiety which +he felt for the conversion of his students, Conversing with the Rev. +Dr. Kirkpatrick, of the Presbyterian Church, on the subject of the +religious welfare of those intrusted to his charge, "he was so +overcome by emotion," says Dr. Kirkpatrick, "that he could not utter +the words which were on his tongue." His utterance was choked, but +recovering himself, with his eyes overflowing with tears, his lips +quivering with emotion, and both hands raised, he exclaimed: "Oh! +doctor, if I could only know that all the young men in the college +were good Christians, I should have nothing more to desire." + +When another minister, the Rev. Mr. Jones, delivered an earnest +address at the "Concert of Prayer for Colleges," urging that all +Christians should pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit in changing the +hearts of the students, General Lee, after the meeting, approached the +minister and said with great warmth: "I wish, sir, to thank you for +your address. It was just what we needed. Our great want is a revival, +which shall bring these young men to Christ." + +One morning, while the venerable Dr. White was passing General Lee's +house, on his way to chapel, the general joined him, and they entered +into conversation upon religious subjects. General Lee said little, +but, just as they reached the college, stopped and remarked with great +earnestness, his eyes filling with tears as he spoke: "I shall be +disappointed, sir, I shall fail in the leading object that brought me +here, unless the young men all become real Christians; and I wish you +and others of your sacred profession to de all you can to accomplish +this result." + +When a great revival of religious feeling took place at the Virginia +Military Institute, in 1868, General Lee said to the clergyman of his +church with deep feeling: "That is the best news I have heard since I +have been in Lexington. Would that we could have such a revival in all +our colleges!" + +Although a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and preferring +that communion, General Lee seems to have been completely exempt from +sectarian feeling, and to have aimed first and last to be a true +Christian, loving God and his neighbor, and not busying himself about +theological dogmas. When he was asked once whether he believed in the +Apostolic succession, he replied that he had never thought of it, and +aimed only to become a "real Christian." His catholic views were shown +by the letters of invitation, which he addressed, at the commencement +of each session of the college, to ministers of all religious +denominations at Lexington, to conduct, in turn, the religious +exercises at the college chapel; and his charities, which were large +for a person of his limited means, were given to all alike. These +charities he seems to have regarded as a binding duty, and were so +private that only those receiving them knew any thing of them. It only +came to be known accidentally that in 1870 he gave one hundred dollars +for the education of the orphans of Southern soldiers, one hundred +dollars to the Young Men's Christian Association, and regularly made +other donations, amounting in all to considerable sums. Nearly his +last act was a liberal contribution to an important object connected +with his church. + +We shall conclude these anecdotes, illustrating General Lee's +religious character, with one for which we are indebted to the +kindness of a reverend clergyman, of Lexington, who knew General +Lee intimately in his latter years, and enjoyed his confidence. The +incident will present in an agreeable light the great soldier's +simplicity and love for children, and no less his catholic feelings in +reference to sects in the Christian Church: + +"I will give you just another incident," writes the reverend +gentleman, "illustrating General Lee's love for children, and their +freedom with him. When I first came to Lexington, my boy Carter (just +four years old then) used to go with me to chapel service when it was +my turn to officiate. The general would tell him that he must always +sit by him; and it was a scene for a painter, to see the great +chieftain reverentially listening to the truths of God's word, and +the little boy nestling close to him. One Sunday our Sunday-school +superintendent told the children that they must bring in some new +scholars, and that they must bring old people as well as the young, +since none were too old or too wise to learn God's word. The next +Sabbath Carter was with me at the chapel, from which he was to go with +me to the Sunday-school. At the close of the service, I noticed that +Carter was talking very earnestly with General Lee, who seemed very +much amused, and, on calling him to come with me, he said, with +childish simplicity: 'Father, I am trying to get General Lee to go to +the Sunday-school and _be my scholar_.' 'But,' said I, 'if the general +goes to any school, he will go to his own.' 'Which is his own, +father?' 'The Episcopal,' I replied. Heaving a deep sigh, and with a +look of disappointment, the little fellow said: 'I am very sorry he +is '_Piscopal._ I wish he was a Baptist, so he could go to _our_ +Sunday-school, and be my scholar.' The general seemed very much amused +and interested as he replied, 'Ah! Carter, we must all try and be +_good Christians_--that is the most important thing.' 'He knew all the +children in town,' adds Mr. Jones, 'and their grief at his death was +very touching.'" + +This incident may appear singular to those who have been accustomed to +regard General Lee as a cold, reserved, and even stern human being--a +statue, beneath whose chill surface no heart ever throbbed. But, +instead of a marble heart, there lay, under the gray uniform of the +soldier, one of warm flesh and blood--tender, impressible, susceptible +to the quick touches of all gentle and sweet emotion, and filling, as +it were, with quiet happiness, at the sight of children and the sound +of their voices. This impressibility has even been made the subject +of criticism. A foreign writer declares that the soldier's character +exhibited a "feminine" softness, unfitting him for the conduct of +affairs of moment. What the Confederacy wanted, intimates the writer +in question, was a rough dictator, with little regard for nice +questions of law--one to lay the rough hand of the born master on the +helm, and force the crew, from the highest to the lowest, to obey his +will. That will probably remain a question. General Lee's _will_ +was strong enough to break down all obstacles but those erected by +rightful authority; that with this masculine strength he united an +exquisite gentleness, is equally beyond question. A noble action +flushed his cheek with an emotion that the reader may, if he will, +call "feminine." A tale of suffering brought a sudden moisture to his +eyes; and a loving message from one of his poor old soldiers was seen +one day to melt him to tears. + +This poor and incomplete attempt to indicate some of the less-known +traits of the illustrious commander-in-chief of the Southern armies +will now be brought to a conclusion; we approach the sorrowful moment +when, surrounded by his weeping family,[1] he tranquilly passed away. + +[Footnote 1: General Lee had three sons and four daughters, all of +whom are living except one of the latter, Miss Anne Lee, who died in +North Carolina during the war. The sons were General G.W. Custis Lee, +aide-de-camp to President Davis--subsequently commander of infantry in +the field, and now president of Washington and Lee College, an officer +of such ability and of character so eminent that President Davis +regarded him as a fit successor of his illustrious father in command +of the Army of Northern Virginia--General W.H.F. Lee, a prominent and +able commander of cavalry, and Captain Robert E. Lee, an efficient +member of the cavalry-staff. These gentlemen bore their full share +in the perils and hardships of the war, from its commencement to the +surrender at Appomattox.] + +On the 28th of September, 1870, after laborious attention to his +duties during the early part of the day, General Lee attended, in the +afternoon, a meeting of the Vestry of Grace Church, of which he was a +member. Over this meeting he presided, and it was afterward remembered +that his last public act was to contribute the sum of fifty-five +dollars to some good object, the requisite amount to effect which was +thus made up. After the meeting, General Lee returned to his home, +and, when tea was served, took his place at the table to say grace, +as was his habit, as it had been in camp throughout the war. His lips +opened, but no sound issued from them, and he sank back in his chair, +from which he was carried to bed. + +The painful intelligence immediately became known throughout +Lexington, and the utmost grief and consternation were visible upon +every face. It was hoped, at first, that the attack would not prove +serious, and that General Lee would soon be able to resume his duties. +But this hope was soon dissipated. The skilful physicians who hastened +to his bedside pronounced his malady congestion of the brain, and, +from the appearance of the patient, who lay in a species of coma, +the attack was evidently of the most alarming character. The most +discouraging phase of the case was, that, physically, General Lee +was--if we may so say--in perfect health. His superb physique, +although not perhaps as vigorous and robust as during the war, +exhibited no indication whatever of disease. His health appeared +perfect, and twenty years more of life might have been predicted for +him from simple reference to his appearance. + +The malady was more deeply seated, however, than any bodily disease; +the cerebral congestion was but a symptom of the mental malady which +was killing its victim. From the testimony of the able physicians who +watched the great soldier, day and night, throughout his illness, and +are thus best competent to speak upon the subject, there seems no +doubt that General Lee's condition was the result of mental depression +produced by the sufferings of the Southern people. Every mail, it is +said, had brought him the most piteous appeals for assistance, from +old soldiers whose families were in want of bread; and the woes of +these poor people had a prostrating effect upon him. A year or two +before, his health had been seriously impaired by this brooding +depression, and he had visited North Carolina, the White Sulphur +Springs, and other places, to divert his mind. In this he failed. The +shadow went with him, and the result was, at last, the alarming attack +from which he never rallied. During the two weeks of his illness he +scarcely spoke, and evidently regarded his condition as hopeless. When +one of his physicians said to him, "General, you must make haste and +get well; _Traveller_ has been standing so long in his stable that he +needs exercise." General Lee shook his head slowly, to indicate that +he would never again mount his favorite horse. + +He remained in this state, with few alterations in his condition, +until Wednesday; October 12th, when, about nine in the morning, in the +midst of his family, the great soldier tranquilly expired. + +Of the universal grief of the Southern people when the intelligence +was transmitted by telegraph to all parts of the country, it is not +necessary that we should speak. The death of Lee seemed to make all +hearts stand still; and the tolling of bells, flags at half-mast, +and public meetings of citizens, wearing mourning, marked, in every +portion of the South, the sense of a great public calamity. It is not +an exaggeration to say that, in ten thousand Southern homes, tears +came to the eyes not only of women, but of bearded men, and that the +words, "Lee is dead!" fell like a funeral-knell upon every heart. + +When the intelligence reached Richmond, the Legislature passed +resolutions expressive of the general sorrow, and requesting that the +remains of General Lee might be interred in Holywood Cemetery--Mr. +Walker, the Governor, expressing in a special message his +participation in the grief of the people of Virginia and the South. +The family of General Lee, however, preferred that his remains should +rest at the scene of his last labors, and beneath the chapel of +Washington College they were accordingly interred. The ceremony was +imposing, and will long be remembered. + +On the morning of the 13th, the body was borne to the college chapel. +In front moved a guard of honor, composed of old Confederate soldiers; +behind these came the clergy; then the hearse; in rear of which was +led the dead soldier's favorite war-horse "Traveller," his equipments +wreathed with crape. The trustees and faculty of the college, the +cadets of the Military Institute, and a large number of citizens +followed--and the procession moved slowly from the northeastern gate +of the president's house to the college chapel, above which, draped in +mourning, and at half-mast, floated the flag of Virginia--the only one +displayed during this or any other portion of the funeral ceremonies. + +On the platform of the chapel the body lay in state throughout this +and the succeeding day. The coffin was covered with evergreens and +flowers, and the face of the dead was uncovered that all might look +for the last time on the pale features of the illustrious soldier. The +body was dressed in a simple suit of black, and the appearance of the +face was perfectly natural. Great crowds visited the chapel, passing +solemnly in front of the coffin--the silence interrupted only by sobs. + +Throughout the 14th the body continued to be in state, and to be +visited by thousands. On the 15th a great funeral procession preceded +the commission of it to its last resting place. At an early hour the +crowd began to assemble in the vicinity of the college, which was +draped in mourning. This great concourse was composed of men, women, +and children, all wearing crape, and the little children seemed as +much penetrated by the general distress as the elders. The bells of +the churches began to toll; and at ten o'clock the students of the +college, and officers and soldiers of the Confederate army--numbering +together nearly one thousand persons--formed in front of the chapel. +Between the two bodies stood the hearse, and the gray horse of the +soldier, both draped in mourning. + +The procession then began to move, to the strains of martial music. +The military escort, together with the staff-officers of General Lee, +moved in front; the faculty and students followed behind the hearse; +and in rear came a committee of the Legislative dignitaries of the +Commonwealth, and a great multitude of citizens from all portions of +the State. The procession continued its way toward the Institute, +where the cadets made the military salute as the hearse passed in +front of them, and the sudden thunder of artillery awoke the echoes +from the hills. The cadets then joined the procession, which was more +than a mile in length; and, heralded by the fire of artillery every +few minutes, it moved back to the college chapel, where the last +services were performed. + +General Lee had requested, it is said, that no funeral oration should +be pronounced above his remains, and the Rev. William N. Pendleton +simply read the beautiful burial-service of the Episcopal Church. The +coffin, still covered with evergreens and flowers, was then lowered to +its resting-place beneath the chapel, amid the sobs and tears of the +great assembly; and all that was mortal of the illustrious soldier +disappeared from the world's eyes. + +What thus disappeared was little. What remained was much--the memory +of the virtues and the glory of the greatest of Virginians. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +We here present to the reader a more detailed account of the +ceremonies attending the burial of General Lee, and a selection from +the countless addresses delivered in various portions of the country +when his death was announced. To notice the honors paid to his memory +in every city, town, and village of the South, would fill a volume, +and be wholly unnecessary. It is equally unnecessary to speak of the +great meetings at Richmond, Baltimore, and elsewhere, resulting in +the formation of the "Lee Memorial Association" for the erection of a +monument to the dead commander. + +The addresses here presented are placed on record rather for their +biographical interest, than to do honor to the dead. Of him it may +justly be said that he needs no record of his virtues and his glory. +His illustrious memory is fresh to-day, and will be fresh throughout +all coming generations, in every heart. + + + + +I. + +_THE FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE_. + + +The morning of the obsequies of General Lee broke bright and cheerful +over the sorrowful town of Lexington. Toward noon the sun poured down +with all the genial warmth of Indian summer, and after mid-day it was +hot, though not uncomfortably so. The same solemnity of yesterday +reigned supreme, with the difference, that people came thronging +into town, making a mournful scene of bustle. The gloomy faces, +the comparative silence, the badges and emblems of mourning that +everywhere met the eye, and the noiseless, strict decorum which was +observed, told how universal and deep were the love and veneration +of the people for the illustrious dead. Every one uniformly and +religiously wore the emblematic crape, even to the women and children, +who were crowding to the college chapel with wreaths of flowers +fringed with mourning. All sorrowfully and religiously paid their last +tributes of respect and affection to the great dead, and none there +were who did not feel a just pride in the sad offices. + +AT THE COLLEGE GROUNDS. + +Immediately in front of the chapel the scene was peculiarly sad. +All around the buildings were gloomily draped in mourning, and the +students strolled listlessly over the grounds, awaiting the formation +of the funeral procession. Ladies thronged about the chapel with +tearful eyes, children wept outright, every face wore a saddened +expression, while the solemn tolling of the church-bells rendered the +scene still more one of grandeur and gloom. The bells of the churches +joined in the mournful requiem. + +THE FUNERAL PROCESSION. + +At ten o'clock precisely, in accordance with the programme agreed +upon, the students, numbering four hundred, formed in front and to the +right of the chapel. To the left an escort of honor, numbering some +three hundred ex-officers and soldiers, was formed, at the head +of which, near the southwestern entrance to the grounds, was +the Institute band. Between these two bodies--the soldiers and +students--stood the hearse and the gray war-steed of the dead hero, +both draped in mourning. The marshals of the procession, twenty-one in +number, wore spotless white sashes, tied at the waist and shoulders +with crape, and carrying _bâtons_ also enveloped in the same +emblematic material. + +Shortly after ten, at a signal from the chief marshal, the solemn +_cortége_ moved off to the music of a mournful dirge. General Bradley +Johnson headed the escort of officers and soldiers, with Colonel +Charles T. Venable and Colonel Walters H. Taylor, both former +assistant adjutant-generals on the staff of the lamented dead. The +physicians of General Lee and the Faculty of the college fell in +immediately behind the hearse, the students following. Slowly and +solemnly the procession moved from the college grounds down Washington +Street to Jefferson, up Jefferson Street to Franklin Hall, thence to +Main Street, where they were joined by a committee of the Legislature, +dignitaries of the State, and the citizens generally. Moving still +onward, this grand funeral pageant, which had now assumed gigantic +proportions, extending nearly a mile in length, soon reached the +northeastern extremity of the town, when it took the road to the +Virginia Military Institute. + +AT THE MILITARY INSTITUTE. + +Here the scene was highly impressive and imposing. In front of the +Institute the battalion of cadets, three hundred in number, were drawn +up in line, wearing their full gray uniform, with badges of mourning, +and having on all their equipments and side-arms, but without their +muskets. Spectators thronged the entire line of the procession, gazing +sadly as it wended its way, and the sites around the Institute were +crowded. As the _cortége_ entered the Institute grounds a salute of +artillery thundered its arrival, and reverberated it far across the +distant hills and valleys of Virginia, awakening echoes which have +been hushed since Lee manfully gave up the struggle of the "lost +cause" at Appomattox. Winding along the indicated route toward the +grounds of Washington College, the procession slowly moved past the +Institute, and when the war-horse and hearse of the dead chieftain +came in front of the battalion of cadets, they uncovered their heads +as a salute of reverence and respect, which was promptly followed by +the spectators. When this was concluded, the visitors and Faculty of +the Institute joined the procession, and the battalion of cadets filed +into the line in order, and with the greatest precision. + +ORDER OF THE PROCESSION. + +The following was the order of the procession when it was completed: + + Music. + + Escort of Honor, consisting of Officers and Soldiers of the Confederate + Army. + + Chaplain and other Clergy. + + Hearse and Pall-bearers. + + General Lee's Horse. + + The Attending Physicians. + + Trustees and Faculty of Washington College. + + Dignitaries of the State of Virginia. + + Visitors and Faculty of the Virginia Military Institute. + + Other Representative Bodies and Distinguished Visitors. + + Alumni of Washington College. + + Citizens. + + Cadets Virginia Military Institute. + + Students of Washington College as Guard of Honor + +AT THE CHAPEL. + +After the first salute, a gun was fired every three minutes. Moving +still to the sound of martial music, in honor of the dead, the +procession reëntered the grounds of Washington College by the +northeastern gate, and was halted in front of the chapel. Then +followed an imposing ceremony. The cadets of the Institute were +detached from the line, and marched in double file into the chapel up +one of the aisles, past the remains of the illustrious dead, which lay +in state on the rostrum, and down the other aisle out of the church. +The students of Washington College followed next, passing with bowed +heads before the mortal remains of him they revered and loved so much +and well as their president and friend. The side-aisles and galleries +were crowded with ladies, Emblems of mourning met the eye on all +sides, and feminine affection had hung funeral garlands of flowers +upon all the pillars and walls. The central pews were filled with the +escort of honor, composed of former Confederate soldiers from this and +adjoining counties, while the spacious platform was crowded with the +trustees, faculties, clergy, Legislative Committee, and distinguished +visitors. Within and without the consecrated hall the scene was +alike imposing. The blue mountains of Virginia, towering in the near +horizon; the lovely village of Lexington, sleeping in the calm, +unruffled air, and the softened autumn sunlight; the vast assemblage, +mute and sorrowful; the tolling bells, and pealing cannon, and solemn +words of funeral service, combined to render the scene one never to be +forgotten. + +The sons of General Lee--W.H.F. Lee, G.W.C. Lee, and Robert E. +Lee--with their sisters, Misses Agnes and Mildred Lee, and the nephews +of the dead, Fitzhugh, Henry C., and Robert C. Lee, entered the church +with bowed heads, and silently took seats in front of the rostrum. + +THE FUNERAL SERVICES AND INTERMENT. + +Then followed the impressive funeral services of the Episcopal Church +for the dead, amid a silence and solemnity that were imposing and +sublimely grand. There was no funeral oration, in compliance with the +expressed wish of the distinguished dead; and at the conclusion of the +services in the chapel the vast congregation went out and mingled with +the crowd without, who were unable to gain admission. The coffin was +then carried by the pall-bearers to the library-room, in the basement +of the chapel, where it was lowered into the vault prepared for its +reception. The funeral services were concluded in the open air by +prayer, and the singing of General Lee's favorite hymn, commencing +with the well-known line-- + + "How firm a foundation, ye saint of the Lord, + Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!" + +and thus closed the funeral obsequies of Robert Edward Lee, to whom +may be fitly applied the grand poetic epitaph: + + "Ne'er to the mansions where the mighty rest, + Since their foundations, came a nobler guest; + Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed + A purer saint or a more welcome shade." + + + + +II. + +_TRIBUTES TO GENERAL LEE_. + + +In the deep emotion with which the death of General Lee has filled all +classes of our people--says the _Southern Magazine_, from whose pages +this interesting summary is taken--we have thought that a selection of +the most eloquent or otherwise interesting addresses delivered at the +various memorial meetings may not be unacceptable. + +LOUISVILLE, KY. + +On October 15th nearly the whole city was draped in mourning, and +business was suspended. A funeral service was held at St. Paul's +Church. In the evening an immense meeting assembled at Weissiger +Hall, and, after an opening address by Mayor Baxter, the following +resolutions were adopted: + +"_Resolved_, That, in the death of Robert E. Lee, the American people, +without regard to States or sections, or antecedents, or opinions, +lose a great and good man, a distinguished and useful citizen, +renowned not less in arms than in the arts of peace; and that the +cause of public instruction and popular culture is deprived of a +representative whose influence and example will be felt by the youth +of our country for long ages after the passions in the midst of which +he was engaged, but which he did not share, have passed into history, +and the peace and fraternity of the American Republic are cemented and +restored by the broadest and purest American sentiment." + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the +family of General Lee, to the Trustees of Washington College, and to +the Governor and General Assembly of Virginia." + +ADDRESS OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE. + +"_Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen_: In the humble part which it +falls to me to take in these interesting ceremonies, if for any cause +it has been supposed that I am to deliver a lengthy address, I am +not responsible for the origination of that supposition. I came here +to-night simply to mingle my grief with yours at the loss of one of +our most distinguished citizens, and, indeed, I feel more like silence +than like words. I am awe-stricken in the presence of this vast +assemblage, and my mind goes back to the past. It is preoccupied by +memories coming in prominent review of the frequent and ever-varying +vicissitudes which have characterized the last ten years. I find +myself in the presence of a vast assemblage of the people of this +great and growing city, who meet together, without distinction of +party, and presided over by your chief officer, for the purpose of +expressing respect to the memory of the man who was the leader of the +Confederate armies in the late war between the States. It is in itself +the omen of reunion. I am not surprised at the spectacle presented +here. Throughout the entire South one universal cry of grief has +broken forth at the death of General Lee, and in a very large portion +of the North manly and noble tributes have been paid to his memory. + +"My words shall be brief but plain. Why is it that at the South we see +this universal, spontaneous demonstration? First, because most of the +people mourn the loss of a leader and a friend, but beyond that I must +say they seem to enter an unconscious protest against the ascription +either to him or them of treason or personal dishonor. It may be an +unconscious protest against the employment by a portion of the public +press of those epithets which have ceased to be used in social +intercourse. It is an invitation on their part to the people of the +North and South, East and West, if there be any remaining rancor in +their bosoms, to bury it in the grave forever. I will not recall the +past. I will not enter upon any considerations of the cause of that +great struggle. This demonstration we see around us gives the plainest +evidence that there is no disposition to indulge in useless repinings +at the results of that great struggle. It is for the pen of the +historian to declare the cause, progress, and probable consequences of +it. In regard to those who followed General Lee, who gloried in his +successes and shared his misfortunes, I have but this to say: the +world watched the contest in which they were engaged, and yet gives +testimony to their gallantry, + +"The magnanimity with which they accepted the results of their defeat, +the obedience they have yielded to the laws of the Federal Government, +give an exhibition so rare that they are ennobled by their calm yet +noble submission. For the rest their escutcheon is unstained. The +conquerors themselves, for their own glory, must confess that they +were brave. Neither, my friends, do I come here to-night to speak +of the military career of General Lee. I need not speak of it this +evening. I believe that this is universally recognized, not only in +the United States, but in Europe; it has made the circuit of the +world. I come but to utter my tribute to him as a man and as a +citizen. As a man he will be remembered in history as a man of the +epoch. How little need I to speak of his character after listening to +the thrilling delineation of it which we had this morning! We all know +that he was great, noble, and self-poised. He was just and moderate, +but was, perhaps, misunderstood by those who were not personally +acquainted with him. He was supposed to be just, but cold. Far from +it. He had a warm, affectionate heart. During the last year of that +unfortunate struggle it was my good fortune to spend a great deal of +time with him. I was almost constantly by his side, and it was during +the two months immediately preceding the fall of Richmond that I came +to know and fully understand the true nobility of his character. In +all those long vigils he was considerate and kind, gentle, firm, and +self-poised. I can give no better idea of the impression it made upon +me than to say it inspired me with an ardent love of the man and a +profound veneration of his character. It was so massive and noble, so +grand in its proportions, that all men must admire its heroism and +gallantry, yet so gentle and tender that a woman might adopt and claim +it as her own. If the spirit which animates the assembly before me +to-night shall become general and permeate the whole country, then may +we say the wounds of the late war are truly healed. We ask for him +only what we give to others. Among the more eminent of the departed +Federal generals who were distinguished for their gallantry, their +nobility of character, and their patriotism, may be mentioned Thomas +and McPherson. What Confederate is there who would refuse to raise his +cap as their funeral-train went by or hesitate to drop a flower upon +their graves? Why? Because they were men of courage, honor, and +nobility; because they were true to their convictions of right, and +soldiers whose hands were unstained by cruelty or pillage. + +"Those of us who were so fortunate as to know him, and who have +appeared before this assemblage, composed of all shades of opinion, +claim for him your veneration, because he was pure and noble, and it +is because of this that we see the cities and towns of the South in +mourning. This has been the expression throughout the whole South, +without distinction of party, and also of a large portion of the +North. Is not this why these tributes have been paid to his memory? Is +it not because his piety was humble and sincere? Because he accorded +in victory; because he filled his position with admirable dignity; +because he taught his prostrate comrades how to suffer and be strong? +In a word, because he was one of the noblest products of this +hemisphere, a fit object to sit in the niche which he created in the +Temple of Fame. + +"But he failed. The result is in the future. It may be for better or +for worse. We hope for the better. But this is not the test for his +greatness and goodness. Success often gilds the shallow man, but it is +disaster alone that reveals the qualities of true greatness. Was his +life a failure? Is only that man successful who erects a material +monument of greatness by the enforcement of his ideas? Is not that man +successful also, who, by his valor, moderation, and courage, with all +their associate virtues, presents to the world such a specimen of +true manhood as his children and children's children will be proud to +imitate? In this sense he was not a failure. + +"Pardon me for having detained you so long. I know there are here and +there those who will reach out and attempt to pluck from his name the +glory which surrounds it, and strike with malignant fury at the honors +awarded to him; yet history will declare that the remains which repose +in the vault beneath the little chapel in the lovely Virginia Valley +are not only those of a valorous soldier, but those of a great and +good American." + +General John W. Finnell next addressed the audience briefly, and was +followed by. + +GENERAL WILLIAM PRESTON. + +"_Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen_: I feel that it would be very +difficult for me to add any eulogy to those which are contained in the +resolutions of the committee, or a more merited tribute of praise than +those which have already fallen from the lips of the gentlemen who +have preceded me. Yet, on an occasion like this, I am willing to come +forward and add a word to testify my appreciation of the great virtues +and admirable character of one that commands, not only our admiration, +but that of the entire country. Not alone of the entire country, +but his character has excited more admiration in Europe than among +ourselves. In coming ages his name will be marked with lustre, and +will be one of the richest treasures of the future. I speak of one +just gone down to death; ripe in all the noble attributes of manhood, +and illustrious by deeds the most remarkable in character that have +occurred in the history of America since its discovery. It is now some +two-and-twenty years since I first made the acquaintance of General +Lee. He was then in the prime of manhood, in Mexico, and I first saw +him as the chief-engineer of General Scott in the Valley of Mexico. I +see around me two old comrades who then saw General Lee. He was a +man of remarkable personal beauty and great grace of body. He had a +finished form, delicate hands, graceful in person, while here and +there a gray hair streaked with silver the dark locks with which +Nature had clothed his noble brow. There were discerning minds that +appreciated his genius, and saw in him the coming Captain of America. +His commander and his comrades appreciated his ability. To a club +which was then organized he belonged, together with General McClellan, +General Albert Sydney Johnston, General Beauregard, and a host of +others. They recognized in Lee a master-spirit.. + +"He was never violent; he never wrangled. He was averse to +quarrelling, and not a single difficulty marked his career; but +all acknowledged his justness and wonderful evenness of mind. Rare +intelligence, combined with these qualities, served to make him a fit +representative of his great prototype, General Washington. He had been +accomplished by every finish that a military education could bestow. + +"I remember when General Lee was appointed lieutenant-colonel, at the +same time that Sydney Johnston was appointed colonel, and General +Scott thought that Lee should have been colonel. I was talking with +General Scott on the subject long before the late struggle between the +North and South took place, and he then said that Lee was the greatest +living soldier in America. He did not object to the other commission, +but he thought Lee should have been first promoted. Finally, he said +to me with emphasis, which you will pardon me for relating, 'I tell +you that, if I were on my death-bed to-morrow, and the President of +the United States should tell me that a great battle was to be fought +for the liberty or slavery of the country, and asked my judgment as to +the ability of a commander, I would say with my dying breath, let it +be Robert E. Lee.' Ah! great soldier that he was, princely general +that he was, he has fulfilled his mission, and borne it so that +no invidious tongue can level the shafts of calumny at the great +character which he has left behind him. + +"But, ladies and gentlemen, it was not in this that the matchless +attributes of his character were found. You have assembled here, not +so much to do honor to General Lee, but to testify your appreciation +of the worth of the principles governing his character; and if the +minds of this assemblage were explored, you would find there was a +gentleness and a grace in his character which had won your love and +brought forth testimonials of universal admiration. Take but a single +instance. At the battle of Gettysburg, after the attack on the +cemetery, when his troops were repulsed and beaten, the men threw +up their muskets and said, 'General, we have failed, and it is our +fault.' 'No, my men,' said he, knowing the style of fighting of +General Stonewall Jackson, 'you have done well; 'tis my fault; I am to +blame, and no one but me.' What man is there that would not have gone +to renewed death for such a leader? So, when we examine his whole +character, it is in his private life that you find his true +greatness--the Christian simplicity of his character and his great +veneration for truth and nobility, the grand elements of his +greatness. What man could have laid down his sword at the feet of a +victorious general with greater dignity than did he at Appomattox +Court-House? He laid down his sword with grace and dignity, and +secured for his soldiers the best terms that fortune would permit. In +that he shows marked greatness seldom shown by great captains. + +"After the battle of Sedan, the wild cries of the citizens of Paris +went out for the blood of the emperor; but at Appomattox, veneration +and love only met the eyes of the troops who looked upon their +commander. I will not trespass upon your time much farther. When I +last saw him the raven hair had turned white. In a small village +church his reverent head was bowed in prayer. The humblest step was +that of Robert E. Lee, as he entered the portals of the temple erected +to God. In broken responses he answered to the services of the Church. +Noble, sincere, and humble in his religion, he showed forth his true +character in laying aside his sword to educate the youth of his +country. Never did he appear more noble than at that time. He is now +gone, and rests in peace, and has crossed that mysterious stream that +Stonewall Jackson saw with inspired eyes when he asked that he might +be permitted to take his troops across the river and forever rest +beneath the shadows of the trees." + +After a few remarks from Hon. D.Y. Lyttle, the meeting adjourned. + +AUGUSTA, GA. + +A meeting was held at Augusta, on October 18th, at the City Hall. The +preamble and resolutions adopted were as follows: + +"_Whereas_, This day, throughout all this Southern land, sorrow, +many-tongued, is ascending to heaven for the death of Robert E. Lee, +and communities everywhere are honoring themselves in striving to do +honor to that great name; and we, the people of Augusta, who were not +laggards in upholding his glorious banner while it floated to the +breeze, would swell the general lamentation of his departure: + +therefore be it + +"_Resolved_, That no people in the tide of time has been bereaved +as we are bereaved; for no other people has had such a man to lose. +Greece, rich in heroes; Rome, prolific mother of great citizens, so +that the name of Roman is the synonyme of all that is noblest in +citizenship--had no man coming up to the full measure of this +great departed. On scores of battle-fields, consummate commander; +everywhere, bravest soldier; in failure, sublimest hero; in disbanding +his army, most pathetic of writers; in persecution, most patient of +power's victims; in private life, purest of men--he was such that all +Christendom, with one consent, named him GREAT. We, recalling that so +also mankind have styled Alexander, Caesar, Frederick, and Napoleon, +and beholding in the Confederate leader qualities higher and better +than theirs, find that language poor indeed which only enables us to +call him 'great'--him standing among the great of all ages preëminent. + +"_Resolved_, That our admiration of the man is not the partial +judgment of his adherents only; but so clear stand his greatness and +his goodness, that even the bitterest of foes has not ventured +to asperse him. While the air has been filled with calumnies and +revilings of his cause, none have been aimed at him. If there are +spirits so base that they cannot discover and reverence his greatness +and his goodness, they have at least shrunk from encountering the +certain indignation of mankind. This day--disfranchised by stupid +power as he was; branded, as he was, in the perverted vocabulary of +usurpers as rebel and traitor--his death has even in distant lands +moved more tongues and stirred more hearts than the siege of a mighty +city and the triumphs of a great king. + +"_Resolved_, That, while he died far too soon for his country, he had +lived long enough for his fame. This was complete, and the future +could unfold nothing to add to it. In this age of startling changes, +imagination might have pictured him, even in the years which he yet +lacked of the allotted period of human life, once more at the head of +devoted armies and the conqueror of glorious fields; but none could +have been more glorious than those he had already won. Wrong, too, +might again have triumphed over Right, and he have borne defeat with +sublimest resignation; but this he had already done at Appomattox. +Unrelenting hate to his lost cause might have again consigned him to +the walks of private life, and he have become an exemplar of all the +virtues of a private station; but this he had already been in the +shades of Lexington. The contingencies of the future could only have +revealed him greatest soldier, sublimest hero, best of men; and he was +already all of these. The years to come were barren of any thing which +could add to his perfect name and fame. He had nothing to lose; but, +alas! we, his people, every thing by his departure from this world, +which was unworthy of him, to that other where the good and the pure +of all ages will welcome him. Thither follow him the undying love +of every true Southern man and woman, and the admiration of all the +world." + +ADDRESS OF GENERAL A.R. WRIGHT. + +"_Mr. Chairman_: I rise simply to move the adoption of the resolutions +which have just been read to the meeting by Major Cumming. You have +heard, and the people here assembled have heard, these resolutions. +They are truthful, eloquent, and expressive. Although announced as +a speaker on this sad occasion, I had determined to forego any such +attempt; but an allusion, a passing reference to one of the sublime +virtues of the illustrious dead, made in the resolutions which have +just been read in your hearing, has induced me to add a word or +two. Your resolutions speak of General Lee's patience under the +persecutions of power. It was this virtue which ennobled the +character, as it was one of the most prominent traits in the life, of +him for whose death a whole nation, grief-stricken, mourns, and to pay +a tribute to the memory of whom this multitude has assembled here this +morning. While General Lee was all, and more than has been said +of him--the great general, the true Christian, and the valiant +soldier--there was another character in which he appeared more +conspicuously than in any of the rest--the quiet dignity with which he +encountered defeat, and the patience with which he met the persecution +of malignant power. We may search the pages of all history, both +sacred and profane, and there seems to be but one character who +possessed in so large a degree this remarkable trait. Take General +Lee's whole life and examine it; observe his skill and courage as a +soldier, his patriotism and his fidelity to principle, the purity of +his private life, and then remember the disasters which he faced and +the persecutions to which he was subjected, and it would seem that _no +one_ ever endured so much--not even David, the sweet singer of Israel. +Job has been handed down to posterity by the pages of sacred history +as the embodiment of patience, as the man who, overwhelmed with the +most numerous and bitter afflictions, never lost his fortitude, and +who endured every fresh trial with uncomplaining resignation; but it +seems to me that even Job displayed not the patience of our own loved +hero; for, while Job suffered much, he endured less than General Lee. +Job was compelled to lose his children, his friends, and his property, +but he was never required to give up country; General Lee was, and, +with more than the persecutions of Job, he stands revealed to the +world the truest and the most sublime hero whom the ages have +produced. To a patriot like Lee the loss of country was the greatest +evil which could be experienced, and it was this last blow which has +caused us to assemble here to-day to mourn his departure. He lost +friends and kindred and property in the struggle, and yet, according +to the news which the telegraph brought us this morning, it was the +loss of his cause which finally sundered the heart-strings of the +hero, and drew him from earth to heaven. Yes, the weight of this +great sorrow which first fell upon him under the fatal apple-tree at +Appomattox, has dwelt with him, growing heavier and more unendurable +with each succeeding year, from that time until last Wednesday morn +when the soul of Lee passed away. + +"As I said before, Mr. Chairman, I only rose to move the adoption of +the resolutions; and if I have said more than I ought to have said, +it is because I knew the illustrious dead, because I loved him, and +because I mourn his loss." + +ADDRESS OF JUDGE HILLIARD. + +"It is proper that the people should pay a public tribute to the +memory of a great man when he dies. Not a ruler, not one who merely +holds a great public position, but a great man, one who has served his +day and generation. It cannot benefit the dead, but it is eminently +profitable to the living. The consciousness than when we cease to live +our memory will be cherished, is a noble incentive to live well. +This great popular demonstration is due to General Lee's life and +character. It is not ordered by the Government--the Government ignored +him; but is rendered as a spontaneous tribute to the memory of an +illustrious man--good, true, and great. He held no place in the +Government, and since the war has had no military rank; but he was a +true man. After all, that is the noblest tribute you can pay to any +man, to say of him he was a true man. + +"General Lee's character was eminently American. In Europe they +have their ideas, their standards of merit, their rewards for great +exploits. They cover one with decorations; they give him a great place +in the government; they make him a marshal. Wellington began his +career with humble rank. He was young Wellesley; he rose to be the +Duke of Wellington. In our country we have no such rewards for great +deeds. One must enjoy the patronage of the Government, or he must take +the fortunes of private life. + +"General Lee was educated at the great Military Academy, West Point. +He entered the army; was promoted from time to time for brilliant +services; in Mexico fought gallantly under the flag of the United +States; and was still advancing in his military career in 1861, when +Virginia became involved in the great contest that then grew up +between the States. Virginia was his mother; she called him to her +side to defend her, and, resigning his commission in the Army of the +United States, not for a moment looking for advancement there, not +counting the cost, not offering his sword to the service of power, nor +yet laying it down at the feet of the Government--he unsheathed it and +took his stand in defence of the great principles asserted by Virginia +in the Revolution, when she contended with Great Britain the right of +every people to choose their own form of government. Lost or won, to +him the cause was always the same--it was the cause of constitutional +liberty. He stood by it to the last. What must have been the +convictions of a man like General Lee, when, mounted on the same horse +that had borne him in battle, upon which he was seated when the lines +of battle formed by his own heroic men wavered, and he seized the +standard to lead the charge; but his soldiers rushed to him, and +laying their hands on his bridle, said, 'General, we cannot fire a +gun unless you retire?' What must have been his emotions as he rode, +through his own lines at Appomattox, to the commander of the opposing +army, and tendered his sword? Search the annals of history, ancient +and modern; consult the lives of heroes; study the examples of +greatness recorded in Greece leading the way on the triumphs of +popular liberty, or in Rome in the best days of her imperial rule; +take statesmen, generals, or men of patient thought who outwatched the +stars in exploring knowledge, and I declare to you that I do not find +anywhere a sublimer sentiment than General Lee uttered when he said, +'Human virtue ought to be equal to human calamity.' It will live +forever. + +"General Lee died at the right time. His sun did not go down in the +strife of battle, in the midst of the thunder of cannon, dimmed by the +lurid smoke of war. He survived all this: lived with so much dignity; +silent, yet thoughtful; unseduced by the offers of gain or of +advancement however tempting; disdaining to enter into contests for +small objects, until the broad disk went down behind the Virginia +hills, shedding its departing lustre not only upon this country but +upon the whole world. His memory is as much respected in England as it +is here; and at the North as well as at the South true hearts honor +it. + +"There is one thing I wish to say before I take my seat. General Lee's +fame ought to rest on the true base. He did not draw his sword to +perpetuate human slavery, whatever may have been his opinions in +regard to it; he did not seek to overthrow the Government of the +United States. He drew it in defence of constitutional liberty. That +cause is not dead, but will live forever. The result of the war +established the authority of the United States; the Union will +stand--let it stand forever. The flag floats over the whole country +from the Atlantic to the Pacific; let it increase in lustre, and let +the power of the Government grow; still the cause for which General +Lee struck is not a lost cause. It is conceded that these States must +continue united under a common government. We do not wish to sunder +it, nor to disturb it. But the great principle that underlies the +Government of the United States--the principle that the people have +a right to choose their own form of government, and to have their +liberties protected by the provisions of the Constitution--is an +indestructible principle. You cannot destroy it. Like Milton's angels, +it is immortal; you may wound, but you cannot kill it. It is like the +volcanic fires that flame in the depths of the earth; it will yet +upheave the ocean and the land, and flame up to heaven. + +"Young Emmett said, 'Let no man write my epitaph until my country is +free, and takes her place among the nations of the earth.' But you may +write General Lee's epitaph now. The principle for which he fought +will survive him. His evening was in perfect harmony with his life. He +had time to think, to recall the past, to prepare for the future. An +offer, originating in Georgia, and I believe in this very city, was +made to him to place an immense sum of money at his disposal if he +would consent to reside in the city of New York and represent Southern +commerce. Millions would have flowed to him. But he declined. He +said: 'No; I am grateful, but I have a self-imposed task which I must +accomplish. I have led the young men of the South in battle; I have +seen many of them fall under my standard. I shall devote my life now +to training young men to do their duty in life.' And he did. It was +beautiful to see him in that glorious valley where Lexington stands, +the lofty mountains throwing their protecting shadows over its quiet +home. General Lee's fame is not bounded by the limits of the South, +nor by the continent. I rejoice that the South gave him birth; I +rejoice that the South will hold his ashes. But his fame belongs to +the human race. Washington, too, was born in the South and sleeps +in the South. But his great fame is not to be appropriated by this +country; it is the inheritance of mankind. We place the name of Lee by +that of Washington. They both belong to the world." + +NEW ORLEANS. + +A meeting was held in the St. Charles Theatre, as the largest building +in the city. The Hon. W.M. Burwell delivered an eloquent address, +of which we regret that we have been able to obtain no report. The +meeting was then addressed by the + +HON. THOMAS J. SEMMES. + +"Robert E. Lee is dead. The Potomac, overlooked by the home of the +hero, once dividing contending peoples, but now no longer a boundary, +conveys to the ocean a nation's tears. South of the Potomac is +mourning; profound grief pervades every heart, lamentation is heard +from every hearth, for Lee sleeps among the slain whose memory is so +dear to us. In the language of Moina: + + 'They were slain for us, + And their blood flowed out in a rain for us, + Red, rich, and pure, on the plain for us; + And years may go, + But our tears shall flow + O'er the dead who have died in vain for us.' + +"North of the Potomac not only sympathizes with its widowed sister, +but, with respectful homage, the brave and generous, clustering around +the corpse of the great Virginian, with one accord exclaim: + + 'This earth that bears thee dead, + Bears not alive so stout a gentleman.' + +"Sympathetic nations, to whom our lamentations have been transmitted +on the wings of lightning, will with pious jealousy envy our grief, +because Robert E. Lee was an American. Seven cities claimed the honor +of having given birth to the great pagan poet; but all Christian +nations, while revering America as the mother of Robert E. Lee, will +claim for the nineteenth century the honor of his birth. There was but +one Lee, the great Christian captain, and his fame justly belongs to +Christendom. The nineteenth century has attacked every thing--it has +attacked God, the soul, reason, morals, society, the distinction +between good and evil. Christianity is vindicated by the virtues of +Lee. He is the most brilliant and cogent argument in favor of a system +illustrated by such a man; he is the type of the reign of law in the +moral order--that reign of law which the philosophic Duke of Argyll +has so recently and so ably discussed as pervading the natural as well +as the supernatural world. One of the chief characteristics of the +Christian is duty. Throughout a checkered life the conscientious +performance of duty seems to have been the mainspring of the actions +of General Lee. In his relations of father, son, husband, soldier, +citizen, duty shines conspicuous in all his acts. His agency as he +advanced to more elevated stations attracts more attention, and +surrounds him with a brighter halo of glory; but he is unchanged; from +first to last it is Robert E. Lee. + +"The most momentous act of his life was the selection of sides at the +commencement of the political troubles which immediately preceded the +recent conflict. High in military rank, caressed by General Scott, +courted by those possessed of influence and authority, no politician, +happy in his domestic relations, and in the enjoyment of competent +fortune, consisting in the main of property situated on the borders +of Virginia--nevertheless impelled by a sense of duty, as he himself +testified before a Congressional committee since the war, General Lee +determined to risk all and unite his fortunes with those of his native +State, whose ordinances as one of her citizens he considered himself +bound to obey. + +"Having joined the Confederate army, he complained not that he was +assigned to the obscure duty of constructing coast-defences for South +Carolina and Georgia, nor that he was subsequently relegated to +unambitious commands in Western Virginia. The accidental circumstance +that General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at the battle of Seven +Pines in May, 1862, placed Lee in command of the Army of Northern +Virginia. As commander of that army he achieved world-wide reputation, +without giving occasion during a period of three years to any +complaint on the part of officers, men, or citizens, or enemies, that +he had been guilty of any act, illegal, oppressive, unjust, or inhuman +in its character. This is the highest tribute possible to the wisdom +and virtue of General Lee; for, as a general rule, law was degraded; +officers, whether justly or unjustly, were constantly the subject +of complaint and discord, and jealousy prevailed in camp and in the +Senate-chamber. There was a fraction of our people represented by an +unavailing minority in Congress, who either felt, or professed to +feel, a jealousy whose theory was just, but whose application, at such +a time, was unsound. They wished to give as little power as possible +because they dreaded a military despotism, and thus desired to send +our armies forth with half a shield and broken swords to protect the +government from its enemies, lest, if the bucklers were entire and the +swords perfect, they might be tempted, in the heyday of victory, to +smite their employers. But this want of confidence never manifested +itself toward General Lee, whose conduct satisfied the most suspicious +that his ambition was not of glory but of the performance of duty. The +army always felt this: the fact that he sacrificed no masses of human +beings in desperate charges that he might gather laurels from the +spot enriched by their gore. A year or more before he was appointed +commander-in-chief of all the Confederate forces, a bill passed +Congress creating that office. It failed to become a law, the +President having withheld his approval. Lee made no complaints; his +friends solicited no votes to counteract the veto. When a bill for the +same purpose was passed at a subsequent period, it was whispered about +that he could not accept the position. To a committee of Virginians +who had called on him to ascertain the truth, his reply was, that he +felt bound to accept any post the duties of which his country believed +him competent to perform. After the battle of Gettysburg he tendered +his resignation to President Davis, because he was apprehensive his +failure, the responsibility for which he did not pretend to throw on +his troops or officers, would produce distrust of his abilities and +destroy his usefulness. I am informed the President, in a beautiful +and touching letter, declined to listen to such a proposition. During +the whole period of the war he steadily declined all presents, and +when, on one occasion, a gentleman sent him several dozen of wine, he +turned it over to the hospitals in Richmond, saying the wounded +and sick needed it more than he. He was extremely simple and +unostentatious in his habits, and shared with his soldiers their +privations as well as their dangers. Toward the close of the war, meat +was very scarce within the Confederate lines in the neighborhood of +the contending armies. An aide of the President, having occasion to +visit General Lee en official business in the field, was invited to +dinner. The meal spread on the table consisted of corn-bread and a +small piece of bacon buried in a large dish of greens. The quick-eyed +aide discovered that none of the company, which was composed of the +general's personal staff, partook of the meat, though requested to +do so in the most urbane manner by the general, who presided; he, +therefore, also declined, and noticed that the meat was carried off +untouched. After the meal was over, he inquired of one of the officers +present what was the reason for this extraordinary conduct. His reply +was, 'We had borrowed the meat for the occasion, and promised to +return it.' + +"Duty alone induced this great soldier to submit to such privation, +for the slightest intimation given to friends in Richmond would have +filled his tent with all the luxuries that blockade-runners and +speculators had introduced for the favored few able to purchase. + +"This performance of duty was accompanied by no harsh manner or +cynical expressions; for the man whose soul is ennobled by true +heroism, possesses a heart as tender as it is firm. His calmness under +the most trying circumstances, and his uniform sweetness of manner, +were almost poetical. They manifested 'the most sustained tenderness +of soul that ever caressed the chords of a lyre.' In council he +was temperate and patient, and his words fell softly and evenly as +snow-flakes, like the sentences that fell from the lips of Ulysses. + +"On the termination of the war, his conduct until his death has +challenged the admiration of friends and foes; he honestly acquiesced +in the inevitable result of the struggle; no discontent, sourness, or +complaint, has marred his tranquil life at Washington College, where +death found him at his post of duty, engaged in fitting the young +men of his country, by proper discipline and education, for the +performance of the varied duties of life. It is somewhat singular +that both Lee and his great lieutenant, Jackson, should in their last +moments have referred to Hill. It is reported that General Lee said, +'Let my tent be struck; send for Hill;' while the lamented Jackson in +his delirium cried out, 'Let A.P. Hill prepare for action; march the +infantry rapidly to the front. Let us cross over the river and rest +under the shade of the trees.' Both heroes died with commands for +military movements on their lips; both the noblest specimens of the +Christian soldier produced by any country or any age; both now rest +under the shade of the trees of heaven." + +REV. DR. PALMER + +Then spoke as follows: + +"_Ladies and Gentlemen_: I should have been better pleased had I been +permitted to sit a simple listener to the eloquent tribute paid to the +immortal chieftain who now reposes in death, by the speaker who has +just taken his seat. The nature of my calling so far separates me from +public life that I am scarcely competent for the office of alluding to +the elements which naturally gather around his career. When informed +that other artists would draw the picture of the warrior and the hero, +I yielded a cheerful compliance, in the belief that nothing was left +but to describe the Christian and the man. You are entirely familiar +with the early life of him over whose grave you this night shed tears; +with his grave and sedate boyhood giving promise of the reserved force +of mature manhood; with his academic career at West Point, where he +received the highest honors of a class brilliant with such names as +General Joseph E. Johnston; his seizure of the highest honors of a +long apprenticeship in that institution, and his abrupt ascension in +the Mexican War from obscurity to fame--all are too firmly stamped in +the minds of his admirers to require even an allusion. You are too +familiar to need a repetition from my lips of that great mental and +spiritual struggle passed, not one night, but many, when, abandoning +the service in which he had gathered so much of honor and reputation, +he determined to lay his heart upon the altar of his native State, and +swear to live or die in her defence. + +"It would be a somewhat singular subject of speculation to discover +how it is that national character so often remarkably expresses itself +in single individuals who are born as representatives of a class. It +is wonderful, for it has been the remark of ages, how the great are +born in clusters; sometimes, indeed, one star shining with solitary +splendor in the firmament above, but generally gathered in grand +constellations, filling the sky with glory. What is that combination +of influences, partly physical, partly intellectual, but somewhat more +moral, which should make a particular country productive of men great +over all others on earth and to all ages of time? Ancient Greece, with +her indented coast, inviting to maritime adventures, from her earliest +period was the mother of heroes in war, of poets in song, of sculptors +and artists, and stands up after the lapse of centuries the educator +of mankind, living in the grandeur of her works and in the immortal +productions of minds which modern civilization with all its +cultivation and refinement and science never surpassed and scarcely +equalled. And why in the three hundred years of American history it +should be given to the Old Dominion to be the grand mother, not only +of States, but of the men by whom States and empires are formed, it +might be curious were it possible for us to inquire. Unquestionably, +Mr. President, there is in this problem the element of race; for he +is blind to all the truths of history, to all the revelations of the +past, who does not recognize a select race as we recognize a select +individual of a race, to make all history; but pretermitting all +speculation of that sort, when Virginia unfolds the scroll of her +immortal sons--not because illustrious men did not precede him +gathering in constellations and clusters, but because the name shines +out through those constellations and clusters in all its peerless +grandeur--we read the name of George Washington. And then, Mr. +President, after the interval of three-quarters of a century, when +your jealous eye has ranged down the record and traced the names that +history will never let die, you come to the name--the only name in all +the annals of history that can be named in the perilous connection--of +Robert E. Lee, the second Washington. Well may old Virginia be proud +of her twin sons! born almost a century apart, but shining like those +binary stars which open their glory and shed their splendor on the +darkness of the world. + +"Sir, it is not an artifice of rhetoric which suggests this parallel +between two great names in American history; for the suggestion +springs spontaneously to every mind, and men scarcely speak of Lee +without thinking of a mysterious connection that binds the two +together. They were alike in the presage of their early history--the +history of their boyhood. Both earnest, grave, studious; both alike +in that peculiar purity which belongs only to a noble boy, and which +makes him a brave and noble man, filling the page of a history +spotless until closed in death; alike in that commanding presence +which seems to be the signature of Heaven sometimes placed on a great +soul when to that soul is given a fit dwelling-place; alike in that +noble carriage and commanding dignity, exercising a mesmeric influence +and a hidden power which could not be repressed, upon all who came +within its charm; alike in the remarkable combination and symmetry of +their intellectual attributes, all brought up to the same equal level, +no faculty of the mind overlapping any other--all so equal, so well +developed, the judgment, the reason, the memory, the fancy, that +you are almost disposed to deny them greatness, because no single +attribute of the mind was projected upon itself, just as objects +appear sometimes smaller to the eye from the exact symmetry and beauty +of their proportions; alike, above all, in that soul-greatness, that +Christian virtue to which so beautiful a tribute has been rendered by +my friend whose high privilege it was to be a compeer and comrade with +the immortal dead, although in another department and sphere; and +yet alike, Mr. President, in their external fortune, so strangely +dissimilar--the one the representative and the agent of a stupendous +revolution which it pleased Heaven to bless and give birth to one of +the mightiest nations on the globe; the other the representative and +agent of a similar revolution, upon which it pleased high Heaven to +throw the darkness of its frown; so that, bearing upon his generous +heart the weight of this crushed cause, he was at length overwhelmed; +and the nation whom he led in battle gathers with spontaneity of grief +over all this land which is ploughed with graves and reddened with +blood, and the tears of a widowed nation in her bereavement are shed +over his honored grave. + +"But these crude suggestions, which fall almost impromptu from my +lips, suggest that which I desire to offer before this audience +to-night. I accept Robert E. Lee as the true type of the American +man and the Southern gentleman. A brilliant English writer has well +remarked, with a touch of sound philosophy, that when a nation has +rushed upon its fate, the whole force of the national life will +sometimes shoot up in one grand character, like the aloe which blooms +at the end of a hundred years, shooting up in one single spike of +glory, and then expires. And wherever philosophy, refinement, and +culture, have gone upon the globe, it is possible to place the finger +upon individual men who are the exemplars of a nation's character, +those typical forms under which others less noble, less expanded, have +manifested themselves. That gentle, that perfect moderation, that +self-command which enabled him to be so self-possessed amid the most +trying difficulties of his public career, a refinement almost such as +that which marks the character of the purest woman, were blended +in him with that massive strength, that mighty endurance, that +consistency and power which gave him and the people whom he led such +momentum under the disadvantages of the struggle through which he +passed. Born from the general level of American society, blood of a +noble ancestry flowed in his veins, and he was a type of the race from +which he sprang. Such was the grandeur and urbaneness of his manner, +the dignity and majesty of his carriage, that his only peer in social +life could be found in courts and among those educated amid the +refinements of courts and thrones. In that regard there was something +beautiful and appropriate that he should become, in the later years of +his life, the educator of the young. Sir, it is a cause for mourning +before high Heaven to-night that he was not spared thirty years to +educate a generation for the time that is to come; for, as in the days +when the red banner streamed over the land, the South sent her sons +to fight under his flag and beneath the wave of his sword, these sons +have been sent again to sit at his feet when he was the disciple +of the Muses and the teacher of philosophy. Oh, that he might have +brought his more than regal character, his majestic fame, all his +intellectual and moral endowments, to the task of fitting those that +should come in the crisis of the future to take the mantle that had +fallen from his shoulders and bear it to the generations that are +unborn! + +"General Lee I accept as the representative of his people, and of the +temper with which this whole Southland entered into that gigantic, +that prolonged, and that disastrous struggle which has closed, but +closed as to us in grief. Sir, they wrong us who say that the South +was ever impatient to rupture the bonds of the American Union. The war +of 1776, which, sir, has no more yet a written history than has the +war of 1861 to 1865, tells us that it was this Southland that wrought +the Revolution of 1776. We were the heirs of all the glory of that +immortal struggle. It was purchased with our blood, with the blood of +our fathers which yet flows in these veins, and which we desire to +transmit, pure and consecrated, to the sons that are born to our +loins. The traditions of the past sixty years were a portion of our +heritage, and it never was easy for any great heart and reflective +mind even to seem to part with that heritage to enter upon the +perilous effort of establishing a new nationality. + +"Mr. President, it was my privilege once to be thrilled in a short +speech, uttered by one of the noblest names clustering upon the roll +of South Carolina; for, sir, South Carolina was Virginia's sister, +and South Carolina stood by Virginia in the old struggle, as Virginia +stood by South Carolina in the new, and the little State, small as +Greece, barren in resources but great only in the grandeur of the men, +in their gigantic proportions, whom she, like Virginia, was permitted +to produce--I heard, sir, one of South Carolina's noblest sons +speak once thus: 'I walked through the Tower of London, that grand +repository where are gathered the memorials of England's martial +prowess; and when the guide, in the pride of his English heart, +pointed to the spoils of war collected through centuries of the past,' +said this speaker, lifting himself upon tiptoe that he might reach to +his greatest height, 'I said, "You cannot point to one single +trophy from my people, or my country, though England engaged in two +disastrous wars with her."' Sir, this was the sentiment. We loved +every inch of American soil, and loved every part of that canvas +[pointing to the Stars and Stripes above him], which, as a symbol of +power and authority, floated from the spires and from the mast-head +of our vessels; and it was after the anguish of a woman in birth that +this land, that now lies in her sorrow and ruin, took upon herself +that great peril; but it is all emblematized in the regret experienced +by him whose praises are upon our lips, and who, like the English +Nelson, recognized duty engraved in letters of light as the +only ensign he could follow, and who, tearing away from all the +associations of his early life, and, abandoning the reputation gained +in the old service, made up his mind to embark in the new, and, with +that modesty and that firmness belonging only to the truly great, +expressed his willingness to live and die in the position assigned to +him. + +"And I accept this noble chieftain equally as the representative of +this Southland in the spirit of his retirement from struggle. It could +not escape any speaker upon this platform to allude to the dignity of +that retirement; how, from the moment he surrendered he withdrew from +observation, holding aloof from all political complications, and +devoting his entire energies to the great work he had undertaken to +discharge. In this he represents--an the true attitude of the South +since the close of the war attitude of quiet submission to the +conquering power and of obedience to all exactions; but without +resiling from those great principles which were embalmed in the +struggle, and which, as the convictions of a lifetime, no honest mind +could release. + +"All over this land of ours there are men like Lee--not as great, not +as symmetrical in the development of character, not as grand in the +proportions which they have reached, but who, like him, are sleeping +upon memories that are holy as death, and who, amid all reproach, +appeal to the future, and to the tribunal of History, when she shall +render her final verdict in reference to the struggle closed, for the +vindication of the people embarked in that struggle. We are silent, +resigned, obedient, and thoughtful, sleeping upon solemn memories, +Mr. President; but, as said by the poet-preacher in the Good Book, 'I +sleep, but my heart waketh,' looking upon the future that is to come, +and powerless in every thing except to pray to Almighty God, who rules +the destinies of nations, that those who have the power may at least +have the grace given them to preserve the constitutional principles +which we have endeavored to maintain. And, sir, were it my privilege +to speak in the hearing of the entire nation, I would utter with +the profoundest emphasis this pregnant truth: that no people ever +traversed those moral ideas which underlie its character, its +constitution, its institutions, and its laws, that did not in the end +perish in disaster, in shame, and in dishonor. Whatever be the glory, +the material civilization, of which such a nation may boast, it still +holds true that the truth is immortal, and that ideas rule the world. + +"And now I have but a single word to say, and that is, that the grave +of this noble hero is bedewed with the most tender and sacred +tears ever shed upon a human tomb. I was thinking in my study this +afternoon, striving to strike out something I might utter on this +platform, and this parallel between the first Washington and the +second occurred to me. I asked my own heart the question, 'Would you +not accept the fame and the glory and the career of Robert E. Lee just +as soon as accept the glory and career of the immortal man who was his +predecessor?' Sir, there is a pathos in fallen fortunes which stirs +the sensibilities, and touches the very fountain of human feeling. I +am not sure that at this moment Napoleon, the enforced guest of the +Prussian king, is not grander than when he ascended the throne of +France. There is a grandeur in misfortune when that misfortune is +borne by a noble heart, with the strength of will to endure, and +endure without complaining or breaking. Perhaps I slip easily into +this train of remarks, for it is my peculiar office to speak of that +chastening with which a gracious Providence visits men on this earth, +and by which He prepares them for heaven hereafter; and what is true +of individuals in a state of adversity, is true of nations when +clothed in sorrow. Sir, the men in these galleries that once wore the +gray are here to-night that they may bend the knee in reverence at +the grave of him whose voice and hand they obeyed amid the storms of +battle: the young widow, who but as yesterday leaned upon the arm of +her soldier-husband, but now clasps wildly to her breast the young +child that never beheld its father's face, comes here to shed her +tears over this grave to-night; and the aged matron, with the tears +streaming from her eyes as she recalls her unforgotten dead, lying on +the plains of Gettysburg, or on the heights of Fredericksburg, now, +to-night, joins in our dirge over him who was that son's chieftain and +counsellor and friend. A whole nation has risen up in the spontaneity +of its grief to render the tribute of its love. Sir, there is a unity +in the grapes when they grow together in the clusters upon the vine, +and holding the bunch in your hand you speak of it as one; but there +is another unity when you throw these grapes into the wine-press, +and the feet of those that bruise these grapes trample them almost +profanely beneath their feet together in the communion of pure wine; +and such is the union and communion of hearts that have been fused by +tribulation and sorrow, and that meet together in the true feeling of +an honest grief to express the homage of their affection, as well as +to render a tribute of praise to him upon whose face we shall never +look until on that immortal day when we shall behold it transfigured +before the throne of God." + +The meeting then adopted the following preamble and resolutions: + +"_Whereas_, Like orphans at the grave of a parent untimely snatched +away, our hearts have lingered and brooded, with a grief that no +cunning of speech could interpret, over the thought that Robert Edward +Lee exists no more, in bodily life, in sensible form, in visible +presence, for our love and veneration, for our edification and +guidance, for our comfort and solace; and-- + +"_Whereas_, We have invoked all mute funeral emblems to aid us with +their utmost eloquence of woe, and we cannot content ourselves with +contemplating, from the depth and the gloom of our bereavement, the +exalted and radiant virtues of the dead: + +"_Resolved_, That we, the people of New Orleans, have come together +under one common impulse to render united homage to the memory which +holds mastery in our minds, whether we turn with bitter regard to the +past, or with prayerful and chastened aspirations to the future. + +"_Resolved_, That as Louisianians, as Southerners, as Americans, +we proudly claim our share in the fame of Lee as an inheritance +rightfully belonging to us, and endowed with which we shall piously +cherish, though all calamities should rain upon us, true poverty--the +poverty indeed that abases and starves the spirit can never approach +us with its noisome breath and withering look. + +"_Resolved_, That it is infinitely more bitter to have to mourn the +loss of our Lee, than not to have learned to prize him as the noblest +gift which could have been allotted to a people and an epoch; a grand +man, rounded to the symmetry of equal moral and intellectual powers, +graces, and accomplishments; a man whose masterly and heroic energy +left nothing undone in defending a just cause while there was a +possibility of striking for it a rational and hopeful blow, and whose +sublime resignation when the last blow was struck in vain, and when +human virtue was challenged to match itself with the consummation of +human adversity, taught wiser, more convincing, more reassuring, more +soul-sustaining lessons than were to be found in all the philosophies +of all books. + +"_Resolved_, That worthily to show our veneration for this majestic +and beautiful character, we must revolve it habitually in our +thoughts, and try to appropriate it to the purification and elevation +of our lives, and so educate our children that they shall, if +possible, grow up into its likeness. + +"_Resolved_, That while it is honorable for a people to deeply lament +the death of such a man, it would be glorious for a generation to +mould itself after his model; for it would be a generation fraught +with all high manly qualities, tempered with all gentle and Christian +virtues; for truth, love, goodness, health, strength, would be with +it, and consequently victory, liberty, majesty, and beauty. + +"_Resolved_, That we would hail the erection of the proposed monument +as well adapted to the purpose of preserving this admirable and most +precious memory as a vital and beneficent influence for all time +to come, and we will therefore cordially aid in promoting the Lee +Monument which has just been inaugurated." + +ATLANTA, GA. + +A crowded meeting assembled in this city on October 15th. After an +impressive prayer from the Rev. Dr. Brantly, the meeting was addressed +by + +GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON. + +"_My Friends_: We have met to weep, to mingle our tears, and give vent +to our bursting hearts. The sorrowing South, already clad in mourners' +weeds, bows her head afresh to-day in a heart-stricken orphanage; and +if I could have been permitted to indulge the sensibilities of my +heart, I would have fled this most honorable task, and in solitude and +silence have wept the loss of the great and good man whose death we so +deplore. I loved General Lee; for it was my proud privilege to know +him well. I loved him with a profound and all-filial love, with a +sincere and unfaded affection. I say I would have retired from this +flattering task which your kindness has imposed, but remembering that +his words, his deeds, his great example, has taught us that duty was +the most commanding obligation, I yield this morning to your wishes. + +"We have met to honor General Lee, to honor him dead whom we loved +while living. Honor General Lee! How utterly vain, what a mockery of +language do these words seem! Honor Lee! Why, my countrymen, his deeds +have honored him! The very trump of Fame itself is proud to honor him! +Europe and the civilized world have united to honor him supremely, and +History itself has caught the echo and made it immortal. Honor Lee! +Why, sir, as the sad news of his death is with the speed of thought +communicated to the world, it will carry a pang even to the hearts of +marshals and of monarchs; and I can easily fancy that, amid the din +and clash and carnage of war, the cannon itself, in mute pause at +the whispering news, will briefly cease its roar around the walls of +Paris. The task is not without pain, while yet his manly frame lies +stretched upon his bier, to attempt to analyze the elements that made +him truly great. It has been my fortune in life from circumstances to +have come in contact with some whom the world pronounced great--some +of the earth's celebrated and distinguished; but I declare it here +to-day that, of any mortal man whom it has ever been my privilege to +approach, he was the greatest; and I assert here that, grand as might +be your conceptions of the man before, he arose in incomparable +majesty on more familiar acquaintance. This can be affirmed of few men +who have ever lived or died, and of no other man whom it has ever been +my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more you gazed the more his +grandeur grew upon you, the more his majesty expanded and filled your +spirit with a full satisfaction that left a perfect delight without +the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly majestic and dignified in +all his deportment, he was genial as the sunlight of this beautiful +day, and not a ray of that cordial, social intercourse but brought +warmth to the heart as it did light to the understanding. + +"But as one of the great captains will General Lee first pass review +and inspection before the criticism of history. We will not compare +him with Washington. The mind will halt instinctively at the +comparison of two such men, so equally and gloriously great. But with +modest, yet calm and unflinching confidence we place him by the side +of the Marlboroughs and Wellingtons who take high niches in the +pantheon of immortality. Let us dwell for a moment, my friends, on +this thought. Marlborough never met defeat, it is true. Victory marked +every step of his triumphant march; but when, where, and whom did +Marlborough fight? The ambitious and vain but able Louis XIV. But he +had already exhausted the resources of his kingdom before Marlborough +stepped upon the stage. The great marshals Turenne and Condé were +no more, and Luxembourg the beloved had vanished from the scene. +Marlborough, preëminently great as he certainly was, nevertheless led +the combined forces of England and of Holland, in the freshness of +their strength and the fulness of their financial ability, against +prostrate France, with a treasury depleted, a people worn out, +discouraged, and dejected. But let us turn to another comparison. The +great Von Moltke, who now rides upon the whirlwind and commands the +storm of Prussian invasion, has recently declared that General Lee, +in all respects, was fully the equal of Wellington, and you may the +better appreciate this admission when you remember that Wellington was +the benefactor of Prussia, and probably Von Moltke's special idol. But +let us examine the arguments ourselves. France was already prostrate +when Wellington met Napoleon. That great emperor had seemed to make +war upon the very elements themselves, to have contended with Nature, +and to have almost defeated Providence itself. The enemies of the +North, more savage than Goth or Vandal, mounting the swift gales of a +Russian winter, had carried death, desolation, and ruin, to the very +gates of Paris. Wellington fought at Waterloo a bleeding and broken +nation--a nation electrified, it is true, to almost superhuman energy +by the genius of Napoleon, but a nation prostrate and bleeding +nevertheless. Compare this, my friends, the condition of France and +the condition of the United States, in the freshness of her strength, +in the luxuriance of her resources, in the lustihood of her gigantic +youth. Tell me whether to place the chaplet of military superiority +with him, or with Marlborough, or Wellington? Even the greatest +of captains, in his Italian campaigns, flashing fame in lightning +splendor over the world, even Bonaparte met and crushed in battle but +three or four (I think) Austrian armies; while our Lee, with one army +badly equipped, in time incredibly short, met and hurled back in +broken and shattered fragments five of the greatest prepared and most +magnificently appointed invasions. Yea, more! He discrowned, in rapid +succession, one after another of the United States' most, accomplished +and admirable commanders. + +"Lee was never really defeated. Lee could not be defeated! +Overpowered, foiled in his efforts, he might be; but never defeated +until the props which supported him gave way. Never, until the +platform sank beneath him, did any enemy ever dare pursue. On that +melancholy occasion, the downfall of the Confederacy, no Leipsic, no +Waterloo, no Sedan, can ever be recorded. + +"General Lee is known to the world as a military man; but it is easy +to divine from his history how mindful of all just authority, how +observant of all constitutional restriction, would have been his +career as a civilian. When, near the conclusion of the war, darkness +was thickening about the falling fortunes of the Confederacy, when its +very life was in the sword of Lee, it was my proud privilege to know +with a special admiration the modest demeanor, the manly decorum, +respectful homage, which marked all his dealings with the constituted +authorities of his country. Clothed with all power, he hid its very +symbol behind a genial modesty, and refused ever to exert it save in +obedience to law. And even in his triumphant entry into the territory +of the enemy, so regardful was he of civilized warfare, that the +observance of his general orders as to private property and private +rights left the line of his march marked and marred by no devastated +fields, charred ruins, or desolated homes. But it is in his private +character, or rather I should say his personal emotion and virtue, +which his countrymen will most delight to consider and dwell upon. His +magnanimity, transcending all historic precedent, seemed to form a new +chapter in the book of humanity. Witness that letter to Jackson, after +his wounds at Chancellorsville, in which he said: 'I am praying for +you with more fervor than I have ever prayed for myself;' and that +other, more disinterested and pathetic: 'I could, for the good of +my country, wish that the wounds which you have received had been +inflicted upon my own body;' or that of the latter message, saying to +General Jackson that 'his wounds were not so severe as mine, for he +loses but his left arm, while I, in my loss, lose my right;' or that +other expression of unequalled magnanimity which enabled him to +ascribe the glory of their joint victory to the sole credit of +the dying hero. Did I say unequalled? Yes, that was an avowal of +unequalled magnanimity, until it met its parallel in his own grander +self-negation in assuming the sole responsibility for the defeat at +Gettysburg. Ay, my countrymen, Alexander had his Arbela, Caesar his +Pharsalia, Napoleon his Austerlitz; but it was reserved for Lee +to grow grander and more illustrious in defeat than even in +victory--grander, because in defeat he showed a spirit greater than in +the heroism of battles or all the achievements of war, a spirit which +crowns him with a chaplet grander far than ever mighty conqueror wore. + +"I turn me now to that last closing scene at Appomattox, and I will +draw thence a picture of that man as he laid aside the sword, the +unrivalled soldier, to become the most exemplary of citizens. + +"I can never forget the deferential homage paid this great citizen by +even the Federal soldiers, as with uncovered heads they contemplated +in mute admiration this now captive hero as he rode through their +ranks. Impressed forever, daguerreotyped on my heart is that last +parting scene with that handful of heroes still crowding around him. +Few indeed were the words then spoken, but the quivering lip and +the tearful eye told of the love they bore him, in symphonies more +eloquent than any language can describe. Can I ever forget? No, never +can I forget the words which fell from his lips as I rode beside him +amid the defeated, dejected, and weeping soldiery, when, turning to +me, he said, 'I could wish that I was numbered among the fallen in the +last battle;' but oh! as he thought of the loss of the cause--of the +many dead scattered over so many fields, who, sleeping neglected, with +no governmental arms to gather up their remains--sleeping neglected, +isolated, and alone, beneath the weeping stars, with naught but their +soldiers' blankets about them!--oh! as these emotions swept over his +great soul, he felt that he would have laid him down to rest in +the same grave where lay buried the common hope of his people. But +Providence willed it otherwise. He rests now forever, my countrymen, +his spirit in the bosom of that Father whom he so faithfully served, +his body beside the river whose banks are forever memorable, and whose +waters are vocal with the glories of his triumphs. No sound shall ever +wake him to martial glory again; no more shall he lead his invincible +lines to victory; no more shall we gaze upon him and draw from his +quiet demeanor lessons of life. But oh! it is a sweet consolation to +us, my countrymen, who loved him, that no more shall his bright spirit +be bowed down to earth with the burdens of the people's wrongs. It is +sweet consolation to us that his last victory, through faith in his +crucified Redeemer, is the most transcendently glorious of all his +triumphs. At this very hour, while we mourn here, kind friends +are consigning the last that remains of our hero to his quiet +sleeping-place, surrounded by the mountains of his native +State--mountains the autumnal glory of whose magnificent forests +to-day seem but habiliments of mourning. In the Valley, the pearly +dew-drops seem but tears of sadness upon the grasses and flowers. Let +him rest! And now as he has gone from us, and as we regard him in all +the aspects of his career and character and attainments as a great +captain, ranking among the first of any age; as a patriot, whose +sacrificing devotion to his country ranks him with Washington; as a +Christian, like Havelock, recognizing his duty to his God above every +other earthly consideration, with a native modesty that refused to +appropriate the glory of his own, and which surrounds now his entire +character and career with a halo of unfading light; with an integrity +of life and a sacred regard for truth which no man dare assail; with +a fidelity to principle which no misfortune could shake--he must +ever stand peerless among men in the estimation of Christendom, this +representative son of the South, Robert E. Lee, of Virginia." + +RICHMOND, VA. + +A meeting was held on November 3d, presided over by Mr. Jefferson +Davis. Mr. Davis delivered an address, of which we regret that we have +received no complete copy. We give it as reported in the Richmond +_Dispatch_. + +REMARKS OF PRESIDENT DAVIS. + +As Mr. Davis arose to walk to the stand, every person in the house +stood, and there followed such a storm of applause as seemed to shake +the very foundations of the building, while cheer upon cheer was +echoed from the throats of veterans saluting one whom they delighted +to honor. + +Mr. Davis spoke at length, and with his accustomed thrilling, moving +eloquence. We shall not attempt, at the late hour at which we write, +to give a full report of his address. + +He addressed his hearers as "Soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy, +comrades and friends: Assembled on this sad occasion, with hearts +oppressed with the grief that follows the loss of him who was our +leader on many a bloody battle-field, a pleasing though melancholy +spectacle is presented. Hitherto, and in all times, men have been +honored when successful; but here is the case of one who amid +disaster went down to his grave, and those who were his companions in +misfortune have assembled to honor his memory. It is as much an honor +to you who give as to him who receives; for, above the vulgar test of +merit, you show yourselves competent to discriminate between him who +enjoys and him who deserves success. + +"Robert E. Lee was my associate and friend in the Military Academy, +and we were friends until the hour of his death. We were associates +and friends when he was a soldier and I a Congressman; and associates +and friends when he led the armies of the Confederacy and I presided +in its cabinet. We passed through many sad scenes together, but I +cannot remember that there was ever aught but perfect harmony between +us. If ever there was difference of opinion, it was dissipated +by discussion, and harmony was the result. I repeat, _we never +disagreed_; and I may add that I never in my life saw in him the +slightest tendency to self-seeking. It was not his to make a record, +it was not his to shift blame to other shoulders; but it was his, with +an eye fixed upon the welfare of his country, never faltering, to +follow the line of duty to the end. His was the heart that braved +every difficulty; his was the mind that wrought victory out of defeat. + +"He has been charged with 'want of dash.' I wish to say that I never +knew Lee to falter to attempt any thing ever man could dare. An +attempt has also been made to throw a cloud upon his character because +he left the Army of the United States to join in the struggle for the +liberty of his State. Without trenching at all upon politics, I deem +it my duty to say one word in reference to this charge. Virginian +born, descended from a family illustrious in Virginia's annals, given +by Virginia to the service of the United States, he represented her in +the Military Academy at West Point. He was not educated by the Federal +Government, but by Virginia; for she paid her full share for the +support of that institution, and was entitled to demand in return +the services of her sons. Entering the Army of the United States, he +represented Virginia there also, and nobly. On many a hard-fought +field Lee was conspicuous, battling for his native State as much as +for the Union. He came from Mexico crowned with honors, covered by +brevets, and recognized, young as he was, as one of the ablest of his +country's soldiers. And, to prove that he was estimated then as such, +let me tell you that when Lee was a captain of engineers stationed in +Baltimore, the Cuban Junta in New York selected him to be their leader +in the struggle for the independence of their native country. They +were anxious to secure his services, and offered him every temptation +that ambition could desire. He thought the matter over, and, I +remember, came to Washington to consult me as to what he should do; +and when I began to discuss the complications which might arise from +his acceptance of the trust, he gently rebuked me, saying that this +was not the line upon which he wished my advice: the simple question +was, 'Whether it was right or not?' He had been educated by the United +States, and felt wrong to accept a place in the army of a foreign +power. Such was his extreme delicacy, such was the nice sense of honor +of the gallant gentleman whose death we deplore. But when Virginia +withdrew, the State to whom he owed his first and last allegiance, the +same nice sense of honor led him to draw his sword and throw it in the +scale for good or for evil. Pardon me for this brief defence of my +illustrious friend. + +"When Virginia joined the Confederacy, Robert Lee, the highest officer +in the little army of Virginia, came to Richmond; and, not pausing to +inquire what would be his rank in the service of the Confederacy, went +to Western Virginia under the belief that he was still an officer of +the State. He came back, carrying the heavy weight of defeat, and +unappreciated by the people whom he served, for they could not know, +as I knew, that if his plans and orders had been carried out the +result would have been victory rather than retreat. You did not know, +for I would not have known it had he not breathed it in my ear only +at my earnest request, and begging that nothing be said about it. The +clamor which then arose followed him when he went to South Carolina, +so that it became necessary on his going to South Carolina to write a +letter to the Governor of that State, telling him what manner of man +he was. Yet, through all this, with a magnanimity rarely equalled, +he stood in silence without defending himself or allowing others to +defend him, for he was unwilling to offend any one who was wearing a +sword and striking blows for the Confederacy." + +Mr. Davis then spoke of the straits to which the Confederacy was +reduced, and of the danger to which her capital was exposed, just +after the battle of Seven Pines, and told how General Lee had +conceived and executed the desperate plan to turn their flank and +rear, which, after seven days of bloody battle, was crowned with the +protection of Richmond, while the enemy was driven far from the city. + +The speaker referred also to the circumstances attending General Lee's +crossing the Potomac on the march into Pennsylvania. He (Mr. Davis) +assumed the responsibility of that movement. The enemy had long been +concentrating his force, and it was evident that if he continued his +steady progress the Confederacy would be overwhelmed. Our only hope +was to drive him to the defence of his own capital, we being enabled +in the mean time to reënforce our shattered army. How well General Lee +carried out that dangerous experiment need not be told. Richmond was +relieved, the Confederacy was relieved, and time was obtained, if +other things had favored, to reënforce the army. + +"But," said Mr. Davis, "I shall not attempt to review the military +career of our fallen chieftain. Of the man, how shall I speak? He was +my friend, and in that word is included all that I could say of +any man. His moral qualities rose to the height of his genius. +Self-denying; always intent upon the one idea of duty; self-controlled +to an extent that many thought him cold, his feelings were really +warm, and his heart melted freely at the sight of a wounded soldier, +or the story of the sufferings of the widow and orphan. During the war +he was ever conscious of the inequality of the means at his control; +but it was never his to complain or to utter a doubt; it was always +his to do. When, in the last campaign, he was beleaguered at +Petersburg, and painfully aware of the straits to which we were +reduced, he said: 'With my army in the mountains of Virginia, I could +carry on this war for twenty years longer.' His men exhausted, and his +supplies failing, he was unable to carry out his plans. An untoward +event caused him to anticipate the movement, and the Army of Northern +Virginia was overwhelmed. But, in the surrender, he anticipated +conditions that have not been fulfilled; he expected his army to be +respected, and his paroled soldiers to be allowed the enjoyments of +life and property. Whether these conditions have been fulfilled, let +others say. + +"Here he now sleeps in the land he loved so well; and that land is not +Virginia only, for they do injustice to Lee who believe he fought only +for Virginia. He was ready to go anywhere, on any service, for the +good of his country; and his heart was as broad as the fifteen States +struggling for the principles that our forefathers fought for in the +Revolution of 1776. He is sleeping in the same soil with the thousands +who fought under the same flag, but first offered up their lives. +Here, the living are assembled to honor his memory, and there the +skeleton sentinels keep watch over his grave. This citizen, this +soldier, this great general, this true patriot, left behind him the +crowning glory of a true Christian. His Christianity ennobled him in +life, and affords us grounds for the belief that he is happy beyond +the grave. + +"But, while we mourn the loss of the great and the true, drop we also +tears of sympathy with her who was his helpmeet--the noble woman +who, while her husband was in the field leading the army of the +Confederacy, though an invalid herself, passed the time in knitting +socks for the marching soldiers! A woman fit to be the mother of +heroes; and heroes are descended from her. Mourning with her, we can +only offer the consolation of a Christian. Our loss is not his; but +he now enjoys the rewards of a life well spent, and a never-wavering +trust in a risen Saviour. This day we unite our words of sorrow with +those of the good and great throughout Christendom, for his fame +is gone over the water; his deeds will be remembered, and when the +monument we build shall have crumbled into dust, his virtues will +still live, a high model for the imitation of generations yet unborn." + +We have given but a faint idea of the eloquent thoughts and chaste +oratory of the speaker. His words were heard with profound attention, +and received with frequent applause. + +MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. + +Colonel C.S. Venable then presented the following report of the +Committee on Resolutions: + +"_Whereas_, It is a high and holy duty, as well as a noble privilege, +to perpetuate the honors of those who have displayed eminent virtues +and performed great achievements, that they may serve as incentives +and examples to the latest generation of their countrymen, and +attest the reverential admiration and affectionate regard of their +compatriots; and-- + +"_Whereas_, This duty and privilege devolve on all who love and admire +General Robert E. Lee throughout this country and the world, and in +an especial manner upon those who followed him in the field, or who +fought in the same cause, who shared in his glories, partook of his +trials, and were united with him in the same sorrows and adversity, +who were devoted to him in war by the baptism of fire and blood, and +bound to him in peace by the still higher homage due to the rare and +grand exhibition of a character pure and lofty and gentle and true, +under all changes of fortune, and serene amid the greatest disasters: + +therefore, be it + +"_Resolved_, That we favor an association to erect a monument at +Richmond to the memory of Robert E. Lee, as an enduring testimonial of +our love and respect, and devotion to his fame. + +"_Resolved_, That, while donations will be gladly received from all +who recognize in the excellences of General Lee's character an honor +and an encouragement to our common humanity, and an abiding hope +that coming generations may be found to imitate his virtues, it is +desirable that every Confederate soldier and sailor should make some +contribution, however small, to the proposed monument. + +"_Resolved_, That, for the purpose of securing efficiency and +dispatch in the erection of the monument, an executive committee of +seventy-five, with a president, secretary, treasurer, auditor, etc., +be appointed, to invite and collect subscriptions, to procure designs +for said monument, to select the best, to provide for the organization +of central executive committees in other States, which may serve +as mediums of communication between the executive committee of the +Association and the local associations of these States. + +"_Resolved_, That we respectfully invite the ladies of the Hollywood +Association to lend us their assistance and coöperation in the +collection of subscriptions. + +"_Resolved_, That we cordially approve of the local monument now +proposed to be erected by other associations at Atlanta, and at +Lexington, his last home, whose people were so closely united with him +in the last sad years of his life. + +"_Resolved_, That, while we cordially thank the Governor and +Legislature of Virginia, for the steps they have taken to do honor to +the memory of General Lee, yet in deference to the wishes of his loved +and venerated widow, with whom we mourn, we will not discuss the +question of the most fitting resting-place for his ever-glorious +remains, but will content ourselves with expressing the earnest desire +and hope that at some future proper time they will be committed to the +charge of this Association." + +Generals John S. Preston, John B. Gordon, Henry A. Wise, and William +Henry Preston, and Colonels Robert E. Withers and Charles Marshall, +delivered eloquent and appropriate speeches, and argued that Richmond +is the proper place for the final interment of the remains of General +Lee. + +The resolutions were adopted, and the meeting adjourned. + +COLUMBIA, S.C. + +At a meeting in this city the following remarks were made by-- + +GENERAL WADE HAMPTON. + +"_Fellow-Citizens_: We are called together to-day by an announcement +which will cause profound sorrow throughout the civilized world, and +which comes to us bearing the additional grief of a personal and +private bereavement. The foremost man in all the world is no more; +and, as that news is carried by the speed of lightning through every +town, village, and hamlet of this land which he loved so well, +and among those people who loved and honored and venerated him so +profoundly, every true heart in the stricken South will feel that the +country has lost its pride and glory, and that the citizens of that +country have lost a father. I dare not venture to speak of him as I +feel. Nor do we come to eulogize him. Not only wherever the English +language is spoken, but wherever civilization extends, the sorrow--a +part at least of the sorrow--we feel will be felt, and more eloquent +tongues than mine will tell the fame and recount the virtues of Robert +E. Lee. We need not come to praise him. We come only to express our +sympathy, our grief, our bereavement. We come not to mourn him, for we +know that it is well with him. We come only to extend our sympathy to +those who are bereaved. + +"Now that he is fallen, I may mention what I have never spoken of +before, to show you not only what were the feelings that actuated him +in the duty to which his beloved countrymen called him, but what noble +sentiments inspired him when he saw the cause for which he had been +fighting so long about to perish. Just before the surrender, after a +night devoted to the most arduous duties, as one of his staff came +in to see him in the morning, he found him worn and weary and +disheartened, and the general said to him, 'How easily I could get rid +of this and be at rest! I have only to ride along the line, and +all will be over. But,' said he--and there spoke the Christian +patriot--'it is our duty to _live_, for what will become of the women +and children of the South if we are not here to protect them?' That +same spirit of duty which had actuated him through all the perils and +all the hardships of that unequalled conflict which he had waged so +heroically, that same high spirit of duty told him that he must live +to show that he was great--greater, if that were possible, in peace +than in war; live to teach the people whom he had before led to +victory how to bear defeat; live to show what a great and good man can +accomplish; live to set an example to his people for all time; live to +bear, if nothing else, his share of the sorrows, and the afflictions, +and the troubles, which had come upon his people. He is now at rest; +and surely we of the South can say of him, as we say of his great +exemplar, the 'Father of his Country,' that 'he was first in war, +first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.'" + +BALTIMORE. + +At a meeting of the officers and soldiers who served under General +Lee, held in this city on October 15th, a number of addresses were +made, which we are compelled to somewhat condense. That of Colonel +Marshall, General Lee's chief of staff, was as follows: + +COLONEL CHARLES MARSHALL. + +"In presenting the resolutions of the committee, I cannot refrain from +expressing the feelings inspired by the memories that crowd upon my +mind when I reflect that these resolutions are intended to express +what General Lee's surviving soldiers feel toward General Lee. The +committee are fully aware of their inability to do justice to the +sentiments that inspire the hearts of those for whom they speak. How +can we portray in words the gratitude, the pride, the veneration, the +anguish, that now fill the hearts of those who shared his victories +and his reverses, his triumphs and his defeats? How can we tell the +world what we can only feel ourselves? How can we give expression to +the crowding memories called forth by the sad event we are met to +deplore? + +"We recall him as he appeared in the hour of victory, grand, imposing, +awe-inspiring, yet self-forgetful and humble. We recall the great +scenes of his triumph, when we hailed him victor on many a bloody +field, and when above the paeans of victory we listened with reverence +to his voice as he ascribed 'all glory to the Lord of hosts, from +whom all glories are.' We remember that grand magnanimity that never +stooped to pluck those meaner things that grew nearest the earth upon +the tree of victory, but which, with eyes turned toward the stars, and +hands raised toward heaven, gathered the golden fruits of mercy, +pity, and holy charity, that ripen on its topmost boughs beneath the +approving smile of the great God of battles. We remember the sublime +self-abnegation of Chancellorsville, when, in the midst of his +victorious legions, who, with the light of battle yet on their faces, +hailed him conqueror, he thought only of his great lieutenant lying +wounded on the field, and transferred to him all the honor of that +illustrious day. + +"I will be pardoned, I am sure, for referring to an incident which +affords to my mind a most striking illustration of one of the grandest +features of his character. On the morning of May 3, 1863, as many of +you will remember, the final assault was made upon the Federal lines +at Chancellorsville. General Lee accompanied the troops in person, and +as they emerged from the fierce combat they had waged in 'the depths +of that tangled wilderness,' driving the superior forces of the enemy +before them across the open ground, he rode into their midst. The +scene is one that can never be effaced from the minds of those who +witnessed it. The troops were pressing forward with all the ardor and +enthusiasm of combat. The white smoke of musketry fringed the front of +the line of battle, while the artillery on the hills in the rear of +the infantry shook the earth with its thunder, and filled the air with +the wild shrieks of the shells that plunged into the masses of the +retreating foe. To add greater horror and sublimity to the scene, the +Chancellorsville House and the woods surrounding it were wrapped in +flames. In the midst of this awful scene, General Lee, mounted upon +that horse which we all remember so well, rode to the front of his +advancing battalions. His presence was the signal for one of those +uncontrollable outbursts of enthusiasm which none can appreciate +who have not witnessed them. The fierce soldiers, with their faces +blackened with the smoke of battle; the wounded, crawling with feeble +limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with +a common impulse. One long, unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of +those who lay helpless on the earth blended with the strong voices of +those who still fought, rose high above the roar of battle and hailed +the presence of the victorious chief. He sat in the full realization +of all that soldiers dream of--triumph; and, as I looked upon him in +the complete fruition of the success which his genius, courage, and +confidence in his army, had won, I thought it must have been from some +such scene that men in ancient days ascended to the dignity of the +gods. His first care was for the wounded of both armies, and he was +among the foremost at the burning mansion where some of them lay. But +at that moment, when the transports of his victorious troops were +drowning the roar of battle with acclamations, a note was brought to +him from General Jackson. It was brought to General Lee as he sat on +his horse near the Chancellorsville House, and, unable to open it with +his gauntleted hands, he passed it to me with directions to read it to +him. The note made no mention of the wound that General Jackson had +received, but congratulated General Lee upon the great victory. I +shall never forget the look of pain and anguish that passed over his +face as he listened. With a voice broken with emotion he bade me +say to General Jackson that the victory was his, and that the +congratulations were due to him. I know not how others may regard this +incident, but, for myself, as I gave expression to the thoughts of his +exalted mind, I forgot the genius that won the day in my reverence for +the generosity that refused its glory. + +"There is one other incident to which I beg permission to refer, that +I may perfect the picture. On the 3d day of July, 1863, the last +assault of the Confederate troops upon the heights of Gettysburg +failed, and again General Lee was among his baffled and shattered +battalions as they sullenly retired from their brave attempt. The +history of that battle is yet to be written, and the responsibility +for the result is yet to be fixed. But there, with the painful +consciousness that his plans had been frustrated by others, and that +defeat and humiliation had overtaken his army, in the presence of his +troops he openly assumed the entire responsibility of the campaign and +of the lost battle. One word from him would have relieved him of this +responsibility, but that word he refused to utter until it could be +spoken without fear of doing the least injustice. + +"Thus, my fellow-soldiers, I have presented to you our great commander +in the supreme moments of triumph and defeat. I cannot more strongly +illustrate his character. Has it been surpassed in history? Is there +another instance of such self-abnegation among men? The man rose +high above victory in one instance; and, harder still, the man rose +superior to disaster in the other. It was such incidents as these that +gave General Lee the absolute and undoubting confidence and affection +of his soldiers. Need I speak of the many exhibitions of that +confidence? You all remember them, my comrades. Have you not seen a +wavering line restored by the magic of his presence? Have you not seen +the few forget that they were fighting against the many, because he +was among the few? + +"But I pass from the contemplation of his greatness in war, to look to +his example under the oppressive circumstances of final failure--to +look to that example to which it is most useful for us now to refer +for our guidance and instruction. When the attempt to establish the +Southern Confederacy had failed, and the event of the war seemed to +have established the indivisibility of the Federal Union, General Lee +gave his adhesion to the new order of things. His was no hollow truce; +but, with the pure faith and honor that marked every act of his +illustrious career, he immediately devoted himself to the restoration +of peace, harmony, and concord. He entered zealously into the subject +of education, believing, as he often declared, that popular education +is the only sure foundation of free government. He gave his earnest +support to all plans of internal improvements designed to bind more +firmly together the social and commercial interests of the country, +and among the last acts of his life was the effort to secure the +construction of a line of railway communication of incalculable +importance as a connecting link between the North and the South. He +devoted all his great energies to the advancement of the welfare of +his countrymen while shrinking from public notice, and sought to lay +deep and strong the foundations of government which it was supposed +would rise from the ruins of the old. But I need not repeat to you, my +comrades, the history of his life since the war. You have watched it +to its close, and you know how faithfully and truly he performed every +duty of his position. Let us take to heart the lesson of his bright +example. Disregarding all that malice may impute to us, with an eye +single to the faithful performance of our duties as American citizens, +and with an honest and sincere resolution to support with heart and +hand the honor, the safety, and the true liberties of our country, let +us invoke our fellow-citizens to forget the animosities of the past by +the side of this honored grave, and, 'joining hands around this royal +corpse, friends now, enemies no more, proclaim perpetual truce to +battle.'" + +The following are among the resolutions: + +"The officers, soldiers, and sailors, of the Southern Confederacy, +residing in Maryland, who served under General Lee, desiring to record +their grief for his death, their admiration for his exalted virtues, +and their affectionate veneration for his illustrious memory-- + +"_Resolved_, That, leaving with pride the name and fame of our +illustrious commander to the judgment of history, we, who followed +him through the trials, dangers, and hardships of a sanguinary and +protracted war; who have felt the inspiration of his genius and +valor in the time of trial; who have witnessed his magnanimity and +moderation in the hour of victory, and his firmness and fortitude in +defeat, claim the privilege of laying the tribute of our heart-felt +sorrow upon his honored grave. + +"_Resolved_, That the confidence and admiration which his eminent +achievements deserved and received were strengthened by the noble +example of his constancy in adversity, and that we honored and revered +him in his retirement as we trusted and followed him on the field of +battle. + +"_Resolved_, That, as a token of respect and sorrow, we will wear the +customary badge of mourning for thirty days. + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions and of the proceedings +of this meeting be transmitted to the family of our lamented chief." + +On the 29th of October a meeting was held to appoint delegates to +represent the State of Maryland at the Richmond Lee Monumental +Convention. After some brief remarks by General I.R. Trimble, and the +adoption of resolutions constituting the Lee Monument Association of +Maryland, the Hon. Reverdy Johnson addressed the meeting as follows: + +HON. REVERDY JOHNSON. + +"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: I am here in compliance with the +request of many gentlemen present, and I not only willingly complied +with that request, but I am willing to do all I am able, to show my +appreciation of the character, civil and military, of Robert E. Lee. +It was my good fortune to know him before the Mexican War, in those +better days before the commencement of the sad struggle through which +we have recently passed. I saw in him every thing that could command +the respect and admiration of men, and I watched with peculiar +interest his course in the Mexican War. It was also my good fortune +to know the late Lieutenant-General Scott. In the commencement of +the struggle to which I have alluded, I occupied in Washington +the position of _quasi_ military adviser to him, and was, in that +capacity, intimately associated with him. I have heard him often +declare that the glorious and continued success which crowned our arms +in the war with Mexico was owing, in a large measure, to the skill, +valor, and undaunted courage of Robert E. Lee. He entertained for him +the warmest personal friendship, and it was his purpose to recommend +him as his successor in the event of his death or inability to +perform the duties of his high position. In April, 1861, after the +commencement of hostilities between the two great sections of our +country, General Lee, then lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in the Army +of the United States, offered his resignation. I was with General +Scott when he was handed the letter of resignation, and I saw what +pain the fact caused him. While he regretted the step his most +valuable officer had taken, he never failed to say emphatically, +and over and over again, that he believed he had taken it from _an +imperative sense of duty_. He was also consoled by the belief that if +he was placed at the head of the armies of the then Confederation, he +would have in him a foeman in every way worthy of him, and one who +would conduct the war upon the highest principles of civilized +warfare, and that he would not suffer encroachments to be made upon +the rights of private property and the rights of unoffending citizens. + +"Some may be surprised that I am here to eulogize Robert E. Lee. It is +well known that I did not agree with him in his political views. At +the beginning of the late war, and for many years preceding it, even +from the foundation of this Government, two great questions agitated +the greatest minds of this country. Many believed that the allegiance +of the citizen was due first to his State, and many were of the +opinion that, according to the true reading of the Constitution, a +State had no right to leave the Union and claim sovereign rights and +the perpetual allegiance of her citizens. I did not agree in the +first-named opinion, but I knew it was honestly entertained. I knew +men of the purest character, of the highest ability, and of the most +liberal and patriotic feelings, who conscientiously believed it. Now +the war is over, thank God! and to that thank I am sure this meeting +will respond, it is the duty of every citizen of this land to seek +to heal the wounds of the war, to forget past differences, and to +forgive, as far as possible, the faults to which the war gave rise. In +no other way can the Union be truly and permanently restored. We are +now together as a band of brothers. The soldiers of the Confederacy, +headed by the great chief we now mourn, have expressed their +willingness to abide by the issue of the contest. What a spectacle to +the world! After years of military devastation, with tens of thousands +dead on her battle-fields, with the flower of her children slain, with +her wealth destroyed, her commerce swept away, her agricultural and +mechanical pursuits almost ruined, the South yielded. The North, +victorious and strong, could not forget what she owed to liberty +and human rights. We may well swear now that as long as liberty is +virtuous we will be brothers. + +"Robert E. Lee is worthy of all praise. As a man, he was peerless; as +a soldier, he had no equal and no superior; as a humane and Christian +soldier, he towers high in the political horizon. You cannot imagine +with what delight, when I had the honor to represent this country +at the court of Great Britain, I heard the praises of his fame and +character which came from soldiers and statesmen. I need not speak +of the comparative merits of General Lee and the Union generals who +opposed him; this is not the place or time for a discussion of their +respective successes and defeats; but I may say that, as far as I was +able to judge of the sentiments of the military men of Great Britain, +they thought none of the Union officers superior to General Robert E. +Lee. Their admiration for him was not only on account of his skill on +the battle-field, and the skilful manner with which he planned and +executed his campaigns, but the humane manner in which he performed +his sad duty. They alluded specially to his conduct when invading the +territory of his enemy--his restraint upon his men, telling them that +the honor of the army depended upon the manner of conducting the war +in the enemy's country--and his refusal to resort to retaliatory +measures. I know that great influences were brought to bear upon him, +when he invaded Pennsylvania, to induce him to consent to extreme +measures. His answer, however, was, 'No; if I suffer my army to pursue +the course recommended, I cannot invoke the blessing of God upon my +arms.' He would not allow his troops to destroy private property or to +violate the rights of the citizens. When the necessities of his army +compelled the taking of commissary stores, by his orders his officers +paid for them in Confederate money at its then valuation. No burning +homesteads illumined his march, no shivering and helpless children +were turned out of their homes to witness their destruction by the +torch. With him all the rules of civilized war, having the higher +sanction of God, were strictly observed. The manly fortitude with +which he yielded at Appomattox to three times his numbers showed that +he was worthy of the honors and the fame the South had given him. +This is not the first time since the termination of the war I have +expressed admiration and friendship for Robert E. Lee. When I heard +that he was about to be prosecuted in a Virginia court for the alleged +crime of treason, I wrote to him at once, and with all my heart, that +if he believed I could be of any service to him, professionally, I +was at his command. All the ability I possess, increased by more +than fifty years of study and experience, would have been cheerfully +exerted to have saved him, for in saving him I believe I would have +been saving the honor of my country. I received a characteristic reply +in terms of friendship and grateful thanks. He wrote that he did not +think the prosecution would take place. Hearing, however, some time +after, that the prosecution would commence at Richmond, I went at once +to that city and saw his legal adviser, Hon. William H. McFarland, one +of the ablest men of the bar of Virginia. Mr. McFarland showed me +a copy of a letter from General Lee to General Grant, enclosing an +application for a pardon which he desired General Grant to present to +the President, but telling him not to present it if any steps had been +taken for his prosecution, as he was willing to stand the test. He +wrote that he had understood by the terms of surrender at Appomattox +that he and all his officers and men were to be protected. That +letter, I am glad to say, raised General Lee higher in my esteem. +General Grant at once replied, and he showed his reply to me. He wrote +that he had seen the President, and protested against any steps being +taken against General Lee, and had informed him that he considered his +honor and the honor of the nation pledged to him. The President +became satisfied, and no proceedings were ever taken. General Grant +transmitted to the President the application of General Lee for +pardon, indorsed with his most earnest approval. No pardon was +granted. He did not need it here, and, when he appears before that +great tribunal before which we must all be called, he will find he has +no account to settle there. No soldier who followed General Lee could +have felt more grief and sympathy at his grave than I would, could I +have been present upon the mournful occasion of his burial. I lamented +his loss as a private loss, and still more as a public loss. I knew +that his example would continue to allay the passions aroused by the +war, and which I was not surprised were excited by some acts in that +war. I love my country; I am jealous of her honor. I cherish her good +name, and I am proud of the land of my birth. I forbear to criticise +the lives and characters of her high officers and servants, but I can +say with truth that, during the late war, the laws of humanity were +forgotten, and the higher orders of God were trodden under foot. + +"The resolutions need no support which human lips can by human +language give. Their subject is their support. The name of Lee appeals +at once, and strongly, to every true heart in this land and throughout +the world. Let political partisans, influenced by fanaticism and the +hope of political plunder, find fault with and condemn us. They will +be forgotten when the name of Lee will be resplendent with immortal +glory. + +"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, in the course of Nature my career upon +earth must soon terminate. God grant that when the day of my death +comes, I may look up to Heaven with that confidence and faith which +the life and character of Robert E. Lee gave him! He died trusting in +God, as a good man, with a good life and a pure conscience. He was +consoled with the knowledge that the religion of Christ had ordered +all his ways, and he knew that the verdict of God upon the account he +would have to render in heaven would be one of judgment seasoned with +mercy. He had a right to believe that when God passed judgment upon +the account of his life, though He would find him an erring human +being, He would find virtue enough and religious faith enough to save +him from any other verdict than that of 'Well done, good and faithful +servant.' The monument will be raised; and when it is raised many a +man will visit Richmond to stand beside it, to do reverence to the +remains it may cover, and to say, 'Here lie the remains of one of the +noblest men who ever lived or died in America.'" + +HON. GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN + +"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: The able and eloquent gentlemen who +have preceded me have left but little for me to say. I rise, however, +to express my hearty assent to the resolutions. Their broad and +liberal views are worthy of the great and good man whose virtues and +fame we seek to commemorate. He has passed away from earth, and our +blame or censure is nothing to him now. The most eloquent eulogies +that human lips can utter, and the loftiest monuments that human hands +can build, cannot affect him now. But it is a satisfaction to us +to know that expressions of the love for him which lives in every +Southern heart--ay, in many a Northern heart--were heard long before +his death, and that honor shed noble lustre around the last years of +his life. He was the representative of a lost cause; he had sheathed +his sword forever; he had surrendered his army to superior numbers; +he was broken in fortune and in health, and was only president of a +Virginia college, yet he was one of the foremost men of all the world. + +"It has been said of General Lee, as it has been said of Washington, +that he was deficient in genius. His character was so complete that +what would have seemed evidences of genius with other men, were lost +in the combination of his character and mind. He was always, and +especially in every great crisis, a leader among men. During the four +years of his education at West Point he did not receive a single +reprimand. As a cavalry-officer, wherever he went he was a marked man; +and when General Scott made his wonderful march to the capital of +Mexico, Captain Lee was his right arm. At the commencement of the late +war, though only a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, he was offered the +command of the armies of the United States. What a prize for ambition! +Fortune, fame, and honors, awaited him. Where would he have been +to-day? Probably in the presidential chair of this great nation. But +he rejected all to take his chance with his own people, and to unite +with them in their resistance to the vast numbers and resources which +he knew the North was able to bring against them. There is nothing +more remarkable in the annals of warfare than the success with which +General Lee defeated for years the armies of the United States. +Consider the six-days' battles around Richmond; the second battle of +Manassas; the battles at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg; +the wonderful contest at Chancellorsville; then again the remarkable +battle of the Wilderness, in which it has been said by Federal +authority that General Lee actually killed as many men as he had under +his command; the defence at Cold Harbor, the prolonged defence of +Richmond and Petersburg, and the admirably-conducted retreat with but +a handful before an immense army. Well has he been spoken of as +'the incomparable strategist.' Did any man ever fight against more +desperate odds or resources? + +"But not merely as a great general is General Lee to be admired. He +claims our admiration as a great man--great in adversity. I think +there is nothing more admirable in all his life than his conduct in +assuming the sole responsibility at Gettysburg. In the midst of defeat +Lee was calm, unmoved, showing no fear where despair would have been +in the heart of any other general, and saying to his officers and men, +'The fault is all mine.' Let the monument be raised, not merely by +soldiers of General Lee, but by all men, no matter of what political +feelings, who appreciate and honor that which is manly, great, and +patriotic. The monument at Richmond will be the resort of pilgrims +from the North as well as from the South, and the grave of Lee will be +second only in the hearts of the people to the grave of Washington." + +LEXINGTON, KY. + +At the meeting at Lexington, resolutions were adopted similar to +those already given. The meeting was addressed by General Preston and +others. + +GENERAL W. PRESTON. + +"I am permitted to accompany the report with a few remarks, although I +deem it unnecessary to use one word of commendation on the character +of such a man. These resolutions are no doubt very short, but they +will testify the feelings of every right-minded, noble-hearted man, no +matter what may have been his opinions as to the past. Every true +and generous soul feels that these resolutions are expressive of the +sorrow entertained by the whole country. We speak not only the common +voice of America, but of the world at this hour. It is no ordinary +case of eulogy over an ordinary being, but over one who was the man +of the century; a man who, by mighty armies commanded with admirable +skill; by great victories achieved, and yet never stained by +exultation; by mighty misfortunes met with a calm eye, and submitted +to with all the dignity that belongs to elevated intelligence, and by +his simplicity and grandeur, challenged the admiration of civilized +mankind; and still more remarkable, after yielding to the greatest +vicissitudes that the world ever saw, resigned himself to the +improvement of the youth of the country, to the last moment of his +mortal life, looking to the glorious life which he contemplated beyond +the tomb. I must confess that, notwithstanding the splendor and glory +of his career, I envy him the dignity of the pacific close of +his life. Nothing more gentle, nothing more great, nothing more +uncomplaining, has ever been recorded in the history of the world. By +returning to Napoleon, we find he murmured, we find all the marks +of mortality and mortal anger; but in Lee we find a man perfect in +Christian principles--dignified, yet simple. + +"I knew him first when he was a captain. I was then a young man +connected with one of the regiments of this State, in Mexico, the +Fourth Kentucky; and when I first saw him he was a man of extreme +physical beauty, remarkable for his great gentleness of manner, and +for his freedom from all military and social vices. At that time, +General Scott, by common consent, had fixed upon General Lee as the +man who would make his mark if ever the country needed his services. +He never swore an oath, he never drank, he never wrangled, but there +was not a single dispute between gentlemen that his voice was not more +potent than any other; his rare calmness, serenity, and dignity, +were above all. When the war came on, he followed his native State, +Virginia, for he was the true representative of the great Virginia +family at Washington. He was the real type of his race. He was +possessed of all the most perfect points of Washington's character, +with all the noble traits of his own. + +"Scott maintained that Lee was the greatest soldier in the army. His +discerning eye compared men; and I remember when, in some respects, I +thought General Lee's military education had not fitted him for the +great talents which he was destined to display. I remember when +General Scott made use of these remarkable words: 'I tell you one +thing, if I was on my death-bed, and knew there was a battle to be +fought for the liberties of my country, and the President was to say +to me, "Scott, who shall command?" I tell you that, with my dying +breath, I should say Robert Lee. Nobody but Robert Lee! Robert Lee, +and nobody but Lee!' That impressed me very much, because, at the +beginning of the campaign, Lee was not prosperous; and why? because +he was building up his men with that science which he possessed. His +great qualities were discerned not after his remarkable campaigns; +but, long before it, his name was regarded with that respected +preëminence to which it did rise under that campaign. And I now say, +and even opposite officers will admit, that no man has displayed +greater power, more military ability, or more noble traits of +character, than Robert E. Lee. Therefore it is that America has lost +much. Europe will testify this as well as ourselves in this local +community. Europe will weigh this, but after-ages will weigh him with +Moltke and Bazaine, with the Duke of Magenta, and with all military +men, and, in my judgment, those ages will say that the greatest fame +and ability belonged to Robert Lee. But let us look to his moral +character, to which I have already alluded. Through his whole life he +had been a fervent and simple Christian; throughout his campaigns he +was a brave and splendid soldier. If you ask of his friends, you will +find that they adore him. If you ask his character from his enemies, +you will find that they respect him, and respect is the involuntary +tribute which friend and enemy alike have to pay to elevated worth; +and, to-day, as the bells toll, their sounds will vibrate with the +tenderest feelings through every noble heart. Public confessions of +his worth and his greatness will be made through thousands of the +towns and cities throughout this broad land; and, even where they are +silent, monitors within will tell that a great spirit hath fled. This +secret monitor will tell that a great and good man has passed away, +who has left, in my opinion, no equal behind him." + +REV. DR. HENDERSON. + +"Since the announcement of the death of Robert E. Lee, I have been +momentarily expecting the appearance of a call to pay some tribute to +his splendid memory; but, if a notice had been given of this meeting, +it altogether escaped my attention, else I would have been here freely +and voluntarily. If I am a stranger in Lexington, and my lot has been +cast here only during the last three weeks, yet I am happy that my +fellow-citizens here have paid me such great respect as to call on me, +on such an occasion as the present, to testify to the greatness and +glory of General Robert E. Lee. Some public calamity is required to +bring us into one great brotherhood. 'One touch of Nature makes the +whole world kin.' Though you are all strangers to me, yet, in that +common sympathy which we all feel, we are mourners together at the +bier of departed worth. + +"It does not become one of my profession to take any partisan view of +the life of such a man, although it was my fortune to follow the same +flag which he carried to victory upon so many fields. When it was +furled, it was done with such calm magnificence as to win the +admiration of his enemies and of the world. Yet I do not stand here to +make any reference to that cause which has passed from the theatre of +earth's activity, and taken its place only in history. But I do claim +the right, from the stand-point which I occupy, of pointing to a man +worthy of the emulation of all who love the true nobility of humanity; +a man who was magnanimous to his enemies; who would weep at the +calamities of his foes; who, throughout the sanguinary struggle, could +preserve in himself the fullest share of human sympathy. History will +challenge the world to produce a single instance in which this +great man ever wantonly inflicted a blow, or ever wilfully imposed +punishment upon any of his captives, or ever pushed his victory upon +an enemy to gain unnecessary results--a man who, in all his campaigns, +showed the same bright example to all the battalions that followed the +lead of his sword. And now, since that flag which he carried has been +furled, what a magnificent example has been presented to the world! It +was said of Washington that he was first in war and first in peace, +but, in the latter regard, Robert E. Lee showed more greatness than +even the Father of his Country. He was struck down; the sun that had +brightened up the horizon of hopes sank in dark eclipse to set in +the shadow of disappointment. Calm and magnificent in the repose of +conscious strength, he felt that he had lived and struggled for a +principle that was dear to him. Though dead, it only remained for him +to be our example to the stricken and suffering people for whom he +labored, and to show how magnanimously a brave and true Christian +could act even when all he held sacred and dear was shattered by the +hand of calamity. And, at the close of his career, he devoted his +splendid capacity to the culture of the minds of his country's +youth. He came down from the summit on which he had won the world's +admiration, to the steady, regular duties of the school-room, to take +his place in the vestry of a Christian church, and to administer the +affairs of a country parish in the interest of Christianity. A man +who, by his dignity and simplicity, preserved the constant admiration +of his enemies, without even giving offence to his friends, such a man +should receive a niche in the Pantheon of Fame. + +"He stood in that great struggle of which as a star he was the leader, +of unclouded brightness, drawing over its mournful history a splendor +which is reflected from every sentence of its chronicle. He was an +example of a man, who, though branded because of defeat, still, by +his exalted character, gave a dignity and nobility to a cause which, +doubtless, is forever dead, yet still is rendered immortal by the +achievements of Robert E. Lee's sword and character." + +NEW YORK. + +"Services were held last evening," says a New-York journal, "in the +large hall of the Cooper Institute, in commemoration of the life and +character of the late General Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate States +Army, with especial reference to his civic and Christian virtues. The +call for the meeting stated that, although it was inaugurated by the +Southern residents in the city of New York, it was 'yet to be regarded +as in no sense born of partisan feeling, but solely from the desire +to do honor to the memory of a great and good man--an illustrious +American.' The attendance therefore of all, without reference to +section or nationality, was cordially invited. + +"There was no special decoration of the hall. Grafulla's band was in +attendance, and, prior to the opening of the meeting, played several +fine dirges. The choir of St. Stephen's Church also appeared upon the +platform and opened the proceedings by singing 'Come, Holy Spirit.' +The choir consisted of Madame de Luzan, Mrs. Jennie Kempton, Dr. +Bauos, and Herr Weinlich. Mr. H.B. Denforth presided at the piano. + +"Among the gentlemen present on the platform were General Imboden, +ex-Governor Lowe, General Walker, Colonel Hunter, General Daniel W. +Adams, Dr. Van Avery, Mr. M.B. Fielding, Colonel Fellows, General +Cabell, Colonel T.L. Gnead, Mr. McCormick, Mr. T.A. Hoyt, etc. + +"Mr. M.B. Fielding called the meeting to order, and requested the Rev. +Dr. Carter to offer prayer. + +"The Hon. John E. Ward was then called to preside, and delivered +the following address--all the marked passages of which were loudly +applauded: + +"We meet to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of one whom +the whole South revered with more than filial affection. The kind +manifestations of sympathy expressed through the press of this great +metropolis, this assemblage, the presence of these distinguished men, +who join with us this evening, testify that the afflicted voice of +his bereaved people has charmed down with sweet persuasion the angry +passions kindled by the conflict in which he was their chosen leader. +This is not the occasion either for an elaborate review of his life or +a eulogy of his character. I propose to attempt neither. Born of one +of the oldest and most distinguished families of our country--one +so renowned in the field and in the cabinet that it seemed almost +impossible to give brighter lustre to it--General Robert E. Lee +rendered that family name even more illustrious, and by his genius and +virtues extended its fame to regions of the globe where it had never +before been mentioned. There is no cause for envy or hatred left +now. His soldiers adored him most, not in the glare of his brilliant +victories, but in the hour of his deepest humiliation, when his last +great battle had been fought and lost--when the government for which +he had struggled was crumbling about him--when his staff, asking, in +despair, 'What can now be done?' he gave that memorable reply, 'It +were strange indeed if human virtue were not at least as strong as +human calamity.' This is the key to his life--the belief that trials +and strength, suffering and consolation, come alike from God. +Obedience to duty was ever his ruling principle. Infallibility is not +claimed for him in the exercise of his judgment in deciding what duty +was. But what he believed duty to command, that he performed without +thought of how he would appear in the performance. In the judgment of +many he may have mistaken his duty when he decided that it did not +require him to draw his sword 'against his home, his kindred, and his +children.' But Lee was no casuist or politician; he was a soldier. +'All that he would do highly that would he do holily.' He taught the +world that the Christian and the gentleman could be united in the +warrior. It was not when in pomp and power--when he commanded +successful legions and led armies to victories--but when in sorrow +and privation he assumed the instruction and guidance of the youth of +Virginia, laying the only true foundation upon which a republic can +rest, the Christian education of its youth--that he reaped the rich +harvest of a people's love. Goodness was the chief attribute of Lee's +greatness. Uniting in himself the rigid piety of the Puritan with the +genial, generous impulses of the cavalier, he won the love of all with +whom he came in contact, from the thoughtless child, with whom it was +ever his delight to sport, to the great captain of the age, with whom +he fought all the hard-won battles of Mexico. Some may believe that +the world has given birth to warriors more renowned, to rulers more +skilled in statecraft, but all must concede that a purer, nobler man +never lived. What successful warrior or ruler, in ancient or modern +times, has descended to his grave amid such universal grief and +lamentation as our Lee? Caesar fell by the hands of his own beloved +Brutus, because, by his tyranny, he would have enslaved Rome. +Frederick the Great, the founder of an empire, became so hated of men, +and learned so to despise them, that he ordered his 'poor carcass,' as +he called it, to be buried with his favorite dogs at Potsdam. Napoleon +reached his giddy height by paths which Lee would have scorned to +tread, only to be hurled from his eminence by all the powers of Europe +which his insatiate ambition had combined against him. Wellington, the +conqueror of Napoleon, became the leader of a political party, and +lived to need the protection of police from a mob. Even our own +Washington, whose character was as high above that of the mere warrior +and conqueror as is the blue vault of heaven above us to the low earth +we tread beneath our feet, was libelled in life and slandered in +death. Such were the fates of the most successful captains and +warriors of the world. For four long years Lee occupied a position not +less prominent than that of the most distinguished among them. The +eyes of the civilized world watched his every movement and scanned his +every motive. His cause was lost. He was unsuccessful. Yet he lived +to illustrate to the world how, despite failure and defeat, a soldier +could command honor and love from those for whom he struggled, and +admiration and respect from his foes, such as no success had ever +before won for warrior, prince, or potentate. And, when his life was +ended, the whole population of the South, forming one mighty funeral +procession, followed him to his grave. His obsequies modestly +performed by those most tenderly allied to him, he sleeps in the bosom +of the land he loved so well. His spotless fame will gather new vigor +and freshness from the lapse of time, and the day is not distant when +that fame will be claimed, not as the property of a section, but as +the heritage of a united people. His soul, now forever freed from +earth's defilements, basks in the sunlight of God.' _Pro tumulo +ponas patriam, pro tegmine caelum, sidera pro facibus, pro lachrymis +maria_.'" (Great applause.) + +GENERAL IMBODEN + +Rose and said: + +"It is with emotions of infinite grief I rise to perform one of +the saddest duties of my life. The committee who have arranged the +ceremonies on this occasion, deemed it expedient and proper to select +a Virginian as their organ to present to this large assembly of the +people of New York a formal preamble and resolutions, which give +expression to their feelings in regard to the death of General Robert +E. Lee. This distinction has been conferred by the committee upon me; +and I shall proceed to read their report, without offering to submit +any remarks as to the feelings excited in my own heart by this, +mournful intelligence:" + +RESOLUTIONS. + +"In this great metropolitan city of America, where men of every clime +and of all nationalities mingle in the daily intercourse of pleasure +and of business, no great public calamity can befall any people in the +world without touching a sympathetic chord in the hearts of thousands. +When, therefore, tidings reached us that General Robert E. Lee, of +Virginia, was dead, and that the people of that and all the other +Southern States of the Union were stricken with grief, the great +public heart of New York was moved with a generous sympathy, which +found kindly and spontaneous expression through the columns of the +city press of every shade of opinion. + +"All differences of the past, all bitter memories, all the feuds +that have kept two great sections of our country in angry strife and +controversy for so long, have been forgotten in the presence of the +awe-inspiring fact that no virtues, no deeds, no honors, nor any +position, can save any member of the human family from the common lot +of all. + +"The universal and profound grief of our Southern countrymen is +natural and honorable alike to themselves and to him whom they mourn, +and is respected throughout the world; for Robert E. Lee was allied +and endeared to them by all the most sacred ties that can unite an +individual to a community. He was born and reared in their midst, +and shared their local peculiarities, opinions, and traditional +characteristics; and his preëminent abilities and exalted personal +integrity and Christian character made him, by common consent, their +leader and representative in a great national conflict in which they +had staked life, fortune, and honor; and in Virginia his family was +coeval with the existence of the State, and its name was emblazoned +upon those bright pages of her early civil and military annals which +record the patriotic deeds of Washington and his compeers. + +"By no act of his did he ever forfeit or impair the confidence thus +reposed in him by his own peculiar people; and when he had, through +years of heroic trial and suffering, done all that mortal man could +do in discharge of the high trust confided by them to his hands, +and failed, he bowed with dignified submission to the decree of +Providence; and from the day he gave his parole at Appomattox to the +hour of his death, he so lived and acted as to deprive enmity of its +malignity, and became to his defeated soldiers and countrymen a bright +example of unqualified obedience to the laws of the land, and of +support to its established government. Nay, more. With a spirit of +Christian and affectionate duty to his impoverished and suffering +people, and with a high estimate of the importance of mental and moral +culture to a generation of youth whose earlier years were attended by +war's rough teachings, he went from the tented field and the command +of armies to the quiet shades of a scholastic institution in the +secluded valleys of his own native Virginia, and entered with all the +earnestness of his nature upon the duties of instruction, and there +spent the closing years of his life in training the minds and hearts +of young men from all parts of the country for the highest usefulness +'in their day and generation.' By these pursuits, and his exemplary +and unobtrusive life since the close of the great war in America, he +won the respect and admiration of the enlightened and the good of the +whole world. It is meet and natural, therefore, that his own people +should bewail his death as a sore personal bereavement to each one of +them. Those of us here assembled who were his soldiers, friends, and +supporters, sharing all the trials and many of the responsibilities of +that period of his life which brought him so prominently before the +world, honored and trusted him then, have loved and admired him, have +been guided by his example since; and now that he is dead, we should +be unworthy of ourselves, and unworthy to be called his countrymen, +did we not feel and express the same poignant grief which now afflicts +those among whom he lived and died. + +"Those of us who were not his soldiers, friends, and supporters, when +war raged throughout the land, but who have nevertheless met here +to-day with those who were our enemies then, but are now our friends +and countrymen, and appreciate with them the character of Lee, and +admire his rare accomplishments as an American citizen, whose fame and +name are the property of the nation, we all unite over his hallowed +sepulchre in an earnest prayer that old divisions may be composed, and +that a complete and perfect reconciliation of all estrangements may be +effected at the tomb, where all alike, in a feeling of common +humanity and universal Christian brotherhood, may drop their tears of +heart-felt sorrow. + +"Therefore, without regard to our former relations toward each other, +but meeting as Americans by birth or adoption, and in the broadest +sense of national unity, and in the spirit above indicated, to do +honor to a great man and Christian gentleman who has gone down to the +grave, we do + +"_Resolve_, That we have received with feelings of profound sorrow +intelligence of the death of General Robert E. Lee. We can and do +fully appreciate the grief of our Southern countrymen at the death +of one so honored by and so dear to them, and we tender to them this +expression of our sympathy, with the assurance that we feel in +the contemplation of so sad an event that we are and ought to be, +henceforth and forever, one great and harmonious national family, +sharing on all occasions each others' joys and sympathizing in each +others' sorrows. + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of the foregoing preamble, and these +resolutions, signed by the president and secretary, be transmitted to +the Governor of Virginia, with a request that the same be preserved in +the archives of the State; and that another copy be sent to the family +of General Lee. + + "J.D. IMBODEN, + Ex. NORTON, + JOHN MITCHEL, + C.K. MARSHALL, + T.L. SNEAD, + NORMAN D. SAMPSON, + Wm. H. APPLETON, + _Committee on Resolutions_" + +"On motion, the resolutions were unanimously adopted by a standing and +silent vote, which was followed by a spontaneous outburst of hearty +applause." + +We have given but a small portion of the addresses which were called +forth by this national calamity, and these, no doubt, have suffered +injustice by imperfect reporting. But we have shown, as we wished to +show, the standard by which our people estimate an heroic character, +and how the South loves and honors the memory of her great leader. + +A few extracts from the English press will show the feeling in that +country: + +THE PALL MALL GAZETTE. + +"Even amid the turmoil of the great European struggle, the +intelligence from America announcing that General Robert E. Lee is +dead, will be received with deep sorrow by many in this country, as +well as by his followers and fellow-soldiers in America. It is but +a few years since Robert E. Lee ranked among the great men of the +present time. He was the able soldier of the Southern Confederacy, the +bulwark of her northern frontier, the obstacle to the advance of the +Federal armies, and the leader who twice threatened, by the capture +of Washington, to turn the tide of success, and to accomplish a +revolution which would have changed the destiny of the United States. +Six years passed by, and then we heard that he was dying at an obscure +town in Virginia, where, since the collapse of the Confederacy, he had +been acting as a school-master. When, at the head of the last eight +thousand of his valiant army, the remnants which battle, sickness, and +famine had left him, he delivered up his sword to General Grant at +Appomattox Court-House, his public career ended; he passed away from +men's thoughts; and few in Europe cared to inquire the fate of +the general whose exploits had aroused the wonder of neutrals and +belligerents, and whose noble character had excited the admiration of +even the most bitter of his political enemies. If, however, success is +not always to be accounted as the sole foundation of renown, General +Lee's life and career deserve to be held in reverence by all who +admire the talents of a general and the noblest qualities of a +soldier. His family were well known in Virginia. Descended from the +Cavaliers who first colonized that State, they had produced more than +one man who fought with distinction for their country. They were +allied by marriage to Washington, and, previous to the recent war, +were possessed of much wealth; General (then Colonel) Robert Lee +residing, when not employed with his regiment, at Arlington Heights, +one of the most beautiful places in the neighborhood of Washington. +When the civil war first broke out, he was a colonel in the United +States Army, who had served with distinction in Mexico, and was +accounted among the best of the American officers. To him, as to +others, the difficult choice presented itself, whether to take the +side of his State, which had joined in the secession of the South, or +to support the central Government. It is said that Lee debated the +matter with General Scott, then Commander-in-chief, that both agreed +that their first duty lay with their State, but that the former only +put the theory into practice. + +"It was not until the second year of the war that Lee came prominently +forward, when, at the indecisive battle of Fair Oaks, in front of +Richmond, General Johnston having been wounded, he took command of the +army; and subsequently drove McClellan, with great loss, to the banks +of the James River. From that time he became the recognized leader +of the Confederate army of Virginia. He repulsed wave after wave of +invasion, army after army being hurled against him only to be thrown +back, beaten and in disorder. The Government at Washington were kept +in constant alarm by the near vicinity of his troops, and witnessed +more than once the entry into their intrenchments of a defeated +and disorganized rabble, which a few days previous had left them a +confident host. Twice he entered the Northern States at the head of +a successful army, and twice indecisive battles alone preserved from +destruction the Federal Government, and turned the fortune of the war. +He impressed his character on those who acted under him. Ambition for +him had no charms, duty alone was his guide. His simplicity of life +checked luxury and display among his officers, while his disregard of +hardships silenced the murmurs of his harassed soldiery. By the troops +he was loved as a father, as well as admired as a general; and his +deeply-religious character impressed itself on all who were brought +in contact with him, and made itself felt through the ranks of the +Virginian army. It is said that, during four years of war, he never +slept in a house, but in winter and summer shared the hardships of his +soldiers. Such was the man who, in mature age, at a period of life +when few generals have acquired renown, fought against overwhelming +odds for the cause which he believed just. He saw many of his bravest +generals and dearest friends fall around him, but, although constantly +exposed to fire, escaped without a wound. + +"The battles which prolonged and finally decided the issue of the +contest are now little more than names. Antietam, Fredericksburg, +Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, are forgotten in Europe by all +excepting those who study recent wars as lessons for the future, and +would collect from the deeds of other armies experience which they +may apply to their own. To them the boldness of Lee's tactics at +Chancellorsville will ever be a subject of admiration; while even +those who least sympathize with his cause will feel for the general +who saw the repulse of Longstreet's charge at Gettysburg, and beheld +the failure of an attempt to convert a defensive war into one of +attack, together with the consequent abandonment of the bold stroke +which he had hoped would terminate the contest. Quietly he rallied +the broken troops; taking all the blame on himself, he encouraged +the officers, dispirited by the reverse, and in person formed up the +scattered detachments. Again, when Fortune had turned against the +Confederacy, when overwhelming forces from all sides pressed back +her defenders, Lee for a year held his ground with a +constantly-diminishing army, fighting battle after battle in the +forests and swamps around Richmond. No reverses seemed to dispirit +him, no misfortune appeared to ruffle his calm, brave temperament. +Only at last, when he saw the remnants of his noble army about to +be ridden down by Sheridan's cavalry, when eight thousand men, +half-starved and broken with fatigue, were surrounded by the net which +Grant and Sherman had spread around them, did he yield; his fortitude +for the moment gave way; he took farewell of his soldiers, and, giving +himself up as a prisoner, retired a ruined man into private life, +gaining his bread by the hard and uncongenial work of governing +Lexington College. + +"When political animosity has calmed down, and when Americans can look +back on those years of war with feelings unbiassed by party strife, +then will General Lee's character be appreciated by all his countrymen +as it now is by a part, and his name will be honored as that of one of +the noblest soldiers who have ever drawn a sword in a cause which they +believed just, and at the sacrifice of all personal considerations +have fought manfully a losing battle." + + +THE SATURDAY REVIEW. + +This journal, after some remarks on the death of Admiral Farragut, +continues: + +"A still more famous leader in the war has lately closed a blameless +life. There may be a difference of opinion on the military qualities +of the generals who fought on either side in the civil war; but it is +no disparagement to the capacity of Grant or of Sherman to say that +they had no opportunity of rivalling the achievements of General Lee. +Assuming the chief command in the Confederate army in the second +campaign of the war, he repelled three or four invasions of Virginia, +winning as many pitched battles over an enemy of enormously superior +resources. After driving McClellan from the Peninsula, he inflicted +on Burnside and Pope defeats which would have been ruinous if the +belligerents had been on equal terms; but twenty millions of men, with +the absolute command of the sea and the rivers, eventually overpowered +a third of their number. The drawn battle of Gettysburg proved that +the invasion of the Northern States was a blunder; and in 1863 it +became evident that the fall of the Confederacy could not be much +longer delayed. Nevertheless General Lee kept Grant's swarming legions +at bay for the whole summer and autumn, and the loss of the Northern +armies in the final campaign exceeded the entire strength of the +gallant defenders of Richmond. When General Lee, outnumbered, cut +off from his communications, and almost surrounded by his enemies, +surrendered at Appomattox Court-House, he might console himself with +the thought that he had only failed where success was impossible. From +that moment he used his unequalled and merited authority to reconcile +the Southern people to the new order of affairs. He had originally +dissented from the policy of secession; and he followed the banner +of his State exclusively from a sense of duty, in disregard of his +professional and private interests. He might at pleasure have been +Commander-in-Chief of the Northern army, for he was second in rank to +General Scott. His ancient home and his ample estate on the Potomac +were ravaged by the enemy; but he never expressed a regret for the +sacrifice of his fortune. There can be no doubt that he was often +thwarted by political superiors and by incompetent subordinates, but +his equable temper and lofty nature never inclined him to complaint. +The regret for his loss which is felt throughout the vast regions +of the South is a just tribute to one of the greatest and purest +characters in American history." + +It will not be inappropriate to reproduce here the tribute which +appeared in the London _Standard_, on the receipt of the news of +General Lee's illness: + +THE STANDARD. + +"The announcement that General R.E. Lee has been struck down by +paralysis and is not expected to recover, will be received, even at +this crisis, with universal interest, and will everywhere excite a +sympathy and regret which testify to the deep impression made on the +world at large by his character and achievements. Few are the generals +who have earned, since history began, a greater military reputation; +still fewer are the men of similar eminence, civil or military, whose +personal qualities would bear comparison with his. The bitterest +enemies of his country hardly dared to whisper a word against the +character of her most distinguished general, while neutrals regarded +him with an admiration for his deeds and a respect for his lofty +and unselfish nature which almost grew into veneration, and his own +countrymen learned to look up to him with as much confidence and +esteem as they ever felt for Washington, and with an affection which +the cold demeanor and austere temper of Washington could never +inspire. The death of such a man, even at a moment so exciting as +the present, when all thoughts are absorbed by a nearer and present +conflict, would be felt as a misfortune by all who still retain any +recollection of the interest with which they watched the Virginian +campaigns, and by thousands who have almost forgotten the names of +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania. +By the South it would be recognized as a national calamity--as the +loss of a man not only inexpressibly dear to an unfortunate people by +his intimate association with their fallen hopes and their proudest +recollections, but still able to render services such as no other man +could perform, and to give counsel whose value is enhanced tenfold +by the source from which it comes. We hope, even yet, that a life so +honorable and so useful, so pure and noble in itself, so valuable to +a country that has much need of men like him, may be spared and +prolonged for further enjoyment of domestic peace and comfort, for +further service to his country; we cannot bear to think of a career so +singularly admirable and so singularly unfortunate, should close so +soon and so sadly. By the tens of thousands who will feel as we do +when they read the news that now lies before us, may be measured the +impressions made upon the world by the life and the deeds of the great +chief of the Army of Virginia. + +"Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the merits of the +generals against whom he had to contend, and especially of the +antagonist by whom he was at last overcome, no one pretending to +understand in the least either the general principles of military +science or the particular conditions of the American War, doubts that +General Lee gave higher proofs of military genius and soldiership than +any of his opponents. He was outnumbered from first to last; and all +his victories were gained against greatly superior forces, and with +troops greatly deficient in every necessary of war except courage +and discipline. Never, perhaps, was so much achieved against odds so +terrible. The Southern soldiers--'that incomparable Southern infantry' +to which a late Northern writer renders due tribute of respect--were +no doubt as splendid troops as a general could desire; but the +different fortune of the East and the West proves that the Virginian +army owed something of its excellence to its chief. Always +outnumbered, always opposed to a foe abundantly supplied with food, +transport, ammunition, clothing, all that was wanting to his own men, +he was always able to make courage and skill supply the deficiency of +strength and of supplies; and from the day when he assumed the command +after the battle of Seven Pines, where General Joseph Johnston +was disabled, to the morning of the final surrender at Appomattox +Court-House, he was almost invariably victorious in the field. At +Gettysburg only he was defeated in a pitched battle; on the offensive +at the Chickahominy, at Centreville, and at Chancellorsville, on +the defensive at Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, and +Spottsylvania, he was still successful. But no success could avail him +any thing from the moment that General Grant brought to bear upon +the Virginian army the inexhaustible population of the North, and, +employing Sherman to cut them off from the rest of the Confederacy, +set himself to work to wear them out by the simple process of +exchanging two lives for one. From that moment the fate of Richmond +and of the South was sealed. When General Lee commenced the campaign +of the Wilderness he had, we believe, about fifty thousand men; his +adversary had thrice that number at hand, and a still larger force in +reserve. When the army of Virginia marched out of Richmond it still +numbered some twenty-six thousand men; after a retreat of six days, +in the face of an overwhelming enemy, with a crushing artillery--a +retreat impeded by constant fighting, and harassed by countless hordes +of cavalry--eight thousand were given up by the capitulation of +Appomattox Court-House. Brilliant as were General Lee's earlier +triumphs, we believe that he gave higher proofs of genius in his last +campaign, and that hardly any of his victories were so honorable to +himself and his army as that six-days' retreat. + +"There have, however, been other generals of genius as brilliant, of +courage and endurance hardly less distinguished. How many men have +ever displayed the perfect simplicity of nature, the utter absence +of vanity or affectation, which belongs to the truest and purest +greatness, in triumph or in defeat, as General Lee has done? When +Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies, he moved from point to +point, as duty required, with less parade than a European general +of division, wearing no sword, attended by no other staff than the +immediate occasion demanded, and chatting with a comrade or a visitor +with a simple courtesy which had in it no shade of condescension. +Only on one occasion does he seem to have, been accoutred with the +slightest regard to military display or personal dignity; and that, +characteristically, was the last occasion on which he wore the +Confederate uniform--the occasion of his interview with General Grant +on April 9, 1865. After the war he retired without a word into privacy +and obscurity. Ruined by the seizure and destruction of his property, +which McClellan protected, and which his successors gave up to ravage +and pillage, the late Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies +accepted the presidency of a Virginia college, and devoted himself as +simply and earnestly to its duties as if he had never filled a higher +station or performed more exciting functions. Well aware of the +jealous temper of the party dominant in the North, and anxious, above +all things, to avoid exasperating that temper against his conquered +countrymen, he carefully abstained from appearing in any public +ceremony or taking any overt part in political questions. His +influence has been exerted, quietly but steadily, in one direction, +with a single view to restore harmony and good-will between the two +sections, and to reconcile the oppressed Southerners to the Union from +which he fought so gallantly to free them. He has discountenanced all +regretful longings after the lost visions of Southern independence; +all demonstrations in honor of the 'conquered banner;' and has +encouraged the South to seek the restoration of her material +prosperity and the satisfaction of her national feelings in a frank +acceptance of the result of the war, and a loyal adhesion to the +Federal bond. It was characteristic and worthy of the man that he was +among the first to sue for a formal pardon from President Johnson; not +for any advantage which he personally could obtain thence, but to set +the example of submission to his comrades-in-arms, and to reconcile +them to a humiliation without which the conquerors refused them that +restitution to civil rights necessary to any effort to retrieve their +own or their country's fortunes. Truer greatness, a loftier nature, a +spirit more unselfish, a character purer, more chivalrous, the world +has rarely, if ever known. Of stainless life and deep religious +feeling, yet free from all taint of cant and fanaticism, and as dear +and congenial to the Cavalier Stuart as to the Puritan Stonewall +Jackson; unambitious, but ready to sacrifice all at the call of duty; +devoted to his cause, yet never moved by his feelings beyond the line +prescribed by his judgment; never provoked by just resentment to +punish wanton cruelty by reprisals which would have given a character +of needless savagery to the war--both North and South owe a deep debt +of gratitude to him, and the time will come when both will be equally +proud of him. And well they may, for his character and his life afford +a complete answer to the reproaches commonly cast on money-grubbing, +mechanical America. A country which has given birth to men like him, +and those who followed him, may look the chivalry of Europe in the +face without shame; for the fatherlands of Sidney and of Bayard never +produced a nobler soldier, gentleman, and Christian, than General +Robert E. Lee." + +We may add to these the following just remarks upon the occupation to +which General Lee devoted himself at the close of his military career, +from + +THE OLD DOMINION. + +"Surely it should be a cause of thankfulness and encouragement for +those who are teachers, that their profession has received this +reflection of glory and honor from this choice of his, from this life, +and from this death. And it is enduring honor for all the colleges of +the South, and for all our schools--an honor in which all may share +alike without jealousy--that this pure and bright name is inseparably +connected by the will of him that bore it with the cause of education, +and is blended now with that of Washington in the name of one of our +own institutions of learning. We think that so long as the name of Lee +is honored and loved among us, our Southern teachers may rejoice and +grow stronger in their work, when they remember that he was one of +their number, and that his great heart, that had so bravely borne the +fortunes of a great empire, bore also, amid its latest aspirations, +the interests, the anxieties, and the hopes of the unpretending but +noble profession of teaching. + +"To leave this out of the account would be, indeed, to do sad +injustice to General Lee's own memory. And that, not only because his +position in this profession was of his own choice, and was steadily +maintained with unchanging purpose to the end of his life, but also +because the acknowledgment of his service here is necessary to the +completeness of his fame. In no position of his life did he more +signally develop the great qualities of his character than in this; +and it may truly be said that some of the greatest can only be fully +understood in the light of the serene patience and of the simple and +quiet self-consecration of his latest years. It was then that, far +from the tumult of arms and from the great passions of public life, +with no great ambition to nerve his heart, nor any great events to +obscure the public criticism of his conduct, he displayed in calm +and steady light the grandest features of his character, and by this +crucial test, added certain confirmation to the highest estimate that +could have been formed of his character and of his abilities. It was +indeed a 'crucial test' for such a man; and that he sustained it as he +did is not among the smallest of his claims to the admiration of his +countrymen. No tribute to his memory can be just that does not take +this last great service into the account; and no history of his life +can be fairly written that shall not place in the strongest light his +career and influence as President of Washington College." + +And we may appropriately close with the following thoughtful words +from the pen of + +HON. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. + +"In the darkest hour of our trials, in the very midst of our deepest +affliction, mourning over the loss of the noble Lee, Heaven sends to +us as consolation the best sign of the times vouchsafed in many a day. +It addresses the heart, rent as it is in surveying the desolations +around us, as the rainbow upon the breast of the receding storm-cloud +when its power and fury are over. + +"That sign is the unmistakable estimation in which the real merits +and worth of this illustrious chieftain of the cause of the Southern +States is held by all classes of persons, not only in the South, but +in the North. + +"Partisans and leaders, aiming at the overthrow of our institutions, +may, while temporarily in high places, by fraud and usurpation, keep +up the false cry of _rebel_ and _traitor_; but these irrepressible +outburstings of popular sentiment, regarding no restraints on +great-occasions which cause _Nature_ to speak, show clearly how this +cry and charge are regarded and looked upon by the masses of the +people everywhere. + +"Everywhere Lee is honored; not only as a _hero_, but as a _patriot_. +This is but the foreshadowing of the general judgment of the people of +the whole United States, and of the world, not only upon Lee, but upon +all of his associates who fought, bled, and died in that glorious +cause in which he won his immortality. That cause was the sovereign +right of local self-government by the people of the several States of +this continent. _That_ cause is not dead! Let it never be abandoned; +but let its friends rally to its standard in the forum of reason and +justice, with the renewed hope and energy from this soul-inspiriting +sign that it lies deeply impressed upon the hearts of the great +majority of the people in all sections of this country. + +"In these popular manifestations of respect and veneration for the +man who won all his glory in maintaining this cause, present usurpers +should read their doom, and all friends of constitutional liberty +should take fresh courage in all political conflicts, never to lower +their standard of principles." + +THE END + +[Illustration: Portion of the VALLEY OF VIRGINIA] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee, by John Esten Cooke + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10692 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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Lee + +Author: John Esten Cooke + +Release Date: January 12, 2004 [EBook #10692] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Maddock, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration] + + +A LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE. + +BY JOHN ESTEN COOKE. + + + "Duty is the sublimest word in our language." + "Human virtue should be equal to human calamity." + + LEE. + +1876 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +_LEE'S EARLY LIFE_. + + +I.--Introduction + +II.--The Lees of Virginia + +III.--General "Light-Horse Harry" Lee + +IV.--Stratford + +V.--Lee's Early Manhood and Career in the United States Army + +VI.--Lee and Scott + +VII.--Lee resigns + +VIII.--His Reception at Richmond + +IX.--Lee in 1861 + +X.--The War begins + +XI.--Lee's Advance into Western Virginia + +XII.--Lee's Last Interview with Bishop Meade + + +PART II. + +_IN FRONT OF RICHMOND_. + + +I.--Plan of the Federal Campaign + +II.--Johnston is wounded + +III.--Lee assigned to the Command--his Family at the White House + +IV.--Lee resolves to attack + +V.--Stuart's "Ride around McClellan" + + +PART III. + +_ON THE CHICKAHOMINY_. + + +I.--The Two Armies + +II.--Lee's Plan of Assault + +III.--The Battle of the Chickahominy + +IV.--The Retreat + +V.--Richmond in Danger--Lee's Views + +VI.--Lee and McClellan--their Identity of Opinion + + +PART IV. + +_THE WAR ADVANCES NORTHWARD_. + + +I.--Lee's Protest + +II.--Lee's Manoeuvres + +III.--Lee advances from the Rapidan + +IV.--Jackson flanks General Pope + +V.--Lee follows + +VI.--The Second Battle of Manassas + + +PART V. + +_LEE INVADES MARYLAND_. + + +I.--His Designs + +II.--Lee in Maryland + +III.--Movements of the Two Armies + +IV.--The Prelude to Sharpsburg + +V.--The Battle of Sharpsburg + +VI.--Lee and McClellan--their Merits in the Maryland Campaign + +VII.--Lee and his Men + +VIII.--Lee passes the Blue Ridge + +IX.--Lee concentrates at Fredericksburg + +X.--The Battle of Fredericksburg + +XI.--Final Movements of 1862 + +XII.--The Year of Battles + +XIII.--Lee in December, 1862 + + +PART VI. + +_CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG_. + + +I.--Advance of General Hooker + +II--The Wilderness + +III.--Lee's Determination + +IV.--Jackson's Attack and Fall + +V.--The Battle of Chancellorsville + +VI.--Flank Movement of General Sedgwick + +VII.--Lee's Generalship and Personal Demeanor during the Campaign + +VIII.--Personal Relations of Lee and Jackson + +IX.--Circumstances leading to the Invasion of Pennsylvania + +X.--Lee's Plans and Objects + +XI.--The Cavalry-fight at Fleetwood + +XII.--The March to Gettysburg + +XIII.--Lee in Pennsylvania + +XIV.--Concentration at Gettysburg + +XV.--The First Day's Fight at Gettysburg + +XVI.--The Two Armies in Position + +XVII.--The Second Day + +XVIII.--The Last Charge at Gettysburg + +XIX.--Lee after the Charge + +XX.--Lee's Retreat across the Potomac + +XXI.--Across the Blue Ridge again + + +PART VII. + +_LAST CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR_ 1863. + + +I.--The Cavalry of Lee's Army + +II.--Lee flanks General Meade + +III.--A Race between Two Armies + +IV.--The Fight at Buckland + +V.--The Advance to Mine Run + +VI.--Lee in the Autumn and Winter of 1863 + + +PART VIII. + +_LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGNS AND LAST DAYS_. + + +I.--General Grant crosses the Rapidan + +II.--The First Collision in the Wilderness + +III.--The Battle of the 6th of May + +IV.--The 12th of May + +V.--From Spottsylvania to the Chickahominy + +VI.--First Battles at Petersburg + +VII.--The Siege of Richmond begun + +VIII.--Lee threatens Washington + +IX.--The Mine Explosion + +X.--End of the Campaign of 1864 + +XI.--Lee in the Winter of 1864-'65 + +XII.--The Situation at the Beginning of 1865 + +XIII.--Lee attacks the Federal Centre + +XIV.--The Southern Lines broken + +XV.--Lee evacuates Petersburg + +XVI.--The Retreat and Surrender + +XVII.--Lee returns to Richmond + +XVIII.--General Lee after the War + +XIX.--General Lee's Last Years and Death + + + + +_APPENDIX_. + +I.--The Funeral of General Lee + +II.--Tributes to General Lee + + + + +A LIFE + +OF + +GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE. + + + +PART I. + +_LEE'S EARLY LIFE_, + + + + +I. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The name of Lee is beloved and respected throughout the world. Men of +all parties and opinions unite in this sentiment, not only those who +thought and fought with him, but those most violently opposed to his +political views and career. It is natural that his own people should +love and honor him as their great leader and defender in a struggle of +intense bitterness--that his old enemies should share this profound +regard and admiration is due solely to the character of the +individual. His military genius will always be conceded, and his +figure remain a conspicuous landmark in history; but this does not +account for the fact that his very enemies love the man. His private +character is the origin of this sentiment. The people of the North, no +less than the people of the South, feel that Lee was truly great; and +the harshest critic has been able to find nothing to detract from this +view of him. The soldier was great, but the man himself was greater. +No one was ever simpler, truer, or more honest. Those who knew him +best loved him the most. Reserved and silent, with a bearing of almost +austere dignity, he impressed many persons as cold and unsympathetic, +and his true character was long in revealing itself to the world. +To-day all men know what his friends knew during his life--that under +the grave exterior of the soldier, oppressed with care and anxiety, +beat a warm and kindly heart, full of an even extraordinary gentleness +and sweetness; that the man himself was not cold, or stiff, or +harsh, but patient, forbearing, charitable under many trials of his +equanimity, and magnanimous without effort, from the native impulse of +his heart. Friend and foe thus to-day regard him with much the same +sentiment, as a genuinely honest man, incapable of duplicity in +thought or deed, wholly good and sincere, inspired always under all +temptations by that _prisca fides_ which purifies and ennobles, and +resolutely bent, in the dark hour, as in the bright, on the full +performance of his duty. "Duty is the sublimest word in our language," +he wrote to his son; and, if we add that other august maxim, "Human +virtue should be equal to human calamity," we shall have in a few +words a summary of the principles which inspired Lee. + +The crowning grace of this man, who was thus not only great but good, +was the humility and trust in God, which lay at the foundation of his +character. Upon this point we shall quote the words of a gentleman of +commanding intellect, a bitter opponent of the South in the war: + +"Lee is worthy of all praise. As a man, he was fearless among men. As +a soldier, he had no superior and no equal. In the course of Nature my +career on earth may soon terminate. God grant that, When the day of +my death shall come, I may look up to Heaven with that confidence and +faith which the life and character of Robert E. Lee gave him. He +died trusting in God as a good man, with a good life, and a pure +conscience." + +He had lived, as he died, with this supreme trust in an overruling and +merciful Providence; and this sentiment, pervading his whole being, +was the origin of that august calmness with which he greeted the most +crushing disasters of his military career. His faith and humble trust +sustained him after the war, when the woes of the South wellnigh +broke his great spirit; and he calmly expired, as a weary child falls +asleep, knowing that its father is near. + +Of this eminent soldier and man whose character offers so great +an example, a memoir is attempted in this volume. The work will +necessarily be "popular" rather than full and elaborate, as the public +and private correspondence of Lee are not at this time accessible. +These will throw a fuller light on the subject; but sufficient +material is at the disposal of the writer to enable him to present an +accurate likeness of Lee, and to narrate clearly the incidents of his +career. In doing so, the aim of the author is to measure out full +justice to all--not to arouse old enmities, which should be allowed to +slumber, but to treat his subject with the judicial moderation of the +student of history. + +A few words will terminate this preface. The volume before the reader +was begun in 1866. The writer first, however, informed General Lee +of his design, and had the honor to receive from him in reply the +assurance that the work "would not interfere with any he might have in +contemplation; he had not written a line of any work as yet, and might +never do so; but, should he write a history of the campaigns of the +Army of Northern Virginia, the proposed work would be rather an +assistance than a hinderance." + +As the writer had offered promptly to discontinue the work if it were +not agreeable to General Lee, this reply was regarded in the light of +an assurance that he did not disapprove of it. The composition was, +however, interrupted, and the work laid aside. It is now resumed and +completed at a time when the death of the illustrious soldier adds a +new and absorbing interest to whatever is connected with his character +or career. + + + + +II. + +THE LEES OF VIRGINIA. + + +The Lees of Virginia spring from an ancient and respectable family of +Essex, in England. + +Of some members of the family, both in the Old World and the New, a +brief account will be given. The origin of an individual explains much +that is striking and peculiar in his own character; and it will be +found that General Lee inherited many of the traits of his ancestors, +especially of some eminent personages of his name in Virginia. + +The family pedigree is traced back by Lee, in the life of his father, +to Launcelot Lee, of London, in France, who accompanied William the +Conqueror to England. After the battle of Hastings, which subjected +England to the sway of the Normans, Launcelot Lee, like others, was +rewarded by lands wrested from the subdued Saxons. His estate lay in +Essex, and this is all that is known concerning him. Lionel Lee is the +next member of the family of whom mention is made. He lived during the +reign of Richard Coeur de Lion, and, when the king went on his third +crusade, in the year 1192, Lionel Lee raised a company of gentlemen, +and marched with him to the Holy Land. His career there was +distinguished; he displayed special gallantry at the siege of Acre, +and for this he received a solid proof of King Richard's approbation. +On his return he was made first Earl of Litchfield; the king presented +him with the estate of "Ditchley," which became the name afterward of +an estate of the Lees in Virginia; and, when he died, the armor which +he had worn in the Holy Land was placed in the department of "Horse +Armory" in the great Tower of London. + +The name of Richard Lee is next mentioned as one of the followers of +the Earl of Surrey in his expedition across the Scottish border in +1542. Two of the family about this period were "Knights Companions +of the Garter," and their banners, with the Lee arms above, were +suspended in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The coat-of-arms +was a shield "band sinister battled and embattled," the crest a closed +visor surmounted by a squirrel holding a nut. The motto, which may be +thought characteristic of one of General Lee's traits as a soldier, +was, "_Non incautus futuri_" + +Such are the brief notices given of the family in England. They seem +to have been persons of high character, and often of distinction. When +Richard Lee came to Virginia, and founded the family anew there, as +Launcelot, the first Lee, had founded it in England, he brought over +in his veins some of the best and most valiant blood of the great +Norman race. + +This Richard Lee, the _princeps_ of the family in Virginia, was, +it seems, like the rest of his kindred, strongly Cavalier in his +sentiments; indeed, the Lees seem always to have been Cavalier. The +reader will recall the stately old representative of the family in +Scott's "Woodstock"--Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley--who is seen stalking +proudly through the great apartments of the palace, in his laced +doublet, slashed boots, and velvet cloak, scowling darkly at the +Puritan intruders. Sir Henry was not a fanciful person, but a real +individual; and the political views attributed to him were those of +the Lee family, who remained faithful to the royal cause in all its +hours of adversity. + +It will be seen that Richard Lee, the first of the Virginia Lees, was +an ardent monarchist. He came over during the reign of Charles I., but +returned to England, bequeathing all his lands to his servants; he +subsequently came back to Virginia, however, and lived and died there. +In his will he styles himself "Richard Lee, of Strafford Langton, in +the County of Essex, Esquire." It is not certainly known whether he +sought refuge in Virginia after the failure of the king's cause, or +was tempted to emigrate with a view to better his fortunes in the New +World. Either may have been the impelling motive. Great numbers of +Cavaliers "came over" after the overthrow of Charles at Naseby; but a +large emigration had already taken place, and took place afterward, +induced by the salubrity of the country, the ease of living, and +the cheapness and fertility of the lands on the great rivers, where +families impoverished or of failing fortunes in England might "make +new settlements" and build on a new foundation. This would amply +account for the removal of Richard Lee to Virginia, and for the +ambition he seems to have been inspired with, to build and improve, +without attributing to him any apprehension of probable punishment for +his political course. Very many families had the first-named motives, +and commenced to build great manor-houses, which were never finished, +or were too costly for any one of their descendants to possess. The +abolition of primogeniture, despite the opposition of Pendleton and +others, overthrew all this; and the Lees, like other families, now +possess few of the broad acres which their ancestors acquired. + +To return, however, to Richard Lee. He had already visited Virginia in +some official capacity under the royal governor, Sir William Berkeley, +and had been so much pleased with the soil and climate of the country, +that he, as we have said, emigrated finally, and cast his lot in the +new land. He brought a number of followers and servants, and, coming +over to Westmoreland County, in the Northern Neck of Virginia, +"took up" extensive tracts of land there, and set about building +manor-houses upon them. + +Among these, it is stated, was the original "Stratford" House, +afterward destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, however, and became the +birthplace of Richard Henry Lee, and afterward of General Robert E. +Lee. We shall speak of it more in detail after finishing, in a few +words, our notice of Richard Lee, its founder, and the founder of the +Lee family in Virginia. He is described as a person of great force of +character and many virtues--as "a man of good stature, comely visage, +enterprising genius, sound head, vigorous spirit, and generous +nature." This may be suspected to partake of the nature of epitaph; +but, of his courage and energy, the proof remains in the action taken +by him in connection with Charles II. Inheriting, it would seem, in +full measure, the royalist and Cavalier sentiments of his family, he +united with Sir William Berkeley, the royal governor, in the irregular +proclamation of Charles II. in Virginia, a year or two before his +reinstallment on the English throne. He had already, it is reported on +the authority of well-supported tradition, made a voyage across the +Atlantic to Breda, where Charles II. was then in exile, and offered +to erect his standard in Virginia, and proclaim him king there. This +proposition the young monarch declined, shrinking, with excellent good +sense, from a renewal, under less favorable circumstances, of the +struggle which terminated at Worcester. Lee was, therefore, compelled +to return without having succeeded in his enterprise; but he had made, +it seems, a very strong impression in favor of Virginia upon the +somewhat frivolous young monarch. When he came to his throne again, +Charles II. graciously wore a coronation-robe of Virginia silk, and +Virginia, who had proved so faithful to him in the hour of his need, +was authorized, by royal decree, to rank thenceforward, in the British +empire, with England, Scotland, and Ireland, and bear upon her shield +the motto, "_En dat Virginia quartam._" + +Richard Lee returned, after his unsuccessful mission, to the Northern +Neck, and addressed himself thenceforward to the management of his +private fortunes and the affairs of the colony. He had now become +possessed of very extensive estates between the Potomac and +Rappahannock Rivers and elsewhere. Besides Stratford, he owned +plantations called "Mocke Neck," "Mathotick," "Paper-Maker's Neck," +"War Captain's Neck," "Bishop's Neck," and "Paradise," with four +thousand acres besides, on the Potomac, lands in Maryland, three +islands in Chesapeake Bay, an interest in several trading-vessels, and +innumerable indented and other servants. He became a member of the +King's Council, and lived in great elegance and comfort. That he was a +man of high character, and of notable piety for an age of free living +and worldly tendencies, his will shows. In that document he bequeaths +his soul "to that good and gracious God that gave it me, and to my +blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, assuredly trusting, in and by His +meritorious death and passion, to receive salvation." + +The attention of the reader has been particularly called to the +character and career of Richard Lee, not only because he was the +founder of the family in Virginia, but because the traits of the +individual reappear very prominently in the great soldier whose life +is the subject of this volume. The coolness, courage, energy, +and aptitude for great affairs, which marked Richard Lee in the +seventeenth century, were unmistakably present in the character of +Robert E. Lee in the nineteenth century. + +We shall conclude our notice of the family by calling attention to +that great group of celebrated men who illustrated the name in the +days of the Revolution, and exhibited the family characteristics as +clearly. These were Richard Henry Lee, of Chantilly, the famous orator +and statesman, who moved in the American Congress the Declaration of +Independence; Francis Lightfoot Lee, a scholar of elegant attainments +and high literary accomplishments, who signed, with his more renowned +brother, the Declaration; William Lee, who became Sheriff of London, +and ably seconded the cause of the colonies; and Arthur Lee, +diplomatist and representative of America abroad, where he displayed, +as his diplomatic correspondence indicates, untiring energy and +devotion to the interests of the colonies. The last of these brothers +was Philip Ludwell Lee, whose daughter Matilda married her second +cousin, General Henry Lee. This gentleman, afterward famous as +"Light-Horse Harry" Lee, married a second time, and from this union +sprung the subject of this memoir. + + + + +III. + +GENERAL "LIGHT-HORSE HARRY" LEE. + + +This celebrated soldier, who so largely occupied the public eye in the +Revolution, is worthy of notice, both as an eminent member of the Lee +family, and as the father of General Robert E. Lee. + +He was born in 1756, in the county of Westmoreland--which boasts of +being the birthplace of Washington, Monroe, Richard Henry Lee, General +Henry Lee, and General Robert E. Lee, Presidents, statesmen, and +soldiers--and, after graduating at Princeton College, entered the +army, in 1776, as captain of cavalry, an arm of the service afterward +adopted by his more celebrated descendant, in the United States army. +He soon displayed military ability of high order, and, for the capture +of Paulus's Hook, received a gold medal from Congress. In 1781 he +marched with his "Legion" to join Greene in the Carolinas, carrying +with him the high esteem of Washington, who had witnessed his skilful +and daring operations in the Jerseys. His career in the arduous +campaigns of the South against Cornwallis, and the efficient commander +of his cavalry arm. Colonel Tarleton, may be best understood from +General Greene's dispatches, and from his own memoirs of the +operations of the army, which are written with as much modesty as +ability. From these it is apparent that the small body of the "Legion" +cavalry, under its active and daring commander, was the "eye and ear" +of Greene's army, whose movements it accompanied everywhere, preceding +its advances and covering its retreats. Few pages of military history +are more stirring than those in Lee's "Memoirs" describing Greene's +retrograde movement to the Dan; and this alone, if the hard work at +the Eutaws and elsewhere were left out, would place Lee's fame as a +cavalry officer upon a lasting basis. The distinguished soldier under +whose eye the Virginian operated did full justice to his courage and +capacity. "I believe," wrote Greene, "that few officers, either in +Europe or America, are held in so high a position of admiration as you +are. Everybody knows I have the highest opinion of you as an officer, +and you know I love you as a friend. No man, in the progress of the +campaign, had equal merit with yourself." The officer who wrote those +lines was not a courtier nor a diplomatist, but a blunt and honest +soldier who had seen Lee's bearing in the most arduous straits, +and was capable of appreciating military ability. Add Washington's +expression of his "love and thanks," in a letter written in 1789, +and the light in which he was regarded by his contemporaries will be +understood. + +His "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department" is a valuable +military history and a very interesting book. The movements of Greene +in face of Cornwallis are described with a precision which renders the +narrative valuable to military students, and a picturesqueness which +rivets the attention of the general reader. From these memoirs a +very clear conception of the writer's character may be derived, and +everywhere in them is felt the presence of a cool and dashing nature, +a man gifted with the _mens aequa in arduis_, whom no reverse of +fortune could cast down. The fairness and courtesy of the writer +toward his opponents is an attractive characteristic of the work,[1] +which is written with a simplicity and directness of style highly +agreeable to readers of judgment.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See his observations upon the source of his successes +over Tarleton, full of the generous spirit of a great soldier. He +attributes them in no degree to his own military ability, but to the +superior character of his large, thorough-bred horses, which rode over +Tarleton's inferior stock. He does not state that the famous "Legion" +numbered only two hundred and fifty men, and that Tarleton commanded a +much larger force of the best cavalry of the British army.] + +[Footnote 2: A new edition of this work, preceded by a life of the +author, was published by General Robert E. Lee in 1869.] + +After the war General Henry Lee served a term in Congress; was then +elected Governor of Virginia; returned in 1799 to Congress; and, in +his oration upon the death of Washington, employed the well-known +phrase, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of +his countrymen." He died in Georgia, in the year 1818, having made a +journey thither for the benefit of his health. + +General Henry Lee was married twice; first, as we have said, to his +cousin Matilda, through whom he came into possession of the old family +estate of Stratford; and a second time, June 18,1793, to Miss Anne +Hill Carter, a daughter of Charles Carter, Esq., of "Shirley," on +James River. + +The children of this second marriage were three sons and two +daughters--Charles Carter, _Robert Edward_, Smith, Ann, and Mildred. + +[Illustration: "STRATFORD HOUSE." The Birthplace of Gen. Lee.] + + + + +IV. + +STRATFORD. + + +Robert Edward Lee was born at Stratford, in Westmoreland County, +Virginia, on the 19th of January, 1807.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The date of General Lee's birth has been often given +incorrectly. The authority for that here adopted is the entry in the +family Bible, in the handwriting of his mother.] + +Before passing to Lee's public career, and the narrative of the stormy +scenes of his after-life, let us pause a moment and bestow a glance +upon this ancient mansion, which is still standing--a silent and +melancholy relic of the past--in the remote "Northern Neck." As the +birthplace of a great man, it would demand attention; but it has other +claims still, as a venerable memorial of the past and its eminent +personages, one of the few remaining monuments of a state of society +that has disappeared or is disappearing. + +The original Stratford House is supposed, as we have said, to have +been built by Richard Lee, the first of the family in the New World. +Whoever may have been its founder, it was destroyed in the time of +Thomas Lee, an eminent representative of the name, early in the +eighteenth century. Thomas Lee was a member of the King's Council, a +gentleman of great popularity; and, when it was known that his house +had been burned, contributions were everywhere made to rebuild it. The +Governor, the merchants of the colony, and even Queen Anne in person, +united in this subscription; the house speedily rose again, at a +cost of about eighty thousand dollars; and this is the edifice still +standing in Westmoreland. The sum expended in its construction must +not be estimated in the light of to-day. At that time the greater part +of the heavy work in house-building was performed by servants of the +manor; it is fair, indeed, to say that the larger part of the work +thus cost nothing in money; and thus the eighty thousand dollars +represented only the English brick, the carvings, furniture, and +decorations. + +The construction of such an edifice had at that day a distinct object. +These great old manor-houses, lost in the depths of the country, were +intended to become the headquarters of the family in all time. +In their large apartments the eldest son was to uphold the name. +Generation after generation was to pass, and some one of the old name +still live there; and though all this has passed away now, and +may appear a worn-out superstition, and, though some persons may +stigmatize it as contributing to the sentiment of "aristocracy," the +strongest opponents of that old system may pardon in us the expression +of some regret that this love of the hearthstone and old family +memories should have disappeared. The great man whose character is +sought to be delineated in this volume never lost to the last this +home and family sentiment. He knew the kinships of every one, and +loved the old country-houses of the old Virginia families--plain and +honest people, attached, like himself, to the Virginia soil. We pass +to a brief description of the old house in which Lee was born. + +Stratford, the old home of the Lees, but to-day the property of +others, stands on a picturesque bluff on the southern bank of the +Potomac, and is a house of very considerable size. It is built in the +form of the letter H. The walls are several feet in thickness; in the +centre is a saloon thirty feet in size; and surmounting each wing is a +pavilion with balustrades, above which rise clusters of chimneys. The +front door is reached by a broad flight of steps, and the grounds are +handsome, and variegated by the bright foliage of oaks, cedars, and +maple-trees. Here and there in the extensive lawn rises a slender and +ghostly old Lombardy poplar--a tree once a great favorite in Virginia, +but now seen only here and there, the relic of a past generation. + +Within, the Stratford House is as antique as without, and, with its +halls, corridors, wainscoting, and ancient mouldings, takes the +visitor back to the era of powder and silk stockings. Such was the +mansion to which General Harry Lee came to live after the Revolution, +and the sight of the old home must have been dear to the soldier's +heart. Here had flourished three generations of Lees, dispensing a +profuse and open-handed hospitality. In each generation some one of +the family had distinguished himself, and attracted the "best company" +to Stratford; the old walls had rung with merriment; the great door +was wide open; everybody was welcome; and one could see there a good +illustration of a long-passed manner of living, which had at least the +merit of being hearty, open-handed, and picturesque. General Harry +Lee, the careless soldier, partook of the family tendency to +hospitality; he kept open house, entertained all comers, and hence, +doubtless, sprung the pecuniary embarrassments embittering an old age +which his eminent public services should have rendered serene and +happy. + +Our notice of Stratford may appear unduly long to some readers, but it +is not without a distinct reference to the subject of this volume. In +this quiet old mansion--and in the very apartment where Richard Henry +and Francis Lightfoot Lee first saw the light--Robert E. Lee was born. +The eyes of the child fell first upon the old apartments, the great +grounds, the homely scenes around the old country-house--upon the tall +Lombardy poplars and the oaks, through which passed the wind bearing +to his ears the murmur of the Potomac. + +He left the old home of his family before it could have had any very +great effect upon him, it would seem; but it is impossible to estimate +these first influences, to decide the depth of the impression which +the child's heart is capable of receiving. The bright eyes of young +Robert Lee must have seen much around him to interest him and shape +his first views. Critics charged him with family pride sometimes; +if he possessed that virtue or failing, the fact was not strange. +Stratford opened before his childish eyes a memorial of the old +splendor of the Lees. He saw around him old portraits, old plate, and +old furniture, telling plainly of the ancient origin and high position +of his family. Old parchments contained histories of the deeds of his +race; old genealogical trees traced their line far back into the past; +old servants, grown gray in the house, waited upon the child; and, in +a corner of one of the great apartments, an old soldier, gray, too, +and shattered in health, once the friend of Washington and Greene, was +writing the history of the battles in which he had drawn his sword for +his native land. + +Amid these scenes and surroundings passed the first years of Robert +E. Lee. They must have made their impression upon his character at +a period when the mind takes every new influence, and grows in +accordance with it; and, to the last, the man remained simple, hearty, +proud, courteous--the _country Virginian_ in all the texture of his +character. He always rejoiced to visit the country; loved horses; was +an excellent rider; was fond of plain country talk, jests, humorous +anecdote, and chit-chat--was the plain country gentleman, in a word, +preferring grass and trees and streams to all the cities and crowds in +the world. In the last year of his life he said to a lady: "My visits +to Florida and the White Sulphur have not benefited me much; but it +did me good to go to the White House, and see _the mules walking +round, and the corn growing_." + +We notice a last result of the child's residence now, or visits +afterward to the country, and the sports in which he indulged--the +superb physical health and strength which remained unshaken afterward +by all the hardships of war. Lee, to the last, was a marvel of sound +physical development; his frame was as solid as oak, and stood the +strain of exhausting marches, loss of sleep, hunger, thirst, heat, and +cold, without failing him. + +When he died, it was care which crushed his heart; his health was +perfect. + + + + +V. + +LEE'S EARLY MANHOOD AND CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. + + +Of Lee's childhood we have no memorials, except the words of his +father, long afterward. + +"_Robert was always good_," wrote General Henry Lee.[1] + +[Footnote 1: To C.C. Lee, February 9, 1817.] + +That is all; but the words indicate much--that the good man was +"always good." It will be seen that, when he went to West Point, he +never received a demerit. The good boy was the good young officer, and +became, in due time, the good commander-in-chief. + +In the year 1811 General Henry Lee left Stratford, and removed with +his family to Alexandria, actuated, it seems, by the desire of +affording his children facilities for gaining their education. After +his death, in 1818, Mrs. Lee continued to reside in Alexandria; was +a communicant of Christ Church; and her children were taught the +Episcopal catechism by young William Meade, eventually Bishop of +Virginia. We shall see how Bishop Meade, long afterward, recalled +those early days, when he and his pupil, young Robert Lee, were +equally unknown--how, when about to die, just as the war began +in earnest, he sent for the boy he had once instructed, now the +gray-haired soldier, and, when he came to the bedside, exclaimed: "God +bless you, Robert! I can't call you 'general'--I have heard you your +catechism too often!" + +Alexandria continued to be the residence of the family until the young +man was eighteen years of age, when it was necessary for him to make +choice of a profession; and, following the bent of his temperament, he +chose the army. Application was made for his appointment from Virginia +as a cadet at West Point. He obtained the appointment, and, in 1825, +at the age of eighteen, entered the Military Academy. His progress in +his studies was steady, and it is said that, during his stay at West +Point, he was never reprimanded, nor marked with a "demerit." He +graduated, in July, 1829, second in his class, and was assigned to +duty, with the rank of lieutenant, in the corps of Engineers. + +[Illustration: R.E. LEE, AS A YOUNG OFFICER New York D Apololay & Co.] + +He is described, by those who saw him at this time, as a young man of +great personal beauty; and this is probably not an exaggeration, as he +remained to the last distinguished for the elegance and dignity of +his person. He had not yet lost what the cares of command afterward +banished--his gayety and _abandon_--and was noted, it is said, for the +sweetness of his smile and the cordiality of his manners. The person +who gave the writer these details added, "He was a perfect gentleman." +Three years after graduating at West Point--in the year 1832--he +married Mary Custis, daughter of Mr. George Washington Parke Custis, +of Arlington, the adopted son of General Washington; and by this +marriage he came into possession of the estate of Arlington and the +White House--points afterward well known in the war. + +The life of Lee up to the beginning of the great conflict of 1861-'65 +is of moderate interest only, and we shall not dwell at length upon +it. He was employed on the coast defences, in New York and Virginia; +and, in 1835, in running the boundary line between the States of Ohio +and Michigan. In September, 1836, he was promoted to the rank of first +lieutenant; in July, 1838, to a captaincy; in 1844 he became a member +of the Board of Visitors to the Military Academy; in 1845 he was a +member of the Board of Engineers; and in 1846, when the Mexican War +broke out, was assigned to duty as chief engineer of the Central Army +of Mexico, in which capacity he served to the end of the war. + +Up to the date of the Mexican War, Captain Lee had attracted no public +attention, but had impressed the military authorities, including +General Winfield Scott, with a favorable opinion of his ability as a +topographical engineer. For this department of military science he +exhibited endowments of the first class--what other faculties of the +soldier he possessed, it remained for events to show. This opportunity +was now given him in the Mexican War; and the efficient character of +his services may be seen in Scott's Autobiography, where "Captain Lee, +of the Engineers," is mentioned in every report, and everywhere with +commendation. From the beginning of operations, the young officer +seems to have been summoned to the councils of war, and General Scott +particularly mentions that held at Vera Cruz--so serious an affair, +that "a death-bed discussion could hardly have been more solemn." +The passages in which the lieutenant-general mentions Lee are too +numerous, and not of sufficient interest to quote, but two entries +will exhibit the general tenor of this "honorable mention." After +Cerro Gordo, Scott writes, in his official report of the battle: "I am +compelled to make special mention of Captain R.E. Lee, engineer. This +officer greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Vera Cruz; was +again indefatigable during these operations, in reconnoissance as +daring, as laborious, and of the utmost value." After Chapultepec, he +wrote: "Captain Lee, so constantly distinguished, also bore important +orders for me (September 13th), until he fainted from a wound, and the +loss of two nights' sleep at the batteries." + +We may add here the statement of the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, that he +"had heard General Scott more than once say that his success in Mexico +was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. +Lee." + +For these services Lee received steady promotion. For meritorious +conduct at Cerro Gordo, he was made brevet major; for the same at +Contreras and Cherubusco, brevet lieutenant-colonel; and, +after Chapultepec, he received the additional brevet of +colonel--distinctions fairly earned by energy and courage. + +When the war ended, Lee returned to his former duties in the Engineer +Corps of the U.S.A., and was placed in charge of the works, then +in process of construction, at Fort Carroll, near Baltimore. His +assignment to the duty of thus superintending the military defences +of Hampton Roads, New York Bay, and the approaches to Baltimore, in +succession, would seem to indicate that his abilities as engineer were +highly esteemed. Of his possession of such ability there can be no +doubt. The young officer was not only thoroughly trained in this high +department of military science, but had for his duties unmistakable +natural endowments. This fact was clearly indicated on many occasions +in the Confederate struggle--his eye for positions never failed him. +It is certain that, had Lee never commanded troops in the field, he +would have left behind him the reputation of an excellent engineer. + +In 1855 he was called for the first time to command men, for his +duties hitherto had been those of military engineer, astronomer, or +staff-officer. The act of Congress directing that two new cavalry +regiments should be raised excited an ardent desire in the officers of +the army to receive appointments in them, and Lee was transferred from +his place of engineer to the post of lieutenant-colonel in the Second +Cavalry, one of the regiments in question. The extraordinary number +of names of officers in this regiment who afterward became famous +is worthy of notice. The colonel was Albert Sydney Johnston; the +lieutenant-colonel, R.E. Lee; the senior major, William J. Hardee; the +junior major, George H. Thomas; the senior captain, Earl Yan Dorn; +the next ranking captain, Kirby Smith; the lieutenants, Hood, Fields, +Cosby, Major, Fitzhugh Lee, Johnson, Palmer, and Stoneman, all of +whom became general officers afterward on the Southern side, with the +exception of Thomas, and the three last named, who became prominent +generals in the Federal army. It is rare that such a constellation of +famous names is found in the list of officers of a single regiment. +The explanation is, nevertheless simple. Positions in the new +regiments were eagerly coveted by the best soldiers of the army, and, +in appointing the officers, those of conspicuous ability only were +selected. The Second Regiment of cavalry thus became the _corps +d'élite_ of the United States Army; and, after Albert Sydney Johnston, +Robert E. Lee was the ranking officer. + +Lee proceeded with his regiment to Texas, remaining there for several +years on frontier duty, and does not reappear again until 1859. + +Such was the early career in the army of the soldier soon to +become famous on a greater theatre--that of a thoroughly-trained, +hard-working, and conscientious officer. With the single exception +of his brief record in the Mexican War, his life had been passed in +official duties, unconnected with active military operations. He +was undoubtedly what is called a "rising man," but he had had no +opportunity to display the greatest faculties of the soldier. The +time was coming now when he was to be tested, and the measure of his +faculties taken in one of the greatest wars which darken the pages of +history. + +A single incident of public importance marks the life of Lee between +1855 and 1861. This was what is known to the world as the "John Brown +raid"--an incident of the year 1859, and preluding the approaching +storm. This occurrence is too well known to require a minute account +in these pages, and we shall accordingly pass over it briefly, +indicating simply the part borne in the affair by Lee. He was in +Washington at the time--the fall of 1859--on a visit to his family, +then residing at Arlington, near the city, when intelligence came that +a party of desperadoes had attacked and captured Harper's Ferry, with +the avowed intent of arming and inciting to insurrection the slaves +of the neighborhood and entire State. Lee was immediately, thereupon, +directed by President Buchanan to proceed to the point of danger and +arrest the rioters. He did so promptly; found upon his arrival that +Brown and his confederates had shut themselves up in an engine-house +of the town, with a number of their prisoners. Brown was summoned to +surrender, to be delivered over to the authorities for civil trial--he +refused; and Lee then proceeded to assault, with a force of marines, +the stronghold to which Brown had retreated. The doors were driven in, +Brown firing upon the assailants and killing or wounding two; but he +and his men were cut down and captured; they were turned over to the +Virginia authorities, and Lee, having performed the duty assigned him +returned to Washington, and soon afterward to Texas. + +He remained there, commanding the department, until the early spring +of 1861. He was then recalled to Washington at the moment when the +conflict between the North and the South was about to commence. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND SCOTT. + + +Lee found the country burning as with fever, and the air hot with +contending passions. The animosity, long smouldering between the two +sections, was about to burst into the flame of civil war; all men were +taking sides; the war of discussion on the floor of Congress was +about to yield to the clash of bayonets and the roar of cannon on the +battle-field. + +Any enumeration of the causes which led to this unhappy state of +affairs would be worse than useless in a volume like the present. Even +less desirable would be a discussion of the respective blame to be +attached to each of the great opponents in inaugurating the bitter and +long-continued struggle. Such a discussion would lead to nothing, and +would probably leave every reader of the same opinion as before. It +would also be the repetition of a worn-out and wearisome story. These +events are known of all men; for the political history of the United +States, from 1820, when the slavery agitation began, on the question +of the Missouri restriction, to 1861, when it ended in civil +convulsion, has been discussed, rediscussed, and discussed again, in +every journal, great and small, in the whole country. The person who +is not familiar, therefore, with the main points at issue, must be +ignorant beyond the power of any writer to enlighten him. We need +only say that the election of Abraham Lincoln, the nominee of the +Republican party, had determined the Gulf States to leave the Union. +South Carolina accordingly seceded, on the 20th of December, 1860; and +by the 1st of February, 1861, she had been followed by Mississippi, +Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The struggle thus +approached. Military movements began at many points, like those +distant flashes of lightning and vague mutterings which herald the +tempest. Early in February Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was +elected President of the Confederate States, at Montgomery. On the +13th of April Fort Sumter surrendered to General Beauregard, and +on the next day, April 14, 1861, President Lincoln issued his +proclamation declaring the Gulf States in rebellion, and calling upon +the States which had not seceded for seventy-five thousand men to +enforce the Federal authority. + +Tip to this time the older State of Virginia had persistently resisted +secession. Her refusal to array herself against the General Government +had been based upon an unconquerable repugnance, it seemed, for the +dissolution of that Union which she had so long loved; from real +attachment to the flag which she had done so much to make honorable, +and from a natural indisposition to rush headlong into a conflict +whose whole fury would burst upon and desolate her own soil. The +proclamation of President Lincoln, however, decided her course. The +convention had obdurately refused, week after week, to pass the +ordinance of secession. Now the naked question was, whether Virginia +should fight with or against her sisters of the Gulf States. She was +directed to furnish her quota of the seventy-five thousand troops +called for by President Lincoln, and must decide at once. On the 17th +of April, 1861, accordingly, an ordinance of secession passed the +Virginia Convention, and that Commonwealth cast her fortunes for weal +or woe with the Southern Confederacy. + +Such is a brief and rapid summary of the important public events which +had preceded, or immediately followed, Lee's return to Washington in +March, 1861. A grave, and to him a very solemn, question demanded +instant decision. Which side should he espouse--the side of the United +States or that of the South? To choose either caused him acute pain. +The attachment of the soldier to his flag is greater than the civilian +can realize, and Lee had before him the brightest military prospects. +The brief record which we have presented of his military career in +Mexico conveys a very inadequate idea of the position which he had +secured in the army. He was regarded by the authorities at Washington, +and by the country at large, as the ablest and most promising of +all the rising class of army officers. Upon General Winfield Scott, +Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, he had made an impression +which is the most striking proof of his great merit. General Scott was +enthusiastic in his expressions of admiration for the young Virginian; +and with the death of that general, which his great age rendered a +probable event at any moment, Lee was sure to become a candidate for +the highest promotion in the service. To this his great ability gave +him a title at the earliest possible moment; and other considerations +operated to advance his fortunes. He was conceded by all to be a +person of the highest moral character; was the descendant of an +influential and distinguished family, which had rendered important +services to the country in the Revolution; his father had been the +friend of Washington, and had achieved the first glories of arms, and +the ample estates derived from his wife gave him that worldly prestige +which has a direct influence upon the fortunes of an individual. +Colonel Lee could thus look forward, without the imputation of +presumption, to positions of the highest responsibility and honor +under the Government. With the death of Scott, and other aged officers +of the army, the place of commander-in-chief would fall to the most +deserving of the younger generation; and of this generation there was +no one so able and prominent as Lee.[1] + +[Footnote 1: "General Scott stated his purpose to recommend Lee as his +successor in the chief command of the army."--_Hon. Reverdy Johnson_.] + +The personal relations of Lee with General Scott constituted another +powerful temptation to decide him against going over to the Southern +side. We have referred to the great admiration which the old soldier +felt for the young officer. He is said to have exclaimed on one +occasion: "It would be better for every officer in the army, including +myself, to die than Robert Lee." There seems no doubt of the fact that +Scott looked to Lee as his ultimate successor in the supreme command, +for which his character and military ability peculiarly fitted him. +Warm personal regard gave additional strength to his feelings in +Lee's favor; and the consciousness of this regard on the part of his +superior made it still more difficult for Lee to come to a decision. + + + + +VII. + +LEE RESIGNS. + + +It is known that General Scott used every argument to persuade Lee not +to resign. To retain him in the service, he had been appointed, on his +arrival at Washington, a full colonel, and in 1860 his name had been +sent in, with others, by Scott, as a proper person to fill the vacancy +caused by the death of Brigadier-General Jessup. To these tempting +intimations that rapid promotion would attend his adherence to the +United States flag, Scott added personal appeals, which, coming from +him, must have been almost irresistible. + +"For God's sake, don't resign, Lee!" the lieutenant-general is said +to have exclaimed. And, in the protracted interviews which took place +between the two officers, every possible argument was urged by the +elder to decide Lee to remain firm. + +The attempt was in vain. Lee's attachment to the flag he had so long +fought under, and his personal affection for General Scott, were +great, but his attachment to his native State was still more powerful. +By birth a Virginian, he declared that he owed his first duty to her +and his own people. If she summoned him, he must obey the summons. As +long as she remained in the Union he might remain in the United States +Army. When she seceded from the Union, and took part with the Gulf +States, he must follow her fortunes, and do his part in defending her. +The struggle had been bitter, but brief. "My husband has wept tears of +blood," Mrs. Lee wrote to a friend, "over this terrible war; but he +must, as a man and a Virginian, share the destiny of his State, which +has solemnly pronounced for independence." + +The secession of Virginia, by a vote of the convention assembled +at Richmond, decided Lee in his course. He no longer hesitated. To +General Scott's urgent appeals not to send in his resignation, he +replied: "I am compelled to. I cannot consult my own feelings in this +matter." He accordingly wrote to General Scott from Arlington, on +the 20th of April, enclosing his resignation. The letter was in the +following words: + + GENERAL: Since my interview with you, on the 18th instant, I have + felt that I ought not longer to retain my commission in the army. + I therefore tender my resignation, which I request you will + recommend for acceptance. It would have been presented at once but + for the struggle it has cost me to separate myself from a service + to which I have devoted all the best years of my life, and all the + ability I possessed. + + During the whole of that time--more than a quarter of a century--I + have experienced nothing but kindness from my superiors, and the + most cordial friendship from my comrades. To no one, general, have + I been as much indebted as to yourself for uniform kindness and + consideration, and it has always been my ardent desire to merit + your approbation. I shall carry to the grave the most grateful + recollections of your kind consideration, and your name and fame + will always be dear to me. + + Save in defence of my native State, I never desire again to draw + my sword. Be pleased to accept my most earnest wishes for the + continuance of your happiness and prosperity, and believe me, most + truly yours, + + R.E. LEE. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, _Commanding United + States Army_. + +In this letter, full of dignity and grave courtesy, Lee vainly +attempts to hide the acute pain he felt at parting from his friend and +abandoning the old service. Another letter, written on the same day, +expresses the same sentiment of painful regret: + + ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, _April 20,1861_. + + MY DEAR SISTER: I am grieved at my inability to see you ... I have + been waiting "for a more convenient season," which has brought to + many before me deep and lasting regret. Now we are in a state of + war which will yield to nothing. The whole South is in a state of + revolution, into which Virginia, after a long struggle, has been + drawn, and, _though I recognize no necessity for this state of + things_, and would have forborne and pleaded to the end for + redress of grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own person I + had to meet the question, _whether I should take part against my + native State_. With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling + of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able + to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my + children, my home. I have, therefore, resigned my commission + in the army, and, save in defence of my native State, with the + sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I + may never be called on to draw my sword. + + I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as + you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought + right. To show you the feeling and struggle it has cost me, I send + a copy of my letter to General Scott, which accompanied my letter + of resignation. I have no time for more.... May God guard and + protect you and yours, and shower upon you every blessing, is the + prayer of your devoted brother, + + R.E. LEE. + +The expression used in this letter--"though I recognize no necessity +for this state of things"--conveys very clearly the political +sentiments of the writer. He did not regard the election of a +Republican President, even by a strictly sectional vote, as sufficient +ground for a dissolution of the Union. It may be added here, that +such, we believe, was the opinion of a large number of Southern +officers at that time. Accustomed to look to the flag as that which +they were called upon to defend against all comers, they were loath to +admit the force of the reasoning which justified secession, and called +upon them to abandon it. Their final action seems to have been taken +from the same considerations which controlled the course of Lee. Their +States called them, and they obeyed. + +In resigning his commission and going over to the South, Lee +sacrificed his private fortunes, in addition to all his hopes of +future promotion in the United States Army. His beautiful home, +Arlington, situated upon the heights opposite Washington, must be +abandoned forever, and fall into the hands of the enemy. This old +mansion was a model of peaceful loveliness and attraction. "All +around here," says a writer, describing the place, "Arlington Heights +presents a lovely picture of rural beauty. The 'General Lee house,' +as some term it, stands on a grassy lot, surrounded with a grove of +stately trees and underwood, except in front, where is a verdant +sloping ground for a few rods, when it descends into a valley, +spreading away in beautiful and broad expanse to the lovely Potomac. +This part of the splendid estate is apparently a highly-cultivated +meadow, the grass waving in the gentle breeze, like the undulating +bosom of Old Atlantic. To the south, north, and west, the grounds are +beautifully diversified into hill and valley, and richly stored with +oak, willow, and maple, though the oak is the principal wood. The view +from the height is a charming picture. Washington, Georgetown, and the +intermediate Potomac, are all before you in the foreground." + +In this old mansion crowning the grassy hill, the young officer had +passed the happiest moments of his life. All around him were spots +associated with his hours of purest enjoyment. Each object in the +house--the old furniture and very table-sets--recalled the memory of +Washington, and were dear to him. Here were many pieces of the "Martha +Washington china," portions of the porcelain set presented to Mrs. +Washington by Lafayette and others--in the centre of each piece the +monogram "M.W." with golden rays diverging to the names of the old +thirteen States. Here were also fifty pieces, remnants of the set +of one thousand, procured from China by the Cincinnati Society, and +presented to Washington--articles of elaborate decoration in blue and +gold, "with the coat-of-arms of the society, held by Fame, with a blue +ribbon, from which is suspended the eagle of the order, with a green +wreath about its neck, and on its breast a shield representing the +inauguration of the order." Add to these the tea-table used by +Washington and one of his bookcases; old portraits, antique furniture, +and other memorials of the Lee family from Stratford--let the reader +imagine the old mansion stored with these priceless relics, and he +will understand with what anguish Lee must have contemplated what came +duly to pass, the destruction, by rude hands, of objects so dear to +him. That he must have foreseen the fate of his home is certain. To +take sides with Virginia was to give up Arlington to its fate. + +There is no proof, however, that this sacrifice of his personal +fortunes had any effect upon him. If he could decide to change his +flag, and dissolve every tie which bound him to the old service, he +could sacrifice all else without much regret. No one will be found to +say that the hope of rank or emolument in the South influenced him. +The character and whole career of the man contradict the idea. His +ground of action may be summed up in a single sentence. He went with +his State because he believed it was his duty to do so, and because, +to ascertain what was his duty, and perform it, was the cardinal maxim +of his life. + + + + +VIII. + +HIS RECEPTION AT RICHMOND. + + +No sooner had intelligence of Lee's resignation of his commission +in the United States Army reached Richmond, than Governor Letcher +appointed him major-general of the military forces of Virginia. The +appointment was confirmed by the convention, rather by acclamation +than formal vote; and on the 23d of April, Lee, who had meanwhile +left Washington and repaired to Richmond, was honored by a formal +presentation to the convention. + +The address of President Janney was eloquent, and deserves to be +preserved. Lee stood in the middle aisle, and the president, rising, +said: + + "MAJOR-GENERAL LEE: In the name of the people of our native State, + here represented, I bid you a cordial and heart-felt welcome to + this hall, in which we may almost yet hear the echoes of the + voices of the statesmen, the soldiers, and sages of by-gone days, + who have borne your name, and whose blood now flows in your veins. + + "We met in the month of February last, charged with the solemn + duty of protecting the rights, the honor, and the interests of the + people of this Commonwealth. We differed for a time as to the best + means of accomplishing that object, but there never was, at any + moment, a shade of difference among us as to the great object + itself; and now, Virginia having taken her position, as far as + the power of this convention extends, we stand animated by one + impulse, governed by one desire and one determination, and that + is, that she shall be defended, and that no spot of her soil shall + be polluted by the foot of an invader. + + "When the necessity became apparent of having a leader for our + forces, all hearts and all eyes, by the impulse of an instinct + which is a surer guide than reason itself, turned to the old + county of Westmoreland. We knew how prolific she had been in other + days of heroes and statesmen. We knew she had given birth to the + Father of his Country, to Richard Henry Lee, to Monroe, and last, + though not least, to your own gallant father, and we knew well, by + your deeds, that her productive power was not yet exhausted. + + "Sir, we watched with the most profound and intense interest the + triumphal march of the army led by General Scott, to which you + were attached, from Vera Cruz to the capital of Mexico. We read of + the sanguinary conflicts and the blood-stained fields, in all + of which victory perched upon our own banners. We knew of the + unfading lustre that was shed upon the American arms by that + campaign, and we know, also, what your modesty has always + disclaimed, that no small share of the glory of those achievements + was due to your valor and your military genius. + + "Sir, one of the proudest recollections of my life will be the + honor that I yesterday had of submitting to this body confirmation + of the nomination, made by the Governor of this State, of you + as commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of this + Commonwealth. I rose to put the question, and when I asked if this + body would advise and consent to that appointment, there rushed + from the hearts to the tongues of all the members an affirmative + response, which told with an emphasis that could leave no doubt + of the feeling whence it emanated. I put the negative of the + question, for form's sake, but there was an unbroken silence. + + "Sir, we have, by this unanimous vote, expressed our convictions + that you are at this day, among the living citizens of Virginia, + 'first in war.' We pray to God most fervently that you may so + conduct the operations committed to your Charge that it may soon + be said of you that you are 'first in peace,' and when that time + comes you will have earned the still prouder distinction of being + 'first in the hearts of your countrymen.'" + +The president concluded by saying that Virginia on that day intrusted +her spotless sword to Lee's keeping, and Lee responded as follows: + +"MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: Profoundly impressed +with the solemnity of the occasion, for which I must say I was not +prepared, I accept the position assigned me by your partiality. I +would have much preferred had your choice fallen upon an abler man. +Trusting in Almighty God, an approving conscience, and the aid of my +fellow-citizens, I devote myself to the service of my native State, in +whose behalf alone will I ever again draw my sword." + +Such were the modest and dignified expressions of Lee in accepting the +great trust. The reply is brief and simple, but these are very great +merits on such an occasion. No portion of the address contains a +phrase or word denunciatory of the Federal Government, or of the +motives of the opponents of Virginia; and this moderation and absence +of all rancor characterized the utterances of Lee, both oral and +written, throughout the war. He spoke, doubtless, as he felt, and +uttered no expression of heated animosity, because he cherished no +such sentiment. His heart was bleeding still from the cruel trial it +had undergone in abruptly tearing away from the old service to embark +upon civil war; with the emotions of the present occasion, excited by +the great ovation in his honor, no bitterness mingled--or at least, if +there were such bitterness in his heart, he did not permit it to rise +to his lips. He accepted the trust confided to him in terms of dignity +and moderation, worthy of Washington; exchanged grave salutations with +the members of the convention; and then, retiring from the hall where +he had solemnly consecrated his life to his native Commonwealth, +proceeded at once to energetic work to get the State in a posture of +defence. + +The sentiment of the country in reference to Lee was even warmer than +that of the convention. For weeks, reports had been rife that he had +determined to adhere to the Federal Government in the approaching +struggle. Such an event, it was felt by all, would be a public +calamity to Virginia; and the general joy may be imagined when it was +known that Lee had resigned and come to fight with his own people. He +assumed command, therefore, of all the Virginia forces, in the +midst of universal public rejoicing; and the fact gave strength +and consistency to the general determination to resist the Federal +Government to the last. + + + + +IX. + +LEE IN 1861. + + +At this time--April, 1861--General Lee was fifty-four years of age, +and may be said to have been in the ripe vigor of every faculty. +Physically and intellectually he was "at his best," and in the bloom +of manhood. His figure was erect, and he bore himself with the brief, +somewhat stiff air of command derived from his military education +and service in the army. This air of the professional soldier, which +characterized generally the graduates of West Point, was replaced +afterward by a grave dignity, the result of high command and great +responsibilities. In April, 1861, however, he was rather the ordinary +army officer in bearing than the commander-in-chief. + +He had always been remarkable for his manly beauty, both of face and +figure, and the cares of great command had not yet whitened his hair. +There was not a gray hair in his head, and his mustache was dark and +heavy. The rest of his face was clean-shaven, and his cheeks had that +fresh, ruddy hue which indicates high physical health. This was not at +that time or afterward the result of high living. Of all the prominent +personages of his epoch. Lee was, perhaps, the most temperate. He +rarely drank even so much as a single glass of wine, and it was a +matter of general notoriety in the army afterward, that he cared not +what he ate. The ruddy appearance which characterized him from first +to last was the result of the most perfectly-developed physical +health, which no species of indulgence had ever impaired. He used no +tobacco then or afterward, in any shape--that seductive weed which has +been called "the soldier's comfort"--and seemed, indeed, superior +to all those small vices which assail men of his profession. Grave, +silent, with a military composure of bearing which amounted at times, +as we have said, to stiffness, he resembled a machine in the shape of +a man. At least this was the impression which he produced upon those +who saw him in public at this time. + +The writer's design, here, is to indicate the personal appearance and +bearing of General Lee on the threshold of the war. It may be said, by +way of summing up all, that he was a full-blooded "West-Pointer" in +appearance; the _militaire_ as distinguished from the civilian; and +no doubt impressed those who held official interviews with him as a +personage of marked reserve. The truth and frankness of the man under +all circumstances, and his great, warm heart, full of honesty and +unassuming simplicity, became known only in the progress of the war. +How simple and true and honest he was, will appear from a letter to +his son, G.W. Custis Lee, written some time before: + +"You must study," he wrote, "to be frank with the world; frankness +is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on +every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right. If a +friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, +tell him plainly why you cannot: you will wrong him and wrong yourself +by equivocation of any kind. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend +or keep one; the man who requires you to do so, is dearly purchased at +a sacrifice. Deal kindly, but firmly, with all your classmates; you +will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to +others what you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one, +tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous +experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's +face and another behind his back. We should live, act, and say, +nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only best as a matter of +principle, but it is the path to peace and honor. + +"In regard to duty, let me, in conclusion of this hasty letter, inform +you that, nearly a hundred years ago, there was a day of remarkable +gloom and darkness--still known as 'the dark day'--a day when the +light of the sun was slowly extinguished, as if by an eclipse. The +Legislature of Connecticut was in session, and, as its members saw the +unexpected and unaccountable darkness coming on, they shared in the +general awe and terror. It was supposed by many that the last day--the +day of judgment--had come. Some one, in the consternation of the hour, +moved an adjournment. Then there arose an old Puritan legislator, +Davenport, of Stamford, and said that, if the last day had come, he +desired to be found at his place doing his duty, and, therefore, moved +that candles be brought in, so that the House could proceed with +its duty. There was quietness in that man's mind, the quietness of +heavenly wisdom and inflexible willingness to obey present duty. Duty, +then, is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all +things, like the old Puritan. You cannot do more, you should never +wish to do less. Never let me and your mother wear one gray hair for +any lack of duty on your part." + +The maxims of this letter indicate the noble and conscientious +character of the man who wrote it. "Frankness is the child of honesty +and courage." "Say just what you mean to do on every occasion." "Never +do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one." "Duty is the sublimest +word in our language ... do your duty in all things ... you cannot do +more." That he lived up to these great maxims, amid all the troubled +scenes and hot passions of a stormy epoch, is Lee's greatest glory. +His fame as a soldier, great as it is, yields to the true glory of +having placed duty before his eyes always as the supreme object of +life. He resigned his commission from a sense of duty to his native +State; made this same duty his sole aim in every portion of his +subsequent career; and, when all had failed, and the cause he had +fought for was overthrown, it was the consciousness of having +performed conscientiously, and to his utmost, his whole duty, which +took the sting from defeat, and gave him that noble calmness which the +whole world saw and admired. "Human virtue should be equal to human +calamity," were his august words when all was lost, and men's minds +were sinking under the accumulated agony of defeat and despair. +Those words could only have been uttered by a man who made duty the +paramount object of living--the performance of it, the true glory and +crown of virtuous manhood. It may be objected by some critics that +he mistook his duty in espousing the Southern cause. Doubtless many +persons will urge that objection, and declare that the words here +written are senseless panegyric. But that will not affect the truth or +detract from Lee's great character. He performed at least what in his +inmost soul _he_ considered his duty, and, from the beginning of his +career, when all was so bright, to its termination, when all was so +dark, it will be found that his controlling sentiment was, first, +last, and all the time, this performance of duty. The old Puritan, +whose example he admired so much, was not more calm and resolute. +When "the last day" of the cause he fought for came--in the spring of +1865--it was plain to all who saw the man, standing unmoved in the +midst of the general disaster, that his sole desire was to be "found +at his place, and doing his duty." + +From this species of digression upon the moral constituents of the +individual, we pass to the record of that career which made the great +fame of the soldier. The war had already begun when Lee took command +of the provisional forces of Virginia, and the collisions in various +portions of the Gulf States between the Federal and State authorities +were followed by overt acts in Virginia, which all felt would be the +real battle-ground of the war. The North entered upon the struggle +with very great ardor and enthusiasm. The call for volunteers to +enforce obedience to the Federal authority was tumultuously responded +to throughout the entire North, and troops were hurried forward to +Washington, which soon became an enormous camp. The war began in +Virginia with the evacuation and attempted destruction of the works at +Harper's Ferry, by the Federal officer in command there. This was on +the 19th of April, and on the next day reinforcements were thrown into +Fortress Monroe; and the navy-yard at Norfolk, with the shipping, set +on fire and abandoned. + +Lee thus found the Commonwealth in a state of war, and all his +energies were immediately concentrated upon the work of placing her +in a condition of defence. He established his headquarters in the +custom-house at Richmond; orderlies were seen coming and going; bustle +reigned throughout the building, and by night, as well as by day, +General Lee labored incessantly to organize the means of resistance. +From the first moment, all had felt that Virginia, from her +geographical position, adjoining the Federal frontier and facing the +Federal capital, would become the arena of the earliest, longest, and +most determined struggle. Her large territory and moral influence, as +the oldest of the Southern States, also made her the chief object of +the Federal hostility. It was felt that if Virginia were occupied, and +her people reduced under the Federal authority again, the Southern +cause would be deprived of a large amount of its prestige and +strength. The authorities of the Gulf States accordingly hurried +forward to Richmond all available troops; and from all parts of +Virginia the volunteer regiments, which had sprung up like magic, +were in like manner forwarded by railway to the capital. Every train +brought additions to this great mass of raw war material; large camps +rose around Richmond, chief among which was that named "Camp Lee;" and +the work of drilling and moulding this crude material for the great +work before it was ardently proceeded with under the supervision of +Lee. + +An Executive Board, or Military Council, had been formed, consisting +of Governor Letcher and other prominent officials; but these gentlemen +had the good sense to intrust the main work of organizing an army to +Lee. As yet the great question at Richmond was to place Virginia in a +state of defence--to prepare that Commonwealth for the hour of trial, +by enrolling her own people. It will be remembered that Lee held no +commission from the Confederate States; he was major-general of the +Provisional Army of Virginia, and to place this Provisional Army in +a condition to take the field was the first duty before him. It was +difficult, not from want of ardor in the population, but from the want +of the commonest material necessary in time of war. There were +few arms, and but small supplies of ammunition. While the Federal +Government entered upon the war with the amplest resources, the South +found herself almost entirely destitute of the munitions essential +to her protection. All was to be organized and put at once into +operation--the quartermaster, commissary, ordnance, and other +departments. Transportation, supplies of rations, arms, ammunition, +all were to be collected immediately. The material existed, or could +be supplied, as the sequel clearly showed; but as yet there was +almost nothing. And it was chiefly to the work of organizing these +departments, first of all, that General Lee and the Military Council +addressed themselves with the utmost energy. + +The result was, that the State found herself very soon in a condition +to offer a determined resistance. The troops at the various camps of +instruction were successively sent to the field; others took their +places, and the work of drilling the raw material into soldiers went +on; supplies were collected, transportation found, workshops for the +construction of arms and ammunition sprung up; small-arms, cannon, +cartridges, fixed and other ammunition, were produced in quantities; +and, in a time which now seems wholly inadequate for such a result, +the Commonwealth of Virginia was ready to take the field against the +Federal Government. + + + + +X. + +THE WAR BEGINS. + + +Early in May, Virginia became formally a member of the Southern +Confederacy, and the troops which she had raised a portion of the +Confederate States Army. When Richmond became the capital +soon afterward, and the Southern Congress assembled, five +brigadier-generals were appointed, Generals Cooper, Albert S. +Johnston, Lee, J.E. Johnston, and Beauregard. Large forces had been +meanwhile raised throughout the South; Virginia became the centre +of all eyes, as the scene of the main struggle; and early in June +occurred at Bethel, in Lower Virginia, the first prominent affair, in +which General Butler, with about four thousand men, was repulsed and +forced to retire. + +The affair at Bethel, which was of small importance, was followed +by movements in Northern and Western Virginia--the battles at Rich +Mountain and Carrick's Ford; Johnston's movements in the Valley; and +the advance of the main Federal army on the force under Beauregard, +which resulted in the first battle of Manassas. In these events, +General Lee bore no part, and we need not speak of them further than +to present a summary of the results. The Federal design had been to +penetrate Virginia in three columns. One was to advance from the +northwest under General McClellan; a second, under General Patterson, +was to take possession of the Valley; and a third, under General +McDowell, was to drive Beauregard back from Manassas on Richmond. Only +one of these columns--that of McClellan--succeeded in its undertaking. +Johnston held Patterson in check in the Valley until the advance upon +Manassas; then by a flank march the Confederate general hastened to +the assistance of Beauregard. The battle of Manassas followed on +Sunday, the 21st of July. After an unsuccessful attempt to force the +Confederate right, General McDowell assailed their left, making for +that purpose a long _détour_--and at first carried all before him. +Reënforcements were hurried forward, however, and the Confederates +fought with the energy of men defending their own soil. The obstinate +stand made by Evans, Bee, Bartow, Jackson, and their brave associates, +turned the fortunes of the day, and, when reënforcements subsequently +reached the field under General Kirby Smith and General Early, the +Federal troops retreated in great disorder toward Washington. + + + + +XI. + +LEE'S ADVANCE INTO WESTERN VIRGINIA. + + +General Lee nowhere appears, as we have seen, in these first great +movements and conflicts. He was without any specific command, and +remained at Richmond, engaged in placing that city in a state of +defence. The works which he constructed proved subsequently of great +importance to the city, and a Northern officer writes of Lee: "While +the fortifications of Richmond stand, his name will evoke admiration; +the art of war is unacquainted with any defence so admirable." + +Lee's first appearance in the war, as commander of troops in the +field, took place in the fall of 1861, when he was sent to operate +against the forces under General Rosecrans in the fastnesses of +Western Virginia. This indecisive and unimportant movement has been +the subject of various comment; the official reports were burned in +the conflagration at Richmond, or captured, and the elaborate plans +drawn up by Lee of his intended movement against General Reynolds, +at Cheat Mountain, have in the same manner disappeared. Under these +circumstances, and as the present writer had no personal knowledge of +the subject, it seems best to simply quote the brief statement which +follows. It is derived from an officer of high rank and character, +whose statement is only second in value to that of General Lee +himself: + + "After General Garnett's death, General Lee was sent by the + President to ascertain what could be done in the trans-Alleghany + region, and to endeavor to harmonize our movements, etc., in that + part of the State. He was not ordered to take command of the + troops, nor did he do so, during the whole time he was there. + + "Soon after his arrival he came to the decided conclusion that + _that_ was not the line from which to make an offensive movement. + The country, although not hostile, was not friendly; supplies + could not be obtained; the enemy had possession of the Baltimore + and Ohio Railroad, from which, and the Ohio River as a base, he + could operate with great advantage against us, and our only chance + was to drive him from the railroad, take possession, and use it + ourselves. We had not the means of doing this, and consequently + could only try to hold as much country as possible, and occupy as + large a force of the enemy as could be kept in front of us. The + movement against Cheat Mountain, which failed, was undertaken with + a view of causing the enemy to contract his lines, and enable + us to unite the troops under Generals Jackson (of Georgia) and + Loring. After the failure of this movement on our part, General + Rosecrans, feeling secure, strengthened his lines in that part of + the country, and went with a part of his forces to the Kanawha, + driving our forces across the Gauley. General Lee then went to + that line of operations, to endeavor to unite the troops under + Generals Floyd and Wise, and stop the movements under Rosecrans. + General Loring, with a part of his force from Valley Mountain, + joined the forces at Sewell Mountain. Rosecrans's movement was + stopped, and, the season for operations in that country being + over, General Lee was ordered to Richmond, and soon afterward sent + to South Carolina, to meet the movement of the enemy from Port + Royal, etc. He remained in South Carolina until shortly before the + commencement of the campaign before Richmond, in 1862." + +The months spent by General Lee in superintending the coast defences +of South Carolina and Georgia, present nothing of interest, and we +shall therefore pass to the spring of 1862, when he returned to +Richmond. His services as engineer had been highly appreciated by the +people of the South, and a writer of the period said: "The time will +yet come when his superior abilities will be vindicated, both to his +own renown and the glory of his country." The time was now at hand +when these abilities, if the individual possessed them, were to have +an opportunity to display themselves. + + + + +XII. + +LEE'S LAST INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP MEADE. + + +A touching incident of Lee's life belongs to this time--the early +spring of 1862. Bishop Meade, the venerable head of the Episcopal +Church in Virginia, lay at the point of death, in the city of +Richmond. When General Lee was informed of the fact, he exhibited +lively emotion, for the good bishop, as we have said in the +commencement of this narrative, had taught him his catechism when he +was a boy in Alexandria. On the day before the bishop's death. General +Lee called in the morning to see him, but such was the state of +prostration under which the sick man labored, that only a few of his +most intimate friends were permitted to have access to his chamber. In +the evening General Lee called again, and his name was announced +to Bishop Meade. As soon as he heard it, he said faintly, for +his breathing had become much oppressed, and he spoke with great +difficulty: "I must see him, if only for a few moments." + +General Lee was accordingly introduced, and approached the dying man, +with evidences of great emotion in his countenance. Taking the thin +hand in his own, he said: + +"How do you feel, bishop?" + +"Almost gone," replied Bishop Meade, in a voice so weak that it was +almost inaudible; "but I wanted to see you once more." + +He paused for an instant, breathing heavily, and looking at Lee with +deep feeling. + +"God bless you! God bless you, Robert!" he faltered out, "and fit you +for your high and responsible duties. I can't call you 'general'--I +must call you 'Robert;' I have heard you your catechism too often." + +General Lee pressed the feeble hand, and tears rolled down his cheeks. + +"Yes, bishop--very often," he said, in reply to the last words uttered +by the bishop. + +A brief conversation followed, Bishop Meade making inquiries in +reference to Mrs. Lee, who was his own relative, and other members +of the family. "He also," says the highly-respectable clergyman who +furnishes these particulars, "put some pertinent questions to General +Lee about the state of public affairs and of the army, showing the +most lively interest in the success of our cause." + +It now became necessary to terminate an interview which, in the feeble +condition of the aged man, could not be prolonged. Much exhausted, and +laboring under deep emotion, Bishop Meade shook the general by the +hand, and said: + +"Heaven bless you! Heaven bless you! and give you wisdom for your +important and arduous duties!" + +These were the last words uttered during the interview. General Lee +pressed the dying man's hand, released it, stood for several minutes +by the bedside motionless and in perfect silence, and then went out of +the room. + +On the next morning Bishop Meade expired. + +[Illustration: Environs of Richmond.] + + + + +PART II. + +_IN FRONT OF RICHMOND_. + + + + + +I. + +PLAN OF THE FEDERAL CAMPAIGN. + + +The pathetic interview which we have just described took place in the +month of March, 1862. + +By the latter part of that month, General McClellan, in command of an +army of more than one hundred thousand men, landed on the Peninsula +between the James and York Rivers, and after stubbornly-contested +engagements with the forces of General Johnston, advanced up the +Peninsula--the Confederates slowly retiring. In the latter part of +May, a portion of the Federal forces had crossed the Chickahominy, and +confronted General Johnston defending Richmond. + +Such was the serious condition of affairs in the spring of 1862. The +Federal sword had nearly pierced the heart of Virginia, and, as the +course of events was about to place Lee in charge of her destinies, +a brief notice is indispensable of the designs of the adversaries +against whom he was to contend on the great arena of the State. + +While the South had been lulled to sleep, as it were, by the battle of +Manassas, the North, greatly enraged at the disaster, had prepared to +prosecute the war still more vigorously. The military resources of the +South had been plainly underestimated. It was now obvious that the +North had to fight with a dangerous adversary, and that the people of +the South were entirely in earnest. Many journals of the North had +ridiculed the idea of war; and one of them had spoken of the great +uprising of the Southern States from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico +as a mere "local commotion" which a force of fifty thousand men would +be able to put down without difficulty. A column of twenty-five +thousand men, it was said, would be sufficient to carry all before it +in Virginia, and capture Richmond, and the comment on this statement +had been the battle of Manassas, where a force of more than fifty +thousand had been defeated and driven back to Washington. + +It was thus apparent that the war was to be a serious struggle, in +which the North would be compelled to exert all her energies. The +people responded to the call upon them with enthusiasm. All the roving +and adventurous elements of Northern society flocked to the Federal +standard, and in a short time a large force had once more assembled at +Washington. The work now was to drill, equip, and put it in efficient +condition for taking the field. This was undertaken with great energy, +the Congress coöperating with the Executive in every manner. The city +of Washington resounded with the wheels of artillery and the tramp +of cavalry; the workshops were busy night and day to supply arms and +ammunition; and the best officers devoted themselves, without rest, to +the work of drilling and disciplining the mass. + +By the spring of 1862 a force of about two hundred thousand men was +ready to take the field in Virginia. General Scott was not to command +in the coming campaigns. He had retired in the latter part of the +year 1861, and his place had been filled by a young officer of +rising reputation--General George B. McClellan, who had achieved the +successes of Rich Mountain and Carrick's Ford in Western Virginia. +General McClellan was not yet forty, but had impressed the authorities +with a high opinion of his abilities. A soldier by profession, and +enjoying the distinction of having served with great credit in the +Mexican War, he had been sent as United States military commissioner +to the Crimea, and on his return had written a book of marked ability +on the military organizations of the powers of Europe. When the +struggle between the North and South approached, he was said--with +what truth we know not--to have hesitated, before determining upon his +course; but it is probable that the only question with him was whether +he should fight for the North or remain neutral. In his politics he +was a Democrat, and the war on the South is said to have shocked his +State-rights view. But, whatever his sentiments had been, he accepted +command, and fought a successful campaign in Western Virginia. From +that moment his name became famous; he was said to have achieved +"two victories in one day," and he received from the newspapers the +flattering name of "the Young Napoleon." + +The result of this successful campaign, slight in importance as +it was, procured for General McClellan the high post of +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States. Operations in +every portion of the South were to be directed by him; and he was +especially intrusted with the important work of organizing the new +levies at Washington. This he performed with very great ability. Under +his vigorous hand, the raw material soon took shape. He gave his +personal attention to every department; and the result, as we have +said, in the early spring of 1862, was an army of more than two +hundred thousand men, for operations in Virginia alone. + +The great point now to be determined was the best line of operations +against Richmond. President Lincoln was strongly in favor of an +advance by way of Manassas and the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, +which he thought would insure the safety of the Federal capital. This +was always, throughout the whole war, a controlling consideration with +him; and, regarded in the light of subsequent events, this solicitude +seems to have been well founded. More than once afterward, General +Lee--to use his own expression--thought of "swapping queens," that is +to say, advancing upon Washington, without regard to the capture of +Richmond; and President Lincoln, with that excellent good sense which +he generally exhibited, felt that the loss of Washington would prove +almost fatal to the Federal cause.--Such was the origin of the +President's preference for the Manassas line. General McClellan did +not share it. He assented it seems at first, but soon resolved +to adopt another plan--an advance either from Urbanna on the +Rappahannock, or from West Point on the York. Against his views and +determination, the President and authorities struggled in vain. +McClellan treated their arguments and appeals with a want of ceremony +amounting at times nearly to contempt; he adhered to his own plan +resolutely, and in the end the President gave way. In rueful protest +against the continued inactivity of General McClellan, President +Lincoln had exclaimed, "If General McClellan does not want to use the +army, I would like to borrow it;" and "if something is not soon done, +the bottom will be out of the whole affair." + +At last General McClellan carried his point, and an advance against +Richmond from the Peninsula was decided upon. In order to assist this +movement, General Fremont was to march through Northwestern Virginia, +and General Banks up the Valley; and, having thus arranged their +programme, the Federal authorities began to move forward to the great +work. To transport an army of more than one hundred thousand men +by water to the Peninsula was a heavy undertaking; but the ample +resources of the Government enabled them to do so without difficulty. +General McClellan, who had now been removed from his post of +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, and assigned to +the command only of the army to operate against Richmond, landed his +forces on the Peninsula, and, after several actions of an obstinate +description, advanced toward the Chickahominy, General Johnston, the +Confederate commander, deliberately retiring. Johnston took up a +position behind this stream, and, toward the end of May, McClellan +crossed a portion of his forces and confronted him. + + + + +II. + +JOHNSTON IS WOUNDED. + + +The army thus threatening the city which had become the capital of the +Confederacy was large and excellently equipped. It numbered in all, +according to General McClellan's report, one hundred and fifty-six +thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight men, of whom one hundred and +fifteen thousand one hundred and two were effective troops--that is to +say, present and ready for duty as fighting-men in the field. + +Results of such magnitude' were expected from this great army, that +all the resources of the Federal Government had been taxed to bring +it to the highest possible state of efficiency. The artillery was +numerous, and of the most approved description; small-arms of the best +patterns and workmanship were profusely supplied; the ammunition was +of the finest quality, and almost inexhaustible in quantity; and +the rations for the subsistence of the troops, which were equally +excellent and abundant, were brought up in an unfailing stream from +the White House, in General McClellan's rear, over the York River +Railroad, which ran straight to his army. + +Such was the admirable condition of the large force under command of +General McClellan. It would be difficult to imagine an army better +prepared for active operations; and the position which it held had +been well selected. The left of the army was protected by the wellnigh +impassable morass of the White-oak Swamp, and all the approaches from +the direction of Richmond were obstructed by the natural difficulties +of the ground, which had been rendered still more forbidding by an +abattis of felled trees and earthworks of the best description. Unless +the right of McClellan, on the northern bank of the Chickahominy, were +turned by the Confederates, his communications with his base at the +White House and the safety of his army were assured. And even the +apparently improbable contingency of such an assault on his right had +been provided for. Other bodies of Federal troops had advanced into +Virginia to coöperate with the main force on the Peninsula. General +McDowell, the able soldier who had nearly defeated the Confederates at +Manassas, was at Fredericksburg with a force of about forty thousand +men, which were to advance southward without loss of time and unite +with General McClellan's right. This would completely insure the +communications of his army from interruption; and it was no doubt +expected that Generals Fremont and Banks would coöperate in the +movement also. Fremont was to advance from Northwestern Virginia, +driving before him the small Confederate force, under Jackson, in the +Valley; and General Banks, then at Winchester, was to cross the Blue +Ridge Mountains, and, posting his forces along the Manassas Railroad, +guard the approaches to Washington when McDowell advanced from +Fredericksburg to the aid of General McClellan. Thus Richmond would be +half encircled by Federal armies. General McClellan, if permitted by +the Confederates to carry out his plan of operations, would soon be in +command of about two hundred thousand men, and with this force it was +anticipated he would certainly be able to capture Richmond. + +Such was the Federal programme of the war in Virginia. It promised +great results, and ought, it would seem, to have succeeded. The +Confederate forces in Virginia did not number in all one hundred +thousand men; and it is now apparent that, without the able strategy +of Johnston, Lee, and Jackson, General McClellan would have been in +possession of Richmond before the summer. + +Prompt action was thus necessary on the part of the sagacious soldier +commanding the army at Richmond, and directing operations throughout +the theatre of action in Virginia. The officer in question was General +Joseph E. Johnston, a Virginian by birth, who had first held General +Patterson in check in the Shenandoah Valley, and then hastened to the +assistance of General Beauregard at Manassas, where, in right of his +superior rank, he took command. Before the enemy's design to advance +up the Peninsula had been developed, Johnston had made a masterly +retreat from Manassas. Reappearing with his force of about forty +thousand men on the Peninsula, he had obstinately opposed McClellan, +and only retired when he was compelled by numbers to do so, with +the resolution, however, of fighting a decisive battle on the +Chickahominy. In face, figure, and character, General Johnston was +thoroughly the soldier. Above the medium height, with an erect figure, +in a close-fitting uniform buttoned to the chin; with a ruddy face, +decorated with close-cut gray side-whiskers, mustache, and tuft on the +chin; reserved in manner, brief of speech, without impulses of any +description, it seemed, General Johnston's appearance and bearing were +military to stiffness; and he was popularly compared to "a gamecock," +ready for battle at any moment. As a soldier, his reputation +was deservedly high; to unshrinking personal courage he added a +far-reaching capacity for the conduct of great operations. Throughout +his career he enjoyed a profound public appreciation of his abilities +as a commander, and was universally respected as a gentleman and a +patriot. + +General Johnston, surveying the whole field in Virginia, and +penetrating, it would seem, the designs of the enemy, had hastened to +direct General Jackson, commanding in the Valley, to begin offensive +operations, and, by threatening the Federal force there--with +Washington in perspective--relieve the heavy pressure upon the main +arena. Jackson carried out these instructions with the vigor which +marked all his operations. In March he advanced down the Valley in the +direction of Winchester, and, coming upon a considerable force of +the enemy at Kernstown, made a vigorous assault upon them; a heavy +engagement ensued, and, though Jackson was defeated and compelled to +retreat, a very large Federal force was retained in the Valley +to protect that important region. A more decisive diversion soon +followed. Jackson advanced in May upon General Banks, then at +Strasburg, drove him from that point to and across the Potomac; and +such was the apprehension felt at Washington, that President Lincoln +ordered General McDowell, then at Fredericksburg with about forty +thousand men, to send twenty thousand across the mountains to +Strasburg in order to pursue or cut off Jackson. + +Thus the whole Federal programme in Virginia was thrown into +confusion. General Banks, after the fight at Kernstown, was kept in +the Valley. After Jackson's second attack upon him, when General Banks +was driven across the Potomac and Washington threatened, General +McDowell was directed to send half his army to operate against +Jackson. Thus General McClellan, waiting at Richmond for McDowell to +join him, did not move; with a portion of his army on one side of the +stream, and the remainder on the other side, he remained inactive, +hesitating and unwilling, as any good soldier would have been, to +commence the decisive assault. + +His indecision was brought to an end by General Johnston. Discovering +that the force in his front, near "Seven Pines," on the southern bank +of the Chickahominy, was only a portion of the Federal army, General +Johnston determined to attack it. This resolution was not in +consequence of the freshet in the Chickahominy, as has been supposed, +prompting Johnston to attack while the Federal army was cut in two, as +it were. His resolution, he states, had already been taken, and was, +with or without reference to the rains, that of a good soldier. +General Johnston struck at General McClellan on the last day of May, +just at the moment, it appears, when the Federal commander designed +commencing his last advance upon the city. The battle which took place +was one of the most desperate and bloody of the war. Both sides fought +with obstinate courage, and neither gained a decisive advantage. On +the Confederate right, near "Seven Pines," the Federal line was +broken and forced back; but, on the left, at Fair Oaks Station, the +Confederates, in turn, were repulsed. Night fell upon a field where +neither side could claim the victory. The most that could be claimed +by the Southerners was that McClellan had received a severe check; and +they sustained a great misfortune in the wound received by General +Johnston. He was struck by a fragment of shell while superintending +the attack at Fair Oaks, and the nature of his wound rendered it +impossible for him to retain command of the army. He therefore retired +from the command, and repaired to Richmond, where he remained for a +long time an invalid, wholly unable to continue in service in the +field. + +This untoward event rendered it necessary to find a new commander for +the army without loss of time. General Lee had returned some time +before from the South, and to him all eyes were turned. He had had no +opportunity to display his abilities upon a conspicuous theatre--the +sole command he had been intrusted with, that in trans-Alleghany +Virginia, could scarcely be called a real command--and he owed his +elevation now to the place vacated by General Johnston, rather to his +services performed in the old army of the United States, than to any +thing he had effected in the war of the Confederacy. The confidence +of the Virginia people in his great abilities had never wavered, and +there is no reason to suppose that the Confederate authorities were +backward in conceding his merits as a soldier. Whatever may have been +the considerations leading to his appointment, he was assigned on the +3d day of June to the command of the army, and thus the Virginians +assembled to defend the capital of their State found themselves under +the command of the most illustrious of their own countrymen. + + + + +III. + +LEE ASSIGNED TO THE COMMAND--HIS FAMILY AT THE WHITE HOUSE. + + +Lee had up to this time effected, as we have shown, almost nothing in +the progress of the war. Intrusted with no command, and employed +only in organizing the forces, or superintending the construction of +defences, he had failed to achieve any of those successes in the field +which constitute the glory of the soldier. He might possess the great +abilities which his friends and admirers claimed for him, but he was +yet to show the world at large that he did really possess them. + +The decisive moment had now arrived which was to test him. He was +placed in command of the largest and most important army in the +Confederacy, and to him was intrusted the defence of the capital not +only of Virginia, but of the South. If Richmond were to fall, the +Confederate Congress, executive, and heads of departments, would all +be fugitives. The evacuation of Virginia might or might not follow, +but, in the very commencement of the conflict, the enemy would achieve +an immense advantage. Recognition by the European powers would be +hopeless in such an event, and the wandering and fugitive government +of the Confederacy would excite only contempt. + +Such were the circumstances under which General Lee assumed command of +the "Army of Northern Virginia," as it was soon afterward styled. The +date of his assignment to duty was June 3, 1862--three days after +General Johnston had retired in consequence of his wound. Thirty days +afterward the great campaign around Richmond had been decided, and to +the narrative of what followed the appointment of Lee we shall at once +proceed, after giving a few words to another subject connected with +his family. + +When General Lee left "Washington to repair to Richmond," he removed +the ladies of his family from Arlington to the "White House" on the +Pamunkey, near the spot where that river unites with the Mattapony to +form the York River. This estate, like the Arlington property, had +come into possession of General Lee through his wife, and as Arlington +was exposed to the enemy, the ladies had taken refuge here, with the +hope that they would be safe from intrusion or danger. The result was +unfortunate. The White House was a favorable "base" for the Federal +army, and intelligence one day reached Mrs. Lee and her family that +the enemy were approaching. The ladies therefore hastened from the +place to a point of greater safety, and before her departure Mrs. Lee +is said to have affixed to the door a paper containing the following +words: + +"Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to +desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his +wife, now owned by her descendants. + +"A GRAND-DAUGHTER OF MRS. WASHINGTON." + +When the Federal forces took possession of the place, a Northern +officer, it is said, wrote beneath this: + +"A Northern officer has protected your property, in sight of the +enemy, and at the request of your overseer." + +The resolute spirit of Mrs. Lee is indicated by an incident which +followed. She took refuge with her daughters in a friend's house near +Richmond, and, when a Federal officer was sent to search the house, +handed to him a paper addressed to "the general in command," in which +she wrote: + +"Sir: I have patiently and humbly submitted to the search of my house, +by men under your command, who are satisfied that there is nothing +here which they want. All the plate and other valuables have long +since been removed to Richmond, and are now beyond the reach of any +Northern marauders who may wish for their possession. + +"WIFE OF ROBERT LEE, GENERAL C.S.A." + +The ladies finally repaired for safety to the city of Richmond, and +the White House was burned either before or when General McClellan +retreated. The place was not without historic interest, as the scene +of Washington's first interview with Martha Custis, who afterward +became his wife. He was married either at St. Peter's Church near by, +or in the house which originally stood on the site of the one now +destroyed by the Federal forces. Its historic associations thus failed +to protect the White House, and, like Arlington, it fell a sacrifice +to the pitiless hand of war. + +From this species of digression we come back to the narrative of +public events, and the history of the great series of battles which +were to make the banks of the Chickahominy historic ground. On +taking command, Lee had assiduously addressed himself to the task of +increasing the efficiency of the army: riding incessantly to and +fro, he had inspected with his own eyes the condition of the troops; +officers of the commissary, quartermaster, and ordnance departments +were held to a strict accountability; and, in a short time, the army +was in a high state of efficiency. + +"What was the amount of the Confederate force under command of Lee?" +it may be asked. The present writer is unable to state this number +with any thing like exactness. The official record, if in existence, +is not accessible, and the matter must be left to conjecture. It is +tolerably certain, however, that, even after the arrival of Jackson, +the army numbered less than seventy-five thousand. Officers of high +rank and character state the whole force to have been sixty or seventy +thousand only. + +It will thus be seen that the Federal army was larger than the +Confederate; but this was comparatively an unimportant fact. The event +was decided rather by generalship than the numbers of the combatants. + + + + +IV + +LEE RESOLVES TO ATTACK. + + +General Lee assumed command of the army on the 3d of June. A week +afterward, Jackson finished the great campaign of the Valley, by +defeating Generals Fremont and Shields at Port Republic. + +Such had been the important services performed by the famous +"Stonewall Jackson," who was to become the "right arm" of Lee in the +greater campaigns of the future. Retreating, after the defeat of +General Banks, and passing through Strasburg, just as Fremont from the +west, and the twenty thousand men of General McDowell from the east, +rushed to intercept him, Jackson had sullenly fallen back up the +Valley, with all his captured stores and prisoners, and at Cross +Keys and Port Republic had achieved a complete victory over his two +adversaries. Fremont was checked by Ewell, who then hastened across to +take part in the attack on Shields. The result was a Federal defeat +and retreat down the Valley. Jackson was free to move in any +direction; and his army could unite with that at Richmond for a +decisive attack upon General McClellan. + +The attack in question had speedily been resolved on by Lee. Any +further advance of the Federal army would bring it up to the very +earthworks in the suburbs of the city; and, unless the Confederate +authorities proposed to undergo a siege, it was necessary to check the +further advance of the enemy by a general attack. + +How to attack to the best advantage was now the question. The position +of General McClellan's army has been briefly stated. Advancing up the +Peninsula, he had reached and passed the Chickahominy, and was in +sight of Richmond. To this stream, the natural line of defence of the +city on the north and east, numerous roads diverged from the capital, +including the York River Railroad, of which the Federal commander made +such excellent use; and General McClellan had thrown his left wing +across the stream, advancing to a point on the railroad four or five +miles from the city. Here he had erected heavy defences to protect +that wing until the right wing crossed in turn. The tangled thickets +of the White-oak Swamp, on his left flank, were a natural defence; but +he had added to these obstacles, as we have stated, by felling trees, +and guarding every approach by redoubts. In these, heavy artillery +kept watch against an approaching enemy; and any attempt to attack +from that quarter seemed certain to result in repulse. In front, +toward Seven Pines, the chance of success was equally doubtful. The +excellent works of the Federal commander bristled with artillery, and +were heavily manned. It seemed thus absolutely necessary to discover +some other point of assault; and, as the Federal right beyond the +Chickahominy was the only point left, it was determined to attack, if +possible, in that quarter. + +An important question was first, however, to be decided, the character +of the defences, if any, on General McClellan's right, in the +direction of Old Church and Cold Harbor. A reconnoissance in force was +necessary to acquire this information, and General Lee accordingly +directed General Stuart, commanding the cavalry of the army, to +proceed with a portion of his command to the vicinity of Old Church, +in the Federal rear, and gain all the information possible of their +position and defences. + + + + +V. + +STUART'S "RIDE AROUND McCLELLAN." + + +General James E.B. Stuart, who now made his first prominent appearance +upon the theatre of the war, was a Virginian by birth, and not yet +thirty years of age. Resigning his commission of lieutenant in the +United States Cavalry at the beginning of the war, he had joined +Johnston in the Valley, and impressed that officer with a high opinion +of his abilities as a cavalry officer; proceeded thence to Manassas, +where he charged and broke a company of "Zouave" infantry; protected +the rear of the army when Johnston retired to the Rappahannock, and +bore an active part in the conflict on the Peninsula. In person he was +of medium height; his frame was broad and powerful; he wore a heavy +brown beard flowing upon his breast, a huge mustache of the same +color, the ends curling upward; and the blue eyes, flashing beneath a +"piled-up" forehead, had at times the dazzling brilliancy attributed +to the eyes of the eagle. Fond of movement, adventure, bright colors, +and all the pomp and pageantry of war, Stuart had entered on the +struggle with ardor, and enjoyed it as the huntsman enjoys the chase. +Young, ardent, ambitious, as brave as steel, ready with jest or +laughter, with his banjo-player following him, going into the hottest +battles humming a song, this young Virginian was, in truth, an +original character, and impressed powerfully all who approached him. +One who knew him well wrote: "Every thing striking, brilliant, and +picturesque, seemed to centre in him. The war seemed to be to Stuart a +splendid and exciting game, in which his blood coursed joyously, and +his immensely strong physical organization found an arena for the +display of all its faculties. The affluent life of the man craved +those perils and hardships which flush the pulses and make the heart +beat fast. He swung himself into the saddle at the sound of the bugle +as the hunter springs on horseback; and at such moments his cheeks +glowed and his huge mustache curled with enjoyment. The romance and +poetry of the hard trade of arms seemed first to be inaugurated when +this joyous cavalier, with his floating plume and splendid laughter, +appeared upon the great arena of the war in Virginia." Precise people +shook their heads, and called him frivolous, undervaluing his great +ability. Those best capable of judging him were of a different +opinion. Johnston wrote to him from the west: "How can I eat or sleep +in peace without _you_ upon the outpost?" Jackson said, when he fell +at Chancellorsville: "Go back to General Stuart, and tell him to act +upon his own judgment, and do what he thinks best, I have implicit +confidence in him." Lee said, when he was killed at Yellow Tavern: +"I can scarcely think of him without weeping." And the brave General +Sedgwick, of the United States Army, said: "Stuart is the best cavalry +officer ever _foaled_ in North America!" + +In the summer of 1862, when we present him to the reader, Stuart had +as yet achieved little fame in his profession, but he was burning to +distinguish himself. He responded ardently, therefore, to the order of +Lee, and was soon ready with a picked force of about fifteen hundred +cavalry, under some of his best officers. Among them were Colonels +William H.F. Lee and Fitz-Hugh Lee--the first a son of General Lee, a +graduate of West Point, and an officer of distinction afterward; +the second, a son of Smith Lee, brother of the general, and famous +subsequently in the most brilliant scenes of the war as the gay and +gallant "General Fitz Lee," of the cavalry. With his picked force, +officered by the two Lees, and other excellent lieutenants, Stuart set +out on his adventurous expedition to Old Church. He effected more +than he anticipated, and performed a daring feat of arms in addition. +Driving the outposts from Hanover Court-House, he charged and broke a +force of Federal cavalry near Old Church; pushed on to the York River +Railroad, which he crossed, burning or capturing all Federal stores +met with, including enormous wagon-camps; and then, finding the +way back barred against him, and the Federal army on the alert, he +continued his march with rapidity, passed entirely around General +McClellan's army, and, building a bridge over the Chickahominy, +safely reëntered the Confederate lines just as a large force made its +appearance in his rear. The temporary bridge was destroyed, however, +and Stuart hastened to report to his superiors. His information was +important. General McClellan's right and rear were unprotected by +works of any strength. If the Confederate general desired to attack in +that quarter, there was nothing to prevent. + +The results of Stuart's famous "ride around McClellan," as the people +called it, determined General Lee to make the attack on the north bank +of the stream, if he had not already so decided. It was necessary now +to bring Jackson's forces from the Valley without delay, and almost +equally important to mask the movement from General McClellan. To this +end a very simple _ruse_ was adopted. On the 11th of June, Whiting's +division was embarked on the cars of the Danville Railroad at +Richmond, and moved across the river to a point near Belle Isle, where +at that moment a considerable number of Federal prisoners were about +to be released and sent down James River. Here the train, loaded with +Confederate troops, remained for some time, and _the secret_ was +discovered by the released prisoners. General Lee was reënforcing +Jackson, in order that the latter might march on Washington. Such was +the report carried to General McClellan, and it seems to have really +deceived him. [Footnote: "I have no doubt Jackson has been reënforced +from here."--_General McClellan to President Lincoln, June 20th_.] +Whiting's division reached Lynchburg, and was thence moved by railway +to Charlottesville--Jackson marched and countermarched with an +elaborate pretence of advancing down the Valley--at last, one morning, +the astute Confederate, who kept his own counsels, had disappeared; he +was marching rapidly to join Lee on the Chickahominy. Not even his own +soldiers knew what direction they were taking. They were forbidden +by general order to inquire even the names of the towns they passed +through; directed to reply "I don't know" to every question; and it +is said that when Jackson demanded the name and regiment of a soldier +robbing a cherry-tree, he could extract from the man no reply but "I +don't know." + +Jackson advanced with rapidity, and, on the 25th of June, was near +Ashland. Here he left his forces, and rode on rapidly to Richmond. +Passing unrecognized through the streets, after night, he went on +to General Lee's headquarters, at a house on the "Nine-mile road," +leading from the New Bridge road toward Fair Oaks Station; and here +took place the first interview, since the commencement of the war, +between Lee and Jackson. + +What each thought of the other will be shown in the course of this +narrative. We shall proceed now with the history of the great series +of battles for which Jackson's appearance was the signal. + + + + +PART III. + +_ON THE CHICKAHOMINY_. + + + + +I. + +THE TWO ARMIES. + + +The Chickahominy, whose banks were now to be the scene of a bitter and +determined conflict between the great adversaries, is a sluggish and +winding stream, which, rising above Richmond, describes a curve around +it, and empties its waters into the James, far below the city. Its +banks are swampy, and thickly clothed with forest or underwood. From +the nature of these banks, which scarcely rise in many places above +the level of the water, the least freshet produces an overflow, and +the stream, generally narrow and insignificant, becomes a sort of +lake, covering the low grounds to the bases of the wooded bluffs +extending upon each side. Numerous bridges cross the stream, from +Bottom's Bridge, below the York River Railroad, to Meadow Bridge, +north of the city. Of these, the Mechanicsville Bridge, about four +miles from the city, and the New Bridge, about nine miles, were points +of the greatest importance. + +General McClellan's position has been repeatedly referred to. He had +crossed a portion of his army east of Richmond, and advanced to within +four or five miles of the city. The remainder, meanwhile, lay on the +north bank of the stream, and swept round, in a sort of crescent, to +the vicinity of Mechanicsville, where it had been anticipated General +McDowell would unite with it, thereby covering its right flank, and +protecting the communications with the Federal base at the White +House. That this disposition of the Federal troops was faulty, in face +of adversaries like Johnston and Lee, there could be no doubt. But +General McClellan was the victim, it seems, of the shifting and +vacillating policy of the authorities at Washington. With the arrival +of the forty thousand men under McDowell, his position would have been +a safe one. General McDowell did not arrive; and this unprotected +right flank--left unprotected from the fact that McDowell's presence +was counted on--became the point of the Confederate attack. + +The amount of blame, if any, justly attributable to General McClellan, +first for his inactivity, and then for his defeat by Lee, cannot be +referred to here, save in a few brief sentences. A sort of feud +seems to have arisen between himself and General Halleck, the +commander-in-chief, stationed at Washington; and General Halleck then +and afterward appears to have regarded McClellan as a soldier without +decision or broad generalship. And yet McClellan does not seem to +have merited the censure he received. He called persistently for +reinforcements, remaining inactive meanwhile, because he estimated +the Confederate army before him at two hundred thousand men, and +was unwilling to assail this force, under command of soldiers +like Johnston and Lee, until his own force seemed adequate to the +undertaking. Another consideration was, the Confederate position in +front of the powerful earthworks of the city. These works would double +the Confederate strength in case of battle in front of them; and, +believing himself already outnumbered, the Federal commander was +naturally loath to deliver battle until reënforced. The faulty +disposition of his army, divided by a stream crossed by few bridges, +has been accounted for in like manner--he so disposed the troops, +expecting reënforcements. But Jackson's energy delayed these. +Washington was in danger, it was supposed, and General McDowell did +not come. It thus happened that General McClellan awaited attack +instead of making it, and that his army was so posted as to expose him +to the greatest peril. + +A last point is to be noted in vindication of this able soldier. +Finding, at the very last moment, that he could expect no further +assistance from the President or General Halleck, he resolved promptly +to withdraw his exposed right wing and change his base of operations +to James River, where at least his communications would be safe. This, +it seems, had been determined upon just before the Confederate attack; +or, if he had not then decided, General McClellan soon determined upon +that plan. + +To pass now to the Confederate side, where all was ready for the +great movement. General Lee's army lay in front of Richmond, exactly +corresponding with the front of General McClellan. The divisions of +Magruder and Huger, supported by those of Longstreet and D.H. Hill, +were opposite McClellan's left, on the Williamsburg and York River +roads, directly east of the city. From Magruder's left, extended the +division of General A.P. Hill, reaching thence up the river toward +Mechanicsville; and a brigade, under General Branch lay on Hill's left +near the point where the Brook Turnpike crosses the Chickahominy north +of Richmond. The approaches from the east, northeast, and north, were +thus carefully guarded. As the Confederates held the interior line, +the whole force could be rapidly concentrated, and was thoroughly in +hand, both for offensive or defensive movements. + +The army thus held in Lee's grasp, and about to assail its great +Federal adversary, was composed of the best portion of the Southern +population. The rank and file was largely made up of men of education +and high social position. And this resulted from the character of the +struggle. The war was a war of invasion on the part of the North; +and the ardent and high-spirited youth of the entire South threw +themselves into it with enthusiasm. The heirs of ancient families and +great wealth served as privates. Personal pride, love of country, +indignation at the thought that a hostile section had sent an army to +reduce them to submission, combined to draw into the Confederate ranks +the flower of the Southern youth, and all the best fighting material. +Deficient in discipline, and "hard to manage," this force was yet of +the most efficient character. It could be counted on for hard work, +and especially for offensive operations. And the officers placed over +it shared its character. + +Among these, General A.P. Hill, a Virginian by birth, was soon to be +conspicuous as commander of the "Light Division," and representative +of the spirit and dash and enthusiasm of the army. Under forty years +of age, with a slender figure, a heavily-bearded face, dark eyes, a +composed and unassuming bearing, characterized when off duty by a +quiet cordiality, he was personally popular with all who approached +him, and greatly beloved, both as man and commander. His chief merit +as a soldier was his dash and impetus in the charge. A braver heart +never beat in human breast; throughout the war he retained the respect +and admiration of the army and the country; and a strange fact in +relation to this eminent soldier is, that his name was uttered by both +Jackson and Lee as they expired. + +Associated with him in the battles of the Chickahominy, and to the +end, was the able and resolute Longstreet--an officer of low and +powerful stature, with a heavy, brown beard reaching to his breast, +a manner marked by unalterable composure, and a countenance whose +expression of phlegmatic tranquillity never varied in the hottest +hours of battle. Longstreet was as famous for his bull-dog obstinacy, +as Hill for his dash and enthusiasm. General Lee styled him his "old +war-horse," and depended upon him, as will be seen, in some of the +most critical operations of the war. + +Of the young and ardent Virginian, General Magruder, the brave +and resolute North-Carolinian, D.H. Hill, and other officers who +subsequently acquired great reputations in the army, we have no space +at present to speak. All were to coöperate in the assault on General +McClellan, and do their part. + +On the night of the 25th of June, all was ready for the important +movement, and the troops rested on their arms, ready for the coming +battle. + + + + +II. + +LEE'S PLAN OF ASSAULT. + + +General Lee had been hitherto regarded as a soldier of too great +caution, but his plan for the assault on General McClellan indicated +the possession of a nerve approaching audacity. + +Fully comprehending his enemy's strength and position, and aware that +a large portion of the Federal army had crossed the Chickahominy, and +was directly in his front, he had resolved to pass to the north +bank of the stream with the bulk of his force, leaving only about +twenty-five thousand men to protect the city, and deliver battle where +defeat would prove ruinous. This plan indicated nothing less than +audacity, as we have already said; but, like the audacity of the flank +movement at Chancellorsville afterward, and the daring march, in +disregard of General Hooker, to Pennsylvania in 1864, it was founded +on profound military insight, and indicated the qualities of a great +soldier. + +Lee's design was to attack the Federal right wing with a part of his +force, while Jackson, advancing still farther to the left, came in on +their communications with the White House, and assailed them on their +right and rear. Meanwhile Richmond was to be protected by General +Magruder with his twenty-five thousand men, on the south bank; if +McClellan fell back down the Peninsula, this force was to cross and +unite with the rest; thus the Federal army would be driven from all +its positions, and the fate of the whole campaign against Richmond +would be decided. + +Lee's general order directing the movement of the troops is here +given. It possesses interest as a clear and detailed statement of his +intended operations; and it will be seen that what was resolved on by +the commander in his tent, his able subordinates translated detail by +detail, with unimportant modifications, into action, under his eyes in +the field: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_June_ 24, 1862. + +GENERAL ORDERS No. 75. + +I. General Jackson's command will proceed to-morrow from Ashland +toward the Slash Church, and encamp at some convenient point west of +the Central Railroad. Branch's brigade, of A.P. Hill's division, will +also, to-morrow evening, take position on the Chickahominy, near Half +Sink. At three o'clock Thursday morning, 26th instant, General Jackson +will advance on the road leading to Pale Green Church, communicating +his march to General Branch, who will immediately cross the +Chickahominy, and take the road leading to Mechanicsville. As soon as +the movements of these columns are discovered, General A.P. Hill, with +the rest of his division, will cross the Chickahominy near Meadow +Bridge, and move direct upon Mechanicsville. To aid his advance, the +heavy batteries on the Chickahominy will at the proper time open +upon the batteries at Mechanicsville. The enemy being driven from +Mechanicsville, and the passage across the bridge opened, General +Longstreet, with his division and that of General D.H. Hill, will +cross the Chickahominy at or near that point--General D.H. Hill moving +to the support of General Jackson, and General Longstreet supporting +General A.P. Hill--the four divisions keeping in communication with +each other, and moving in _echelon_ on separate roads, if practicable; +the left division in advance, with skirmishers and sharp-shooters +extending in their front, will sweep down the Chickahominy and +endeavor to drive the enemy from his position above New Bridge; +General Jackson, bearing well to his left, turning Beaver Dam Creek, +and taking the direction toward Cold Harbor. They will then press +forward toward York River Railroad, closing upon the enemy's rear and +forcing him down the Chickahominy. Any advance of the enemy toward +Richmond will be prevented by vigorously following his rear, and +crippling and arresting his progress. + +II. The divisions under Generals Huger and Magruder will hold their +positions in front of the enemy against attack, and make such +demonstrations, Thursday, as to discover his operations. Should +opportunity offer, the feint will be converted into a real attack; +and, should an abandonment of his intrenchments by the enemy be +discovered, he will be closely pursued. + +III. The Third Virginia cavalry will observe the Charles City road. +The Fifth Virginia, the First North Carolina, and the Hampton Legion +cavalry will observe the Darbytown, Varina, and Osborne roads. Should +a movement of the enemy, down the Chickahominy, be discovered, they +will close upon his flank, and endeavor to arrest his march. + +IV. General Stuart, with the First, Fourth, and Ninth Virginia +cavalry, the cavalry of Cobb's Legion, and the Jeff Davis Legion, will +cross the Chickahominy, to-morrow, and take position to the left +of General Jackson's line of march. The main body will be held in +reserve, with scouts well extended to the front and left. General +Stuart will keep General Jackson informed of the movements of the +enemy on his left, and will coöperate with him in his advance. +The Sixteenth Virginia cavalry, Colonel Davis, will remain on the +Nine-mile road. + +V. General Ransom's brigade, of General Holmes's command, will be +placed in reserve on the Williamsburg road, by General Huger, to whom +he will report for orders. + +VI. Commanders of divisions will cause their commands to be provided +with three days' cooked rations. The necessary ambulances and +ordinance-trains will be ready to accompany the divisions, and receive +orders from their respective commanders. Officers in charge of all +trains will invariably remain with them. Batteries and wagons will +keep on the right of the road. The Chief-Engineer, Major Stevens, will +assign engineer officers to each division, whose duty it will be to +make provision for overcoming all difficulties to the progress of the +troops. The staff-departments will give the necessary instructions to +facilitate the movements herein directed. + +By command of General LEE: R.H. CHILTON, _A.A. General_. + +This order speaks for itself, and indicates Lee's plan of battle in +all its details. Further comment is unnecessary; and we proceed to +narrate the events which followed. In doing so, we shall strive to +present a clear and intelligible account of what occurred, rather than +to indulge in the warlike splendors of style which characterized the +"army correspondents" of the journals during the war. Such a treatment +of the subject is left to others, who write under the influence of +partisan afflatus, rather than with the judicious moderation of +the historian. Nor are battles themselves the subjects of greatest +interest to the thoughtful student. The combinations devised by great +commanders are of more interest than the actual struggles. We have +therefore dwelt at greater length upon the plans of Generals Lee +and McClellan than we shall dwell upon the actual fighting of their +armies. + + + + +III. + +THE BATTLE OF THE CHICKAHOMINY. + + +On the morning of the 26th of June, 1862, all was ready for the great +encounter of arms between the Confederates and the Federal forces on +the Chickahominy. General Jackson had been delayed on his march from +the mountains, and had not yet arrived; but it was known that he was +near, and would soon make his appearance; and, in the afternoon, +General Lee accordingly directed that the movement should commence. +At the word, General A.P. Hill moved from his camps to Meadow Bridge, +north of Richmond; crossed the Chickahominy there, and moved rapidly +on Mechanicsville, where a small Federal force, behind intrenchments, +guarded the head of the bridge. This force was not a serious obstacle, +and Hill soon disposed of it. He attacked the Federal works, stormed +them after a brief struggle, and drove the force which had occupied +them back toward Beaver Dam Creek, below. The Mechanicsville bridge +was thus cleared; and, in compliance with his orders from Lee, General +Longstreet hastened to throw his division across. Hill had meanwhile +pressed forward on the track of the retreating enemy, and, a mile or +two below, found himself in front of a much more serious obstruction +than that encountered at the bridge, namely, the formidable position +held by the enemy on Beaver Dam Creek. + +The ground here is of a peculiar character, and admirably adapted for +a defensive position against an enemy advancing from above. On the +opposite side of a narrow valley, through which runs Beaver Dam Creek, +rises a bold, almost precipitous, bluff, and the road which the +Confederates were compelled to take bends abruptly to the right when +near the stream, thus exposing the flank of the assaulting party to a +fire from the bluff. As Hill's column pushed forward to attack this +position, it was met by a determined fire of artillery and small-arms +from the crest beyond the stream, where a large force of riflemen, in +pits, were posted, with infantry supports. Before this artillery-fire, +raking his flanks and doing heavy execution, Hill was compelled to +fall back. It was impossible to cross the stream in face of the +fusillade and cannon. The attack ended after dark with the withdrawal +of the Confederates; but at dawn Hill resumed the struggle, attempting +to cross at another point, lower down the stream. This attempt was in +progress when the Federal troops were seen rapidly falling back from +their strong position; and intelligence soon came that this was in +consequence of the arrival of Jackson, who had passed around the +Federal right flank above, and forced them to retire toward the main +body of the Federal army below. + +No time was now lost. The memorable 27th of June had dawned clear and +cloudless, and the brilliant sunshine gave promise of a day on which +no interference of the elements would check the bloody work to be +performed. Hill advanced steadily on the track of the retiring Federal +forces, who had left evidences of their precipitate retreat all along +the road, and, about noon, came in front of the very powerful position +of the main body of the enemy, near Cold Harbor. + +General McClellan had drawn up his forces on a ridge along the +southern bank of Powhite Creek, a small water-course which, flowing +from the northeast, empties below New Bridge into the Chickahominy. +His left, nearest the Chickahominy, was protected by a deep ravine in +front, which he had filled with sharp-shooters; and his right rested +upon elevated ground, near the locality known as Maghee's House. In +front, the whole line of battle, which described a curve backward to +cover the bridges in rear, was protected by difficult approaches. The +ground was either swampy, or covered with tangled undergrowth, or +both. The ridge held by the Federal forces had been hastily fortified +by breastworks of felled trees and earth, behind which the long lines +of infantry, supported by numerous artillery, awaited the attack. + +The amount of the Federal force has been variously stated. The +impression of the Confederates differed from the subsequent statements +of Federal writers. "The principal part of the Federal army," says +General Lee, in his report, "was now on the north side of the +Chickahominy." The force has been placed by Northern writers at only +thirty, or at most thirty-five thousand. If this was the whole number +of troops engaged, from first to last, in the battle, the fact is +highly creditable to the Federal arms, as the struggle was long +doubtful. No doubt the exact truth will some day be put upon record, +and justice will be done to both the adversaries. + +The Federal force was commanded by the brave and able General +Fitz-John Porter, with General Morell commanding his right, General +Sykes his left, and General McCall forming a second line. Slocum's +division, and the brigades of Generals French and Meagher, afterward +reënforced Porter, who now prepared, with great coolness, for the +Confederate attack. + +The moment had come. A.P. Hill, pressing forward rapidly, with +Longstreet's division on the right, reached Cold Harbor, in front of +the Federal centre, about noon. Hill immediately attacked, and an +engagement of the most obstinate character ensued. General Lee, +accompanied by General Longstreet, had ridden from his headquarters, +on the Nine-mile road, to the scene of action, and now witnessed in +person the fighting of the troops, who charged under his eye, closing +in in a nearly hand-to-hand conflict with the enemy. This was, no +doubt, the first occasion on which a considerable portion of the men +had seen him--certainly in battle--and that air of supreme calmness +which always characterized him in action must have made a deep +impression upon them. He was clad simply, and wore scarcely any badges +of rank. A felt hat drooped low over the broad forehead, and the eyes +beneath were calm and unclouded. Add a voice of measured calmness, the +air of immovable composure which marked the erect military figure, +evidently at home in the saddle, and the reader will have a correct +conception of General Lee's personal appearance in the first of the +great battles of his career. + +Hill attacked with that dash and obstinacy which from this time +forward characterized him, but succeeded in making no impression on +the Federal line. In every assault he was repulsed with heavy loss. +The Federal artillery, which was handled with skill and coolness, +did great execution upon his column, as it rushed forward, and the +infantry behind their works stood firm in spite of the most determined +efforts to drive them from the ridge. Three of Hill's regiments +reached the crest, and fought hand to hand over the breastworks, but +they were speedily repulsed and driven from the crest, and, after two +hours' hard fighting, Hill found that he had lost heavily and effected +nothing. + +It was now past two o'clock in the afternoon, and General Lee listened +with anxiety for the sound of guns from the left, which would herald +the approach of General Jackson. Nothing was heard from that quarter, +however, and affairs were growing critical. The Confederate attack had +been repulsed--the Federal position seemed impregnable--and "it became +apparent," says General Lee, "that the enemy were gradually gaining +ground." Under these circumstances, General McClellan might +adopt either one of the two courses both alike dangerous to the +Confederates. He might cross a heavy force to the assistance of +General Porter, thus enabling that officer to assume the offensive; +or, finding Lee thus checked, he might advance on Magruder, crush the +small force under him, and seize on Richmond, which would be at his +mercy. It was thus necessary to act without delay, while awaiting the +appearance of Jackson. General Lee, accordingly, directed General +Longstreet, who had taken position to the right of Cold Harbor, to +make a feint against the Federal left, and thus relieve the pressure +on Hill. Longstreet proceeded with promptness to obey the order; +advanced in face of a heavy fire, and with a cross-fire of artillery +raking his right from over the Chickahominy, and made the feint which +had been ordered by General Lee. It effected nothing; and, to attain +the desired result, it was found necessary to turn the feint into a +real attack. This Longstreet proceeded to do, first dispersing with a +single volley a force of cavalry which had the temerity to charge his +infantry. As he advanced and attacked the powerful position before +him, the roar of guns, succeeded by loud cheers, was heard on the left +of Lee's line. + +Jackson had arrived and thrown his troops into action without delay. +He then rode forward to Cold Harbor, where General Lee awaited him, +and the two soldiers shook hands in the midst of tumultuous cheering +from the troops, who had received intelligence that Jackson's corps +had joined them. The contrast between the two men was extremely +striking. We have presented a brief sketch of Lee's personal +appearance upon the occasion--of the grave commander-in-chief, with +his erect and graceful seat in the saddle, his imposing dignity of +demeanor, and his calm and measured tones, as deliberate as though he +were in a drawing-room. Jackson was a very different personage. He was +clad in a dingy old coat, wore a discolored cadet-cap, tilted almost +upon his nose, and rode a rawboned horse, with short stirrups, which +raised his knees in the most ungraceful manner. Neither in his face +nor figure was there the least indication of the great faculties of +the man, and a more awkward-looking personage it would be impossible +to imagine. In his hand he held a lemon, which he sucked from time to +time, and his demeanor was abstracted and absent. + +As Jackson approached, Lee rode toward him and greeted him with a +cordial pressure of the hand. + +"Ah, general," said Lee, "I am very glad to see you. I hoped to be +with you before!" + +Jackson made a twitching movement of his head, and replied in a few +words, rather jerked from the lips than deliberately uttered. + +Lee had paused, and now listened attentively to the long roll of +musketry from the woods, where Hill and Longstreet were engaged; then +to the still more incessant and angry roar from the direction of +Jackson's own troops, who had closed in upon the Federal forces. + +"That fire is very heavy," said Lee. "Do you think your men can stand +it?" + +Jackson listened for a moment, with his head bent toward one shoulder, +as was customary with him, for he was deaf, he said, in one ear, "and +could not hear out of the other," and replied briefly: + +"They can stand almost any thing! They can stand that!" + +He then, after receiving General Lee's instructions, immediately +saluted and returned to his corps--Lee remaining still at Cold Harbor, +which was opposite the Federal centre. + +[Illustration: Lee and Jackson at Cold harbor.] + +The arrival of Jackson changed in a moment the aspect of affairs +in every part of the field. Whitney's division of his command took +position on Longstreet's left; the command of General D.H. Hill, on +the extreme right of the whole line, and Ewell's division, with part +of Jackson's old division, supported A.P. Hill. No sooner had these +dispositions been made, than General Lee ordered an attack along the +whole line. It was now five or six o'clock, and the sun was sinking. +From that moment until night came, the battle raged with a fury +unsurpassed in any subsequent engagement of the war. The Texan troops, +under General Hood, especially distinguished themselves. These, +followed by their comrades, charged the Federal left on the bluff, +and, in spite of a desperate resistance, carried the position. "The +enemy were driven," says General Lee, "from the ravine to the first +line of breastworks, over which one impetuous column dashed, up to the +intrenchments on the crest." Here the Federal artillery was captured, +their line driven from the hill, and in other parts of the field a +similar success followed the attack. As night fell, their line gave +way in all parts, and the remnants of General Porter's command +retreated to the bridges over the Chickahominy. + +The first important passage of arms between General McClellan and +General Lee--and it may be added the really decisive one--had +terminated in a great success on the side of the Confederates. + + + + +IV. + +THE RETREAT. + + +The battle of Cold Harbor--or, as General Lee styles it in his report, +the "battle of the Chickahominy"--was the decisive struggle between +the great adversaries, and determined the fate of General McClellan's +campaign against Richmond. + +This view is not held by writers on the Northern side, who represent +the battle in question as only the first of a series of engagements, +all of pretty nearly equal importance, and mere incidents attending +General McClellan's change of base to the shores of the James River. +Such a theory seems unfounded. If the battle at Cold Harbor had +resulted in a Federal victory, General McClellan would have advanced +straight on Richmond, and the capture of the city would inevitably +have followed. But at Cold Harbor he sustained a decisive defeat. +His whole campaign was reversed, and came to naught, from the events +occurring between noon and nightfall on the 27th of June. The result +of that obstinate encounter was not a Federal success, leading to the +fall of Richmond, but a Federal defeat, which led to the retreat to +the James River, and the failure of the whole campaign against the +Confederate capital. + +It is conceded that General McClellan really intended to change his +base; but after the battle of Cold Harbor every thing had changed. +He no longer had under him a high-spirited army, moving to take up +a stronger position, but a weary and dispirited multitude of human +beings, hurrying along to gain the shelter of the gunboats on the +James River, with the enemy pursuing closely, and worrying them at +every step. To the condition of the Federal army one of their own +officers testifies, and his expressions are so strong as wellnigh +to move the susceptibilities of an opponent. "We were ordered to +retreat," says General Hooker, "and it was like the retreat of a +whipped army. We retreated like a parcel of sheep; everybody on the +road at the same time; and a few shots from the rebels would have +panic-stricken the whole command."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, part +i., p. 580.] + +Such was the condition of that great army which had fought so bravely, +standing firm so long against the headlong assaults of the flower +of the Southern troops. It was the battle at Cold Harbor which had +produced this state of things, thereby really deciding the result +of the campaign. To attribute to that action, therefore, no more +importance than attached to the engagements on the retreat to James +River, seems in opposition to the truth of history. + +We shall present only a general narrative of the famous retreat which +reflected the highest credit upon General McClellan, and will remain +his greatest glory. He, at least, was too good a soldier not to +understand that the battle of the 27th was a decisive one. He +determined to retreat, without risking another action, to the banks +of the James River, where the Federal gunboats would render a second +attack from the Confederates a hazardous undertaking; and, "on the +evening of the 27th of June," as he says in his official report, +"assembled the corps commanders at his headquarters, and informed +them of his plan, its reasons, and his choice of route, and method of +execution." Orders were then issued to General Keyes to move with his +corps across the White-Oak Swamp Bridge, and, taking up a position +with his artillery on the opposite side, cover the passage of the rest +of the troops; the trains and supplies at Savage Station, on the +York River Railroad, were directed to be withdrawn; and the corps +commanders were ordered to move with such provisions, munitions, +and sick, as they could transport, on the direct road to Harrison's +Landing. + +These orders were promptly carried out. Before dawn on the 29th the +Federal army took up the line of march, and the great retrograde +movement was successfully begun. An immense obstacle to its success +lay in the character of the country through which it was necessary to +pass. White Oak Swamp is an extensive morass, similar to that skirting +the banks of the Chickahominy, and the passage through it is over +narrow, winding, and difficult roads, which furnish the worst possible +pathways for wagons, artillery, or even troops. It was necessary, +however, to use these highways or none, and General McClellan +resolutely entered upon his critical movement. + +General Lee was yet in doubt as to his opponent's designs, and the +fact is highly creditable to General McClellan. A portion of the +Federal army still remained on the left bank of the Chickahominy, and +it might be the intention of McClellan to push forward reënforcements +from the Peninsula, fight a second battle for the protection of his +great mass of supplies at the White House, or, crossing his whole army +to the left bank of the Chickahominy by the lower bridges, retreat +down the Peninsula by the same road followed in advancing. All that +General Lee could do, under these circumstances, was to remain near +Cold Harbor with his main body, send a force toward the York River +road, on the eastern bank of the Chickahominy, to check any Federal +attempt to cross there, and await further developments. + +It was not until the morning of the 29th that General McClellan's +designs became apparent. It was then ascertained that he had commenced +moving toward James River with his entire army, and Lee issued prompt +orders for the pursuit. While a portion of the Confederate army +followed closely upon the enemy's rear, other bodies were directed to +move by the Williamsburg and Charles City roads, and intercept him, +or assail his flanks. If these movements were promptly made, and no +unnecessary delay took place, it was expected that the Federal army +would be brought to bay in the White-Oak Swamp, and a final victory be +achieved by the Confederates. + +These complicated movements were soon in full progress, and at +various points on the line of retreat fierce fighting ensued. General +Magruder, advancing to Savage Station, an important depot of Federal +stores, on the York River Railroad, encountered on the 29th, the +powerful Federal rear-guard, which fought obstinately until night, +when it retired. Next day Generals Longstreet and A.P. Hill had pushed +down the Long Bridge road, and on the next day (June 30th) came on the +retreating column which was vigorously engaged. From the character +of the ground, little, however, was effected. The enemy fought with +obstinate courage, and repulsed every assault. The battle raged until +after nightfall, when the Federal army continued to retreat. + +These actions were the most important, and in both the Confederates +had failed to effect any important results. + +Even Jackson, who had been delayed, by the destruction of the +Chickahominy bridges, in crossing to the south bank from the vicinity +of Cold Harbor, and had followed in rear of the rest of the army, +found himself checked by General McClellan's admirable disposition +for the protection of his rear. Jackson made every effort to strike a +decisive blow at the Federal rear in the White-Oak Swamp, but he found +a bridge in his front destroyed, the enemy holding the opposite side +in strong force, and, when he endeavored to force a passage, the +determined fire from their artillery rendered it impossible for him to +do so. General McClellan had thus foiled the generalship of Lee, +and the hard fighting of Stonewall Jackson. His excellent military +judgement had defeated every attempt made to crush him. On the 1st of +July he had successfully passed the terrible swamp, in spite of all +his enemies, and his army was drawn up on the wellnigh impregnable +heights of Malvern Hill. + +A last struggle took place at Malvern Hill, and the Confederate +assault failed at all points. Owing to the wooded nature of the +ground, and the absence of accurate information in regard to it, the +attack was made under very great difficulties and effected nothing. +The Federal troops resisted courageously, and inflicted heavy loss +upon the assailing force, which advanced to the muzzles of the Federal +cannon, but did not carry the heights; and at nightfall the battle +ceased, the Confederates having suffered a severe repulse. + +On the next morning, General McClellan had disappeared toward +Harrison's Landing, to which he conducted his army safely, without +further molestation, and the long and bitter struggle was over. + + + + +V. + +RICHMOND IN DANGER--LEE'S VIEWS. + + +We have presented a sufficiently full narrative of the great battles +of the Chickahominy to enable the reader to form his own opinion of +the events, and the capacity of the two leaders who directed them. +Full justice has been sought to be done to the eminent military +abilities of General McClellan, and the writer is not conscious that +he has done more than justice to General Lee. + +Lee has not escaped criticism, and was blamed by many persons for not +putting an end to the Federal army on the retreat through White-Oak +Swamp. To this criticism, it may be said in reply, that putting an +end to nearly or quite one hundred thousand men is a difficult +undertaking; and that in one instance, at least, the failure of one of +his subordinates in arriving promptly, reversed his plans at the most +critical moment of the struggle. General Lee himself, however, states +the main cause of failure: "Under ordinary circumstances," he says, +"the Federal army should have been destroyed. Its escape is due to the +causes already stated. Prominent among them is the want of timely and +correct information. This fact, attributed chiefly to the character +of the country, enabled General McClellan skilfully to conceal his +retreat, and to add much to the obstruction with which Nature had +beset the way of our pursuing columns. But regret that more was not +accomplished, gives way to gratitude to the Sovereign Ruler of the +Universe for the results achieved." + +The reader will form his own opinion whether Lee was or was not +to blame for this want of accurate information, which would seem, +however, to be justly attributable to the War Department at Richmond, +rather than to an officer who had been assigned to command only three +or four weeks before. Other criticisms of Lee referred to his main +plan of operations, and the danger to which he exposed Richmond by +leaving only twenty-five thousand men in front of it, when he began +his movement against General McClellan's right wing, beyond the +Chickahominy. General Magruder, who commanded this force of +twenty-five thousand men left to guard the capital, expressed +afterward, in his official report, his views of the danger to which +the city had been exposed. He wrote: + +"From the time at which the enemy withdrew his forces to this side +of the Chickahominy, and destroyed the bridges, to the moment of his +evacuation, that is, from Friday night until Saturday morning, I +considered the situation of our army as extremely critical and +perilous. The larger portion of it was on the opposite side of +the Chickahominy. The bridges had been all destroyed; but one was +rebuilt--the New Bridge--which was commanded fully by the enemy's guns +from Goulding's; and there were but twenty-five thousand men between +his army of one hundred thousand and Richmond.... Had McClellan massed +his whole force in column, and advanced it against any point of our +line of battle, as was done at Austerlitz under similar circumstances +by the greatest captain of any age, though the head of his column +would have suffered greatly, its momentum would have insured him +success, and the occupation of our works about Richmond, and +consequently the city, might have been his reward. His failure to do +so is the best evidence that our wise commander fully understood the +character of his opponent." + +To this portion of General Magruder's report General Lee appended the +following "Remarks" in forwarding it: + +"General Magruder is under a misapprehension as to the separation of +troops operating on the north side of the Chickahominy from those +under himself and General Huger on the south side. He refers to this +subject on pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, of his report. + +"The troops on the two sides of the river were only separated until we +succeeded in occupying the position near what is known as New Bridge, +which occurred before twelve o'clock M. on Friday, June 27th, and +before the attack on the enemy at Gaines's Mill. + +"From the time we reached the position referred to, I regarded +communication between the two wings of our army as reëstablished. + +"The bridge referred to, and another about three-quarters of a mile +above, were ordered to be repaired before noon on Friday, and the New +Bridge was sufficiently rebuilt to be passed by artillery on Friday +night, and the one above it was used for the passage of wagons, +ambulances, and troops, early on Saturday morning. + +"Besides this, all other bridges above New Bridge, and all the fords +above that point, were open to us." + +To this General Magruder subsequently responded as follows: + +"New Bridge was finished on Friday evening, the 27th, instead of +Saturday, 28th of June. + +"I wrote from memory in reference to the time of its being finished. + +"It was reported to me that the bridge three-quarters of a mile above +was attempted to be crossed by troops (I think Ransom's brigade), on +Saturday morning, from the south to the north side, but that, finding +the bridge or the approach to it difficult, they came down and crossed +at New Bridge on the same morning. + +"My statement in regard to these bridges was not intended as a +criticism on General Lee's plan, but to show the position of the +troops, with a view to the proper understanding of my report, and to +prove that the enemy might have reasonably entertained a design, after +concentrating his troops, to march on Richmond." + +We shall not detain the reader by entering upon a full discussion of +the interesting question here raised. General Lee, as his observations +on General Magruder's report show, did not regard Richmond as exposed +to serious danger, and was confident of his ability to recross the +Chickahominy and go to its succor in the event of an attack on the +city by General McClellan. Had this prompt recrossing of the stream +here, even, been impracticable, it may still be a question whether +General Lee did not, in his movement against the Federal right wing +with the bulk of his army, follow the dictates of sound generalship. +In war, something must be risked, and occasions arise which render +it necessary to disregard general maxims. It is one of the first +principles of military science that a commander should always keep +open his line of retreat; but the moment may come when his best policy +is to burn the bridges behind him. Of Lee's movement against General +McClellan's right, it may be said that it was based on the broadest +good sense and the best generalship. The situation of affairs rendered +an attack in some quarter essential to the safety of the capital, +which was about to be hemmed in on all sides. To attack the left of +General McClellan, promised small results. It had been tried and had +failed; his right alone remained. It was possible, certainly, that he +would mass his army, and, crushing Magruder, march into Richmond; +but it was not probable that he would make the attempt. The Federal +commander was known to be a soldier disposed to caution rather than +audacity. The small amount of force under General Magruder was a +secret which he could not be expected to know. That General Lee took +these facts into consideration, as General Magruder intimates, may or +may not have been the fact; and the whole discussion may be fairly +summed up, perhaps, by saying that success vindicated the course +adopted. "Success, after all, is the test of merit," said the brave +Albert Sydney Johnston, and Talleyrand compressed much sound reasoning +in the pithy maxim, "Nothing succeeds like success." + +On the 2d of July the campaign was over, and General McClellan must +have felt, in spite of his hopeful general orders to the troops, and +dispatches to his Government, that the great struggle for Richmond had +virtually ended. A week before, he had occupied a position within a +few miles of the city, with a numerous army in the highest spirits, +and of thorough efficiency. Now, he lay on the banks of James River, +thirty miles away from the capital, and his army was worn out by the +tremendous ordeal it had passed through, and completely discouraged. +We have not dwelt upon the horrors of the retreat, and the state of +the army, which Northern writers painted at the time in the gloomiest +colors. For the moment, it was no longer the splendid war-engine it +had been, and was again afterward. Nothing could be done with it, +and General McClellan knew the fact. Without fresh troops, a renewed +advance upon Richmond was a mere dream. + +No further attack was made by General Lee, who remained for some +days inactive in the hot forests of Charles City. His reasons for +refraining from a new assault on General McClellan are summed up in +one or two sentences of his report: "The Federal commander," he says, +"immediately began to fortify his position, which was one of great +natural strength, flanked on each side by a creek, and the approach to +his front commanded by the heavy guns of his shipping, in addition +to those mounted in his intrenchments. It was deemed inexpedient to +attack him, and in view of the condition of our troops, who had been +marching and fighting almost incessantly for seven days under the +most trying circumstances, it was determined to withdraw, in order to +afford them the repose of which they stood so much in need." + +On the 8th of July, General Lee accordingly directed his march back +toward Richmond, and the troops went into camp and rested. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND McCLELLAN--THEIR IDENTITY OF OPINION. + + +General Lee had thus, at the outset of his career, as commander of the +Confederate army, saved the capital by a blow at the enemy as sudden +as it was resistless. The class of persons who are never satisfied, +and delight in fault-finding under all circumstances, declared that +a great general would have crushed the enemy on their retreat; these +certainly were in a minority; the people at large greeted Lee as the +author of a great deliverance worked out for them, and, on his return +to Richmond, he was received with every mark of gratitude and honor. +He accepted this public ovation with the moderation and dignity which +characterized his demeanor afterward, under all circumstances, either +of victory or defeat. It was almost impossible to discover in his +bearing at this time, as on other great occasions, any evidences +whatever of elation. Success, like disaster, seemed to find him calm, +collected, and as nearly unimpressible as is possible for a human +being. + +The character of the man led him to look upon success or failure with +this supreme composure, which nothing seemed able to shake; but in +July, 1862, he probably understood that the Confederate States were +still as far as ever from having achieved the objects of the war. +General McClellan had been defeated in battle, but the great resources +of the United States Government would enable it promptly to put other +and larger armies in the field. Even the defeated army was still +numerous and dangerous, for it consisted, according to McClellan's +report, of nearly or quite ninety thousand men; and the wise brain of +its commander had devised a plan of future operations which +promised far greater results than the advance on Richmond from the +Chickahominy. + +We shall touch, in passing, on this interesting subject, but shall +first ask the reader's attention to a communication addressed, by +General McClellan, at this time to President Lincoln. It is one of +those papers which belong to history, and should be placed upon +record. It not only throws the clearest light on the character and +views of General Lee's great adversary, but expresses with admirable +lucidity the sentiments of a large portion of the Federal people at +the time. The President had invited a statement of General McClellan's +views on the conduct of the war, and on July 7th, in the very midst of +the scenes of disaster at Harrison's Landing, McClellan wrote these +statesmanlike words: + +"This rebellion has assumed the character of a war; as such it should +be regarded, and it should be conducted upon the highest principles +know to Christian civilization. It should not be a war looking to the +subjugation of the people of any State in any event. It should not be +at all a war upon population, but against armed forces and political +organization. Neither confiscation of property, political executions, +territorial organizations of States, nor forcible abolition of +slavery, should be contemplated for a moment. In prosecuting the war +all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected, +subject only to the necessity of military operations. All private +property taken for military use should be paid or receipted for; +pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary +trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military +toward citizens promptly rebuked. Military arrests should not be +tolerated, except in places where active hostilities exist, and oaths +not required by enactments constitutionally made should be neither +demanded nor received. Military government should be confined to the +preservation of public order and the protection of political right. +Military power should not be allowed to interfere with the relations +of servitude, either by supporting or impairing the authority of the +master, except for repressing disorder, as in other cases. Slaves +contraband under the Act of Congress, seeking military protection, +should receive it. The right of the Government to appropriate +permanently to its own service claims to slave-labor should be +asserted, and the right of the owner to compensation therefor should +be recognized. + +"This principle might be extended upon grounds of military necessity +and security to all the slaves of a particular State, thus working +manumission in such State; and in Missouri, perhaps in Western +Virginia also, and possibly even in Maryland, the expediency of such a +measure is only a question of time. + +"A system of policy thus constitutional, and pervaded by the +influences of Christianity and freedom, would receive the support of +almost all truly loyal men, would deeply impress the rebel masses +and all foreign nations, and it might be humbly hoped that it would +commend itself to the favor of the Almighty. + +"Unless the principles governing the future conduct of our struggle +shall be made known and approved, the effort to obtain requisite +forces will be almost hopeless. A declaration of radical views, +especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies. + +"The policy of the Government must be supported by concentrations +of military power. The national forces should not be dispersed in +expeditions, posts of occupation, and numerous armies; but should be +mainly collected into masses, and brought to bear upon the armies +of the Confederate States. Those armies thoroughly defeated, the +political structure which they support would soon cease to exist. + + "In carrying out any system of policy which you may form, you will + require a commander-in-chief of the army--one who possesses your + confidence, understands your views, and who is competent to + execute your orders, by directing the military forces of the + nation to the accomplishment of the objects by you proposed. I do + not ask that place for myself. I am willing to serve you in such + positions as you may assign me, and I will do so as faithfully + as ever subordinate served superior. I may be on the brink of + eternity, and, as I hope forgiveness from my Maker, I have written + this letter with sincerity toward you, and from love for my + country." + +This noble and earnest exposition of his opinion, upon the proper mode +of conducting the war, will reflect honor upon General McClellan when +his military achievements are forgotten. It discusses the situation +of affairs, both from the political and military point of view, in a +spirit of the broadest statesmanship, and with the acumen of a great +soldier. That it had no effect, is the clearest indication upon which +the war was thenceforward to be conducted. + +The removal of General McClellan, as holding views opposed to the +party in power, is said to have resulted from this communication. +It certainly placed him in open antagonism to General Halleck, the +Federal Secretary of War, and, as this antagonism had a direct effect +upon even connected with the subject of our memoir, we shall briefly +relate now it was now displayed. + +Defeated on the Chickahominy, and seeing little to encourage an +advance, on the left bank of the James, upon Richmond, General +McClellan proposed to cross that river and operate against the capital +and its communications, near Petersburg. The proof of McClellan's +desire to undertake this movement, which afterward proved so +successful under General Grant, is found in a memorandum, by General +Halleck himself, of what took place on a visit paid by him to +McClellan, at Harrison's Landing, on July 25, 1862. + +"I stated to him," says General Halleck, "that the object of my visit +was to ascertain from him his views and wishes in regard to future +operations. He said that he proposed to cross the James River at that +point, attack Petersburg, and cut off the enemy's communications by +that route South, making no further demonstration for the present +against Richmond. I stated to him very frankly my views in regard to +the manner and impracticability of the plan;" and nothing further, it +seems, was said of this highly "impracticable" plan of operations. It +became practicable afterward under General Grant; McClellan was not +permitted to essay it in July, 1862, from the fact that it had been +resolved to relieve him from command, or from General Halleck's +inability to perceive its good sense. + +General Lee's views upon this subject coincided completely with those +of General McClellan. He expressed at this time, to those in his +confidence, the opinion that Richmond could be assailed to greater +advantage from the South, as a movement of the enemy in that direction +would menace her communications with the Gulf States; and events +subsequently proved the soundness of this view. Attacks from all +other quarters failed, including a repetition by General Grant of +McClellan's attempt from the side of the Chickahominy. When General +Grant carried out his predecessor's plan of assailing the city from +the direction of Petersburg, he succeeded in putting an end to the +war. + + + + +PART IV. + +_THE WAR ADVANCES NORTHWARD_ + + + + +I. + +LEE'S PROTEST. + + +General Lee remained in front of Richmond, watching General McClellan, +but intelligence soon reached him from the upper Rappahannock that +another army was advancing in that quarter, and had already occupied +the county of Culpepper, with the obvious intention of capturing +Gordonsville, the point of junction of the Orange and Alexandria and +Virginia Central Railroads, and advancing thence upon Richmond. + +The great defeat on the Chickahominy had only inspired the Federal +authorities with new energy. Three hundred thousand new troops +were called for, large bounties were held out as an inducement to +enlistment, negro-slaves in regions occupied by the United States +armies were directed to be enrolled as troops, and military commanders +were authorized to seize upon whatever was "necessary or convenient +for their commands," without compensation to the owners. This +indicated the policy upon which it was now intended to conduct the +war, and the army occupying Culpepper proceeded to carry out the new +policy in every particular. + +This force consisted of the troops which had served under Generals +Banks, McDowell, and Fremont--a necleus--and reënforcements from the +army of McClellan, together with the troops under General Burnside, +were hastening to unite with the newly-formed army. It was styled the +"Army of Virginia," and was placed under command of Major-General John +Pope, who had hitherto served in the West. General Pope had procured +the command, it is said, by impressing the authorities with a high +opinion of his energy and activity. In these qualities, General +McClellan was supposed to be deficient; and the new commander, coming +from a region where the war was conducted on a different plan, it was +said, would be able to infuse new life into the languid movements in +Virginia. General Pope had taken special pains to allay the fears of +the Federal authorities for the safety of Washington. He intended +to "lie off on the flanks" of Lee's army, he said, and render it +impossible for the rebels to advance upon the capital while he +occupied that threatening position. When asked if, with an army like +General McClellan's, he would find any difficulty in marching through +the South to New Orleans, General Pope replied without hesitation, "I +should suppose not." + +This confident view of things seems to have procured General Pope his +appointment, and it will soon be seen that he proceeded to conduct +military operations upon principles very different from those +announced by General McClellan. War, as carried on by General Pope, +was to be war _à l'outrance._ General McClellan had written: "The war +should not be at all a war upon population, but against armed forces +... all private property, taken for military use, should be paid for; +pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary +trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military +toward citizens promptly rebuked." The new commander intended to act +upon a very different principle, and to show that he possessed more +activity and resolution than his predecessor. + +General Pope's assumption of the command was signalized by much pomp +and animated general orders. He arrived in a train decked out with +streamers, and issued an order in which he said to the troops: "I +desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am sorry +to find much in vogue among you. I hear constantly of taking strong +positions and holding them, _of lines of retreat and bases of +supplies_. Let us discard such ideas. The strongest position which +a soldier should desire to occupy is the one from which he can most +easily advance upon the enemy. Let us study the probable line of +retreat of our opponents, _and leave our own to take care of itself. +Let us look before, and not behind. Disaster and shame look in the +rear_." The result, as will be seen, furnished a grotesque commentary +upon that portion of General Pope's order which we have italicized. In +an address to the army, he added further: "I have come to you from the +West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies--from an army +whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and beat him when +found--where policy has been attack, and not defence. I presume I have +been called here to pursue the same system." + +Such was the tenor of General Pope's orders on assuming +command--orders which were either intended seriously as an +announcement of his real intentions, or as a blind to persuade the +Confederates that his force was large. + +Unfortunately for the region in which he now came to operate, General +Pope did not confine himself to these flourishes of rhetoric. He +proceeded to inaugurate a military policy in vivid contrast to General +McClellan's. His "expatriation orders" directed that all male citizens +disloyal to the United States should be immediately arrested; the oath +of allegiance to the United States Government should be proffered +them, and, "if they furnished sufficient security for its observance," +they should be set free again. If they refused the oath, they should +be sent beyond the Federal lines; and, if afterward found within his +lines, they should be treated as spies, "and shot, their property +to be seized and applied to the public use." All communication +with persons living within the Southern lines was forbidden; such +communication should subject the individual guilty of it to be treated +as _a spy_. Lastly, General Pope's subordinates were directed to +arrest prominent citizens, and hold them as hostages for the good +behavior of the population. If his soldiers were "bushwhacked"--that +is to say, attacked on their foraging expeditions--the prominent +citizens thus held as hostages were to _suffer death_. + +It is obvious that war carried on upon such principles is rapine. +General Pope ventured, however, upon the new programme; and a foreign +periodical, commenting upon the result, declared that this commander +had prosecuted hostilities against the South "in a way that cast +mankind two centuries back toward barbarism." We shall not pause to +view the great outrages committed by the Federal troops in Culpepper. +They have received thus much comment rather to introduce the following +communication to the Federal authorities, from General Lee, than +to record what is known now to the Old World as well as the New. +Profoundly outraged and indignant at these cruel and oppressive acts, +General Lee, by direction of the Confederate authorities, addressed, +on the 2d of August, the following note to General Halleck: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE C.S., / + + NEAR RICHMOND, VA., _August_ 2, 1862.; + + _To the General commanding the U.S. Army, Washington_: + + GENERAL: In obedience to the order of his Excellency, the + President of the Confederate States, I have the honor to make you + the following communication: + + On the 22d of July last a cartel for a general exchange of + prisoners was signed by Major-General John A. Dix, on behalf of + the United States, and by Major-General D.H. Hill, on the part of + this government. By the terms of that cartel it is stipulated that + all prisoners of war hereafter taken shall be discharged on parole + until exchanged. Scarcely had the cartel been signed, when the + military authorities of the United States commenced a practice + changing the character of the war, from such as becomes civilized + nations, into a campaign of indiscriminate robbery and murder. + + A general order issued by the Secretary of War of the United + States, in the city of Washington, on the very day that the cartel + was signed in Virginia, directs the military commanders of + the United States to take the property of our people, for the + convenience and use of the army, without compensation. + + A general order issued by Major-General Pope, on the 23d of July + last, the day after the date of the cartel, directs the murder of + our peaceful citizens as spies, if found quietly tilling their + farms in his rear, even outside of his lines. + + And one of his brigadier-generals, Steinwehr, has seized innocent + and peaceful inhabitants, to be held as hostages, to the end that + they may be murdered in cold blood if any of his soldiers + are killed by some unknown persons whom he designates as + "bushwhackers." Some of the military authorities seem to suppose + that their end will be better attained by a savage war in which no + quarter is to be given, and no age or sex is to be spared, than by + such hostilities as are alone recognized to be lawful in modern + times. We find ourselves driven by our enemies by steady progress + toward a practice which we abhor, and which we are vainly + struggling to avoid. + + Under these circumstances, this Government has issued the + accompanying general order, which I am directed by the President + to transmit to you, recognizing Major-General Pope and his + commissioned officers to be in the position which they have chosen + for themselves--that of robbers and murderers, and not that of + public enemies, entitled, if captured, to be treated as prisoners + of war. The President also instructs me to inform you that we + renounce our right of retaliation on the innocent, and will + continue to treat the private soldiers of General Pope's army as + prisoners of war; but if, after notice to your Government that + they confine repressive measures to the punishment of commissioned + officers who are willing to participate in these crimes, the + savage practices threatened in the orders alluded to be persisted + in, we shall reluctantly be forced to the last resort of accepting + the war on the terms chosen by our enemies, until the voice of an + outraged humanity shall compel a respect for the recognized usages + of war. While the President considers that the facts referred to + would justify a refusal on our part to execute the cartel by which + we have agreed to liberate an excess of prisoners of war in our + hands, a sacred regard for plighted faith, which shrinks from the + semblance of breaking a promise, precludes a resort to such an + extremity, nor is it his desire to extend to any other forces of + the United States the punishment merited by General Pope and such + commissioned officers as choose to participate in the execution of + his infamous order. + + I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + + R.E. LEE, _General commanding_. + +This communication requires no comment. It had the desired effect, +although General Halleck returned it as couched in language too +insulting to be received. On the 15th of August, the United States War +Department so far disapproved of General Pope's orders as to direct +that "no officer or soldier might, without proper authority, leave his +colors or ranks to take private property, or to enter a private house +for the purpose, under penalty of death." + + + + +II. + +LEE'S MANOEUVRES. + + +General Pope had promptly advanced, and his army lay in Culpepper, the +right reaching toward the Blue Ridge, and the left extending nearly to +the Rapidan. + +The campaign now became a contest of brains between Lee and the +Federal authorities. Their obvious aim was to leave him in doubt +whether a new advance was intended under McClellan from James River, +or the real movement was to be against Richmond from the North. Under +these circumstances, General Lee remained with the bulk of his army +in front of Richmond; but, on the 13th of July, sent Jackson with two +divisions in the direction of Gordonsville. The game of wits had thus +begun, and General Lee moved cautiously, looking in both directions, +toward James River and the Upper Rappahannock. As yet the real design +of the enemy was undeveloped. The movement of General Pope might or +might not be a real advance. But General McClellan remained inactive, +and, on the 27th of July, A.P. Hill's division was sent up to +reënforce Jackson--while, at the same time, General D.H. Hill, +commanding a force on the south bank of the James River, was directed +to make demonstrations against McClellan's communications by opening +fire on his transports. + +The moment approached now when the game between the two adversaries +was to be decided. On the 2d of August, Jackson assumed the offensive, +by attacking the enemy at Orange Court-House; and, on the 5th, General +McClellan made a prompt demonstration to prevent Lee from sending him +further reinforcements. A large Federal force advanced to Malvern +Hill, and was drawn up there in line of battle, with every indication +on the part of General McClellan of an intention to advance anew upon +Richmond. Lee promptly went to meet him, and a slight engagement +ensued on Curl's Neck. But, on the next morning, the Federal army had +disappeared, and the whole movement was seen to have been a feint. + +This state of indecision continued until nearly the middle of August. +An incident then occurred which clearly indicated the enemy's +intentions. General Burnside was known to have reached Hampton Roads +from the Southern coast with a considerable force, and the direction +which his flotilla now took would show the design of the Federal +authorities. If a new advance was intended from the James, the +flotilla would ascend that river; if General Pope's army was looked to +for the real movement, General Burnside would go in that direction. +The secret was discovered by the afterward celebrated Colonel John S. +Mosby, then a private, and just returned, by way of Fortress Monroe, +from prison in Washington. He ascertained, when he disembarked, that +Burnside's flotilla was about to move toward the Rappahannock, and, +aware of the importance of the information, hastened to communicate +it to General Lee. He was admitted, at the headquarters of the latter +near Richmond, to a private interview, and when General Lee had +finished his conversation with the plain-looking individual, then +almost unknown, he was in possession of the information necessary to +determine his plans. The Rappahannock, and not the James, was seen +to be the theatre of the coming campaign, and General Lee's whole +attention was now directed to that quarter. + +Jackson had already struck an important blow there, coöperating +vigorously, as was habitual with him, in the general plan of action. +General McClellan had endeavored by a feint to hold Lee at Richmond. +By a battle now, Jackson hastened the retreat of the army under +McClellan from James River. With his three divisions, Jackson crossed +the Rapidan, and, on the 9th of August, attacked the advance force of +General Pope at Cedar Mountain. The struggle was obstinate, and at +one time Jackson's left was driven back, but the action terminated at +nightfall in the retreat of the Federal forces, and the Confederate +commander remained in possession of the field. He was too weak, +however, to hold his position against the main body of the Federal +army, which was known to be approaching; he accordingly recrossed +the Rapidan to the vicinity of Gordonsville, and here he was +soon afterward joined by General Lee, with the great bulk of the +Confederate army. + +Such were the events which succeeded the battles of the Chickahominy, +transferring hostilities to a new theatre, and inaugurating the great +campaigns of the summer and autumn of 1862 in Northern Virginia and +Maryland. + + + + +III. + +LEE ADVANCES FROM THE RAPIDAN. + + +General Lee, it will thus be seen, had proceeded in his military +manoeuvres with the utmost caution, determined to give his adversaries +no advantage, and remain in front of the capital until it was free +from all danger. But for the daring assault upon General McClellan, +on the Chickahominy, his critics would no doubt have charged him with +weakness and indecision now; but, under any circumstances, it is +certain that he would have proceeded in the same manner, conducting +operations in the method which his judgment approved. + +At length the necessity of caution had disappeared. General Burnside +had gone to reënforce General Pope, and a portion of McClellan's army +was believed to have followed. "It therefore seemed," says +General Lee, "that active operations on the James were no longer +contemplated," and he wisely concluded that "the most effectual way to +relieve Richmond from any danger of attack from that quarter would +be to reënforce General Jackson, and advance upon General Pope." In +commenting upon these words, an able writer of the North exclaims: +"Veracious prophecy, showing that _insight_ which is one of the +highest marks of generalship!" The movement, indeed, was the right +proceeding, as the event showed; and good generalship may be defined +to be the power of seeing what is the proper course, and the decision +of character which leads to its adoption. + +General Lee exhibited throughout his career this mingled good judgment +and daring, and his cautious inactivity was now succeeded by one +of those offensive movements which, if we may judge him, by his +subsequent career, seemed to be the natural bent of his character. +With the bulk of his army, he marched in the direction of General +Pope; the rest were speedily ordered to follow, and active operations +began for driving the newly-formed Federal "Army of Virginia" back +toward Washington. + +We have presented Lee's order for the attack on General McClellan, and +here quote his order of march for the advance against General Pope, +together with a note addressed to Stuart, commanding his cavalry, for +that officer's guidance. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_August_ 19, 1862. + +SPECIAL ORDER No. 185. + +I. General Longstreet's command, constituting the right wing of +the army, will cross the Rapidan at Raccoon Ford, and move in the +direction of Culpepper Court-House. General Jackson's command, +constituting the left wing, will cross at Summerville Ford, and move +in the same direction, keeping on the left of General Longstreet. +General Anderson's division will cross at Summerville Ford, follow the +route of General Jackson, and act in reserve. The battalion of light +artillery, under Colonel S.D. Lee, will take the same route. The +cavalry, under General Stuart, will cross at Morton's Ford, pursue the +route by Stevensburg to Rappahannock Station, destroy the railroad +bridge, cut the enemy's communications, telegraph line, and, +operating toward Culpepper Court-House, will take position on General +Longstreet's right. + +II. The commanders of each wing will designate the reserve for their +commands. Medical and ammunition wagons will alone follow the troops +across the Rapidan. The baggage and supply trains will be parked under +their respective officers, in secure positions on the south side, so +as not to embarrass the different roads. + +III. Cooked rations for three days will be carried in the haversacks +of the men, and provision must be made for foraging the animals. +Straggling from the ranks is strictly prohibited, and commanders will +make arrangements to secure and punish the offenders. + +IV. The movements herein directed will commence to-morrow, 20th +instant, at dawn of day. + +By command of General R.E. Lee: + +A.P. MASON, _A.A. G_. + +HEADQUARTERS CRENSHAW'S FARM,} + _August_ 19, 1862.} + +_General J.E.B. Stuart, commanding Cavalry_: + +General: I desire you to rest your men to-day, refresh your horses, +prepare rations and every thing for the march to-morrow. Get what +information you can of fords, roads, and position of the enemy, so +that your march can be made understandingly and with vigor. I send to +you Captain Mason, an experienced bridge-builder, etc., whom I think +will be able to aid you in the destruction of the bridge, etc. When +that is accomplished, or when in train of execution, as circumstances +permit, I wish you to operate back toward Culpepper Court-House, +creating such confusion and consternation as you can, without +unnecessarily exposing your men, till you feel Longstreet's right. +Take position there on his right, and hold yourself in reserve, and +act as circumstances may require. I wish to know during the day how +you proceed in your preparations. They will require the personal +attention of all your officers. The last reports from the +signal-stations yesterday evening were, that the enemy was breaking +up his principal encampments, and moving in direction of Culpepper +Court-House. + +Very respectfully, etc., R.E. LEE, _General_. + +These orders indicate General Lee's design--to reach the left flank +of the enemy, prevent his retreat by destroying the bridges on the +Rappahannock, and bring him to battle in the neighborhood of Culpepper +Court-House. The plan failed in consequence of a delay of two days, +which took place in its execution--a delay, attributed at that time, +we know not with what justice, to the unnecessarily deliberate +movements of the corps commanded by General Longstreet. This delay +enabled the enemy to gain information of the intended movement; and +when General Lee advanced on the 20th of August, instead of on the +18th, as he had at first determined to do, it was found that General +Pope had broken up his camps, and was in rapid retreat. Lee followed, +and reached the Rappahannock only to find that the Federal army had +passed that stream. General Pope, who had promised to conduct none but +offensive operations, and never look to the rear, had thus hastened +to interpose the waters of the Rappahannock between himself and his +adversary, and, when General Lee approached, he found every crossing +of the river heavily defended by the Federal infantry and artillery. + +In face of this large force occupying a commanding position on the +heights, General Lee made no effort to cross. He determined, he says, +"not to attempt the passage of the river at that point with the army," +but to "seek a more favorable place to cross, higher up the river, and +thus gain the enemy's right." This manoeuvre was intrusted to Jackson, +whose corps formed the Confederate left wing. Jackson advanced +promptly to the Warrenton Springs Ford, which had been selected as +the point of crossing, drove away a force of the enemy posted at the +place, and immediately began to pass the river with his troops. The +movement was however interrupted by a severe rain-storm, which swelled +the waters of the Rappahannock, and rendered a further prosecution of +it impracticable. General Lee was thus compelled to give up that plan, +and ordered Jackson to withdraw the force which had crossed. This was +done, and General Lee was now called upon to adopt some other method +of attack; or to remain inactive in face of the enemy. + +But to remain inactive was impossible. The army must either advance +or retire; information which had just reached the Confederate general +rendered one of these two proceedings indispensable. The information +referred to had been obtained by General Stuart. The activity and +energy of this officer, especially in gaining intelligence, now +proved, as they proved often afterward, of the utmost importance to +Lee. Stuart had been directed by General Lee to make an attack, with a +cavalry force, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, in the enemy's +rear; he had promptly carried out his orders by striking the Federal +communications at Catlett's Station, had destroyed there all that he +found, and torn up the railroad, but, better than all, had captured +a box containing official papers belonging to General Pope. These +papers, which Stuart hastened--marching day and night, through storm +and flood--to convey to General Lee, presented the clearest evidence +of the enemy's movements and designs. Troops were hastening from every +direction to reënforce General Pope, the entire force on James River +especially was to be brought rapidly north of the Rappahannock, and +any delay in the operations of the Confederates would thus expose them +to attack from the Federal forces concentrated from all quarters in +their front. + +[Illustration: Map--Upper Rappahannock] + + + + +IV. + +JACKSON FLANKS GENERAL POPE. + + +It was thus necessary to act with decision, and General Lee resolved +upon a movement apparently of the most reckless character. This was to +separate his army into two parts, and, while one remained confronting +the enemy on the Rappahannock, send the other by a long circuit to +fall on the Federal rear near Manassas. This plan of action was +opposed to the first rule of the military art, that a general should +never divide his force in the face of an enemy. That Lee ventured to +do so on this occasion can only be explained on one hypothesis, that +he did not highly esteem the military ability of his opponent. These +flank attacks undoubtedly, however, possessed a great attraction for +him, as they did for Jackson, and, in preferring such movement, Lee +was probably actuated both by the character of the troops on both +sides and by the nature of the country. The men of both armies were +comparatively raw levies, highly susceptible to the influence of +"surprise," and the appearance of an enemy on their flanks, or in +their rear, was calculated to throw them into disorder. The wooded +character of the theatre of war generally rendered such movements +practicable, and all that was requisite was a certain amount of daring +in the commander who was called upon to decide upon them. This daring +Lee repeatedly exhibited, and the uniform success of the movements +indicates his sound generalship. + +To command the force which was now to go on the perilous errand of +striking General Pope's rear, General Lee selected Jackson, who had +exhibited such promptness and decision in the campaigns of the Valley +of Virginia. Rapidity of movement was necessary above all things, +and, if any one could be relied upon for that, it was the now famous +Stonewall Jackson. To him the operation was accordingly intrusted, and +his corps was at once put in motion. Crossing the Rappahannock at an +almost forgotten ford, high up and out of view of the Federal right, +Jackson pushed forward day and night toward Manassas, reached +Thoroughfare Gap, in the Bull Run Mountain, west of that place, passed +through, and completely destroyed the great mass of supplies in the +Federal depot at Manassas. The whole movement had been made with +such rapidity, and General Stuart, commanding the cavalry, had so +thoroughly guarded the flank of the advancing column from observation, +that Manassas was a mass of smoking ruins almost before General Pope +was aware of the real danger. Intelligence soon reached him, however, +of the magnitude of the blow aimed by Lee, and, hastily breaking +up his camps on the Rappahannock, he hurried to attack the force +assailing his communications. + +The first part of General Lee's plan had thus fully succeeded. General +Pope, who had occupied every ford of the Rappahannock, so as to render +the passage difficult, if not impossible, had disappeared suddenly, to +go and attack the enemy in his rear. General Lee promptly moved in +his turn, with the great corps under Longstreet, and pushed +toward Manassas, over nearly the same road followed by Jackson. + +[Illustration: T.J. Jackson] + + + + +V. + +LEE FOLLOWS. + + +The contest of generalship had now fully begun, and the brain of +General Lee was matched against the brain of General Pope. It is no +part of the design of the writer of this volume to exalt unduly the +reputation of Lee, and detract from the credit due his adversaries. +Justice has been sought to be done to General McClellan; the same +measure of justice will be dealt out to his successors on the Federal +side; nor is it calculated to elevate the fame of Lee, to show that +his opponents were incapable and inefficient. Of General Pope, +however, it must be said that he suffered himself to be outgeneralled +in every particular; and the pithy comment of General Lee, that he +"did not appear to be aware of his situation," sums up the whole +subject. + +It is beyond our purpose to enter upon any thing resembling a detailed +narrative of the confused and complicated movements of the various +corps of the army under General Pope. These have been the subject of +the severest criticism by his own followers. We shall simply notice +the naked events. Jackson reached Manassas on the night of August +26th, took it, and on the next day destroyed the great depot. General +Pope was hastening to protect it, but was delayed by Ewell at Bristoe, +and a force sent up from Washington, under the brave General Taylor, +was driven off with loss. Then, having achieved his aim, Jackson fell +back toward Sudley. + +If the reader will look at the map, he will now understand the +exact condition of affairs. Jackson had burned the Federal depot of +supplies, and retired before the great force hastening to rescue them. +He had with him about twenty thousand men, and General Pope's force +was probably triple that number. Thus, the point was to hold General +Pope at arm's-length until the arrival of Lee; and, to accomplish this +great end, Jackson fell back beyond Groveton. There he formed line of +battle, and waited. + +It is obvious that, under these circumstances, the true policy of +General Pope was to obstruct Thoroughfare Gap, the only road by which +Lee could approach promptly, and then crush Jackson. On the night of +the 27th, General McDowell was accordingly sent thither with forty +thousand men; but General Pope ordered him, on the next morning, to +Manassas, where he hoped to "bag the whole crowd," he said--that is +to say, the force under Jackson. This was the fatal mistake made by +General Pope. Thoroughfare Gap was comparatively undefended. While +General Pope was marching to attack Jackson, who had disappeared, it +was the next thing to a certainty that General Lee would attack _him_. + +All parties were thus moving to and fro; but the Confederates enjoyed +the very great advantage over General Pope of knowing precisely +how affairs stood, and of having determined upon their own plan of +operations. Jackson, with his back to the mountain, was waiting for +Lee. Lee was approaching rapidly, to unite the two halves of his army. +General Pope, meanwhile, was marching and countermarching, apparently +ignorant of the whereabouts of Jackson,[1] + +General Lee, in personal command of Longstreet's corps, reached the +western end of Thoroughfare Gap about sunset, on the 28th, and the +sound of artillery from the direction of Groveton indicated that +Jackson and General Pope had come in collision. Jackson had himself +brought on this engagement by attacking the flank of one of General +Pope's various columns, as it marched across his front, over the +Warrenton road, and this was the origin of the sound wafted to General +Lee's ears as he came in sight of Thoroughfare. It was certainly +calculated to excite his nerves if they were capable of being excited. +Jackson was evidently engaged, and the disproportion between his +forces and those of General Pope rendered such an engagement extremely +critical. Lee accordingly pressed forward, reached the Gap, and the +advance force suddenly halted: the Gap was defended. The Federal force +posted here, at the eastern opening of the Gap, was small, and wholly +inadequate for the purpose; but this was as yet unknown to General +Lee. His anxiety under these circumstances must have been great. +Jackson might be crushed before his arrival. He rode up to the +summit of the commanding hill which rises just west of the Gap, and +dismounting directed his field-glass toward the shaggy defile in +front. + +[Footnote 1: "Not knowing at the time where was the enemy."--_General +Porter_.] and undecided what course to pursue. + +[Illustration: Lee Reconnoitring at Throughfare Gap.] + +The writer of these pages chanced to be near the Confederate commander +at this moment, and was vividly impressed by the air of unmoved +calmness which marked his countenance and demeanor. Nothing in the +expression of his face, and no hurried movement, indicated excitement +or anxiety. Here, as on many other occasions, Lee impressed the writer +as an individual gifted with the most surprising faculty of remaining +cool and unaffected in the midst of circumstances calculated to arouse +the most phlegmatic. After reconnoitring for some moments without +moving, he closed his glass slowly, as though he were buried in +reflection, and deliberating at his leisure, and, walking back slowly +to his horse, mounted and rode down the hill. + +The attack was not delayed, and flanking columns were sent to cross +north of the Gap and assail the enemy's rear. But the assault in front +was successful. The small force of the enemy at the eastern opening of +the Gap retired, and, by nine o'clock at night, General Longstreet's +corps was passing through. + +All the next morning (August 29th), Longstreet's troops were coming +into position on the right of Jackson, under the personal supervision +of Lee. By noon the line of battle was formed.[1] Lee's army was +once more united. General Pope had not been able to crush less than +one-half that army, for twenty-four hours nearly in his clutches, and +it did not seem probable that he would meet with greater success, now +that the whole was concentrated and held in the firm hand of Lee. + +[Footnote 1: The hour of Longstreet's arrival has been strangely a +subject of discussion. The truth is stated in the reports of Lee, +Longstreet, Jones, and other officers. But General Pope was ignorant +of Longstreet's presence _at five in the evening_; and General Porter, +his subordinate, was dismissed from the army for not at that hour +attacking Jackson's right, declared by General Pope to be undefended. +Longstreet was in line of battle by noon.] + + + + +VI. + +THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS. + + +Lee's order of battle for the coming action was peculiar. It resembled +an open V, with the opening toward the enemy--Jackson's corps forming +the left wing, and extending from near Sudley, to a point in rear of +the small village of Groveton, Longstreet's corps forming the right +wing, and reaching from Jackson's right to and beyond the Warrenton +road which runs to Stonebridge. + +The field of battle was nearly identical with that of July 21, 1861. +The only difference was, that the Confederates occupied the ground +formerly held by the Federal troops, and that the latter attacked, as +Johnston and Beauregard had attacked, from the direction of Manassas, +and the tableland around the well-known Henry House. + +The Southern order of battle seems to have contemplated a movement on +one or both of General Pope's flanks while he attacked in front. An +assault on either wing would expose him to danger from the other, +and it will be seen that the fate of the battle was decided by this +judicious arrangement of the Confederate commander. + +The action began a little after noon, when the Federal right, +consisting of the troops of Generals Banks, Sigel, and others, +advanced and made a vigorous attack on Jackson's left, under A.P. +Hill. An obstinate conflict ensued, the opposing lines fighting almost +bayonet to bayonet, "delivering their volleys into each other at the +distance of ten paces." At the first charge, an interval between two +of Hill's brigades was penetrated by the enemy, and that wing of +Jackson's corps was in great danger of being driven back. This +disaster was, however, prevented by the prompt stand made by two or +three regiments; the enemy was checked, and a prompt counter-charge +drove the Federal assaulting columns back into the woods. + +The attempt to break Jackson's line at this point was not, however, +abandoned. The Federal troops returned again and again to the +encounter, and General Hill reported "six separate and distinct +assaults" made upon him. They were all repulsed, in which important +assistance was rendered by General Early. That brave officer attacked +with vigor, and, aided by the fire of the Confederate artillery from +the elevated ground in Jackson's rear, drove the enemy before him with +such slaughter that one of their regiments is said to have carried +back but three men. + +This assault of the enemy had been of so determined a character, that +General Lee, in order to relieve his left, had directed Hood and +Evans, near his centre, to advance and attack the left of the +assaulting column. Hood was about to do so, when he found a heavy +force advancing to charge his own line. A warm engagement followed, +which resulted in the repulse of the enemy, and Hood followed them a +considerable distance, inflicting heavy loss. + +It was now nearly nine o'clock at night, and the darkness rendered +further operations impossible. The troops which had driven the enemy +were recalled from their advanced position, the Southern line was +reformed on the same ground occupied at the commencement of the +action, and General Lee prepared for the more decisive struggle of the +next day. + +Morning came (August 30th), but all the forenoon passed without a +resumption of the battle. Each of the adversaries seemed to await some +movement on the part of the other, and the Federal commander made +heavy feints against both the Confederate right and left, with the +view of discovering some weak point, or of inducing Lee to lay himself +open to attack. These movements had, however, no effect. Lee remained +obstinately in his strong position, rightly estimating the advantage +it gave him, and no doubt taking into consideration the want of +supplies General Pope must labor under, a deficiency which rendered a +prompt assault on his part indispensable. The armies thus remained in +face of each other, without serious efforts upon either side, until +nearly or quite the hour of three in the afternoon. + +General Pope then resumed the assault on Lee's left, under Jackson, +with his best troops. The charge was furious, and a bloody struggle +ensued; but Jackson succeeded in repulsing the force. It fell back in +disorder, but was succeeded by a second and a third line, which rushed +forward at the "double-quick," in a desperate attempt to break the +Southern line. These new attacks were met with greater obstinacy than +at first, and, just as the opponents had closed in, a heavy fire was +directed against the Federal column by Colonel S.D. Lee, commanding +the artillery at Lee's centre. This fire, which was of the most rapid +and destructive character, struck the enemy in front and flank at +once, and seemed to sweep back the charging brigades as they came. The +fire of the cannon was then redoubled, and Jackson's line advanced +with cheers. Before this charge, the Federal line broke, and Jackson +pressed forward, allowing them no respite. + +General Lee then threw forward Longstreet, who, knowing what was +expected of him, was already moving. The enemy were pressed thus in +front and on their flank, as Lee had no doubt intended, in forming his +peculiar line. The corps of Jackson and Longstreet closed in like two +iron arms; the Federal forces were driven from position to position; +the glare of their cannon, more and more distant, indicated that they +had abandoned further contest, and at ten at night the darkness put an +end to the battle and pursuit. General Pope was retreating with his +defeated forces toward Washington. + +On the next day, Lee dispatched Jackson to turn Centreville and cut +off the retreat of General Pope. The result was a severe engagement +near Germantown, which was put an end to by a violent storm. General +Pope, now reënforced by the commands of Generals Sumner and Franklin, +had been enabled to hold his ground until night. When, on the next day +(September 2d), the Confederates advanced to Fairfax Court-House, +it was found that the entire Federal army was in rapid retreat upon +Washington. + +Such had been the fate of General Pope. + + + + +PART V. + +_LEE INVADES MARYLAND_. + + + + +I. + +HIS DESIGNS. + + +The defeat of General Pope opened the way for movements not +contemplated, probably, by General Lee, when he marched from Richmond +to check the advance in Culpepper. His object at that time was +doubtless simply to arrest the forward movement of the new force +threatening Gordonsville. Now, however, the position of the pieces +on the great chess-board of war had suddenly changed, and it was +obviously Lee's policy to extract all the advantage possible from the +new condition of things. + +He accordingly determined to advance into Maryland--the fortifications +in front of Washington, and the interposition of the Potomac, a +broad stream easily defended, rendering a movement in that direction +unpromising. On the 3d of September, therefore, and without waiting to +rest his army, which was greatly fatigued with the nearly continuous +marching and fighting since it had left the Rapidan, General Lee moved +toward Leesburg, crossed his forces near that place, and to the +music of the bands playing the popular air, "Maryland, my Maryland," +advanced to Frederick City, which he occupied on the 7th of September. + +Lee's object in invading Maryland has been the subject of much +discussion, one party holding the view that his sole aim was to +surround and capture a force of nine or ten thousand Federal troops +stationed at Harper's Ferry; and another party maintaining that he +proposed an invasion of Pennsylvania as far as the Susquehanna, +intending to fight a decisive battle there, and advance thereafter +upon Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington. The course pursued by an +army commander is largely shaped by the progress of events. It can +only be said that General Lee, doubtless, left the future to +decide his ultimate movements; meanwhile he had a distinct and +clearly-defined aim, which he states in plain words. + +His object was to draw the Federal forces out of Virginia first. The +movement culminating in the victory over the enemy at Manassas had +produced the effect of paralyzing them in every quarter. On the coast +of North Carolina, in Western Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley, +had been heard the echo of the great events in Middle and Northern +Virginia. General Burnside's force had been brought up from the +South, leaving affairs at a stand-still in that direction; and, +contemporaneously with the retreat of General Pope, the Federal forces +at Washington and beyond had fallen back to the Potomac. This left +the way open, and Lee's farther advance, it was obvious, would now +completely clear Virginia of her invaders. The situation of affairs, +and the expected results, are clearly stated by General Lee: + +"The war was thus transferred," he says, "from the interior to the +frontier, and the supplies of rich and productive districts made +accessible to our army. To prolong a state of affairs in every way +desirable, and not to permit the season for active operations to pass +without endeavoring to inflict other injury upon the enemy, the best +course appeared to be the transfer of the army into Maryland." + +The state of things in Maryland was another important consideration. +That great Commonwealth was known to be sectionally divided in its +sentiment toward the Federal Government, the eastern portion adhering +generally to the side of the South, and the western portion generally +to the Federal side. But, even as high up as Frederick, it was hoped +that the Southern cause would find adherents and volunteers to march +under the Confederate banner. If this portion of the population had +only the opportunity to choose their part, unterrified by Federal +bayonets, it was supposed they would decide for the South. In any +event, the movement would be important. The condition of affairs in +Maryland, General Lee says, "encouraged the belief that the presence +of our army, however inferior to that of the enemy, would induce the +Washington Government to retain all its available force to provide for +contingencies which its course toward the people of that State gave +it reason to apprehend," and to cross the Potomac "might afford us an +opportunity to aid the citizens of Maryland in any efforts they might +be disposed to make to recover their liberty." + +It may be said, in summing up on this point, that Lee expected +volunteers to enroll themselves under his standard, tempted to do so +by the hope of throwing off the yoke of the Federal Government, and +the army certainly shared this expectation. The identity of sentiment +generally between the people of the States of Maryland and Virginia, +and their strong social ties in the past, rendered this anticipation +reasonable, and the feeling of the country at the result afterward was +extremely bitter. + +Such were the first designs of Lee; his ultimate aim seems as clear. +By advancing into Maryland and threatening Baltimore and Washington, +he knew that he would force the enemy to withdraw all their troops +from the south bank of the Potomac, where they menaced the Confederate +communications with Richmond; when this was accomplished, as it +clearly would be, his design was, to cross the Maryland extension of +the Blue Ridge, called there the South Mountain, advance by way of +Hagerstown into the Cumberland Valley, and, by thus forcing the enemy +to follow him, draw them to a distance from their base of supplies, +while his own communications would remain open by way of the +Shenandoah Valley. This was essentially the same plan pursued in +the campaign of 1863, which terminated in the battle of Gettysburg. +General Lee's movements now indicated similar intentions. He doubtless +wished, in the first place, to compel the enemy to pursue him--then +to lead them as far as was prudent--and then, if circumstances were +favorable, bring them to decisive battle, success in which promised to +open for him the gates of Washington or Baltimore, and end the war. + +It will now be seen how the delay caused by the movement of Jackson +against Harper's Ferry, and the discovery by General McClellan of the +entire arrangement devised by Lee for that purpose, caused the failure +of this whole ulterior design. + +[Illustration: Map--Map of the MARYLAND CAMPAIGN.] + + + + +II. + +LEE IN MARYLAND. + + +The Southern army was concentrated in the neighborhood of Frederick +City by the 7th of September, and on the next day General Lee issued +an address to the people of Maryland. + +We have not burdened the present narrative with Lee's army orders and +other official papers; but the great force and dignity of this address +render it desirable to present it in full: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,} + NEAR FREDERICKTOWN, _September_ 8, 1862.} + + _To the People of Maryland_: + + It is right that you should know the purpose that has brought the + army under my command within the limits of your State, so far as + that purpose concerns yourselves. + + The people of the Confederate States have long watched with the + deepest sympathy the wrongs and outrages that have been inflicted + upon the citizens of a Commonwealth allied to the States of the + South by the strongest social, political, and commercial ties. + + They have seen, with profound indignation, their sister State + deprived of every right, and reduced to the condition of a + conquered province. Under the pretence of supporting the + Constitution, but in violation of its most valuable provisions, + your citizens have been arrested and imprisoned upon no charge, + and contrary to all forms of law. The faithful and manly protest + against this outrage, made by the venerable and illustrious + Marylanders--to whom in better days no citizen appealed for right + in vain--was treated with scorn and contempt. The government + of your chief city has been usurped by armed strangers; your + Legislature has been dissolved by the unlawful arrest of its + members; freedom of the press and of speech have been suppressed; + words have been declared offences by an arbitrary desire of the + Federal Executive, and citizens ordered to be tried by military + commission for what they may dare to speak. + + Believing that the people of Maryland possessed a spirit too lofty + to submit to such a government, the people of the South have long + wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke, to enable + you again to enjoy the inalienable rights of freemen, and restore + independence and sovereignty to your State. + + In obedience to this wish, our army has come among you, and is + prepared to assist you, with the power of its arms, in regaining + the rights of which you have been despoiled. This, citizens + of Maryland, is our mission, so far as you are concerned. No + constraint upon your free will is intended--no intimidation will + be allowed. Within the limits of this army, at least, Marylanders + shall once more enjoy their ancient freedom of thought and speech. + We know no enemies among you, and will protect all of every + opinion. It is for you to decide your destiny, freely, and without + constraint. This army will respect your choice, whatever it may + be; and, while the Southern people will rejoice to welcome you to + your natural position among them, they will only welcome you when + you come of your own free will. + + R.E. LEE, _General commanding_. + +This address, full of grave dignity, and highly characteristic of the +Confederate commander, was in vivid contrast with the harsh orders of +General Pope in Culpepper. The accents of friendship and persuasion +were substituted for the "rod of iron." There would be no coercive +measures; no arrests, with the alternative presented of an oath to +support the South, or instant banishment. No intimidation would be +permitted. In the lines of the Southern army, at least, Marylanders +should enjoy freedom of thought and speech, and every man should +"decide his destiny freely, and without constraint." + +This address, couched in terms of such dignity, had little effect +upon the people. Either their sentiment in favor of the Union was too +strong, or they found nothing in the condition of affairs to encourage +their Southern feelings. A large Federal force was known to be +advancing; Lee's army, in tatters, and almost without supplies, +presented a very uninviting appearance to recruits, and few joined his +standard, the population in general remaining hostile or neutral. + +The condition of the army was indeed forlorn. It was worn down by +marching and fighting; the men had scarcely shoes upon their feet; +and, above the tattered figures, flaunting their rags in the sunshine, +were seen gaunt and begrimed faces, in which could be read little of +the "romance of war." The army was in no condition to undertake +an invasion; "lacking much of the material of war, feeble in +transportation, poorly provided with clothing, and thousands of them +destitute of shoes," is Lee's description of his troops. Such was the +condition of the better portion of the force; on the opposite side of +the Potomac, scattered along the hills, could be seen a weary, ragged, +hungry, and confused multitude, who had dragged along in rear of the +rest, unable to keep up, and whose miserable appearance said little +for the prospects of the army to which they belonged. + +From these and other causes resulted the general apathy of the +Marylanders, and Lee soon discovered that he must look solely to his +own men for success in his future movements. He faced that conviction +courageously; and, without uttering a word of comment, or indulging in +any species of crimination against the people of Maryland, resolutely +commenced his movements looking to the capture of Harper's Ferry and +the invasion of Pennsylvania.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The reader will perceive that the intent to _invade_ +Pennsylvania is repeatedly attributed in these pages to General Lee. +His own expression is, "by _threatening_ Pennsylvania, to induce +the enemy," etc. That he designed invasion, aided by the recruits +anticipated in Maryland, seems unquestionable; since, even after +discovering the lukewarmness of the people there by the fact that few +joined his standard, he still advanced to Hagerstown, but a step from +the Pennsylvania line. These facts have induced the present writer to +attribute the design of actual invasion to Lee with entire confidence; +and all the circumstances seem to him to support that hypothesis.] + +The promises of his address had been kept. No one had been forced to +follow the Southern flag; and now, when the people turned their backs +upon it, closing the doors of the houses in the faces of the Southern +troops, they remained unmolested. Lee had thus given a practical proof +of the sincerity of his character. He had promised nothing which he +had not performed; and in Maryland, as afterward in Pennsylvania, +in 1863, he remained firm against the temptation to adopt the harsh +course generally pursued by the commanders of invading armies. He +seems to have proceeded on the principle that good faith is as +essential in public affairs as in private, and to have resolved that, +in any event, whether of victory or disaster, his enemies should not +have it in their power to say that he broke his plighted word, or +acted in a manner unbecoming a Christian gentleman. + +Prompt action was now necessary. The remnants of General Pope's army, +greatly scattered and disorganized by the severe battle of Manassas, +had been rapidly reformed and brought into order again, and to this +force was added a large number of new troops, hurried forward from the +Northern States to Washington. This new army was not to be commanded +by General Pope, who had been weighed and found wanting in ability to +contend with Lee. The force was intrusted to General McClellan, in +spite of his unpopularity with the Federal authorities; and the urgent +manner in which he had been called upon to take the head of affairs +and protect the Federal capital, is the most eloquent of all +commentaries upon the position which he held in the eyes of the +country and the army. It was felt, indeed, by all that the Federal +ship was rolling in the storm, and an experienced pilot was necessary +for her guidance. General McClellan was accordingly directed, after +General Pope's defeat, to take command of every thing, and see to the +safety of Washington; and, finding himself at length at the head of an +army of about one hundred thousand men, he proceeded, after the manner +of a good soldier, to protect the Federal capital by advancing into +upper Maryland in pursuit of Lee. + + + + +III. + +MOVEMENTS OF THE TWO ARMIES. + + +General Lee was already moving to the accomplishment of his designs, +the capture of Harper's Ferry, and an advance into the Cumberland +Valley. + +His plan to attain the first-mentioned object was simple, and promised +to be successful. Jackson was to march around by way of "Williamsport +and Martinsburg," and thus approach from the south. A force was +meanwhile to seize upon and occupy the Maryland Heights, a lofty +spot of the mountain across the Potomac, north of the Ferry. In like +manner, another body of troops was to cross the Potomac, east of the +Blue Ridge, and occupy the Loudon Heights, looking down upon Harper's +Ferry from the east. By this arrangement the retreat of the enemy +would be completely cut off in every direction. Harper's Ferry must +be captured, and, having effected that result, the whole Confederate +force, detached for the purpose, was to follow the main body of this +army in the direction of Hagerstown, to take part in the proposed +invasion of Pennsylvania. + +This excellent plan failed, as will be seen, from no fault of the +great soldier who devised it, but in consequence of unforeseen +obstacles, and especially of one of those singular incidents which +occasionally reverse the best-laid schemes and abruptly turn aside the +currents of history. + +Jackson and the commanders coöperating with him moved on September +10th. General Lee then with his main body crossed the South Mountain, +taking the direction of Hagerstown. Meanwhile, General McClellan had +advanced cautiously and slowly, withheld by incessant dispatches from +Washington, warning him not to move in such a manner as to expose that +city to danger. Such danger existed only in the imaginations of the +authorities, as the army in advancing extended its front from the +Potomac to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. General McClellan, +nevertheless, moved with very great precaution, feeling his way, step +by step, like a man in the dark, when on reaching Frederick City, +which the Confederates had just evacuated, good fortune suddenly came +to his assistance. This good fortune was the discovery of a copy of +General Lee's orders of march for the army, in which his whole plan +was revealed. General McClellan had therein the unmistakable evidence +of his opponent's intentions, and from that moment his advance was as +rapid as before it had been deliberate. + +The result of this fortunate discovery was speedily seen. General Lee, +while moving steadily toward Hagerstown, was suddenly compelled to +turn his attention to the mountain-passes in his rear. It had not been +the intention of Lee to oppose the passage of the enemy through the +South Mountain, as he desired to draw General McClellan as far as +possible from his base, but the delay in the fall of Harper's +Ferry now made this necessary. It was essential to defend the +mountain-defiles in order to insure the safety of the Confederate +troops at Harper's Ferry; and Lee accordingly directed General +D.H. Hill to oppose the passage of the enemy at Boonsboro Gap, and +Longstreet was sent from Hagerstown to support him. + +An obstinate struggle now ensued for the possession of the main South +Mountain Gap, near Boonsboro, and the roar of Jackson's artillery from +Harper's Ferry must have prompted the assailants to determined efforts +to force the passage. The battle continued until night (September +14th), and resulted in heavy loss on both sides, the brave General +Reno, of the United States army, among others, losing his life. +Darkness put an end to the action, the Federal forces not having +succeeded in passing the Gap; but, learning that a column of the enemy +had crossed below and threatened him with an attack in flank, General +Lee determined to retire in the direction of Sharpsburg, where Jackson +and the forces coöperating with him could join the main body of the +army. This movement was effected without difficulty, and Lee notices +the skill and efficiency of General Fitz Lee in covering the rear with +his cavalry. The Federal army failed to press forward as rapidly as +it is now obvious it should have done. The head of the column did +not appear west of the mountain until eight o'clock in the morning +(September 15th), and, nearly at the same moment ("the attack began at +dawn; in about two hours the garrison surrendered," says General Lee), +Harper's Ferry yielded to Jackson. + +Fast-riding couriers brought the welcome intelligence of Jackson's +success to General Lee, as the latter was approaching Sharpsburg, +and official information speedily came that the result had been +the capture of more than eleven thousand men, thirteen thousand +small-arms, and seventy-three cannon. It was probably this large +number of men and amount of military stores falling into the hands of +the Confederates which afterward induced the opinion that Lee's sole +design in invading Maryland had been the reduction of Harper's Ferry. + +General McClellan had thus failed, in spite of every effort which he +had made, to relieve Harper's Ferry,[1] and no other course remained +now but to follow Lee and bring him to battle. The Federal army +accordingly moved on the track of its adversary, and, on the afternoon +of the same day (September 15th), found itself in sight of Lee's +forces drawn up on the western side of Antietam Creek, near the +village of Sharpsburg. + +[Footnote 1: All along the march he had fired signal-guns to inform +the officer in command at Harper's Ferry of his approach.] + +At last the great opponents were in face of each other, and a battle, +it was obvious, could not long be delayed. + + + + +IV. + +THE PRELUDE TO SHARPSBURG. + + +General Lee had once more sustained a serious check from the skill and +soldiership of the officer who had conducted the successful retreat of +the Federal army from the Chickahominy to James River. + +The defeat and dispersion of the army of General Pope on the last day +of August seemed to have opened Pennsylvania to the Confederates. On +the 15th of September, a fortnight afterward, General McClellan, at +the head of a new army, raised in large measure by the magic of his +name, had pursued the victorious Confederate, checked his further +advance, and, forcing him to abandon his designs of invasion, brought +him to bay a hundred miles from the capital. This was generalship, +it would seem, in the true acceptation of the term, and McClellan, +harassed and hampered by the authorities, who looked but coldly upon +him, could say, with Coriolanus, "Alone I did it." + +Lee was thus compelled to give up his movement in the direction of +Pennsylvania, and concentrate his army to receive the assault of +General McClellan. Jackson, marching with his customary promptness, +joined him with a portion of the detached force on the next day +(September 16th), and almost immediately those thunders which prelude +the great struggles of history began. + +General Lee had drawn up his army on the high ground west of the +Antietam, a narrow and winding stream which flows, through fields +dotted with homesteads and clumps of fruit and forest trees, to the +Potomac. Longstreet's corps was posted on the right of the road from +Sharpsburg to Boonsboro, his right flank guarded by the waters of the +stream, which here bends westward; on the left of the Boonsboro road +D.H. Hill's command was stationed; two brigades under General Hood +were drawn up on Hill's left; and when Jackson arrived Lee directed +him to post his command on the left of Hood, his right resting on the +Hagerstown road, and his left extending backward obliquely toward the +Potomac, here making a large bend, where Stuart with his cavalry and +horse-artillery occupied the ground to the river's bank. + +This arrangement of his troops was extremely judicious, as the sequel +proved. It was probable that General McClellan would direct his main +attack against the Confederate left, with the view of turning that +flank and hemming in the Southern army, or driving it into the river. +By retiring Jackson's left, Lee provided for this contingency, and it +will be seen that the design attributed by him to his adversary was +that determined upon. + +General McClellan occupied the ground on the eastern bank of the +Antietam. He had evidently massed his forces opposite the Confederate +left, but a heavy order of battle stood opposite the centre and right +of Lee, where bridges crossed the stream. + +The respective numbers of the adversaries can be stated with accuracy. +"Our forces at the battle of Antietam," said General McClellan, when +before the committee of investigation afterward, "were, total in +action, eighty-seven thousand one hundred and sixty-four." + +General Lee says in his report: "This great battle was fought by less +than forty thousand men on our side." + +Colonel Walter H. Taylor, a gentleman of the highest character, and +formerly adjutant-general of the army, makes the Confederate numbers +somewhat less. In a memorandum before the writer, he says: + +Our strength at Sharpsburg. I think this is correct: + + Jackson _(including A.P. Hill_) 10,000 + + Longstreet 12,000 + + D.H. Hill and Walker 7,000 + ______ + Effective infantry 29,000 + + Cavalry and artillery 8,000 + ______ + Total of all arms 37,000 + +This disproportion was very great, amounting, as it did, to more than +two for one. But this was unavoidable. The Southern army had been worn +out by their long marching and fighting. Portions of the command were +scattered all over the roads of Northern Virginia, wearily dragging +their half-clothed limbs and shoeless feet toward Winchester, whither +they were directed to repair. This was the explanation of the fact +that, in spite of the ardent desire of the whole army to participate +in the great movement northward, Lee had in line of battle at +Sharpsburg "less than forty thousand men." + +General McClellan made a demonstration against his adversary on the +evening of the 16th, before the day of the main struggle. He threw his +right, commanded by General Hooker, across the Antietam at a point out +of range of fire from the Confederates, and made a vigorous attack +on Jackson's two divisions lying near the Hagerstown road running +northward, and thus parallel with Lee's line of battle. A brief +engagement took place in the vicinity of the "Dunker Church," in a +fringe of woods west of the road, but it was too late to effect any +thing of importance; night fell, and the engagement ceased. General +Hooker retaining his position on the west side of the stream. + +The opposing lines then remained at rest, waiting for the morning +which all now saw would witness the commencement of the more serious +conflict. + + + + +V. + +THE BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG. + + +The battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, for it is known by both names, +began at early dawn on the 17th of September. + +General McClellan had obviously determined to direct his main assault +against the Confederate left, a movement which General Lee had +foreseen and provided for,[1] and at dawn commenced a rapid fire of +artillery upon that portion of the Confederate line. Under cover +of this fire, General Hooker then advanced his infantry and made +a headlong assault upon Jackson's line, with the obvious view of +crushing that wing of Lee's army, or driving it back on Sharpsburg and +the river. The Federal force making this attack, or advancing promptly +to support it, consisted of the corps of Generals Hooker, Mansfield, +and Sumner, and numbered, according to General Sumner, forty thousand +men, of whom eighteen thousand belonged to General Hooker's corps. + +[Footnote 1: "In anticipation of a movement to turn the line of +Antietam, Hood's two brigades had been transferred from the right to +the left," etc.--_Lee_.] + +Jackson's whole force was four thousand men. Of the truth of this +statement of the respective forces, proof is here given: + +"I have always believed," said General Sumner afterward, before the +war committee, "that, instead of sending these troops into that action +in driblets, had General McClellan authorized me to march _there forty +thousand men_ on the left flank of the enemy," etc. + +"Hooker formed his corps of _eighteen thousand_ men," etc., says Mr. +Swinton, the able and candid Northern historian of the war. + +Jackson's force is shown by the Confederate official reports. His +corps consisted of Ewell's division and "Jackson's old division." +General Jones, commanding the latter, reported: "The division at the +beginning of the fight numbered not over one thousand six hundred +men." Early, commanding Ewell's division,[1] reported the three +brigades to number: + + Lawton's 1,150 + + Hayes's 550 + + Walker's 700 + + 2,400 + + "Old Division," as above 1,600 + + Jackson's corps 4,000 + +[Footnote 1: After General Lawton was disabled.] + + +This was the entire force carried by General Jackson into the fight, +and these four thousand men, as the reader will perceive, bore the +brunt of the first great assault of General McClellan. + +Just as the light broadened in the east above the crest of mountains +rising in rear of the Federal lines. General Hooker made his assault. +His aim was plainly to drive the force in his front across the +Hagerstown road and back on the Potomac, and in this he seemed +about to succeed. Jackson had placed in front Ewell's division of +twenty-four hundred men. This force received General Hooker's charge, +and a furious struggle followed, in which the division was nearly +destroyed. A glance at the casualties will show this. They were +remarkable. General Lawton, division commander, was wounded and +carried from the field; Colonel Douglas, brigade commander, was +killed; Colonel Walker, also commanding brigade, was disabled; +Lawton's brigade lost five hundred and fifty-four killed and wounded +out of eleven hundred and fifty, and five out of six regimental +commanders. Hayes's brigade lost three hundred and twenty-three out of +five hundred and fifty, and all the regimental commanders. Walker's +brigade lost two hundred and twenty-eight out of less than seven +hundred, and three out of four regimental commanders; and, of the +staff-officers of the division, scarcely one remained. + +In an hour after dawn, this heavy slaughter had been effected in +Ewell's division, and the detailed statement which we have given will +best show the stubborn resistance offered by the Southern troops. +Still, they were unable to hold their ground, and fell back at last +in disorder before General Hooker, who pressed forward to seize the +Hagerstown road and crush the whole Confederate left. He was met, +however, by Jackson's Old Division of sixteen hundred men, who had +been held in reserve; and General Lee hastened to the point threatened +Hood's two small brigades, one of which. General Hood states, numbered +but eight hundred and sixty-four men. With this force Jackson now met +the advancing column of General Hooker, delivering a heavy fire +from the woods upon the Federal forces. In face of this fire they +hesitated, and Hood made a vigorous charge, General Stuart opening at +the same time a cross-fire on the enemy with his horse-artillery. The +combined fire increased their disorganization, and it now turned into +disorder. Jackson seized the moment, as always, throwing forward his +whole line, and the enemy were first checked, and then driven back in +confusion, the Confederates pursuing and cheering. + +The first struggle had thus resulted in favor of the +Confederates--with about six thousand they had repulsed eighteen +thousand--and it was obvious to General McClellan that, without +reinforcements, his right could not hold its ground. He accordingly, +just at sunrise, sent General Mansfield's corps to the aid of General +Hooker, and at nine o'clock General Sumner's corps was added, making +in all forty thousand men. + +The appearance of affairs at this moment was discouraging to the +Federal commander. His heavy assaulting column had been forced back +with great slaughter; General Hooker had been wounded and borne +from the field; General Mansfield, while forming his line, had been +mortally wounded; and now, at nine o'clock, when the corps of General +Sumner arrived, the prospect was depressing. Of the condition of the +Federal forces, General Sumner's own statement conveys a very distinct +conception: "On going upon the field," said General Sumner, before the +war committee, "I found that General Hooker's corps had been dispersed +and routed. I passed him some distance in the rear, where he had been +carried wounded, but I saw nothing of his corps at all, as I +was advancing with my command on the field. I sent one of my +staff-officers to find where they were, and General Ricketts, the only +officer we could find, stated that he could not raise three hundred +men of the corps." General Mansfield's corps also had been checked, +and now "began to waver and break." + +Such had been the result of the great Federal assault, and it was +highly creditable to the Confederate arms. With a comparatively +insignificant force, Jackson had received the attack of the entire +Federal right wing, and had not only repulsed, but nearly broken to +pieces, the large force in his front. + +The arrival of General Sumner, however, completely changed the face of +affairs, and, as his fresh troops advanced, those which had been so +roughly handled by Jackson had an opportunity to reform. This was +rapidly effected, and, having marshalled his troops, General Sumner, +an officer of great dash and courage, made a vigorous charge. From +this moment the battle began to rage with new fury. General Lee had +sent to the left the brigades of Colquitt, Ripley, and McRae, and with +these, the troops of Hood, and his own shattered division, Jackson +presented a stubborn front, but his loss was heavy. General Starke, +of the Old Division, was killed; the brigade, regimental, and company +officers fell almost without an exception, and the brigades dwindled +to mere handfuls. + +Under the great pressure, Jackson was at length forced back. One of +General Sumner's divisions drove the right of the Confederates beyond +the Hagerstown road, and, at this moment the long struggle seemed +ended; the great wrestle in which the adversaries had so long +staggered to and fro, advancing and retreating in turn, seemed at last +virtually decided in favor of the Federal arms. + +This was undoubtedly the turning-point of the battle of Sharpsburg, +and General Lee had witnessed the conflict upon his left with great +anxiety. It was impossible, however, to send thither more troops than +he had already sent. As will be seen in a moment, both his centre +and right were extremely weak. A.P. Hill and General McLaws had not +arrived from Harper's Ferry. Thus the left had been reënforced to the +full extent of Lee's ability, and now that portion of his line seemed +about to be crushed. + +Fortunately, however, General McLaws, who had been delayed longer than +was expected by General Lee, at last arrived, and was hurried to the +left. It was ten o'clock, and in that one hour the fighting of an +entire day seemed to have been concentrated. Jackson was holding his +ground with difficulty when the divisions of McLaws and Walker were +sent to him. As soon as they reached the field, they were thrown into +action, and General Lee had the satisfaction of witnessing a new order +of things. The advance--it might rather be called the onward rush--of +the Federal line was checked. Jackson's weary men took fresh heart; +that great commander promptly assumed the offensive, and, advancing +his whole line, drove the enemy before him until he reoccupied the +ground from which General Sumner had forced him to retire. + +From the ground thus occupied, the Federal forces were unable to +dislodge him, and the great struggle of "the left at Sharpsburg" was +over. It had begun at dawn and was decided by ten or eleven o'clock, +and the troops on both sides had fought as resolutely as in any other +action of the war. The event had been decided by the pertinacity of +the Southern troops, and by the prompt movement of reënforcements by +General Lee from his right and centre. Posted near his centre, he +had surveyed at one glance the whole field of action; the design of +General McClellan to direct his main assault upon the Confederate left +was promptly penetrated, and the rapid concentration of the Southern +forces in that quarter had, by defeating this movement, decided the +result of the battle. + +Attacks on the Confederate centre and right followed that upon the +left. In the centre a great disaster was at one time imminent. Owing +to a mistake of orders, the brave General Rhodes had drawn back his +brigade posted there--this was seen by the enemy--and a sudden +rush was made by them with the view of piercing Lee's centre. The +promptness and courage of a few officers and a small body of troops +defeated this attempt. General D.H. Hill rallied a few hundred men, +and opened fire with a single gun, and Colonel Cooke faced the enemy +with his regiment, "standing boldly in line," says General Lee, +"without a cartridge." The stand made by this small force saved the +army from serious disaster; the Federal line retired, but a last +assault was soon begun, this time against the Confederate right. It +continued in a somewhat desultory manner until four in the evening, +when, having massed a heavy column under General Burnside, opposite +the bridge in front of Lee's right wing, General McClellan forced the +bridge and carried the crest beyond. + +The moment was critical, as the Confederate force at this point +was less than three thousand men. But, fortunately, reënforcements +arrived, consisting of A.P. Hill's forces from Harper's Ferry. These +attacked the enemy, drove him from the hill across the Antietam again; +and so threatening did the situation at that moment appear to General +McClellan, that he is said to have sent General Burnside the message: +"Hold your ground! If you cannot, then the bridge, to the last man. +Always the bridge! If the bridge is lost, all is lost!" + +The urgency of this order sufficiently indicates that the Federal +commander was not without solicitude for the safety of his own left +wing. Ignorant, doubtless, of the extremely small force which had thus +repulsed General Burnside, in all four thousand five hundred men, he +feared that General Lee would cross the bridge, assail his left, and +that the hard-fought day might end in disaster to his own army. That +General Lee contemplated this movement, in spite of the disproportion +of numbers, is intimated in his official report. "It was nearly dark," +he says, "and the Federal artillery was massed to defend the bridge, +with General Porter's corps, consisting of fresh troops, behind it. +Under these circumstances," he adds, "it was deemed injudicious to +push our advantage further in the face of fresh troops of the enemy +much exceeding our own." + +The idea of an advance against the Federal left was accordingly +abandoned, and a movement of Jackson's command, which Lee directed, +with the view of turning the Federal right, was discontinued from the +same considerations. Night had come, both sides were worn out, neither +of the two great adversaries cared to risk another struggle, and the +bitterly-contested battle of Sharpsburg was over. + +The two armies remained facing each other throughout the following +day. During the night of this day, Lee crossed with his army back into +Virginia. He states his reasons for this: "As we could not look for a +material increase of strength," he says, "and the enemy's force could +be largely and rapidly augmented, it was not thought prudent to wait +until he should be ready again to offer battle." + +General McClellan does not seem to have been able to renew the +struggle at that time. "The next morning," he says, referring to the +day succeeding the battle, "I found that our loss had been so great, +and there was so much disorganization in some of the commands, that I +did not consider it proper to renew the attack that day." + +This decision of General McClellan's subjected him subsequently to +very harsh criticism from the Federal authorities, the theory having +obtained at Washington that he had had it in his power, by renewing +the battle, to cut Lee to pieces. Of the probability of such a +result the reader will form his own judgment. The ground for such a +conclusion seems slight. The loss and disorganization were, it would +seem, even greater on the Federal than on the Confederate side, and +Lee would have probably been better able to sustain an attack than +General McClellan to make it. It will be seen that General Meade +afterward, under circumstances more favorable still, declined to +attack Lee at Williamsport. If one of the two commanders be greatly +censured, the other must be also, and the world will be always apt +to conclude that they knew what could be effected better than the +civilians. + +But General McClellan did make an attempt to "crush Lee," such as the +authorities at Washington desired, and its result may possibly throw +light on the point in discussion. + +On the night of the 19th, Lee having crossed the Potomac on the night +of the 18th, General McClellan sent a considerable force across the +river near Shepherdstown, which drove off the Confederate artillery +there, and at daylight formed line of battle on the south bank, +protected by their cannon north of the river. Of the brief but bloody +engagement which followed--an incident of the war little dwelt upon in +the histories--General A.P. Hill, who was sent by Lee to repulse the +enemy, gives an animated account. "The Federal artillery, to the +number of seventy pieces," he says, "lined the opposite heights, and +their infantry was strongly posted on the crest of the Virginia hills. +When he advanced with his division, he was met by the most tremendous +fire of artillery he ever saw," but the men continued to move on +without wavering, and the attack resulted in the complete rout of the +enemy, who were "driven pell-mell into the river," the current of +which was "blue with floating bodies." General Hill chronicles this +incident in terms of unwonted eloquence, and declares that, by the +account of the enemy themselves, they lost "three thousand men killed +and drowned from one brigade," which appears to be an exaggeration. +His own loss was, in killed and wounded, two hundred and sixty-one. + +This repulse was decisive, and General McClellan made no further +attempt to pursue the adversary, who, standing at bay on the soil of +Virginia, was still more formidable than he had been on the soil of +Maryland. As we have intimated on a preceding page, the result of this +attempt to pursue would seem to relieve General McClellan from the +criticism of the Washington authorities. If he was repulsed with heavy +slaughter in his attempt to strike at Lee on the morning of September +20th, it is not probable that an assault on his adversary on September +18th would have had different results. + +No further crossing at that time was undertaken by the Federal +commander. His army was moved toward Harper's Ferry, an important base +for further operations, and Lee's army went into camp along the banks +of the Opequan. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND McCLELLAN--THEIR MERITS IN THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN. + + +General Lee and his adversary had displayed conspicuous merit in the +campaign thus terminated, and we shall pause for a moment to glance +back upon this great passage at arms. + +To give precedence to General McClellan, he had assembled an army, +after the defeat at Manassas, with a promptness for which only his +own great personal popularity can adequately account, had advanced to +check Lee, and had fully succeeded in doing so; and had thus not only +protected the fertile territory of Pennsylvania from invasion, but had +struck a death-blow for the time to any designs General Lee might have +had to advance on the Federal capital. If the situation of affairs at +that moment be attentively considered, the extreme importance of these +results will not fail to appear. It may perhaps be said with justice, +that General McClellan had saved the Federal cause from decisive +defeat. There was no army to protect Washington but the body of troops +under his command; these were largely raw levies, which defeat would +have broken to pieces, and thus the way would have been open for +Lee's march upon Washington or toward Philadelphia--a movement whose +probable result would have been a treaty of peace and the independence +of the Southern Confederacy. All these hopes were reversed by +McClellan's rapid march and prompt attack. In the hours of a single +autumn day, on the banks of the Antietam, the triumphant advance of +the Confederates was checked and defeated. And, if the further fact be +considered that the adversary thus checkmated was Lee, the military +ability of General McClellan must be conceded. It is the fashion, it +would appear, in some quarters, to deny him this quality. History will +decide. + +The merit of Lee was equally conspicuous, and his partial failure in +the campaign was due to circumstances over which he had no control. +His plan, as was always the case with him, was deep-laid, and every +contingency had been provided for. He was disappointed in his aim by +three causes which he could not foresee. One was the great diminution +of his force, owing to the rapidity of his march, and the incessant +fighting; another, the failure in obtaining recruits in Maryland; and +a third, the discovery by General McClellan of the "lost dispatch," +as it is called, which revealed Lee's whole plan to his adversary. In +consequence of the "finding" of the order of march, McClellan advanced +with such rapidity that the laggards of the Southern army on the hills +north of Leesburg had no opportunity of joining the main body. The +gaps in the ranks of the army thus made were not filled up by Maryland +recruits; Lee fell back, and his adversary followed, no longer fearful +of advancing too quickly; Jackson had no time after reducing Harper's +Ferry to rejoin Lee at Hagerstown; thus concentration of his troops, +and a battle somewhere near Sharpsburg, were rendered a necessity with +General Lee. + +In this tissue of adverse events, the discovery of the order of march +by General McClellan occupies a very prominent place. This incident +resembles what the French call a fatality. Who was to blame for the +circumstance still remains a mystery; but it may be said with entire +certainty that the brave officer upon whom it was charged was entirely +guiltless of all fault in the matter. + +[Footnote: The officer here referred to is General D.H. Hill. General +McClellan said in his testimony afterward, before the congressional +committee: "When at Frederick, we found the original order issued to +D.H. Hill," etc. The inference was thus a natural one that General +Hill was to blame, but that officer has proved clearly that he had +nothing to do with the affair. He received but one copy of the order, +which was handed to him by General Jackson in person, and, knowing its +great importance, he placed it in his pocket-book, and still retains +it in his possession. This fact is conclusive, since General Hill +could not have "lost" what he continues to hold in his hands. This +mystery will be cleared up at some time, probably; at present, but one +thing is certain, that General Hill was in no manner to blame. The +present writer desires to make this statement as explicit as possible, +as, in other accounts of these transactions, he was led by General +McClellan's language to attribute blame to General Hill where he +deserved none.] + +Whatever may have been the secret history of the "lost dispatch," +however, it certainly fell into General McClellan's hands, and largely +directed the subsequent movements of the opposing armies. + +From what is here written, it will be seen that Lee was not justly +chargeable with the result of the Maryland campaign. He had provided +for every thing as far as lay in his power. Had he not been +disappointed in events to be fairly anticipated, it seemed his force +would have received large accessions, his rear would have closed up, +and the advance into Pennsylvania would have taken place. Instead +of this, he was forced to retire and fight a pitched battle at +Sharpsburg; and this action certainly exhibited on Lee's part military +ability of the highest order. The force opposed to him had been at +least double that of his own army, and the Federal troops had fought +with a gallantry unsurpassed in any other engagement of the war. That +their assault on Lee failed, was due to the fighting qualities of his +troops and his own generalship. His army had been manoeuvred with a +rapidity and precision which must have excited even the admiration of +the distinguished soldier opposed to him. He had promptly concentrated +his forces opposite every threatened point in turn, and if he had not +been able to carry out the axiom of Napoleon, that a commander should +always be superior to the enemy at the point of contact, he had at +least done all that was possible to effect that end, and had so far +succeeded as to have repulsed if not routed his adversary. This is +the main feature to be noticed in Lee's handling of his troops at +Sharpsburg. An unwary or inactive commander would have there suffered +decisive defeat, for the Confederate left wing numbered, throughout +the early part of the battle, scarcely more than four thousand men, +while the column directed against it amounted first to eighteen +thousand, and in all to forty thousand men. To meet the impact of +this heavy mass, not only desperate fighting, but rapid and skilful +manoeuvring, was necessary. The record we have presented will enable +the reader to form his own opinion whether Lee was equal to this +emergency involving the fate of his army. + +Military critics, examining this great battle with fair and candid +eyes, will not fail, we think, to discern the truth. That the Southern +army, of less than forty thousand men, repulsed more than eighty +thousand in the battle of Sharpsburg, was due to the hard fighting of +the smaller force, and the skill with which its commander manoeuvred +it. + + + + +VII. + +LEE AND HIS MEN. + + +General Lee and his army passed the brilliant days of autumn in the +beautiful valley of the Shenandoah. This region is famous for its +salubrity and the beauty of its scenery. The mountain winds are pure +and invigorating, and the forests, which in the season of autumn +assume all the colors of the rainbow, inspire the mind with the most +agreeable sensations. The region, in fact, is known as the "Garden of +Virginia," and the benign influence of their surroundings was soon +seen on the faces of the troops. + +A Northern writer, who saw them at Sharpsburg, describes them as +"ragged, hungry, and in all ways miserable;" but their forlorn +condition, as to clothing and supplies of every description, made no +perceptible difference in their demeanor now. In their camps along +the banks of the picturesque little stream called the Opequan, which, +rising south of Winchester, wanders through beautiful fields and +forests to empty into the Potomac, the troops laughed, jested, sang +rude camp-ballads, and exhibited a joyous indifference to their +privations and hardships, which said much for their courage and +endurance. Those who carefully considered the appearance and demeanor +of the men at that time, saw that much could be effected with such +tough material, and had another opportunity to witness, under +circumstances calculated to test it, the careless indifference, to the +past as well as the future, peculiar alike to soldiers and children. +These men, who had passed through a campaign of hard marches and +nearly incessant battles, seemed to have forgotten all their troubles +and sufferings. The immense strain upon their energies had left them +apparently as fresh and efficient as when the campaign begun. There +was no want of rebound; rather an excessive elasticity and readiness +to undertake new movements. They had plainly acquired confidence in +themselves, rightly regarding the event of the battle of Sharpsburg, +where they were so largely outnumbered, as highly honorable to them, +and they had acquired still greater confidence in the officers who +commanded them. + +We shall hereafter speak more particularly of the sentiment of the +troops toward General Lee at this period of his connection with the +army. The great events of the war continually modified the relations +between him and his men; as they came to know him better and better, +he steadily rose in their admiration and regard. At this time--the +autumn of 1862--it may be said that the troops had already begun to +love their leader, and had bestowed upon him as an army commander +their implicit confidence. + +Without this confidence on the part of his men, a general can effect +little; with it, he may accomplish almost any thing. The common +soldier is a child, and feels that the directing authority is above +him; that he should look upon that authority with respect and +confidence is the first necessity of effecting military organization. +Lee had already inspired the troops with this sentiment, and it was +mainly the secret of his often astounding successes afterward. The +men universally felt that their commander was equal to any and every +emergency. Such a repute cannot be usurped. Troops measure their +leaders with instinctive acumen, and a very astonishing accuracy. They +form their opinions for themselves on the merits of the question; and +Lee had already impressed the army with a profound admiration for his +soldiership. From this to the sentiment of personal affection the +transition was easy; and the kindness, consideration, and simplicity +of the man, made all love him. Throughout the campaign, Lee had not +been heard to utter one harsh word; a patient forbearance and kindness +had been constantly exhibited in all his dealings with officers and +men; he was always in front, indifferent plainly to personal +danger, and the men looked now with admiring eyes and a feeling of +ever-increasing affection on the erect, soldierly figure in the plain +uniform, with scarce any indication of rank, and the calm face, +with its expression of grave dignity and composure, which remained +unchanged equally on the march and in battle. It may be said that, +when he assumed command of the army before Richmond, the troops +had taken him on trust; now they had come to love him, and when he +appeared the camps buzzed, the men ran to the road, called out to each +other: "There goes Mas' Robert!" or "Old Uncle Robert!" and cheers +followed him as he rode by. + +The country generally seemed to share the opinion of the army. There +was exhibited, even at this early period of the war, by the people at +large, a very great admiration and affection for General Lee. While +in the Shenandoah Valley, where Jackson was beloved almost beyond +expression, Lee had evidences of the position which he occupied in the +eyes of the people, which must have been extremely gratifying to him. +Gray-haired men came to his camp and uttered prayers for his health +and happiness as the great leader of the South; aged ladies greeted +him with faltering expressions full of deep feeling and pathetic +earnestness; and, wherever he went, young girls and children received +him with their brightest smiles. The august fame of the great soldier, +who has now passed away, no doubt renders these memories of personal +interviews with him dear to many. Even the most trifling incidents are +cherished and kept fresh by repetition; and the writer of these +pages recalls at the moment one of these trifles, which may possibly +interest some readers. There stood and still stands an ancient and +hospitable homestead on the south bank of the Opequan, the hearts +of whose inmates, one and all, were ardently with the South in her +struggle. Soon after Sharpsburg, General Lee one day visited the old +manor-house crowning the grassy hill and overshadowed by great oaks; +Generals Jackson, Longstreet, and Stuart, accompanied him, and the +reception which he met with, though we cannot describe it, was such as +would have satisfied the most exacting. The children came to him and +held out their small hands, the ladies divided their attention between +him and the beloved "hero of the Valley," Jackson; and the lady of the +manor could only express her sense of the great honor of receiving +such company, by declaring, with a smile, that the dinner resembled +the famous _breakfast at Tillietudlem_ in Scott's "Old Mortality." +General Lee highly enjoyed this, and seemed disposed to laugh when +the curious fact was pointed out to him that he had seated himself at +table in a chair with an open-winged _United States eagle_ delineated +upon its back. The result of this visit, it appeared afterward, was a +sentiment of great regard and affection for the general personally by +all at the old country-house. Old and young were charmed by his grave +sweetness and mild courtesy, and doubtless he inspired the same +sentiment in other places. + +His headquarters were at this time in a field some miles from +Winchester. An Englishman, who visited him there, described the +general and his surroundings with accuracy, and, from the account +printed in _Blackwood's Magazine_, we quote the following sentences: + +"In visiting the headquarters of the Confederate generals, but +particularly those of General Lee, any one accustomed to see European +armies in the field cannot fail to be struck with the great absence +of all the 'pomp and circumstance of war' in and around their +encampments. Lee's headquarters consisted of about seven or eight +pole-tents, pitched with their backs to a stake fence, upon a piece +of ground so rocky that it was unpleasant to ride over it, its only +recommendation being a little stream of good water which flowed +close by the general's tent. In front of the tents were some three +four-wheeled wagons, drawn up without any regularity, and a number +of horses roamed loose about the field. The servants, who were, of +course, slaves, and the mounted soldiers, called 'couriers,' who +always accompany each general of division in the field, were +unprovided with tents, and slept in or under the wagons. Wagons, +tents, and some of the horses, were marked 'U.S.,' showing that +part of that huge debt in the North has gone to furnishing even the +Confederate generals with camp equipments. No guard or sentries were +to be seen in the vicinity; no crowd of aides-de-camp loitering about, +making themselves agreeable to visitors, and endeavoring to save their +generals from receiving those who had no particular business. A large +farm-house stands close by, which, in any other army, would have been +the general's residence _pro tem_., but, as no liberties are allowed +to be taken with personal property in Lee's army, he is particular in +setting a good example himself. His staff are crowded together, two or +three in a tent; none are allowed to carry more baggage than a small +box each, and his own kit is but very little larger. Every one who +approaches him does so with marked respect, although there is none +of that bowing and flourishing of forage caps which occurs in the +presence of European generals; and, while all honor him, and place +implicit faith in his courage and ability, those with whom he is most +intimate feel for him the affection of sons to a father. Old General +Scott was correct in saying that, when Lee joined the Southern cause, +it was worth as much as the accession of twenty thousand men to the +'rebels.' Since then every injury that it was possible to inflict, the +Northerners have heaped upon him. Notwithstanding all these personal +losses, however, when speaking of the Yankees, he neither evinced +any bitterness of feeling, nor gave utterance to a single violent +expression, but alluded to many of his former friends and companions +among them in the kindest terms. He spoke as a man proud of the +victories won by his country, and confident of ultimate success, under +the blessing of the Almighty, whom he glorified for past successes, +and whose aid he invoked for all future operations." + +The writer adds that the troops "regarded him in the light of +infallible love," and had "a fixed and unshakable faith in all he +did--a calm confidence of victory when serving under him." The +peculiarly interesting part of this foreign testimony, however, is +that in which the writer speaks of General Lee's religious sentiment, +of his gratitude for past mercies, and prayers for the assistance of +the Almighty in the hours of conflict still to come. This point we +shall return to, endeavoring to give it that prominence which it +deserves. At present we shall leave the subject of General Lee, in +his private and personal character, and proceed to narrate the last +campaign of the year 1862. + + + + +VIII. + +LEE PASSES THE BLUE RIDGE + + +From the central frontier of his headquarters, near Winchester, the +key of the lower Valley, General Lee was able to watch at once the +line of the Potomac in his front, beyond which lay General McClellan's +army, and the gaps of the Blue Ridge on his right, through which it +was possible for the enemy, by a rapid movement, to advance and attack +his flank and rear. + +If Lee had at any time the design of recrossing into Maryland, he +abandoned it. General McClellan attributed that design to him. "I have +since been confirmed in the belief," he wrote, "that if I had crossed +the Potomac below Harper's Ferry in the early part of October, General +Lee would have recrossed into Maryland." Of Lee's ability to thus +reënter Maryland there can be no doubt. His army was rested, +provisioned, and in high spirits; the "stragglers" had rejoined their +commands, and it is certain that the order for a new advance would +have been hailed by the mercurial troops with enthusiasm. No such +order was, however, issued, and soon the approach of winter rendered +the movement impossible. + +More than a month thus passed, the two armies remaining in face of +each other. No engagement of any importance occurred during this +period of inactivity, but once or twice the Federal commander sent +heavy reconnoitring forces across the Potomac; and Stuart, now +mounting to the zenith of his reputation as a cavalry-officer, +repeated his famous "ride around McClellan," on the Chickahominy. + +The object of General Lee in directing this movement of the cavalry +was the ordinary one, on such occasions, of obtaining information and +inflicting injury upon the enemy. Stuart responded with ardor to the +order. He had conceived a warm affection for General Lee, mingled with +a respect for his military genius nearly unbounded, and at this time, +as always afterward, received the orders of his commander for active +operations with enthusiasm. With about eighteen hundred troopers +and four pieces of horse-artillery, Stuart crossed the Potomac above +Williamsport, marched rapidly to Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where +he destroyed the machine-shops, and other buildings containing a large +number of arms and military stores; and continued his way thence +toward Frederick City, with the bold design of completely passing +around the Federal army, and recrossing the river east of the Blue +Ridge. In this he succeeded, thanks to his skill and audacity, in +spite of every effort of the enemy to cut off and destroy him. +Reaching White's Ford, on the Potomac, north of Leesburg, he disposed +his horse-artillery so as to cover this movement, cut his way through +the Federal cavalry disputing his passage, and recrossed into Virginia +with a large number of captured horses, and without losing a man. + +This expedition excited astonishment, and a prominent officer of +the Federal army declared that he would not have believed that +"horse-flesh could stand it," as the distance passed over in about +forty-eight hours, during which considerable delay had occurred at +Chambersburg, was nearly or quite one hundred miles. General McClellan +complained that his orders had not been obeyed, and said that after +these orders he "did not think it possible for Stuart to recross," and +believed "the destruction or capture of his entire force perfectly +certain." + +Soon afterward the Federal commander attempted reconnoissances in +his turn. A considerable force of infantry, supported by artillery, +crossed the Potomac and advanced to the vicinity of the little village +of Leetown, but on the same evening fell back rapidly, doubtless +fearful that Lee would interpose a force between them and the river +and cut off their retreat. This was followed by a movement of the +Federal cavalry, which crossed at the same spot and advanced up the +road leading toward Martinsburg. These were met and subsequently +driven back by Colonel W.H.F. Lee, son of the general. A third and +more important attempt to reconnoitre took place toward the end of +October. General McClellan then crossed a considerable body of troops +both at Shepherdstown and Harper's Ferry; the columns advanced to +Kearneysville and Charlestown respectively, and near the former +village a brief engagement took place, without results. General +McClellan, who had come in person as far as Charlestown, then returned +with his troops across the Potomac, and further hostilities for the +moment ceased. + +These reconnoissances were the prelude, however, of an important +movement which the Federal authorities had been long urging General +McClellan to make. Although the battle of Sharpsburg had been +indecisive in one acceptation of the term, in another it had been +entirely decisive. A drawn battle of the clearest sort, it yet decided +the future movements of the opposing armies. General Lee had invaded +Maryland with the design of advancing into Pennsylvania--the result of +Sharpsburg was, that he fell back into Virginia. General McClellan +had marched from Washington with no object but an offensive-defensive +campaign to afford the capital protection; he was now enabled to +undertake anew the invasion of Virginia. + +To the success of such a movement the Federal commander seems rightly +to have considered a full and complete equipment of his troops +absolutely essential. He was directed at once, after Sharpsburg, to +advance upon Lee. He replied that it was impossible, neither his men +nor his horses had shoes or rations. New orders came--General Halleck +appearing to regard the difficulties urged by General McClellan as +imaginary. New protests followed, and then new protests and new orders +again, until finally a peremptory dispatch came. This dispatch was, +"Cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south," +an order bearing the impress of the terse good sense and rough +directness of the Federal President. This order it was necessary in +the end to obey, and General McClellan, having decided in favor of +a movement across the Potomac east instead of west of the mountain, +proceeded, in the last days of October, to cross his army. His plan +was excellent, and is here set forth in his own words: + +"The plan of campaign I adopted during this advance," he says, "was +to move the army well in hand, parallel to the Blue Ridge, taking +Warrenton as the point of direction for the main army, seizing each +pass on the Blue Ridge by detachments as we approached it, and +guarding them after we had passed, as long as they would enable the +enemy to trouble our communications with the Potomac.... We depended +upon Harper's Ferry and Berlin for supplies until the Manassas Gap +Railway was reached. When that occurred, the passes in our rear were +to be abandoned, and the army massed ready for action or movement in +any direction. It was my intention, if, upon reaching Ashby's or any +other pass, the enemy were in force between it and the Potomac, in the +Valley of the Shenandoah, to move into the Valley and endeavor to gain +their rear." + +From this statement of General McClellan it will be seen that his plan +was judicious, and displayed a thorough knowledge of the country in +which he was about to operate. The conformation of the region is +peculiar. The Valley of the Shenandoah, in which Lee's army lay +waiting, is separated from "Piedmont Virginia," through which General +McClellan was about to advance, by the wooded ramparts of the Blue +Ridge Mountains, passable only at certain points. These _gaps_, as +they are called in Virginia, are the natural doorways to the Valley; +and as long as General McClellan held them, as he proposed to do, +by strong detachments, he would be able both to protect his own +communications with the Potomac, and, if he thought fit to do so, +enter the Valley and assail the Confederate rear. That he ever +seriously contemplated the latter design is, however, extremely +doubtful. It is not credible that he would have undertaken to "cut +off" Lee's whole army; and, if he designed a movement of that +description against any portion of the Southern army which might be +detached, the opportunity was certainly presented to him by Lee, when +Jackson was left, as will be seen, at Millwood. + +No sooner had General McClellan commenced crossing the Potomac, east +of the mountain, than General Lee broke up his camp along the Opequan, +and moved to check this new and formidable advance into the heart of +Virginia. It was not known, however, whether the whole of the Federal +forces had crossed east of the Blue Ridge; and, to guard against a +possible movement on his rear from the direction of Harper's Ferry, +as well as on his flank through the gaps of the mountain, Lee sent +Jackson's corps to take position on the road from Charlestown to +Berryville, where he could oppose an advance of the enemy from either +direction. The rest of the army then moved guardedly, but rapidly, +across the mountain into Culpepper. + +Under these circumstances, General McClellan had an excellent +opportunity to strike a heavy blow at Jackson, who seemed to invite +that movement by crossing soon afterward, in accordance with +directions from Lee, one of his divisions to the east side of the +mountain on the Federal rear. That General McClellan did not strike +is not creditable to him as a commander. The Confederate army was +certainly divided in a very tempting manner. Longstreet was in +Culpepper on the 3d of November, the day after General McClellan's +rear-guard had passed the Potomac, and nothing would seem to have been +easier than to cut the Confederate forces by interposing between them. +By seizing the Blue Ridge gaps, and thus shutting up all the avenues +of exit from the Valley, General McClellan would have had it in his +power, it would seem, to crush Jackson; or if that wily commander +escaped, Longstreet in Culpepper was exposed to attack. General +McClellan did not embrace this opportunity of a decisive blow, and Lee +seems to have calculated upon the caution of his adversary. Jackson's +presence in the Valley only embarrassed McClellan, as Lee no doubt +intended it should. No attempt was made to strike at him. On the +contrary, the Federal army continued steadily to concentrate upon +Warrenton, where, on the 7th of November, General McClellan was +abruptly relieved of the command. + +He was in his tent, at Rectortown, at the moment when the dispatch was +handed to him--brought by an officer from Washington through a heavy +snow-storm then falling. General Ambrose E. Burnside was in the tent. +McClellan read the dispatch calmly, and, handing it indifferently to +his visitor, said, "Well, Burnside, you are to command the army." + +Such was the abrupt termination of the military career of a commander +who fills a large space in the history of the war in Virginia. The +design of this volume is not such as to justify an extended notice of +him, or a detailed examination of his abilities as a soldier. That he +possessed military endowments of a very high order is conceded by most +persons, but his critics add that he was dangerously prone to caution +and inactivity. Such was the criticism of his enemies at Washington +and throughout the North, and his pronounced political opinions had +gained him a large number. It may, however, be permitted one who can +have no reason to unduly commend him, to say that the retreat to +James River, and the arrest of Lee in his march of invasion toward +Pennsylvania, seem to indicate the possession of something more than +"inactivity," and of that species of "caution" which achieves success. +It will probably, however, be claimed by few, even among the +personal friends of this general, that he was a soldier of the first +ability--one competent to oppose Lee. + +As to the personal qualities of General McClellan, there seems to be +no difference of opinion. He was a gentleman of high breeding, and +detested all oppression of the weak and non-combatants. Somewhat prone +to _hauteur_, in presence of the importunities of the Executive and +other civilians unskilled in military affairs, he was patient, mild, +and cordial with his men. These qualities, with others which he +possessed, seem to have rendered him peculiarly acceptable to the +private soldier, and it is certain that he was, beyond comparison, the +most popular of all the generals who, one after another, commanded the +"Army of the Potomac." + + + + +IX. + +LEE CONCENTRATES AT FREDERICKSBURG. + + +In returning from the Valley, General Lee had exhibited that +combination of boldness and caution which indicates in a commander the +possession of excellent generalship. + +One of two courses was necessary: either to make a rapid march with +his entire army, in order to interpose himself between General +McClellan and what seemed to be his objective point, Gordonsville; or, +to so manoeuvre his forces as to retard and embarrass his adversary. +Of these, Lee chose the latter course, exposing himself to what seemed +very great danger. Jackson was left in the Valley, and Longstreet sent +to Culpepper; under these circumstances, General McClellan might have +cut off one of the two detached bodies; but Lee seems to have read +the character of his adversary accurately, and to have felt that a +movement of such boldness would not probably be undertaken by him. +Provision had nevertheless been made for this possible contingency. +Jackson was directed by Lee, in case of an attack by General +McClellan, to retire, by way of Strasburg, up the Valley, and so +rejoin the main body. That this movement would become necessary, +however, was not, as we have said, contemplated. It was not supposed +by Lee that his adversary would adopt the bold plan of crossing the +Blue Ridge to assail Jackson; thus, to leave that commander in +the Valley, instead of being a military blunder, was a stroke of +generalship, a source of embarrassment to General McClellan, and a +standing threat against the Federal communications, calculated to clog +the movements of their army. That Lee aimed at this is obvious from +his order to Jackson to cross a division to the eastern side of the +Blue Ridge, in General McClellan's rear. When this was done, the +Federal commander abandoned, if he had ever resolved upon, the design +of striking in between the Confederate detachments, as is claimed +by his admirers to have been his determination; gave up all idea of +"moving into the Valley and endeavoring to gain their rear;" and from +that moment directed his whole attention to the concentration of his +army near Warrenton, with the obvious view of establishing a new +base, and operating southward on the line of the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad. + +Lee's object in these manoeuvres, besides the general one of +embarrassing his adversary, seems to have been to gain time, and thus +to render impossible, from the lateness of the season, a Federal +advance upon Richmond. Had General McClellan remained in command, it +is probable that this object would have been attained, and the battle +of Fredericksburg would not have taken place. The two armies would +have lain opposite each other in Culpepper and Fauquier respectively, +with the Upper Rappahannock between them throughout the winter; and +the Confederate forces, weary and worn by the long marches and hard +combats of 1862, would have had the opportunity to rest and recover +their energies for the coming spring. + +The change of commanders defeated these views, if they were +entertained by General Lee. On assuming command, General Burnside +conceived the project, in spite of the near approach of winter, of +crossing the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and marching on Richmond. +This he now proceeded to attempt, by steadily moving from Warrenton +toward the Lower Rappahannock, and the result, as will be seen, was a +Federal disaster to wind up this "year of battles." + +We have spoken with some particularity of the character and military +abilities of General McClellan, the first able commander of the +Federal forces in Virginia. Of General Burnside, who appears but +once, and for a brief space only, on that great theatre, it will be +necessary to say only a few words. A modest and honorable soldier, +cherishing for General McClellan a cordial friendship, he was +unwilling to supersede that commander, both from personal regard and +distrust of his own abilities. He had not sought the position, which +had rather been thrust upon him. He was "surprised" and "shocked," he +said, at his assignment to the command; he "did not want it, it had +been offered to him twice before, and he did not feel that he could +take it; he had told them that he was not competent to command such +an army as this; he had said the same over and over again to the +President and the Secretary of War." He was, however, directed to +assume command, accepted the responsibility, and proceeded to +carry out the unexpected plan of advancing upon Richmond by way of +Fredericksburg. + +To cover this movement, General Burnside made a heavy feint as though +designing to cross into Culpepper. This does not seem to have deceived +Lee, who, on the 17th of November, knew that his adversary was moving. +No sooner had the fact been discovered that General Burnside was +making for Fredericksburg, than the Confederate commander, by a +corresponding movement, passed the Rapidan and hastened in the same +direction. As early as the 17th, two divisions of infantry, with +cavalry and artillery, were in motion. On the morning of the 19th, +Longstreet's corps was sent in the same direction; and when, on +November 20th, General Burnside arrived with his army, the Federal +forces drawn up on the hills north of Fredericksburg saw, on the +highlands south of the city, the red flags and gray lines of their old +adversaries. + +As General Jackson had been promptly directed to join the main body, +and was already moving to do so, Lee would soon be able to oppose +General Burnside with his whole force. + +Such were the movements of the opposing armies which brought them face +to face at Fredericksburg. Lee had acted promptly, and, it would seem, +with good judgment; but the question has been asked, why he did not +repeat against General Burnside the strategic movement which +had embarrassed General McClellan, and arrest the march upon +Fredericksburg by threatening, with the detachment under Jackson, +the Federal rear. The reasons for not adopting this course will be +perceived by a glance at the map. General Burnside was taking up a +new base--Aquia Creek on the Potomac--and, from the character of the +country, it was wholly impossible for Lee to prevent him from doing +so. He had only to fall back before Jackson, or any force moving +against his flank or rear; the Potomac was at hand, and it was not +in the power of Lee to further annoy him. The latter accordingly +abandoned all thought of repeating his old manoeuvre, moved Longstreet +and the other troops in Culpepper toward Fredericksburg, and, +directing Jackson to join him there, thus concentrated his forces +directly in the Federal front with the view of fighting a pitched +battle, army against army. + +This detailed account of Lee's movements may appear tedious to some +readers, but it was rather in grand tactics than in fighting battles +that he displayed his highest abilities as a soldier. He uniformly +adopted the broadest and most judicious plan to bring on battle, and +personally directed, as far as was possible, every detail of his +movements. When the hour came, it may be said of him that he felt he +had done his best--the actual fighting was left largely in the hands +of his corps commanders. + +The feints and slight encounters preceding the battle of +Fredericksburg are not of much interest or importance. General +Burnside sent a force to Port Royal, about twenty-five miles below the +city, but Lee promptly detached a portion of his army to meet it, if +it attempted to cross, and that project was abandoned. No attempt was +made by General Burnside to cross above, and it became obvious that he +must pass the river in face of Lee or not at all. + +Such was the condition of affairs at Fredericksburg in the first days +of December. + + + + +X. + +THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. + + +To a correct understanding of the interesting battle of +Fredericksburg, a brief description of the ground is essential. + +The city lies on the south bank of the Rappahannock, which here makes +a considerable bend nearly southward; and along the northern bank, +opposite, extends a range of hills which command the city and the +level ground around it. South of the river the land is low, but from +the depth of the channel forms a line of bluffs, affording good +shelter to troops after crossing to assail a force beyond. The only +good position for such a force, standing on the defensive, is a range +of hills hemming in the level ground. This range begins near the +western suburbs of the city, where it is called "Marye's Hill," and +sweeps round to the southward, gradually receding from the stream, +until, at Hamilton's Crossing, on the Richmond and Potomac Railroad, a +mile or more from the river, it suddenly subsides into the plain. This +plain extends to the right, and is bounded by the deep and difficult +channel of Massaponnax Creek. As Marye's Hill is the natural position +for the left of an army posted to defend Fredericksburg, the crest +above Hamilton's Crossing is the natural position for the right +of such a line, care being taken to cover the extreme right with +artillery, to obstruct the passage of the ground between the crest and +the Massaponnax. + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of Fredericksburg.] + +Behind the hills on the north side General Burnside's army was posted, +having the railroad to Aquia Creek for the transportation of their +supplies. On the range of hills which we have described south of the +city, General Lee was stationed, the same railroad connecting him with +Richmond. Longstreet's corps composed his left wing, and extended +from Marye's Hill to about the middle of the range of hills. There +Jackson's line began, forming the right wing, and extending to the +termination of the range at Hamilton's Crossing. On Jackson's right, +to guard the plain reaching to the Massaponnax, Stuart was posted with +cavalry and artillery. + +The numbers of the adversaries at Fredericksburg can be stated with +accuracy upon one side, but not upon the other. General Lee's force +may be said to have been, in round numbers, about fifty thousand of +all arms. It could scarcely have exceeded that, unless he received +heavy reënforcements after Sharpsburg; and the present writer +has never heard or read that he received reënforcements of any +description. The number, fifty thousand, thus seems to have been the +full amount of the army. That of General Burnside's forces seems to +have been considerably larger. The Federal army consisted of the +First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Corps; the +latter a corps of reserve and large. If these had been recruited to +the full number reported by General McClellan at Sharpsburg, and the +additional troops (Fifth and Eleventh Corps) be estimated, the Federal +army must have exceeded one hundred thousand men. This estimate is +borne out by Federal authorities. "General Franklin," says a Northern +writer, "had now with him about one-half the whole army;" and General +Meade says that Franklin's force "amounted to from fifty-five thousand +to sixty thousand men," which would seem to indicate that the whole +army numbered from one hundred and ten thousand to one hundred and +twenty thousand men. + +A strong position was obviously essential to render it possible for +the Southern army, of about fifty thousand men, to successfully oppose +the advance of this force of above one hundred thousand. Lee had found +this position, and constructed earthworks for artillery, with the view +of receiving the attack of the enemy after their crossing. He was +unable to obstruct this crossing in any material degree; and he states +clearly the grounds of this inability. "The plain of Fredericksburg," +he says, "is so completely commanded by the Stafford heights, that no +effectual opposition could be made to the construction of bridges, +or the passage of the river, without exposing our troops to the +destructive fire of the numerous batteries of the enemy.... Our +position was, therefore, selected with a view to resist the enemy's +advance after crossing, and the river was guarded only by a +force sufficient to impede his movements until the army could be +concentrated." + +The brief description we have presented of the character of the ground +around Fredericksburg, and the position of the adversaries, will +sufficiently indicate the conditions under which the battle was +fought. Both armies seem to have been in excellent spirits. That of +General Burnside had made a successful march, during which they had +scarcely seen an enemy, and now looked forward, probably, to certain +if not easy victory. General Lee's army, in like manner, had undergone +recently no peculiar hardships in marching or fighting; and, to +whatever cause the fact may be attributed, was in a condition of the +highest efficiency. The men seemed to be confident of the result of +the coming conflict, and, in their bivouacs on the line of battle, in +the woods fringing the ridge which they occupied, laughed, jested, +cheered, on the slightest provocation, and, instead of shrinking from, +looked forward with eagerness to, the moment when General Burnside +would advance to attack them. This buoyant and elastic spirit in the +Southern troops was observable on the eve of nearly every battle of +the war. Whether it was due to the peculiar characteristics of the +race, or to other causes, we shall not pause here to inquire; but the +fact was plain to the most casual observation, and was never more +striking than just before Fredericksburg, unless just preceding the +battle of Gettysburg. + +Nothing of any importance occurred, from the 20th of November, when +General Burnside's army was concentrated on the heights north of +Fredericksburg, until the 11th of December, when the Federal army +began crossing the Rappahannock to deliver battle. Lee's reasons for +not attempting to resist the passage of the river have been given +above. The plain on which it would have been necessary to draw up +his army, in order to do so, was too much exposed to the numerous +artillery of the enemy on the northern bank. Lee resolved, therefore, +not to oppose the crossing of the Federal troops, but to await their +assault on the commanding ground west and south of the city. + +On the morning of December 11th, before dawn, the dull boom of Lee's +signal-guns indicated that the enemy were moving, and the Southern +troops formed line of battle to meet the coming attack. General +Burnside had made arrangements to cross the river on pontoon bridges, +one opposite the city, and another a mile or two lower down the +stream. General Franklin, commanding the two corps of the left Grand +Division, succeeded, without trouble, in laying the lower bridge, as +the ground did not permit Lee to offer material obstruction; and this +large portion of the army was now ready to cross. The passage of the +stream at Fredericksburg was more difficult. Although determined not +to make a serious effort to prevent the enemy from crossing, General +Lee had placed two regiments of Barksdale's Mississippians along the +bank of the river, in the city, to act as sharp-shooters, and impede +the construction of the pontoon bridges, with the view, doubtless, of +thus giving time to marshal his troops. The success of this device +was considerable. The workmen, busily engaged in laying the Federal +pontoons, were so much interrupted by the fire of the Confederate +marksmen--who directed their aim through the heavy fog by the noise +made in putting together the boats--that, after losing a number of +men, the Federal commander discontinued his attempt. It was renewed +again and again, without success, as before, when, provoked apparently +by the presence of this hornet's nest, which reversed all his plans, +General Burnside, about ten o'clock, opened a furious fire of +artillery upon the city. The extent of this bombardment will be +understood from the statement that one hundred and forty-seven pieces +of artillery were employed, which fired seven thousand three hundred +and fifty rounds of ammunition, in one instance piercing a single +small house with fifty round-shot. An eye-witness of this scene says: +"The enemy had planted more than a hundred pieces of artillery on the +hills to the northern and eastern sides of the town, and, from an +early hour in the forenoon, swept the streets with round-shot, shell, +and case-shot, firing frequently a hundred guns a minute. The quick +puffs of smoke, touched in the centre with tongues of flame, ran +incessantly along the lines of their batteries on the slopes, and, +as the smoke slowly drifted away, the bellowing roar came up in one +continuous roll. The town was soon fired, and a dense cloud of smoke +enveloped its roofs and steeples. The white church-spires still rose +serenely aloft, defying shot or shell, though a portion of one of them +was torn off. The smoke was succeeded by lurid flame, and the crimson +mass brought to mind the pictures of Moscow burning." The same writer +says: "Men, women, and children, were driven from the town, and +hundreds of ladies and children were seen wandering, homeless, and +without shelter, over the frozen highway, in thin clothing, knowing +not where to find a place of refuge." + +[Illustration: FREDERICKSBURG] + +General Lee watched this painful spectacle from a redoubt to the right +of the telegraph road, not far from his centre, where a shoulder +jutting out from the ridge, and now called "Lee's Hill," afforded +him a clear view of the city. The destruction of the place, and the +suffering of the inhabitants, aroused in him a deep melancholy, +mingled with exasperation, and his comment on the scene was probably +as bitter as any speech which he uttered during the whole war. +Standing, wrapped in his cape, with only a few officers near, he +looked fixedly at the flames rising from the city, and, after +remaining for a long time silent, said, in his grave, deep voice: +"These people delight to destroy the weak, and those who can make no +defence; it just suits them." + +General Burnside continued the bombardment for some hours, the +Mississippians still holding the river-bank and preventing the laying +of the pontoons, which was again begun and again discontinued. At +about four in the afternoon, however, a force was sent across in +barges, and by nightfall the city was evacuated by Lee, and General +Burnside proceeded rapidly to lay his pontoon bridge, upon which his +army then began to pass over. The crossing continued throughout the +next day, not materially obstructed by the fire of Lee's artillery, +as a dense fog rendered the aim of the cannoneers unreliable. By +nightfall (of the 12th) the Federal army was over, with the exception +of General Hooker's Centre Grand Division, which was held in reserve +on the north bank. General Burnside then proceeded to form his line of +battle. It stretched from the western suburbs of Fredericksburg down +the river, along what is called the River road, for a distance of +about four miles, and consisted of the Right Grand Division, under +General Sumner, at the city, and the Left Grand Division, under +General Franklin, lower down, and opposite Lee's right. General +Franklin's Grand Division numbered, according to General Meade, from +fifty-five to sixty thousand men; the numbers of Generals Sumner and +Hooker are not known to the present writer, but are said by Federal +authorities, as we have stated, to have amounted together to about the +same. + +At daybreak, on the morning of December 13th, a muffled sound, issuing +from the dense fog covering the low ground, indicated that the Federal +lines were preparing to advance. + +To enable the reader to understand General Burnside's plan of attack, +it is necessary that brief extracts should be presented from his +orders on the occasion, and from his subsequent testimony before the +committee on the conduct of the war. Despite the length of time since +his arrival at Fredericksburg--a period of more than three weeks--the +Federal commander had, it appears, been unable to obtain full and +accurate information of the character of the ground occupied by Lee, +and thus moved very much in the dark. He seems to have formed his plan +of attack in consequence of information from "a colored man." His +words are: "The enemy had cut a road along in the rear of the line of +heights where we made our attack.... I obtained, from a colored man +at the other side of the town, information in regard to this new road +which proved to be correct. I wanted to obtain possession of that +new road, and that was my reason for making an attack on the extreme +left." It is difficult for those familiar with the ground referred to, +to understand how this "new road," a mere country bridle-path, as it +were, extending along in the rear of Lee's right wing, could have been +regarded as a topographical feature of any importance. The road, +which remains unchanged, and may be seen by any one to-day, was +insignificant in a military point of view, and, in attaching such +importance to seizing it, the Federal commander committed a grave +error. + +What seems to have been really judicious in his plan, was the turning +movement determined on against Lee's right, along the old Richmond +road, running from the direction of the river past the end of the +ridge occupied by the Confederates, and so southward. To break through +at this point was the only hope of success, and General Burnside had +accordingly resolved, he declared, upon "a rapid movement down the old +Richmond road" with Franklin's large command. Unfortunately, however, +this wise design was complicated with another, most unwise, to send +forward _a division_, first, to seize the crest of the ridge near the +point where it sinks into the plain. On this crest were posted the +veterans of Jackson, commanded in person by that skilful soldier. +Three lines of infantry, supported by artillery, were ready to receive +the Federal attack, and, to force back this stubborn obstacle, General +Burnside sent a division. The proof is found in his order to General +Franklin at about six o'clock on the morning of the battle: "Send +out a division at least ... to seize, if possible, the heights near +Captain Hamilton's," which was the ground whereon Jackson's right +rested. + +An attack on the formidable position known as Marye's Hill, on Lee's +left, west of Fredericksburg, was also directed to be made by the same +small force. The order to General Sumner was to "form a column of +_a division_, for the purpose of pushing in the direction of the +Telegraph and Plank roads, for the purpose of seizing the heights in +the rear of the town;" or, according to another version, "up the Plank +road to its intersection with the Telegraph road, where they will +divide, with the object of seizing the heights on both sides of those +roads." + +The point of "intersection" here referred to was the locality of what +has been called "that sombre, fatal, terrible stone wall," just under +Marye's Hill, where the most fearful slaughter of the Federal forces +took place. Marye's Hill is a strong position, and its importance was +well understood by Lee. Longstreet's infantry was in heavy line of +battle behind it, and the crest bristled with artillery. There was +still less hope here of effecting any thing with "a division" than on +the Confederate right held by Jackson. + +General Burnside seems, however, to have regarded success as probable. +He added in his order: "Holding these heights, with the heights near +Captain Hamilton's, will, I hope, compel the enemy to evacuate the +whole ridge between these points." In his testimony afterward, he said +that, in the event of failure in these assaults on Lee's flanks, he +"proposed to make a direct attack on their front, and drive them out +of their works." + +These extracts from General Burnside's orders and testimony clearly +indicate his plan, which was to assail both Lee's right and left, and, +in the event of failure, direct a heavy blow at his centre. That the +whole plan completely failed was mainly due, it would seem, to the +inconsiderable numbers of the assaulting columns. + +We return now to the narrative of the battle which these comments have +interrupted. + +General Lee was ready to receive the Federal attack, and, at an early +hour of the morning, rode from his headquarters, in rear of his +centre, along his line of battle toward the right, where he probably +expected the main assault of the enemy to take place. He was clad in +his plain, well-worn gray uniform, with felt hat, cavalry-boots, and +short cape, without sword, and almost without any indications of his +rank. In these outward details, he differed much from Generals Jackson +and Stuart, who rode with him. The latter, as was usual with him, wore +a fully-decorated uniform, sash, black plume, sabre, and handsome +gauntlets. General Jackson, also, on this day, chanced to have +exchanged his dingy old coat and sun-scorched cadet-cap for a new +coat[1] covered with dazzling buttons, and a cap brilliant with a +broad band of gold lace, in which (for him) extraordinary disguise his +men scarcely knew him. + +[Footnote 1: This coat was a present from Stuart.] + +As Lee and his companions passed along in front of the line of battle, +the troops cheered them. It was evident that the army was in excellent +spirits, and ready for the hard work which the day would bring. Lee +proceeded down the old Richmond, or stage road--that mentioned in +General Burnside's order as the one over which his large flanking +column was to move--and rode on with Stuart until he was near the +River road, running toward Fredericksburg, parallel to the Federal +line of battle. Here he stopped, and endeavored to make out, through +the dense fog covering the plain, whether the Federal forces were +moving. A stifled hum issued from the mist, but nothing could be seen. +It seemed, however, that the enemy's skirmishers--probably concealed +in the ditches along the River road--had sharper eyes, as bullets +began to whistle around the two generals, and soon a number of black +specks were seen moving forward. General Lee remained for some time +longer, in spite of the exposure, conversing with great calmness and +gravity with Stuart, who was all ardor. He then rode back slowly, +passed along his line of battle, greeted wherever he was seen with +cheers, and took his position on the eminence in his centre, near the +Telegraph road, the same commanding point from which he had witnessed +the bombardment of Fredericksburg. + +The battle did not commence until ten o'clock, owing to the dense fog, +through which the light of the sun could scarcely pierce. At that hour +the mist lifted and rolled away, and the Confederates posted on the +ridge saw a heavy column of infantry advancing to attack their right, +near the Hamilton House. This force was Meade's division, supported +by Gibbon's, with a third in reserve, General Franklin having put in +action as many troops as his orders ("a division at least") permitted. +General Meade was arrested for some time by a minute but most annoying +obstacle. Stuart had placed a single piece of artillery, under Major +John Pelham, near the point where the old Richmond and River roads +meet--that is, directly on the flank of the advancing column--and this +gun now opened a rapid and determined fire upon General Meade. Major +Pelham--almost a boy in years--continued to hold his exposed position +with great gallantry, although the enemy opened fire upon him with +several batteries, killing a number of his gunners. General Lee +witnessed this duel from the hill on which he had taken his stand, and +is said to have exclaimed, "It is glorious to see such courage in one +so young!" [Footnote: General Lee's opinion of Major Pelham appears +from his report, in which he styles the young officer "the gallant +Pelham," and says: "Four batteries immediately turned upon him, but +he sustained their heavy fire with the unflinching courage that ever +distinguished him." Pelham fell at Kelly's Ford in March, 1863.] + +Pelham continued the cannonade for about two hours, only retiring when +he received a peremptory order from Jackson to do so; and it would +seem that this one gun caused a considerable delay in the attack. +"Meade advanced across the plain, but had not proceeded far," says Mr. +Swinton, "before he was compelled to stop and silence a battery that +Stuart had posted on the Port Royal road." Having brushed away this +annoying obstacle, General Meade, with a force which he states to have +amounted to ten thousand men, advanced rapidly to attack the hill upon +which the Confederates awaited him. He was suffered to approach within +a few hundred yards, when Jackson's artillery, under Colonel Walker, +posted near the end of the ridge, opened a sudden and furious fire, +which threw the Federal line into temporary confusion. The troops soon +rallied, however, and advanced again to the attack, which fell on +Jackson's front line under A.P. Hill. The struggle which now ensued +was fierce and bloody, but, a gap having been left between the +brigades of Archer and Lane, the enemy pierced the opening, turning +the left of one brigade and the right of the other, pressed on, +attacked Gregg's brigade of Hill's reserve, threw it into confusion, +and seemed about to carry the crest. Gregg's brigade was quickly +rallied, however, by its brave commander, who soon afterward fell, +mortally wounded; the further progress of the enemy was checked, and, +Jackson's second line rapidly advancing, the enemy were met and forced +back, step by step, until they were driven down the slope again. Here +they were attacked by the brigades of Hoke and Atkinson, and driven +beyond the railroad, the Confederates cheering and following them into +the plain. The repulse had been complete, and the slope and ground +in front of it were strewed with Federal dead. They had returned as +rapidly as they had charged, pursued by shot and shell, and General +Lee, witnessing the spectacle from his hill, murmured, in his grave +and measured voice: "It is well this is so terrible! we should grow +too fond of it!" + +The assault on the Confederate right had thus ended in disaster, but +almost immediately another attack took place, whose results were more +bloody and terrible still. As General Meade fell back, pursued by the +men of Jackson, the sudden roar of artillery from the Confederate left +indicated that a heavy conflict had begun in that quarter. The Federal +troops were charging Marye's Hill, which was to prove the Cemetery +Hill of Fredericksburg. This frightful charge--for no other adjective +can describe it--was made by General French's division, supported by +General Hancock. The Federal troops rushed forward over the broken +ground in the suburbs of the city, and, "as soon as the masses became +dense enough,"[1] were received with a concentrated artillery fire +from the hill in front of them. This fire was so destructive that it +"made gaps that could be seen at the distance of a mile." The charging +division had advanced in column of brigades, and the front was nearly +destroyed. The troops continued to move forward, however, and had +nearly reached the base of the hill, when the brigades of Cobb and +Cooke, posted behind a stone wall running parallel with the Telegraph +road, met them with a sudden fire of musketry, which drove them back +in terrible disorder. Nearly half the force was killed or lay disabled +on the field, and upon the survivors, now in full retreat, was +directed a concentrated artillery-fire from, the hill. + +[Footnote 1: Longstreet.] + +In face of this discharge of cannon, General Hancock's force, +supporting French, now gallantly advanced in its turn. The charge +lasted about fifteen minutes, and in that time General Hancock lost +more than two thousand of the five thousand men of his command. The +repulse was still more bloody and decisive than the first. The second +column fell back in disorder, leaving the ground covered with their +dead. + +General Burnside had hitherto remained at the "Phillips House," a mile +or more from the Rappahannock. He now mounted his horse, and, riding +down to the river, dismounted, walked up and down in great agitation, +and exclaimed, looking at Marye's Hill: "That crest must be carried +to-night."[1] + +[Footnote 1: The authority for this incident is Mr. William Swinton, +who was present.] + +In spite of the murderous results of the first charges, the Federal +commander determined on a third. General Hooker's reserve was ordered +to make it, and, although that officer protested against it, General +Burnside was immovable, and repeated his order. General Hooker +sullenly obeyed, and opened with artillery upon the stone wall at the +foot of the hill, in order to make a breach in it. This fire continued +until nearly sunset, when Humphrey's division was formed for the +charge. The men were ordered to throw aside their knapsacks, and not +to load their guns, "for there was no time there to load and fire," +says General Hooker. The word was given about sunset, and the division +charged headlong over the ground already covered with dead. A few +words will convey the result. Of four thousand men who charged, +seventeen hundred and sixty were left dead or wounded on the field. +The rest retreated, pursued by the fire of the batteries and infantry; +and night fell on the battle-field. + +This charge was the real termination of the bloody battle of +Fredericksburg, but, on the Confederate right, Jackson had planned and +begun to execute a decisive advance on the force in his front. This he +designed to undertake "precisely at sunset," and his intention was +to depend on the bayonet, his military judgment or instinct having +satisfied him that the _morale_ of the Federal army was destroyed. The +advance was discontinued, however, in consequence of the lateness of +the hour and the sudden artillery-fire which saluted him as he began +to move. A striking feature of this intended advance is the fact that +Jackson had placed his artillery _in front_ of his line of battle, +intending to attack in that manner. + +As darkness settled down, the last guns of Stuart, who had defended +the Confederate right flank with about thirty pieces of artillery, +were heard far in advance, and apparently advancing still. The Federal +lines had fallen back, wellnigh to the banks of the river, and there +seems little room to doubt that the _morale_ of the men was seriously +impaired. "From what I knew of our want of success upon the right," +says General Franklin, when interrogated on this point, "and the +demoralized condition of the troops upon the right and centre, as +represented to me by their commanders, I confess I believe the order +to recross was a very proper one." + +General Burnside refused to give the order; and, nearly overwhelmed, +apparently, by the fatal result of the attack, determined to form the +ninth corps in column of regiments, and lead it in person against +Marye's Hill, on the next morning. Such a design, in a soldier of +ability, indicates desperation. To charge Marye's Hill with a corps in +column of regiments, was to devote the force to destruction. It was +nearly certain that the whole command would be torn to pieces by the +Southern artillery, but General Burnside seems to have regarded the +possession of the hill as worth any amount of blood; and, in face of +the urgent appeals of his officers, gave orders for the movement. At +the last moment, however, he yielded to the entreaties of General +Sumner, and abandoned his bloody design. + +Still it seemed that the Federal commander was unable to come to the +mortifying resolution of recrossing the Rappahannock. The battle +was fought on the 13th of December, and until the night of the 15th +General Burnside continued to face Lee on the south bank of the +river--his bands playing, his flags flying, and nothing indicating an +intention of retiring. To that resolve he had however come, and on the +night of the 15th, in the midst of storm and darkness, the Federal +army recrossed to the north bank of the Rappahannock. + + + + +XI FINAL MOVEMENTS OF 1862 + + +The battle of Fredericksburg was another defeat of the Federal +programme of invasion, as decisive, and in one sense as disastrous, as +the second battle of Manassas. General Burnside had not lost as many +men as General Pope, and had not retreated in confusion, pursued by a +victorious enemy; but, brief as the conflict had been--two or three +hours summing up all the real fighting--its desperate character, and +the evident hopelessness of any attempt to storm Lee's position, +profoundly discouraged and demoralized the Northern troops. We have +quoted the statement of General Franklin, commanding the whole left +wing, that from "the demoralized condition of the troops upon the +right and centre, as represented to him by their commanders, he +believed the order to recross was a very proper one." Nor is there +any ground to suppose that the feeling of the left wing was greatly +better. That wing of the army had not suffered as heavily as the +right, which had recoiled with such frightful slaughter from Marye's +Hill; but the repulse of General Meade in their own front had been +equally decisive, and the non-success of the right must have reacted +on the left, discouraging that also. Northern writers, in a position +to ascertain the condition of the troops, fully bear out this view: +"That the _morale_ of the Army of the Potomac became seriously +impaired after the disaster at Fredericksburg," says Mr. Swinton, the +able and candid historian of the campaign, "was only too manifest. +Indeed, it would be impossible to imagine a graver or gloomier, a more +sombre or unmusical body of men than the Army of the Potomac a month +after the battle. And, as the days went by, despondency, discontent, +and all evil inspirations, with their natural consequent, desertion, +seemed to increase rather than to diminish, until, for the first time, +the Army of the Potomac could be said to be really demoralized." +General Sumner noticed that a spirit of "croaking" had become diffused +throughout the forces. For an army to display that tendency clearly +indicates that the troops have lost the most important element of +victory--confidence in themselves and their leader. And for this +sentiment there was valid reason. Columns wholly inadequate in numbers +had been advanced against the formidable Confederate positions, +positions so strong and well defended that it is doubtful if thrice +the force could have made any impression upon them, and the result +was such as might have been expected. The men lost confidence in the +military capacity of their commander, and in their own powers. After +the double repulse at Marye's Hill and in front of Jackson, the +troops, looking at the ground strewed with dead and wounded, were +in no condition to go forward hopefully to another struggle which +promised to be equally bloody. + +The Southern army was naturally in a condition strongly in contrast +with that of their adversary. They had repulsed the determined assault +of the Federal columns with comparative ease on both flanks. Jackson's +first line, although pierced and driven back, soon rallied, and +checked the enemy until the second line came up, when General Meade +was driven back, the third line not having moved from its position +along the road near the Hamilton House. On the left, Longstreet had +repulsed the Federal charge with his artillery and two small brigades. +The loss of the Confederates in both these encounters was much +less than that of their adversaries[1], a natural result of the +circumstances; and thus, instead of sharing the depression of their +opponents, the Southern troops were elated, and looked forward to +a renewal of the battle with confidence in themselves and in their +leader. + +[Footnote 1: "Our loss during the operation, since the movements +of the enemy began, amounts to about eighteen hundred killed and +wounded."--_Lee's Report_. Federal authorities state the Northern loss +at a little over twelve thousand; the larger part, no doubt, in the +attack on Marye's Hill.] + +It is not necessary to offer much comment upon the manner in which +General Burnside had attacked. He is said, by his critics, not to +have, at the time, designed the turning movement against General Lee's +right, upon which point the present writer is unable to decide. That +movement would seem to have presented the sole and only chance of +success for the Federal arms, as the successful advance of General +Franklin's fifty-five or sixty thousand men up the old Richmond road +would have compelled Lee to retire his whole right wing, to protect it +from an assault in flank and reverse. What dispositions he would have +made under these circumstances must be left to conjecture; but, it is +certain that the blow would have proved a serious one, calling for the +display of all his military ability. In the event, however, that this +was the main great aim of General Burnside, his method of carrying out +his design insured, it would seem, its failure. Ten thousand men only +were to clear the way for the flanking movement, in order to effect +which object it was necessary to crush Jackson. So that it may be said +that the success of the plan involved the repulse of one-half Lee's +army with ten thousand men. + +The assault on Marye's Hill was an equally fatal military mistake. +That the position could not be stormed, is proved by the result of the +actual attempt. It is doubtful if, in any battle ever fought by any +troops, men displayed greater gallantry. They rushed headlong, not +only once, but thrice, into the focus of a frightful front and cross +fire of artillery and small-arms, losing nearly half their numbers in +a few minutes; the ground was littered with their dead, and yet the +foremost had only been able to approach within sixty yards of the +terrible stone wall in advance of the hill. There they fell, throwing +up their hands to indicate that they saw at last that the attempt to +carry the hill was hopeless. + +These comments seem justified by the circumstances, and are made with +no intention of casting obloquy upon the commander who, displaying +little ability, gave evidences of unfaltering courage. He had urged +his inability to handle so large an army, but the authorities had +forced the command upon him; he had accepted it and done his best, +and, like a brave soldier, determined to lead the final charge in +person, dying, if necessary, at the head of his men. + +General Lee has not escaped criticism any more than General Burnside. +The Southern people were naturally dissatisfied with the result--the +safe retreat of the Federal army--and asked why they had not been +attacked and captured or destroyed. The London _Times_, at that +period, and a military critic recently, in the same journal, declared +that Lee had it in his power to crush General Burnside, "horse, foot, +and dragoons," and, from his failure to do so, argued his want of +great generalship. A full discussion of the question is left by the +present writer to those better skilled than himself in military +science. It is proper, however, to insert here General Lee's own +explanation of his action: + +"The attack on the 13th," he says, "had been so easily repulsed, and +by so small a part of our army, that it was not supposed the enemy +would limit his efforts to one attempt, which, in view of the +magnitude of his preparations, and the extent of his force, seemed to +be comparatively insignificant. Believing, therefore, that he would +attack us, it was not deemed expedient to lose the advantages of +our position and expose the troops to the fire of his inaccessible +batteries beyond the river, by advancing against him. But we were +necessarily ignorant of the extent to which he had suffered, and only +became aware of it when, on the morning of the 16th, it was discovered +that he had availed himself of the darkness of night, and the +prevalence of a violent storm of wind and rain, to recross the river." + +This statement was no doubt framed by General Lee to meet the +criticisms which the result of the battle occasioned. In conversing +with General Stuart on the subject, he added that he felt too great +responsibility for the preservation of his troops to unnecessarily +hazard them. "No one knows," he said, "how _brittle_ an army is." + +The word may appear strange, applied to the Army of Northern Virginia, +which had certainly vindicated its claim, under many arduous trials, +to the virtues of toughness and endurance. But Lee's meaning was +plain, and his view seems to have been founded on good sense. The +enemy had in all, probably, two hundred pieces of artillery, a large +portion of which were posted on the high ground north of the river. +Had Lee descended from his ridge and advanced into the plain to +attack, this large number of guns would have greeted him with a rapid +and destructive fire, which must have inflicted upon him a loss as +nearly heavy as he had inflicted upon General Burnside at Marye's +Hill. From such a result he naturally shrunk. It has been seen that +the Federal troops, brave as they were, had been demoralized by such +a fire; and Lee was unwilling to expose his own troops to similar +slaughter. + +There is little question, it seems, that an advance of the description +mentioned would have resulted in a conclusive victory, and the +probable surrender of the whole or a large portion of the Federal +army. Whether the probability of such a result was sufficient to +compensate for the certain slaughter, the reader will decide for +himself. General Lee did not think so, and did not order the advance. +He preferred awaiting, in his strong position, the second assault +which General Burnside would probably make; and, while he thus waited, +the enemy secretly recrossed the river, rendering an attack upon them +by Lee impossible. + +General Burnside made a second movement to cross the +Rappahannock--this time at Banks's Ford, above Fredericksburg--in the +inclement month of January; but, as he might have anticipated, the +condition of the roads was such that it was impossible to advance. His +artillery, with the horses dragging the pieces, sank into the almost +bottomless mud, where they stuck fast--even the foot-soldiers found it +difficult to march through the quagmire--and the whole movement was +speedily abandoned. + +When General Burnside issued the order for this injudicious advance, +two of his general officers met, and one asked: + +"What do you think of it?" + +"It don't seem to have the _ring_" was the reply. + +"No--the bell is broken," the other added. + +This incident, which is given on the authority of a Northern writer, +probably conveys a correct idea of the feeling of both the +officers and men of General Burnside's army. The disastrous day of +Fredericksburg had seriously injured the troops. + +"The Army of the Potomac," the writer adds, "was sadly fractured, and +its tones had no longer the clear, inspiring ring of victory." + + + + +XII. + +THE YEAR OF BATTLES. + + +The stormy year 1862 had terminated, thus, in a great Confederate +success. In its arduous campaigns, following each other in rapid +succession, General Lee had directed the movements of the main great +army, and the result of the year's fighting was to gain him that high +military reputation which his subsequent movements only consolidated +and increased. + +A rapid glance at the events of the year in their general outlines +will indicate the merit due the Southern commander. The Federal plan +of invasion in the spring had been extremely formidable. Virginia was +to be pierced by no less than four armies--from the northwest, the +Shenandoah Valley, the Potomac, and the Peninsula--the whole force to +converge upon Richmond, the "heart of the rebellion." Of these, the +army of General McClellan was the largest and most threatening. It +advanced, with little opposition, until it reached the Chickahominy, +crossed, and lay in sight of Richmond. The great force of one hundred +and fifty thousand men was about to make the decisive assault, when +Lee attacked it, and the battle which ensued drove the Federal army +to a point thirty miles from the city, with such loss as to render +hopeless any further attempt to assail the capital. + +Such was the first act of the drama; the rest speedily followed. A new +army was raised promptly by the Federal authorities, and a formidable +advance was made against Richmond again, this time from the direction +of Alexandria. Lee was watching General McClellan when intelligence of +the new movement reached him. Remaining, with a portion of his troops, +near Richmond, he sent Jackson to the Rapidan. The battle of Cedar +Mountain resulted in the repulse of General Pope's vanguard; and, +discovering at last that the real danger lay in the direction of +Culpepper, Lee moved thither, drove back General Pope, flanked him, +and, in the severe battle of Manassas, routed his army, which was +forced to retire upon Washington. + +Two armies had thus been driven from the soil of Virginia, and the +Confederate commander had moved into Maryland, in order to draw the +enemy thither, and, if practicable, transfer the war to the heart of +Pennsylvania. Unforeseen circumstances had defeated the latter of +these objects. The concentration on Sharpsburg was rendered necessary; +an obstinately-fought battle ensued there; and, not defeated, but +forced to abandon further movements toward Pennsylvania, Lee had +retired into Virginia, where he remained facing his adversary. This +was the first failure of Lee up to that point in the campaigns of the +year; and an attentive consideration of the circumstances will show +that the result was not fairly attributable to any error which he +had committed. Events beyond his control had shaped his action, and +directed all his movements; and it will remain a question whether the +extrication of his small force from its difficult position did not +better prove Lee's generalship than the victory at Manassas. + +The subsequent operations of the opposing armies indicated clearly +that the Southern forces were still in excellent fighting condition; +and the movements of Lee, during the advance of General McClellan +toward Warrenton, were highly honorable to his military ability. +With a force much smaller than that of his adversary, he greatly +embarrassed and impeded the Federal advance; confronted them on the +Upper Rappahannock, completely checking their forward movement in that +direction; and, when they moved rapidly to Fredericksburg, crossed the +Rapidan promptly, reappearing in their front on the range of hills +opposite that city. The battle which followed compensated for the +failure of the Maryland campaign and the drawn battle of Sharpsburg. +General Burnside had attacked, and sustained decisive defeat. The +stormy year, so filled with great events and arduous encounters, had +thus wound up with a pitched battle, in which the enemy suffered a +bloody repulse; and the best commentary on the decisive character of +this last struggle of the year, was the fault found with General Lee +for not destroying his adversary. + +In less than six months Lee had thus fought four great pitched +battles--all victories to his arms, with the exception of Sharpsburg, +which was neither a victory nor a defeat. The result was thus highly +encouraging to the South; and, had the Army of Northern Virginia had +its ranks filled up, as the ranks of the Northern armies were, the +events of the year 1862 would have laid the foundation of assured +success. An inquiry into the causes of failure in this particular is +not necessary to the subject of the volume before the reader. It is +only necessary to state the fact that the Army of Northern Virginia, +defending what all conceded to be the territory on which the decisive +struggle must take place, was never sufficiently numerous to follow up +the victories achieved by it. At the battles of the Chickahominy the +army numbered at most about seventy-five thousand; at the second +Manassas, about fifty thousand; at Sharpsburg, less than forty +thousand; and at Fredericksburg, about fifty thousand. In the +following year, it will be seen that these latter numbers were at +first but little exceeded, and, as the months passed on, that they +dwindled more and more, until, in April, 1865, the whole force in line +of battle at Petersburg was scarcely more than thirty thousand men. + +Such had been the number of the troops under command of Lee in 1862. +The reader has been informed of the number of the Federal force +opposed to him. This was one hundred and fifty thousand on the +Chickahominy, of whom one hundred and fifteen thousand were effective; +about one hundred thousand, it would seem, under General Pope, at the +second battle of Manassas; eighty-seven thousand actually engaged at +the battle of Sharpsburg; and at Fredericksburg from one hundred and +ten to one hundred and twenty thousand. + +These numbers are stated on the authority of Federal officers or +historians, and Lee's force on the authority of his own reports, or of +gentlemen of high character, in a situation to speak with accuracy. +Of the truth of the statements the writer of these pages can have no +doubt; and, if the fighting powers of the Northern and Southern troops +be estimated as equal, the fair conclusion must be arrived at that Lee +surpassed his adversaries in generalship. + +The result, at least, of the year's fighting, had been extremely +encouraging to the South, and after the battle of Fredericksburg no +attempts were made to prosecute hostilities during the remainder +of the year. The scheme of crossing above Fredericksburg proved a +_fiasco_, beginning and ending in a day. Thereafter all movements +ceased, and the two armies awaited the return of spring for further +operations. + + + + +XIII. + +LEE IN DECEMBER, 1862. + + +Before passing to the great campaigns of the spring and summer of +1863, we propose to say a few words of General Lee, in his private and +personal character, and to attempt to indicate the position which +he occupied at this time in the eyes of the army and the country. +Unknown, save by reputation, when he assumed command of the forces in +June, 1862, he had now, by the winter of the same year, become one of +the best-known personages in the South. Neither the troops nor the +people had perhaps penetrated the full character of Lee; and they seem +to have attributed to him more reserve and less warmth and impulse +than he possessed; but it was impossible for a human being, occupying +so prominent a station before the general eye, to hide, in any +material degree, his main great characteristics, and these had +conciliated for Lee an exalted and wellnigh universal public regard. +He was felt by all to be an individual of great dignity, sincerity, +and earnestness, in the performance of duty. Destitute plainly of that +vulgar ambition which seeks personal aggrandizement rather than the +general good, and dedicated as plainly, heart and soul, to the cause +for which he fought, he had won, even from those who had denounced +him for the supposed hesitation in his course in April, 1861, and had +afterward criticised his military operations, the repute of a truly +great man, as well as of a commander of the first ability. It was felt +by all classes that the dignity of the Southern cause was adequately +represented in the person and character of the commander of her most +important army. While others, as brave and patriotic, no doubt, but of +different temperament, had permitted themselves to become violent and +embittered in their private and public utterances in reference to the +North, Lee had remained calm, moderate, and dignified, under every +provocation. His reports were without rhodomontade or exaggeration, +and his tone uniformly modest, composed, and uninflated. After his +most decisive successes, his pulse had remained calm; he had written +of those successes with the air of one who sees no especial merit in +any thing which he has performed; and, so marked was this tone of +moderation and dignity, that, in reading his official reports to-day, +it seems wellnigh impossible that they could have been written in the +hot atmosphere of a war which aroused the bitterest passions of the +human soul. + +Upon this point of Lee's personal and official dignity it is +unnecessary to dwell further, as the quality has long since been +conceded by every one acquainted with the character of the individual, +in the Old World and the New. It is the trait, perhaps, the most +prominent to the observer, looking back now upon the individual; and +it was, doubtless, this august moderation, dignity, and apparent +exemption from natural infirmity, which produced the impression upon +many persons that Lee was cold and unimpressible. We shall speak, in +future, at greater length of his real character than is necessary in +this place; but it may here be said, that the fancy that he was cold +and unimpressible was a very great error. No man had stronger or +warmer feelings, or regarded the invasion of the South with greater +indignation, than himself. The sole difference was, that he had +his feelings under greater control, and permitted no temptation to +overcome his sense of that august dignity and composure becoming +in the chief leader of a great people struggling for independent +government. + +The sentiment of the Southern people toward Lee may be summed up in +the statement that they regarded him, in his personal and private +character, with an admiration which was becoming unbounded, and +reposed in him, as commander of the army, the most implicit +confidence. + +These expressions are strong, but they do not convey more than the +truth. And this confidence was never withdrawn from him. It remained +as strong in his hours of disaster as in his noontide of success. +A few soured or desponding people might lose heart, indulge in +"croaking," and denounce, under their breath, the commander of +the army as responsible for failure when it occurred; but these +fainthearted people were in a small minority, and had little +encouragement in their muttered criticisms. The Southern people, from +Virginia to the utmost limits of the Gulf States, resolutely persisted +in regarding Lee as one of the greatest soldiers of history, and +retained their confidence in him unimpaired to the end. + +The army had set the example of this implicit reliance upon Lee as +the chief leader and military head of the Confederacy. The brave +fighting-men had not taken his reputation on trust, but had seen him +win it fairly on some of the hardest-contested fields of history. The +heavy blow at General McClellan on the Chickahominy had first shown +the troops that they were under command of a thorough soldier. The +rout of Pope at Manassas had followed in the ensuing month. At +Sharpsburg, with less than forty thousand men, Lee had repulsed the +attack of nearly ninety thousand; and at Fredericksburg General +Burnside's great force had been driven back with inconsiderable loss +to the Southern army. These successes, in the eyes of the troops, +were the proofs of true leadership, and it did not detract from Lee's +popularity that, on all occasions, he had carefully refrained from +unnecessary exposure of the troops, especially at Fredericksburg, +where an ambitious commander would have spared no amount of bloodshed +to complete his glory by a great victory. Such was Lee's repute as +army commander in the eyes of men accustomed to close scrutiny of +their leaders. He was regarded as a thorough soldier, at once brave, +wise, cool, resolute, and devoted, heart and soul, to the cause. + +Personally, the commander-in-chief was also, by this time, extremely +popular. He did not mingle with the troops to any great extent, nor +often relax the air of dignity, somewhat tinged with reserve, which +was natural with him. This reserve, however, never amounted to +stiffness or "official" coolness. On the contrary, Lee was markedly +free from the chill demeanor of the martinet, and had become greatly +endeared to the men by the unmistakable evidences which he had given +them of his honesty, sincerity, and kindly feeling for them. It +cannot, indeed, be said that he sustained the same relation toward the +troops as General Jackson. For the latter illustrious soldier, the men +had a species of familiar affection, the result, in a great degree, of +the informal and often eccentric demeanor of the individual. There +was little or nothing in Jackson to indicate that he was an officer +holding important command. He was without reserve, and exhibited none +of that formal courtesy which characterized Lee. His manners, on the +contrary, were quite informal, familiar, and conciliated in return a +familiar regard. We repeat the word _familiar_ as conveying precisely +the idea intended to be expressed. It indicated the difference between +these two great soldiers in their outward appearance. Lee retained +about him, upon all occasions, more or less of the commander-in-chief, +passing before the troops on an excellent and well-groomed horse, his +figure erect and graceful in the saddle, for he was one of the best +riders in the army; his demeanor grave and thoughtful; his whole +bearing that of a man intrusted with great responsibilities and the +general care of the whole army. Jackson's personal appearance and air +were very different. His dress was generally dingy: a faded cadet-cap +tilted over his eyes, causing him to raise his chin into the air; his +stirrups were apt to be too short, and his knees were thus elevated +ungracefully, and he would amble along on his rawboned horse with a +singularly absent-minded expression of countenance, raising, from time +to time, his right hand and slapping his knee. This brief outline of +the two commanders will serve to show the difference between them +personally, and it must be added that Jackson's eccentric bearing was +the source, in some degree, of his popularity. The men admired him +immensely for his great military ability, and his odd ways procured +for him that familiar liking to which we have alluded. + +It is not intended, however, in these observations to convey the idea +that General Lee was regarded as a stiff and unapproachable personage +of whom the private soldiers stood in awe. Such a statement would not +express the truth. Lee was perfectly approachable, and no instance is +upon record, or ever came to the knowledge of the present writer, in +which he repelled the approach of his men, or received the humblest of +them with any thing but kindness. He was naturally simple and kind, +with great gentleness and patience; and it will not be credible, +to any who knew the man, that he ever made any difference in his +treatment of those who approached him from a consideration of their +rank in the army. His theory, expressed upon many occasions, was, that +the private soldiers--men who fought without the stimulus of rank, +emolument, or individual renown--were the most meritorious class of +the army, and that they deserved and should receive the utmost respect +and consideration. This statement, however, is doubtless unnecessary. +Men of Lee's pride and dignity never make a difference in their +treatment of men, because one is humble, and the other of high rank. +Of such human beings it may be said that _noblesse oblige_. + +The men of the army had thus found their commander all that they could +wish, and his increasing personal popularity was shown by the greater +frequency with which they now spoke of him as "Marse Robert," "Old +Uncle Robert," and by other familiar titles. This tendency in troops +is always an indication of personal regard; these nicknames had been +already showered upon Jackson, and General Lee was having his turn. +The troops regarded him now more as their fellow-soldier than +formerly, having found that his dignity was not coldness, and that he +would, under no temptation, indulge his personal convenience, or fare +better than themselves. It was said--we know not with what truth--that +the habit of Northern generals in the war was to look assiduously to +their individual comfort in selecting their quarters, and to take +pleasure in surrounding themselves with glittering staff-officers, +body-guards, and other indications of their rank, and the +consideration which they expected. In these particulars Lee differed +extremely from his opponents, and there were no evidences whatever, +at his headquarters, that he was the commander-in-chief, or even an +officer of high rank. He uniformly lived in a tent, in spite of +the urgent invitations of citizens to use their houses for his +headquarters; and this refusal was the result both of an indisposition +to expose these gentlemen to annoyance from the enemy when he himself +retired, and of a rooted objection to fare better than his troops. +They had tents only, often indeed were without even that much +covering, and it was repugnant to Lee's feelings to sleep under a good +roof when the troops were so much exposed. His headquarters tent, +at this time (December, 1862), as before and afterward, was what is +called a "house-tent," not differing in any particular from those used +by the private soldiers of the army in winter-quarters. It was pitched +in an opening in the wood near the narrow road leading to Hamilton's +Crossing, with the tents of the officers of the staff grouped near; +and, with the exception of an orderly, who always waited to summon +couriers to carry dispatches, there was nothing in the shape of a +body-guard visible, or any indication that the unpretending group of +tents was the army headquarters. + +Within, no article of luxury was to be seen. A few plain and +indispensable objects were all which the tent contained. The covering +of the commander-in-chief was an ordinary army blanket, and his fare +was plainer, perhaps, than that of the majority of his officers and +men. This was the result of an utter indifference, in Lee, to personal +convenience or indulgence. Citizens frequently sent him delicacies, +boxes filled with turkeys, hams, wine, cordials, and other things, +peculiarly tempting to one leading the hard life of the soldier, but +these were almost uniformly sent to the sick in some neighboring +hospital. Lee's principle in so acting seems to have been to set the +good example to his officers of not faring better than their men; +but he was undoubtedly indifferent naturally to luxury of all +descriptions. In his habits and feelings he was not the self-indulgent +man of peace, but the thorough soldier, willing to live hard, to sleep +upon the ground, and to disregard all sensual indulgence. In his other +habits he was equally abstinent. He cared nothing for wine, whiskey, +or any stimulant, and never used tobacco in any form. He rarely +relaxed his energies in any thing calculated to amuse him; but, when +not riding along his lines, or among the camps to see in person that +the troops were properly cared for, generally passed his time in close +attention to official duties connected with the well-being of the +army, or in correspondence with the authorities at Richmond. When he +relaxed from this continuous toil, it was to indulge in some quiet and +simple diversion, social converse with ladies in houses at which he +chanced to stop, caresses bestowed upon children, with whom he was +a great favorite, and frequently in informal conversation with his +officers. At "Hayfield" and "Moss Neck," two hospitable houses below +Fredericksburg, he at this time often stopped and spent some time in +the society of the ladies and children there. One of the latter, a +little curly-headed girl, would come up to him always to receive her +accustomed kiss, and one day confided to him, as a personal friend, +her desire to kiss General Jackson, who blushed like a girl when Lee, +with a quiet laugh, told him of the child's wish. On another occasion, +when his small friend came to receive his caress, he said, laughing, +that she would show more taste in selecting a younger gentleman than +himself, and, pointing to a youthful officer in a corner of the room, +added, "There is the handsome Major Pelham!" which caused that modest +young soldier to blush with confusion. The bearing of General Lee +in these hours of relaxation, was quite charming, and made him warm +friends. His own pleasure and gratification were plain, and gratified +others, who, in the simple and kindly gentleman in the plain gray +uniform, found it difficult to recognize the commander-in-chief of the +Southern army. + +These moments of relaxation were, however, only occasional. All the +rest was toil, and the routine of hard work and grave assiduity went +on month after month, and year after year, with little interruption. +With the exceptions which we have noted, all pleasures and +distractions seemed of little interest to Lee, and to the present +writer, at least, he seemed on all occasions to bear the most striking +resemblance to the traditional idea of Washington. High principle and +devotion to duty were plainly this human being's springs of action, +and he went through the hard and continuous labor incident to army +command with a grave and systematic attention, wholly indifferent, it +seemed, to almost every species of diversion and relaxation. + +This attempt to show how Lee appeared at that time to his solders, has +extended to undue length, and we shall be compelled to defer a full +notice of the most interesting and beautiful trait of his character. +This was his humble and profound piety. The world has by no means done +him justice upon this subject. No one doubted during the war that +General Lee was a sincere Christian in conviction, and his exemplary +moral character and life were beyond criticism. Beyond this it is +doubtful if any save his intimate associates understood the depth +of his feeling on the greatest of all subjects. Jackson's strong +religious fervor was known and often alluded to, but it is doubtful +if Lee was regarded as a person of equally fervent convictions and +feelings. And yet the fact is certain that faith in God's providence +and reliance upon the Almighty were the foundation of all his actions, +and the secret of his supreme composure under all trials. He was +naturally of such reserve that it is not singular that the extent of +this sentiment was not understood. Even then, however, good men +who frequently visited him, and conversed with him upon religious +subjects, came away with their hearts burning within them. When the +Rev. J. William Jones, with another clergyman, went, in 1863, to +consult him in reference to the better observance of the Sabbath in +the army, "his eye brightened, and his whole countenance glowed with +pleasure; and as, in his simple, feeling words, he expressed his +delight, we forgot the great warrior, and only remembered that we were +communing with an humble, earnest Christian." When he was informed +that the chaplains prayed for him, tears started to his eyes, and he +replied: "I sincerely thank you for that, and I can only say that I +am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and that I need all the +prayers you can offer for me." + +On the day after this interview he issued an earnest general order, +enjoining the observance of the Sabbath by officers and men, urging +them to attend public worship in their camps, and forbidding the +performance on Sunday of all official duties save those necessary +to the subsistence or safety of the army. He always attended public +worship, if it were in his power to do so, and often the earnestness +of the preacher would "make his eye kindle and his face glow." He +frequently attended the meetings of his chaplains, took a warm +interest in the proceedings, and uniformly exhibited, declares one +who could speak from personal knowledge, an ardent desire for the +promotion of religion in the army. He did not fail, on many occasions, +to show his men that he was a sincere Christian. When General Meade +came over to Mine Run, and the Southern army marched to meet him, Lee +was riding along his line of battle in the woods, when he came upon a +party of soldiers holding a prayer-meeting on the eve of battle. Such +a spectacle was not unusual in the army then and afterward--the rough +fighters were often men of profound piety--and on this occasion +the sight before him seems to have excited deep emotion in Lee. He +stopped, dismounted--the staff-officers accompanying him did the +same--and Lee uncovered his head, and stood in an attitude of profound +respect and attention, while the earnest prayer proceeded, in the +midst of the thunder of artillery and the explosion of the enemy's +shells.[1] + +[Footnote 1: These details are given on the authority of the Rev. J. +William Jones, of Lexington, Va.] + +[Illustration: Lee at the Soldiers' Prayer Meeting.] + +Other incidents indicating the simple and earnest piety of Lee will be +presented in the course of this narrative. The fame of the soldier has +in some degree thrown into the background the less-imposing trait of +personal piety in the individual. No delineation of Lee, however, +would be complete without a full statement of his religious principles +and feelings. As the commander-in-chief of the Army of Northern +Virginia, he won that august renown which encircles his name with a +halo of military glory, both in America and Europe. His battles and +victories are known to all men. It is not known to all that the +illustrious soldier whose fortune it was to overthrow, one after +another, the best soldiers of the Federal army, was a simple, humble, +and devoted Christian, whose eyes filled with tears when he was +informed that his chaplains prayed for him; and who said, "I am a poor +sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and need all the prayers you can +offer for me." + + + + +PART VI. + +CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG + + + + +I. + +ADVANCE OF GENERAL HOOKER. + + +Lee remained throughout the winter at his headquarters in the woods +south of Fredericksburg, watching the Northern army, which continued +to occupy the country north of the city, with the Potomac River as +their base of supplies. + +With the coming of spring, it was obviously the intention of the +Federal authorities to again essay the crossing of the Rappahannock at +some point either above or below Fredericksburg; and as the movement +above was less difficult, and promised more decisive results, it was +seen by General Lee that this would probably be the quarter from +which he might expect an attack. General Stuart, a soldier of sound +judgment, said, during the winter, "The next battle will take place at +Chancellorsville," and the position of Lee's troops seemed to indicate +that this was also his own opinion. His right remained still "opposite +Fredericksburg," barring the direct approach to Richmond, but his left +extended up the Rappahannock beyond Chancellorsville, and all the +fords were vigilantly guarded to prevent a sudden flank movement by +the enemy in that direction. As will be seen, the anticipations of Lee +were to be fully realized. The heavy blow aimed at him, in the first +days of spring, was to come from the quarter in which he had expected +it. + +The Federal army was now under command of General Joseph Hooker, an +officer of dash, energy, excellent administrative capacity, and, +Northern writers add, extremely prone to "self-assertion." General +Hooker had harshly criticised the military operations both of +General McClellan on the Chickahominy, and of General Burnside at +Fredericksburg, and so strong an impression had these strictures made +upon the minds of the authorities, that they came to the determination +of intrusting the command of the army to the officer who made them, +doubtless concluding that his own success would prove greater than +that of his predecessors. This opinion seemed borne out by the first +proceedings of General Hooker. He set to work energetically to +reorganize and increase the efficiency of the army, did away +with General Burnside's defective "grand division" arrangement, +consolidated the cavalry into an effective corps, enforced strict +discipline among officers and men alike, and at the beginning of +spring had brought his army to a high state of efficiency. His +confident tone inspired the men; the depression resulting from the +great disaster at Fredericksburg was succeeded by a spirit of buoyant +hope, and the army was once more that great war-engine, ready for any +undertaking, which it had been under McClellan. + +It numbered, according to one Federal statement, one hundred and +fifty-nine thousand three hundred men; but according to another, which +appears more reliable, one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and +artillery, and twelve thousand cavalry; in all, one hundred and +thirty-two thousand troops. The army of General Lee was considerably +smaller. Two divisions of Longstreet's corps had been sent to Suffolk, +south of James River, to obtain supplies in that region, and this +force was not present at the battle of Chancellorsville. The actual +numbers under Lee's command will appear from the following statement +of Colonel Walter H. Taylor, assistant adjutant-general of the army: + + Our strength at Chancellorsville: + Anderson and McLaws........................... 13,000 + Jackson (Hill, Rodes, and Trimble)............ 21,000 + Early (Fredericksburg)........................ 6,000 + _______ + 40,000 + Cavalry and artillery......................... 7,000 + _______ + Total of all arms............................. 47,000 + +As the Federal infantry numbered one hundred and twenty thousand, +according to the smallest estimate of Federal authorities, and Lee's +infantry forty thousand, the Northern force was precisely three times +as large as the Southern. + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of Chancellorsville.] + +General Hooker had already proved himself an excellent administrative +officer, and his plan of campaign against Lee seemed to show that he +also possessed generalship of a high order. He had determined to pass +the Rappahannock above Fredericksburg, turn Lee's flank, and thus +force him to deliver battle under this disadvantage, or retire upon +Richmond. The safe passage of the stream was the first great object, +and General Hooker's dispositions to effect this were highly +judicious. A force of about twenty thousand men was to pass the +Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and thus produce upon Lee the +impression that the Federal army was about to renew the attempt in +which they had failed under General Burnside. While General Lee's +attention was engaged by the force thus threatening his right, the +main body of the Northern army was to cross the Rappahannock and +Rapidan above Chancellorsville, and, sweeping down rapidly upon +the Confederate left flank, take up a strong position between +Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. The column which had crossed at +the latter point to engage the attention of the Confederate commander, +was then to recross to the northern bank, move rapidly to the upper +fords, which the advance of the main body would by that time have +uncovered; and, a second time crossing to the southern bank, unite +with the rest. Thus the whole Federal army would be concentrated +on the southern bank of the Rappahannock, and General Lee would be +compelled to leave his camps on the hills of the Massaponnax, and +fight upon ground dictated by his adversary. If he did not thus accept +battle, but one other course was left. He must fall back in the +direction of Richmond, to prevent his adversary from attacking his +rear, and capturing or destroying his army. + +In order to insure the success of this promising plan of attack, a +strong column of well-mounted cavalry was to cross in advance of the +army and strike for the railroads in Lee's rear, connecting him with +Richmond and the Southwest. Thus flanked or cut off, and with all his +communications destroyed, it seemed probable that General Lee would +suffer decisive defeat, and that the Federal army would march in +triumph to the capture of the Confederate capital. + +This plan was certainly excellent, and seemed sure to succeed. It was, +however, open to some criticism, as the event showed. General Hooker +was detaching, in the beginning of the movement, his whole cavalry +force for a distant operation, and dividing his army by the _ruse_ +at Fredericksburg, in face of an adversary not likely to permit that +great error to escape him. While advancing thus, apparently to the +certain destruction of Lee, General Hooker was leaving a vulnerable +point in his own armor. Lee would probably discover that point, and +aim to pierce his opponent there. At most, General Hooker was wrapping +in huge folds the sword of Lee, not remembering that there was danger +to the _cordon_ as well as to the weapon. + +Such was the plan which General Hooker had devised to bring back that +success of the Federal arms in the spring of 1863 which had attended +them in the early spring of 1862. At this latter period a heavy cloud +rested upon the Confederate cause. Donaldson and Roanoke Island, Fort +Macon, and the city of New Orleans, had then fallen; at Elkhorn, +Kernstown, Newbern, and other places, the Federal forces had achieved +important successes. These had been followed, however, by the Southern +victories on the Chickahominy, at Manassas, and at Fredericksburg. +Near this last-named spot now, where the year had wound up with so +mortifying a Federal failure, General Hooker hoped to reverse events, +and recover the Federal glories of the preceding spring. + +Operations began as early as the middle of March, when General +Averill, with about three thousand cavalry, crossed the Rappahannock +at Kelly's Ford, above its junction with the Rapidan, and made a +determined attack upon nearly eight hundred horsemen there, under +General Fitz Lee, with the view of passing through Culpepper, crossing +the Rapidan, and cutting Lee's communications in the direction of +Gordonsville. The obstinate stand of General Fitz Lee's small force, +however, defeated this object, and General Averill was forced to +retreat beyond the Rappahannock again with considerable loss, and +abandon his expedition. In this engagement fell Major John Pelham, who +had been styled in Lee's first report of the battle of Fredericksburg +"the gallant Pelham," and whose brave stand on the Port Royal road had +drawn from Lee the exclamation, "It is glorious to see such courage in +one so young." Pelham was, in spite of his youth, an artillerist of +the first order of excellence, and his loss was a serious one, in +spite of his inferior rank. + +After this action every thing remained quiet until toward the end of +April--General Lee continuing to hold the same position with his right +at Fredericksburg, his left at the fords near Chancellorsville, and +his cavalry, under Stuart, guarding the banks of the Rappahannock in +Culpepper. On the 27th of April, General Hooker began his forward +movement, by advancing three corps of his army--the Fifth, Eleventh, +and Twelfth--to the banks of the river, near Kelly's Ford; and, on the +next day, this force was joined by three additional corps--the First, +Third, and Sixth--and the whole, on Wednesday (the 29th), crossed the +river without difficulty. That this movement was a surprise to Lee, +as has been supposed by some persons, is a mistake. Stuart was an +extremely vigilant picket-officer, and both he and General Lee were in +the habit of sending accomplished scouts to watch any movements in the +Federal camps. As soon as these movements--which, in a large army, +cannot be concealed--took place, information was always promptly +brought, and it was not possible that General Hooker could move three +large army corps toward the Rappahannock, as he did on April 27th, +without early knowledge on the part of his adversary of so important a +circumstance. + +As the Federal infantry thus advanced, the large cavalry force began +also to move through Culpepper toward the Central Railroad in Lee's +rear. This column was commanded by General Stoneman, formerly a +subordinate officer in Lee's old cavalry regiment in the United States +Army; and, as General Stoneman's operations were entirely separate +from those of the infantry, and not of much importance, we shall here +dismiss them in a few words. He proceeded rapidly across Culpepper, +harassed in his march by a small body of horse, under General William +H.F. Lee; reached the Central Railroad at Trevillian's, below +Gordonsville, and tore up a portion of it; passed on to James River, +ravaging the country, and attempted the destruction of the Columbia +Aqueduct, but did not succeed in so doing; when, hearing probably of +the unforeseen result at Chancellorsville, he hastened back to the +Rapidan, pursued and harassed as in his advance, and, crossing, +regained the Federal lines beyond the Rappahannock. + +To return to the movements of the main Federal force, under the +personal command of General Hooker. This advanced rapidly across the +angle between the two rivers, with no obstruction but that offered by +the cavalry under Stuart, and on Thursday, April 30th, had crossed the +Rapidan at Germanna and Ely's Fords, and was steadily concentrating +around Chancellorsville. At the same time the Second Corps, under +General Couch, was preparing to cross at United States Ford, a few +miles distant; and General Sedgwick, commanding the detached force at +Fredericksburg, having crossed and threatened Lee, in obedience to +orders, now began passing back to the northern bank again, in order to +march up and join the main body. Thus all things seemed in train to +succeed on the side of the Federal army. General Hooker was over with +about one hundred thousand men--twenty thousand additional troops +would soon join him. Lee's army seemed scattered, and not "in hand" +to oppose him; and there was some ground for the ebullition of joy +attributed to General Hooker, as he saw his great force massing +steadily in the vicinity of Chancellorsville. To those around him he +exclaimed: "The rebel army is now the legitimate property of the Army +of the Potomac. They may as well pack up their haversacks and make for +Richmond, and I shall be after them!" + +In a congratulatory order to his troops, he declared that they +occupied now a position so strong that "the enemy must either +ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defences and give us +battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." + +Such were the joyful anticipations of General Hooker, who seems to +have regarded the campaign as virtually ended by the successful +passage of the river. His expressions and his general order would seem +to indicate an irrepressible joy, but it is doubtful if the skilful +soldiers under him shared this somewhat juvenile enthusiasm. The gray +cavalier at Fredericksburg was not reported to be retiring, as was +expected. On the contrary, the Southern troops seemed to be moving +forward with the design of accepting battle. + +Lee had determined promptly upon that course as soon as Stuart sent +him information of the enemy's movements. Chancellorsville was at once +seen to be the point for which General Hooker was aiming, and Lee's +dispositions were made for confronting him there and fighting a +pitched battle. The brigades of Posey and Mahone, of Anderson's +Division, had been in front of Banks's and Ely's Fords, and this force +of about eight thousand men was promptly ordered to fall back on +Chancellorsville. At the same time Wright's brigade was sent up to +reënforce this column; but the enemy continuing to advance in great +force, General Anderson, commanding the whole, fell back from +Chancellorsville to Tabernacle Church, on the road to Fredericksburg, +where he was joined on the next day by Jackson, whom Lee had sent +forward to his assistance. + +The _ruse_ at Fredericksburg had not long deceived the Confederate +commander. General Sedgwick, with three corps, in all about twenty-two +thousand men, had crossed just below Fredericksburg on the 29th, and +Lee had promptly directed General Jackson to oppose him there. Line of +battle was accordingly formed in the enemy's front beyond Hamilton's +Crossing; but as, neither on that day nor the next, any further +advance was made by General Sedgwick, the whole movement was seen to +be a feint to cover the real operations above. Lee accordingly turned +his attention in the direction of Chancellorsville. Jackson, as we +have related, was sent up to reënforce General Anderson, and Lee +followed with the rest of the army, with the exception of about six +thousand men, under General Early, whom he left to defend the crossing +at Fredericksburg. + +Such were the positions of the opposing forces on the 1st day of May. +Each commander had displayed excellent generalship in the preliminary +movements preceding the actual fighting. At last, however, the +opposing lines were facing each other, and the real struggle was about +to begin. + + + + +II. + +THE WILDERNESS. + + +The "Wilderness," as the region around Chancellorsville is called, is +so strange a country, and the character of the ground had so important +a bearing upon the result of the great battle fought there, that a +brief description of the locality will be here presented. + +The region is a nearly unbroken expanse of dense thicket pierced only +by narrow and winding roads, over which the traveller rides, mile +after mile, without seeing a single human habitation. It would seem, +indeed, that the whole barren and melancholy tract had been given up +to the owl, the whippoorwill, and the moccasin, its original tenants. +The plaintive cries of the night-birds alone break the gloomy silence +of the desolate region, and the shadowy thicket stretching in +every direction produces a depressing effect upon the feelings. +Chancellorsville is in the centre of this singular territory, on +the main road, or rather roads, running from Orange Court-House to +Fredericksburg, from which latter place it is distant about ten miles. +In spite of its imposing name, Chancellorsville was simply a large +country-house, originally inhabited by a private family, but afterward +used as a roadside inn. A little to the westward the "Old Turnpike" +and Orange Plank-road unite as they approach the spot, where they +again divide, to unite a second time a few miles to the east, where +they form the main highway to Fredericksburg. From the north come in +roads from United States and Ely's Fords; Germanna Ford is northwest; +from the south runs the "Brock Road" in the direction of the Rapidan, +passing a mile or two west of the place. + +The whole country, the roads, the chance houses, the silence, the +unending thicket, in this dreary wilderness, produce a sombre effect. +A writer, familiar with it, says: "There all is wild, desolate, and +lugubrious. Thicket, undergrowth, and jungle, stretch for miles, +impenetrable and untouched. Narrow roads wind on forever between +melancholy masses of stunted and gnarled oak. Little sunlight shines +there. The face of Nature is dreary and sad. It was so before the +battle; it is not more cheerful to-day, when, as you ride along, you +see fragments of shell, rotting knapsacks, rusty gun-barrels, bleached +bones, and grinning skulls.... Into this jungle," continues the same +writer, "General Hooker penetrated. It was the wolf in his den, ready +to tear any one who approached. A battle there seemed impossible. +Neither side could see its antagonist. Artillery could not move; +cavalry could not operate; the very infantry had to flatten their +bodies to glide between the stunted trees. That an army of one hundred +and twenty thousand men should have chosen that spot to fight forty +thousand, and not only chosen it, but made it a hundred times more +impenetrable by felling trees, erecting breastworks, disposing +artillery _en masse_ to sweep every road and bridle-path which led to +Chancellorsville--this fact seemed incredible." + +It was no part of the original plan of the Federal commander to permit +himself to be cooped up in this difficult and embarrassing region, +where it was impossible to manoeuvre his large army. The selection of +the Wilderness around Chancellorsville, as the ground of battle, was +dictated by Lee. General Hooker, it seems, endeavored to avoid being +thus shut up in the thicket, and hampered in his movements. Finding +that the Confederate force, retiring from in front of Ely's and United +States Fords, had, on reaching Chancellorsville, continued to fall +back in the direction of Fredericksburg, he followed them steadily, +passed through the Wilderness, and, emerging into the open country +beyond, rapidly began forming line of battle on ground highly +favorable to the manoeuvring of his large force in action. A glance at +the map will indicate the importance of this movement, and the great +advantages secured by it. The left of General Hooker's line, nearest +the river, was at least five miles in advance of Chancellorsville, and +commanded Banks's Ford, thereby shortening fully one-half the distance +of General Sedgwick's march from Fredericksburg, by enabling him to +use the ford in question as a place of crossing to the south bank, and +uniting his column with the main body. The centre and right of the +Federal army had in like manner emerged from the thickets of the +Wilderness, and occupied cleared ground, sufficiently elevated to +afford them great advantages. + +This was in the forenoon of the 1st of May, when there was no force in +General Hooker's front, except the eight thousand men of Anderson +at Tabernacle Church. Jackson had marched at midnight from the +Massaponnax Hills, with a general order from Lee to "attack and +repulse the enemy," but had not yet arrived. There was thus no serious +obstacle in the path of the Federal commander, who had it in his +power, it would seem, to mass his entire army on the commanding ground +which his vanguard already occupied. Lee was aware of the importance +of the position, and, had he not been delayed by the feint of General +Sedgwick, would himself have seized upon it. As it was, General Hooker +seemed to have won the prize in the race, and Lee would, apparently, +be forced to assail him on his strong ground, or retire in the +direction of Richmond. + +The movements of the enemy had, however, been so rapid that Lee's +dispositions seem to have been made before they were fully developed +and accurately known to him. He had sent forward Jackson, and now +proceeded to follow in person, leaving only a force of about six +thousand men, under Early, to defend the crossing at Fredericksburg. +The promptness of these movements of the Confederate commander is +noticed by Northern writers. "Lee, with instant perception of the +situation," says an able historian, "now seized the masses of his +force, and, with the grasp of a Titan, swung them into position, as +a giant might fling a mighty stone from a sling." [Footnote: Mr. +Swinton, in "Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac." Whether the force +under Lee could be justly described as "mighty," however, the reader +will form his own opinion.] + +Such were the relative positions of the two armies on the 1st of May: +General Hooker's forces well in advance of Chancellorsville, and +rapidly forming line of battle on a ridge in open country; General +Lee's, stretching along the whole distance, from Fredericksburg to +Tabernacle Church, and certainly not in any condition to deliver +or accept battle. The Federal commander seemed to have clearly +outgeneralled his adversary, and, humanly speaking, the movements of +the two armies, up to this time, seemed to point to a decisive Federal +success. + +General Hooker's own act reversed all this brilliant promise. At the +very moment when his army was steadily concentrating on the favorable +ground in advance of Chancellorsville, the Federal commander, for some +reason which has never been divulged, sent a peremptory order that +the entire force should fall back into the Wilderness. This order, +reversing every thing, is said to have been received "with mingled +amazement and incredulity" by his officers, two of whom sent him word +that, from the great advantages of the position, it should be "held at +all hazards." General Hooker's reply was, "Return at once." The army +accordingly fell back to Chancellorsville. + +This movement undoubtedly lost General Hooker all the advantages which +up to that moment he had secured. What his motive for the order in +question was, it is impossible for the present writer to understand, +unless the approach of Lee powerfully affected his imagination, and he +supposed the thicket around Chancellorsville to be the best ground to +receive that assault which the bold advance of his opponent appeared +to foretell. Whatever his motive, General Hooker withdrew his lines +from the open country, fell back to the vicinity of Chancellorsville, +and began to erect elaborate defences, behind which to receive Lee's +attack. + +In this backward movement he was followed and harassed by the forces +of Jackson, the command of Anderson being in front. Jackson's maxim +was to always press an enemy when he was retiring; and no sooner had +the Federal forces begun to move, than he made a prompt attack. He +continued to follow them up toward Chancellorsville until nightfall, +when the fighting ceased, the Confederate advance having been pushed +to Alrich's house, within about two miles of Chancellorsville. Here +the outer line of the Federal works was found, and Jackson paused. He +was unwilling at so late an hour to attempt an assault upon them with +his small force, and, directing further movements to cease, awaited +the arrival of the commander-in-chief. + +Lee arrived, and a consultation was held. The question now was, the +best manner, with a force of about thirty-five thousand, to drive the +Federal army, of about one hundred thousand, beyond the Rappahannock. + + + + +III. + +LEE'S DETERMINATION. + + +On this night, of the 1st of May, the situation of affairs was strange +indeed. + +General Hooker had crossed the Rappahannock with a force of one +hundred and twenty thousand infantry, and had, without obstruction, +secured a position so strong, he declared, that Lee must either +"ingloriously fly," or fight a battle in which "certain destruction +awaited him." So absolutely convinced, indeed, was the Federal +commander, of the result of the coming encounter, that he had +jubilantly described the Southern army as "the legitimate property of +the Army of the Potomac," which, in the event of the retreat of the +Confederates, would "be after them." There seemed just grounds for +this declaration, whatever question may have arisen of the good taste +displayed by General Hooker in making it. The force opposed to him was +in all about forty-seven thousand men, but, as cavalry take small +part in pitched battles, Lee's fighting force was only about forty +thousand. To drive back forty thousand with one hundred and twenty +thousand would not apparently prove difficult, and it was no doubt +this conviction which had occasioned the joyous exclamation of General +Hooker. + +But his own act, and the nerve of his adversary, had defeated every +thing. Instead of retreating with his small force upon Richmond, Lee +had advanced to accept or deliver battle. This bold movement, which +General Hooker does not seem to have anticipated, paralyzed his +energies. He had not only crossed the two rivers without loss, but +had taken up a strong position, where he could manoeuvre his army +perfectly, when, in consequence of Lee's approach with the evident +intent of fighting, he had ceased to advance, hesitated, and ended by +retiring. This is a fair summary of events up to the night of the 1st +of May. General Hooker had advanced boldly; he was now falling back. +He had foretold that his adversary would "ingloriously fly;" and that +adversary was pressing him closely. The Army of the Potomac, he had +declared, would soon be "after" the Army of Northern Virginia; but, +from the appearance of things at the moment, the Army of Northern +Virginia seemed "after" the Army of the Potomac. We use General +Hooker's own phrases--they are expressive, if not dignified. They +are indeed suited to the subject, which contains no little of the +grotesque. That anticipations and expressions so confident should have +been met with a "commentary of events" so damaging, was sufficient, +had the occasion not been so tragic, to cause laughter in the gravest +of human beings. + +Lee's intent was now unmistakable. Instead of falling back from the +Rappahannock to some line of defence nearer Richmond, where the force +under Longstreet, at Suffolk, might have rejoined him, with other +reënforcements, he had plainly resolved, with the forty or fifty +thousand men of his command, to meet General Hooker in open battle, +and leave the event to Providence. A design so bold would seem to +indicate in Lee a quality which at that time he was not thought to +possess--the willingness to risk decisive defeat by military movements +depending for their success upon good fortune alone. Such seemed now +the only _deus ex machina_ that could extricate the Southern army from +disaster; and a crushing defeat at that time would have had terrible +results. There was no other force, save the small body under +Longstreet and a few local troops, to protect Richmond. Had Lee been +disabled and afterward pressed by General Hooker, it is impossible to +see that any thing but the fall of the Confederate capital could have +been the result. + +From these speculations and comments we pass to the narrative of +actual events. General Hooker had abandoned the strong position in +advance of Chancellorsville, and retired to the fastnesses around +that place, to receive the Southern attack. His further proceedings +indicated that he anticipated an assault from Lee. The Federal troops +had no sooner regained the thicket from which they had advanced in +the morning, than they were ordered to erect elaborate works for the +protection of infantry and artillery. This was promptly begun, and by +the next morning heavy defences had sprung up as if by magic. Trees +had been felled, and the trunks interwoven so as to present a +formidable obstacle to the Southern attack. In front of these works +the forest had been levelled, and the fallen trunks were left lying +where they fell, forming thus an _abatis_ sufficient to seriously +delay an assaulting force, which would thus be, at every step of +the necessarily slow advance, under fire. On the roads piercing the +thicket in the direction of the Confederates, cannon were posted, to +rake the approaches to the Federal position. Having thus made his +preparations to receive Lee's attack, General Hooker awaited that +attack, no doubt confident of his ability to repulse it. + +His line resembled in some degree the two sides of an oblong +square--the longer side extending east and west in front, that is to +say, south of Chancellorsville, and the shorter side north and south +nearly, east of the place. His right, in the direction of Wilderness +Tavern, was comparatively undefended, as it was not expected that Lee +would venture upon a movement against that remote point. This line, +it would appear, was formed with a view to the possible necessity of +falling back toward the Rappahannock. A commander determined to risk +everything would, it seems, have fronted Lee boldly, with a line +running north and south, east of Chancellorsville. General Hooker's +main front was nearly east and west, whatever may have been his object +in so establishing it. + +On the night of the 1st of May, as we have said, Lee and Jackson held +a consultation to determine the best method of attacking the Federal +forces on the next day. All the information which they had been able +to obtain of the Federal positions east and south of Chancellorsville, +indicated that the defences in both these quarters were such as +to render an assault injudicious. Jackson had found his advance +obstructed by strong works near Alrich's house, on the road running +eastward from the enemy's camps; and General Stuart and General +Wright, who had moved to the left, and advanced upon the enemy's front +near the point called "The Furnace," had discovered the existence of +powerful defences in that quarter also. They had been met by a fierce +and sudden artillery-fire from Federal epaulements; and here, as to +the east of Chancellorsville, the enemy had evidently fortified their +position. + +Under these circumstances, it was necessary to discover, if possible, +some more favorable opening for an attack. There remained but one +other--General Hooker's right, west of Chancellorsville; but to divide +the army, as would be necessary in order to attack in that quarter, +seemed an undertaking too hazardous to be thought of. To execute such +a plan of assault with any thing like a hope of success, General Lee +would be compelled to detach considerably more than half of his entire +force. This would leave in General Hooker's front a body of troops too +inconsiderable to make any resistance if he advanced his lines, and +thus the movement promised to result in the certain destruction of +one portion of the army, to be followed by a triumphant march of the +Federal forces upon Richmond. In the council of war between Lee and +Jackson, on the night of the 1st of May, these considerations were +duly weighed, and the whole situation discussed. In the end, +the hazardous movement against General Hooker's right, beyond +Chancellorsville, was determined upon. This was first suggested, it is +said, by Jackson--others have attributed the suggestion to Lee. The +point is not material. The plan was adopted, and Lee determined to +detach a column of about twenty-one thousand men, under Jackson, to +make the attack on the next day. His plan was to await the arrival +of Jackson at the point selected for attack, meanwhile engaging the +enemy's attention by demonstrations in their front. When Jackson's +guns gave the signal that he was engaged, the force in front of the +enemy was to advance and participate in the assault; and thus, struck +in front and flank at once. General Hooker, it was hoped, would be +defeated and driven back across the Rappahannock. + +There was another possible result, the defeat of Lee and Jackson by +General Hooker. But the desperate character of the situation rendered +it necessary to disregard this risk. + +By midnight this plan had been determined upon, and at dawn Jackson +began to move. + +JACKSON'S ATTACK AND FALL. + +On the morning of the 2d of May, General Lee was early in the saddle, +and rode to the front, where he remained in personal command of the +force facing the enemy's main line of battle throughout the day. + +This force consisted of the divisions of Anderson and McLaws, and +amounted to thirteen thousand men. That left at Fredericksburg, as we +have said, under General Early, numbered six thousand men; and the +twenty-one thousand which Jackson had taken with him, to strike at the +enemy's right, made up the full body of troops under Lee, that is to +say, a little over forty thousand, artillerymen included. The cavalry, +numbering four or five thousand, were, like the absent Federal +cavalry, not actually engaged. + +In accordance with the plan agreed upon between Lee and Jackson, the +force left in the enemy's front proceeded to engage their attention, +and desultory fighting continued throughout the day. General +Lee meanwhile awaited the sound of Jackson's guns west of +Chancellorsville, and must have experienced great anxiety at this +trying moment, although, with his accustomed self-control, he +displayed little or none. We shall now leave this comparatively +interesting portion of the field, and invite the attention of the +reader to the movements of General Jackson, who was about to strike +his last great blow, and lose his own life in the moment of victory. + +Jackson set out at early dawn, having under him three divisions, +commanded by Rhodes and Trimble, in all about twenty-one thousand men, +and directed his march over the Old Mine road toward "The Furnace," +about a mile or so from and in front of the enemy's main line. Stuart +moved with his cavalry on the flank of the column, with the view of +masking it from observation; and it reached and passed "The Furnace," +where a regiment with artillery was left to guard the road leading +thence to Chancellorsville, and repel any attack which might be made +upon the rear of the column. Just as the rear-guard passed on, the +anticipated attack took place, and the regiment thus left, the +Twenty-third Georgia, was suddenly surrounded and the whole force +captured. The Confederate artillery, however, opened promptly upon the +assailing force, drove it back toward Chancellorsville, and Jackson +proceeded on his march without further interruption. He had thus been +seen, but it seems that the whole movement was regarded by General +Hooker as a retreat of the Confederates southward, a bend in the road +at this point toward the south leading to that supposition. + +"We know the enemy is flying," General Hooker wrote, on the afternoon +of this day, to General Sedgwick, "trying to save his trains; two of +Sickles's divisions are among them." + +Soon after leaving "The Furnace," however, Jackson, following the same +wood-road, turned westward, and, marching rapidly between the walls of +thicket, struck into the Brock road, which runs in a direction nearly +northwest toward Germanna and Ely's Fords. This would enable him to +reach, without discovery, the Orange Plank-road, or Old Turnpike, west +of Chancellorsville, as the woods through which the narrow highway +ran completely barred him from observation. Unless Federal spies were +lurking in the covert, or their scouting-parties of cavalry came in +sight of the column, it would move as secure from discovery as though +it were a hundred miles distant from the enemy; and against the +latter danger of cavalry-scouts, Stuart's presence with his horsemen +provided. The movement was thus made without alarming the enemy, and +the head of Jackson's column reached the Orange Plank-road, near +which point General Fitz Lee invited Jackson to ride up to a slight +elevation, from which the defences of the enemy were visible. Jackson +did so, and a glance showed him that he was not yet sufficiently upon +the enemy's flank. He accordingly turned to an aide and said, pointing +to the Orange Plank-road: "Tell my column to cross that road." + +The column did so, continuing to advance toward the Rapidan until it +reached the Old Turnpike running from the "Old Wilderness Tavern" +toward Chancellorsville. At this point, Jackson found himself full on +the right flank of General Hooker, and, halting his troops, proceeded +promptly to form line of battle for the attack. It was now past four +in the afternoon, and the declining sun warned the Confederates to +lose no time. The character of the ground was, however, such as to +dismay any but the most resolute, and it seemed impossible to execute +the intended movement with any thing like rapidity in such a jungle. +On both sides of the Old Turnpike rose a wall of thicket, through +which it was impossible to move a regular line of battle. All the +rules of war must be reversed in face of this obstacle, and the +assault on General Hooker's works seemed destined to be made in column +of infantry companies, and with the artillery moving in column of +pieces. + +Despite these serious obstacles, Jackson hastened to form such order +of battle as was possible, and with Rodes's division in front, +followed by Colston (Trimble) and Hill, advanced steadily down the +Old Turnpike, toward Chancellorsville. He had determined, not only to +strike the enemy's right flank, but to execute, if possible, a still +more important movement. This was, to extend his lines steadily to +the left, swing round his left wing, and so interpose himself between +General Hooker and the Rapidan. This design of unsurpassed boldness +continued to burn in Jackson's brain until he fell, and almost his +last words were an allusion to it. + +The Federal line of works, which the Confederates thus advanced to +assault, extended across the Old Turnpike near the house of Melzi +Chancellor, and behind was a second line, which was covered by the +Federal artillery in the earthworks near Chancellorsville. The +Eleventh Corps, under General Howard, was that destined to receive +Jackson's assault. This was made at a few minutes past five in the +evening, and proved decisive. The Federal troops were surprised at +their suppers, and were wholly unprepared. They had scarcely time to +run to their muskets, which were stacked[1] near at hand, when Rodes +burst upon them, stormed their works, over which the troops marched +almost unresisted, and in a few minutes the entire corps holding the +Federal right was in hopeless disorder. Rodes pressed on, followed by +the division in his rear, and the affair became rather a hunt than a +battle. The Confederates pursued with yells, killing or capturing all +with whom they could come up; the Federal artillery rushed off at a +gallop, striking against tree-trunks and overturning, and the army +of General Hooker seemed about to be hopelessly routed. This is +the account given by Northern writers, who represent the effect of +Jackson's sudden attack as indescribable. It had a serious effect, as +will be subsequently shown, on the _morale_ both of General Hooker and +his army. While opposing the heavy demonstrations of General Lee's +forces on their left and in front, this storm had burst upon them from +a quarter in which no one expected it; they were thus caught between +two fires, and, ignorant as they were of the small number of the +Confederates, must have regarded the army as seriously imperilled. + +[Footnote 1: "Their arms were stacked, and the men were away from +them and scattered about for the purpose of cooking their +suppers."--_General Hooker_.] + +Jackson continued to pursue the enemy on the road to Chancellorsville, +intent now upon making his blow decisive by swinging round his left +and cutting off the Federal army from the Rappahannock. It was +impossible, however, to execute so important a movement until his +troops were well in hand, and the two divisions which had made the +attack had become mixed up in a very confused manner. They were +accordingly directed to halt, and General A.P. Hill, whose division +had not been engaged, was sent for and ordered to advance to the +front, thus affording the disordered divisions an opportunity to +reform their broken lines. + +Soon after dispatching this order, Jackson rode out in front of his +line, on the Chancellorsville road, in order to reconnoitre in person, +and ascertain, if possible, the position and movements of the enemy, +then within a few hundred yards of him. It was now between nine and +ten o'clock at night. The fighting had temporarily ceased, and the +moon, half-seen through misty clouds, lit up the dreary thickets, in +which no sound was heard but the incessant and melancholy cries of the +whippoorwills. Jackson had ridden forward about a hundred yards in +advance of his line, on the turnpike, accompanied by a few officers, +and had checked his horse to listen for any sound coming from the +direction of Chancellorsville, when suddenly a volley was fired by his +own infantry on the right of the road, apparently directed at him +and his companions, under the impression that they were a Federal +reconnoitring-party. Several of the party fell from their horses, +and, wheeling to the left, Jackson galloped into the wood to escape a +renewal of the fire. The result was melancholy. He passed directly in +front of his men, who had been warned to guard against an attack of +cavalry. In their excited state, so near the enemy, and surrounded by +darkness, Jackson was supposed to be a Federal cavalryman. The men +accordingly fired upon him, at not more than twenty paces, and wounded +him in three places--twice in the left arm, and once in the right +hand. At the instant when he was struck he was holding his bridle with +his left hand, and had his right hand raised, either to protect his +face from boughs, or in the strange gesture habitual to him in battle. +As the bullets passed through his arm he dropped the bridle of his +horse from his left hand, but seized it again with the bleeding +fingers of his right hand, when the animal, wheeling suddenly, darted +toward Chancellorsville. In doing so he passed beneath the limb of a +pine-tree, which struck the wounded man in the face, tore off his cap, +and threw him back on his horse, nearly dismounting him. He succeeded, +however, in retaining his seat, and regained the road, where he was +received in the arms of Captain Wilbourn, one of his staff-officers, +and laid at the foot of a tree. + +The fire had suddenly ceased, and all was again still. Only Captain +Wilbourn and a courier were with Jackson, but a shadowy figure +on horseback was seen in the edge of the wood near, silent and +motionless. When Captain Wilbourn called to this person, and directed +him to ride back and see what troops had thus fired upon them, the +silent figure disappeared, and did not return. Who this could have +been was long a mystery, but it appears, from a recent statement of +General Revere, of the Federal army, that it was himself. He had +advanced to the front to reconnoitre, had come on the group at the +foot of the tree, and, receiving the order above mentioned, had +thought it prudent not to reveal his real character. He accordingly +rode into the wood, and regained his own lines. + +A few words will terminate our account of this melancholy event in the +history of the war--the fall of Jackson. He was supported to the rear +by his officers, and during this painful progress gave his last order. +General Pender recognized him, and stated that he feared he could +not hold his position. Jackson's eye flashed, and he replied with +animation, "You must hold your ground, General Pender! You must hold +your ground, sir!" + +He was now so weak as to be unable to walk, even leaning on the +shoulders of his officers. He was accordingly placed on a litter, +and borne toward the rear. Before the litter had gone far a furious +artillery-fire swept the road from the direction of Chancellorsville, +and the bearers lowered it to the earth and lay down beside it. The +fire relaxing, they again moved, but one of the bearers stumbled over +a root and let the litter fall. Jackson groaned, and as the moonlight +fell upon his face it was seen to be so pale that he appeared to be +about to die. When asked if he was much hurt, he opened his eyes, +however, and said, "No, my friend, don't trouble yourself about me." + +He was then borne to the rear, placed in an ambulance, and carried to +the hospital at the Old Wilderness Tavern, where he remained until he +was taken to Guinea's station, where he died. + +Such was the fate of Lee's great lieutenant--the man whom he spoke of +as his "right arm"--whose death struck a chill to the hearts of the +Southern people from which they never recovered. + + + + +V. + +THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. + + +General Lee was not informed of the misfortune which had befallen his +great lieutenant until toward daybreak on the next morning. + +This fact was doubtless attributable to the difficult character of +the country; the interposition of the Federal army between the two +Confederate wings, which rendered a long détour necessary in reaching +Lee; and the general confusion and dismay attending Jackson's fall. +It would be difficult, indeed, to form an exaggerated estimate of the +condition of Jackson's corps at this time. The troops had been thrown +into what seemed inextricable disorder, in consequence of the darkness +and the headlong advance of the Second (Calston's) Division upon the +heels of Rhodes, which had resulted in a complete intermingling of +the two commands; and, to make matters worse, General A.P. Hill, the +second in command, had been wounded and disabled, nearly at the +same moment with Jackson, by the artillery-fire of the enemy. This +transferred the command, of military right, to the brave and skilful +General Rhodes, the ranking officer after Hill; but Rhodes was only a +brigadier-general, and had, for that reason, never come into personal +contact with the whole corps, who knew little of him, and was not +aware of Jackson's plans, and distrusted, under these circumstances, +his ability to conduct to a successful issue so vitally important an +operation as that intrusted to this great wing of the Southern army. +Stuart, who had gone with his cavalry toward Ely's Ford to make a +demonstration on the Federal rear, was therefore sent for, and rode +as rapidly as possible to the scene of action, and the command was +formally relinquished to him by General Rhodes. Jackson sent Stuart +word from Wilderness Tavern to "act upon his own judgment, and do +what he thought best, as he had implicit confidence in him;" but, +in consequence of the darkness and confusion, it was impossible for +Stuart to promptly reform the lines, and thus all things remained +entangled and confused. + +It was essential, however, to inform General Lee of the state of +affairs, and Jackson's chief-of-staff, Colonel Pendleton, requested +Captain Wilbourn, who had witnessed all the details of the painful +scene in the wood, to go to General Lee and acquaint him with what +had taken place, and receive his orders. From a MS. statement of this +meritorious officer, we take these brief details of the interview: + +Lee was found lying asleep in a little clump of pines near his front, +covered with an oil-cloth to protect him from the dews of the night, +and surrounded by the officers of his staff, also asleep. It was +not yet daybreak, and the darkness prevented the messenger from +distinguishing the commander-in-chief from the rest. He accordingly +called for Major Taylor, Lee's adjutant-general, and that officer +promptly awoke when he was informed of what had taken place. As the +conversation continued, the sound awoke General Lee, who asked, "Who +is there?" Major Taylor informed him, and, rising upon his elbow, Lee +pointed to his blankets, and said: "Sit down here by me, captain, and +tell me all about the fight last evening." + +He listened without comment during the recital, but, when it was +finished, said with great feeling: "Ah! captain, any victory is dearly +bought which deprives us of the services of General Jackson, even for +a short time." + +From this reply it was evident that he did not regard the wounds +received by Jackson as of a serious character--as was natural, from +the fact that they were only flesh-wounds in the arm and hand--and +believed that the only result would be a temporary absence of his +lieutenant from command. As Captain Wilbourn continued to speak of the +incident, Lee added with greater emotion than at first: "Ah! don't +talk about it; thank God it is no worse!" + +He then remained silent, but seeing Captain Wilbourn rise, as if to +go, he requested him to remain, as he wished to "talk with him some +more," and proceeded to ask a number of questions in reference to the +position of the troops, who was in command, etc. When informed that +Rhodes was in temporary command, but that Stuart had been sent for, he +exclaimed: "Rhodes is a gallant, courageous, and energetic officer;" +and asked where Jackson and Stuart could be found, calling for paper +and pencil to write to them. Captain Wilbourn added that, from what he +had heard Jackson say, he thought he intended to get possession, if +possible, of the road to United States Ford in the Federal rear, and +so cut them off from the river that night, or early in the morning. At +these words, Lee rose quickly and said with animation, "These people +must be pressed to-day." + +It would seem that at this moment a messenger--probably Captain +Hotchkiss, Jackson's skilful engineer--arrived from Wilderness Tavern, +bringing a note from the wounded general. Lee read it with much +feeling, and dictated the following reply: + + GENERAL: I have just received your note informing me that you were + wounded. I cannot express my regret at the occurrence. Could I + have directed events, I should have chosen, for the good of the + country, to have been disabled in your stead. + + I congratulate you upon the victory, which is due to your skill + and energy. R.E. LEE, _General_. + +This was dispatched with a second note to Stuart, directing him to +assume command, and press the enemy at dawn. Lee then mounted his +horse, and, just as the day began to break, formed line of battle +opposite the enemy's front, his line extending on the right to +the plank-road running from Chancellorsville in the direction of +Fredericksburg. This force, under the personal command of Lee, +amounted, as we have said, originally to about thirteen thousand men; +and, as their loss had not been very severe in the demonstrations made +against the enemy on the preceding days, they were in good condition. +The obvious course now was to place the troops in a position which +would enable them, in the event of Stuart's success in driving the +Federal right, to unite the left of Lee's line with the right of +Stuart, and so press the Federal army back on Chancellorsville and the +river. We shall now return to the left wing of the army, which, in +spite of the absence of the commanding general, was the column of +attack, which was looked to for the most important results. + +In response to the summons of the preceding night, Stuart had come +back from the direction of Ely's Ford, at a swift gallop, burning with +ardor at the thought of leading Jackson's great corps into battle. The +military ambition of this distinguished commander of Lee's horse was +great, and he had often chafed at the jests directed at the cavalry +arm, and at himself as "only a cavalry-officer." He had now presented +to him an opportunity of showing that he was a trained soldier, +competent by his nerve and military ability to lead any arm of the +service, and greeted the occasion with delight. The men of Jackson had +been accustomed to see that commander pass slowly along their lines +on a horse as sedate-looking as himself, a slow-moving figure, with +little of the "poetry of war" in his appearance. They now found +themselves commanded by a youthful and daring cavalier on a spirited +animal, with floating plume, silken sash, and a sabre which gleamed in +the moonlight, as its owner galloped to and fro cheering the men and +marshalling them for the coming assault As he led the lines afterward +with joyous vivacity, his sabre drawn, his plume floating proudly, one +of the men compared him to Henry of Navarre at the battle of Ivry. But +Stuart's spirit of wild gayety destroyed the romantic dignity of the +scene. He led the men of Jackson against General Hooker's breastworks +bristling with cannon, singing "Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of +the Wilderness!" + +This sketch will convey a correct idea of the officer who had now +grasped the bâton falling from the hand of the great marshal of +Lee. It was probable that the advance of the infantry under such a +commander would partake of the rush and rapidity of a cavalry-charge; +and the sequel justified this view. + +At early dawn the Southern lines began to move. Either in consequence +of orders from Lee, or following his own conception, Stuart reversed +the movement of Jackson, who had aimed to swing round his left and cut +off the enemy. He seemed to have determined to extend his right, with +the view of uniting with the left of Anderson's division under Lee, +and enclosing the enemy in the angle near Chancellorsville. Lee had +moved at the same moment on their front, advancing steadily over all +obstacles, and a Northern writer, who witnessed the combined attack, +speaks of it in enthusiastic terms: "From the large brick house +which gives the name to this vicinity," says the writer, speaking +of Chancellorsville, "the enemy could be seen, sweeping slowly but +confidently, determinedly and surely, through the clearings which +extended in front. Nothing could excite more admiration for the +qualities of the veteran soldiers than the manner in which the enemy +swept out, as they moved steadily onward, the forces which were +opposed to them. We say it reluctantly, and for the first time, that +the enemy have shown the finest qualities, and we acknowledge on this +occasion their superiority in the open field to our own men. They +delivered their fire with precision, and were apparently inflexible +and immovable under the storm of bullets and shell which they were +constantly receiving. Coming to a piece of timber, which was occupied +by a division of our own men, half the number were detailed to clear +the woods. It seemed certain that here they would be repulsed, but +they marched right through the wood, driving our own soldiers out, who +delivered their fire and fell back, halted again, fired, and fell back +as before, seeming to concede to the enemy, as a matter of course, the +superiority which they evidently felt themselves. Our own men fought +well. There was no lack of courage, but an evident feeling that they +were destined to be beaten, and the only thing for them to do was to +fire and retreat." + +This description of the steady advance of the Southern line applies +rather to the first portion of the attack, which compelled the front +line of the Federal army to retire to the stronger ground in rear. +When this was reached, and the troops of Lee saw before them the last +citadel, the steady advance became a rush. The divisions of Anderson +and McLaws, on the right, made a determined charge upon the great +force under Generals Hancock, Slocum, and others, in that quarter, and +Stuart closed in on the Federal right, steadily extending his line to +join on to Anderson. + +The spectacle here was superb. As the troops rushed on, Stuart +shouted, "Charge! and remember Jackson!" and this watchword seemed to +drive the line forward. With Stuart leading them, and singing, in +his joyous voice, "Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of the +Wilderness!"--for courage, poetry, and seeming frivolity, were +strangely mingled in this great soldier--the troops went headlong +at the Federal works, and in a few moments the real struggle of the +battle of Chancellorsville had begun. + +From this instant, when the lines, respectively commanded in person +by Lee and by Stuart, closed in with the enemy, there was little +manoeuvring of any description. It was an open attempt of Lee, by hard +fighting, to crush in the enemy's front, and force them back upon the +river. In this arduous struggle it is due to Stuart to say that his +generalship largely decided the event, and the high commendation which +he afterward received from General Lee justifies the statement. As his +lines went to the attack, his quick military eye discerned an elevated +point on his right, from which it appeared an artillery-fire woulden +filade the Federal line. About thirty pieces of cannon were at once +hastened to this point, and a destructive fire opened on the lines +of General Slocum, which threw his troops into great confusion. So +serious was this fire that General Slocum sent word to General Hooker +that his front was being swept away by it, to which the sullen +response was, "I cannot make soldiers or ammunition!" + +General Hooker was indeed, it seems, at this moment in no mood to take +a hopeful view of affairs. The heavy assault of Jackson appears to +have as much demoralized the Federal commander as his troops. During +the night he had erected a semicircular line of works, in the form of +a redan, in his rear toward the river, behind which new works he no +doubt contemplated falling back. He now awaited the result of the +Southern attack, leaning against a pillar of the porch at the +Chancellorsville House, when a cannon-ball struck the pillar, throwing +it down, and so stunning the general as to prevent him from retaining +the command, which was delegated to General Couch. + +[Illustration: Chancellorsville] + +The fate of the day had now been decided. The right wing of the +Southern army, under Lee, had gradually extended its left to meet the +extension of Stuart's right; and this junction of the two wings having +been effected, Lee took personal command of all, and advanced his +whole front in a decisive assault. Before this the Federal front gave +way, and the disordered troops were huddled back--now only a confused +and disorganized mass--upon Chancellorsville. The Southern troops +pursued with yells, leaping over the earthworks, and driving all +before them. A scene of singular horror ensued. The Chancellorsville +House, which had been set on fire by shell, was seen to spout flame +from every window, and the adjoining woods had, in like manner, caught +fire, and were heard roaring over the dead and wounded of both sides +alike. The thicket had become the scene of the cruellest of all +agonies for the unfortunates unable to extricate themselves. The whole +spectacle in the vicinity of the Chancellorsville House, now in Lee's +possession, was frightful. Fire, smoke, blood, confused yells, and +dying groans, mingled to form the dark picture. + +Lee had ridden to the front of his line, following up the enemy, and +as he passed before the troops they greeted him with one prolonged, +unbroken cheer, in which those wounded and lying upon the ground +united. In that cheer spoke the fierce joy of men whom the hard combat +had turned into blood-hounds, arousing all the ferocious instincts +of the human soul. Lee sat on his horse, motionless, near the +Chancellorsville House, his face and figure lit up by the glare of the +burning woods, and gave his first attention, even at this exciting +moment, to the unfortunates of both sides, wounded, and in danger of +being burned to death. While issuing his orders on this subject, a +note was brought to him from Jackson, congratulating him upon his +victory. After reading it, with evidences of much emotion, he turned +to the officer who had brought it and said: "Say to General Jackson +that the victory is his, and that the congratulation is due to him." + +The Federal army had fallen back in disorder, by this time, toward +their second line. It was about ten o'clock in the morning, and +Chancellorsville was in Lee's possession. + +FLANK MOVEMENT OF GENERAL SEDGWICK. + +Lee hastened to bring the Southern troops into order again, and +succeeded in promptly reforming his line of battle, his front +extending, unbroken, along the Old Turnpike, facing the river. + +His design was to press General Hooker, and reap those rich rewards of +victory to which the hard fighting of the men had entitled them. Of +the demoralized condition of the Federal forces there can be no doubt, +and the obvious course now was to follow up their retreat and endeavor +to drive them in disorder beyond the Rappahannock. + +The order to advance upon the enemy was about to be given, when a +messenger from Fredericksburg arrived at full gallop, and communicated +intelligence which arrested the order just as it was on Lee's lips. + +A considerable force of the enemy was advancing up the turnpike from +Fredericksburg, to fall upon his right flank, and upon his rear in +case he moved beyond Chancellorsville. The column was that of General +Sedgwick. This officer, it will be remembered, had been detached to +make a heavy demonstration at Fredericksburg, and was still at that +point, with his troops drawn up on the southern bank, three miles +below the city, on Saturday night, while Jackson was fighting. On that +morning General Hooker had sent for Reynolds's corps, but, even in +the absence of this force, General Sedgwick retained under him about +twenty-two thousand men; and this column was now ordered to storm the +heights at Fredericksburg, march up the turnpike, and attack Lee in +flank. + +General Sedgwick received the order at eleven o'clock on Saturday +night, about the time when Jackson was carried wounded to the rear. He +immediately made his preparations to obey, and at daylight moved up +from below the city to storm the ridge at Marye's, and march straight +upon Chancellorsville. In the first assaults he failed, suffering +considerable loss from the fire of the Southern troops under General +Barksdale, commanding the line at that point; but, subsequently +forming an assaulting column for a straight rush at the hill, he went +forward with impetuosity; drove the Southern advanced line from behind +the "stone wall," which Generals Sumner and Hooker had failed in +reaching, and, about eleven in the morning, stormed Marye's Hill, and +killed, captured, or dispersed, the entire Southern force there. The +Confederates fought hand to hand over their guns with the enemy for +the possession of the crest, but their numbers were inadequate; the +entire surviving force fell back over the Telegraph road southward, +and General Sedgwick promptly advanced up the turnpike leading from +Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville, to assail General Lee. + +It was the intelligence of this threatening movement which now reached +Lee, and induced him to defer further attack at the moment upon +General Hooker. He determined promptly to send a force against General +Sedgwick, and this resolution seems to have been based upon sound +military judgment. There was little to be feared now from General +Hooker, large as the force still was under that officer. He was +paralyzed for the time, and would not probably venture upon any +attempt to regain possession of Chancellorsville. With General +Sedgwick it was different. His column was comparatively fresh, was +flushed with victory, and numbered, even after his loss of one +thousand, more than twenty thousand men. Compared with the entire +Federal army, this force was merely a detachment, it was true, but it +was a detachment numbering as many men, probably, as the effective of +Lee's entire army at Chancellorsville. He had carried into that fight +about thirty-four thousand men. His losses had been heavy, and the +commands were much shaken. To have advanced under these circumstances +upon General Hooker, without regard to General Sedgwick's twenty +thousand troops, inspired by recent victory, would have resulted +probably in disaster. + +These comments may detract from that praise of audacity accorded to +Lee in making this movement. It seems rather to have been the dictate +of common-sense; to have advanced upon General Hooker would have been +the audacity. + +It was thus necessary to defer the final blow at the main Federal army +in his front, and General Lee promptly detached a force of about five +brigades to meet General Sedgwick, which, with Early's command, now in +rear of the Federal column, would, it was supposed, suffice. + +This body moved speedily down the turnpike to check the enemy, and +encountered the head of his column about half-way, near Salem Church. +General Wilcox, who had been sent by Lee to watch Banks's Ford, had +already moved to bar the Federal advance. When the brigades sent by +Lee joined him, the whole force formed line of battle: a brisk action +ensued, continuing from about four in the afternoon until nightfall, +when the fighting ceased, and General Sedgwick made no further attempt +to advance on that day. + +These events took place, as we have said, on Sunday afternoon, the +day of the Federal defeat at Chancellorsville. On Monday morning (May +4th), the theatre of action on the southern bank of the Rappahannock +presented a very remarkable complication. General Early had been +driven from the ridge at Fredericksburg; but no sooner had General +Sedgwick marched toward Chancellorsville, than Early returned and +seized upon Marye's Heights again. He was thus in General Sedgwick's +rear, and ready to prevent him from recrossing the Rappahannock at +Fredericksburg. Sedgwick meanwhile was moving to assail Lee's flank +and rear, and Lee was ready to attack General Hooker in front. Such +was the singular entanglement of the Northern and Southern forces on +Monday morning after the battle of Chancellorsville. What the result +was to be the hours of that day were now to decide. + +Lee resolved first, if possible, to crush General Sedgwick, when it +was his design to return and make a decisive assault upon General +Hooker. In accordance with this plan, he on Monday morning went in +personal command of three brigades of Anderson's division, reached the +vicinity of Salem Church, and proceeded to form line of battle with +the whole force there. Owing to unforeseen delays, the attack was not +begun until late in the afternoon, when the whole line advanced upon +General Sedgwick, Lee's aim being to cut him off from the river. In +this he failed, the stubborn resistance of the Federal forces enabling +them to hold their ground until night. At that time, however, they +seemed to waver and lose heart, whether from receiving intelligence of +General Hooker's mishap, or from other causes, is not known. They were +now pressed by the Southern troops, and finally gave way. General +Sedgwick retreated rapidly but in good order to Banks's Ford, where a +pontoon had been fortunately laid, and this enabled him to cross his +men. The passage was effected under cover of darkness, the Southern +cannon firing upon the retreating column; and, with this, ended the +movement of General Sedgwick. + +On Tuesday morning Lee returned with his men toward Chancellorsville, +and during the whole day was busily engaged in preparation for a +decisive attack upon General Hooker on the next morning. + +When, however, the Southern sharp-shooters felt their way, at +daylight, toward the Federal position, it was found that the works +were entirely deserted. + +General Hooker had recrossed the river, spreading pine-boughs on the +pontoon bridge to muffle the sound of his artillery-wheels. + +So the great advance ended. + + + + +VII. + +LEE'S GENERALSHIP AND PERSONAL DEMEANOR DURING THE CAMPAIGN. + + +The movements of the two armies in the Chancellorsville campaign, as +it is generally styled, have been so fully described in the foregoing +pages, that little comment upon them is here necessary. The main +feature which attracts attention, in surveying the whole series of +operations, is the boldness, amounting to apparent recklessness, of +Lee; and, first, the excellent generalship, and then the extraordinary +tissue of military errors, of General Hooker. + +Up to the 1st of May, when he emerged from the Chancellorsville +thicket, every thing had succeeded with the Federal commander, and +deserved to succeed. He had successfully brought over his great force, +which he himself described as the "finest army on the planet," and +occupied strong ground east of Chancellorsville, on the road to +Fredericksburg. General Sedgwick was absent at the latter place with a +strong detachment of the army, but the main body covered Banks's Ford, +but twelve miles from the city, and by the afternoon of this day the +whole army might have been concentrated. Then the fate of Lee would +seem to have been decided. He had not only a very small army, but +that army was scattered, and liable to be cut off in detail. General +Sedgwick menaced his right at Fredericksburg--General Hooker was in +front of his left near Chancellorsville--and to crush one of these +wings before the other could come to its assistance seemed a work of +no very great difficulty. General Hooker appears, however, to have +distrusted his ability to effect this result, and, finding that +General Lee was advancing with his main body to attack him, retired, +from his strong position in the open country, to the dense thicket +around Chancellorsville. That this was a grave military error there +can be no doubt, as, by this retrograde movement, General Hooker not +only discouraged his troops, who had been elated by his confident and +inspiring general orders, but lost the great advantage of the open +country, where his large force could be successfully manoeuvred. + +Lee took instant advantage of this fault in his adversary, and boldly +pressed the force retiring into the Wilderness, where, on the night +of the 1st of May, General Hooker was shut up with his army. This +unforeseen result presented the adversaries now in an entirely new +light. The Federal army, which had been promised by its commander +a speedy march upon Richmond in pursuit of Lee, had, instead of +advancing, made a backward movement; and Lee, who it had been supposed +would retreat, was now following and offering them battle. + +The daring resolution of Lee, to divide his army and attack the +Federal right, followed. It would seem unjust to General Hooker +greatly to blame him for the success of that blow, which could not +have been reasonably anticipated. In determining upon this, one of +the most extraordinary movements of the war, General Lee proceeded in +defiance of military rules, and was only justified in his course by +the desperate character of the situation of affairs. It was impossible +to make any impression upon General Hooker's front or left, owing to +the elaborate defences in both quarters; it was, therefore, necessary +either to retire, or attack in a different direction. As a retreat, +however, upon Richmond would have surrendered to the enemy a large and +fertile tract of country, it was desirable, if possible, to avoid that +alternative; and the attack on the Federal right followed. The results +of this were truly extraordinary. The force routed and driven back in +disorder by General Jackson was but a single corps, and that corps, it +is said, not a legitimate part of the old Army of the Potomac; but the +disorder seems to have communicated itself to the whole army, and to +have especially discouraged General Hooker. In describing the scene +in question, we refrained from dwelling upon the full extent of the +confusion into which the Federal forces were thrown: some sentences, +taken from Northern accounts, may lead to a better understanding of +the result. After Jackson's assault, a Northern historian says: "The +open plain around Chancellorsville presented such a spectacle as +a simoom sweeping over the desert might make. Through the dusk of +nightfall a rushing whirlwind of men and artillery and wagons swept +down the road, past headquarters, and on toward the fords of the +Rappahannock; and it was in vain that the staff opposed their persons +and drawn sabres to the panic-stricken fugitives." Another writer, an +eye-witness, says the spectacle presented was that of "solid columns +of infantry retreating at double-quick; a dense mass of beings flying; +hundreds of cavalry-horses, left riderless at the first discharge from +the rebels, dashing frantically about in all directions; scores of +batteries flying from the field; battery-wagons, ambulances, horses, +men, cannon, caissons, all jumbled and tumbled together in one +inextricable mass--the stampede universal, the disgrace general." + +After all, however, it was but one corps of the Federal army which +had been thus thrown into disorder, and General Hooker had no valid +grounds for distrusting his ability to defeat Lee in a more decisive +action. There are many reasons for coming to the conclusion that he +did from that moment distrust his powers. He had courageously hastened +to the assailed point, ordering the men to "throw themselves into the +breach," and receive Jackson's troops "on the bayonet;" but, after +this display of soldierly resolution, General Hooker appears to have +lost some of that nerve which should never desert a soldier, and on +the same night sent engineers to trace out a new line of defences in +his rear, to which, it seems, he already contemplated the probability +of being forced to retire. Why he came to take this depressed view +of the situation of affairs, it is difficult to say. One of General +Sedgwick's corps reached him on this night, and his force at +Chancellorsville still amounted to between ninety and one hundred +thousand men, about thrice that of Lee. No decisive trial of strength +had yet taken place between the two armies; and yet the larger force +was constructing defences in rear to protect them from the smaller--a +circumstance not tending, it would seem, to greatly encourage the +troops whose commander was thus providing for a safe retreat. + +The subsequent order to General Sedgwick to march up from +Fredericksburg and assail Lee's right was judicious, and really +saved the army from a great disaster. Lee was about to follow up the +discouraged forces of General Hooker as they fell back toward the +river; and, as the Southern army was flushed with victory, the +surrender of the great body might have ensued. This possible result +was prevented by the flank movement of General Sedgwick, and some +gratitude for assistance so important from his able lieutenant would +have seemed natural and graceful in General Hooker. This view of the +subject does not seem, however, to have been taken by the Federal +commander. He subsequently charged the defeat of Chancellorsville upon +General Sedgwick, who he declared had "failed in a prompt compliance +with his orders."[1] The facts do not bear out this charge, as the +reader has seen. General Sedgwick received the order toward midnight +on Saturday, and, at eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, had passed +over that stubborn "stone wall" which, in the battle of the preceding +December, General Hooker's column had not even been able to reach; +had stormed Marye's Hill, which General Hooker had described, in +vindication of his own failure to carry the position, as "masonry," "a +fortification," and "a mountain of rock;" and had marched thereafter +so promptly as to force Lee, in his own defence, to arrest the second +advance upon the Federal main body, and divert a considerable force to +meet the attack on his flank. + +[Footnote 1: General Hooker in Report of the Committee on the Conduct +of the War, Part I., page 130. This great collection is a valuable +repository of historic details, and contains the explanation of many +interesting questions.] + +After the repulse of General Sedgwick, and his retreat across +the Rappahannock, General Hooker seems to have been completely +discouraged, and hastened to put the river between himself and Lee. +His losses in the battles of Saturday and Sunday had amounted to +seventeen thousand one hundred and ninety-seven killed and wounded and +missing, fourteen pieces of artillery, and twenty thousand stand +of arms. The Confederate loss was ten thousand two hundred and +eighty-one. Contrary to the ordinary course of things the assailing +force had lost a less number of men than that assailed. + +The foregoing reflections, which necessarily involve a criticism of +General Hooker, arise naturally from a review of the events of the +campaign, and seem justified by the circumstances. There can be no +inducement for the present writer to underrate the military ability of +the Federal commander, as that want of ability rather detracts from +than adds to the merit of General Lee in defeating him. It may be +said, indeed, that without these errors and shortcomings of General +Hooker, Lee, humanly speaking, must have been either defeated or +forced to retire upon Richmond. + +After giving full weight, however, to all the advantages derived from +the extraordinary Federal oversights and mistakes, General Lee's merit +in this campaign was greater, perhaps, than in any other during his +entire career. Had he left behind him no other record than this, it +alone would have been sufficient to have conferred upon him the first +glories of arms, and handed his name down to posterity as that of one +of the greatest soldiers of history. It is difficult to discover a +single error committed by him, in the whole series of movements, from +the moment when General Sedgwick crossed at Fredericksburg, to the +time of General Hooker's retreat beyond the Rappahannock. It may +appear that there was unnecessary delay in permitting Tuesday to pass +without a final advance upon General Hooker, in his second line of +intrenchments; but, no doubt, many circumstances induced Lee to defer +this attack--the fatigue of his troops, consequent upon the fighting +of the four preceding days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; the +necessity of reforming his battalions for the final blow; and the +anticipation that General Hooker, who still had at his command a +force of more than one hundred thousand men, would not so promptly +relinquish his campaign, and retire. + +With the exception of this error, if it be such, Lee had made no +single false step in the whole of his movements. The campaign was +round, perfect, and complete--such as a student of the art of war +might pore over, and analyze as an instance of the greatest principles +of military science "clothed in act." The most striking features of +Lee's movements were their rapidity and audacity. It had been the +fashion with some persons to speak of Lee as slow and cautious in his +operations, and this criticism had not been completely silenced even +in the winter of 1862, when his failure to crush General Burnside +afforded his detractors another opportunity of repeating the old +charge. After the Chancellorsville campaign these fault-finders were +silenced--no one could be found to listen to them. The whole +Southern movement completely contradicted their theory. At the first +intelligence of the advance of General Hooker's main body across the +upper Rappahannock, Lee rode rapidly in that direction, and ordered +his troops at the fords of the river to fall back to Chancellorsville. +He then returned, and, finding that General Sedgwick had crossed at +Fredericksburg, held a prompt consultation with Jackson, when it was +decided at once to concentrate the main body of the army in front of +General Hooker's column. At the word, Jackson moved; Lee followed. On +the 1st of May, the enemy were pressed back upon Chancellorsville; on +the 2d, his right was crushed, and his army thrown into confusion; on +the 3d, he was driven from Chancellorsville, and, but for the flank +movement of General Sedgwick, which Lee was not in sufficient force to +prevent, General Hooker would, upon that same day, Sunday, have in all +probability suffered a decisive defeat. + +In the course of four days Lee had thus advanced, and checked, and +then attacked and repulsed with heavy slaughter, an army thrice +as large as his own. On the last day of April he had been nearly +enveloped by a host of about one hundred and twenty thousand men. On +the 3d day of May their main body was in disorderly retreat; and at +daylight on the morning of the 6th there was not a Federal soldier, +with the exception of the prisoners taken, on the southern bank of the +Rappahannock. + +During all these critical scenes, when the fate of the Confederate +capital, and possibly of the Southern cause, hung suspended in the +balance, General Lee preserved, as thousands of persons can testify, +the most admirable serenity and composure, without that jubilant +confidence displayed by General Hooker in his address to the troops, +and the exclamations to his officers. Lee was equally free from gloom +or any species of depression. His spirits seemed to rise under the +pressure upon him, and at times he was almost gay. When one of General +Jackson's aides hastened into his tent near Fredericksburg, and with +great animation informed him that the enemy were crossing the +river, in heavy force in his front, he seemed to be amused by that +circumstance, and said, smiling: "Well, I _heard_ firing, and I was +beginning to think it was time some of you lazy young fellows were +coming to tell me what it was all about. Say to General Jackson that +he knows just as well what to do with the enemy as I do." + +The commander-in-chief who could find time at such a moment to +indulge in _badinage_, must have possessed excellent nerve; and this +composure, mingled with a certain buoyant hopefulness, as of one sure +of the event, remained with Lee throughout the whole great wrestle +with General Hooker. He retained to the end his simple and quiet +manner, divested of every thing like excitement. In the consultation +with Jackson, on the night of the 1st of May, when the crisis was so +critical, his demeanor indicated no anxiety; and when, as we have +said, the news came of Jackson's wound, he said simply, "Sit +down here, by me, captain, and tell me all about the fight last +evening"--adding, "Ah! captain, any victory is dearly bought which +deprives us of the services of General Jackson even for a short +time. Don't talk about it--thank God, it is no worse!" The turns of +expression here are those of a person who permits nothing to disturb +his serenity, and indulges his gentler and tenderer feelings even +in the hot atmosphere of a great conflict. The picture presented is +surely an interesting and beautiful one. The human being who uttered +the good-natured criticism at the expense of the "lazy young fellows," +and who greeted the news of Jackson's misfortune with a sigh as tender +as that of a woman, was the soldier who had "seized the masses of his +force with the grasp of a Titan, and swung them into position as a +giant might fling a mighty stone." To General Hooker's threat to crush +him, he had responded by crushing General Hooker; nearly surrounded by +the huge cordon of the Federal army, he had cut the cordon and emerged +in safety. General Hooker with his one hundred thousand men had +retreated to the north bank of the Rappahannock, and, on the south +bank, Lee with his thirty thousand remained erect, threatening, and +triumphant. + +We have not presented in these pages the orders of Lee, on various +occasions, as these papers are for the most part of an "official" +character, and not of great interest to the general reader. We shall, +however, occasionally present these documents, and here lay before the +reader the orders of both General Hooker and General Lee, after the +battle of Chancellorsville, giving precedence to the former. The order +of the Federal commander was as follows: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, _May_ 6,1863. + + The major-general commanding tenders to this army his + congratulations on its achievements of the last seven days. If it + has not accomplished all that was expected, the reasons are + well known to the army. It is sufficient to say, they were of a + character not to be foreseen or prevented by human sagacity or + resources. + + In withdrawing from the south bank of the Rappahannock, before + delivering a general battle to our adversaries, the army has given + renewed evidence in its confidence in itself, and its fidelity to + the principles it represents. + + By fighting at a disadvantage, we would have been recreant to our + trust, to ourselves, to our cause, and to our country. Profoundly + loyal, and conscious of its strength, the Army of the Potomac will + give or decline battle whenever its interests or honor may command + it. + + By the celerity and secrecy of our movements, our advance and + passage of the river were undisputed, and on our withdrawal not + a rebel dared to follow us. The events of the last week may well + cause the heart of every officer and soldier of the army to swell + with pride. + + We have added new laurels to our former renown. We have made long + marches, crossed rivers, surprised the enemy in his intrenchments, + and, whenever we have fought, we have inflicted heavier blows than + those we have received. + + We have taken from the enemy five thousand prisoners, and fifteen + colors, captured seven pieces of artillery, and placed _hors de + combat_ eighteen thousand of our foe's chosen troops. + + We have destroyed his depots filled with vast amounts of stores, + damaged his communications, captured prisoners within the + fortifications of his capital, and filled his country with fear + and consternation. + + We have no other regret than that caused by the loss of our brave + companions, and in this we are consoled by the conviction that + they have fallen in the holiest cause ever submitted to the + arbitration of battle. + + By command of Major-General HOOKER: + + S. WILLIAMS, _Assistant Adjutant-General_ + +General Lee's order was as follows: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + + _May_ 7,1863. + + With heart-felt gratification, the general commanding expresses to + the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and + men during the arduous operations in which they have just been + engaged. + + Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm you attacked the + enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, + and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant, + and by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields forced him + once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this + glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the + nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful + thanks to the only Giver of victory, for the signal deliverances + He has wrought. + + It is therefore earnestly recommended that the troops unite on + Sunday next in ascribing unto the Lord of hosts the glory due unto + His name. + + Let us not forget, in our rejoicing, the brave soldiers who have + fallen in defence of their country; and, while we mourn their + loss, let us resolve to emulate their noble example. + + The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of + one to whose bravery, energy, and skill, they are so much indebted + for success. + + The following letter from the President of the Confederate States + is communicated to the army, as an expression of his appreciation + of their success: + + "I have received your dispatch, and reverently unite with you in + giving praise to God for the success with which He has crowned our + arms. In the name of the people I offer my cordial thanks, and the + troops under your command, for this addition to the unprecedented + series of great victories which our army has achieved. The + universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be mingled + with a general regret for the good and the brave who are numbered + among the killed and the wounded." + + R.E. LEE, _General_. + + + + +VIII. + +PERSONAL RELATIONS OF LEE AND JACKSON. + + +The most important incident of the great battle of Chancellorsville +was the fall of Jackson. The services of this illustrious soldier had +now become almost indispensable to General Lee, who spoke of him +as his "right arm;" and the commander-in-chief had so long been +accustomed to lean upon the strong shoulder of his lieutenant, that +now, when this support was withdrawn, he seems to have felt the loss +of it profoundly. + +In the war, indeed, there had arisen no soldier who so powerfully drew +the public eye as Jackson. In the opinion of many persons, he was a +greater and abler commander than Lee himself; and, although such +an opinion will not be found to stand after a full review of the +characters and careers of the two leaders, there was sufficient ground +for it to induce many fair and intelligent persons to adopt it. +Jackson had been almost uniformly successful. He had conducted to a +triumphant issue the arduous campaign of the Valley, where he was +opposed in nearly every battle by a force much larger than his own; +and these victories, in a quarter so important, and at a moment so +critical, had come, borne on the wind of the mountain, to electrify +and inspire the hearts of the people of Richmond and the entire +Confederacy. Jackson's rapid march and assault on General McClellan's +right on the Chickahominy had followed; he then advanced northward, +defeated the vanguard of the enemy at Cedar Mountain, led the great +column of Lee against the rear of General Pope, destroyed Manassas, +held his ground until Lee arrived, and bore an important part in the +battle which ensued. Thence he had passed to Maryland, fallen upon +Harper's Ferry and captured it, returned to fight with Lee at +Sharpsburg, and in that battle had borne the brunt of the enemy's main +assault with an unbroken front. That the result was a drawn battle, +and not a Southern defeat, was due to Lee's generalship and Jackson's +fighting. The retrograde movement to the lowland followed, and Jackson +was left in the Valley to embarrass McClellan's advance. In this he +perfectly succeeded, and then suddenly reappeared at Fredericksburg, +where he received and repulsed one of the two great assaults of the +enemy. The battle of Chancellorsville followed, and Lee's statement +of the part borne in this hard combat by Jackson has been given. The +result was due, he said, not to his own generalship, but to the skill +and energy of his lieutenant, whose congratulations he refused to +receive, declaring that the victory was Jackson's. + +Here had at last ended the long series of nearly unbroken victories. +Jackson had become the _alter ego_ of Lee, and it is not difficult +to understand the sense of loss felt by the commander-in-chief. In +addition to this natural sentiment, was deep regret at the death of +one personally dear to him, and to whom he was himself an object of +almost reverent love. The personal relations of Lee and Jackson had, +from first to last, remained the same--not the slightest cloud had +ever arisen to disturb the perfect union in each of admiration and +affection for the other. It had never occurred to these two great +soldiers to ask what their relative position was in the public +eye--which was most spoken of and commended or admired. Human nature +is weak at best, and the fame of Jackson, mounting to its dazzling +zenith, might have disturbed a less magnanimous soul than Lee's. There +is not, however, the slightest reason to believe that Lee ever gave +the subject a thought. Entirely free from that vulgar species of +ambition which looks with cold eyes upon the success of others, as +offensive to its own _amour-propre_ Lee never seems to have instituted +any comparison between himself and Jackson--greeted praise of his +famous lieutenant with sincere pleasure--and was the first upon +every occasion, not only to express the fullest sense of Jackson's +assistance, and the warmest admiration of his genius as a soldier, but +to attribute to him, as after the battle of Chancellorsville, _all_ +the merit of every description. + +It is not possible to contemplate this august affection and admiration +of the two soldiers for each other, without regarding it as a greater +glory to them than all their successes in arms. Lee's opinion of +Jackson, and personal sentiment toward him, have been set forth in the +above sentences. The sentiment of Jackson for Lee was as strong or +stronger. He regarded him with mingled love and admiration. To excite +such feelings in a man like Jackson, it was necessary that Lee should +be not only a soldier of the first order of genius, but also a good +and pious man. It was in these lights that Jackson regarded his +commander, and from first to last his confidence in and admiration for +him never wavered. He had defended Lee from the criticism of unskilled +or ignorant persons, from the time when he assumed command of the +army, in the summer of 1862. At that time some one spoke of Lee, in +Jackson's presence, as "slow." The criticism aroused the indignation +of the silent soldier, and he exclaimed: "General Lee is _not_ 'slow.' +No one knows the weight upon his heart--his great responsibilities. +He is commander-in-chief, and he knows that, if an army is lost, it +cannot be replaced. No! there may be some persons whose good opinion +of me may make them attach some weight to my views, and, if you ever +hear that said of General Lee, I beg you will contradict it in my +name. I have known General Lee for five-and-twenty years. He is +cautious. He ought to be. But he is _not_ 'slow.' Lee is a phenomenon. +He is the only man whom I would follow blindfold!" + +The abrupt and energetic expressions of Jackson on this occasion +indicate his profound sense of the injustice done Lee by these +criticisms; and it would be difficult to imagine a stronger statement +than that here made by him. It will be conceded that he himself was +competent to estimate soldiership, and in Jackson's eyes Lee was +"a phenomenon--the only man whom he would follow blindfold." The +subsequent career of Lee seems to have strengthened and intensified +this extreme admiration. What Lee advised or did was always in +Jackson's eyes the very best that could be suggested or performed. He +yielded his own opinions, upon every occasion, with perfect readiness +and cheerfulness to those of Lee, as to the master-mind; loved him, +revered him, looked up to him, and never seems to have found fault +with him but upon one occasion--when he received Lee's note of +congratulation after Chancellorsville. He then said: "General Lee is +very kind; but he should give the glory to God." + +This affection and admiration were fully returned by General Lee, who +consulted Jackson upon every occasion, and confided in him as his +personal friend. There was seldom any question between them of +superior and subordinate--never, except when the exigency required +that the decision should be made by Lee as commander-in-chief. +Jackson's supreme genius, indeed, made this course natural, and no +further praise is due Lee in this particular, save that of modesty and +good sense; but these qualities are commendable and not universal. +He committed the greatest undertakings to Jackson with the utmost +confidence, certain that he would do all that could be done; and some +words of his quoted above express this entire confidence. "Say +to General Jackson," he replied to the young staff-officer at +Fredericksburg, "that he knows just as well what to do with the enemy +as I do." + +Lee's personal affection was strikingly displayed after the battle +of Chancellorsville, when Jackson lay painfully, but no one supposed +mortally, wounded, first at Wilderness Tavern, and then at Ginney's. +Prevented from visiting the wounded man, by the responsibilities of +command, now all the greater from Jackson's absence, and not regarding +his hurt as serious, as indeed it did not appear to be until toward +the last, Lee sent him continual messages containing good wishes +and inquiries after his health. The tone of these messages is very +familiar and affectionate, and leaves no doubt of the character of the +relations between the two men. + +"Give him my affectionate regards," he said to one officer, "and tell +him to make haste and get well, and come back to me as soon as he can. +He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right." + +When the wound of the great soldier took a bad turn, and it began to +be whispered about that the hurt might prove fatal, Lee was strongly +moved, and said with deep feeling: "Surely General Jackson must +recover! God will not take him from us, now that we need him so much. +Surely he will be spared to us, in answer to the many prayers which +are offered for him!" + +He paused after uttering these words, laboring evidently under very +deep and painful emotion. After remaining silent for some moments, +he added: "When you return I trust you will find him better. When +a suitable occasion offers, give him my love, and tell him that I +wrestled in prayer for him last night, as I never prayed, I believe, +for myself." + +The tone of these messages is, as we have said, that of familiar +affection, as from one valued friend to another. The expression, "Give +him my love," is a Virginianism, which is used only when two persons +are closely and firmly bound by long association and friendship. Such +had been the case with Lee and Jackson, and in the annals of the war +there is no other instance of a friendship so close, affectionate, and +unalloyed. + +Jackson died on the 10th of May, and the unexpected intelligence +shocked Lee profoundly. He mourned the death of the illustrious +soldier with a sorrow too deep almost to find relief in tears; and +issued a general order to the troops, which was in the following +words: + + With deep grief the commanding general announces to the army the + death of Lieutenant-General T.J. Jackson, who expired on the 10th + inst., at quarter-past three P.M. The daring, skill, and energy + of this great and good soldier, by the decree of an All-wise + Providence, are now lost to us. But, while we mourn his death, we + feel that his spirit still lives, and will inspire the whole army + with his indomitable courage and unshaken confidence in God, as + our hope and strength. Let his name be a watchword to his corps, + who have followed him to victory on so many fields. Let his + officers and soldiers emulate his invincible determination to + do every thing in defence of our beloved country. R.E. LEE, + _General_. + +It is probable that the composition of this order cost General Lee one +of the severest pangs he ever experienced. + + + + +IX. + +CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA. + + +The defeat of General Hooker at Chancellorsville was the turning-point +of the war, and for the first time there was apparently a possibility +of inducing the Federal Government to relinquish its opposition to the +establishment of a separate authority in the South. The idea of the +formation of a Southern Confederacy, distinct from the old Union, had, +up to this time, been repudiated by the authorities at Washington as a +thing utterly out of the question; but the defeat of the Federal arms +in the two great battles of the Rappahannock had caused the most +determined opponents of separation to doubt whether the South could +be coerced to return to the Union; and, what was equally or more +important, the proclamations of President Lincoln, declaring the +slaves of the South free, and placing the United States virtually +under martial law, aroused a violent clamor from the great Democratic +party of the North, who loudly asserted that all constitutional +liberty was disappearing. + +This combination of non-success in military affairs and usurpation by +the Government emboldened the advocates of peace to speak out plainly, +and utter their protest against the continuance of the struggle, +which they declared had only resulted in the prostration of all +the liberties of the country. Journals and periodicals, violently +denunciatory of the course pursued by the Government, all at once made +their appearance in New York and elsewhere. A peace convention was +called to meet in Philadelphia. Mr. Vallandigham, nominee of the +Democratic party for Governor of Ohio, eloquently denounced the whole +policy of endeavoring to subjugate the sovereign States of the South; +and Judge Curtis, of Boston, formerly Associate Judge of the Supreme +Court of the United States, published a pamphlet in which the Federal +President was stigmatized as a usurper and tyrant. "I do not see," +wrote Judge Curtis, "that it depends upon the Executive decree whether +a servile war shall be invoked to help twenty millions of the white +race to assert the rightful authority of the Constitution and laws of +their country over those who refuse to obey them. But I do see that +this proclamation" (emancipating the Southern slaves) "asserts the +power of the Executive to make such a decree! I do not perceive how it +is that my neighbors and myself, residing remote from armies and their +operations, and where all the laws of the land may be enforced by +constitutional means, should be subjected to the possibility of +arrest and imprisonment and trial before a military commission, and +punishment at its discretion, for offences unknown to the law--a +possibility to be converted into a fact at the mere will of the +President, or of some subordinate officer, clothed by him with this +power. But I do perceive that this Executive power is asserted.... It +must be obvious to the meanest capacity that, if the President of +the United States has an _implied_ constitutional right, as +Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, in time of war, to disregard +any one positive prohibition of the Constitution, or to exercise any +one power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, +because in his judgment he may thereby 'best subdue the enemy,' he +has the same right, for the same reason, to disregard each and every +provision of the Constitution, and to exercise all power _needful in +his opinion_ to enable him 'best to subdue the enemy.' ... The time +has certainly come when the people of the United States _must_ +understand and _must_ apply those great rules of civil liberty which +have been arrived at by the self-devoted efforts of thought and action +of their ancestors during seven hundred years of struggle against +arbitrary power." + +So far had reached the thunder of Lee's guns at Chancellorsville. +Their roar seemed to have awakened throughout the entire North the +great party hitherto lulled to slumber by the plea of "military +necessity," or paralyzed by the very extent of the Executive +usurpation which they saw, but had not had heart to oppose. On all +sides the advocates of peace on the basis of separation were heard +raising their importunate voices; and in the North the hearts of the +people began to thrill with the anticipation of a speedy termination +of the bloody and exhausting struggle. The occasion was embraced by +Mr. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States, to propose +negotiations. This able gentleman wrote from Georgia on the 12th of +June to President Davis, offering to go to Washington and sound the +authorities there on the subject of peace. He believed that the moment +was propitious, and wished to act before further military movements +were undertaken--especially before any further projects of invasion by +Lee--which would tend, he thought, to silence the peace party at the +North, and again arouse the war spirit. The letter of Mr. Stephens +was written on the 12th of June, and President Davis responded by +telegraph a few days afterward, requesting Mr. Stephens to come to +Richmond. He reached that city on the 22d or 23d of June, but by that +time Lee's vanguard was entering Maryland, and Gettysburg speedily +followed, which terminated all hopes of peace. + +The plan of moving the Southern army northward, with the view of +invading the Federal territory, seems to have been the result of many +circumstances. The country was elated with the two great victories of +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and the people were clamorous for +active operations against an enemy who seemed powerless to stand the +pressure of Southern steel. The army, which had been largely augmented +by the return of absentees to its ranks, new levies, and the recall +of Longstreet's two divisions from Suffolk, shared the general +enthusiasm; and thus a very heavy pressure was brought to bear upon +the authorities and on General Lee, in favor of a forward movement, +which, it was supposed, would terminate in a signal victory and a +treaty of peace. + +Lee yielded to this view of things rather than urged it. He was not +opposed to an offensive policy, and seems, indeed, to have shared the +opinion of Jackson that "the Scipio Africanus policy" was the best for +the South. His theory from the beginning of the war had been, that the +true policy of the South was to keep the enemy as far as possible +from the interior, fighting on the frontier or on Federal soil, if +possible. That of the South would there thus be protected from the +ravages of the enemy, and the further advantage would accrue, that the +Confederate capital, Richmond, would at all times be safe from danger. +This was an important consideration, as events subsequently showed. +As long as the enemy were held at arm's-length, north of the +Rappahannock, Richmond, with her net-work of railroads connecting with +every part of the South, was safe, and the Government, undisturbed in +their capital, remained a power in the eyes of the world. But, with an +enemy enveloping the city, and threatening her lines of communication, +the tenure of the place by the Government was uncertain. When General +Grant finally thus enveloped the city, and laid hold upon the +railroads, Lee's army was defeated, and the Government became +fugitive, which alone would have struck a mortal blow to its prestige +and authority. + +It was to arrive at these results, which his sagacity discerned, that +Lee always advocated such movements as would throw back the enemy, and +drive him, if possible, from the soil of Virginia. Another important +consideration was the question of supplies. These were at all times +deficient in the Confederate armies, and it was obviously the best +policy to protect as much territory, from which supplies might be +drawn, as possible. More than ever before, these supplies were now +needed; and when General Lee sent, in May or June, a requisition for +rations to Richmond, the commissary-general is said to have endorsed +upon the paper, "If General Lee wishes rations, let him seek them in +Pennsylvania." + +The considerations here stated were the main inducements for +that great movement northward which followed the battle of +Chancellorsville. The army and country were enthusiastic; the +Government rather followed than led; and, throughout the month of May, +Lee was busily engaged in organizing and equipping his forces for the +decisive advance. Experience had now dictated many alterations and +improvements in the army. It was divided into three _corps d'armée_, +each consisting of three divisions, and commanded by an officer with +the rank of lieutenant-general. Longstreet remained at the head of his +former corps, Ewell succeeded Jackson in command of "Jackson's old +corps," and A.P. Hill was assigned to a third corps made up of +portions of the two others. The infantry was thus rearranged in a +manner to increase greatly its efficiency, and the artillery arm +was entirely reorganized. The old system of assigning one or more +batteries or battalions to each division or corps was done away with, +and the artillery of the army was made a distinct command, and placed +under General W.N. Pendleton, a brave and energetic officer, who was +thenceforward Lee's "chief of artillery." The last arm, the cavalry, +was also increased in efficiency; and, on the last day of May, +General Lee had the satisfaction of finding himself in command of a +well-equipped and admirably-officered army of sixty-eight thousand +three hundred and fifty-two bayonets, and nearly ten thousand cavalry +and artillery--in all, about eighty thousand men. Never before had +the Southern army had present for duty, as fighting men, so large a +number, except just before the battles on the Chickahominy. There was, +however, this great difference between the army then and at this time: +in those first months of 1862, it was made up largely of raw troops +who had never heard the discharge of a musket in their lives: while +now, in May, 1863 the bulk of the army consisted of Lee's veterans, +men who had followed him through the fire of Manassas, Sharpsburg, +Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, and could be counted on +to effect any thing not absolutely beyond human power. General +Longstreet, conversing after the war with a gentleman of the North, +declared as much. The army at that time, he said, was in a condition +to undertake _any thing_. + + + + +X. + +LEE'S PLANS AND OBJECTS. + + +The great game of chess was now about to commence, and, taking an +illustration from that game, General Lee is reported to have said that +he believed he would "swap queens," that is, advance and attempt to +capture the city of Washington, leaving General Hooker at liberty, if +he chose so to do, to seize in turn upon Richmond. What the result of +so singular a manoeuvre would have been, it is impossible to say; it +would certainly have proved one of the strangest incidents of a war +fruitful in varied and shifting events. + +Such a plan of operations, however, if ever seriously contemplated +by Lee, was speedily abandoned. He nowhere makes mention of any such +design in his published reports, and he probably spoke of it only in +jest. His real aim in the great movement now about to commence, is +stated with brevity and reserve--then absolutely necessary--but also +with sufficient clearness, in his official report. The position of +the enemy opposite Fredericksburg was, he says, such as to render an +attack upon him injudicious. It was, therefore, desirable to manoeuvre +him out of it--force him to return toward Maryland--and thus free +the country of his forces. A further result was expected from this +movement. The lower Shenandoah Valley was occupied by the enemy under +General Milroy, who, with his headquarters at Winchester, harassed the +whole region, which he ruled with a rod of iron. With the withdrawal +of the Federal army under General Hooker, and before the advance of +the Confederates, General Milroy would also disappear, and the fertile +fields of the Valley be relieved. The whole force of the enemy would +thus, says Lee, "be compelled to leave Virginia, and possibly to draw +to its support troops designed to operate against other parts of the +country." He adds: "In this way it was supposed that the enemy's plan +of campaign for the summer would be broken up, and part of the season +of active operations be consumed in the formation of new combinations +and the preparations that they would require. In addition to these +advantages, it was hoped that other valuable results might be attained +by military success," that is to say, by a battle which Lee intended +to fight when circumstances were favorable. That he expected to fight, +not merely to manoeuvre the enemy from Virginia, is apparent from +another sentence of the report. "It was thought," he says, "that the +corresponding movements on the part of the enemy, to which those +contemplated by us would probably give rise, might _offer a fair +opportunity to strike a blow at the army therein, commanded by General +Hooker_" the word "therein" referring to the region "north of the +Potomac." In the phrase, "other valuable results which might be +attained by military success," the reference is plainly to the +termination of the contest by a treaty of peace, based upon the +independence of the South. + +These sentences, taken from the only publication ever made by Lee +on the subject of the Gettysburg campaign, express guardedly, but +distinctly, his designs. He aimed to draw General Hooker north of the +Potomac, clear the Valley, induce the enemy to send troops in other +quarters to the assistance of the main Federal army, and, when the +moment came, attack General Hooker, defeat him if possible, and thus +end the war. That a decisive defeat of the Federal forces at that time +in Maryland or Pennsylvania, would have virtually put an end to the +contest, there seems good reason to believe. Following the Southern +victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, a third bloody +disaster would, in all human probability, have broken the resolution +of the Federal authorities. With Lee thundering at the gates of +Washington or Philadelphia, and with the peace party encouraged to +loud and importunate protest, it is not probable that the war would +have continued. Intelligent persons in the North are said to have so +declared, since the war, and the declaration seems based upon good +sense. + +Before passing from this necessary preface to the narrative of events, +it is proper to add that, in the contemplated battle with General +Hooker, when he had drawn him north of the Potomac, Lee did not intend +to assume a _tactical offensive_, but to force the Federal commander, +if possible, to make the attack. [Footnote: "It had not been intended +to fight a general battle at such a distance from our base, unless +attacked by the enemy."--_Lee's Report_] From this resolution he was +afterward induced by circumstances to depart, and the result is known. + +What is above written will convey to the reader a clear conception of +Lee's views and intentions in undertaking his last great offensive +campaign; and we now proceed to the narrative of the movements of the +two armies, and the battle of Gettysburg. + + + + +XI. + +THE CAVALRY-FIGHT AT FLEETWOOD. + + +Lee began his movement northward on the 3d day of June, just one month +after the battle of Chancellorsville. From this moment to the time +when his army was concentrated in the vicinity of Gettysburg, his +operations were rapid and energetic, but with a cautious regard to the +movements of the enemy. + +Pursuing his design of manoeuvring the Federal army out of Virginia, +without coming to action, Lee first sent forward one division of +Longstreet's corps in the direction of Culpepper, another then +followed, and, on the 4th and 5th of June, Ewell's entire corps was +sent in the same direction--A.P. Hill remaining behind on the south +bank of the Rappahannock, near Fredericksburg, to watch the enemy +there, and bar the road to Richmond. These movements became speedily +known to General Hooker, whose army lay north of the river near that +point, and on the 5th he laid a pontoon just below Fredericksburg, +and crossed about a corps to the south bank, opposite Hill. This +threatening demonstration, however, was not suffered by Lee to arrest +his own movements. Seeing that the presence of the enemy there was +"intended for the purpose of observation rather than attack," and only +aimed to check his operations, he continued the withdrawal of his +troops, by way of Culpepper, in the direction of the Shenandoah +Valley. + +A brilliant pageant, succeeded by a dramatic and stirring incident, +was now to prelude the march of Lee into the enemy's territory. On +the 8th of June, the day of the arrival of Lee's head of column in +Culpepper, a review of Stuart's cavalry took place in a field east of +the court-house. The review was a picturesque affair. General Lee was +present, sitting his horse, motionless, on a little knoll--the erect +figure half concealed by the short cavalry-cape falling from his +shoulders, and the grave face overshadowed by the broad gray +hat--while above him, from a lofty pole, waved the folds of a large +Confederate flag. The long column of about eight thousand cavalry was +first drawn up in line, and afterward passed in front of Lee at a +gallop--Stuart and his staff-officers leading the charge with sabres +at tierce point, a species of military display highly attractive to +the gallant and joyous young commander. The men then charged in mimic +battle the guns of the "Stuart Horse-Artillery," which were posted +upon an adjoining hill; and, as the column of cavalry approached, +the artillerists received them with a thunderous discharge of blank +ammunition, which rolled like the roar of actual battle among the +surrounding hills. This sham-fight was kept up for some time, and no +doubt puzzled the enemy on the opposite shore of the Rappahannock. On +the next morning--either in consequence of a design formed before the +review, or to ascertain what this discharge of artillery meant--two +divisions of Federal cavalry, supported by two brigades of "picked +infantry," were sent across the river at Kelly's and Beverley's Fords, +east of the court-house, to beat up the quarters of Stuart and find +what was going on in the Southern camps. + +The most extensive cavalry-fight, probably, of the whole war, +followed. One of Stuart's brigades, near Beverley's Ford, was nearly +surprised and resolutely attacked at daylight by Buford's division, +which succeeded in forcing back the brigade a short distance toward +the high range called Fleetwood Hill, in the rear. From this eminence, +where his headquarters were established, Stuart went to the front at a +swift gallop, opened a determined fire of artillery and sharp-shooters +upon the advancing enemy, and sent Hampton's division to attack them +on their left. Meanwhile, however, the enemy were executing a rapid +and dangerous movement against Stuart's, rear. General Gregg, +commanding the second Federal cavalry division, crossed at Kelly's +Ford below, passed the force left in that quarter, and came in +directly on Stuart's rear, behind Fleetwood Hill. In the midst of the +hard fight in front, Stuart was called now to defend his rear. He +hastened to do so by falling back and meeting the enemy now charging +the hill. The attack was repulsed, and the enemy's artillery charged +in turn by the Southerners. This was captured and recaptured two or +three times, but at last remained in the hands of Stuart. + +General Gregg now swung round his right, and prepared to advance +along the eastern slope of the hill. Stuart had, however, posted his +artillery there, and, as the Federal line began to move, arrested +it with a sudden and destructive fire of shell. At the same time a +portion of Hampton's division, under the brave Georgian, General +P.M.B. Young, was ordered to charge the enemy. The assault was +promptly made with the sabre, unaided by carbine or pistol fire, and +Young cut down or routed the force in front of him, which dispersed +in disorder toward the river. The dangerous assault on the rear of +Fleetwood Hill was thus repulsed, and the advance of the enemy on the +left, near the river, met with the same ill success. General W.H.F. +Lee, son of the commanding general, gallantly charged them in that +quarter, and drove them back to the Rappahannock, receiving a severe +wound, which long confined him to his bed. Hampton had followed the +retreating enemy on the right, under the fire of Stuart's guns from +Fleetwood Hill; and by nightfall the whole force had recrossed the +Rappahannock, leaving several hundred dead and wounded upon the field. +[Footnote: The Southern loss was also considerable. Colonel Williams +was killed, Generals Lee and Butler severely wounded--the latter +losing his foot--and General Stuart's staff had been peculiarly +unfortunate. Of the small group of officers, Captain Farley was +killed, Captain White wounded, and Lieutenant Goldsborough captured. +The Federal force sustained a great loss in the death of the gallant +Colonel Davis, of the Eighth New-York Cavalry, and other officers.] + +This reconnoissance in force--the Federal numbers probably amounting +to fifteen thousand--had no other result than the discovery of the +fact that Lee had infantry in Culpepper. Finding that the event of the +fight was critical, General Lee had moved a body of infantry in the +direction of the field of action, and the gleam of the bayonets was +seen by the enemy. The infantry was not, however, engaged on either +side, unless the Federal infantry participated in the initial skirmish +near Beverley's Ford, and General Lee's numbers and position were not +discovered. + +We have dwelt with some detail upon this cavalry combat, which was an +animated affair, the hand-to-hand encounter of nearly twenty thousand +horsemen throughout a whole day. General Stuart was censured at the +time for allowing himself to be "surprised," and a ball at Culpepper +Court-House, at which some of his officers were present several days +before, was pointed to as the origin of this surprise. The charge was +wholly unjust, Stuart not having attended the ball. Nor was there any +truth in the further statement that "his headquarters were captured" +in consequence of his negligence. His tents on Fleetwood Hill were all +sent to the rear soon after daylight; nothing whatever was found there +but a section of the horse-artillery, who fought the charging cavalry +with sabres and sponge-staffs over the guns; that Fleetwood Hill +was at one time in the hands of the enemy, was due not to Stuart's +negligence, but to the numbers and excellent soldiership of General +Gregg, who made the flank and rear attack while Stuart was breasting +that in front. + +These detached statements, which may seem unduly minute, are made in +justice to a brave soldier, who can no longer defend himself. + + + + +XII. + +THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. + + +This attempt of the enemy to penetrate his designs had not induced +General Lee to interrupt the movement of his infantry toward the +Shenandoah Valley. The Federal corps sent across the Rappahannock at +Fredericksburg, still remained facing General Hill; and, two days +after the Fleetwood fight. General Hooker moved up the river with his +main body, advancing the Third Corps to a point near Beverley's Ford. +But these movements were disregarded by Lee. On the same day Ewell's +corps moved rapidly toward Chester Gap, passed through that defile in +the mountain, pushed on by way of Front Royal, and reached Winchester +on the evening of the 13th, having in three days marched seventy +miles. + +The position of the Southern army now exposed it to very serious +danger, and at first sight seemed to indicate a deficiency of +soldiership in the general commanding it. In face of an enemy whose +force was at least equal to his own,[Footnote: General Hooker stated +his "effective" at this time to have been diminished to eighty +thousand infantry.] Lee had extended his line until it stretched over +a distance of about one hundred miles. When Ewell came in sight of +Winchester, Hill was still opposite Fredericksburg, and Longstreet +half-way between the two in Culpepper. Between the middle and rear +corps was interposed the Rapidan River, and between the middle and +advanced corps the Blue Ridge Mountains. General Hooker's army was on +the north bank of the Rappahannock, well in hand, and comparatively +massed, and the situation of Lee's army seemed excellent for the +success of a sudden blow at it. + +It seems that the propriety of attacking the Southern army while +thus _in transitu_, suggested itself both to General Hooker and to +President Lincoln, but they differed as to the point and object of the +attack. In anticipation of Lee's movement, General Hooker had written +to the President, probably suggesting a counter-movement across the +Rappahannock, somewhere near Fredericksburg, to threaten Richmond, and +thus check Lee's advance. This, however. President Lincoln refused to +sanction. + +"In case you find Lee coming to the north of the Rappahannock," +President Lincoln wrote to General Hooker, "I would by no means cross +to the south of it. I would not take any risk of being entangled upon +the river, _like an ox jumped half over a fence, and liable to be torn +by dogs, front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick +the other_" + +Five days afterward the President wrote: "I think Lee's army, and not +Richmond, is your true objective point. If he comes toward the Upper +Potomac, fight him when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, +_fret him and fret him_." + +When intelligence now reached Washington that the head of Lee's column +was approaching the Upper Potomac, while the rear was south of the +Rappahannock, the President wrote to General Hooker: "_If the head of +Lee's army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the plank road_ +between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the _animal must be very +slim somewhere--could you not break him?_" + +General Hooker did not seem to be able to determine upon a decisive +course of action, in spite of the tempting opening presented to him by +Lee. It would seem that nothing could have been plainer than the good +policy of an attack upon Hill at Fredericksburg, which would certainly +have checked Lee's movement by recalling Longstreet from Culpepper, +and Ewell from the Valley. But this bold operation did not appear to +commend itself to the Federal authorities. Instead of reënforcing the +corps sent across at Fredericksburg and attacking Hill, General Hooker +withdrew the corps, on the 13th, to the north bank of the river, got +his forces together, and began to fall back toward Manassas, and even +remained in ignorance, it seems, of all connected with his adversary's +movements. Even as late as the 17th of June, his chief-of-staff, +General Butterfield, wrote to one of his officers; "Try and hunt up +somebody from Pennsylvania who knows something, and has a cool enough +head to judge what is the actual state of affairs there with regard to +the enemy. _My impression is, that Lee's movement on the Upper Potomac +is a cover for a cavalry-raid on the south side of the river.... We +cannot go boggling around until we know what we are going after._" + +Such was the first result of Lee's daring movement to transfer +military operations to the region north of the Potomac. A Northern +historian has discerned in his plan of campaign an amount of boldness +which "seemed to imply a great contempt for his opponent." This +is perhaps a somewhat exaggerated statement of the case. Without +"boldness" a commander is but half a soldier, and it may be declared +that a certain amount of that quality is absolutely essential to +successful military operations. But the question is, Did Lee expose +himself, by these movements of his army, to probable disaster, if his +adversary--equal to the occasion--struck at his flank? A failure of +the campaign of invasion would probably have resulted from such an +attack either upon Hill at Fredericksburg, or upon Longstreet in +Culpepper, inasmuch as Ewell's column, in that event, must have fallen +back. But a _defeat_ of the combined forces of Hill and Longstreet, +who were within supporting distance of each other, was not an event +which General Hooker could count upon with any degree of certainty. +The two corps numbered nearly fifty thousand men--that is to say, +two-thirds of the Southern army; General Hooker's whole force was +but about eighty thousand; and it was not probable that the +eighty thousand would be able to rout the fifty thousand, when at +Chancellorsville less than this last number of Southerners had +defeated one hundred and twenty thousand. + +There seems little reason to doubt that General Lee took this view of +the subject, and relied on Hill and Longstreet to unite and repulse +any attack upon them, while Ewell's great "raiding column" drove +forward into the heart of the enemy's territory. That the movement was +bold, there can certainly be no question; that it was a reckless and +hazardous operation, depending for its success, in Lee's eyes, solely +on the supposed inefficiency of General Hooker, does not appear. +These comments delay the narrative, but the subject is fruitful in +suggestion. It may be pardoned a Southern writer if he lingers over +this last great offensive movement of the Southern army. The last, it +was also one of the greatest and most brilliant. The war, therefore, +was to enter upon its second stage, in which the South was to simply +maintain the defensive. But Lee was terminating the first stage of +the contest by one of those great campaigns which project events and +personages in bold relief from the broad canvas, and illumine the +pages of history. + +Events were now in rapid progress. Ewell's column--the sharp head of +the Southern spear--reached Winchester on the 13th of June, and +Rodes, who had been detached at Front Royal to drive the enemy from +Berryville, reached the last-named village on the same day when the +force there retreated to Winchester. On the next morning Early's +division attacked the forces of Milroy at Winchester, stormed and +captured their "Star Fort," on a hill near the place, and so complete +was the rout of the enemy that their commander, General Milroy, had +scarcely time to escape, with a handful of his men, in the direction +of the Potomac. + +For this disaster the unfortunate officer was harshly criticised by +General Hooker, who wrote to his Government, "In my opinion, Milroy's +men will fight better _under a soldier_." + +After thus clearing the country around Winchester, Ewell advanced +rapidly on Martinsburg, where he took a number of prisoners and some +artillery. The captures in two days had been more than four thousand +prisoners and twenty-nine cannon, with four hundred horses and a large +amount of stores. Ewell continued then to advance, and, entering +Maryland, sent a portion of his cavalry, under General Imboden, +westward, to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and another +body, under General Jenkins, in advance, toward Chambersburg. +Meanwhile, the rest of the army was moving to join him. Hill, finding +that the enemy had disappeared from his front near Fredericksburg, +hastened to march from that vicinity, and was sent forward by Lee, on +the track of Ewell, passing in rear of Longstreet, who had remained +in Culpepper. The latter was now directed by Lee to move along +the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, and, by occupying Ashby's and +Snicker's Gaps, protect the flank of the column in the Valley from +attack--a work in which Stuart's cavalry, thrown out toward the enemy, +assisted. + +Such was the posture of affairs when General Hooker's chief-of-staff +became so much puzzled, and described the Federal army as "boggling +around," and not knowing "what they were going after." Lee's whole +movement, it appears, was regarded as a feint to "cover a cavalry-raid +on the south side of the river"--a strange conclusion, it would seem, +in reference to a movement of such magnitude. It now became absolutely +necessary that Lee's designs should be unmasked, if possible; and +to effect this object Stuart's cavalry force, covering the southern +flank, east of the Blue Ridge, must be driven back. This was +undertaken in a deliberate manner. Three corps of cavalry, with a +division of infantry and a full supply of artillery, were sent forward +from the vicinity of Manassas, to drive Stuart in on all the roads +leading to the mountain. A fierce struggle followed, in which Stuart, +who knew the importance of his position, fought the great force +opposed to him from every hill and knoll. But he was forced back +steadily, in spite of a determined resistance, and at Upperville a +hand-to-hand sabre-fight wound up the movement, in which the Federal +cavalry was checked, when Stuart fell back toward Paris, crowned the +mountain-side with his cannon, and awaited a final attack. This was +not, however, made. Night approaching, the Federal force fell back +toward Manassas, and on the next morning Stuart followed them, on the +same road over which he had so rapidly retreated, beyond Middleburg. + +Lee paid little attention to these operations on his flank east of +the mountains, but proceeded steadily, in personal command of his +infantry, in the direction of the Cumberland Valley. Ewell was moving +rapidly toward Harrisburg, with orders to "take" that place "if he +deemed his force adequate,"[1] General Jenkins, commanding cavalry, +preceding the advance of his infantry. He had thus pierced the enemy's +territory, and it was necessary promptly to support him. Hill +and Longstreet were accordingly directed to pass the Potomac at +Shepherdstown and Williamsport. The columns united at Hagerstown, and +on the 27th of June entered Chambersburg. + +[Footnote 1: This statement of Lee's orders is derived by the writer +from Lieutenant-General Ewell.] + +General Hooker had followed, crossing the Potomac, opposite Leesburg, +at about the moment when Lee's rear was passing from Maryland into +Pennsylvania. The direction of the Federal march was toward Frederick, +from which point General Hooker could move in either one of two +directions--either across the mountain toward Boonsboro, which would +throw him upon Lee's communications, or northward to Westminster, or +Gettysburg, which would lead to an open collision with the invading +army in a pitched battle. + +At this juncture of affairs, just as the Federal army was +concentrating near Frederick, General Hooker, at his own request, was +relieved from command. The occasion of this unexpected event seems to +have been a difference of opinion between himself and General +Halleck, the Federal general-in-chief, on the question whether the +fortifications at Harper's Ferry should or should not be abandoned. +The point at issue would appear to have been unimportant, but ill +feeling seems to have arisen: General Hooker resented the action +of the authorities, and requested to be relieved; his request was +complied with, and his place was filled by Major-General George G. +Meade. + +[Illustration: Map--Sketch of the Country Around GETTYSBURG.] + +General Meade, an officer of excellent soldiership, and enjoying the +repute of modesty and dignity, assumed command of the Federal army, +and proceeded rapidly in pursuit of Lee. The design of moving directly +across the South Mountain on Lee's communications, if ever entertained +by him, was abandoned. The outcry from Pennsylvania drew him perforce. +Ewell, with one division, had penetrated to Carlisle; and Early, with +another division, was at York; everywhere the horses, cattle, and +supplies of the country, had been seized upon for the use of the +troops; and General Meade was loudly called upon to go to the +assistance of the people thus exposed to the terrible rebels. His +movements were rapid. Assuming command on June 28th, he began to +move on the 29th, and on the 30th was approaching the town of +Gettysburg.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The movements of the Federal commander were probably +hastened by the capture, about this time at Hagerstown, of a dispatch +from President Davis to General Lee. Lee, it seems, had suggested +that General Beauregard should be sent to make a demonstration in the +direction of Culpepper, and by thus appearing to threaten Washington, +embarrass the movements of the Northern army. To this suggestion the +President is said to have replied that he had no troops to make such +a movement; and General Meade had thus the proof before him that +Washington was in no danger. The Confederacy was thus truly +unfortunate again, as in September, 1862, when a similar incident came +to the relief of General McClellan.] + + + + +XIII. + +LEE IN PENNSYLVANIA. + + +Lee, in personal command of the corps of Hill and Longstreet, had +meanwhile moved on steadily in the direction of the Susquehanna, and, +reaching Chambersburg on the 27th of June, "made preparations to +advance upon Harrisburg." + +At Chambersburg he issued an order to the troops, which should find a +place in every biography of this great soldier. The course pursued +by many of the Federal commanders in Virginia had been merciless and +atrocious beyond words. General Pope had ravaged the counties north +of the Rappahannock, especially the county of Culpepper, in a manner +which reduced that smiling region wellnigh to a waste; General Milroy, +with his headquarters at Winchester, had so cruelly oppressed the +people of the surrounding country as to make them execrate the very +mention of his name; and the excesses committed by the troops of these +officers, with the knowledge and permission of their commanders, had +been such, said a foreign writer, as to "cast mankind two centuries +back toward barbarism." + +Now, the tables were turned, and the world looked for a sudden and +merciless retaliation on the part of the Southerners. Lee was in +Pennsylvania, at the head of an army thirsting to revenge the +accumulated wrongs against their helpless families. At a word from +him the fertile territory of the North would be made to feel the iron +pressure of military rule, proceeding on the theory that retaliation +is a just principle to adopt toward an enemy. Fire, slaughter, and +outrage, would have burst upon Pennsylvania, and the black flag, which +had been virtually raised by Generals Pope and Milroy, would have +flaunted now in the air at the head of the Southern army. + +Instead of permitting this disgraceful oppression of non-combatants, +Lee issued, at Chambersburg, the following general order to his +troops: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +CHAMBERSBURG, PA., _June_ 27, 1863. + +The commanding general has observed with much satisfaction the conduct +of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results +commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested. No troops +could have displayed greater fortitude, or better performed the +arduous marches of the past ten days. Their conduct in other respects +has, with few exceptions, been in keeping with their character as +soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise. + +There have, however, been instances of forgetfulness, on the part of +some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of +the army, and that the duties exacted of us by civilization and +Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than +in our own. + +The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace could befall +the army, and, through it, our whole people, than the perpetration of +the barbarous outrages on the innocent and defenceless, and the wanton +destruction of private property, that have marked the course of the +enemy in our own country. Such proceedings not only disgrace the +perpetrators, and all connected with them, but are subversive of the +discipline and efficiency of the army, and destructive of the ends of +our present movements. It must be remembered that we make war only +upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our +people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all +whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemy, +without offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without +whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain. + +The commanding general, therefore, earnestly exhorts the troops to +abstain, with most scrupulous care, from unnecessary or wanton injury +to private property; and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and +bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against +the orders on this subject. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The noble maxims and truly Christian spirit of this paper will +remain the undying glory of Lee. Under what had been surely a bitter +provocation, he retained the calmness and forbearance of a great soul, +saying to his army: "The duties exacted of us by civilization and +Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than +in our own.... No greater disgrace could befall the army, and through +it our whole people, than the perpetration of outrage upon the +innocent and defenceless.... We make war only upon armed men, and +cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without +offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor +and support our efforts must all prove in vain." + +Such were the utterances of Lee, resembling those we might attribute +to the ideal Christian warrior; and, indeed, it was such a spirit that +lay under the plain uniform of the great Virginian. What he ordered +was enforced, and no one was disturbed in his person or property. Of +this statement many proofs could be given. A Pennsylvania farmer said +to a Northern correspondent, in reference to the Southern troops: "I +must say they acted like gentlemen, and, their cause aside, I would +rather have forty thousand rebels quartered on my premises than one +thousand Union troops." From the journal of Colonel Freemantle, +an English officer accompanying the Southern army, we take these +sentences: + +"In passing through Greencastle we found all the houses and windows +shut up, the natives in their Sunday clothes, standing at their doors +regarding the troops in a very unfriendly manner. I saw no straggling +into the houses, nor were any of the inhabitants disturbed or annoyed +by the soldiers. Sentries were placed at the doors of many of the +best houses, to prevent any officer or soldier from getting in on any +pretence.... I entered Chambersburg at 6 P.M.... Sentries were placed +at the doors of all the principal houses, and the town was cleared +of all but the military passing through or on duty.... No officer or +soldier under the rank of a general is allowed in Chambersburg without +a special order from General Lee, which he is very chary of giving, +and I hear of officers of rank being refused this pass.... I went into +Chambersburg again, and witnessed the singularly good behavior of the +troops toward the citizens. I heard soldiers saying to one another +that they did not like being in a town in which they were very +naturally detested. To any one who has seen, as I have, the ravages +of the Northern troops in Southern towns, this forbearance seems most +commendable and surprising." + +A Northern correspondent said of the course pursued by General +Jenkins, in command of Ewell's cavalry: "By way of giving the devil +his due, it must be said that, although there were over sixty acres +of wheat and eighty acres of corn and oats in the same field, he +protected it most carefully, and picketed his horses so that it could +not be injured. No fences were wantonly destroyed, poultry was not +disturbed, nor did he compliment our blooded cattle so much as to test +the quality of their steak and roast." + +Of the feeling of the troops these few words from the letter of an +officer written to one of his family will convey an idea: "I felt +when I first came here that I would like to revenge myself upon these +people for the devastation they have brought upon our own beautiful +home--that home where we could have lived so happily, and that we +loved so much, from which their vandalism has driven you and my +helpless little ones. But, though I had such severe wrongs and +grievances to redress, and such great cause for revenge, yet, when +I got among these people, I could not find it in my heart to molest +them." + +Such was the treatment of the people of Pennsylvania by the Southern +troops in obedience to the order of the commander-in-chief. Lee +in person set the example. A Southern journal made the sarcastic +statement that he became irate at the robbing of cherry-trees; and, if +he saw the _top rail_ of a fence lying upon the ground as he rode by, +would dismount and replace it with his own hands. + + + + +XIV. + +CONCENTRATION AT GETTYSBURG. + + +This was the position of the great adversaries in the last days of +June. Lee was at Chambersburg, in the Cumberland Valley, about to +follow Ewell, who was approaching Harrisburg. Early had captured York; +and the Federal army was concentrating rapidly on the flank of the +Southern army, toward Gettysburg. + +Lee had ordered the movement of Early upon York, with the object of +diverting the attention of the Federal commander from his own rear, +in the Cumberland Valley. The exact movements and position of General +Meade were unknown to him; and this arose in large measure from the +absence of Stuart's cavalry. This unfortunate incident has given rise +to much comment, and Stuart has been harshly criticised for an alleged +disobedience of Lee's plain orders. The question is an embarrassing +one. Lee's statement is as follows: "General Stuart was left to guard +the passes of the mountains" (Ashby's and other gaps in the Blue +Ridge, in Virginia), "and observe the movements of the enemy, whom +he was instructed to harass and impede as much as possible should +he attempt to cross the Potomac. _In that event, General Stuart was +directed to move into Maryland, crossing the Potomac east or west of +the Blue Ridge, as in his judgment should be best, and take position +on the right of our column as it advanced._" + +This order was certainly plain up to a certain point. Stuart was +to harass and embarrass the movements of the enemy, in case they +attempted to cross to the north bank of the Potomac. When they did +cross, he also was to pass the river, either east or west of the Blue +Ridge, "as in his judgment should seem best." So far the order was +unmistakable. The river was to be crossed at such point as Stuart +should select, either on the lower waters, or in the Valley. Lee +added, however, that this movement should be made in such a manner as +to enable Stuart to "take position on the right of our column as it +advanced"--the meaning appearing to be that the cavalry should move +_between_ the two armies, in order to guard the Southern flank as it +advanced into the Cumberland Valley. Circumstances arose, however, +which rendered it difficult for Stuart to move on the line thus +indicated with sufficient promptness to render his services valuable. +The enemy crossed at Leesburg while the Southern cavalry was near +Middleburg; and, from the jaded condition of his horses, Stuart feared +that he would be unable, in case he crossed above, to place his column +between the two armies then rapidly advancing. He accordingly took the +bold resolution of passing the Potomac _below_ Leesburg, designing to +shape his course due northward toward Harrisburg, the objective point +of the Southern army. This he did--crossing at Seneca Falls--but on +the march he was delayed by many incidents. Near Rockville he stopped +to capture a large train of Federal wagons; at Westminster and +Hanovertown he was temporarily arrested by combats with the Federal +cavalry; and, ignorant as he was of the concentration of Lee's troops +upon Gettysburg, he advanced rapidly toward Carlisle, where, in the +midst of an attack on that place, he was recalled by Lee. + +Such were the circumstances leading to, and the incidents attending, +this movement. The reader must form his own opinion of the amount +of blame to be justly attached to Stuart. He always declared, and +asserted in his report of these occurrences, that he had acted in +exact obedience to his orders; but, on the contrary, as appears from +General Lee's report, those orders were meant to prescribe a different +movement. He had marched in one sense on "the right" of the Southern +column "as it advanced;" but in another sense he had not done so. +Victory at Gettysburg would have silenced all criticism of this +difference of construction; but, unfortunately, the event was +different, and the strictures directed at Stuart were natural. The +absence of the cavalry unquestionably embarrassed Lee greatly; but, in +his report, he is moderate and guarded, as usual, in his expressions. +"The absence of cavalry," he says, "rendered it impossible to obtain +accurate information" of General Meade's movements; and "the march +toward Gettysburg was conducted more slowly than it would have been +had the movements of the Federal army been known." + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of GETTYSBURG] + +To return now to the movements of Lee's infantry, after the arrival of +the main body at Chambersburg. Lee was about to continue his advance +in the direction of Harrisburg, when, on the night of the 29th, his +scouts brought him intelligence that the Federal army was rapidly +advancing, and the head of the column was near the South Mountain. A +glance at the map will indicate the importance of this intelligence. +General Meade would be able, without difficulty, in case the Southern +army continued its march northward, to cross the South-Mountain range, +and place himself directly in Lee's rear, in the Cumberland Valley. +Then the Southern forces would be completely intercepted--General +Meade would be master of the situation--and Lee must retreat east of +the mountain or cut his way through the Federal army. + +A battle was thus clearly about to be forced upon the Southern +commander, and it only remained for him to so manoeuvre his army as to +secure a position in which he could receive the enemy's attack with +advantage. Lee accordingly put his column in motion across the +mountain toward Gettysburg, and, sending couriers to Ewell and Early +to return from Harrisburg and York toward the same point, made his +preparations to take position and fight. + +On the morning of the 1st day of July, this was then the condition of +affairs. General Meade was advancing with rapidity upon the town +of Gettysburg, and Lee was crossing the South Mountain, opposite +Chambersburg, to meet him. + +When the heads of the two columns came together in the vicinity of +Gettysburg, the thunders of battle began. + + + + +XV. + +THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHT AT GETTYSBURG. + + +The sanguinary struggle which now ensued between the Army of Northern +Virginia and the Army of the Potomac continued for three days, and the +character of these battles, together with their decisive results, have +communicated to the events an extraordinary interest. Every fact has +thus been preserved, and the incidents of the great combat, down to +the most minute details, have been placed upon record. The subject is, +indeed, almost embarrassed by the amount of information collected and +published; and the chief difficulty for a writer, at this late day, is +to select from the mass such salient events as indicate clearly the +character of the conflict. + +This difficulty the present writer has it in his power to evade, +in great measure, by confining himself mainly to the designs and +operations of General Lee. These were plain and simple. He had been +forced to relinquish his march toward the Susquehanna by the dangerous +position of General Meade so near his line of retreat; this rendered +a battle unavoidable; and Lee was now moving to accept battle, +designing, if possible, to secure such a position as would give him +the advantage in the contest. Before he succeeded in effecting this +object, battle was forced upon him--not by General Meade, but by +simple stress of circumstances. The Federal commander had formed the +same intention as that of his adversary--to accept, and not deliver, +battle--and did not propose to fight near Gettysburg. He was, rather, +looking backward to a strong position in the direction of Westminster, +when suddenly the head of his column became engaged near Gettysburg, +and this determined every thing. + +A few words are necessary to convey to the reader some idea of the +character of the ground. Gettysburg is a town, nestling down in a +valley, with so many roads centring in the place that, if a circle +were drawn around it to represent the circumference of a wheel, the +roads would resemble the spokes. A short distance south of the town is +a ridge of considerable height, which runs north and south, bending +eastward in the vicinity of Gettysburg, and describing a curve +resembling a hook. From a graveyard on this high ground it is called +Cemetery Hill, or Ridge. Opposite this ridge, looking westward, is a +second and lower range called Seminary Ridge. This extends also north +and south, passing west of Gettysburg. Still west of Seminary Ridge +are other still lower ranges, between which flows a small stream +called Willoughby Run; and beyond these, distant about ten miles, rise +the blue heights of the South Mountain. + +Across the South Mountain, by way of the village of Cashtown, Lee, on +the morning of the 1st of July, was moving steadily toward Gettysburg, +when Hill, holding the front, suddenly encountered the head of the +enemy's column in the vicinity of Willoughby Run. This consisted of +General Buford's cavalry division, which had pushed on in advance +of General Reynolds's infantry corps, the foremost infantry of the +Federal army, and now, almost before it was aware of Hill's presence, +became engaged with him. General Buford posted his horse-artillery +to meet Hill's attack, but it soon became obvious that the Federal +cavalry could not stand before the Southern infantry fire, and General +Reynolds, at about ten in the morning, hastening forward, reached +the field. An engagement immediately took place between the foremost +infantry divisions of Hill and Reynolds. A brigade of Hill's, from +Mississippi, drove back a Federal brigade, seizing upon its artillery; +but, in return, Archer's brigade was nearly surrounded, and several +hundred of the men captured. Almost immediately after this incident +the Federal forces sustained a serious loss; General Reynolds--one +of the most trusted and energetic lieutenants of General Meade--was +mortally wounded while disposing his men for action, and borne from +the field. The Federal troops continued, however, to fight with +gallantry. Some of the men were heard exclaiming, "We have come to +stay!" in reference to which, one of their officers afterward said, +"And a very large portion of them never left that ground."[1] + +[Footnote 1: General Doubleday: Report of Committee on the Conduct of +the War, Part I., p. 307.] + +Battle was now joined in earnest between the two heads of column, and +on each side reënforcements were sent forward to take part in this +unexpected encounter. Neither General Lee nor General Meade had +expected or desired it. Both had aimed, in manoeuvring their forces, +to select ground suitable for receiving instead of making an attack, +and now a blind chance seemed about to bring on a battle upon ground +unknown to both commanders. When the sound of the engagement was first +heard by Lee, he was in the rear of his troops at the headquarters +which Hill had just vacated, near Cashtown, under the South Mountain. +The firing was naturally supposed by him to indicate an accidental +collision with some body of the enemy's cavalry, and, when +intelligence reached him that Hill was engaged with the Federal +infantry, the announcement occasioned him the greatest astonishment. +General Meade's presence so near him was a circumstance completely +unknown to Lee, and certainly was not desired by him. But a small +portion of his forces were "up." Longstreet had not yet passed the +mountain, and the forces of General Ewell, although that officer +had promptly fallen back, in obedience to his orders, from the +Susquehanna, were not yet in a position to take part in the +engagement. Under these circumstances, if the whole of General Meade's +army had reached Gettysburg, directly in Lee's front, the advantage in +the approaching action must be largely in favor of the Federal army, +and a battle might result in a decisive Confederate defeat. + +No choice, however, was now left General Lee. The head of his +advancing column had come into collision with the enemy, and it was +impossible to retire without a battle. Lee accordingly ordered Hill's +corps to be closed up, and reënforcements to be sent forward rapidly +to the point of action. He then mounted his horse and rode in the +direction of the firing, guided by the sound, and the smoke which rose +above the tranquil landscape. + +It was a beautiful day and a beautiful season of the year. The fields +were green with grass, or golden with ripening grain, over which +passed a gentle breeze, raising waves upon the brilliant surface. The +landscape was broken here and there by woods; in the west rose the +blue range of the South Mountain; the sun was shining through showery +clouds, and in the east the sky was spanned by a rainbow. This +peaceful scene was now disturbed by the thundering of artillery and +the rattle of musketry. The sky was darkened, here and there, by +clouds of smoke rising from barns or dwelling-houses set on fire by +shell; and beneath rose red tongues of flame, roaring in response to +the guns. + +Each side had now sent forward reinforcements to support the +vanguards, and an obstinate struggle ensued, the proportions of the +fight gradually increasing, until the action became a regular battle. +Hill, although suffering from indisposition, which the pallor of his +face indicated, met the Federal attack with his habitual resolution. +He was hard pressed, however, when fortunately one of General Ewell's +divisions, under Rodes, débouched from the Carlisle road, running +northward from Gettysburg, and came to his assistance. Ewell had just +begun to move from Carlisle toward Harrisburg--his second division, +under Early, being at York--when a dispatch from Lee reached him, +directing him to return, and "proceed to Gettysburg or Cashtown, as +his circumstances might direct." He promptly obeyed, encamped within +about eight miles of Gettysburg on the evening of the 30th, and was +now moving toward Cashtown, where Johnson's division of his corps then +was, when Hill sent him word that he needed his assistance. Rodes was +promptly sent forward to the field of action. Early was ordered to +hurry back, and Rodes soon reached the battle-field, where he formed +his line on high ground, opposite the Federal right. + +The appearance of this important reënforcement relieved Hill, and +caused the enemy to extend his right to face Rodes. The Federal line +thus resembled a crescent, the left half, fronting Hill, toward the +northwest; and the right, half-fronting Rodes, toward the north--the +town of Gettysburg being in rear of the curve. An obstinate attack was +made by the enemy and by Rodes at nearly the same moment. The loss +on both sides was heavy, but Rodes succeeded in shaking the Federal +right, when Early made his appearance from the direction of York. This +compelled the Federal force to still farther extend its right, to meet +the new attack. The movement greatly weakened them. Rodes charged +their centre with impetuosity; Early came in on their right, with +Gordon's brigade in front, and under this combined attack the Federal +troops gave way, and retreated in great disorder to and through +Gettysburg, leaving the ground covered with their dead and wounded to +the number of about five thousand, and the same number of prisoners in +the hands of the Confederates. + +The first collision of the two armies had thus resulted in a clear +Southern victory, and it is to be regretted that this important +success was not followed up by the seizure of the Cemetery Range, +south of the town, which it was in the power of the Southern forces +at that time to do. To whom the blame--if blame there be--of this +failure, is justly chargeable, the writer of these pages is unable to +state. All that he has been able to ascertain with certainty is the +following: As soon as the Federal forces gave way, General Lee rode +forward, and at about four o'clock in the afternoon was posted on an +elevated point of Seminary Ridge, from which he could see the broken +lines of the enemy rapidly retreating up the slope of Cemetery Range, +in his front. The propriety of pursuit, with a view to seizing this +strong position, was obvious, and General Lee sent an officer of his +staff with a message to General Ewell, to the effect that "he could +see the enemy flying, that they were disorganized, and that it was +only necessary to push on vigorously, and the Cemetery heights were +ours." [Footnote: The officer who carried the order is our authority +for this statement.] Just about the moment, it would seem, when this +order was dispatched--about half-past four--General Hill, who had +joined Lee on the ridge, "received a message from General Ewell, +requesting him (Hill) to press the enemy in front, while he performed +the same operation on his right." This statement is taken from the +journal of Colonel Freemantle, who was present and noted the hour. He +adds: "The pressure was accordingly applied, in a mild degree, but the +enemy were too strongly posted, and it was too late in the evening +for a regular attack." General Ewell, an officer of great courage and +energy, is said to have awaited the arrival of his third division +(Johnson's) before making a decisive assault. Upon the arrival of +Johnson, about sunset, General Ewell prepared to advance and seize +upon the eastern terminus of the Cemetery Range, which commanded the +subsequent Federal position. At this moment General Lee sent him word +to "proceed with his troops to the [Confederate] right, in case he +could do nothing where he was;" he proceeded to General Lee's tent +thereupon to confer with him, and the result was that it was agreed +to first assault the hill on the right. It was now, however, after +midnight, and the attack was directed by Lee to be deferred until the +next morning. + +It was certainly unfortunate that the advance was not then made; but +Lee, in his report, attributes no blame to any one. "The attack," +he says, "was not pressed that afternoon, _the enemy's force being +unknown, and it being considered advisable to await the arrival of the +rest of our troops._" + +The failure to press the enemy immediately after their retreat, with +the view of driving them from and occupying Cemetery Heights, is +susceptible of an explanation which seems to retrieve the Southern +commander and his subordinates from serious criticism. The Federal +forces had been driven from the ground north and west of Gettysburg, +but it was seen now that the troops thus defeated constituted only +a small portion of General Meade's army, and Lee had no means of +ascertaining, with any degree of certainty, that the main body was not +near at hand. The fact was not improbable, and it was not known that +Cemetery Hill was not then in their possession. The wooded character +of the ground rendered it difficult for General Lee, even from his +elevated position on Seminary Ridge, to discover whether the heights +opposite were, or were not, held by a strong force. Infantry were +visible there; and in the plain in front the cavalry of General Buford +were drawn up, as though ready to accept battle. It was not until +after the battle that it was known that the heights might have been +seized upon--General Hancock, who had succeeded Reynolds, having, to +defend them, but a single brigade. This fact was not known to Lee; the +sun was now declining, and the advance upon Cemetery Hill was deferred +until the next day. + +When on the next morning, between daybreak and sunrise, General Lee, +accompanied by Hill, Longstreet, and Hood, ascended to the same point +on Seminary Ridge, and reconnoitred the opposite heights through his +field-glass, they were seen to be occupied by heavy lines of infantry +and numerous artillery. The moment had passed; the rampart in his +front bristled with bayonets and cannon. General Hancock, in command +of the Federal advance, had hastened back at nightfall to General +Meade, who was still some distance in rear, and reported the position +to be an excellent one for receiving the Southern attack. Upon this +information General Meade had at once acted; by one o'clock in the +morning his headquarters were established upon the ridge; and when +Lee, on Seminary Hill opposite, was reconnoitring the heights, the +great bulk of the Federal army was in position to receive his assault. + +The adversaries were thus face to face, and a battle could not well +be avoided. Lee and his troops were in high spirits and confident of +victory, but every advantage of position was seen to be on the side of +the enemy. + + + + +XVI. + +THE TWO ARMIES IN POSITION. + + +The morning of the 2d of July had arrived, and the two armies were in +presence of each other and ready for battle. The question was, which +of the great adversaries would make the attack. + +General Meade was as averse to assuming the offensive as his opponent. +Lee's statement on this subject has been given, but is here repeated: +"It had not been intended to fight a general battle," he wrote, "at +such a distance from our base, _unless attacked by the enemy_." +General Meade said before the war committee afterward, "It was my +desire to fight a defensive rather than an offensive battle," and he +adds the obvious explanation, that he was "satisfied his chances of +success were greater in a defensive battle than an offensive one." +There was this great advantage, however, on the Federal side, that +the troops were on their own soil, with their communications +uninterrupted, and could wait, while General Lee was in hostile +territory, a considerable distance from his base of supplies, and +must, for that reason, either attack his adversary or retreat. + +He decided to attack. To this decision he seems to have been impelled, +in large measure, by the extraordinary spirit of his troops, whose +demeanor in the subsequent struggle was said by a Federal officer +to resemble that of men "drunk on champagne." General Longstreet +described the army at this moment as able, from the singular afflatus +which bore it up, to undertake "any thing," and this sanguine spirit +was the natural result of a nearly unbroken series of victories. At +Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and in the preliminary struggle of +Gettysburg, they had driven the enemy before them in disorder, and, on +the night succeeding this last victory, both officers and men spoke of +the coming battle "as a certainty, and the universal feeling in the +army was one of profound contempt for an enemy whom they had beaten so +constantly, and under so many disadvantages."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Colonel Freemantle. He was present, and speaks from +observation.] Contempt of an adversary is dangerous, and pride goes +before a fall. The truth of these pithy adages was now about to be +shown. + +General Lee, it is said, shared the general confidence of his troops, +and was carried away by it. He says in his report "Finding ourselves +unexpectedly confronted by the Federal army, it became a matter of +difficulty to withdraw through the mountain with our large trains; at +the same time, the country was unfavorable for collecting supplies +while in the presence of the enemy's main body, as he was enabled to +restrain our foraging-parties by occupying the passes of the mountains +with regular and local troops. A battle thus became in a measure +unavoidable." But, even after the battle, when the Southern army +was much weaker, it was found possible, without much difficulty, to +"withdraw through the mountains" with the trains. A stronger motive +than this is stated in the next sentence of General Lee's report:" +_Encouraged by the successful issue of the engagement of the first +day, and in view of the valuable results that would ensue from the +defeat of the army of General Meade_, it was thought advisable to +renew the attack." The meaning of the writer of these words is plain. +The Federal troops had been defeated with little difficulty in the +first day's fight; it seemed probable that a more serious conflict +would have similar results; and a decisive victory promised to end the +war. + +General Meade, it seems, scarcely expected to be attacked. He +anticipated a movement on Lee's part, over the Emmetsburg road +southward. [Footnote: Testimony of General Meade before the war +committee.] By giving that direction to his army, General Lee would +have forced his adversary to retire from his strong position on +Cemetery Hill, or come out and attack him; whether, however, it was +desirable on General Lee's part to run the risk of such an attack on +the Southern column _in transitu_, it is left to others better able +than the present writer to determine. + +This unskilled comment must pass for what it is worth. It is easy, +after the event, for the smallest to criticise the greatest. Under +whatever influences, General Lee determined not to retreat, either +through the South Mountain or toward Emmetsburg, but marshalled his +army for an attack on the position held by General Meade. + +The Southern lines were drawn up on Seminary Ridge, and on the ground +near Gettysburg. Longstreet's corps was posted on the right, opposite +the Federal left, near the southern end of Cemetery Ridge. Next came +Hill's corps, extending along the crest nearly to Gettysburg. There +it was joined by Ewell's line, which, passing through the town, bent +round, adapting itself to the position of the Federal right which held +the high ground, curving round in the shape of a hook, at the north +end of the ridge. + +The Federal lines thus occupied the whole Cemetery Range--which, being +higher, commanded Seminary Ridge--and consisted, counting from right +to left, of the troops of Generals Howard, Hancock, Sickles, Sykes, +and Sedgwick; the two latter forming a strong reserve to guard the +Federal left. The position was powerful, as both flanks rested upon +high ground, which gave every advantage to the assailed party; but on +the Federal left an accidental error, it seems, had been committed by +General Sickles. He had advanced his line to a ridge in front of the +main range, which appeared to afford him a better position; but this +made it necessary to retire the left wing of his corps, to cover the +opening in that direction. The result was, an angle--the effect +of which is to expose troops to serious danger--and this faulty +disposition of the Federal left seems to have induced General Lee to +direct his main attack at the point in question, with the view of +breaking the Federal line, and seizing upon the main ridge in rear. +"In front of General Longstreet," he says, "the enemy held a position +from which, if he could be driven, it was thought that our army could +be used to advantage in assailing the more elevated ground beyond." In +order to coöperate in this, the main attack, Ewell was ordered at the +same time to assail the Federal right toward Gettysburg, and Hill +directed to threaten their centre, and, if there were an opening, make +a real attack. These demonstrations against the enemy's right and +centre, Lee anticipated, would prevent him from reënforcing his left. +Longstreet would thus, he hoped, be "enabled to reach the west of the +ridge" in rear of the Federal line; and General Meade afterward said, +"If they had succeeded in occupying that, it would have prevented +me from holding any of the ground which I subsequently held at the +last"--that is to say, that he would have been driven from the entire +Cemetery Range. + +Such was the position of the two adversaries, and such the design of +Lee, on the 2d of July, when the real struggle was about to begin. + + + + +XVII. + +THE SECOND DAY. + + +Throughout the forenoon of the day about to witness one of those great +passages of arms which throw so bloody a glare upon the pages of +history, scarcely a sound disturbed the silence, and it was difficult +to believe that nearly two hundred thousand men were watching each +other across the narrow valley, ready at the word to advance and do +their best to tear each other to pieces. + +During all these long hours, when expectation and suspense were +sufficient to try the stoutest nerves, the two commanders were +marshalling their lines for the obstinate struggle which was plainly +at hand. General Meade, who knew well the ability of his opponent, was +seeing, in person, to every thing, and satisfying himself that +his lines were in order to receive the attack. Lee was making his +preparations to commence the assault, upon which, there could be +little doubt, the event of the whole war depended. + +From the gallantry which the Federal troops displayed in this battle, +they must have been in good heart for the encounter. It is certain +that the Southern army had never been in better condition for a +decisive conflict. We have spoken of the extraordinary confidence +of the men, in themselves and in their commander. This feeling now +exhibited itself either in joyous laughter and the spirit of jesting +among the troops, or in an air of utter indifference, as of men sure +of the result, and giving it scarcely a thought. The swarthy gunners, +still begrimed with powder from the work of the day before, lay down +around the cannon in position along the crest, and passed the moments +in uttering witticisms, or in slumber; and the lines of infantry, +seated or lying, musket in hand, were as careless. The army was +plainly ready, and would respond with alacrity to Lee's signal. Of the +result, no human being in this force of more than seventy thousand men +seemed to have the least doubt. + +Lee was engaged during the whole morning and until past noon in +maturing his preparations for the assault which he designed making +against the enemy's left in front of Longstreet. All was not ready +until about four in the afternoon; then he gave the word, and +Longstreet suddenly opened a heavy artillery-fire on the position +opposite him. At this signal the guns of Hill opened from the ridge +on his left, and Ewell's artillery on the Southern left in front of +Gettysburg thundered in response. Under cover of his cannon-fire, +Longstreet then advanced his lines, consisting of Hood's division on +the right, and McLawe's division on the left, and made a headlong +assault upon the Federal forces directly in his front. + +The point aimed at was the salient, formed by the projection of +General Sickles's line forward to the high ground known as "The Peach +Orchard." Here, as we have already said, the Federal line of battle +formed an angle, with the left wing of Sickles's corps bending +backward so as to cover the opening between his line and the main +crest in his rear. Hood's division swung round to assail the portion +of the line thus retired, and so rapid was the movement of this +energetic soldier, that in a short space of time he pushed his right +beyond the Federal left flank, had pierced the exposed point, and was +in direct proximity to the much-coveted "crest of the ridge," upon the +possession of which depended the fate of the battle. Hood was fully +aware of its importance, and lost not a moment in advancing to seize +it. His troops, largely composed of those famous Texas regiments which +Lee had said "fought grandly and nobly," and upon whom he relied "in +all tight places," responded to his ardent orders: a small run was +crossed, the men rushed up the slope, and the crest was almost in +their very grasp. + +Success at this moment would have decided the event of the battle +of Gettysburg, and in all probability that of the war. All that was +needed was a single brigade upon either side--a force sufficient to +seize the crest, for neither side held it--and with this brigade a +rare good fortune, or rather the prompt energy of a single officer, +according to Northern historians, supplied the Federal commander. +Hood's line was rushing up with cheers to occupy the crest, which here +takes the form of a separate peak, and is known as "Little Round Top," +when General Warren, chief-engineer of the army, who was passing, saw +the importance of the position, and determined, at all hazards, to +defend it. He accordingly ordered the Federal signal-party, which had +used the peak as a signal-station, but were hastily folding up their +flags, to remain where they were, laid violent hands upon a brigade +which was passing, and ordered it to occupy the crest; and, when +Hood's men rushed up the rocky slope with yells of triumph, they were +suddenly met by a fusillade from the newly-arrived brigade, delivered +full in their faces. A violent struggle ensued for the possession of +the heights. The men fought hand to hand on the summit, and the issue +remained for some time doubtful. At last it was decided in favor of +the Federal troops, who succeeded in driving Hood's men from the hill, +the summit of which was speedily crowned with artillery, which opened +a destructive fire upon the retreating Southerners. They fell back +sullenly, leaving the ground strewed with their dead and wounded. Hood +had been wounded, and many of his best officers had fallen. For an +instant he had grasped in his strong hand the prize which would have +been worth ten times the amount of blood shed; but he had been unable +to retain his hold; he was falling back from the coveted crest, +pursued by that roar of the enemy's cannon which seemed to rejoice in +his discomfiture. + +An obstinate struggle was meanwhile taking place in the vicinity of +the Peach Orchard, where the left of Hood and the division of McLaws +had struck the front of General Sickles, and were now pressing his +line back steadily toward the ridge in his rear. In spite of resolute +resistance the Federal troops at this point were pushed back to a +wheat-field in the rear of the Peach Orchard, and, following up this +advantage, Longstreet charged them and broke their line, which fell +back in disorder toward the high ground in rear. In this attack McLaws +was assisted by Hill's right division--that of Anderson. With this +force Longstreet continued to press forward, and, piercing the Federal +line, seemed about to inflict upon them a great disaster by seizing +the commanding position occupied by the Federal left. Nothing appears +to have saved them at this moment from decisive defeat but the +masterly concentration of reënforcements after reënforcements at the +point of danger. The heavy reserves under Generals Sykes and Sedgwick +were opposite this point, and other troops were hastened forward to +oppose Longstreet. This reënforcement was continuous throughout the +entire afternoon. In spite of Lee's demonstrations in other quarters +to direct attention, General Meade--driven by necessity--continued to +move fresh troops incessantly to protect his left; and success finally +came as the reward of his energy and soldiership. Longstreet found his +weary troops met at every new step in advance by fresh lines, and, as +night had now come, he discontinued the attack. The Federal lines had +been driven considerably beyond the point which they had held before +the assault, and were now east of the wheat-field, where some of the +hardest fighting of the day had taken place, but, in spite of this +loss of ground, they had suffered no serious disaster, and, above +all, Lee had not seized upon that "crest of the ridge," which was the +keystone of the position. + +Thus Longstreet's attack had been neither a success nor a failure. He +had not accomplished all that was expected, but he had driven back the +enemy from their advanced position, and held strong ground in their +front. A continuance of the assault was therefore deferred until the +next day--night having now come--and General Longstreet ordered the +advance to cease, and the firing to be discontinued. + +During the action on the right, Hill had continued to make heavy +demonstrations on the Federal centre, and Ewell had met with excellent +success in the attack, directed by Lee, to be made against the enemy's +right. This was posted upon the semicircular eminence, a little +southeast of Gettysburg, and the Federal works were attacked by Ewell +about sunset. With Early's division on his right, and Johnson's on +his left, Ewell advanced across the open ground in face of a heavy +artillery-fire, the men rushed up the slope, and in a brief space of +time the Federal artillerists and infantry were driven from the works, +which at nightfall remained in Ewell's hands. + +Such had been the fate of the second struggle around Gettysburg. The +moon, which rose just as the fighting terminated, threw its ghastly +glare upon a field where neither side had achieved full success. + +Lee had not failed, and he had not succeeded. He had aimed to drive +the Federal forces from the Cemetery Range, and had not been able to +effect that object; but they had been forced back upon both their +right and left, and a substantial advantage seemed thus to have been +gained. That the Confederate success was not complete, seems to have +resulted from the failure to seize the Round-Top Hill. The crisis +of the battle had undoubtedly been the moment when Hood was so near +capturing this position--in reference to the importance of which we +quoted General Meade's own words. It was saved to the Federal army by +the presence of mind, it seems, of a single officer, and the gallantry +of a single brigade. Such are the singular chances of battle, in which +the smallest causes so often effect the greatest results. + +General Lee, in company with General Hill, had, during the battle, +occupied his former position on Seminary Ridge, near the centre of his +line--quietly seated, for the greater portion of the time, upon the +stump of a tree, and looking thoughtfully toward the opposite heights +which Longstreet was endeavoring to storm. His demeanor was entirely +calm and composed. An observer would not have concluded that he was +the commander-in-chief. From time to time he raised his field-glass to +his eyes, and rising said a few words to General Hill or General Long, +of his staff. After this brief colloquy, he would return to his seat +on the stump, and continue to direct his glass toward the wooded +heights held by the enemy. A notable circumstance, and one often +observed upon other occasions, was that, during the entire action, he +scarcely sent an order. During the time Longstreet was engaged--from +about half-past four until night--he sent but one message, and +received but one report. Having given full directions to his able +lieutenants, and informed them of the objects which he desired to +attain, he, on this occasion as upon others, left the execution of his +orders to them, relying upon their judgment and ability. + +A singular incident occurred at this moment, which must have diverted +Lee, temporarily, from his abstracted mood. In the midst of the most +furious part of the cannonade, when the air was filled with exploding +shell, a Confederate band of music, between the opposing lines, just +below General Lee's position, began defiantly playing polkas and +waltzes on their instruments. The incident was strange in the midst +of such a hurly-burly. The bloody battle-field seemed turned into a +ballroom. + +With nightfall the firing sunk to silence. The moon had risen, and the +pale light now lit up the faces of the dead and wounded of both sides. + +Lee's first great assault had failed to secure the full results which +he had anticipated from it. + + + + +XVIII. + +THE LAST CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. + + +The weird hours of the moonlit night succeeding the "second day at +Gettysburg" witnessed a consultation between Lee and his principal +officers, as to the propriety of renewing the attack on the Federal +position, or falling back in the direction of the Potomac. In favor of +the latter course there seemed to be many good reasons. The supplies, +both of provisions and ammunition, were running short. The army, +although unshaken, had lost heavily in the obstinately-disputed +attack. In the event of defeat now, its situation might become +perilous, and the destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia was +likely to prove that of the Southern cause. On the other hand, the +results of the day's fighting, if not decisive, had been highly +encouraging. On both the Federal wings the Confederates had gained +ground, which they still held. Longstreet's line was in advance of the +Peach Orchard, held by the enemy on the morning of the second, +and Ewell was still rooted firmly, it seemed, in their works near +Gettysburg. These advantages were certainly considerable, and promised +success to the Southern arms, if the assault were renewed. But the +most weighty consideration prompting a renewal of the attack was the +condition of the troops. They were undismayed and unshaken either in +spirit or efficiency, and were known both to expect and to desire +a resumption of the assault. Even after the subsequent charge of +Pickett, which resulted so disastrously, the ragged infantry were +heard exclaiming: "We've not lost confidence in the old man! This +day's work won't do him no harm! Uncle Robert will get us into +Washington yet!" Add to this the fact that the issue of the second day +had stirred up in Lee himself all the martial ardor of his nature; +and there never lived a more thorough _soldier_, when he was fully +aroused, than the Virginian. All this soldiership of the man revolted +at the thought of retreating and abandoning his great enterprise. He +looked, on the one hand, at his brave army, ready at the word to again +advance upon the enemy--at that enemy scarce able on the previous +day to hold his position--and, weighing every circumstance in his +comprehensive mind, which "looked before and after," Lee determined on +the next morning to try a decisive assault upon the Federal troops; +to storm, if possible, the Cemetery Range, and at one great blow +terminate the campaign and the war. + +The powerful influences which we have mentioned, coöperating, shaped +the decision to which Lee had come. He would not retreat, but fight. +The campaign should not be abandoned without at least one great charge +upon the Federal position; and orders were now given for a renewal +of the attack on the next morning. "The general plan of attack," Lee +says, "was unchanged, except that one division and two brigades of +Hill's corps were ordered to support Longstreet." From these words it +is obvious that Lee's main aim now, as on the preceding day, was to +force back the Federal left in front of Longstreet, and seize the high +ground commanding the whole ridge in flank and reverse. To this +end Longstreet was reënforced, and the great assault was evidently +intended to take place in that quarter. But circumstances caused +an alteration, as will be seen, in Lee's plans. The centre, thus +weakened, was from stress of events to become the point of decisive +struggle. The assaults of the previous day had been directed against +the two extremities of the enemy; the assault of the third day, which +would decide the fate of the battle and the campaign, was to be the +furious rush of Pickett's division of Virginian troops at the enemy's +centre, on Cemetery Hill. + +A preliminary conflict, brought on by the Federal commander, took +place early in the morning. Ewell had continued throughout the night +to hold the enemy's breastworks on their right, from which he had +driven them in the evening. As dawn approached now, he was about to +resume the attack; and, in obedience to Lee's orders, attempt to +"dislodge the enemy" from other parts of the ridge, when General Meade +took the initiative, and opened upon him a furious fire of cannon, +which was followed by a determined infantry charge to regain the hill. +Ewell held his ground with the obstinate nerve which characterized +him, and the battle raged about four hours--that is, until about eight +o'clock. At that time, however, the pressure of the enemy became too +heavy to stand. General Meade succeeded in driving Ewell from the +hill, and the Federal lines were reëstablished on the commanding +ground which they had previously occupied. + +This event probably deranged, in some degree, General Lee's +plans, which contemplated, as we have seen, an attack by Ewell +contemporaneous with the main assault by Longstreet. Ewell was in no +condition at this moment to assume the offensive again; and the pause +in the fighting appears to have induced General Lee to reflect and +modify his plans. Throughout the hours succeeding the morning's +struggle, Lee, attended by Generals Hill and Longstreet, and their +staff-officers, rode along the lines, reconnoitring the opposite +heights, and the cavalcade was more than once saluted by bullets from +the enemy's sharp-shooters, and an occasional shell. The result of +the reconnoissance seems to have been the conclusion that the Federal +left--now strengthened by breastworks, behind which powerful reserves +lay waiting--was not a favorable point for attack. General Meade, +no doubt, expected an assault there; and, aroused to a sense of his +danger by the Confederate success of the previous day, had made every +preparation to meet a renewal of the movement. The Confederate left +and centre remained, but it seemed injudicious to think of attacking +from Ewell's position. A concentration of the Southern force there +would result in a dangerous separation of the two wings of the army; +and, in the event of failure, the enemy would have no difficulty in +descending and turning Lee's right flank, and thus interposing between +him and the Potomac. + +The centre only was left, and to this Lee now turned his attention. A +determined rush, with a strong column at Cemetery Hill in his front, +might wrest that point from the enemy. Then their line would be +pierced; the army would follow; Lee would be rooted on this commanding +ground, directly between the two Federal wings, upon which their own +guns might be turned, and the defeat of General Meade must certainly +follow. Such were, doubtless, the reflections of General Lee, as he +rode along the Seminary Range, scanning, through his field-glass, the +line of the Federal works. His decision was made, and orders were +given by him to prepare the column for the assault. For the hard +work at hand, Pickett's division of Virginian troops, which had just +arrived and were fresh, was selected. These were to be supported by +Heth's division of North Carolina troops, under General Pettigrew, who +was to move on Pickett's left; and a brigade of Hill's, under General +Wilcox, was to cover the right of the advancing column, and protect it +from a flank attack. + +The advance of the charging column was preceded by a tremendous +artillery-fire, directed from Seminary Ridge at the enemy's left and +centre. This began about an hour past noon, and the amount of thunder +thus unloosed will be understood from the statement that Lee employed +one hundred and forty-five pieces of artillery, and the enemy +replied with eighty--in all _two hundred and twenty-five_ guns, all +discharging at the same time. For nearly two hours this frightful +hurly-burly continued, the harsh roar reverberating ominously in the +gorges of the hills, and thrown back, in crash after crash, from the +rocky slopes of the two ridges. To describe this fire afterward, +the cool soldier, General Hancock, could find no other but the word +_terrific_. "Their artillery-fire," he says, "was the most terrific +cannonade I ever witnessed, and the most prolonged.... It was a +most terrific and appalling cannonade--one possibly hardly ever +paralleled." + +While this artillery-duel was in progress, the charging column was +being formed on the west of Seminary Ridge, opposite the Federal +centre on Cemetery Hill. Pickett drew up his line with Kemper's and +Garnett's brigades in front, and Armistead's brigade in rear. The +brigade under General Wilcox took position on the right, and on the +left was placed the division under Pettigrew, which was to participate +in the charge. The force numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand +men; but, as will be seen, nearly in the beginning of the action +Pickett was left alone, and thus his force of about five thousand was +all that went forward to pierce the centre of the Federal army. + +The opposing ridges at this point are about one mile asunder, and +across this space Pickett moved at the word, his line advancing +slowly, and perfectly "dressed," with its red battle-flags flying, and +the sunshine darting from the gun-barrels and bayonets. The two armies +were silent, concentrating their whole attention upon this slow and +ominous advance of men who seemed in no haste, and resolved to allow +nothing to arrest them. When the column had reached a point about +midway between the opposing heights the Federal artillery suddenly +opened a furious fire upon them, which inflicted considerable loss. +This, however, had no effect upon the troops, who continued to advance +slowly in the same excellent order, without exhibiting any desire +to return the fire. It was impossible to witness this steady and +well-ordered march under heavy fire without feeling admiration for the +soldiership of the troops who made it. Where shell tore gaps in the +ranks, the men quietly closed up, and the hostile front advanced in +the same ominous silence toward the slope where the real struggle, all +felt, would soon begin. + +They were within a few hundred yards of the hill, when suddenly a +rapid cannon-fire thundered on their right, and shell and canister +from nearly fifty pieces of artillery swept the Southern line, +enfilading it, and for an instant throwing the right into some +disorder. This disappeared at once, however. The column closed up, and +continued to advance, unmoved, toward the height. At last the moment +came. The steady "common-time" step had become "quick time;" this had +changed to "double-quick;" then the column rushed headlong at the +enemy's breastworks on the slope of the hill. As they did so, the real +thunder began. A fearful fire of musketry burst forth, and struck them +in the face, and this hurricane scattered the raw troops of Pettigrew +as leaves are scattered by a wind. That whole portion of the line gave +way in disorder, and fled from the field, which was strewed with their +dead; and, as the other supports had not kept up, the Virginians under +Pickett were left alone to breast the tempest which had now burst upon +them in all its fury. + +They returned the fire from the breastworks in their front with a +heavy volley, and then, with loud cheers, dashed at the enemy's works, +which they reached, stormed, and took possession of at the point of +the bayonet. Their loss, however, was frightful. Garnett was killed; +Armistead fell, mortally wounded, as he leaped on the breastworks, +cheering and waving his hat; Kemper was shot and disabled, and the +ranks of the Virginians were thinned to a handful. The men did not, +however, pause. The enemy had partially retreated, from their first +line of breastworks, to a second and stronger one about sixty yards +beyond, and near the crest; and here the Federal reserve, as Northern +writers state, was drawn up "four deep." This line, bristling with +bayonets and cannon, the Virginians now charged, in the desperate +attempt to storm it with the bayonet, and pierce, in a decisive +manner, the centre of the Federal army. But the work was too great +for their powers. As they made their brave rush they were met by a +concentrated fire full in their faces, and on both flanks at the +same moment. This fire did not so much cause them to lose heart, as +literally hurl them back. Before it the whole charging column seemed +to melt and disappear. The bravest saw now that further fighting was +useless--that the works in their front could not be stormed--and, with +the frightful fire of the enemy still tearing their lines to pieces, +the poor remnants of the brave division retreated from the hill. As +they fell back, sullenly, like bull-dogs from whom their prey had been +snatched just as it was in their grasp, the enemy pursued them with a +destructive fire both of cannon and musketry, which mowed down large +numbers, if large numbers, indeed, can be said to have been left. +The command had been nearly annihilated. Three generals, fourteen +field-officers, and three-fourths of the men, were dead, wounded, or +prisoners. The Virginians had done all that could be done by soldiers. +They had advanced undismayed into the focus of a fire unsurpassed, +perhaps, in the annals of war; had fought bayonet to bayonet; had left +the ground strewed with their dead; and the small remnant who +survived were now sullenly retiring, unsubdued; and, if repulsed, not +"whipped." + +Such was the last great charge at Gettysburg. Lee had concentrated in +it all his strength, it seemed. When it failed, the battle and the +campaign failed with it. + +[Illustration: Lee at Gettysburg.] + + + + +XIX. + +LEE AFTER THE CHARGE. + + +The demeanor of General Lee at this moment, when his hopes were all +reversed, and his last great blow at the enemy had failed, excited the +admiration of all who witnessed it, and remains one of the greatest +glories of his memory. + +Seeing, from his place on Seminary Ridge, the unfortunate results +of the attack, he mounted his horse and rode forward to meet and +encourage the retreating troops. The air was filled with exploding +shell, and the men were coming back without order. General Lee now met +them, and with his staff-officers busied himself in rallying them, +uttering as he did so words of hope and encouragement. Colonel +Freemantle, who took particular notice of him at this moment, +describes his conduct as "perfectly sublime." "Lee's countenance," he +adds, "did not show signs of the slightest disappointment, care, or +annoyance," but preserved the utmost placidity and cheerfulness. The +hurry and confusion of the scene seemed not to move him in any manner, +and he rode slowly to and fro, saying in his grave, kindly voice to +the men: "All this will come right in the end. We'll talk it over +afterward, but in the mean time all good men must rally. We want all +good and true men just now." + +Numbers of wounded passed him, some stretched on litters, which men +wearing the red badge of the ambulance corps were bearing to the rear, +others limping along bleeding from hurts more or less serious. To the +badly wounded Lee uttered words of sympathy and kindness; to those +but slightly injured, he said: "Come, bind up your wound and take a +musket," adding "my friend," as was his habit. + +An evidence of his composure and absence of flurry was presented by a +slight incident. An officer near him was striking his horse violently +for becoming frightened and unruly at the bursting of a shell, when +General Lee, seeing that the horse was terrified and the punishment +would do no good, said, in tones of friendly remonstrance: "Don't +whip him, captain, don't whip him. I've got just such a foolish horse +myself, and whipping does no good." + +Meanwhile the men continued to stream back, pursued still by that +triumphant roar of the enemy's artillery which swept the whole valley +and slope of Seminary Ridge with shot and shell. Lee was everywhere +encouraging them, and they responded by taking off their hats and +cheering him--even the wounded joining in this ceremony. Although +exposing himself with entire indifference to the heavy fire, he +advised Colonel Freemantle, as that officer states, to shelter +himself, saying: "This has been a sad day for us, colonel, a sad day. +But we can't expect always to gain victories." + +As he was thus riding about in the fringe of woods, General Wilcox, +who, about the time of Pickett's repulse, had advanced and speedily +been thrown back with loss, rode up and said, almost sobbing as he +spoke, that his brigade was nearly destroyed. Lee held out his hand to +him as he was speaking, and, grasping the hand of his subordinate in +a friendly manner, replied with great gentleness and kindness: "Never +mind, general, all this has been _my_ fault. It is _I_ who have lost +this fight, and you must help me out of it in the best way you can." + +This supreme calmness and composure in the commander-in-chief rapidly +communicated itself to the troops, who soon got together again, and +lay down quietly in line of battle in the fringe of woods along the +crest of the ridge, where Lee placed them as they came up. In front of +them the guns used in the great cannonade were still in position, and +Lee was evidently making every preparation in his power for the highly +probable event of an instant assault upon him in his disordered +condition, by the enemy. It was obvious that the situation of affairs +at the moment was such as to render such an attack highly perilous to +the Southern troops--and a sudden cheering which was now heard running +along the lines of the enemy on the opposite heights, seemed clearly +to indicate that their forces were moving. Every preparation possible +under the circumstances was made to meet the anticipated assault; the +repulsed troops of Pickett, like the rest of the army, were ready and +even eager for of the attack--but it did not come. The cheering was +afterward ascertained to have been simply the greeting of the men to +some one of their officers as he rode along the lines; and night fell +without any attempt on the Federal side to improve their success. + +That success was indeed sufficient, and little would have been gained, +and perhaps much perilled, by a counter-attack. Lee was not defeated, +but he had not succeeded. General Meade could, with propriety, refrain +from an attack. The battle of Gettysburg had been a Federal victory. + +Thus had ended the last great conflict of arms on Northern soil--in a +decisive if not a crushing repulse of the Southern arms. The chain of +events has been so closely followed in the foregoing pages, and the +movements of the two armies have been described with such detail, +that any further comment or illustration is unnecessary. The opposing +armies had been handled with skill and energy, the men had never +fought better, and the result seems to have been decided rather by +an occult decree of Providence than by any other circumstance. The +numbers on each side were nearly the same, or differed so slightly +that, in view of past conflicts, fought with much greater odds in +favor of the one side, they might be regarded as equal. The Southern +army when it approached Gettysburg numbered sixty-seven thousand +bayonets, and the cavalry and artillery probably made the entire force +about eighty thousand. General Meade's statement is that his own force +was about one hundred thousand. The Federal loss was twenty-three +thousand one hundred and ninety. The Southern losses were also severe, +but cannot be ascertained. They must have amounted, however, to at +least as large a number, even larger, perhaps, as an attacking army +always suffers more heavily than one that is attacked. + +What is certain, however, is that the Southern army, if diminished in +numbers and strength, was still unshaken. + + + + +XX. + +LEE'S RETREAT ACROSS THE POTOMAC. + + +Lee commenced his retreat in the direction of the Potomac on the night +of the 4th of July. That the movement did not begin earlier is the +best proof of the continued efficiency of his army and his own +willingness to accept battle if the enemy were inclined to offer it. + +After the failure of the attack on the Federal centre, he had +withdrawn Ewell from his position southeast of Gettysburg, and, +forming a continuous line of battle on Seminary Ridge, awaited the +anticipated assault of General Meade. What the result of such an +assault would have been it is impossible to say, but the theory that +an attack would have terminated in the certain rout of the Southern +army has nothing whatever to support it. The _morale_ of Lee's army +was untouched. The men, instead of being discouraged by the tremendous +conflicts of the preceding days, were irate, defiant, and ready to +resume the struggle. Foreign officers, present at the time, testify +fully upon this point, describing the demeanor of the troops as all +that could be desired in soldiers; and General Longstreet afterward +stated that, with his two divisions under Hood and McLaws, and his +powerful artillery, he was confident, had the enemy attacked, of +inflicting upon them a blow as heavy as that which they had +inflicted upon Pickett. The testimony of General Meade himself fully +corroborates these statements. When giving his evidence afterward +before the war committee, he said: + +"My opinion is, now, that General Lee evacuated that position, _not +from the fear that he would be dislodged from it by any active +operations on my part_, but that he was fearful that a force would be +sent to Harper's Ferry to cut off his communications.... That was what +caused him to retire." + +When asked the question, "Did you discover, after the battle of +Gettysburg, any symptoms of demoralization in Lee's army?" General +Meade replied, "No, sir; I saw nothing of that kind."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Report of Committee on Conduct of War, Part I., page +337.] + +There was indeed no good reason why General Lee should feel any +extreme solicitude for the safety of his army, which, after all its +losses, still numbered more than fifty thousand troops; and, with that +force of veteran combatants, experience told him, he could count upon +holding at bay almost any force which the enemy could bring against +him. At Chancellorsville, with a less number, he had nearly routed a +larger army than General Meade's. If the _morale_ of the men remained +unbroken, he had the right to feel secure now; and we have shown that +the troops were as full of fight as ever. The exclamations of the +ragged infantry, overheard by Colonel Freemantle, expressed the +sentiment of the whole army. Recoiling from the fatal charge on +Cemetery Hill, and still followed by the terrible fire, they had heart +to shout defiantly: "We've not lost confidence in the old man! This +day's work won't do him no harm! Uncle Robert will get us into +Washington yet--you bet he will!" + +Lee's reasons for retiring toward the Potomac were unconnected with +the _morale_ of his army. "The difficulty of procuring supplies," he +says, "rendered it impossible to continue longer where we were." What +he especially needed was ammunition, his supply of which had been +nearly exhausted by the three days' fighting, and it was impossible to +count upon new supplies of these essential stores now that the enemy +were in a condition to interrupt his communications in the direction +of Harper's Ferry and Williamsport. The danger to which the army was +thus exposed was soon shown not to have been overrated. General Meade +promptly sent a force to occupy Harper's Ferry, and a body of his +cavalry, hastening across the South Mountain, reached the Potomac near +Falling Waters, where they destroyed a pontoon bridge laid there for +the passage of the Southern army. + +Lee accordingly resolved to retire, and, after remaining in line of +battle on Seminary Ridge throughout the evening and night of the 3d +and the whole of the 4th, during which time he was busy burying his +dead, began to withdraw, by the Fairfield and Chambersburg roads, on +the night of this latter day. The movement was deliberate, and without +marks of haste, the rear-guard not leaving the vicinity of Gettysburg +until the morning of the 5th. Those who looked upon the Southern army +at this time can testify that the spirit of the troops was unsubdued. +They had been severely checked, but there every thing had ended. +Weary, covered with dust, with wounds whose bandages were soaked in +blood, the men tramped on in excellent spirits, and were plainly ready +to take position at the first word from Lee, and meet any attack of +the enemy with a nerve as perfect as when they had advanced. + +For the reasons stated by himself, General Meade did not attack. He +had secured substantial victory by awaiting Lee's assault on strong +ground, and was unwilling now to risk a disaster, such as he had +inflicted, by attacking Lee in position. The enthusiasm of the +authorities at Washington was not shared by the cool commander of +the Federal army. He perfectly well understood the real strength and +condition of his adversary, and seems never to have had any intention +of striking at him unless a change of circumstances gave him some +better prospect of success than he could see at that time. + +The retrograde movement of the Southern army now began, Lee's trains +retiring by way of Chambersburg, and his infantry over the Fairfield +road, in the direction of Hagerstown. General Meade at first moved +directly on the track of his enemy. The design of a "stern chase" was, +however, speedily abandoned by the Federal commander, who changed the +direction of his march and moved southward toward Frederick. When near +that point he crossed the South Mountain, went toward Sharpsburg, and +on the 12th of July found himself in front of the Southern army near +Williamsport, where Lee had formed line of battle to receive his +adversary's attack. + +The deliberate character of General Meade's movements sufficiently +indicates the disinclination he felt to place himself directly in his +opponent's front, and thus receive the full weight of his attack. +There is reason, indeed, to believe that nothing could better have +suited the views of General Meade than for Lee to have passed the +Potomac before his arrival--which event would have signified the +entire abandonment of the campaign of invasion, leaving victory on the +side of the Federal army. But the elements seemed to conspire to bring +on a second struggle, despite the reluctance of both commanders. The +recent rains had swollen the Potomac to such a degree as to render it +unfordable, and, as the pontoon near Williamsport had been destroyed +by the Federal cavalry, Lee was brought to bay on the north bank of +the river, where, on the 12th, as we have said, General Meade found +him in line of battle. + +Lee's demeanor, at this critical moment, was perfectly undisturbed, +and exhibited no traces whatever of anxiety, though he must have felt +much. In his rear was a swollen river, and in his front an adversary +who had been reënforced with a considerable body of troops, and now +largely outnumbered him. In the event of battle and defeat, the +situation of the Southern army must be perilous in the extreme. +Nothing would seem to be left it, in that event, but surrender, or +dispersion among the western mountains, where the detached bodies +would be hunted down in detail and destroyed or captured. Confidence +in himself and his men remained, however, with General Lee, and, +with his line extending from near Hagerstown to a point east of +Williamsport, he calmly awaited the falling of the river, resolved, +doubtless, if in the mean time the enemy attacked him, to fight to the +last gasp for the preservation of his army. + +No attack was made by General Meade, who, arriving in front of Lee on +the 12th, did no more, on that day, than feel along the Southern lines +for a point to assault. On the next day he assembled a council of war, +and laid the question before them, whether or not it were advisable +to make an assault. The votes of the officers were almost unanimously +against it, as Lee's position seemed strong and the spirit of his army +defiant; and the day passed without any attempt of the Federal army to +dislodge its adversary. + +While General Meade was thus hesitating, Lee was acting. A portion +of the pontoon destroyed by the enemy was recovered, new boats were +built, and a practicable bridge was completed, near Falling Waters, by +the evening of the 13th. The river had also commenced falling, and by +this time was fordable near Williamsport. Toward dawn on the 14th the +army commenced moving, in the midst of a violent rain-storm, across +the river at both points, and Lee, sitting his horse upon the river's +bank, superintended the operation, as was his habit on occasions of +emergency. Loss of rest and fatigue, with that feeling of suspense +unavoidable under the circumstances, had impaired the energies of even +his superb physical constitution. As the bulk of the rear-guard of the +army safely passed over the shaky bridge, which Lee had looked at +with some anxiety as it swayed to and fro, lashed by the current, he +uttered a sigh of relief, and a great weight seemed taken from his +shoulders. Seeing his fatigue and exhaustion. General Stuart gave him +some coffee; he drank it with avidity, and declared, as he handed back +the cup, that nothing had ever refreshed him so much. + +When General Meade, who is said to have resolved on an attack, in +spite of the opposition of his officers, looked, on the morning of the +14th, toward the position held on the previous evening by the Southern +army, he saw that the works were deserted. The Army of Northern +Virginia had vanished from the hills on which it had been posted, and +was at that moment crossing the Potomac. Pressing on its track toward +Falling Waters, the Federal cavalry came up with the rear, and in the +skirmish which ensued fell the brave Pettigrew, who had supported +Pickett in the great charge at Gettysburg, where he had waved his hat +in front of his men, and, in spite of a painful wound, done all in his +power to rally his troops. With this exception, and a few captures +resulting from accident, the army sustained no losses. The movement +across the Potomac had been effected, in face of the whole Federal +army, as successfully as though that army had been a hundred miles +distant.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Upon this point different statements were subsequently +made by Generals Lee and Meade, and Lee's reply to the statements of +his opponent is here given: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_July 21, 1863._ + +_General S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector-General C.S.A., Richmond, +Va_.: + +GENERAL: I have seen in Northern papers what purported to be an +official dispatch from General Meade, stating that he had captured +a brigade of Infantry, two pieces of artillery, two caissons, and a +large number of small-arms, as this army retired to the south bank of +the Potomac, on the 13th and 14th inst. + +This dispatch has been copied into the Richmond papers, and, as its +official character may cause it to be believed, I desire to state that +it is incorrect. The enemy did not capture any organized body of men +on that occasion, but only stragglers, and such as were left asleep +on the road, exhausted by the fatigue and exposure of one of the most +inclement nights I have ever known at this season of the year. It +rained without cessation, rendering the road by which our troops +marched to the bridge at Falling Waters very difficult to pass, and +causing so much delay that the last of the troops did not cross the +river at the bridge until 1 P.M. on the 14th. While the column was +thus detained on the road a number of men, worn down by fatigue, lay +down in barns, and by the roadside, and though officers were sent +back to arouse them, as the troops moved on, the darkness and rain +prevented them from finding all, and many were in this way left +behind. Two guns were left on the road. The horses that drew them +became exhausted, and the officers went forward to procure others. +When they returned, the rear of the column had passed the guns so far +that it was deemed unsafe to send back for them, and they were thus +lost. No arms, cannon, or prisoners, were taken by the enemy in +battle, but only such as were left behind under the circumstances I +have described. The number of stragglers thus lost I am unable to +state with accuracy, but it is greatly exaggerated in the dispatch +referred to. + +I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The solicitude here exhibited by the Southern commander, that the +actual facts should be recorded, is natural, and displayed Lee's +spirit of soldiership. He was unwilling that his old army should +appear in the light of a routed column, retreating in disorder, with +loss of men and munitions, when they lost neither.] + + + + +XXI. + +ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE AGAIN. + + +Lee moved his army to the old encampment on the banks of the Opequan +which it had occupied after the retreat from Sharpsburg, in September, +1862, and here a few days were spent in resting. + +We have, in the journal of a foreign officer, an outline of Lee's +personal appearance at this time, and, as we are not diverted from +these characteristic details at the moment by the narrative of great +events, this account of Lee, given by the officer in question--Colonel +Freemantle, of the British Army--is laid before the reader: + + "General Lee is, almost without exception, the handsomest man of + his age I ever saw. He is tall, broad-shouldered, very well made, + well set up--a thorough soldier in appearance--and his manners are + most courteous, and full of dignity. He is a perfect gentleman + in every respect. I imagine no man has so few enemies, or is so + universally esteemed. Throughout the South, all agree in + pronouncing him as near perfection as man can be. He has none of + the small vices, such as smoking, drinking, chewing, or swearing; + and his bitterest enemy never accused him of any of the greater + ones. He generally wears a well-worn, long gray jacket, a high + black-felt hat, and blue trousers, tucked into his Wellington + boots. I never saw him carry arms, and the only marks of his + military rank are the three stars on his collar. He rides a + handsome horse, which is extremely well governed. He himself is + very neat in his dress and person, and in the most arduous marches + he always looks smart and clean.... It is understood that General + Lee is a religious man, though not so demonstrative in that + respect as Jackson, and, unlike his late brother-in-arms, he is a + member of the Church of England. His only faults, so far as I can + learn, arise from his excessive amiability." + +This personal description is entirely correct, except that the word +"jacket" conveys a somewhat erroneous idea of Lee's undress uniform +coat, and his hat was generally gray. Otherwise, the sketch is exactly +accurate, and is here presented as the unprejudiced description and +estimate of a foreign gentleman, who had no inducement, such as might +be attributed to a Southern writer, to overcolor his portrait. Such, +in personal appearance, was the leader of the Southern army--a plain +soldier, in a plain dress, without arms, with slight indications of +rank, courteous, full of dignity, a "perfect gentleman," and with no +fault save an "excessive amiability." The figure is attractive to the +eye--it excited the admiration of a foreign officer, and remains in +many memories now, when the sound of battle is hushed, and the great +leader, in turn, has finished his life-battle and lain down in peace. + +The movements of the two armies were soon resumed, and we shall +briefly follow those movements, which led the adversaries back to the +Rappahannock. + +Lee appears to have conceived the design, after crossing the Potomac +at Williamsport, to pass the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge, and +thus place himself in the path of General Meade if he crossed east +of the mountain, or threaten Washington. This appears from his own +statement. "Owing," he says, "to the swollen condition of _the +Shenandoah River, the plan of operations which had been contemplated +when we recrossed the Potomac could not be put in execution_". The +points fixed upon by Lee for passing the mountain were probably +Snicker's and Ashby's Gaps, opposite Berryville and Millwood. The +rains had, however, made the river, in these places, unfordable. On +the 17th and 18th days of July, less than a week after Lee's crossing +at Williamsport, General Meade passed the Potomac above Leesburg, and +Lee moved his army in the direction of Chester Gap, near Front Royal, +toward Culpepper. + +The new movements were almost identically the same as the old, when +General McClellan advanced, in November, 1862, and the adoption of +the same plans by General Meade involves a high compliment to his +predecessor. He acted with even more energy. As Lee's head of column +was defiling toward Chester Gap, beyond Front Royal, General Meade +struck at it through Manassas Gap, directly on its flank, and an +action followed which promised at one time to become serious. The +enemy was, however, repulsed, and the Southern column continued its +way across the mountain. The rest of the army followed, and descended +into Culpepper, from which position, when Longstreet was detached to +the west, Lee retired, taking post behind the Rapidan. + +General Meade thereupon followed, and occupied Culpepper, his advance +being about half-way between Culpepper Court-House and the river. + +Such was the position of the two armies in the first days of October, +when Lee, weary, it seemed, of inactivity, set out to flank and fight +his adversary. + + + + +PART VII. + +_LAST CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR_ 1863. + + + + +I. + +THE CAVALRY OF LEE'S ARMY. + + +In a work of the present description, the writer has a choice between +two courses. He may either record the events of the war in all +quarters of the country, as bearing more or less upon his narrative, +or may confine himself to the life of the individual who is the +immediate subject of his volume. Of these two courses, the writer +prefers the latter for many reasons. To present a narrative of +military transactions in all portions of the South would expand this +volume to undue proportions; and there is the further objection that +these occurrences are familiar to all. It might be necessary, in +writing for persons ignorant of the events of the great conflict, to +omit nothing; but this ignorance does, not probably exist in the +case of the readers of these pages; and the writer will continue, +as heretofore, to confine himself to the main subject, only noting +incidentally such prominent events in other quarters as affected Lee's +movements. + +One such event was the fall of Vicksburg, which post surrendered at +the same moment with the defeat at Gettysburg, rendering thereafter +impossible all movements of invasion; and another was the advance of +General Rosecrans toward Atlanta, which resulted, in the month of +September, in a Southern victory at Chickamauga. + +The immediate effect of the Federal demonstration toward Chattanooga +had been to detach Longstreet's corps from General Lee's army, for +service under General Bragg. General Meade's force is said to have +also been somewhat lessened by detachments sent to enforce the draft +in New York; and these circumstances had, in the first days of +October, reduced both armies in Virginia to a less force than they had +numbered in the past campaign. General Meade, however, presented a +bold front to his adversary, and, with his headquarters near Culpepper +Court-House, kept close watch upon Lee, whose army lay along the south +bank of the Rapidan. + +For some weeks no military movements took place, and an occasional +cavalry skirmish between the troopers of the two armies was all which +broke the monotony of the autumn days. This inactivity, however, was +now about to terminate. Lee had resolved to attempt a flank movement +around General Meade's right, with the view of bringing him to battle; +and a brief campaign ensued, which, if indecisive, and reflecting +little glory upon the infantry, was fruitful in romantic incidents and +highly creditable to the cavalry of the Southern army. + +In following the movements, and describing the operations of the main +body of the army--the infantry--we have necessarily been compelled to +pass over, to a great extent, the services of the cavalry in the past +campaign. These had, nevertheless, been great--no arm of the service +had exhibited greater efficiency; and, but for the fact that in all +armies the brunt of battle falls upon the foot-soldiers, it might be +added that the services of the cavalry had been as important as those +of the infantry. Stuart was now in command of a force varying from +five to eight thousand sabres, and among his troopers were some of +the best fighting-men of the South. The cavalry had always been the +favorite arm with the Southern youth; it had drawn to itself, as +privates in the ranks, thousands of young men of collegiate education, +great wealth, and the highest social position; and this force was +officered, in Virginia, by such resolute commanders as Wade Hampton, +Fitz Lee, William H.F. Lee, Rosser, Jones, Wickham, Young, +Munford, and many others. Under these leaders, and assisted by +the hard-fighting "Stuart Horse-Artillery" under Pelham and his +successors, the cavalry had borne their full share in the hard +marches and combats of the army. On the Chickahominy; in the march +to Manassas, and the battles in Maryland; in the operations on +the Rappahannock, and the incessant fighting of the campaign to +Gettysburg, Stuart and his troopers had vindicated their claim to the +first honors of arms; and, if these services were not duly estimated +by the infantry of the army, the fact was mainly attributable to the +circumstance that the fighting of the cavalry had been done at a +distance upon the outposts, far more than in the pitched battles, +where, in modern times, from the improved and destructive character +of artillery, playing havoc with horses, the cavalry arm can achieve +little, and is not risked. The actual losses in Stuart's command left, +however, no doubt of the obstinate soldiership of officers and men. +Since the opening of the year he had lost General Hampton, cut down in +a hand-to-hand sabre-fight at Gettysburg; General W.H.F. Lee, shot in +the fight at Fleetwood; Colonels Frank Hampton and Williams, killed in +the same action; Colonel Butler, torn by a shell; Major Pelham, Chief +of Artillery, killed while leading a charge; [Footnote: In this +enumeration the writer mentions only such names as occur at the moment +to his memory. A careful examination of the records of the cavalry +would probably furnish the names of ten times as many, equally brave +and unfortunate.] about six officers of his personal staff either +killed, wounded, or captured; and in the Gettysburg campaign he had +lost nearly one-third of his entire command. Of its value to the army, +the infantry might have their doubts, but General Lee had none. Stuart +and his horsemen had been the eyes and ears of the Army of Northern +Virginia; had fought incessantly as well as observed the enemy; and +Lee never committed the injustice of undervaluing this indispensable +arm, which, if his official commendation of its operations under +Stuart is to be believed, was only second in importance in his +estimation to the infantry itself. + +The army continued, nevertheless, to amuse itself at the expense of +the cavalry, and either asserted or intimated, on every favorable +occasion, that the _real fighting_ was done by themselves. This +flattering assumption might be natural under the circumstances, but it +was now about to be shown to be wholly unfounded. A campaign was at +hand in which the cavalry were to turn the tables upon their jocose +critics, and silence them; where the infantry were doomed to failure +in nearly all which they attempted, and the troopers were to do the +greater part of the fighting and achieve the only successes. + +To the narrative of this brief and romantic episode of the war we now +proceed. General Lee's aim was to pass around the right flank of his +adversary, and bring him to battle; and, although the promptness +of General Meade's movements defeated the last-named object nearly +completely, the manoeuvres of the two armies form a highly-interesting +study. The eminent soldiers commanding the forces played a veritable +game of chess with each other. There was little hard fighting, but +more scientific manoeuvring than is generally displayed in a campaign. +The brains of Lee and Meade, rather than the two armies, were matched +against each other; and the conflict of ideas proved more interesting +than the actual fighting. + + + + +II. + +LEE FLANKS GENERAL MEADE. + + +In prosecution of the plan determined upon, General Lee, on the +morning of the 9th of October, crossed the Rapidan at the fords +above Orange Court-House, with the corps of Ewell and A.P. Hill, and +directed his march toward Madison Court-House. + +Stuart moved with Hampton's cavalry division on the right of the +advancing column--General Fitz Lee having been left with his division +to guard the front on the Rapidan--and General Imboden, commanding +west of the Blue Ridge, was ordered by Lee to "advance down the +Valley, and guard the gaps of the mountains on our left." + +We have said that Lee's design was to bring General Meade to battle. +It is proper to state this distinctly, as some writers have attributed +to him in the campaign, as his real object, the design of manoeuvring +his adversary out of Culpepper, and pushing him back to the Federal +frontier. His own words are perfectly plain. He set out "with the +design," he declares, "of _bringing on an engagement with the Federal +army_"--that is to say, of _fighting_ General Meade, not simply +forcing him to fall back. His opponent, it seems, was not averse to +accepting battle; indeed, from expressions attributed to him, he +appears to have ardently desired it, in case he could secure an +advantageous position for receiving the Southern attack. It is +desirable that this readiness in both commanders to fight should be +kept in view. The fact adds largely to the interest of this brief +"campaign of manoeuvres," in which the army, falling back, like that +advancing, sought battle. + +To proceed to the narrative, which will deal in large measure with the +operations of the cavalry--that arm of the service, as we have said, +having borne the chief share of the fighting, and achieved the only +successes. Stuart moved out on the right of the infantry, which +marched directly toward Madison Court-House, and near the village +of James City, directly west of Culpepper Court-House, drove in the +cavalry and infantry outposts of General Kilpatrick on the main body +beyond the village. Continuous skirmishing ensued throughout the rest +of the day--Stuart's object being to occupy the enemy, and divert +attention from the infantry movement in his rear. In this he seems to +have fully succeeded. Lee passed Madison Court-House, and moving, as +he says, "by circuitous and concealed roads," reached the vicinity of +Griffinsburg, on what is called the Sperryville Road, northwest of +Culpepper Court-House. A glance at the map will show the relative +positions of the two armies at this moment. General Meade lay around +Culpepper Court-House, with his advance about half-way between that +place and the Rapidan, and Lee had attained a position which gave him +fair hopes of intercepting his adversary's retreat. That retreat must +be over the line of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad; but from +Griffinsburg to Manassas was no farther than from Culpepper +Court-House to the same point. If the Federal army fell back, as Lee +anticipated, it would be a question of speed between the retreating +and pursuing columns; and, as the narrative will show, the race was +close--a few hours lost making the difference between success and +failure in Lee's movement. + +On the morning of the 10th while the infantry were still near +Griffinsburg, General Stuart moved promptly down upon Culpepper +Court-House, driving the enemy from their large camps near Stonehouse +Mountain. These were elaborately provided with luxuries of every +description, and there were many indications of the fact that the +troops had expected to winter there. No serious fighting occurred. +A regiment of infantry was charged and dispersed by the Jefferson +Company of Captain Baylor, and Stuart then proceeded rapidly to +Culpepper Court-House, where the Federal cavalry, forming the +rear-guard of the army, awaited him. + +General Meade was already moving in the direction of the Rappahannock. +The presence of the Southern army near Griffinsburg had become known +to him; he was at no loss to understand Lee's object; and, leaving +his cavalry to cover his rear, he moved toward the river. As Stuart +attacked the Federal horse posted on the hills east of the village, +the roar of cannon on his right, steadily drawing nearer, indicated +that General Fitz Lee was forcing the enemy in that direction to fall +back. Stuart was now in high spirits, and indulged in hearty laughter, +although the enemy's shells were bursting around him. + +"Ride back to General Lee," he said to an officer of his staff, "and +tell him we are forcing the enemy back on the Rappahannock, and I +think I hear Fitz Lee's guns toward the Rapidan." + +The officer obeyed, and found General Lee at his headquarters, which +consisted of one or two tents, with a battle-flag set up in front, on +the highway, near Griffinsburg. He was conversing with General Ewell, +and the contrast between the two soldiers was striking. Ewell was +thin, cadaverous, and supported himself upon a crutch, for he had not +yet recovered from the wound received at Manassas. General Lee, on +the contrary, was erect, ruddy, robust, and exhibited indications of +health and vigor in every detail of his person. When Stuart's message +was delivered to him, he bowed with that grave courtesy which he +exhibited alike toward the highest and the lowest soldier in his army, +and said: "Thank you. Tell General Stuart to continue to press them +back toward the river." + +He then smiled, and added, with that accent of sedate humor which at +times characterized him: "But tell him, too, to spare his horses--to +spare his horses. It is not necessary to send so many messages." + +He turned as he spoke to General Ewell, and, pointing to the officer +who had come from Stuart, and another who had arrived just before him, +said, with lurking humor: "I think these two young gentlemen make +_eight_ messengers sent me by General Stuart!" + +He then said to Ewell: "You may as well move on with your troops, I +suppose, general;" and soon afterward the infantry began to advance. + +Stuart was meanwhile engaged in an obstinate combat with the Federal +cavalry near Brandy, in the immediate vicinity of Fleetwood Hill, the +scene of the great fight in June. The stand made by the enemy was +resolute, but the arrival of General Fitz Lee decided the event. That +officer had crossed the Rapidan and driven General Buford before him. +The result now was that, while Stuart was pressing the enemy in his +front, General Buford came down on Stuart's rear, and Fitz Lee on the +rear of Buford. The scene which ensued was a grand commingling of the +tragic and serio-comic. Every thing was mingled in wild confusion, but +the day remained with the Southern cavalry, who, at nightfall, had +pressed their opponents back toward the river, which the Federal army +crossed that night, blowing up the railroad bridge behind them. + +Such was the first act of the bustling drama. At the approach of Lee, +General Meade had vanished from Culpepper, and so well arranged was +the whole movement, in spite of its rapidity, that scarce an empty box +was left behind. Lee's aim to bring his adversary to battle south of +the Rappahannock had thus failed; but the attempt was renewed by a +continuation of the flanking movement toward Warrenton Springs, +"with the design," Lee says, "of reaching the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad, north of the river, and interrupting the retreat of the +enemy." Unfortunately, however, for this project, which required of +all things rapidity of movement, it was found necessary to remain +nearly all day on the 11th near Culpepper Court-House, to supply the +army with provisions. It was not until the 12th that the army again +moved. Stuart preceded it, and after a brisk skirmish drove the enemy +from Warrenton Springs--advancing in person in front of his column +as it charged through the river and up the hill beyond, where a +considerable body of Federal marksmen were put to flight. The cavalry +then pressed on toward Warrenton, and the infantry, who had witnessed +their prowess and cheered them heartily, followed on the same road. +The race between Lee and General Meade was in full progress. + +It was destined to become complicated, and an error committed by +General Meade came very near exposing him to serious danger. It +appears that, after retreating across the Rappahannock, the Federal +commander began to entertain doubt whether the movement had not been +hasty, and would not justly subject him to the charge of yielding to +sudden panic. Influenced apparently by this sentiment, he now ordered +three corps of the Federal army, with a division of cavalry, back to +Culpepper; and this, the main body, accordingly crossed back, leaving +but one corps north of the river. Such was now the very peculiar +situation of the two armies. General Lee was moving steadily in the +direction of Warrenton to cut off his adversary from Manassas, and +that adversary was moving back into Culpepper to hunt up Lee there. +The comedy of errors was soon terminated, but not so soon as it +otherwise would have been but for a _ruse de guerre_ played by +Generals Rosser and Young. General Rosser had been left by Stuart near +Brandy, with about two hundred horsemen and one gun; and, when the +three infantry corps and the cavalry division of General Meade moved +forward from the river, they encountered this obstacle. Insignificant +as was his force. General Rosser so manoeuvred it as to produce the +impression that it was considerable; and, though forced, of course, to +fall back, he did so fighting at every step. Assistance reached him +just at dusk in the shape of a brigade of cavalry, from above the +court-house under General Young, the same officer whose charge at the +Fleetwood fight had had so important a bearing upon the result there. +Young now formed line with his men dismounted, and, advancing with a +confident air, opened fire upon the Federal army. The darkness proved +friendly, and, taking advantage of it, General Young kindled fires +along a front of more than a mile, ordered his band to play, and must +have caused the enemy to doubt whether Lee was not still in large +force near Culpepper Court-House. They accordingly went into camp to +await the return of daylight, when at midnight a fast-riding courier +came with orders from General Meade. + +These orders were urgent, and directed the Federal troops to recross +the river with all haste. General Lee, it was now ascertained, had +left an insignificant force in Culpepper, and, with nearly his whole +army, was moving rapidly toward Warrenton to cut off his adversary. + + + + +III. + +A RACE BETWEEN TWO ARMIES. + + +The game of hide-and-seek--to change the figure--was now in full +progress, and nothing more dramatic could be conceived of than the +relative positions of the two armies. + +At midnight, on Monday, October 12th, Lee's army was near Warrenton +Springs, ready to advance in the morning upon Warrenton, while three +of the four corps under General Meade were half-way between the +Rappahannock and Culpepper Court-House, expecting battle there. Thus a +choice of two courses was presented to the Federal commander: to order +back his main force, and rapidly retreat toward Manassas, or move the +Fourth Corps to support it, and place his whole army directly in Lee's +rear. The occasion demanded instant decision. Every hour now counted. +But, unfortunately for General Meade, he was still in the dark as to +the actual amount of Lee's force in Culpepper. The movement toward +Warrenton might be a mere _ruse_. The great master of the art of war +to whom he was opposed might have laid this trap for him--have counted +upon his falling into the snare--and, while a portion of the Southern +force was engaged in Culpepper, might design an attack with the rest +upon the Federal right flank or rear. In fact, the situation of +affairs was so anomalous and puzzling that Lee might design almost any +thing, and succeed in crushing his adversary. + +The real state of the case was, that Lee designed nothing of this +description, having had no intimation whatever of General Meade's new +movement back toward Culpepper. He was advancing toward Warrenton, +under the impression that his adversary was retreating, and aimed to +come up with him somewhere near that place and bring him to battle. +Upon this theory his opponent now acted by promptly ordering back his +three corps to the north bank of the Rappahannock. They began to march +soon after midnight; recrossed the river near the railroad; and on +the morning of the 13th hastened forward by rapid marches to pass the +dangerous point near Warrenton, toward which Lee was also moving with +his infantry. + +In this race every advantage seemed to be on the side of Lee. The +three Federal corps had fully twice as far to march as the Southern +forces. Lee was concentrating near Warrenton, while they were far in +the rear; and, if the Confederates moved with only half the rapidity +of their adversaries, they were certain to intercept them, and compel +them either to surrender or cut their way through. + +These comments--tedious, perhaps--are necessary to the comprehension +of the singular "situation." We proceed now with the narrative. Stuart +had pushed on past Warrenton with his cavalry, toward the Orange +Railroad, when, on the night of the 13th, he met with one of those +adventures which were thickly strewed throughout his romantic career. +He was near Auburn, just at nightfall, when, as his rear-guard closed +up, information reached him from that quarter that the Federal +army was passing directly in his rear. Nearly at the same moment +intelligence arrived that another column of the enemy, consisting, +like the first, of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, was moving across +his front. + +Stuart was now in an actual trap, and his situation was perilous in +the extreme. He was enclosed between two moving walls of enemies, and, +if discovered, his fate seemed sealed. But one course was left him: to +preserve, if possible, complete silence in his command; to lie _perdu_ +in the wood, and await the occurrence of some fortunate event to +extricate him from his highly-embarrassing situation. He accordingly +issued stringent orders to the men that no noise of any description +should be made, and not a word be uttered; and there was little +necessity to repeat this command. The troopers remained silent and +motionless in the saddle throughout the night, ready at any instant +to move at the order; and thus passed the long hours of darkness--the +Southern horsemen as silent as phantoms; the Federal columns +passing rapidly, with the roll of artillery-wheels, the tramp of +cavalry-horses, and the shuffling sound of feet, on both sides of the +command--the column moving in rear of Stuart being distant but two or +three hundred yards. + +This romantic incident was destined to terminate fortunately for +Stuart, who, having dispatched scouts to steal through the Federal +column, and announce his situation to General Lee, prepared to seize +upon the first opportunity to release his command from its imminent +peril. The opportunity came at dawn. The Federal rear, under General +Caldwell, had bivouacked near, and had just kindled fires to cook +their breakfast, when, from the valley beneath the hill on which +the troops had halted, Stuart opened suddenly upon them with his +Horse-Artillery, and, as he says in his report, knocked over +coffee-pots and other utensils at the moment when the men least +expected it. He then advanced his sharp-shooters and directed a rapid +fire upon the disordered troops; and, under cover of this fire, +wheeled to the left and emerged safely toward Warrenton. The army +greeted him with cheers, and he was himself in the highest spirits. +He had certainly good reason for this joy, for he had just grazed +destruction. + +As Stuart's artillery opened, the sound was taken up toward Warrenton, +where Ewell, in obedience to Lee's orders, had attacked the Federal +column. Nothing resulted, however, from this assault: General Meade +had concentrated his army, and was hastening toward Manassas. All now +depended again upon the celerity of Lee's movements in pursuit. He had +lost many hours at Warrenton, where "another halt was made," he says, +"to supply the troops with provisions." Thus, on the morning of the +14th he was as far from intercepting General Meade as before; and all +now depended upon the movements of Hill, who, while Ewell moved toward +Greenwich, had been sent by way of New Baltimore to come in on the +Federal line of retreat at Bristoe Station, near Manassas. In spite, +however, of his excellent soldiership and habitual promptness, Hill +did not arrive in time. He made the détour prescribed by Lee, passed +New Baltimore, and hastened on toward Bristoe, where, on approaching +that point, he found only the rear-guard of the Federal army--the +whole force, with this exception, having crossed Broad Run, and +hastened on toward Manassas. Hill's arrival had thus been tardy: it +would have been fortunate for him if he had not arrived at all. Seeing +the Federal column under General Warren hastening along the railroad +to pass Broad Run, he ordered a prompt attack, and Cooke's brigade led +the charge. The result was unfortunate for the Confederates. General +Warren, seeing his peril, had promptly disposed his line behind the +railroad embankment at the spot, where, protected by this impromptu +breastwork, the men rested their guns upon the iron rails and poured a +destructive fire upon the Southerners rushing down the open slope in +front. By this fire General Cooke was severely wounded and fell, and +his brigade lost a considerable part of its numbers. Before a new +attack could be made, General Warren hastily withdrew, carrying +off with him in triumph a number of prisoners, and five pieces of +artillery, captured on the banks of the run. Before his retreat could +be again interrupted, he was safe on the opposite side of the stream, +and lost no time in hurrying forward to join the main body, which was +retreating on Centreville. + +General Meade had thus completely foiled his adversary. Lee had set +out with the intention of bringing the Federal commander to battle; +had not succeeded in doing so, owing to the rapidity of his retreat; +had come up only with his rear-guard, under circumstances which seemed +to seal the fate of that detached force, and the small rear-guard had +repulsed him completely, capturing prisoners and artillery from him, +and retiring in triumph. Such had been the issue of the campaign; all +the success had been on the side of General Meade. He is said to have +declared that "it was like pulling out his eye-teeth not to have had a +fight;" but something resembling _bona-fide_ fighting had occurred on +the banks of Broad Run, and the victory was clearly on the side of the +Federal troops. + +To turn to General Lee, it would be an interesting question to discuss +whether he really desired to _intercept_ General Meade, if there +were any data upon which to base a decision. The writer hazards the +observation that it seems doubtful whether this was Lee's intention. +He had a high opinion of General Meade, and is said to have declared +of that commander, that he "gave him" (Lee) "as much trouble as any of +them." Lee was thus opposed to a soldier whose ability he respected, +and it appears doubtful whether he desired to move so rapidly as to +expose his own communications to interruption by his adversary. This +view seems to derive support from the apparently unnecessary delays +at Culpepper Court-House and Warrenton. There was certainly no good +reason why, under ordinary circumstances, an army so accustomed to +rapid marches as the Army of Northern Virginia should not have been +able to reach Warrenton from the neighborhood of Culpepper Court-House +in less than _four days._ "We were _compelled_ to halt," Lee writes +of the delay at Culpepper; but of that at Warrenton he simply says, +"Another halt was made." Whether these views have, or have not +foundation, the reader must judge. We shall aim, in a few pages, to +conclude our account of this interesting campaign. + + + + +IV. + +THE FIGHT AT BUCKLAND. + + +Lee rode forward to the field upon which General Hill had sustained +his bloody repulse, and Hill--depressed and mortified at the +mishap--endeavored to explain the _contretemps_ and vindicate himself +from censure. Lee is said to have listened in silence, as they rode +among the dead bodies, and to have at length replied, gravely and +sadly: "Well, well, general, bury these poor men, and let us say no +more about it." + +He had issued orders that the troops should cease the pursuit, and +riding on the next morning, with General Stuart, to the summit of a +hill overlooking Broad Run, dismounted, and held a brief conversation +with the commander of his cavalry, looking intently, as he spoke, in +the direction of Manassas. His demeanor was that of a person who is +far from pleased with the course of events, and the word _glum_ best +describes his expression. The safe retreat of General Meade, with the +heavy blow struck by him in retiring, was indeed enough to account for +this ill-humor. The campaign was altogether a failure, since General +Meade's position at Centreville was unassailable; and, if he were only +driven therefrom, he had but to retire to the defences at Washington. +Lee accordingly gave Stuart directions to follow up the enemy in the +direction of Centreville, and, ordering the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad to be torn up back to the Rappahannock, put his infantry in +motion, and marched back toward Culpepper. + +We shall now briefly follow the movements of the cavalry. Stuart +advanced to Manassas, following up the Federal rear, and hastening +their retreat across Bull Run beyond. He then left Fitz Lee's division +near Manassas in the Federal front, and moving, with Hampton's +division, to the left toward Groveton, passed the Little Catharpin, +proceeded thence through the beautiful autumn forest toward Frying +Pan, and there found and attacked, with his command dismounted and +acting as sharp-shooters, the Second Corps of the Federal army. This +sudden appearance of Southern troops on the flank of Centreville, is +said to have caused great excitement there, as it was not known that +the force was not General Lee's army. The fact was soon apparent, +however, that it was merely a cavalry attack. The Federal infantry +advanced, whereupon Stuart retired; and the adventurous Southern +horsemen moved back in the direction of Warrenton. + +They were not to rejoin Lee's army, however, before a final conflict +with the Federal cavalry; and the circumstances of this conflict +were as dramatic and picturesque as the _ruse de guerre_ of Young in +Culpepper, and the midnight adventure of Stuart near Auburn. The bold +assault on the Second Corps seemed to have excited the ire of the +Federal commander, and he promptly sent forward a considerable body +of his cavalry, under General Kilpatrick, to pursue Stuart, and if +possible come up with and defeat him. + +Stuart was near the village of Buckland, on the road to Warrenton, +when intelligence of the approach of the Federal cavalry reached him. +The movement which followed was suggested by General Fitz Lee. He +proposed that Stuart should retire toward Warrenton with Hampton's +division, while he, with his own division, remained on the enemy's +left flank. Then, at a given signal, Stuart was to face about; he, +General Fitz Lee, would attack them in flank; when their rout would +probably ensue. This plan was carried out to the letter. General +Kilpatrick, who seems to have been confident of his ability to drive +Stuart before him, pressed forward on the Warrenton road, closely +following up his adversary, when the sudden boom of artillery from +General Fitz Lee gave the signal. Stuart wheeled at the signal, and +made a headlong charge upon his pursuers. Fitz Lee came in at the same +moment and attacked them in flank; and the result was that General +Kilpatrick's entire command was routed, and retreated in confusion, +Stuart pursuing, as he wrote, "from within three miles of Warrenton to +Buckland, the horses at full speed the whole distance." So terminated +an incident afterward known among the troopers of Stuart by the jocose +title of "The Buckland Races," and the Southern cavalry retired +without further molestation behind the Rappahannock. + +The coöperation of General Imboden in the campaign should not be +passed over. That officer, whose special duty had been to guard the +gaps in the Blue Ridge, advanced from Berryville to Charlestown, +attacked the Federal garrison at the latter place, drove them in +disorder toward Harper's Ferry, and carried back with him four or five +hundred prisoners. The enemy followed him closely, and he was forced +to fight them off at every step. He succeeded, however, in returning +in safety, having performed more than the duty expected of him. + +Lee was now behind the Rappahannock, and it remained to be seen what +course General Meade would pursue--whether he would remain near +Centreville, or strive to regain his lost ground. + +All doubt was soon terminated by the approach of the Federal army, +which, marching from Centreville on October 19th, and repairing the +railroad as it advanced, reached the Rappahannock on the 7th of +November. Lee's army at this time was in camp toward Culpepper +Court-House, with advanced forces in front of Kelly's Ford and the +railroad bridge. General Meade acted with vigor. On his arrival he +promptly sent a force across at Kelly's Ford; the Southern troops +occupying the rifle-pits there were driven off, with the loss of many +prisoners; and an attack near the railroad bridge had still more +unfortunate results for General Lee. A portion of Early's division had +been posted in the abandoned Federal works, on the north bank at this +point, and these were now attacked, and, after a fierce resistance, +completely routed. Nearly the whole command was captured--the remnant +barely escaping--and, the way having thus been cleared, General Meade +threw his army across into Culpepper. + +General Lee retired before him with a heavy heart and a deep +melancholy, which, in spite of his great control over himself, was +visible in his countenance. The infantry-fighting of the campaign had +begun, and ended in disaster for him. In the thirty days he had lost +at least two thousand men, and was back again in his old camps, having +achieved absolutely nothing. + + + + +V. + +THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. + + +November of the bloody year 1863 had come; and it seemed not +unreasonable to anticipate that a twelvemonth, marked by such +incessant fighting at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Salem +Church, Winchester, Gettysburg, Front Royal, Bristoe, and along the +Rappahannock, would now terminate in peace, permitting the +combatants on both sides, worn out by their arduous work, to go into +winter-quarters, and recuperate their energies for the operations of +the ensuing spring. + +But General Meade had otherwise determined. He had resolved to try +a last advance, in spite of the inclement weather; and Lee's +anticipations of a season of rest and refreshment for his troops, +undisturbed by hostile demonstrations on the part of the enemy, were +destined speedily to be disappointed. The Southern army had gone +regularly into winter-quarters, south of the Rapidan, and the men were +felicitating themselves upon the prospect of an uninterrupted season +of leisure and enjoyment in their rude cabins, built in sheltered +nooks, or under their breadths of canvas raised upon logs, and fitted +with rough but comfortable chimneys, built of notched pine-saplings, +when suddenly intelligence was brought by scouts that the Federal army +was in motion. The fact reversed all their hopes of rest, and song, +and laughter, by the good log-fires. The musket was taken from its +place on the rude walls, the cartridge-box assumed, and the army was +once more ready for battle--as gay, hopeful, and resolved, as in the +first days of spring. + +General Meade had, indeed, resolved that the year should not end +without another blow at his adversary, and the brief campaign, known +as the "Advance to Mine Run," followed. It was the least favorable +of all seasons for active operations; but the Federal commander is +vindicated from the charge of bad soldiership by two circumstances +which very properly had great weight with him. The first was, the +extreme impatience of the Northern authorities and people at the small +results of the bloody fighting of the year. Gettysburg had seemed +to them a complete defeat of Lee, since he had retreated thereafter +without loss of time to Virginia; and yet three months afterward the +defeated commander had advanced upon and forced back his victorious +adversary. That such should be the result of the year's campaigning +seemed absurd to the North. A clamorous appeal was made to the +authorities to order another advance; and this general sentiment is +said to have been shared by General Meade, who had declared himself +bitterly disappointed at missing a battle with Lee in October. A +stronger argument in favor of active operations lay in the situation, +at the moment, of the Southern army. Lee, anticipating no further +fighting during the remainder of the year, opposed the enemy on the +Rapidan with only one of his two corps--that of Ewell; while the +other--that of Hill--was thrown back, in detached divisions, at +various points on the Orange and the Virginia Central Railroads, for +the purpose of subsistence during the winter. This fact, becoming +known to General Meade, dictated, it is said, his plan of operations. +An advance seemed to promise, from the position of the Southern +forces, a decisive success. Ewell's right extended no farther than +Morton's Ford, on the Rapidan, and thus the various fords down to +Chancellorsville were open. If General Meade could cross suddenly, and +by a rapid march interpose between Ewell and the scattered divisions +of Hill far in rear, it appeared not unreasonable to conclude that +Lee's army would be completely disrupted, and that the two corps, one +after another, might be crushed by the Federal army. + +This plan, which is given on the authority of Northern writers, +exhibited good soldiership, and, if Lee were to be caught unawares, +promised to succeed. Without further comment we shall now proceed to +the narrative of this brief movement, which, indecisive as it was in +its results, was not uninteresting, and may prove as attractive to the +military student as other operations more imposing and accompanied by +bloodier fighting. + +General Meade began to move toward the Rapidan on November 26th, +and every exertion was made by him to advance with such secrecy and +rapidity as to give him the advantage of a surprise. In this, however, +he was disappointed. No sooner had his orders been issued, and the +correspondent movements begun, than the accomplished scouts of Stuart +hurried across the Rapidan with the intelligence. Stuart, whose +headquarters were in a hollow of the hills near Orange, and not +far from General Lee's, promptly communicated in person to the +commander-in-chief this important information, and Lee dispatched +immediately an order to General A.P. Hill, in rear, to march at once +and form a junction with Ewell in the vicinity of Verdierville. The +latter officer was directed to retire from his advanced position upon +the Rapidan, which exposed him to an attack on his right flank and +rear, and to fall back and take post behind the small stream called +Mine Run. + +In following with a critical eye the operations of General Lee, the +military student must be struck particularly by one circumstance, that +in all his movements he seemed to proceed less according to the nice +technicalities of the art of war, than in accordance with the dictates +of a broad and comprehensive good sense. It may be said that, in +choosing position, he always chose the right and never the wrong one; +and the choice of Mine Run now as a defensive line was a proof of +this. The run is a small water-course which, rising south of the great +highway between Orange and Chancellorsville, flows due northward amid +woods and between hills to the Rapidan, into which it empties itself a +few miles above Germanna, General Meade's main place of crossing. This +stream is the natural defence of the right flank of an army posted +between Orange and the Rapidan. It is also the natural and obvious +line upon which to receive the attack of a force marching from below +toward Gordonsville. Behind Mine Run, therefore, just east of the +little village of Verdierville, General Lee directed his two corps to +concentrate; and at the word, the men, lounging but now carelessly in +winter-quarters, sprung to arms, "fell in," and with burnished muskets +took up the line of march. + +We have spoken of the promptness with which the movement was made, and +it may almost be said that General Meade had scarcely broken up his +camps north of the Rapidan, when Lee was in motion to go and meet him. +On the night of the 26th, Stuart, whose cavalry was posted opposite +the lower fords, pushed forward in person, and bivouacked under some +pines just below Verdierville; and before daylight General Lee was +also in the saddle, and at sunrise had reached the same point. The +night had been severely cold, for winter had set in in earnest; but +General Lee, always robust and careless of weather, walked down, +without wrapping, and wearing only his plain gray uniform, to Stuart's +_impromptu_ headquarters under the pines, where, beside a great fire, +and without other covering than his army-blanket, the commander of the +cavalry had slept since midnight. + +As Lee approached, Stuart came forward, and Lee said, admiringly, +"What a hardy soldier!" + +They consulted, Stuart walking back with General Lee, and receiving +his orders. He then promptly mounted, and hastened to the front, +where, taking command of his cavalry, he formed it in front of the +advancing enemy, and with artillery and dismounted sharp-shooters, +offered every possible impediment to their advance. + +General Meade made the passage of the Rapidan without difficulty; and, +as his expedition was unencumbered with wagons, advanced rapidly. The +only serious obstruction to his march was made by Johnson's division +of Ewell's corps, which had been thrown out beyond the run, toward the +river. Upon this force the Federal Third Corps, under General French, +suddenly blundered, by taking the wrong road, it is said, and +an active engagement followed, which resulted in favor of the +Southerners. The verdict of Lee's troops afterward was, that the enemy +fought badly; but General French probably desired nothing better than +to shake off this hornets'-nest into which he had stumbled, and to +reach, in the time prescribed by General Meade, the point of Federal +concentration near Robertson's Tavern. + +Toward that point the Northern forces now converged from the various +crossings of the river; and Stuart continued to reconnoitre and feel +them along the entire front, fighting obstinately, and falling back +only when compelled to do so. Every step was thus contested with +sharp-shooters and the Horse-Artillery, from far below to above +New-Hope Church. The Federal infantry, however, continued steadily to +press forward, forcing back the cavalry, and on the 27th General Meade +was in face of Mine Run. + +Lee was ready. Hill had promptly marched, and his corps was coming +into position on the right of Ewell. Receiving intelligence of the +enemy's movement only upon the preceding day, Lee had seemed to move +the divisions of Hill, far back toward Charlottesville, as by the wave +of his hand. The army was concentrated; the line of defence occupied; +and General Meade's attempt to surprise his adversary, by interposing +between his widely-separated wings, had resulted in decisive failure. +If he fought now, the battle must be one of army against army; and, +what was worst of all, it was Lee who held all the advantages of +position. + +We have spoken of Mine Run: it is a strong defensive position, on its +right bank and on its left. Flowing generally between hills, and with +densely-wooded banks, it is difficult to cross from either side in +face of an opposing force; and it was Lee's good fortune to occupy the +attitude of the party to be assailed. He seemed to feel that he had +nothing to fear, and was in excellent spirits, as were the men; an +eye-witness describes them as "gay, lively, laughing, magnificent." In +front of his left wing he had already erected works; his centre and +right were as yet undefended, but the task of strengthening the line +at these points was rapidly prosecuted. Lee superintended in person +the establishment of his order of battle, and it was plain to those +who saw him thus engaged that the department of military engineering +was a favorite one with him. Riding along the western bank of the +water-course, a large part of which was densely clothed in oak, +chestnut, and hickory, he selected, with the quick eye of the trained +engineer, the best position for his line--promptly moved it when it +had been established on bad ground--pointed out the positions for +artillery; and, as he thus rode slowly along, the works which he had +directed seemed to spring up behind him as though by magic. As the +troops of Hill came up and halted in the wood, the men seized axes, +attacked the large trees, which soon fell in every direction, and the +heavy logs were dragged without loss of time to the prescribed line, +where they were piled upon each other in double walls, which were +filled in rapidly with earth; and thus, in an inconceivably short +space of time the men had defences breast-high which would turn a +cannon-shot. In front, for some distance, too, the timber had been +felled and an _abatis_ thus formed. A few hours after the arrival of +the troops on the line marked out by Lee, they were rooted behind +excellent breastworks, with forest, stream, and _abatis_ in front, to +delay the assailing force under the fire of small-arms and cannon. + +This account of the movements of the army, and the preparations made +to receive General Meade's attack, may appear of undue length and +minuteness of detail, in view of the fact that no battle ensued. But +the volume before the reader is not so much a history of the battles +of Virginia, which have often been described, as an attempt to +delineate the military and personal character of General Lee, which +displayed itself often more strikingly in indecisive events than in +those whose results attract the attention of the world. It was the +vigorous brain, indeed, of the great soldier, that made events +indecisive--warding off, by military acumen and ability, the disaster +with which he was threatened. At Mine Run, Lee's quick eye for +position, and masterly handling of his forces, completely checkmated +an adversary who had advanced to deliver decisive battle. With felled +trees, breastworks, and a crawling stream, Lee reversed all the +calculations of the commander of the Federal army. + +From the 27th of November to the night of the 1st of December, General +Meade moved to and fro in front of the formidable works of his +adversary, feeling them with skirmishers and artillery, and essaying +vainly to find some joint in the armor through which to pierce. There +was none. Lee had inaugurated that great system of breastworks which +afterward did him such good service in his long campaign with General +Grant. A feature of the military art unknown to Jomini had thus its +birth in the woods of America; and this fact, if there were naught +else of interest in the campaign, would communicate to the Mine-Run +affair the utmost interest. + +General Meade, it seems, was bitterly opposed to foregoing an attack. +In spite of the powerful position of his adversary, he ordered an +assault, it is said; but this did not take place, in consequence, +it would appear, of the reluctance of General Warren to charge the +Confederate right. This seemed so strong that the men considered it +hopeless. When the order was communicated to them, each one wrote his +name on a scrap of paper and pinned it to his breast, that his corpse +might be recognized, and, if possible, conveyed to his friends. This +was ominous of failure: General Warren suspended the attack; and +General Meade, it is said, acquiesced in his decision. He declared, it +is related, that he could carry the position _with a loss of thirty +thousand men_; but, as that idea was frightful, there seemed nothing +to do but retreat. + +Lee seemed to realize the embarrassment of his adversary, and was in +excellent heart throughout the whole affair. Riding to and fro along +his line among his "merry men"--and they had never appeared in finer +spirits, or with greater confidence in their commander--he addressed +encouraging words to them, exposed himself with entire indifference to +the shelling, and seemed perfectly confident of the result. It was on +this occasion that, finding a party of his ragged soldiers devoutly +kneeling in one of the little glades behind the breastworks, and +holding a praying-meeting in the midst of bursting shells, he +dismounted, took off his hat, and remained silently and devoutly +listening until the earnest prayer was concluded. A great revival was +then going on in the army, and thousands were becoming professors of +religion. The fact may seem strange to those who have regarded Lee +as only a West-Pointer and soldier, looking, like all soldiers, to +military success; but the religious enthusiasm of his men in this +autumn of 1863 probably gave him greater joy than any successes +achieved over his Federal adversary. Those who saw him on the lines at +Mine Run will remember the composed satisfaction of his countenance. +An eye-witness recalls his mild face, as he rode along, accompanied +by "Hill, in his drooping hat, simple and cordial; Early, laughing; +Ewell, pale and haggard, but with a smile _de bon coeur_" [Footnote: +Journal of a staff-officer.] He was thus attended, sitting his horse +upon a hill near the left of his line, when a staff officer rode up +and informed him that the enemy were making a heavy demonstration +against his extreme right. + +"Infantry or cavalry?" he asked, with great calmness. + +"Infantry, I think, general, from the appearance of the guns. General +Wilcox thinks so, and has sent a regiment of sharp-shooters to meet +them." + +"Who commands the regiment?" asked General Lee; and it was to +introduce this question that this trifle has been mentioned. Lee knew +his army man by man almost, and could judge of the probable result +of the movement here announced to him by the name of the officer in +command. + +Finding that General Meade would not probably venture to assail him. +Lee determined, on the night of December 1st, to attack his adversary +on the next morning. His mildness on this night yielded to soldierly +ardor, and he exclaimed: + +"They must be attacked! they must be attacked!" + +His plan is said to have contemplated a movement of his right wing +against the Federal left flank, for which the ground afforded great +advantages. All was ready for such a movement, and the orders are +said to have been issued, when, as the dawn broke over the hills, the +Federal camps were seen to be deserted. General Meade had abandoned +his campaign, and was in full retreat toward the Rapidan. + +The army immediately moved in pursuit, with Lee leading the column. +The disappearance of the enemy was an astounding event to them, and +they could scarcely realize it. An entertaining illustration of this +fact is found in the journal of a staff-officer, who was sent with an +order to General Hampton. "In looking for him," says the writer, "I +got far to our right, and in a hollow of the woods found a grand +guard of the Eleventh Cavalry, with pickets and videttes out, gravely +sitting their horses, and watching the wood-roads for the advance +of an enemy who was then retreating across Ely's Ford!" Stuart was +pressing their rear with his cavalry, while the infantry were steadily +advancing. But the pursuit was vain. General Meade had disappeared +like a phantom, and was beyond pursuit, to the extreme regret and +disappointment of General Lee, who halted his troops, in great +discouragement, at Parker's Store. + +"Tell General Stuart," he said, with an air of deep melancholy, to an +officer whom he saw passing, "that I had received his dispatch when +he turned into the Brock Road, and have halted my infantry here, not +wishing to march them unnecessarily." + +Even at that early hour all chance of effective pursuit was lost. +General Meade, without wagons, and not even with the weight of the +rations brought over, which the men had consumed, had moved with the +rapidity of cavalry, and was already crossing the river far below. He +was afterward asked by a gentleman of Culpepper whether in crossing +the Rapidan he designed a real advance. + +"Certainly," he is reported by the gentleman in question to have +replied, "I meant to go to Richmond if I could, but Lee's position was +so strong that to storm it would have cost me thirty thousand men. I +could not remain without a battle--the weather was so cold that my +sentinels froze to death on post." + +The pursuit was speedily abandoned by General Lee as entirely +impracticable, and the men were marched back between the burning +woods, set on fire by the Federal campfires. The spectacle was +imposing--the numerous fires, burning outerward in the carpet of +thick leaves, formed picturesque rings of flame resembling brilliant +necklaces; and, as the flames reached the tall trees, wrapped to +the summit in dry vines, these would blaze aloft like gigantic +torches--true "torches of war"--let fall by the Federal commander in +his hasty retrograde. + +Twenty-four hours afterward the larger part of General Lee's army +were back in their winter-quarters. In less than a week the Mine-Run +campaign had begun and ended. The movement of General Meade might have +been compared to that of the King of France and his forty thousand +men in the song; but the campaign was not ill devised, was rather +the dictate of sound military judgment. All that defeated it was the +extreme promptness of Lee, the excellent choice of position, and +the beginning of that great system of impromptu breastworks which +afterward became so powerful an engine against General Grant. + + + + +VI. + +LEE IN THE AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1863. + + +General Lee's headquarters remained, throughout the autumn and winter +of 1863, in a wood on the southern slope of the spur called Clarke's +Mountain, a few miles east of Orange Court-House. + +Here his tents had been pitched, in a cleared space amid pines and +cedars; and the ingenuity of the "couriers," as messengers and +orderlies were called in the Southern army, had fashioned alleys and +walks leading to the various tents, the tent of the commanding general +occupying the centre. Of the gentlemen of General Lee's staff we have +not considered it necessary to speak; but it may here be said that it +was composed of officers of great efficiency and of the most courteous +manners, from Colonel Taylor, the indefatigable adjutant-general, to +the youngest and least prominent member of the friendly group. Among +these able assistants of the commander-in-chief were Colonel Marshall, +of Maryland, a gentleman of distinguished intellect; Colonel Peyton, +who had entered the battle of Manassas as a private in the ranks, but, +on the evening of that day, for courage and efficiency, occupied the +place of a commissioned officer on Beauregard's staff; and others +whose names were comparatively unknown to the army, but whose part in +the conduct of affairs, under direction of Lee, was most important. + +With the gentlemen of his staff General Lee lived on terms of the most +kindly regard. He was a strict disciplinarian, and abhorred the theory +that a commissioned officer, from considerations of rank, should hold +himself above the private soldiers; but there was certainly no fault +of this description to be found at army headquarters, and the general +and his staff worked together in harmonious coöperation. The respect +felt for him by gentlemen who saw him at all hours, and under none of +the guise of ceremony, was probably greater than that experienced +by the community who looked upon him from a distance. That distant +perspective, hiding little weaknesses, and revealing only the great +proportions of a human being, is said to be essential generally to the +heroic sublime. No man, it has been said, can be great to those always +near him; but in the case of General Lee this was far from being the +fact. He seemed greater and nobler, day by day, as he was better and +more intimately known; and upon this point we shall quote the words of +the brave John B. Gordon, one of his most trusted lieutenants: + +"It has been my fortune in life," says General Gordon, "from +circumstances, to have come in contact with some whom the world +pronounced great--some of the earth's celebrated and distinguished; +but I declare it here to-day, that of any mortal man whom it has ever +been my privilege to approach, he was the greatest; and I assert here, +that, _grand as might be your conception of the man before, he arose +in incomparable majesty on more familiar acquaintance_. This can be +affirmed of few men who have ever lived or died, and of no other man +whom it has ever been my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more +you gazed, the more its grandeur grew upon you, the more its majesty +expanded and filled your spirit with a full satisfaction that left a +perfect delight without the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly +majestic and dignified in all his deportment, he was genial as the +sunlight of this beautiful day; and not a ray of that cordial social +intercourse but brought warmth to the heart as it did light to the +understanding." + +Upon this point, General Breckinridge, too, bears his testimony: +"During the last year of that unfortunate struggle," he says, "it was +my good fortune to spend a great deal of time with him. I was almost +constantly by his side, and it was during the two months immediately +preceding the fall of Richmond that I came to know and fully +understand the true nobility of his character. In all those long +vigils, he was considerate and kind, gentle, firm, and self-poised. I +can give no better idea of the impression it made upon me, than to +say it inspired me with an ardent love of the man and a profound +veneration of his character. It was so massive and noble, so grand in +its proportions, that all men must admire its heroism and gallantry, +yet so gentle and tender that a woman might adopt and claim it as her +own." + +We beg the reader to observe that in these two tributes to the worth +of the great soldier, his distinguished associates dwell with peculiar +emphasis upon the charms of private intercourse with him, and bear +their testimony to the fact that to know him better was to love and +admire him more and more. The fact is easily explained. There was in +this human being's character naught that was insincere, assumed, or +pretentious. It was a great and massive soul--as gentle, too, and +tender, as a woman's or a child's--that lay beneath the reserved +exterior, and made the soldier more beloved as its qualities +were better known. Other men reveal their weaknesses on nearer +acquaintance--Lee only revealed his greatness; and he was more and +more loved and admired. + +The justice of these comments will be recognized by all who had +personal intercourse with the illustrious soldier; and, in this autumn +and winter of 1863, his army, lying around him along the Rapidan, +began to form that more intimate acquaintance which uniformly resulted +in profound admiration for the man. In the great campaigns of the two +past years the gray soldier had shared their hardships, and never +relaxed his fatherly care for all their wants; he had led them in +battle, exposing his own person with entire indifference; had never +exposed _them_ when it was possible to avoid it; and on every occasion +had demanded, often with disagreeable persistence from the civil +authorities, that the wants of his veterans should be supplied if all +else was neglected. These facts were now known to the troops, and +made Lee immensely popular. From the highest officers to the humblest +private soldiers he was universally respected and beloved. The whole +army seemed to feel that, in the plainly-clad soldier, sleeping, like +themselves, under canvas, in the woods of Orange, they had a guiding +and protecting head, ever studious of their well-being, jealous of +their hard-earned fame, and ready, both as friend and commander, to +represent them and claim their due. + +We have spoken of the great revival of religion which at this time +took place in the army. The touching spectacle was presented of +bearded veterans, who had charged in a score of combats, kneeling +devoutly under the rustic roofs of evergreens, built for religious +gatherings, and praying to the God of battles who had so long +protected them. A commander-in-chief of the old European school might +have ridiculed these emotional assemblages, or, at best, passed them +without notice, as freaks in which he disdained to take part. Lee, +on the contrary, greeted the religious enthusiasm of his troops +with undisguised pleasure. He went among them, conversed with the +chaplains, assisted the good work by every means in his power; and +no ordained minister of the Gospel could have exhibited a simpler, +sincerer, or more heartfelt delight than himself at the general +extension of religious feeling throughout the army. We have related +how, in talking with army-chaplains, his cheeks flushed and his eyes +filled with tears at the good tidings. He begged them to pray for him +too, as no less needing their pious intercession; and in making the +request he was, as always, simple and sincere. Unaccustomed to exhibit +his feelings upon this, the profoundest and most sacred of subjects, +he was yet penetrated to his inmost soul by a sense of his own +weakness and dependence on divine support; and, indeed, it may be +questioned whether any other element of the great soldier's character +was so deep-seated and controlling as his spirit of love to God. It +took, in the eyes of the world, the form of a love of duty; but with +Lee the word duty was but another name for the will of the Almighty; +and to discover and perform this was, first and last, the sole aim of +his life. + +We elaborate this point before passing to the last great campaign of +the war, since, to understand Lee in those last days, it is absolutely +necessary to keep in view this utter subjection of the man's heart to +the sense of an overruling Providence--that Providence which "shapes +our ends, rough-hew them how we will." We shall be called upon to +delineate the soldier meeting adverse circumstances and disaster at +every turn with an imperial calmness and a resolution that never +shook; and, up to a certain point, this noble composure may be +attributed to the stubborn courage of the man's nature. There came in +due time, however, a moment of trial when military courage simply +was of no avail--when that human being never lived, who, looking to +earthly support alone, would not have lost heart and given up the +contest. Lee did not, in this hour of conclusive trial, either lose +heart or give up the struggle; and the world, not understanding the +phenomenon, gazed at him with wonder. Few were aware of the true +explanation of his utter serenity when all things were crumbling +around him, and when he knew that they were crumbling. The stout heart +of the soldier who will not yield to fate was in his breast; but he +had a still stronger sentiment than manly courage to support him--the +consciousness that he was doing his duty, and that God watched over +him, and would make all things work together for good to those who +loved Him. + +As yet that last great wrestle of the opposing armies lay in the +future. The veterans of the Army of Northern Virginia defended the +line of the Rapidan, and the gray commander-in-chief, in his tent +on Clarke's Mountain, serenely awaited the further movements of the +enemy. During the long months of winter he was busily engaged, as +usual, in official correspondence, in looking to the welfare of his +men, and in preparations for the coming campaign. He often rode among +the camps, and the familiar figure in the well-known hat, cape, +and gray uniform, mounted upon the powerful iron-gray--the famous +"Traveller," who survived to bear his master after the war--was +everywhere greeted by the ragged veterans with cheers and marks of the +highest respect and regard. At times his rides were extended to +the banks of the Rapidan, and, in passing, he would stop at the +headquarters of General Stuart, or other officers. On these occasions +he had always some good-humored speech for all, not overlooking the +youngest officer; but he shone in the most amiable light, perhaps, in +conversing with some old private soldier, gray-haired like himself. +At such moments the general's countenance was a pleasant spectacle. A +kindly smile lit up the clear eyes, and moved the lips half-concealed +by the grizzled mustache. The _bonhomie_ of this smile was +irresistible, and the aged private soldier, in his poor, tattered +fighting-jacket, was made to feel by it that his commander-in-chief +regarded him as a friend and comrade. + +We dwell at too great length, perhaps, upon these slight personal +traits of the soldier, but all relating to such a human being is +interesting, and worthy of record. To the writer, indeed, this is the +most attractive phase of his subject. The analysis and description of +campaigns and battles is an unattractive task to him; but the personal +delineation of a good and great man, even in his lesser and more +familiar traits, is a pleasing relief--a portion of his subject upon +which he delights to linger. What the writer here tries to draw, he +looked upon with his own eyes, the figure of a great, calm soldier, +with kindly sweetness and dignity, but, above all, a charming +sincerity and simplicity in every movement, accent, and expression. +Entirely free from the trappings of high command, and with nothing to +distinguish him from any other soldier save the well-worn stars on the +collar of his uniform-coat, the commander-in-chief was recognizable at +the very first glance, and no less the simple and kindly gentleman. +His old soldiers remember him as he appeared on many battle-fields, +and will describe his martial seat in the saddle as he advanced with +the advancing lines. But they will speak of him with even greater +pleasure as he appeared in the winters of 1862 and 1863, on the +Rappahannock and the Rapidan--a gray and simple soldier, riding among +them and smiling kindly as his eyes fell upon their tattered uniforms +and familiar faces. + + + + +PART VIII. + +_LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGNS AND LAST DAYS_. + + + + +I. + +GENERAL GRANT CROSSES THE RAPIDAN. + + +In the first days of May, 1864, began the immense campaign which was +to terminate only with the fall of the Confederacy. + +For this, which was regarded as the decisive trial of strength, the +Federal authorities had made elaborate preparations. New levies were +raised by draft to fill up the ranks of the depleted forces; great +masses of war material were accumulated at the central depots at +Washington, and the Government summoned from the West an officer of +high reputation to conduct hostilities on what was more plainly than +ever before seen to be the theatre of decisive conflict--Virginia. The +officer in question was General Ulysses S. Grant, who had received the +repute of eminent military ability by his operations in the West; +he was now commissioned lieutenant-general, and President Lincoln +assigned him to the command of "all the armies of the United States," +at that time estimated to number one million men. + +General Grant promptly accepted the trust confided to him, and, +relinquishing to Major-General Sherman the command of the Western +forces, proceeded to Culpepper and assumed personal command of the +Army of the Potomac, although nominally that army remained under +command of General Meade. The spring campaign was preceded, in +February, by two movements of the Federal forces: one the advance of +General B.F. Butler up the Peninsula to the Chickahominy, where for a +few hours he threatened Richmond, only to retire hastily when opposed +by a few local troops; the other the expedition of General Kilpatrick +with a body of cavalry, from the Rapidan toward Richmond, with the +view of releasing the Federal prisoners there. This failed completely, +like the expedition up the Peninsula. General Kilpatrick, after +threatening the city, rapidly retreated, and a portion of his command, +under Colonel Dahlgren, was pursued, and a large portion killed, +including their commander. It is to be hoped, for the honor of human +nature, that Colonel Dahlgren's designs were different from those +which are attributed to him on what seems unassailable proof. Papers +found upon his body contained minute directions for releasing the +prisoners and giving up the city to them, and for putting to death the +Confederate President and his Cabinet. + +To return to the more important events on the Rapidan. General Grant +assumed the direction of the Army of the Potomac under most favorable +auspices. Other commanders--especially General McClellan--had labored +under painful disadvantages, from the absence of coöperation and good +feeling on the part of the authorities. The new leader entered upon +the great struggle under very different circumstances. Personally and +politically acceptable to the Government, he received their hearty +coöperation: all power was placed in his hands; he was enabled to +concentrate in Virginia the best troops, in large numbers; and the +character of this force seemed to promise him assured victory. General +McClellan and others had commanded troops comparatively raw, and +were opposed by Confederate armies in the full flush of anticipated +success. General Grant had now under him an army of veterans, and the +enemy he was opposed to had, month by month, lost strength. Under +these circumstances it seemed that he ought to succeed in crushing his +adversary. + +The Federal army present and ready for duty May 1, 1864, numbered one +hundred and forty-one thousand one hundred and sixty-six men. That of +General Lee numbered fifty-two thousand six hundred and twenty-six. +Colonel Taylor, adjutant-general of the Army, states the strictly +effective at a little less, viz.: + + Ewell 13,000 + Hill 17,000 + Longstreet 10,000 + + Infantry 40,000 + Cavalry and artillery 10,000 + + Total 50,000 + +The two statements do not materially differ, and require no +discussion. The force at Lee's command was a little over one-third +of General Grant's; and, if it be true that the latter commander +continued to receive reënforcements between the 1st and 4th days of +May, when he crossed the Rapidan, Lee's force was probably less than +one-third of his adversary's. + +Longstreet, it will be seen, had been brought back from the West, but +the Confederates labored under an even more serious disadvantage than +want of sufficient force. Lee's army, small as it was, was wretchedly +supplied. Half the men were in rags, and, worse still, were but +one-fourth fed. Against this suicidal policy, in reference to an army +upon which depended the fate of the South, General Lee had protested +in vain. Whether from fault in the authorities or from circumstances +over which they could exercise no control, adequate supplies of food +did not reach the army; and, when it marched to meet the enemy, in the +first days of May, the men were gaunt, half-fed, and in no condition +to enter upon so arduous a campaign. There was naught to be done, +however, but to fight on to the end. Upon the Army of Northern +Virginia, depleted by casualties, and unprovided with the commonest +necessaries, depended the fate of the struggle. Generals Grant and Lee +fully realized that fact; and the Federal commander had the acumen to +perceive that the conflict was to be long and determined. He indulged +no anticipations of an early or easy success. His plan, as stated in +his official report, was "to _hammer continuously_ against the armed +force of the enemy and his resources, until _by mere attrition_, if +by nothing else, there should be nothing left of him but an equal +submission with the loyal section of our common country to the +Constitution and the laws." The frightful cost in blood of this policy +of hammering continuously and thus wearing away his adversary's +strength by mere attrition, did or did not occur to General Grant. In +either case he is not justly to be blamed. + +It was the only policy which promised to result in Federal success. +Pitched battles had been tried for nearly three years, and in victory +or in defeat the Southern army seemed equally unshaken and dangerous. +This fact was now felt and acknowledged even by its enemies. "Lee's +army," said a Northern writer, referring to it at this time, "is an +army of veterans: it is an instrument sharpened to a perfect edge. You +turn its flanks--well, its flanks are made to be turned. This effects +little or nothing. All that we reckon as gained, therefore, is the +loss of life inflicted on the enemy." With an army thus trained in +many combats, and hardened against misfortune, defeat in one or a +dozen battles decided nothing. General Grant seems to have +understood this, and to have resolutely adopted the programme of +"attrition"--coldly estimating that, even if he lost ten men to +General Lee's one, he could better endure that loss, and could afford +it, if thereby he "crushed the rebellion." + +The military theory of the Federal commander having thus been set +forth in his own words, it remains to notice his programme for the +approaching campaign. He had hesitated between two plans--"one to +cross the Rapidan below Lee, moving by his right flank; the other +above, moving by his left." The last was abandoned, from the +difficulty of keeping open communication with any base of supplies, +and the latter adopted. General Grant determined to "fight Lee between +Culpepper and Richmond, if he would stand;" to advance straight upon +the city and invest it from the north and west, thereby cutting its +communications in three directions; and then, crossing the James River +above the city, form a junction with the left of Major-General Butler, +who, moving with about thirty thousand men from Fortress Monroe, at +the moment when the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan, was to +occupy City Point, advance thence up the south side of James River, +and reach a position where the two armies might thus unite. + +It is proper to keep in view this programme of General Grant. Lee +completely reversed it by promptly moving in front of his adversary +at every step which he took in advance; and it will be seen that the +Federal commander was finally compelled to adopt a plan which does not +seem to have entered his mind, save as a _dernier ressort_, at the +beginning of the campaign. + +On the morning of the 4th of May, General Grant commenced crossing the +Rapidan at Germanna and other fords above Chancellorsville, and by the +morning of the 5th his army was over. It appears from his report that +he had not anticipated so easy a passage of the stream, and greatly +felicitated himself upon effecting it so successfully. "This I +regarded," he says, "as a great success, and it removed from my mind +the most serious apprehension I had entertained, that of crossing +the river in the face of an active, large, well-appointed, and +ably-commanded army." Lee had made no movement to dispute the passage +of the stream, from the fact, perhaps, that his army was _not_ either +"large" or "well-appointed." He preferred to await the appearance of +his adversary, and direct an assault on the flank of his column as it +passed across his front. From a speech attributed to General Meade, it +would seem to have been the impression in the Federal army that Lee +designed falling back to a defensive position somewhere near the South +Anna. His movements were, however, very different. Instead of retiring +before General Grant in the direction of Richmond, he moved with his +three corps toward the Wilderness, to offer battle. + +[Illustration: Routes of Lee & Grant, May and June 1864.] + +The head of the column consisted of Ewell's corps, which had retained +its position on the Rapidan, forming the right of Lee's line. General +A.P. Hill, who had been stationed higher up, near Liberty Mills, +followed; and Longstreet, who lay near Gordonsville, brought up the +rear. These dispositions dictated, as will be seen, the positions of +the three commands in the ensuing struggle. Ewell advanced in front +down the Old Turnpike, that one of the two great highways here running +east and west which is nearest the Rapidan; Hill came on over the +Orange Plank-road, a little south of the turnpike, and thus formed +on Ewell's right; and Longstreet, following, came in on the right of +Hill. + +General Grant had plunged with his army into the dense and melancholy +thicket which had been the scene of General Hooker's discomfiture. His +army, followed by its great train of four thousand wagons, indicating +the important nature of the movement, had reached Wilderness Tavern +and that Brock Road over which Jackson advanced in his secret +flank-march against the Federal right in May, 1863. In May of 1864, +now, another Federal army had penetrated, the sombre and depressing +shadows of the interminable thickets of the Wilderness, and a more +determined struggle than the first was to mark with its bloody hand +this historic territory. + + + + +II. + +THE FIRST COLLISION IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +To understand the singular combat which now ensued, it is necessary to +keep in view the fact that nothing more surprised General Grant than +the sudden appearance of his adversary face to face with him in the +Wilderness. + +It had not been supposed, either by the lieutenant-general or his +corps-commanders, that Lee, with his small army, would have recourse +to a proceeding so audacious. It was anticipated, indeed, that, +somewhere on the road to Richmond, Lee would make a stand and fight, +in a carefully-selected position which would enable him to risk +collision with his great adversary; but that Lee himself would bring +on this collision by making an open attack, unassisted by position +of any sort, was the last thing which seems to have occurred to his +adversary. + +Such, however, as has been said, was the design, from the first, of +the Southern commander, and he moved with his accustomed celerity +and energy. As soon as General Grant broke up his camps north of the +Rapidan, Lee was apprised of the fact, and ordered his three corps +to concentrate in the direction of Chancellorsville. Those who were +present in the Southern army at this time will bear record to the +soldierly promptness of officers and men. On the evening of the 3d of +May the camps were the scenes of noise, merriment, and parade: the +bands played; the woods were alive; nothing disturbed the scene of +general enjoyment of winter-quarters. On the morning of the 4th all +this was changed. The camps were deserted; no sound was anywhere +heard; the troops were twenty miles away, fully armed and ready for +battle. General Lee was in the saddle, and his presence seemed to push +forward his column. Ewell, marching with celerity, bivouacked +that night directly in face of the enemy; and it was the +suddenly-discovered presence of the troops of this commander which +arrested General Grant, advancing steadily in the direction of +Spottsylvania Court-House. + +He must have inwardly chafed at a circumstance so unexpected and +embarrassing. It had been no part of his plan to fight in the thickets +of the Wilderness, and yet an adversary of but one-third his own +strength was about to reverse his whole programme, and dictate the +terms of the first battles of the campaign. There was nothing to do, +however, but to fight, and General Grant hastened to form order of +battle for that purpose, with General Sedgwick commanding his right, +Generals Warren and Burnside his centre, and General Hancock his left, +near the Brock Road. The line thus formed extended from northwest to +southeast, and, as the right wing was in advance with respect to Lee, +that circumstance occasioned the first collision. + +This occurred about mid-day on the 5th of May, and was brought on by +General Warren, who attacked the head of Swell's column, on the Old +Turnpike. An obstinate engagement ensued, and the division which +received the assault was forced back. It quickly, however, reformed, +and being reënforced advanced in turn against General Warren, and, +after a hard fight, he was driven back with a loss of three thousand +men and two pieces of artillery. + +This first collision of the armies on the Confederate left was +followed almost immediately by a bloody struggle on the centre. This +was held by A.P. Hill, who had marched down the Plank-road, and was +near the important point of junction of that road with the Brock Road, +when he was suddenly attacked by the enemy. The struggle which ensued +was long and determined. General Lee wrote: "The assaults were +repeated and desperate, but every one was repulsed." When night fell, +Hill had not been driven back, but had not advanced; and the two +armies rested on their arms, awaiting the return of light to continue +the battle. + + + + +III. + +THE BATTLE OF THE 6TH OF MAY. + + +The morning of the 6th of May came, and, with the first light of dawn, +the adversaries, as by a common understanding, advanced at the same +moment to attack each other. + +The battle which followed is wellnigh indescribable, and may be said, +in general terms, to have been naught but the blind and desperate +clutch of two great bodies of men, who could scarcely see each other +when they were but a few feet apart, and who fired at random, rather +by sound than sight. A Southern writer, describing the country and +the strange combat, says: "The country was sombre--a land of thicket, +undergrowth, jungle, ooze, where men could not see each other twenty +yards off, and assaults had to be made by the compass. The fights +there were not even as easy as night attacks in open country, for +at night you can travel by the stars. Death came unseen; regiments +stumbled on each other, and sent swift destruction into each other's +ranks, guided by the crackling of the bushes. It was not war--military +manoeuvring: science had as little to do with it as sight. Two wild +animals were hunting each other; when they heard each other's steps, +they sprung and grappled. The conqueror advanced, or went elsewhere. +The dead were lost from all eyes in the thicket. The curious spectacle +was here presented of officers advancing to the charge, in the jungle, +_compass in hand_, attacking, not by sight, but by the bearing of the +needle. In this mournful and desolate thicket did the great campaign +of 1864 begin. Here, in blind wrestle as at midnight, did two hundred +thousand men in blue and gray clutch each other--bloodiest and +weirdest of encounters. War had had nothing like it. The genius of +destruction, tired apparently of the old commonplace killing, had +invented the 'unseen death.' At five in the morning, the opponents +closed in, breast to breast, in the thicket. Each had thrown up here +and there slight, temporary breastworks of saplings and dirt; beyond +this, they were unprotected. The question now was, which would succeed +in driving his adversary from these defences, almost within a few +yards of each other, and from behind which crackled the musketry. +Never was sight more curious. On the low line of these works, dimly +seen in the thicket, rested the muzzles spouting flame; from the +depths rose cheers; charges were made and repulsed, the lines scarcely +seeing each other; men fell and writhed, and died unseen--their +bodies lost in the bushes, their death-groans drowned in the steady, +continuous, never-ceasing crash." + +These sentences convey a not incorrect idea of the general character +of this remarkable engagement, which had no precedent in the war. We +shall now proceed to speak of General Lee's plans and objects, and to +indicate where they failed or succeeded. The commanders of both armies +labored under great embarrassments. General Grant's was the singular +character of the country, with which he was wholly unacquainted; and +General Lee's, the delay in the arrival of Longstreet. Owing to the +distance of the camps of the last-named officer, he had not, at dawn, +reached the field of battle. As his presence was indispensable to a +general assault, this delay in his appearance threatened to result in +unfortunate consequences, as it was nearly certain that General Grant +would make an early and resolute attack. Under these circumstances, +Lee resolved to commence the action, and did so, counting, doubtless, +on his ability, with the thirty thousand men at his command, to at +least maintain his ground. His plan seems to have been to make a heavy +demonstration against the Federal right, and, when Longstreet arrived, +throw the weight of his whole centre and right against the Federal +left, with the view of seizing the Brock Road, running southward, +and forcing back the enemy's left wing into the thickets around +Chancellorsville. This brilliant conception, which, if carried out, +would have arrested General Grant in the beginning of his campaign, +was very near meeting with success. The attack on the Federal right, +under General Sedgwick, commenced at dawn, and the fighting on both +sides was obstinate. It continued with indecisive results throughout +the morning, gradually involving the Federal centre; but, nearly +at the moment when it began, a still more obstinate conflict was +inaugurated between General Hancock, holding the Federal left, and +Hill, who opposed him on the Plank-road. The battle raged in this +quarter with great fury for some time, but, attacked in front and +flank at once by his able opponent, Hill was forced back steadily, and +at last, in some disorder, a considerable distance from the ground +which had witnessed the commencement of the action. At this point, +however, he was fortunately met by Longstreet. That commander rapidly +brought his troops into line, met the advancing enemy, attacked +them with great fury, and, after a bloody contest, in which General +Wadsworth was killed, drove them back to their original position on +the Brock Road. + +It now seemed nearly certain that Lee's plan of seizing upon this +important highway would succeed. General Hancock had been forced back +with heavy loss, Longstreet was pressing on, and, as he afterward +said, he "thought he had another Bull Run on them," when a singular +casualty defeated all. General Longstreet, who had ridden in front of +his advancing line, turned to ride back, when he was mistaken by +his own men for a Federal cavalryman, fired upon, and disabled by +a musket-ball. This threw all into disorder, and the advance was +discontinued. General Lee, as soon as he was apprised of the accident, +hastened to take personal command of the corps, and, as soon as order +was restored, directed the line to press forward. The most bloody and +determined struggle of the day ensued. The thicket filled the valleys, +and, as at Chancellorsville, a new horror was added to the horror +of battle. A fire broke out in the thicket, and soon wrapped the +adversaries in flame and smoke. They fought on, however, amid the +crackling flames. Lee continued to press forward; the Federal +breastworks along a portion of their front were carried, and a part of +General Hancock's line was driven from the field. The struggle had, +however, been decisive of no important results, and, from the lateness +of the hour when it terminated, it could not be followed up. On the +left Lee had also met with marked but equally indecisive success. +General Gordon had attacked the Federal right, driven the force at +that point in disorder from their works, and but for the darkness this +success might have been followed up and turned into a complete defeat +of that wing of the enemy. It was only discovered on the next morning +what important successes Gordon had effected with a single brigade; +and there is reason to believe that with a larger force this able +soldier might have achieved results of a decisive character.[1] + +[Footnote 1: General Early, in his "Memoir of the Last Year of the War +for Independence," bears his testimony to the important character of +the blow struck by General Gordon. He says: "At light, on the morning +of the 7th, an advance was made, which disclosed the fact that the +enemy had given up his line of works in front of my whole line and a +good portion of Johnson's. Between the lines a large number of his +dead had been left, and at his breastworks a large number of muskets +and knapsacks had been abandoned, and there was every indication of +great confusion. It was not till then that we understood the full +extent of the success attending the movement of the evening before." +General Gordon had proposed making the attack on the _morning_ of the +6th, but was overruled.] + +Such had been the character and results of the first conflicts between +the two armies in the thickets of the Wilderness. As we have already +said, the collision there was neither expected nor desired by General +Grant, who, unlike General Hooker, in May of the preceding year, seems +fully to have understood the unfavorable nature of the region for +manoeuvring a large army. His adversary had, however, forced him to +accept battle, leaving him no choice, and the result of the actions of +the 5th and 6th had been such as to determine the Federal commander to +emerge as soon as possible from the tangled underwood which hampered +all his movements. On the 7th he accordingly made no movement to +attack Lee, and on the night of that day marched rapidly in the +direction of Hanover Junction, following the road by Todd's Tavern +toward Spottsylvania Court-House. + +For this determination to avoid further fighting in the Wilderness, +General Grant gives a singular explanation. "On the morning of the +7th," he says, "reconnoissance showed that the enemy _had fallen +behind his intrenched lines_, with pickets to the front, covering a +part of the battle-field. From this it was evident that the two-days' +fighting had satisfied him of his inability to further maintain +the contest in the open field, _notwithstanding his advantage of +position_, and that he would wait an attack behind his works." The +"intrenched lines" and "advantage of position" of Lee, were both +imaginary. No lines of intrenchment had been made, and the ground was +not more favorable on General Lee's side than on General Grant's. Both +armies had erected impromptu breastworks of felled trees and earth, +as continued to be their habit throughout the campaign, and the flat +country gave no special advantage to either. The forward movement of +General Grant is susceptible of much easier explanation. The result of +the two-days' fighting had very far from pleased him; he desired +to avoid further conflict in so difficult a country, and, taking +advantage of the quiescence of Lee, and the hours of darkness, he +moved with his army toward the more open country. + + + + +IV. + +THE 12TH OF MAY. + + +Throughout the entire day succeeding this first great conflict, +General Lee remained quiet, watching for some movement of his +adversary. His success in the preliminary straggle had been +gratifying, considering the great disproportion of numbers, but he +indulged no expectation of a retrograde movement across the Rapidan, +on the part of General Grant. He expected him rather to advance, and +anxiously awaited some development of this intention. There were no +indications of such a design up to the night of the 7th, but at that +time, to use the words of a confidential member of Lee's staff, "he +all at once seemed to conceive the idea that his enemy was preparing +to forsake his position, and move toward Hanover Junction _via_ the +Spottsylvania Court-House, and, believing this, he at once detailed +Anderson's division with orders to proceed rapidly toward the +court-house." + +General Anderson commenced his march about nine o'clock at night, when +the Federal column was already upon its way. A race now began for +the coveted position, and General Stuart, with his dismounted +sharp-shooters behind improvised breastworks, harassed and impeded the +Federal advance, at every step, throughout the night. This greatly +delayed their march, and their head of column did not reach the +vicinity of Spottsylvania Court-House until past sunrise. General +Warren, leading the Federal advance, then hurried forward, followed +by General Hancock, when suddenly he found himself in front of +breastworks, and was received with a fire of musketry. Lee had +succeeded in interposing himself between General Grant and Richmond. + +On the same evening the bulk of the two armies were facing each other +on the line of the Po. + +By the rapidity of his movements General Lee had thus completely +defeated his adversary's design to seize on the important point, +Spottsylvania Court-House. General Grant, apparently conceiving some +explanation of this untoward event to be necessary, writes: "The +enemy, having become aware of our movement, and _having the shorter +line_, was enabled to reach there first." The statement that General +Lee had the shorter of the two lines to march over is a mistake. The +armies moved over parallel roads until beyond Todd's Tavern, after +which the distance to the south bank of the Po was greater by Lee's +route than General Grant's. The map will sufficiently indicate this. +Two other circumstances defeated General Grant's attempt to reach the +point first--the extreme rapidity of the march of the Confederate +advance force, and the excellent fighting of Stuart's dismounted men, +who harassed and delayed General Warren, leading the Federal advance +throughout the entire night. + +An additional fact should be mentioned, bearing upon this point, and +upon General Lee's designs. "General Lee's orders to me," says General +Early, who, from the sickness of A.P. Hill, had been assigned to the +command of the corps, "were to _move by Todd's Tavern along the Brock +Road_, to Spottsylvania Court-House, as soon as our front was clear of +the enemy." From this order it would appear either that General Lee +regarded the Brock Road, over which General Grant moved, as the +"shorter line," or that he intended the movement of Early on the +enemy's rear to operate as a check upon them, while he went forward to +their front with his main body. + +These comments may seem tedious to the general reader, but all that +illustrates the military designs, or defends the good soldiership of +Lee, is worthy of record. + +We proceed now to the narrative. In the Wilderness General Grant had +found a dangerous enemy ready to strike at his flank. He now saw in +his front the same active and wary adversary, prepared to bar the +direct road to Richmond. General Lee had taken up his position on the +south bank of one of the four tributaries of the Mattapony. These four +streams are known as the Mat, Ta, Po, and Nye Rivers, and bear the +same relation to the main stream that the fingers of the open hand do +to the wrist. General Lee was behind the Po, which is next to the Nye, +the northernmost of these water-courses. Both were difficult to cross, +and their banks heavily wooded. It was now to be seen whether, either +by a front attack or a turning movement, General Grant could oust his +adversary, and whether General Lee would stand on the defensive or +attack. + +All day, during the 9th, the two armies were constructing breastworks +along their entire fronts, and these works, from the Rapidan to the +banks of the Chickahominy, remain yet in existence. On the evening of +this day a Federal force was thrown across the Po, on the Confederate +left, but soon withdrawn; and on the 10th a similar movement took +place near the same point, which resulted in a brief but bloody +conflict, during which the woods took fire, and many of the assaulting +troops perished miserably in the flames. The force was then recalled, +and, during that night and the succeeding day, nothing of importance +occurred, although heavy skirmishing and an artillery-fire took place +along the lines. + +On the morning of the 12th, at the first dawn of day, General Grant +made a more important and dangerous assault than any yet undertaken in +the campaign. This was directed at a salient on General Lee's right +centre, occupied by Johnson's division of Ewell's corps, and was one +of the bloodiest and most terrible incidents of the war. For this +assault General Grant is said to have selected his best troops. These +advanced in a heavy charging column, through the half darkness of +dawn, passed silently over the Confederate skirmishers, scarcely +firing a shot, and, just as the first streak of daylight touched the +eastern woods, burst upon the salient, which they stormed at the point +of the bayonet. In consequence of the suddenness of the assault and +the absence of artillery--against whose removal General Johnston is +stated to have protested, and which arrived too late--the Federal +forces carried all before them, and gained possession of the works, in +spite of a stubborn and bloody resistance. + +Such was the excellent success of the Federal movement, and the +Southern line seemed to be hopelessly disrupted. Nearly the whole of +Johnson's division were taken prisoners--the number amounting to about +three thousand--and eighteen pieces of artillery fell into the hands +of the assaulting column. + +The position of affairs was now exceedingly critical; and, unless +General Lee could reform his line at the point, it seemed that nothing +was left him but an abandonment of his whole position. The Federal +army had broken his line; was pouring into the opening; and, to +prevent him from concentrating at the point to regain possession of +the works, heavy attacks were begun by the enemy on his right and left +wings. It is probable that at no time during the war was the Southern +army in greater danger of a bloody and decisive disaster. + +At this critical moment General Lee acted with the nerve and coolness +of a soldier whom no adverse event can shake. Those who saw him will +testify to the stern courage of his expression; the glance of the eye, +which indicated a great nature, aroused to the depth of its powerful +organization. Line of battle was promptly formed a short distance +in rear of the salient then in the enemy's possession, and a fierce +charge was made by the Southerners, under the eye of Lee, to regain +it. It was on this occasion that, on fire with the ardor of battle, +which so seldom mastered him, Lee went forward in front of his line, +and, taking his station beside the colors of one of his Virginian +regiments, took off his hat, and, turning to the men, pointed toward +the enemy. A storm of cheers greeted the general, as he sat his gray +war-horse, in front of the men--his head bare, his eyes flashing, and +his cheeks flushed with the fighting-blood of the soldier. General +Gordon, however, spurred to his side and seized his rein. + +"General Lee!" he exclaimed, "this is no place for you. Go to the +rear. These are Virginians and Georgians, sir--men who have never +failed!--Men, you will not fail now!" he cried, rising in his stirrups +and addressing the troops. + +"No, no!" was the reply of the men; and from the whole line burst the +shout, "Lee to the rear! Lee to the rear!" + +Instead of being needed, it was obvious that his presence was an +embarrassment, as the men seemed determined not to charge unless he +retired. He accordingly did so, and the line advanced to the attack, +led by General Gordon and other officers of approved ability and +courage. The charge which followed was resolute, and the word +ferocious best describes the struggle which followed. It continued +throughout the entire day, Lee making not less than five distinct +assaults in heavy force to recover the works. The fight involved the +troops on both flanks, and was desperate and unyielding. The opposing +flags were at times within only a few yards of each other, and so +incessant and concentrated was the fire of musketry, that a tree of +about eighteen inches in diameter was cut down by bullets, and is +still preserved, it is said, in the city of Washington, as a memorial +of this bloody struggle. + +[Illustration: The Wilderness. "Lee to the Rear"] + +The fighting only ceased several hours after dark. Lee had not +regained his advanced line of works, but he was firmly rooted in an +interior and straighter line, from which the Federal troops had found +it impossible to dislodge him. This result of the stubborn action was +essentially a success, as General Grant's aim in the operation had +been to break asunder his adversary's army--in which he very nearly +succeeded. + +At midnight all was again silent. The ground near the salient was +strewed with dead bodies. The loss of the three thousand men and +eighteen guns of Johnson had been followed by a bloody retaliation, +the Federal commander having lost more than eight thousand men. + + + + +V. + +FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE CHICKAHOMINY. + + +After the bloody action of the 12th of May, General Grant remained +quiet for many days, "awaiting," he says, "the arrival of +reënforcements from Washington." The number of these fresh troops is +not known to the present writer. General Lee had no reinforcements to +expect, and continued to confront his adversary with his small army, +which must have been reduced by the heavy fighting to less than forty +thousand men, while that of General Grant numbered probably about one +hundred and forty thousand. + +Finding that his opponent was not disposed to renew hostilities. +General Lee, on the 19th of May, sent General Ewell to turn his right +flank; but this movement resulted in nothing, save the discovery by +General Ewell that the Federal army was moving. This intelligence was +dispatched to General Lee on the evening of the 21st, and reached +him at Souther's House, on the banks of the Po, where he was calmly +reconnoitring the position of the enemy. + +As soon as he read the note of General Ewell, he mounted his horse, +saying, in his grave voice, to his staff, "Come, gentlemen;" and +orders were sent to the army to prepare to move. The troops began +their march on the same night, in the direction of Hanover Junction, +which they reached on the evening of the 22d. When, on May 23d, +General Grant reached the banks of the North Anna, he found Lee +stationed on the south bank, ready to oppose his crossing. + +The failure of General Grant to reach and seize upon the important +point of Hanover Junction before the arrival of Lee, decided the fate +of the plan of campaign originally devised by him. If the reader will +glance at the map of Virginia, this fact will become apparent. Hanover +Junction is the point where the Virginia Central and Richmond and +Fredericksburg Railroads cross each other, and is situated in the +angle of the North Anna and South Anna Rivers, which unite a short +distance below to form the Pamunkey. Once in possession of this point, +General Grant would have had easy communication with the excellent +base of supplies at Aquia Creek; would have cut the Virginia Central +Railroad; and a direct march southward would have enabled him to +invest Richmond from the north and northwest, in accordance with his +original plan. Lee had, however, reached the point first, and from +that moment, unless the Southern force were driven from its position, +the entire plan of campaign must necessarily be changed. + +The great error of General Grant in this arduous campaign would seem +to have been the feebleness of the attack which he here made upon +Lee. The position of the Southern army was not formidable, and on +his arrival they had had no time to erect defences. The river is not +difficult of crossing, and the ground on the south bank gives +no decided advantage to a force occupying it. In spite of +these facts--which it is proper to say General Grant denies, +however--nothing was effected, and but little attempted. A few words +will sum up the operations of the armies during the two or three days. +Reaching the river, General Grant threw a column across some miles +up the stream, at a point known as Jericho Ford, where a brief but +obstinate encounter ensued between Generals Hill and Warren, and +this was followed by the capture of an old redoubt defending the +Chesterfield bridge, near the railroad crossing, opposite Lee's right, +which enabled another column to pass the stream at that point. These +two successful passages of the river on Lee's left and right seemed to +indicate a fixed intention on the part of his adversary to press both +the Southern flanks, and bring on a decisive engagement; and, to +coöperate in this plan, a third column was now thrown over opposite +Lee's centre. + +These movements were, however, promptly met. Lee retired his two +wings, but struck suddenly with his centre at the force attempting to +cross there; and then active operations on both sides ceased. In spite +of having passed the river with the bulk of his army, and formed line +of battle, General Grant resolved not to attack. His explanation of +this is that Lee's position was found "stronger than either of his +previous ones." + +Such was the result of the able disposition of the Southern force +at this important point. General Grant found his whole programme +reversed, and, on the night of the 26th, silently withdrew and +hastened down the north bank of the Pamunkey toward Hanovertown +preceded by the cavalry of General Sheridan. + +That officer had been detached from the army as it approached +Spottsylvania Court-House, to make a rapid march toward Richmond, +and destroy the Confederate communications. In this he partially +succeeded, but, attempting to ride into Richmond, was repulsed +with considerable loss. The only important result, indeed, of the +expedition, was the death of General Stuart. This distinguished +commander of General Lee's cavalry had been directed to pursue General +Sheridan; had done so, with his customary promptness, and intercepted +his column near Richmond, at a spot known as the Yellow Tavern; and +here, in a stubborn engagement, in which Stuart strove to supply his +want of troops by the fury of his attack, the great chief of cavalry +was mortally wounded, and expired soon afterward. His fall was a +grievous blow to General Lee's heart, as well as to the Southern +cause. Endowed by nature with a courage which shrunk from nothing; +active, energetic, of immense physical stamina, which enabled him to +endure any amount of fatigue; devoted, heart and soul, to the cause +in which he fought, and looking up to the commander of the army with +childlike love and admiration, Stuart could be ill spared at this +critical moment, and General Lee was plunged into the deepest +melancholy at the intelligence of his death. When it reached him he +retired from those around him, and remained for some time communing +with his own heart and memory. When one of his staff entered, and +spoke of Stuart, General Lee said, in a low voice, "I can scarcely +think of him without weeping." + +The command of the cavalry devolved upon General Hampton, and it +was fought throughout the succeeding campaign with the nerve and +efficiency of a great soldier; but Stuart had, as it were, formed and +moulded it with his own hands; he was the first great commander of +horse in the war; and it was hard for his successors, however great +their genius, to compete with his memory. His name will thus remain +that of the greatest and most prominent cavalry-officer of the war. + +Crossing the Pamunkey at Hanovertown, after a rapid night-march, +General Grant sent out a force toward Hanover Court-House to cut off +Lee's retreat or discover his position. This resulted in nothing, +since General Lee had not moved in that direction. He had, as soon as +the movement of General Grant was discovered, put his lines in motion, +directed his march across the country on the direct route to Cold +Harbor, and, halting behind the Tottapotomoi, had formed his line +there, to check the progress of his adversary on the main road from +Hanovertown toward Richmond. For the third time, thus, General Grant +had found his adversary in his path; and no generalship, or rapidity +in the movement of his column, seemed sufficient to secure to him the +advantages of a surprise. On each occasion the march of the Federal +army had taken place in the night; from the Wilderness on the night of +May 7th; from Spottsylvania on the night of May 21st; and from near +the North Anna on the night of May 26th. Lee had imitated these +movements of his opponent, interposing on each occasion, at the +critical moment, in his path, and inviting battle. This last statement +may be regarded as too strongly expressed, as it seems the opinion of +Northern writers that Lee, in these movements, aimed only to maintain +a strict defensive, and, by means of breastworks, simply keep his +adversary at arm's length. This is an entire mistake. Confident of the +efficiency of his army, small as it was, he was always desirous to +bring on a decisive action, under favorable circumstances. General +Early bears his testimony to the truth of this statement. "I happen to +know," says this officer, "that General Lee had always the greatest +anxiety to strike at Grant in the open field." During the whole +movement from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, the Confederate commander +was in excellent spirits. When at Hanover Junction he spoke of the +situation almost jocosely, and said to the venerable Dr. Gwathmey, +speaking of General Grant, "If I can get one more pull at him, I will +defeat him." + +This expression does not seem to indicate any depression or want of +confidence in his ability to meet General Grant in an open pitched +battle. It may, however, be asked why, if such were his desire, he did +not come out from behind his breastworks and fight. The reply is, that +General Grant invariably defended his lines by breastworks as powerful +as--in many cases much more powerful than--his adversary's. The +opposing mounds of earth and trees along the routes of the two armies +remain to prove the truth of what is here stated. At Cold Harbor, +especially, the Federal works are veritable forts. In face of them, +the theory that General Grant uniformly acted upon the offensive, +without fear of offensive operations in turn on the part of Lee, +will be found untenable. Nor is this statement made with the view of +representing General Grant as over-cautious, or of detracting from his +merit as a commander. It was, on the contrary, highly honorable to +him, that, opposed to an adversary of such ability, he should have +neglected nothing. + +Reaching the Tottapotomoi, General Grant found his opponent in a +strong position behind that sluggish water-course, prepared to dispute +the road to Richmond; and it now became necessary to force the passage +in his front, or, by another flank march, move still farther to the +left, and endeavor to cross the Chickahominy somewhere in the vicinity +of Cold Harbor. This last operation was determined upon by General +Grant, and, sending his cavalry toward Cold Harbor, he moved rapidly +in the same direction with his infantry. This movement was discovered +at once by Lee; he sent Longstreet's corps forward, and, when the +Federal army arrived, the Southern forces were drawn up in their +front, between them and Richmond, thus barring, for the fourth time in +the campaign, the road to the capital. + +During these movements, nearly continuous fighting had taken place +between the opposing columns, which clung to each other, as it were, +each shaping its march more or less by that of the other. At last they +had reached the ground upon which the obstinate struggle of June, +1862, had taken place, and it now became necessary for General Grant +either to form some new plan of campaign, or, by throwing his whole +army, in one great mass, against his adversary, break through all +obstacles, cross the Chickahominy, and seize upon Richmond. This was +now resolved upon. + +Heavy fighting took place on June 2d, near Bethesda Church and at +other points, while the armies were coming into position; but this was +felt to be but the preface to the greater struggle which General Lee +now clearly divined. It came without loss of time. On the morning of +the 3d of June, soon after daylight, General Grant threw his whole +army straightforward against Lee's front--all along his line. The +conflict which followed was one of those bloody grapples, rather +than battles, which, discarding all manoeuvring or brain-work in the +commanders, depend for the result upon the brute strength of the +forces engaged. The action did not last half an hour, and, in that +time, the Federal loss was thirteen thousand men. When General Lee +sent a messenger to A.P. Hill, asking the result of the assault on +his part of the line, Hill took the officer with him in front of his +works, and, pointing to the dead bodies which were literally lying +upon each other, said: "Tell General Lee it is the same all along my +front." + +The Federal army had, indeed, sustained a blow so heavy, that even the +constant mind and fixed resolution of General Grant and the Federal +authorities seem to have been shaken. The war seemed hopeless to many +persons in the North after the frightful bloodshed of this thirty +minutes at Cold Harbor, of which fact there is sufficient proof. "So +gloomy," says a Northern historian,[1] "was the military outlook after +the action on the Chickahominy, and to such a degree, by consequence, +had the moral spring of the public mind become relaxed, that there was +at this time great danger of a collapse of the war. The history of +this conflict, truthfully written, will show this. The archives of the +State Department, when one day made public, will show how deeply the +Government was affected by the want of military success, and to what +resolutions the Executive had in consequence come. Had not success +elsewhere come to brighten the horizon, it would have been difficult +to have raised new forces to recruit the Army of the Potomac, which, +shaken in its structure, its valor quenched in blood, and thousands of +its ablest officers killed and wounded, was the Army of the Potomac no +more." + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Swinton, in his able and candid "Campaigns of the +Army of the Potomac."] + +The campaign of one month--from May 4th to June 4th--had cost +the Federal commander sixty thousand men and three thousand +officers--numbers which are given on the authority of Federal +historians--while the loss of Lee did not exceed eighteen thousand. +The result would seem an unfavorable comment upon the choice of the +route across the country from Culpepper instead of that by the James. +General McClellan, two years before, had reached Cold Harbor with +trifling losses. To attain the same point had cost General Grant +a frightful number of lives. Nor could it be said that he had any +important successes to offset this loss. He had not defeated his +adversary in any of the battle-fields of the campaign; nor did it +seem that he had stricken him any serious blow. The Army of Northern +Virginia, not reënforced until it reached Hanover Junction, and then +only by about nine thousand men under Generals Breckinridge and +Pickett, had held its ground against the large force opposed to it; +had repulsed every assault; and, in a final trial of strength with a +force largely its superior, had inflicted upon the enemy, in about an +hour, a loss of thirteen thousand men. + +These facts, highly honorable to Lee and his troops, are the plainest +and most compendious comment we can make upon the campaign. The whole +movement of General Grant across Virginia is, indeed, now conceded +even by his admirers to have been unfortunate. It failed to accomplish +the end expected from it--the investment of Richmond on the north and +west--and the lives of about sixty thousand men were, it would seem, +unnecessarily lost, to reach a position which might have been attained +with losses comparatively trifling, and without the unfortunate +prestige of defeat. + + + + +VI. + +FIRST BATTLES AT PETERSBURG. + + +General Lee remained facing his adversary in his lines at Cold Harbor, +for many days after the bloody struggle of the 3d of June, confident +of his ability to repulse any new attack, and completely barring the +way to Richmond. The Federal campaign, it was now seen, was at an end +on that line, and it was obvious that General Grant must adopt some +other plan, in spite of his determination expressed in the beginning +of the campaign, to "fight it out on that line if it took all the +summer." The summer was but begun, and further fighting on that line +was hopeless. Under these circumstances the Federal commander resolved +to give up the attempt to assail Richmond from the north or east, and +by a rapid movement to Petersburg, seize upon that place, cut the +Confederate railroads leading southward, and thus compel an evacuation +of the capital. + +[Illustration: Map of Petersburg and Environs.] + +It would be interesting to inquire what the course of General Lee +would have been in the event of the success of this plan, and how the +war would have resulted. It would seem that, under such circumstances, +his only resource would have been to retire with his army in the +direction of Lynchburg, where his communications would have remained +open with the south and west. If driven from that point, the +fastnesses of the Alleghanies were at hand; and, contemplating +afterward the possibility of being forced to take refuge there, he +said: "With my army in the mountains of Virginia, I could carry on +this war for twenty years longer." That spectacle was lost to the +world--Lee and his army fighting from mountain fastness to mountain +fastness--and the annals of war are not illustrated by a chapter so +strange. That Lee was confident of his ability to carry on such a +struggle successfully is certain; and Washington had conceived the +same idea in the old Revolution, when he said that if he were driven +from the seaboard he would take refuge in West Augusta, and thereby +prolong the war interminably. + +To return from these speculations to the narrative of events. General +Grant remained in front of Lee until the 12th of June, when, moving +again by his left flank, he crossed the Chickahominy, proceeded in +the direction of City Point, at which place the Appomattox and James +Rivers mingle their waters, and, crossing the James on pontoons, +hastened forward in order to seize upon Petersburg. This important +undertaking had been strangely neglected by Major-General Butler, +who, in obedience to General Grant's orders, had sailed from Fortress +Monroe on the 4th of May, reached Bermuda Hundred, the peninsula +opposite City Point, made by a remarkable bend in James River, and +proceeded to intrench himself. It was in his power on his arrival to +have seized upon Petersburg, but this he failed to do at that time, +and the appearance of a force under General Beauregard, from the +south, soon induced him to give his entire attention to his own +safety. An attack by Beauregard had been promptly made, which nearly +resulted in General Butler's destruction. He succeeded, however, in +retiring behind his works across the neck of the Peninsula, in which +he now found himself completely shut up; and so powerless was his +situation, with his large force of thirty thousand men, that General +Grant wrote, "His army was as completely shut off ... as if it had +been in a bottle strongly corked." + +The attempt of General Grant to seize upon Petersburg by a surprise +failed. His forces were not able to reach the vicinity of the place +until the 15th, when they were bravely opposed behind impromptu works +by a body of local troops, who fought like regular soldiers, and +succeeded in holding the works until night ended the contest. + +When morning came long lines were seen defiling into the breastworks, +and the familiar battle-flags of the Army of Northern Virginia rose +above the long line of bayonets giving assurance that the possession +of Petersburg would be obstinately disputed. + +General Lee had moved with his accustomed celerity, and, as usual, +without that loss of time which results from doubt of an adversary's +intentions. If General Grant retired without another battle on the +Chickahominy, it was obvious to Lee that he must design one of two +things: either to advance upon Richmond from the direction of Charles +City, or attempt a campaign against the capital from the south of +James River. Lee seems at once to have satisfied himself that the +latter was the design. An inconsiderable force was sent to feel the +enemy near the White-Oak Swamp; he was encountered there in some +force, but, satisfied that this was a feint to mislead him, General +Lee proceeded to cross the James River above Drury's Bluff, near +"Wilton," and concentrate his army at Petersburg. On the 16th he was +in face of his adversary there. General Grant had adopted the plan of +campaign which Lee expected him to adopt. General McClellan had +not been permitted in 1862 to carry out the same plan; it was now +undertaken by General Grant, who sustained better relations toward +the Government, and the result would seem to indicate that General +McClellan was, after all, a soldier of sound views. + +As soon as General Lee reached Petersburg, he began promptly to draw a +regular line of earthworks around the city, to the east and south, for +its defence. It was obvious that General Grant would lose no time in +striking at him, in order to take advantage of the slight character +of the defences already existing; and this anticipation was speedily +realized. General Lee had scarcely gotten his forces in position on +the 16th when he was furiously attacked, and such was the weight of +this assault that Lee was forced from his advanced position, east of +the city, behind his second line of works, by this time well forward +in process of construction. Against this new line General Grant threw +heavy forces, in attack after attack, on the 17th and 18th, losing, it +is said, more than four thousand men, but effecting nothing. On the +21st General Lee was called upon to meet a more formidable assault +than any of the preceding ones--this time more to his right, in the +vicinity of the Weldon Railroad, which runs southward from Petersburg. +A heavy line was advanced in that quarter by the enemy; but, observing +that an interval had been left between two of their corps, General Lee +threw forward a column under General Hill, cut the Federal lines, and +repulsed their attack, bearing off nearly three thousand prisoners. + +On the same night an important cavalry expedition, consisting of the +divisions of General Wilson and Kautz, numbering about six thousand +horse, was sent westward to cut the Weldon, Southside, and Danville +Railroads, which connected the Southern army with the South and West. +This raid resulted in apparently great but really unimportant injury +to the Confederate communications against which it was directed. The +Federal cavalry tore up large portions of the tracks of all three +railroads, burning the wood-work, and laying waste the country around; +but the further results of the expedition were unfavorable. They were +pursued and harassed by a small body of cavalry under General W. H.F. +Lee, and, on their return in the direction of Reams's Station, were +met near Sapponey Church by a force of fifteen hundred cavalry under +General Hampton. That energetic officer at once attacked; the fighting +continued furiously throughout the entire night, and at dawn the +Federal horse retreated in confusion. Their misfortunes were not, +however, ended. Near Reams's, at which point they attempted to cross +the Weldon Railroad, they were met by General Fitz Lee's horsemen +and about two hundred infantry under General Mahone, and this force +completed their discomfiture. After a brief attempt to force their +way through the unforeseen obstacle, they broke in disorder, leaving +behind them twelve pieces of artillery, and more than a thousand +prisoners, and, with foaming and exhausted horses, regained the +Federal lines. + +Such was the result of an expedition from which General Grant +probably expected much. The damage done to Lee's communications was +inconsiderable, and did not repay the Federal commander for the losses +sustained. The railroads were soon repaired and in working order +again; and the Federal cavalry was for the time rendered unfit for +further operations. + +It was now the end of June, and every attempt made by General Grant +to force Lee's lines had proved unsuccessful. It was apparent that +surprise of the able commander of the Confederate army was hopeless. +His works were growing stronger every day, and nothing was left to +his great adversary but to lay regular siege to the long line of +fortifications; to draw lines for the protection of his own front from +attack; and, by gradually extending his left, reach out toward the +Weldon and Southside Railroads. + +To obtain possession of these roads was from this time General Grant's +great object; and all his movements were shaped by that paramount +consideration. + + + + +VII. + +THE SIEGE OF RICHMOND BEGUN. + + +The first days of July, 1864, witnessed, at Petersburg, the +commencement of a series of military manoeuvres, for which few, if +any, precedents existed in all the annals of war. An army of forty or +fifty thousand men, intrenched along a line extending finally over +a distance of nearly forty miles, was defending, against a force of +about thrice its numbers, a capital more than twenty miles in its +rear; and, from July of one year to April of the next, there never +was a moment when, to have broken through this line, would not +have terminated the war, and resulted in the destruction of the +Confederacy. + +A few words in reference to the topography of the country and the +situation will show this. Petersburg is twenty-two miles south of +Richmond, and is connected with the South and West by the Weldon and +Southside Railroads, which latter road crosses the Danville Railroad, +the main line of communication between the capital and the Gulf +States. With the enemy once holding these roads and those north of the +city, as they were preparing to do, the capital would be isolated, and +the Confederate Government must evacuate Virginia. In that event the +Army of Northern Virginia had also nothing left to it but retreat. +Virginia must be abandoned; the Federal authority would be extended +over the oldest and one of the largest and most important members of +the Confederacy; and, under circumstances so adverse, it might well be +a question whether, disheartened as they would be by the loss of so +powerful an ally, the other States of the Confederacy would have +sufficient resolution to continue the contest. + +These considerations are said to have been fully weighed by General +Lee, whose far-reaching military sagacity divined the exact situation +of affairs, and the probable results of a conflict so unequal as +that which General Grant now forced upon him. We have noticed, on +a preceding page, his opinions upon this subject, expressed to a +confidential friend as far back as 1862. He then declared that the +true line of assault upon Richmond was that now adopted by General +Grant. As long as the capital was assailed from the north or the east, +he might hope with some reason, by hard fighting, to repulse the +assault, and hold Richmond. But, with an enemy at Petersburg, +threatening with a large force the Southern railroads, it was +obviously only a question of time when Richmond, and consequently +Virginia, must be abandoned. + +General Lee, we repeat, fully realized the facts here stated, when +his adversary, giving up all other lines, crossed James River to +Petersburg. Lee is said, we know not with what truth, to have coolly +recommended an evacuation of Richmond. But this met with no favor. +A powerful party, including both the friends and enemies of the +Executive, spoke of the movement as a "pernicious idea." If +recommended by Lee, it was speedily abandoned, and all the energies of +the Government were concentrated upon the difficult task of holding +the enemy at arm's length south of the Appomattox and in Charles City. + +In a few weeks after the appearance of the adversaries opposite each +other at Petersburg, the lines of leaguer and defence were drawn, +and the long struggle began. General Grant had crossed a force into +Charles City, on the north bank of James River, and thus menaced +Richmond with an assault from that quarter. His line extended thence +across the neck of the Peninsula of Bermuda Hundred, and east and +south of Petersburg, where, day by day, it gradually reached westward, +approaching nearer and nearer to the railroads feeding the Southern +army and capital. Lee's line conformed itself to that of his +adversary. In addition to the works east and southeast of Richmond, an +exterior chain of defences had been drawn, facing the hostile force +near Deep Bottom; and the river at Drury's Bluff, a fortification of +some strength, had been guarded, by sunken obstructions, against the +approach of the Federal gunboats. The Southern lines then continued, +facing those of the enemy north of the Appomattox, and, crossing that +stream, extended around the city of Petersburg, gradually moving +westward in conformity with the works of General Grant. A glance at +the accompanying diagram will clearly indicate the positions and +relations to each other of the Federal and Confederate works. These +will show that the real struggle was anticipated, by both commanders, +west of Petersburg; and, as the days wore on, it was more and more +apparent that somewhere in the vicinity of Dinwiddie Court-House the +last great wrestle of the opposing armies must take place. + +To that conclusive trial of strength we shall advance with as few +interruptions as possible. The operations of the two armies at +Petersburg do not possess, for the general reader, that dramatic +interest which is found in battles such as those of Chancellorsville +and Gettysburg, deciding for the time the fates of great campaigns. +At Petersburg the fighting seemed to decide little, and the bloody +collisions had no names. The day of pitched battles, indeed, seemed +past. It was one long battle, day and night, week after week, and +month after month--during the heat of summer, the sad hours of autumn, +and the cold days and nights of winter. It was, in fact, the siege +of Richmond which General Grant had undertaken, and the fighting +consisted less of battles, in the ordinary acceptation of that word, +than of attempts to break through the lines of his adversary--now +north of James River, now east of Petersburg, now at some point in +the long chain of redans which guarded the approaches to the coveted +Southside Railroad, which, once in possession of the Federal +commander, would give him victory. + +Of this long, obstinate, and bloody struggle we shall describe only +those prominent incidents which rose above the rest with a species +of dramatic splendor. For the full narrative the reader must have +recourse to military histories aiming to chronicle the operations of +each corps, division, and brigade in the two armies--a minuteness of +detail beyond our scope, and probably not desired by those who will +peruse these pages. + + + + +VIII. + +LEE THREATENS WASHINGTON. + + +The month of July began and went upon its way, with incessant fighting +all along the Confederate front, both north of James River and south +of the Appomattox. General Grant was thus engaged in the persistent +effort to, at some point, break through his opponent's works, when +intelligence suddenly reached him, by telegraph from Washington, that +a strong Confederate column had advanced down the Shenandoah Valley, +crossed the Potomac, and was rapidly moving eastward in the direction +of the Federal capital. + +This portentous incident was the result of a plan of great boldness +devised by General Lee, from which he expected much. A few words will +explain this plan. + +A portion of General Grant's plan of campaign had been an advance up +the Valley, and another from Western Virginia, toward the Lynchburg +and Tennessee Railroad--the two columns to coöperate with the main +army by cutting the Confederate communications. The column in Western +Virginia effected little, but that in the Valley, under General +Hunter, hastened forward, almost unopposed, from the small numbers of +the Southern force, and early in June threatened Lynchburg. The news +reached Lee at Cold Harbor soon after his battle there with General +Grant, and he promptly detached General Early, at the head of about +eight thousand men, with orders to "move to the Valley through +Swift-Run Gap, or Brown's Gap, attack Hunter, and then cross the +Potomac and threaten Washington." [Footnote: This statement of his +orders was derived from Lieutenant-General Early.] + +General Early, an officer of great energy and intrepidity, moved +without loss of time, and an engagement ensued between him and General +Hunter near Lynchburg. The battle was soon decided. General Hunter, +who had more cruelly oppressed the inhabitants of the Valley than even +General Milroy, was completely defeated, driven in disordered flight +toward the Ohio, and Early hastened down the Valley, and thence into +Maryland, with the view of threatening Washington, as he had been +ordered to do by Lee. His march was exceedingly rapid, and he found +the road unobstructed until he reached the Monocacy near Frederick +City, where he was opposed by a force under General Wallace. This +force he attacked, and soon drove from the field; he then pressed +forward, and on the 11th of July came in sight of Washington. + +It was the intelligence of this advance of a Confederate force into +Maryland, and toward the capital, which came to startle General Grant +while he was hotly engaged with Lee at Petersburg. The Washington +authorities seem to have been completely unnerved, and to have +regarded the capture of the city as nearly inevitable. General Grant, +however, stood firm, and did not permit the terror of the civil +authorities to affect him. He sent forward to Washington two army +corps, and these arrived just in time. If it had been in the power of +General Early to capture Washington--which seems questionable--the +opportunity was lost. He found himself compelled to retire across the +Potomac again to avoid an attack in his rear; and this he effected +without loss, taking up, in accordance with orders from Lee, a +position in the Valley, where he remained for some months a standing +threat to the enemy. + +Such was the famous march of General Early to Washington; and there +seems at present little reason to doubt that the Federal capital had a +narrow escape from capture by the Confederates. What the result of so +singular an event would have been, it is difficult to say; but it +is certain that it would have put an end to General Grant's entire +campaign at Petersburg. Then--but speculations of this character are +simply loss of time. The city was not captured; the war went upon its +way, and was destined to terminate by pure exhaustion of one of the +combatants, unaffected by _coups de main_ in any part of the theatre +of conflict. + +We have briefly spoken of the engagement between Generals Early and +Hunter, near Lynchburg, and the abrupt retreat of the latter to the +western mountains and thence toward the Ohio. It may interest the +reader to know General Lee's views on the subject of this retreat, +which, it seems, were drawn from him by a letter addressed to him by +General Hunter: + +"As soon after the war as mail communications were opened," writes +the gentleman of high character from whom we derive this incident, +"General David Hunter wrote to General Lee, begging that he would +answer him frankly on two points:" + +'I. His (Hunter's) campaign in 1864 was undertaken on information +received by General Halleck that General Lee was about to detach forty +thousand picked troops to send to Georgia. Did not his (Hunter's) move +prevent this? + +'II. When he found it necessary to retreat from Lynchburg, did he not +take the most feasible route?' + +General Lee wrote a very courteous reply, in which he said: + +'I. General Halleck was misinformed. I had _no troops to spare_, and +forty thousand would have taken nearly my whole army. + +'II. I am not advised as to the motives which induced you to adopt +your line of retreat, and am not, perhaps, competent to judge of the +question; _but I certainly expected you to retreat by way_ of the +Shenandoah Valley.' + +"General Hunter," adds our correspondent, "never published this +letter, but I heard General Lee tell of it one day with evident +pleasure." + +Lee's opinion of the military abilities of both Generals Hunter +and Sheridan was indeed far from flattering. He regarded those two +commanders--especially General Sheridan--as enjoying reputations +solely conferred upon them by the exhaustion of the resources of +the Confederacy, and not warranted by any military efficiency in +themselves. + + + + +IX. + +THE MINE EXPLOSION. + + +The end of the month of July was now approaching, and every attempt +made by General Grant to break through Lee's lines had resulted in +failure. At every point which he assailed, an armed force, sufficient +to repulse his most vigorous attacks, seemed to spring from the earth; +and no movement of the Federal forces, however sudden and rapid, had +been able to take the Confederate commander unawares. The campaign was +apparently settling down into stubborn fighting, day and night, in +which the object of General Grant was to carry out his programme of +attrition. Such was the feeling in both armies when, at dawn on the +30th of July, a loud explosion, heard for thirty miles, took place on +the lines near Petersburg, and a vast column of smoke, shooting upward +to a great height, seemed to indicate the blowing up of an extensive +magazine. + +Instead of a magazine, it was a mine which had thus been exploded; and +the incident was not the least singular of a campaign unlike any which +had preceded it. + +The plan of forming a breach in the Southern works, by exploding a +mine beneath them, is said by Northern writers to have originated with +a subordinate officer of the Federal army, who, observing the close +proximity of the opposing works near Petersburg, conceived it feasible +to construct a subterranean gallery, reaching beneath those of General +Lee. The undertaking was begun, the earth being carried off in +cracker-boxes; and such was the steady persistence of the workmen that +a gallery five hundred feet long, with lateral openings beneath the +Confederate works, was soon finished; and in these lateral recesses +was placed a large amount of powder. + +All was now ready, and the question was how to utilize the explosion. +General Grant decided to follow it by a sudden charge through the +breach, seize a crest in rear, and thus interpose a force directly in +the centre of Lee's line. A singular discussion, however, arose, and +caused some embarrassment. Should the assaulting column consist of +white or negro troops? This question was decided, General Grant +afterward declared, by "pulling straws or tossing coppers"--the white +troops were the fortunate or unfortunate ones--and on the morning of +July 30th the mine was exploded. The effect was frightful, and the +incident will long be remembered by those present and escaping +unharmed. The small Southern force and artillery immediately above the +mine were hurled into the air. An opening, one hundred and fifty feet +long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep, suddenly appeared, where +a moment before had extended the Confederate earthworks; and the +Federal division, selected for the charge, rushed forward to pierce +the opening. + +The result did not justify the sanguine expectations which seem to +have been excited in the breasts of the Federal officers. A Southern +writer thus describes what ensued: + +"The 'white division' charged, reached the crater, stumbled over +the _débris_, were suddenly met by a merciless fire of artillery, +enfilading them right and left, and of infantry fusillading them in +front; faltered, hesitated, were badly led, lost heart, gave up the +plan of seizing the crest in rear, huddled into the crater, man on +top of man, company mingled with company; and upon this disordered, +unstrung, quivering mass of human beings, white and black--for the +black troops had followed--was poured a hurricane of shot, shell, +canister, musketry, which made the hideous crater a slaughter-pen, +horrible and frightful beyond the power of words. All order was lost; +all idea of charging the crest abandoned. Lee's infantry was seen +concentrating for the carnival of death; his artillery was massing to +destroy the remnants of the charging divisions; those who deserted the +crater, to scramble over the _débris_ and run back, were shot down; +then all that was left to the shuddering mass of blacks and whites in +the pit was to shrink lower, evade the horrible _mitraille_, and wait +for a charge of their friends to rescue them or surrender." + +These sentences sufficiently describe the painful scene which followed +the explosion of the mine. The charging column was unable to advance +in face of the very heavy fire directed upon them by the Southern +infantry and artillery; and the effect of this fire was so appalling +that General Mahone, commanding at the spot, is said to have ordered +it to cease, adding that the spectacle made him sick. The Federal +forces finally succeeded in making their way back, with a loss of +about four thousand prisoners; and General Lee, whose losses had been +small, reëstablished his line without interruption. + +Before passing from this incident, a singular circumstance connected +with it is deserving of mention. This was the declaration of the +Congressional Committee, which in due time investigated the whole +affair. + +The conclusion of the committee was not flattering to the veteran Army +of the Potomac. The report declared that "the first and great cause of +disaster was the employment of white instead of black troops to make +the charge." + + + + +X. + +END OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1864. + + +Throughout the months of August and September, Lee continued to be +attacked at various points along his entire front, but succeeded +in repulsing every assault. General Grant's design may be said, in +general terms, to have been a steady extension of his left toward +the Confederate communications west of Petersburg, while taking the +chances, by attacks north of James River, to break through in that +quarter and seize upon Richmond. It is probable that his hopes of +effecting the last-mentioned object were small; but operations in that +direction promised the more probable result of causing Lee to weaken +his right, and thus uncover the Southside Railroad. + +An indecisive attack on the north of James River was followed, toward +the end of August, by a heavy advance, to seize upon the Weldon +Railroad near Petersburg. In this General Grant succeeded, an event +clearly foreseen by Lee, who had long before informed the authorities +that he could not hold this road. General Grant followed up this +success by sending heavy forces to seize Reams's Station, on the same +road, farther south, and afterward to destroy it to Hicksford--which, +however, effected less favorable results, Lee meeting and defeating +both forces after obstinate engagements, in which the Federal troops +lost heavily, and were compelled to retreat. + +These varying successes did not, however, materially affect the +general result. The Federal left gradually reached farther and farther +westward, until finally it had passed the Vaughan, Squirrel Level, and +other roads, running south-westward from Petersburg, and in October +was established on the left bank of Hatcher's Run, which unites with +Gravelly Run to form the Rowanty. It was now obvious that a further +extension of the Federal left would probably enable General Grant to +seize upon the Southside Railroad. An energetic attempt was speedily +made by him to effect this important object, to which it is said +he attached great importance from its anticipated bearing on the +approaching presidential election. + +On the 27th of October a heavy column was thrown across Hatcher's +Run, in the vicinity of Burgess's Mill, on the Boydton Road, and +an obstinate attack was made on Lee's lines there with the view of +breaking through to the Southside Road. In this, however, General +Grant did not succeed. His column was met in front and flank by +Generals Hampton--who here lost his brave son, Preston--and W.H.F. +Lee, with dismounted sharp-shooters; infantry was hastened to the +threatened point by General Lee, and, after an obstinate struggle, +the Federal force was driven back. General Lee reporting that General +Mahone charged and "broke three lines of battle."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Dispatch of Lee, October_ 28, 1864.--It was the habit +of General Lee, throughout the last campaign of the war, to send to +Richmond, from time to time, brief dispatches announcing whatever +occurred along the lines; and these, in the absence of official +reports of these occurrences on the Confederate side, are valuable +records of the progress of affairs. These brief summaries are reliable +from the absence of all exaggeration, but cannot be depended upon +by the historian, for a very singular reason, namely, that almost +invariably the Confederate successes are understated. On the present +occasion, the Federal loss in prisoners near Burgess's Mill and east +of Richmond--where General Grant had attacked at the same time to +effect a diversion--are put down by General Lee at eight hundred, +whereas thirteen hundred and sixty-five were received at Richmond. + +Lee's dispatch of October 28th is here given, as a specimen of these +brief military reports. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_October_ 28, 1864. + +_Hon. Secretary of War_: + +General Hill reports that the attack of General Heth upon the enemy +on the Boydton Plank-road, mentioned in my dispatch last evening, was +made by three brigades under General Mahone in front, and General +Hampton in the rear. Mahone captured four hundred prisoners, three +stand of colors, and six pieces of artillery. The latter could not be +brought off, the enemy having possession of the bridge. + +In the attack subsequently made by the enemy General Mahone broke +three lines of battle, and during the night the enemy retreated from +the Boydton Road, leaving his wounded and more than two hundred and +fifty dead on the field. + +About nine o'clock P.M. a small force assaulted and took possession of +our works on the Baxter Road, in front of Petersburg, but were soon +driven out. + +On the Williamsburg Road General Field captured upward of four hundred +prisoners and seven stand of colors. The enemy left a number of dead +in front of our works, and to-day retreated to his former position. + +R.E. Lee] + +With this repulse of the Federal forces terminated active operations +of importance for the year; and but one other attempt was made, during +the winter, to gain ground on the left. This took place early in +February, and resulted in failure like the former--the Confederates +losing, however, the brave General John Pegram. + +The presidential election at the North had been decided in favor +of Mr. Lincoln--General McClellan and Mr. Pendleton, the supposed +advocates of peace, suffering defeat. The significance of this fact +was unmistakable. It was now seen that unless the Confederates +fought their way to independence, there was no hope of a favorable +termination of the war, and this conclusion was courageously faced by +General Lee. The outlook for the coming year was far from encouraging; +the resources of the Confederacy were steadily being reduced; her +coasts were blockaded; her armies were diminishing; discouragement +seemed slowly to be invading every heart--but, in the midst of this +general foreboding, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia +retained an august composure; and, conversing with one of the Southern +Senators, said, "For myself, I intend to die sword in hand." + +That his sense of duty did not afterward permit him to do so, was +perhaps one of the bitterest pangs of his whole life. + + + + +XI. + +LEE IN THE WINTER OF 1864-'65. + + +Before entering upon the narrative of the last and decisive campaign +of the war, we shall speak of the personal demeanor of General Lee at +this time, and endeavor to account for a circumstance which astonished +many persons--his surprising equanimity, and even cheerfulness, under +the pressure of cares sufficient, it would seem, to crush the most +powerful organization. + +He had established his headquarters a mile or two west of Petersburg, +on the Cox Road, nearly opposite his centre, and here he seemed to +await whatever the future would bring with a tranquillity which was a +source of surprise and admiration to all who were thrown in contact +with him. Many persons will bear their testimony to this extraordinary +composure. His countenance seldom, if ever, exhibited the least traces +of anxiety, but was firm, hopeful, and encouraged those around him in +the belief that he was still confident of success. That he did not, +however, look forward with any thing like hope to such success, we +have endeavored already to show. From the first, he seems to have +regarded his situation, unless his army were largely reënforced, as +almost desperate; those reënforcements did not come; and yet, as he +saw his numbers day by day decreasing, and General Grant's increasing +a still larger ratio, he retained his courage, confronting the +misfortunes closing in upon him with unmoved composure, and at no time +seemed to lose his "heart of hope." + +Of this phenomenon the explanation has been sought in the +constitutional courage of the individual, and that instinctive +rebound against fate which takes place in great organizations. This +explanation, doubtless, is not without a certain amount of truth; but +an attentive consideration of the principles which guided this eminent +soldier throughout his career, will show that his equanimity, at a +moment so trying, was due to another and more controlling sentiment. +This sentiment was his devotion to Duty--"the sublimest word in our +language." Throughout his entire life he had sought to discover and +perform his duty, without regard to consequences. That had been with +him the great question in April, 1861, when the war broke out: he had +decided in his own mind what he ought to do, and had not hesitated. + +From that time forward he continued to do what Duty commanded without +a murmur. In the obscure campaign of Western Virginia--in the unnoted +work of fortifying the Southern coast--in the great campaigns which he +had subsequently fought--and everywhere, his consciousness of having +performed his duty to the best of his knowledge and ability sustained +him. It sustained him, above all, at Gettysburg, where he had done his +best, giving him strength to take upon himself the responsibility of +that disaster; and, now, in these last dark days at Petersburg, it +must have been the sense of having done his whole duty, and expended +upon the cause every energy of his being, which enabled him to meet +the approaching catastrophe with a calmness which seemed to those +around him almost sublime. + +If this be not the explanation of the composure of General Lee, +throughout the last great struggle with the Federal Army, the writer +of these pages is at a loss to account for it. The phenomenon was +plain to all eyes, and crowned the soldier with a glory greater than +that which he had derived from his most decisive military successes. +Great and unmoved in the dark hour as in the bright, he seemed to have +determined to perform his duty to the last, and to shape his conduct, +under whatever pressure of disaster, upon the two maxims, "Do your +duty," and "Human virtue should be equal to human calamity." + +There is little reason to doubt that General Lee saw this "calamity" +coming, for the effort to reënforce his small army with fresh levies +seemed hopeless. The reasons for this unfortunate state of things must +be sought elsewhere. The unfortunate fact will be stated, without +comment, that, while the Federal army was regularly and largely +reënforced, so that its numbers at no time fell below one hundred +and fifty thousand men. Lee's entire force at Petersburg at no time +reached sixty thousand, and in the spring of 1865, when he still +continued to hold his long line of defences, numbered scarcely half +of sixty thousand. This was the primary cause of the failure of the +struggle. General Grant's immense hammer continued to beat upon his +adversary, wearing away his strength day by day. No new troops arrived +to take the places of those who had fallen; and General Lee saw, +drawing closer and closer, the inevitable hour when, driven from his +works, or with the Federal army upon his communications, he must cut +his way southward or surrender. + +A last circumstance in reference to General Lee's position at this +time should be stated; the fact that, from the autumn of 1864 to the +end in the spring of 1865, he was felt by the country and the army to +be the sole hope of the Confederacy. To him alone now all men +looked as the _deus ex machinâ_ to extricate them from the dangers +surrounding them. This sentiment needed no expression in words. It was +seen in the faces and the very tones of voice of all. Old men visited +him, and begged him with faltering voices not to expose himself, for, +if he were killed, all would be lost. The troops followed him with +their eyes, or their cheers, whenever he appeared, feeling a singular +sense of confidence from the presence of the gray-haired soldier in +his plain uniform, and assured that, as long as Lee led them, the +cause was safe. All classes of the people thus regarded the fate +of the Confederacy as resting, not partially, but solely, upon the +shoulders of Lee; and, although he was not entitled by his rank in the +service to direct operations in other quarters than Virginia, there +was a very general desire that the whole conduct of the war everywhere +should be intrusted to his hands. This was done, as will be seen, +toward the spring of 1865, but it was too late. + +These notices of General Lee individually are necessary to a clear +comprehension of the concluding incidents of the great conflict. It is +doubtful if, in any other struggle of history, the hopes of a people +were more entirely wrapped up in a single individual. All criticisms +of the eminent soldier had long since been silenced, and it may, +indeed, be said that something like a superstitious confidence in his +fortunes had become widely disseminated. It was the general sentiment, +even when Lee himself saw the end surely approaching, that all was +safe while he remained in command of the army. This hallucination must +have greatly pained him, for no one ever saw more clearly, or was less +blinded by irrational confidence. Lee fully understood and represented +to the civil authorities--with whom his relations were perfectly +friendly and cordial--that if his lines were broken at any point, the +fate of the campaign was sealed. Feeling this truth, of which his +military sagacity left him in no doubt, he had to bear the further +weight of that general confidence which he did not share. He did not +complain, however, or in any manner indicate the desperate straits to +which he had come. He called for fresh troops to supply his losses; +when they did not arrive he continued to oppose his powerful adversary +with the remnant still at his command. These were now more like old +comrades than mere private soldiers under his orders. What was left +of the army was its best material. The fires of battle had tested the +metal, and that which emerged from the furnace was gold free from +alloy. The men remaining with Lee were those whom no peril of the +cause in which they were fighting could dishearten or prompt to desert +or even temporarily absent themselves from the Southern standard; and +this _corps d' élite_ was devoted wholly to their commander. For this +devotion they certainly had valid reason. Never had leader exhibited a +more systematic, unfailing, and almost tender care of his troops. Lee +seemed to feel that these veterans in their ragged jackets, with their +gaunt faces, were personal friends of his own, who were entitled to +his most affectionate exertions for their welfare. His calls on the +civil authorities in their behalf were unceasing. The burden of +these demands was that, unless his men's wants were attended to, the +Southern cause was lost; and it plainly revolted his sense of the +fitness of things that men upon whom depended the fate of the South +should be shoeless, in tatters, and forced to subsist on a quarter +of a pound of rancid bacon and a little corn bread, when thousands +remaining out of the army, and dodging the enrolling-officers, were +well clothed and fed, and never heard the whistle of a bullet. The +men understood this care for them, and returned the affectionate +solicitude of their commander in full. He was now their ideal of a +leader, and all that he did was perfect in their eyes. All awe of him +had long since left them--they understood what treasures of kindness +and simplicity lay under the grave exterior. The tattered privates +approached the commander-in-chief without embarrassment, and his +reception of them was such as to make them love him more than ever. +Had we space we might dwell upon this marked respect and attention +paid by General Lee to his private soldiers. He seemed to think them +more worthy of marks of regard than his highest officers. And there +was never the least air of condescension in him when thrown with them, +but a perfect simplicity, kindness, and unaffected sympathy, which +went to their hearts. This was almost a natural gift with Lee, and +arose from the genuine goodness of his heart. His feeling toward his +soldiers is shown in an incident which occurred at this time, and was +thus related in one of the Richmond journals: "A gentleman who was in +the train from this city to Petersburg, a very cold morning not long +ago, tells us his attention was attracted by the efforts of a young +soldier, with his arm in a sling, to get his overcoat on. His teeth, +as well as his sound arm, were brought into use to effect the object; +but, in the midst of his efforts, an officer rose from his seat, +advanced to him, and very carefully and tenderly assisted him, drawing +the coat gently over his wounded arm, and buttoning it up comfortably; +then, with a few kind and pleasant words, returning to his seat. Now +the officer in question was not clad in gorgeous uniform, with a +brilliant wreath upon his collar, and a multitude of gilt lines upon +the sleeves, resembling the famous labyrinth of Crete, but he was clad +in a simple suit of gray, distinguished from the garb of a civilian +only by the three stars which every Confederate colonel in the +service, by the regulations, is entitled to wear. And yet he was no +other than our chief, General Robert E. Lee, who is not braver than he +is good and modest." + +To terminate this brief sketch of General Lee, personally, in the +winter of 1864. He looked much older than at the beginning of the war, +but by no means less hardy or robust. On the contrary, the arduous +campaigns through which he had passed seemed to have hardened +him--developing to the highest degree the native strength of his +physical organization. His cheeks were ruddy, and his eye had that +clear light which indicates the presence of the calm, self-poised +will. But his hair had grown gray, like his beard and mustache, which +were worn short and well-trimmed. His dress, as always, was a plain +and serviceable gray uniform, with no indications of rank save the +stars on the collar. Cavalry-boots reached nearly to his knees, and he +seldom wore any weapon. A broad-brimmed gray-felt hat rested low upon +the forehead; and the movements of this soldierly figure were as firm, +measured, and imposing, as ever. It was impossible to discern in +General Lee any evidences of impaired strength, or any trace of the +wearing hardships through which he had passed. He seemed made of iron, +and would remain in his saddle all day, and then at his desk half the +night, without apparently feeling any fatigue. He was still almost an +anchorite in his personal habits, and lived so poorly that it is said +he was compelled to borrow a small piece of meat when unexpected +visitors dined with him. + +Such, in brief outline, was the individual upon whose shoulders, +in the last months of 1864 and the early part of 1865, rested the +Southern Confederacy. + + + + +XII. + +THE SITUATION AT THE BEGINNING OF 1865. + + +In approaching the narrative of the last tragic scenes of the +Confederate struggle, the writer of these pages experiences emotions +of sadness which will probably be shared by not a few even of those +readers whose sympathies, from the nature of things, were on the side +of the North. To doubt this would be painful, and would indicate a +contempt for human nature. Not only in the eyes of his friends and +followers, but even in the eyes of his bitterest enemies, Lee must +surely have appeared great and noble. Right or wrong in the struggle, +he believed that he was performing his duty; and the brave army at +his back, which had fought so heroically, were inspired by the same +sentiment, and risked all on the issue. + +This great soldier was now about to suffer the cruellest pang which +the spite of Fate can inflict, and his army to be disbanded, to return +in poverty and defeat to their homes. That spectacle was surely +tragic, and appealed to the hardest heart; and if any rejoiced in such +misery he must have been unsusceptible of the sentiment of admiration +for heroism in misfortune. + +The last and decisive struggle between the two armies at Petersburg +began in March, 1865. But events of great importance in many quarters +had preceded this final conflict, the result of which had been to +break down all the outer defences of the Confederacy, leaving only the +inner citadel still intact. The events in question are so familiar to +those who will peruse these pages, that a passing reference to them is +all that is necessary. Affairs in the Valley of Virginia, from autumn +to spring, had steadily proceeded from bad to worse. In September, +General Sheridan, with a force of about forty-five thousand, had +assailed General Early near Winchester, with a force of about eight +or nine thousand muskets, and succeeded in driving him up the Valley +beyond Strasburg, whence, attacked a second time, he had retreated +toward Staunton. This was followed, in October, by another battle at +Cedar Run, where Early attacked and nearly crushed General Sheridan, +but eventually was again repulsed, and forced a second time to retreat +up the Valley to Waynesboro', where, in February, his little remnant +was assailed by overwhelming numbers and dispersed. General Sheridan, +who had effected this inglorious but important success, then proceeded +to the Lowlands, joined General Grant's army, and was ready, with his +large force of horse, to take part in the coming battles. + +A more important success had attended the Federal arms in the West. +General Johnston, who had been restored to command there at the +solicitation of Lee, had found his force insufficient to oppose +General Sherman's large army; the Confederates had accordingly +retreated; and General Sherman, almost unresisted, from the exhaustion +of his adversary, marched across the country to Savannah, which fell +an easy prize, and thence advanced to Goldsborough, in North Carolina, +where he directly threatened Lee's line of retreat from Virginia. + +Such was the condition of affairs in the months of February and +March, 1865. In the former month, commissioners from the Confederate +Government had met President Lincoln in Hampton Roads, but no terms of +peace could be agreed upon; the issue was still left to be decided by +arms, and every advantage was upon the Federal side. General Lee, who +had just been appointed "General-in-Chief"--having thus imposed upon +him the mockery of a rank no longer of any value--saw the armies of +the enemy closing in upon him, and did not deceive himself with the +empty hope that he could longer hold his lines at Petersburg. The +country, oppressed as it was, and laboring under a sentiment akin +to despair, still retained in almost undiminished measure its +superstitious confidence in him; but he himself saw clearly the +desperate character of the situation. General Grant was in his front +with a force of about one hundred and fifty thousand men, and General +Sherman was about to enter Virginia with an army of about the same +numbers. Lee's force at Petersburg was a little over thirty thousand +men--that of Johnston was not so great, and was detained by Sherman. +Under these circumstances, it was obviously only a question of time +when the Army of Northern Virginia would be overwhelmed. In February, +1865, these facts were perfectly apparent to General Lee: but one +course was left to him--to retreat from Virginia; and he promptly +began that movement in the latter part of the month, ordering his +trains to Amelia Court-House, and directing pontoons to be got ready +at Roanoke River. His aim was simple--to unite his army with that of +General Johnston, and retreat into the Gulf States. In the mountains +of Virginia he could carry on the war, he had said, for twenty years; +in the fertile regions of the South he might expect to prolong +hostilities, or at least make favorable terms of peace--which would be +better than to remain in Virginia until he was completely surrounded, +and an unconditional submission would alone be left him. + +It will probably remain a subject of regret to military students, that +Lee was not permitted to carry out this retreat into the Gulf States. +The movement was arrested after a consultation with the civil +authorities at Richmond. Upon what grounds a course so obviously +necessary was opposed, the present writer is unable to declare. +Whatever the considerations, Lee yielded his judgment; the movement +suddenly stopped; and the Army of Northern Virginia--if a skeleton can +be called such--remained to await its fate. + +The condition of the army in which "companies" scarce existed, +"regiments" were counted by tens, and "divisions" by hundreds only, +need not here be elaborately dwelt upon. It was indeed the phantom of +an army, and the gaunt faces were almost ghostly. Shoeless, in rags, +with just sufficient coarse food to sustain life, but never enough +to keep at arm's-length the gnawing fiend Hunger, Lee's old veterans +remained firm, scattered like a thin skirmish-line along forty miles +of works; while opposite them lay an enemy in the highest state of +efficiency, and numbering nearly five men to their one. That the +soldiers of the army retained their nerve under circumstances so +discouraging is surely an honorable fact, and will make their names +glorious in history. They remained unshaken and fought undismayed to +the last, although their courage was subjected to trials of the most +exhausting character. Day and night, for month after month, the +incessant fire of the Federal forces had continued, and every engine +of human destruction had been put in play to wear away their strength. +They fought all through the cheerless days of winter, and, when they +lay down in the cold trenches at night, the shell of the Federal +mortars rained down upon them, bursting, and mortally wounding them. +All day long the fire of muskets and cannon--then, from sunset to +dawn, the curving fire of the roaring mortars, and the steady, +never-ceasing crack of the sharp-shooters along the front. Snow, or +blinding sleet, or freezing rains, might be falling, but the fire went +on--it seemed destined to go on to all eternity. + +In March, 1865 however, the end was approaching, and General Lee +must have felt that all was lost. His last hope had been the retreat +southward in the month of February. That hope had been taken from +him; the result was at hand; and his private correspondence, if he +intrusted to paper his views of the situation, will probably show that +from that moment he gave up all anticipation of success, and prepared +to do his simple duty as a soldier, leaving the issue of affairs +to Providence. Whatever may have been his emotions, they were not +reflected in his countenance. The same august composure which had +accompanied him in his previous campaigns remained with him still, and +cheered the fainting hearts around him. To the 2d of April, and even +up to the end, this remarkable calmness continued nearly unchanged, +and we can offer no explanation of a circumstance so astonishing, save +that which we have already given in a preceding chapter. + + + + +XIII. + +LEE ATTACKS THE FEDERAL CENTRE. + + +General Lee became aware, as the end of March drew near, that +preparations were being made in the Federal army for some important +movement. What that movement would be, there was little reason to +doubt. The Federal lines had been extended gradually toward the +Southside Railroad; and it was obvious now that General Grant had in +view a last and decisive advance in that quarter, which should place +him on his opponent's communications, and completely intercept his +retreat southward. + +The catastrophe which General Lee had plainly foreseen for many months +now stared him in the face, and, unless he had recourse to some +expedient as desperate as the situation, the end of the struggle must +soon come. The sole course left to him was retreat, but this now +seemed difficult, if not impossible. General Grant had a powerful +force not far from the main roads over which Lee must move; and, +unless a diversion of some description were made, it seemed barely +possible that the Southern army could extricate itself. This diversion +General Lee now proceeded to make; and although we have no authority +to state that his object was to follow up the blow, if it were +successful, by an evacuation of his lines at Petersburg, it is +difficult to conceive what other design he could have had in risking +an operation so critical. He had resolved to throw a column against +the Federal centre east of Petersburg, with the view to break through +there and seize the commanding ground in rear of the line. He would +thus be rooted in the middle of General Grant's army, and the Federal +left would probably be recalled, leaving the way open if he designed +to retreat. If he designed, however, to fight a last pitched battle +which should decide all, he would be able to do so, in case the +Federal works were broken, to greater advantage than under any other +circumstances. + +The point fixed upon was Fort Steadman, near the south bank of the +Appomattox, where the opposing works were scarcely two hundred yards +from each other. The ground in front was covered with _abatis_, and +otherwise obstructed, but it was hoped that the assaulting column +would be able to pass over the distance undiscovered. In that event a +sudden rush would probably carry the works--a large part of the army +would follow--the hill beyond would be occupied--and General Grant +would be compelled to concentrate his army at the point, for his own +protection. + +On the morning of March 25th, before dawn, the column was ready. It +consisted of three or four thousand men under General Gordon, but an +additional force was held in reserve to follow up the attack if it +succeeded. Just as dawn appeared, Gordon put his column in motion. +It advanced silently over the intervening space, made a rush for the +Federal works, mounted them, drove from them in great confusion the +force occupying them, and a loud cheer proved that the column of +Gordon had done its work. But this auspicious beginning was the only +success achieved by the Confederates. For reasons unknown to the +present writer, the force directed by Lee to be held in readiness, and +to move at once to Gordon's support, did not go forward; the brave +commander and his men were left to breast the whole weight of the +Federal onslaught which ensued; and disaster followed the first great +success. The forts to the right and left of Fort Steadman suddenly +opened their thunders, and something like a repetition of the scene +succeeding the mine explosion ensued. A considerable portion of the +assaulting column was unable to get back, and fell into the enemy's +hands; their works were quickly reoccupied; and Lee saw that his last +hope had failed. Nothing was left to him now but such courageous +resistance as it was in his power to make, and he prepared, with the +worn weapon which he still held in his firm grasp, to oppose as +he best could the immense "hammer"--to use General Grant's own +illustration--which was plainly about to be raised to strike. + + + + +XIV. + +THE SOUTHERN LINES BROKEN. + + +The hour of the final struggle now rapidly drew near. On the 29th of +March, General Lee discovered that a large portion of the Federal army +was moving steadily in the direction of his works beyond Burgen Mill, +and there could be no doubt what this movement signified. General +Grant was plainly about to make a decisive attack on the Confederate +right, on the White-Oak Road; and, if that attack succeeded, Lee was +lost. + +Had not General Lee and his men become accustomed to retain their +coolness under almost any circumstances of trial, the prospect now +before them must have filled them with despair. The bulk of the +Federal army was obviously about to be thrown against the Confederate +right, and it was no secret in the little body of Southerners that +Lee would be able to send thither only a painfully inadequate force, +unless his extensive works were left in charge of a mere line of +skirmishers. This could not be thought of; the struggle on the right +must be a desperate one, and the Southern troops must depend upon hard +fighting rather than numbers if they hoped to repulse the attack of +the enemy. + +Such was the situation of affairs, and neither the Confederate +commander nor his men shrunk in the hour of trial. Leaving Longstreet +to confront the enemy north of the James, and Gordon in command of +Ewell's corps--if it could be called such--in front of Petersburg, Lee +moved with nearly the whole remainder of his small force westward, +beyond Hatcher's Run, to meet the anticipated attack. The force thus +moved to the right to receive General Grant's great assault consisted +of about fifteen thousand infantry, and about two thousand cavalry +under General Fitz Lee, who, in consequence of the departure of +Hampton to North Carolina, now commanded the cavalry of the army. This +force, however, was cavalry only in name; and General Lee, speaking +afterward of General Sheridan, said that his victories were won +"when we had no horses for our cavalry, and no men to ride the few +broken-down steeds that we could muster." + +With this force, amounting in all to about seventeen thousand men, +Lee proceeded to take position behind the works extending along +the White-Oak Road, in the direction of Five Forks, an important +_carrefour_ beyond his extreme right. The number of men left north +of James River and in front of Petersburg was a little under twenty +thousand. As General Grant had at his command a force about four times +as great as his adversary's, it seemed scarcely possible that Lee +would be able to offer serious resistance. + +It soon became evident, however, that, in spite of this great +disproportion of force, General Lee had determined to fight to the +last. To attribute this determination to despair and recklessness, +would be doing injustice to the great soldier. It was still possible +that he might be able to repulse the assault upon his right, and, by +disabling the Federal force there, open his line of retreat. To this +hope he no doubt clung, and the fighting-blood of his race was now +thoroughly aroused. At Chancellorsville and elsewhere the odds had +been nearly as great, and a glance at his gaunt veterans showed him +that they might still be depended upon for a struggle as obstinate as +any in the past history of the war. + +The event certainly vindicated the justice of this latter view, and +we shall briefly trace the occurrences of the next three or four days +which terminated the long conflict at Petersburg. + +General Grant's assaulting force was not in position near the Boydton +Road, beyond Hatcher's Run, until March 31st, when, before he could +attack, Lee suddenly advanced and made a furious onslaught on the +Federal front. Before this attack, the divisions first encountered +gave way in confusion, and it seemed that the Confederate commander, +at a single blow, was about to extricate himself from his embarrassing +situation. The force opposed to him, however, was too great, and he +found himself unable to encounter it in the open field. He therefore +fell back to his works, and the fighting ceased, only to be renewed, +however, at Five Forks. This had been seized by the cavalry of General +Sheridan, and, as the point was one of importance, Lee detached a +small body of infantry to drive away the Federal horse. This was done +without difficulty, and the Confederate infantry then advanced toward +Dinwiddie Court-House; but late at night it was withdrawn, and the +day's fighting ended. + +On the next day, the 1st of April, a more determined struggle ensued, +for the possession of Five Forks, where Lee had stationed the small +remnants of the divisions of Pickett and Johnson. These made a brave +resistance, but were wholly unable to stand before the force brought +against them. They maintained their ground as long as possible, but +were finally broken to pieces and scattered in confusion, the whole +right of the Confederate line and the Southside Road falling into the +hands of the enemy. + +[Illustration: Lee at Petersburg] + +This was virtually the end of the contest, but General Grant, it would +appear, deemed it inexpedient to venture any thing. So thinly manned +were the lines in front of Petersburg, in the absence of Longstreet +north of James River, and the troops sent beyond Hatcher's Run, that +on the 1st of April the Federal commander might have broken through +the works at almost any point. He elected to wait, however, until the +following day, thereby running the risk of awaking to find that Lee +had retreated. + +At dawn on the 2d the long struggle ended. The Federal forces advanced +all along the Confederate front, made a furious attack, and, breaking +through in front of the city, carried all before them. The forts, +especially Fort Gregg, made a gallant resistance. This work was +defended by the two hundred and fifty men of Harris's Mississippi +Brigade, and these fought until their numbers were reduced to thirty, +killing or wounding five hundred of the assailants. The fort was taken +at last, and the Federal lines advanced toward the city. In this +attack fell the eminent soldier General A.P. Hill, whose record had +been so illustrious, and whose fortune it was to thus terminate his +life while the Southern flag still floated. + + + + +XV. + +LEE EVACUATES PETERSBURG. + + +Any further resistance upon the part of General Lee seemed now +impossible, and nothing appeared to be left him but to surrender his +army. This course he does not seem, however, to have contemplated. It +was still possible that he might be able to maintain his position on +an inner line near the city until night; and, if he could do so, the +friendly hours of darkness might enable him to make good his retreat +to the north bank of the Appomattox, and shape his course toward North +Carolina, where General Johnston awaited him. If the movements of the +Federal forces, however, were so prompt as to defeat his march in that +direction, he might still be able to reach Lynchburg, beyond which +point the defiles of the Alleghanies promised him protection against +the utmost efforts of his enemy. Of his ability to reach North +Carolina, following the line of the Danville Railroad, Lee, however, +seems to have had no doubt. The Federal army would not probably +be able to concentrate in sufficient force in his path to bar his +progress if his march were rapid; if detached bodies only opposed +him on his line of retreat, there was little doubt that the Army of +Northern Virginia, reduced as it was, would be able to cut its way +through them. + +This preface is necessary to an intelligent comprehension of Lee's +movements on the unfortunate 2d of April when his lines were broken. +This occurrence took place, as we have said, about sunrise, and, an +hour or two afterward, the Federal forces pressed forward all along +the line, surging toward the suburbs of Petersburg. We have mentioned +the position of General Lee's headquarters, about a mile and a half +west of the city, on the Cox Road, nearly opposite the tall Federal +observatory. Standing on the lawn, in front of his headquarters, +General Lee now saw, approaching rapidly, a heavy column of Federal +infantry, with the obvious design of charging a battery which had +opened fire upon them from a hill to the right. The spectacle was +picturesque and striking. Across the extensive fields houses set on +fire by shell were sending aloft huge clouds of smoke and tongues +of flame; at every instant was seen the quick glare of the Federal +artillery, firing from every knoll, and in front came on the charging +column, moving at a double quick, with burnished gun-barrels and +bayonets flashing in the April sunshine. + +General Lee watched with attention, but with perfect composure, this +determined advance of the enemy; and, although he must have realized +that his army was on the verge of destruction, it was impossible to +discern in his features any evidences of emotion. He was in full +uniform, and had buckled on his dress-sword, which he seldom +wore--having, on this morning declared, it is said, that if he were +compelled to surrender he would do so in full harness. Of his calmness +at this trying moment the writer is able to bear his personal +testimony. Chancing to hear a question addressed to a member of his +staff, General Lee turned with great courtesy, raised his gray hat in +response to the writer's salute, and gave him the desired information +in a voice entirely measured and composed. It was impossible to regard +a calmness so striking without strong sentiments of admiration, and +Lee's appearance and bearing at this moment will always remain vividly +impressed upon the writer's memory. + +The Federal column was soon in dangerous proximity to the battery on +the hill, and it was obliged to retire at a gallop to escape capture. +An attempt was made to hold the ground near the headquarters, but a +close musketry-fire from the enemy rendered this also impossible--the +artillery was withdrawn--and General Lee, mounting his iron-gray, +slowly rode back, accompanied by a number of officers, toward his +inner line. He still remained entirely composed, and only said to one +of his staff, in his habitual tone: "This is a bad business, colonel." + +"Well, colonel," he said afterward to another officer, "it has +happened as I told them it would at Richmond. The line has been +stretched until it has broken." + +The Federal column was now pressing forward along the Cox Road toward +Petersburg, and General Lee continued to ride slowly back in the +direction of the city. He was probably recognized by officers of the +Federal artillery, or his _cortége_ drew their fire. The group was +furiously shelled, and one of the shells burst a few feet in rear +of him, killing the horse of an officer near him, cutting the +bridle-reins of others, and tearing up the ground in his immediate +vicinity. This incident seemed to arouse in General Lee his +fighting-blood. He turned his head over his right shoulder, his +cheeks became flushed, and a sudden flash of the eye showed with what +reluctance he retired before the fire directed upon him. No other +course was left him, however, and he continued to ride slowly toward +his inner line--a low earthwork in the suburbs of the city--where a +small force was drawn up, ardent, hopeful, defiant, and saluting the +shell, now bursting above them, with cheers and laughter. It was plain +that the fighting-spirit of the ragged troops remained unbroken; and +the shout of welcome with which they received Lee indicated their +unwavering confidence in him, despite the untoward condition of +affairs. + +Arrangements were speedily made to hold the inner line, if possible, +until night. To General Gordon had been intrusted the important duty +of defending the lines east of the city, and General Longstreet had +been directed to vacate the works north of James River, and march at +once to the lines of Petersburg. This officer made his appearance, +with his small force, at an early hour of the day; and, except that +the Federal army continued firing all along the front, no other active +operations took place. To those present on the Confederate side this +fact appeared strange. As the force beyond Hatcher's Run had been +completely defeated and dispersed, General Lee's numbers for the +defence of Petersburg on this day did not amount to much, if any, more +than fifteen thousand men. General Grant's force was probably one +hundred and fifty thousand, of whom about one hundred thousand might, +it would appear, have been concentrated in an hour or two directly in +front of the city. That, with this large force at his disposal, the +Federal commander did not at once attack, and so end all on that day, +surprised the Confederate troops, and still continues to surprise the +writer. + +Night came at last, and General Lee began his retreat. He had sent, +early in the morning, a dispatch to the civil authorities, at +Richmond, informing them of the fact that his lines had been broken, +and that he would that night retreat from Petersburg. Orders had also +been sent to all the forces holding the lines north of James River +to move at once and join him, and, just at nightfall, the army at +Petersburg began crossing the Appomattox. This movement was effected +without interruption from the enemy; and the army, turning into what +is called the Hickory Road, leading up the north bank of the river, +moved on steadily through the half light. Its march was superintended +by Lee in person. He had stationed himself at the mouth of the Hickory +Road, and, standing with the bridle of his horse in his hand, gave his +orders. His bearing still remained entirely composed, and his voice +had lost none of its grave strength of intonation. When the rear was +well closed up, Lee mounted his horse, rode on slowly with his men; +and, in the midst of the glare and thunder of the exploding magazines +at Petersburg, the small remnant of the Army of Northern Virginia, +amounting to about fifteen thousand men, went on its way through the +darkness. + + + + +XVI. + +THE RETREAT AND SURRENDER. + + +On the morning of the 3d of April, General Lee, after allowing his +column a brief period of rest, continued his march up the north bank +of the Appomattox. + +The aspect of affairs at this time was threatening, and there seemed +little ground to hope that the small force would be able to make good +its retreat to North Carolina. General Grant had a short and direct +route to the Danville Railroad--a considerable portion of his army was +already as far west as Dinwiddie Court-House--and it was obvious that +he had only to use ordinary diligence to completely cut General Lee +off in the vicinity of Burkesville Junction. A glance at the map will +indicate the advantages possessed by the Federal commander. He could +move over the chord, while Lee was compelled to follow the arc of the +circle. Unless good fortune assisted Lee and ill fortune impeded his +opponent, the event seemed certain; and it will be seen that these +conditions were completely reversed. + +Under the circumstances here stated, it appeared reasonable to +expect in Lee and his army some depression of spirits. The fact was +strikingly the reverse. The army was in excellent spirits, probably +from the highly-agreeable contrast of the budding April woods with +the squalid trenches, and the long-unfelt joy of an unfettered march +through the fields of spring. General Lee shared this hopeful feeling +in a very remarkable degree. His expression was animated and buoyant, +his seat in the saddle erect and commanding, and he seemed to look +forward to assured success in the critical movement which he had +undertaken. + +"I have got my army safe out of its breastworks," he said, on the +morning of this day, "and, in order to follow me, the enemy must +abandon his lines, and can derive no further benefit from his +railroads or James River." + +The design of the Confederate commander has been already stated, but +an important condition upon which he depended for success has not been +mentioned. This was a supply of food for his army. The troops, during +the whole winter, had lived, from day to day, on quarter-rations, +doled out to them with a sparing hand; and, in moving now from +Petersburg, Lee saw that he must look to supplies somewhere upon his +line of retreat. These he had directed to be brought from the south +and deposited at Amelia Court-House; and the expectation of finding at +that point full subsistence for his men, had doubtless a great effect +in buoying up his spirits. An evil chance, however, reversed all the +hopes based on this anticipation. From fault or misapprehension, the +train loaded with supplies proceeded to Richmond without depositing +the rations at Amelia Court-House; there was no time to obtain other +subsistence, and when, after unforeseen delay, in consequence of +high water in the Appomattox, Lee, at the head of his half-starved +soldiers, reached Amelia Court-House, it was only to find that there +was nothing there for the support of his army, and to realize that a +successful retreat, under the circumstances, was wellnigh hopeless. + +Those who accompanied the Southern army on this arduous march will +recall the dismayed expression of the emaciated faces at this +unlooked-for calamity; and no face wore a heavier shadow than that of +General Lee. The failure of the supply of rations completely paralyzed +him. He had intended, and was confident of his ability, to cut his way +through the enemy; but an army cannot march and fight without food. +It was now necessary to halt and send out foraging parties into the +impoverished region around. Meanwhile General Grant, with his great +force, was rapidly moving to bar his adversary's further advance; +the want of a few thousand pounds of bread and meat had virtually +terminated the war. + +An anxious and haggard expression came to General Lee's face when he +was informed of this great misfortune; and, at once abandoning his +design of cutting his way through to North Carolina, he turned +westward, and shaped his march toward Lynchburg. This movement began +on the night of the 5th of April, and it would seem that General Grant +had had it in his power to arrest it by an attack on Lee at Amelia +Court-House. General Sheridan was in the immediate vicinity, with a +force of about eighteen thousand well-mounted cavalry, and, although +it was not probable that this command could effect any thing against +Lee's army of about the same number of infantry, it might still have +delayed him by constructing breastworks in his way, and thus giving +the Federal infantry time to come up and attack. + +[Illustration: LEE AT THE SURRENDER.] + +The opportunity of crushing his adversary at Amelia Court-House was +thus allowed to pass, and General Grant now pressed forward his +infantry, to bring Lee to bay, if possible, before he reached +Lynchburg. From this moment began the struggle between the adversaries +which was to continue, day and night, without intermission, for the +next four days. The phenomenon was here presented of an army, reduced +to less than twenty thousand men, holding at arm's-length an enemy +numbering about one hundred and fifty thousand, and very nearly +defeating every effort of the larger force to arrest their march. It +would not interest the reader, probably, to follow in minute detail +the circumstances of this melancholy retreat. From the importance of +the transactions, and the natural attention directed to them, both +North and South, they are doubtless familiar to all who will read +these pages. We shall only speak of one or two incidents of the +retreat, wherein General Lee appeared prominent personally, leaving +to the imagination of the reader the remainder of the long and tragic +struggle whose result decided the fate of the Confederacy. + +General Grant doubtless saw now that every thing depended upon the +celerity of his movements, and, sending in advance his large body of +cavalry, he hastened forward as rapidly as possible with his infantry, +bent on interposing, if possible, a heavy force in his adversary's +front. Lee's movements were equally rapid. He seemed speedily to have +regained his old calmness, after the trying disappointment at Amelia +Court-House; and those who shared his counsels at this time can +testify that the idea of surrender scarcely entered his mind for a +moment--or, if it did so, was speedily banished. Under the pressure of +circumstances so adverse that they seemed calculated to break down the +most stubborn resolution. General Lee did not falter; and throughout +the disheartening scenes of the retreat, from the moment when he left +Amelia Court-House to the hour when his little column was drawing near +Appomattox, still continued to believe that the situation was not +desperate, and that he would be able to force his way through to +Lynchburg. + +On the evening of the 6th, when the army was near Farmville, a sudden +attack was made by the Federal cavalry on the trains of the army +moving on a parallel road; and the small force of infantry guarding +them was broken and scattered. This occurrence took place while +General Lee was confronting a body of Federal infantry near Sailor's +Creek; and, taking a small brigade, he immediately repaired to the +scene of danger. The spectacle which followed was a very striking and +imposing one, and is thus described by one who witnessed it: "The +scene was one of gloomy picturesqueness and tragic interest. On a +plateau raised above the forest from which they had emerged, were +the disorganized troops of Ewell and Anderson, gathered in groups, +un-officered, and uttering tumultuous exclamations of rage and +defiance. Rising above the weary groups which had thrown themselves +upon the ground, were the grim barrels of cannon, in battery, ready +to fire, as soon as the enemy appeared. In front of all was the still +line of battle, just placed by Lee, and waiting calmly. General Lee +had rushed his infantry over, just at sunset, leading it in person, +his face animated, and his eye brilliant with the soldier's spirit of +fight, but his bearing unflurried as before. An artist desiring to +paint his picture, ought to have seen the old cavalier at this moment, +sweeping on upon his large iron-gray, whose mane and tail floated in +the wind; carrying his field-glass half-raised in his right hand; with +head erect, gestures animated, and in the whole face and form +the expression of the hunter close upon his game. The line once +interposed, he rode in the twilight among the disordered groups +above mentioned, and the sight of him aroused a tumult. Fierce cries +resounded on all sides, and, with hands clinched violently and raised +aloft, the men called on him to lead them against the enemy. 'It's +General Lee!' 'Uncle Robert!' 'Where's the man who won't follow Uncle +Robert?' I heard on all sides--the swarthy faces full of dirt and +courage, lit up every instant by the glare of the burning wagons. +Altogether, the scene was indescribable." + +On the 7th the army pressed on beyond Farmville, still harassed as it +advanced by the Federal infantry and cavalry; but, in some of these +encounters, the pursuing force met with what was probably a very +unexpected discomfiture. General Fitz Lee, bringing up the rear of the +army with his force of about fifteen hundred cavalry on broken-down +horses, succeeded not only in repulsing the attacks of the large and +excellently-mounted force under General Sheridan, but achieved over +them highly-honorable successes. One such incident took place on the +7th, when General Gregg attacked with about six thousand horse, but +was met, defeated, and captured by General Fitz Lee, to the great +satisfaction of General Lee, who said to his son, General W.H.F. Lee: + +"Keep your command together and in good spirits, general--don't let +them think of surrender--I will get you out of this." + +On the 8th and 9th, however, this hope seemed unwarranted by the +circumstances, and the commander-in-chief appeared to be almost the +only human being who remained sanguine of the result. The hardships +of the retreat, arising chiefly from want of food, began to seriously +impair the resolution of the troops, and the scenes through which they +advanced were not calculated to raise their spirits. "These scenes," +declares one who witnessed them, "were of a nature which can be +apprehended only by men who are thoroughly familiar with the harrowing +details of war. Behind and on either flank, a ubiquitous and +increasingly adventurous enemy--every mud-hole and every rise in the +road choked with blazing wagons--the air filled with the deafening +reports of ammunition exploding, and shells bursting when touched +by the flames, dense columns of smoke ascending to heaven from the +burning and exploding vehicles, exhausted men, worn-out mules and +horses, lying down side by side--gaunt Famine glaring hopelessly +from sunken, lack-lustre eyes--dead mules, dead horses, dead +men everywhere--death many times welcomed as God's messenger in +disguise--who can wonder if many hearts, tried in the fiery furnace of +four unparalleled years, and never hitherto found wanting, should have +quailed in presence of starvation, fatigue, sleeplessness, misery, +unintermitted for five or six days, and culminating in hopelessness?" +It cannot, however, be said with truth, that any considerable portion +of the Southern forces were greatly demoralized, to use the military +phrase, as the fighting of the last two days, when the suffering +of the retreat culminated, will show. The men were almost entirely +without food, and were glad to find a little corn to eat; but those +who were not physically unable longer to carry their muskets--and +the number of these latter was large--still marched and fought with +soldierly cheerfulness and resolution. + +General Lee's spirits do not seem at any time to have flagged, and +up to a late period of the retreat he had not seriously contemplated +surrender. The necessity for this painful course came home to his +corps commanders first, and they requested General Pendleton, the +efficient chief of artillery of the army, to inform General Lee that +in their opinion further struggle was hopeless. General Pendleton +informed General Lee of this opinion of his officers, and it seemed to +communicate something like a shock to him. + +"Surrender!" he exclaimed with a flash of the eye, "I have too many +good fighting-men for that!" + +Nevertheless, the necessity of seriously contemplating this result was +soon forced upon him. Since the morning of the 7th, a correspondence +had taken place between himself and General Grant; and, as these notes +are interesting, we here present those which were exchanged up to the +night of the 8th: + +_April_ 7, 1865. + +_General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A._: + +GENERAL: The result of the last week must convince you of the +hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern +Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my +duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion +of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the +Confederate Southern Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. + +Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +U.S. GRANT, + +_Lieutenant-General commanding Armies of the United States_. + +_April_ 7, 1865. + +GENERAL: I have received your note of this day. Though not entirely of +the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on +the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire +to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering +your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its +surrender. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U.S. GRANT, + +_Commanding Armies of the United States_. + +_April_ 8, 1865. + +_To General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A_.: + +GENERAL: Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of the same date, +asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army +of Northern Virginia is just received. + +In reply, I would say, that peace being my first desire, there is but +one condition that I insist upon, viz.: + +That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms +again against the Government of the United States until properly +exchanged. + +I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any officers you may +name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the +purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of +the Army of Northern Virginia will he received. + +Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant-General, commanding Armies of the United +States_. + +_April_ 8, 1865. + +GENERAL: I received, at a late hour, your note of to-day, in answer to +mine of yesterday. + +I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern +Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do +not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender. + +But as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I +desire to know whether your proposals would tend to that end. + +I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of +Northern Virginia; but so far as your proposition may affect the +Confederate States forces under my command and tend to the restoration +of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 A.M. to-morrow, on +the old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two +armies. Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General C.S.A._ + +To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, + +_Commanding Armies of the United States_. + +[Illustration: Last Council of War.] + +No reply was received to this last communication from General Lee, +on the evening of the 8th, and that night there was held, around a +bivouac-fire in the woods, the last council of war of the Army of +Northern Virginia. The scene was a very picturesque one. The red glare +from the bivouac-fire lit up the group, and brought out the details +of each figure. None were present but General Lee and Generals +Longstreet, Gordon, and Fitz Lee, all corps commanders. Generals +Gordon and Fitz Lee half reclined upon an army-blanket near the fire; +Longstreet sat upon a log, smoking; and General Lee stood by the +fire, holding in his hand the correspondence which had passed between +himself and General Grant. The question what course it was advisable +to pursue, was then presented, in a few calm words, by General Lee +to his corps commanders, and an informal conversation ensued. It was +finally agreed that the army should advance, on the next morning, +beyond Appomattox Court-House, and, if only General Sheridan's cavalry +were found in front, brush that force from its path, and proceed on +its way to Lynchburg. If, however, the Federal infantry was discovered +in large force beyond the Court-House, the attempt to break through +was to be abandoned, and a flag dispatched to General Grant requested +an interview for the arrangement of the terms of a capitulation of the +Southern army. + +With a heavy heart, General Lee acquiesced in this plan of proceeding, +and soon afterward the council of war terminated--the corps commanders +saluting the commander-in-chief, who returned their bows with grave +courtesy, and separating to return to their own bivouacs. + +In spite, however, of the discouraging and almost desperate condition +of affairs, General Lee seems still to have clung to the hope that he +might be able to cut his way through the force in his front. He woke +from brief slumber beside his bivouac-fire at about three o'clock in +the morning, and calling an officer of his staff, Colonel Venable, +sent him to General Gordon, commanding the front, to ascertain his +opinion, at that moment, of the probable result of an attack upon the +enemy. General Gordon's reply was, "Tell General Lee that my old corps +is reduced to a frazzle, and, unless I am supported by Longstreet +heavily, I do not think we can do any thing more." + +General Lee received this announcement with an expression of great +feeling, and after a moment's silence said: "There is nothing left but +to go to General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths!" + +His staff-officers had now gathered around him, and one of them said: +"What will history say of our surrendering if there is any possibility +of escape? Posterity will not understand it." To these words, General +Lee replied: "Yes, yes, they will not understand our situation; but +that is not the question. The question is, whether it is _right_; and, +if it is right, I take the responsibility." + +His expression of buoyant hopefulness had now changed to one of deep +melancholy, and it was evident to those around him that the thought of +surrender was worse to him than the bitterness of death. For the first +time his courage seemed to give way, and he was nearly unmanned. +Turning to an officer standing near him, he said, his deep voice +filled with hopeless sadness: "How easily I could get rid of this, and +be at rest! I have only to ride along the line and all will be over!" + +He was silent for a short time after uttering these words, and then +added, with a heavy sigh: "But it is our duty to live. What will +become of the women and children of the South, if we are not here to +protect them?" + +The moment had now come when the fate of the retreat was to be +decided. To General Gordon, who had proved himself, in the last +operations of the war, a soldier of the first ability, had been +intrusted the command of the advance force; and this was now moved +forward against the enemy beyond Appomattox Court-House. Gordon +attacked with his infantry, supported by Fitz Lee's cavalry, and the +artillery battalion of Colonel Carter, and such was the impetuosity +of his advance that he drove the Federal forces nearly a mile. But +at that point he found himself in face of a body of infantry, stated +afterward, by Federal officers, to number about eighty thousand. +As his own force was less than five thousand muskets, he found it +impossible to advance farther; and the Federal lines were already +pressing forward to attack him, in overwhelming force, when the +movement suddenly ceased. Seeing the hopelessness of further +resistance. General Lee had sent a flag to General Grant, requesting +an interview looking to the arrangement, if possible, of terms of +surrender; and to this end the forward movement of the Federal forces +was ordered to be discontinued. + +The two armies then remained facing each other during the interview +between the two commanders, which took place in a farm-house in +Appomattox Court-House. General Lee was accompanied only by Colonel +Marshall, of his staff, and on the Federal side only a few officers +were present. General Grant's demeanor was courteous, and that of +General Lee unmarked by emotion of any description. The hardships of +the retreat had somewhat impaired his strength, and his countenance +exhibited traces of fatigue; but no other change had taken place +in his appearance. He was erect, calm, courteous, and confined his +observations strictly to the disagreeable business before him. The +interview was brief; and, seated at a plain table, the two commanders +wrote and exchanged the accompanying papers: + +APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, _April_ 9, 1865. + +_General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A._.: + +In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., +I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on +the following terms, to wit: + +Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to +be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by +such officers as you may designate. + +The officers to give their individual parole not to take arms against +the Government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each +company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of +their commands. + +The arms, artillery, and public property, to be parked and stacked, +and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This +will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private +horses or baggage. + +This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their +homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they +observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside. + +Very respectfully, + +U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant-General_. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_April_ 9,1865. + +_Lieut.-General U.S. Grant, commanding U.S.A_.: + +GENERAL: I have received your letter of this date, containing the +terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by +you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your +letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to +designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. + +Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The two generals then bowed to each other, and, leaving the house, +General Lee mounted his gray, and rode back to his headquarters. + +The scene as he passed through the army was affecting. The men +gathered round him, wrung his hand, and in broken words called +upon God to help him. This pathetic reception by his old soldiers +profoundly affected Lee. The tears came to his eyes, and, looking at +the men with a glance of proud feeling, he said, in suppressed tones, +which trembled slightly: "We have fought through the war together. I +have done the best I could for you. My heart is too full to say more!" + +These few words seemed to be all he could utter. He rode on, and, +reaching his headquarters in the woods, disappeared in his tent, +whither we shall not follow him. + +On the next day the Army of Northern Virginia, numbering about +twenty-six thousand men, of whom but seven thousand eight hundred +carried muskets, was formally surrendered, and the Confederate War was +a thing of the past. + + + + +XVII. + +LEE RETURNS TO RICHMOND. + + +General Lee, on the day following the capitulation of his army, issued +an address to his old soldiers, which they received and read with very +deep emotion. The address was in these words: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_April_ 10, 1865. + +After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and +fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield +to overwhelming numbers and resources. + +I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have +remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result +from no distrust of them; but, feeling that valor and devotion could +accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have +attended the continuation of the contest, I have determined to avoid +the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them +to their countrymen. + +By the terms of agreement, officers and men can return to their homes +and remain there until exchanged. + +You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the +consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray that +a merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection. + +With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to +your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous +consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The painful arrangements connected with the capitulation were on this +day concluded; and General Lee prepared to set out on his return to +Richmond--like his men, a "paroled prisoner of the Army of Northern +Virginia." The parting between him and his soldiers was pathetic. He +exchanged with all near him a close pressure of the hand, uttered +a few simple words of farewell, and, mounting his iron-gray, +"Traveller," who had passed through all the fighting of the campaign +unharmed, rode slowly in the direction of Richmond. He was escorted by +a detachment of Federal cavalry, preceded only by a guidon; and the +party, including the officers who accompanied him, consisted of about +twenty-five horsemen. The _cortége_ was followed by several wagons +carrying the private effects of himself and his companions, and by +the well-known old black open vehicle which he had occasionally +used during the campaigns of the preceding year, when indisposition +prevented him from mounting his horse. In this vehicle it had been his +custom to carry stores for the wounded--it had never been used for +articles contributing to his personal convenience. + +General Lee's demeanor on his way to Richmond was entirely composed, +and his thoughts seemed much more occupied by the unfortunate +condition of the poor people, at whose houses he stopped, than by +his own situation. When he found that all along his route the +impoverished people had cooked provisions in readiness for him, and +were looking anxiously for him, with every indication of love and +admiration, he said to one of his officers: "These good people are +kind--too kind. Their hearts are as full as when we began our first +campaigns in 1861. They do too much--more than they are able to +do--for us." + +His soldierly habits remained unchanged, and he seemed unwilling to +indulge in any luxuries or comforts which could not be shared by the +gentlemen accompanying him At a house which he reached just as night +came, a poor woman had prepared an excellent bed for him, but, with a +courteous shake of the head, he spread his blanket, and slept upon the +floor. Stopping on the next day at the house of his brother, Charles +Carter Lee, in Powhatan, he spent the evening in conversation; but, +when bedtime came, left the house, in spite of the fact that it had +begun to rain, and, crossing the road into the woods, took up his +quarters for the night on the hard planks of his old black vehicle. On +the route he exhibited great solicitude about a small quantity of +oats which he had brought with him, in one of the wagons, for his old +companion, "Traveller," mentioning it more than once, and appearing +anxious lest it should be lost or used by some one. + +[Illustration: LEE'S ENTRY INTO RICHMOND AFTER THE SURRENDER.] + +The party came in sight of Richmond at last, and, two or three miles +from the city, General Lee rode ahead of his escort, accompanied only +by a few officers, and, crossing the pontoon bridge below the ruins of +Mayo's bridge, which had been destroyed when the Confederate forces +retreated, entered the capital. The spectacle which met his eyes +at this moment must have been exceedingly painful. In the great +conflagration which had taken place on the morning of the 3d of April, +a large portion of the city had been burned; and, as General Lee rode +up Main Street, formerly so handsome and attractive, he saw on either +hand only masses of blackened ruins. As he rode slowly through the +opening between these masses of _débris_, he was recognized by the few +persons who were on the street, and instantly the intelligence of his +presence spread through the city. The inhabitants hastened from their +houses and flocked to welcome him, saluting him with cheers and the +waving of hats and handkerchiefs. He seemed desirous, however, of +avoiding this ovation, and, returning the greeting by simply raising +his hat, rode on and reached his house on Franklin Street, where, +respecting his desire for privacy under circumstances so painful, his +admirers did not intrude upon him. + +We have presented this brief narrative of the incidents attending +General Lee's return to his home after the surrender, to show with +what simplicity and good sense he accepted his trying situation. A +small amount of diplomacy--sending forward one of his officers to +announce his intended arrival; stopping for a few moments as he +ascended Main Street; making an address to the citizens who first +recognized him, and thus affording time for a crowd to assemble--these +proceedings on the part of General Lee would have resulted in an +ovation such as a vanquished commander never before received at the +hands of any people. Nothing, however, was less desired by General Lee +than this tumultuous reception. The native modesty of the man not only +shrunk from such an ovation; he avoided it for another reason--the +pretext it would probably afford to the Federal authorities to proceed +to harsh measures against the unfortunate persons who took part in it. +In accordance with these sentiments, General Lee had not announced his +coming, had not stopped as he rode through the city; and now, shutting +himself up in his house, signified his desire to avoid a public +reception, and to be left in privacy. + +This policy he is well known to have pursued from that time to the end +of his life. He uniformly declined, with great courtesy, but firmly, +invitations to attend public gatherings of any description, where his +presence might arouse passions or occasion discussions connected with +the great contest in which he had been the leader of the South. A +mind less firm and noble would doubtless have yielded to this great +temptation. It is sweet to the soldier, who has been overwhelmed and +has yielded up his sword, to feel that the love and admiration of a +people still follow him; and to have the consolation of receiving +public evidences of this unchanged devotion. That this love of the +Southern people for Lee deeply touched him, there can be no doubt; but +it did not blind him to his duty as the representative individual of +the South. Feeling that nothing was now left the Southern people but +an honest acceptance of the situation, and a cessation, as far as +possible, of all rancor toward the North, he refused to encourage +sentiments of hostility between the two sections, and did all in his +power to restore amicable feeling. "I am very glad to learn," he said +in a note to the present writer, "that your life of General Jackson +is of the character you describe. I think all topics or questions +calculated to excite angry discussion or hostile feelings should be +avoided." These few words convey a distinct idea of General Lee's +views and feelings. He had fought to the best of his ability for +Southern independence of the North; the South had failed in the +struggle, and it was now, in his opinion, the duty of every good +citizen to frankly acquiesce in the result, and endeavor to avoid all +that kept open the bleeding wounds of the country. + +His military career had placed him, in the estimation of the first men +of his time, among the greatest soldiers of history; but the dignity +and moderation of the course pursued by him, from the end of the war +to the time of his death, will probably remain, in the opinion of both +his friends and enemies, the noblest illustration of the character of +the man. + + + + +XVIII. + +GENERAL LEE AFTER THE WAR. + + +In the concluding pages of this volume we shall not be called upon to +narrate either military or political events. With the surrender at +Appomattox Court-House the Confederate War ended--no attempt was made +by General Johnston or other commanders to prolong it--in that great +whirlpool all hopes of further resistance disappeared. + +We have, therefore, now no task before us but to follow General Lee +into private life, and present a few details of his latter years, and +his death. These notices will be brief, but will not, we hope, be +devoid of interest. The soldier who had so long led the Confederate +armies was to enter in his latter days upon a new field of labor; and, +if in this field he won no new glories, he at least displayed the +loftiest virtues, and exhibited that rare combination of greatness and +gentleness which makes up a character altogether lovely. + +Adhering to the resolution, formed in 1861, never again to draw his +sword except in defence of Virginia, General Lee, after the surrender, +sought for some occupation, feeling the necessity, doubtless, of in +some manner employing his energies. He is said to have had offered to +him, but to have courteously declined, estates in England and Ireland; +and to have also declined the place of commercial agent of the South +in New York, which would have proved exceedingly lucrative. In the +summer of 1865, however, he accepted an offer more congenial to +his feelings--that of the presidency of Washington College at +Lexington--and in the autumn of that year entered upon his duties, +which he continued to perform with great energy and success to the +day of his death. Of the excellent judgment and great administrative +capacity which he displayed in this new field of labor, we have never +heard any question. It was the name and example, however, of Lee which +proved so valuable, drawing to the college more than five hundred +students from all portions of the South, and some even from the North. + +Upon the subject of General Lee's life at Washington College, a more +important authority than that of the present writer will soon speak. +In the "Memorial Volume," whose publication will probably precede or +immediately follow the appearance of this work, full details will, no +doubt, be presented of this interesting period. The subject possesses +rare interest, and the facts presented will, beyond all question, +serve to bring out new beauties in a character already regarded with +extraordinary love and admiration by men of all parties and opinions. +To the volume in question we refer the reader who desires the +full-length portrait of one concerning whom too much cannot be +written. + +During the period extending between the end of the war and General +Lee's death, he appeared in public but two or three times--once at +Washington, as a "witness" before a Congressional committee, styled +"The Reconstruction Committee," to inquire into the condition of +things in the South; again, as a witness on the proposed trial of +President Davis; and perhaps on one or two additional occasions not of +great interest or importance. His testimony was not taken on the trial +of the President, which was deferred and finally abandoned; but he +was subjected before the Washington committee to a long and searching +examination, in which it is difficult to decide whether his own +calmness, good sense, and outspoken frankness, or the bad taste of +some of the questions prepounded to him, were the more remarkable. +As the testimony of General Lee, upon this occasion, presents a +full exposition of his views upon many of the most important points +connected with the condition of the South, and the "reconstruction" +policy, a portion of the newspaper report of his evidence is here +given, as both calculated to interest the reader, and to illustrate +the subject. + +The examination of General Lee took place in March, 1866, and the +following is the main portion of it: + +General ROBERT E. LEE, sworn and examined by Mr. Howard: + +Question. Where is your present residence? + +Answer. Lexington, Va. + +Q. How long have you resided in Lexington? + +A. Since the 1st of October last--nearly five months. + +THE FEELING IN VIRGINIA. + +Q. Are you acquainted with the state of feeling among what we call +secessionists in Virginia, at present, toward the Government of the +United States? + +A. I do not know that I am; I have been living very retired, and have +had but little communication with politicians; I know nothing more +than from my own observation, and from such facts as have come to my +knowledge. + +Q. From your observation, what is your opinion as to the loyalty +toward the Government of the United States among the secession portion +of the people of that State at this time? + +A. So far as has come to my knowledge, I do not know of a single +person who either feels or contemplates any resistance to the +Government of the United States, or indeed any opposition to it; no +word has reached me to either purpose. + +Q. From what you have observed among them, is it your opinion that +they are friendly toward the Government of the United States, and +that they will coöperate to sustain and uphold the Government for the +future? + +A. I believe that they entirely acquiesce in the Government of the +United States, and, so far as I have heard any one express an opinion, +they are for coöperating with President Johnson in his policy. + +Q. In his policy in regard to what? + +A. His policy in regard to the restoration of the whole country; I +have heard persons with whom I have conversed express great confidence +in the wisdom of his policy of restoration, and they seem to look +forward to it as a hope of restoration. + +Q. How do they feel in regard to that portion of the people of the +United States who have been forward and zealous in the prosecution of +the war against the rebellion? + +A. Well, I don't know as I have heard anybody express any opinion in +regard to it; as I said before, I have not had much communication with +politicians in the country, if there are any; every one seems to be +engaged in his own affairs, and endeavoring to restore the civil +government of the State; I have heard no expression of a sentiment +toward any particular portion of the country. + +Q. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the payment of the debt +of the United States contracted in the prosecution of the war? + +A. I have never heard anyone speak on the subject; I suppose they must +expect to pay the taxes levied by the Government; I have heard them +speak in reference to the payment of taxes, and of their efforts to +raise money to pay taxes, which, I suppose, are for their share of the +debt; I have never heard any one speak in opposition to the payment of +taxes, or of resistance to their payment; their whole effort has been +to try and raise the money for the payment of the taxes. + +THE DEBT. + +Q. From your knowledge of the state of public feeling in Virginia, is +it your opinion that the people would, if the question were left to +them, repudiate and reject that debt? + +A. I never heard any one speak on that subject; but, from my knowledge +of the people, I believe that they would be in favor of the payment of +all just debts. + +Q. Do they, in your opinion, regard that as a just debt? + +A. I do not know what their opinion is on the subject of that +particular debt; I have never heard any opinion expressed contrary +to it; indeed, as I said in the beginning, I have had very little +discussion or intercourse with the people; I believe the people +will pay the debts they are called upon to pay; I say that from my +knowledge of the people generally. + +Q. Would they pay that debt, or their portion of it, with as much +alacrity as people ordinarily pay their taxes to their Government? + +A. I do not know that they would make any distinction between the two. +The taxes laid by the Government, so far as I know, they are prepared +to pay to the best of their ability. I never heard them make any +distinction. + +Q. What is the feeling of that portion of the people of Virginia in +regard to the payment of the so-called Confederate debt? + +A. I believe, so far as my opinion goes--I have no facts to go upon, +but merely base my opinion on the knowledge I have of the people--that +they would be willing to pay the Confederate debt, too. + +Q. You think they would? + +A. I think they would, if they had the power and ability to do so. I +have never heard any one in the State, with whom I have conversed, +speak of repudiating any debt. + +Q. I suppose the Confederate debt is almost entirely valueless, even +in the market in Virginia? + +A. Entirely so, as far as I know. I believe the people generally look +upon it as lost entirely. I never heard any question on the subject. + +Q. Do you recollect the terms of the Confederate bonds--when they were +made payable? + +A. I think I have a general recollection that they were made payable +six months after a declaration of peace. + +Q. Six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the +United States and the Confederate Government? + +A. I think they ran that way. + +Q. So that the bonds are not due yet by their terms? + +A. I suppose, unless it is considered that there is a peace now, they +are not due. + +THE FREEDMEN. + +Q. How do the people of Virginia, secessionists more particularly, +feel toward the freedmen? + +A. Every one with whom I associate expresses the kindest feelings +toward the freedmen. They wish to see them get on in the world, and +particularly to take up some occupation for a living, and to turn +their hands to some work. I know that efforts have been made among the +farmers near where I live to induce them to engage for the year at +regular wages. + +Q. Do you think there is a willingness on the part of their old +masters to give them fair living wages for their labor? + +A. I believe it is so; the farmers generally prefer those servants who +have been living with them before; I have heard them express their +preferences for the men whom they knew, who had lived with them +before, and their wish to get them to return to work. + +Q. Are you aware of the existence of any combination among the +"whites" to keep down the wages of the "blacks?" + +A. I am not; I have heard that in several counties the land-owners +have met in order to establish a uniform rate of wages, but I never +heard, nor do I know of any combination to keep down wages or +establish any rule which they did not think fair; the means of paying +wages in Virginia are very limited now, and there is a difference of +opinion as to how much each person is able to pay. + +Q. How do they feel in regard to the education of the blacks? Is there +a general willingness to have them educated? + +A. Where I am, and have been, the people have exhibited a willingness +that the blacks should be educated, and they express an opinion that +it would be better for the blacks and better for the whites. + +Q. General, you are very competent to judge of the capacity of black +men for acquiring knowledge--I want your opinion on that capacity as +compared with the capacity of white men? + +A. I do not know that I am particularly qualified to speak on that +subject, as you seem to intimate, but I do not think that the black +man is as capable of acquiring knowledge as the white man. There are +some more apt than others. I have known some to acquire knowledge and +skill in their trade or profession. I have had servants of my own who +learned to read and write very well. + +Q. Do they show a capacity to obtain knowledge of mathematics and the +exact sciences? + +A. I have no knowledge on that subject; I am merely acquainted with +those who have learned the common rudiments of education. + +Q. General, are you aware of the existence among the blacks of +Virginia, anywhere within the limits of the State, of combinations, +having in view the disturbance of the peace, or any improper or +unlawful acts? + +A. I am not; I have seen no evidence of it, and have heard of none; +wherever I have been they have been quiet and orderly; not disposed to +work; or, rather, not disposed to any continuous engagement to work, +but just very short jobs to provide them with the immediate means of +subsistence. + +Q. Has the colored race generally as great love of money and property +as the white race possesses? + +A. I do not think it has; the blacks with whom I am acquainted look +more to the present time than to the future. + +Q. Does that absence of a lust of money and property arise more from +the nature of the negro than from his former servile condition? + +A. Well, it may be in some measure attributed to his former condition; +they are an amiable, social race; they like their ease and comfort, +and I think look more to their present than to their future condition. + +IN CASE OF WAR, WOULD VIRGINIA JOIN OUR ENEMIES? + +Q. In the event of a war between the United States and any foreign +power, such as England or France, if there should be held out to the +secession portion of the people of Virginia, or the other recently +rebel States, a fair prospect of gaining their independence and +shaking off the Government of the United States, is it or is it not +your opinion that they would avail themselves of that opportunity? + +A. I cannot answer with any certainty on that point; I do not know how +far they might be actuated by their feelings; I have nothing whatever +to base an opinion upon; so far as I know, they contemplate nothing of +the kind now; what may happen in the future I cannot say. + +Q. Do you not frequently hear, in your intercourse with secessionists +in Virginia, expressions of a hope that such a war may break out? + +A. I cannot say that I have heard it; on the contrary, I have heard +persons--I do not know whether you could call them secessionists or +not, I mean those people in Virginia with whom I associate--express +the hope that the country may not be led into a war. + +Q. In such an event, do you not think that that class of people whom I +call secessionists would join the common enemy? + +A. It is possible; it depends upon the feeling of the individual. + +Q. If it is a fair question--you may answer or not, as you +choose--what, in such an event, might be your choice? + +A. I have no disposition now to do it, and I never have had. + +Q. And you cannot foresee that such would be your inclination in such +an event? + +A. No; I can only judge from the past; I do not know what +circumstances it may produce; I cannot pretend to foresee events; so +far as I know the feeling of the people of Virginia, they wish for +peace. + +Q. During the civil war, was it not contemplated by the Government +of the Confederacy to form an alliance with some foreign nation if +possible? + +A. I believe it was their wish to do so if they could; it was their +wish to have the Confederate Government recognized as an independent +government; I have no doubt that if it could have made favorable +treaties it would have done so, but I know nothing of the policy of +the government; I had no hand or part in it; I merely express my own +opinion. + +Q. The question I am about to put to you, you may answer or not, as +you choose. Did you take an oath of fidelity, or allegiance, to the +Confederate Government? + +A. I do not recollect having done so, but it is possible that when I +was commissioned I did; I do not recollect whether it was required; if +it was required, I took it, or if it had been required I would have +taken it; but I do not recollect whether it was or not. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) In reference to the effect of President Johnson's +policy, if it were adopted, would there be any thing like a return +of the old feeling? I ask that because you used the expression +"acquiescing in the result." + +A. I believe it would take time for the feelings of the people to be +of that cordial nature to the Government they were formerly. + +Q. Do you think that their preference for that policy arises from a +desire to have peace and good feeling in the country, or from the +probability of their regaining political power? + +PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S POLICY. + +A. So far as I know the desire of the people of the South, it is for +restoration of their civil government, and they look upon the policy +of President Johnson as the one which would most clearly and most +surely reëstablish it. + +CONDITION OF THE POORER CLASSES. + +Q. Do you see any change among the poorer classes in Virginia, in +reference to industry? Are they as much, or more, interested in +developing their material interests than they were? + +A. I have not observed any change; every one now has to attend to his +business for his support. + +Q. The poorer classes are generally hard at work, are they? + +A. So far as I know, they are; I know nothing to the contrary. + +Q. Is there any difference in their relations to the colored people? +Is their prejudice increased or diminished? + +A. I have noticed no change; so far as I do know the feelings of all +the people of Virginia, they are kind to the colored people; I have +never heard any blame attributed to them as to the present condition +of things, or any responsibility. + +Q. There are very few colored laborers employed, I suppose? + +A. Those who own farms have employed, more or less, one or two colored +laborers; some are so poor that they have to work themselves. + +Q. Can capitalists and workingmen from the North go into any portion +of Virginia with which you are familiar and go to work among the +people? + +A. I do not know of any thing to prevent them. Their peace and +pleasure there would depend very much on their conduct. If they +confined themselves to their own business and did not interfere to +provoke controversies with their neighbors, I do not believe they +would be molested. + +Q. There is no desire to keep out capital? + +A. Not that I know of. On the contrary, they are very anxious to get +capital into the State. + +Q. You see nothing of a disposition to prevent such a thing? + +A. I have seen nothing, and do not know of any thing, as I said +before; the manner in which they would be received would depend +entirely upon the individuals themselves; they might make themselves +obnoxious, as you can understand. + +Q. (By Mr. Howard.) Is there not a general dislike of Northern men +among secessionists? + +A. I suppose they would prefer not to associate with them; I do not +know that they would select them as associates. + +Q. Do they avoid and ostracize them socially? + +A. They might avoid them; they would not select them as associates +unless there was some reason; I do not know that they would associate +with them unless they became acquainted; I think it probable they +would not admit them into their social circles. + +THE POSITION OF THE COLORED RACE. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) What is the position of the colored men in Virginia +with reference to persons they work for? Do you think they would +prefer to work for Northern or Southern men? + +A. I think it very probable they would prefer the Northern man, +although I have no facts to go upon. + +Q. That having been stated very frequently in reference to the cotton +States, does it result from a bad treatment on the part of the +resident population, or from the idea that they will be more fairly +treated by the new-comers? What is your observation in that respect in +regard to Virginia? + +A. I have no means of forming an opinion; I do not know any case in +Virginia; I know of numbers of the blacks engaging with their old +masters, and I know of many to prefer to go off and look for new +homes; whether it is from any dislike of their former masters, or from +any desire to change, or they feel more free and independent, I don't +know. + +THE MATERIAL INTERESTS OF VIRGINIA. + +Q. What is your opinion in regard to the material interests of +Virginia; do you think they will be equal to what they were before the +rebellion under the changed aspect of affairs? + +A. It will take a long time for them to reach their former standard; I +think that after some years they will reach it, and I hope exceed it; +but it cannot be immediately, in my opinion. + +Q. It will take a number of years? + +A. It will take a number of years, I think. + +Q. On the whole, the condition of things in Virginia is hopeful both +in regard to its material interests and the future peace of the +country? + +A. I have heard great hopes expressed, and there is great cheerfulness +and willingness to labor. + +Q. Suppose this policy of President Johnson should be all you +anticipate, and that you should also realize all that you expect in +the improvement of the material interests, do you think that the +result of that will be the gradual restoration of the old feeling? + +A. That will be the natural result, I think; and I see no other way in +which that result can be brought about. + +Q. There is a fear in the public mind that the friends of the policy +in the South adopt it because they see in it the means of repairing +the political position which they lost in the recent contest. Do you +think that that is the main idea with them, or that they merely look +to it, as you say, as the best means of restoring civil government and +the peace and prosperity of their respective States? + +A. As to the first point you make, I do not know that I ever heard any +person speak upon it; I never heard the points separated; I have heard +them speak generally as to the effect of the policy of President +Johnson; the feeling is, so far as I know now, that there is not that +equality extended to the Southern States which is enjoyed by the +North. + +Q. You do not feel down there that, while you accept the result, we +are as generous as we ought to be under the circumstances? + +A. They think that the North can afford to be generous. + +Q. That is the feeling down there? + +A. Yes; and they think it is the best policy; those who reflect upon +the subject and are able to judge. + +Q. I understand it to be your opinion that generosity and liberality +toward the entire South would be the surest means of regaining their +good opinion? + +A. Yes, and the speediest. + +Q. (By Mr. Howard.) I understand you to say generally that you had no +apprehension of any combination among the leading secessionists to +renew the war, or any thing of the kind? + +A. I have no reason in the world to think so. + +Q. Have you heard that subject talked over among any of the +politicians? + +A. No, sir; I have not; I have not heard that matter even suggested. + +Q. Let me put another hypothetical state of things. Suppose the +executive government of the United States should be held by a +President who, like Mr. Buchanan, rejected the right of coercion, so +called, and suppose a Congress should exist here entertaining the +same political opinions, thus presenting to the once rebel States the +opportunity to again secede from the Union, would they, or not, in +your opinion, avail themselves of that opportunity, or some of them? + +A. I suppose it would depend: upon the circumstances existing at the +time; if their feelings should remain embittered, and their affections +alienated from the rest of the States, I think it very probable they +might do so, provided they thought it was to their interests. + +Q. Do you not think that at the present time there is a deep-seated +feeling of dislike toward the Government of the United States on the +part of the secessionists? + +A. I do not know that there is any deep-seated dislike; I think it is +probable there may be some animosity still existing among the people +of the South. + +Q. Is there not a deep-seated feeling of disappointment and chagrin at +the result of the war? + +A. I think that at the time they were disappointed at the result of +the war. + +Q. Do you mean to be understood as saying that there is not a +condition of discontent against the Government of the United States +among the secessionists generally? + +A. I know none. + +Q. Are you prepared to say that they respect the Government of the +United States, and the loyal people of the United States, so much at +the present time as to perform their duties as citizens of the United +States, and of the States, faithfully and well? + +A. I believe that they will perform all the duties that they are +required to perform; I think that is the general feeling so far as I +know. + +Q. Do you think it would be practicable to convict a man in Virginia +of treason for having taken part in this rebellion against the +Government by a Virginian jury without packing it with direct +reference to a verdict of guilty? + +A. On that point I have no knowledge, and I do not know what they +would consider treason against the United States--if you refer to past +acts. + +Mr. Howard: Yes, sir. + +Witness: I have no knowledge what their views on that subject in the +past are. + +Q. You understand my question. Suppose a jury was impanelled in your +own neighborhood, taken by lot, would it be possible to convict, for +instance, Jefferson Davis, for having levied war upon the United +States, and thus having committed the crime of treason? + +A. I think it is very probable that they would not consider he had +committed treason. + +THEIR VIEWS OF TREASON. + +Q. Suppose the jury should be clearly and plainly instructed by the +Court that such an act of war upon the part of Mr. Davis or any other +leading man constituted the crime of treason under the Constitution of +the United States, would the jury be likely to heed that instruction, +and, if the facts were plainly in proof before them, convict the +offender? + +A. I do not know, sir, what they would do on that question. + +Q. They do not generally suppose that it was treason against the +United States, do they? + +A. I do not think that they so consider it. + +Q. In what light would they view it? What would be their excuse or +justification? How would they escape, in their own mind? I refer to +the past--I am referring to the past and the feelings they would have? + + +A. So far as I know, they look upon the action of the State in +withdrawing itself from the Government of the United States as +carrying the individuals of the State along with it; that the State +was responsible for the act, not the individuals, and that the +ordinance of secession, so called, or those acts of the State which +recognized a condition of war between the State and the General +Government stood as their justification for their bearing arms against +the Government of the United States; yes, sir, I think they would +consider the act of the State as legitimate; that they were merely +using the reserved rights, which they had a right to do. + +Q. State, if you please--and if you are disinclined to answer the +question you need not do so--what your own personal views on that +question are? + +A. That was my view; that the act of Virginia in withdrawing herself +from the United States carried me along as a citizen of Virginia, and +that her laws and her acts were binding on me. + +Q. And that you felt to be your justification in taking the course you +did? + +A. Yes, sir. + +Q. I have been told, general, that you have remarked to some of your +friends, in conversation, that you were rather wheedled or cheated +into that course by politicians? + +A. I do not recollect ever making any such remark; I do not think I +ever made it. + +Q. If there be any other matter about which you wish to speak on this +occasion, do so, freely. + +A. Only in reference to that last question you put to me. I may have +said and may have believed that the positions of the two sections +which they held to each other was brought about by the politicians of +the country; that the great masses of the people, if they understood +the real question, would have avoided it; but not that I had been +individually wheedled by the politicians. + +Q. That is probably the origin of the whole thing. + +A. I may have said that, but I do not even recollect that; but I did +believe at the time that it was an unnecessary condition of affairs, +and might have been avoided if forbearance and wisdom had been +practised on both sides. + +Q. You say that you do not recollect having sworn allegiance and +fidelity to the Confederate Government? + +A. I do not recollect it, nor do I know it was ever required. I was +regularly commissioned in the army of the Confederate States, but I do +not really recollect that that oath was required. If it was required, +I have no doubt I took it; or, if it had been required, I would have +taken it. + +Q. Is there any other matter which you desire to state to the +committee? + +A. No, sir; I am ready to answer any question which you think proper +to put to me. + +NEGRO CITIZENSHIP. + +Q. How would an amendment to the Constitution be received by the +secessionists, or by the people at large, allowing the colored people, +or certain classes of them, to exercise the right of voting at +elections? + +A. I think, so far as I can form an opinion, in such an event they +would object. + +Q. They would object to such an amendment? + +A. Yes, sir. + +Q. Suppose an amendment should nevertheless be adopted, conferring on +the blacks the right of suffrage, would that, in your opinion, lead to +scenes of violence or breaches of the peace between the two races in +Virginia? + +A. I think it would excite unfriendly feelings between the two races; +I cannot pretend to say to what extent it would go, but that would be +the result. + +Q. Are you acquainted with the proposed amendment now pending in the +Senate of the United States? + +A. No, sir, I am not; I scarcely ever read a paper. [The substance +of the proposed amendment was here explained to the witness by Mr. +Conkling.] So far as I can see, I do not think that the State of +Virginia would object to it. + +Q. Would she consent, under any circumstances, to allow the +black people to vote, even if she were to gain a large number of +representatives in Congress? + +A. That would depend upon her interests; if she had the right of +determining that, I do not see why she would object; if it were to her +interest to admit these people to vote, that might overrule any other +objection that she had to it. + +Q. What, in your opinion, would be the practical result? Do you think +that Virginia would consent to allow the negro to vote? + +A. I think that at present she would accept the smaller +representation; I do not know what the future may develop; if it +should be plain to her that these persons will vote properly and +understandingly, she might admit them to vote. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) Do you not think it would turn a good deal, in the +cotton States, upon the value of the labor of the black people? Upon +the amount which they produce? + +A. In a good many States in the South, and in a good many counties in +Virginia, if the black people were allowed to vote, it would, I think, +exclude proper representation--that is, proper, intelligent people +would not be elected, and, rather than suffer that injury, they would +not let them vote at all. + +Q. Do you not think that the question as to whether any Southern State +would allow the colored people the right of suffrage in order to +increase representation would depend a good deal on the amount which +the colored people might contribute to the wealth of the State, in +order to secure two things--first, the larger representation, and, +second, the influence desired from those persons voting? + +A. I think they would determine the question more in reference +to their opinion as to the manner in which those votes would be +exercised, whether they consider those people qualified to vote; my +own opinion is, that at this time they cannot vote intelligently, and +that giving them the right of suffrage would open the door to a good +deal of demagogism, and lead to embarrassments in various ways; what +the future may prove, how intelligent they may become, with what +eyes they may look upon the interests of the State in which they may +reside, I cannot say more than you can. + +The above extract presents the main portion of General Lee's +testimony, and is certainly an admirable exposition of the clear +good sense and frankness of the individual. Once or twice there is +obviously an under-current of dry satire, as in his replies upon the +subject of the Confederate bonds. When asked whether he remembered at +what time these bonds were made payable, he replied that his "general +recollection was, that they were made payable six months after +a declaration of peace." The correction was at once made by his +interrogator in the words "six months after _the ratification of a +treaty of peace_" etc. "I think they ran that way," replied General +Lee. "So that," retorted his interrogator, "the bonds are not yet due +by their terms?" General Lee's reply was, "I suppose, _unless it is +considered that there is a peace now, they are not due_." + +This seems to have put an abrupt termination to the examination on +that point. To the question whether he had taken an oath of allegiance +to the Confederate Government, he replied: "I do not recollect having +done so, but it is possible that when I was commissioned I did; I do +not recollect whether it was required; if it was required, I took it, +or if it had been required, I would have taken it." + +If this reply of General Lee be attentively weighed by the reader, +some conception may be formed of the bitter pang which he must have +experienced in sending in, as he did, to the Federal Government, +his application for pardon. The fact cannot be concealed that this +proceeding on the part of General Lee was a subject of deep regret to +the Southern people; but there can be no question that his motive was +disinterested and noble, and that he presented, in so doing, the most +remarkable evidence of the true greatness of his character. He had no +personal advantage to expect from a pardon; cared absolutely nothing +whether he were "pardoned" or not; and to one so proud, and so +thoroughly convinced of the justice of the cause in which he had +fought, to appear as a supplicant must have been inexpressibly +painful. He, nevertheless, took this mortifying step--actuated +entirely by that sense of duty which remained with him to the last, +overmastering every other sentiment of his nature. He seems in this, +as in many other things, to have felt the immense import of his +example. The old soldiers of his army, and thousands of civilians, +were obliged to apply for amnesty, or remain under civic disability. +Brave men, with families depending upon them, had been driven to this +painful course, and General Lee seems to have felt that duty to +his old comrades demanded that he, too, should swallow this bitter +draught, and share their humiliation as he had shared their dangers +and their glory. If this be not the explanation of the motives +controlling General Lee's action, the writer is unable to account for +the course which he pursued. That it is the sole explanation, the +writer no more doubts than he doubts the fact of his own existence. + + + + +XIX. + +GENERAL LEE'S LAST YEARS AND DEATH. + + +For about five years--from the latter part of 1865 nearly to the end +of 1870--General Lee continued to concentrate his entire attention and +all his energies upon his duties as President of Washington College, +to which his great name, and the desire of Southern parents to have +their sons educated under a guide so illustrious, attracted, as we +have said, more than five hundred students. The sedentary nature of +these occupations was a painful trial to one so long accustomed to +lead a life of activity; but it was not in the character of the +individual to allow personal considerations to interfere with the +performance of his duty; and the laborious supervision of the +education of this large number of young gentlemen continued, day after +day, and year after year, to occupy his mind and his time, to the +exclusion, wellnigh, of every other thought. His personal popularity +with the students was very great, and it is unnecessary to add that +their respect for him was unbounded. By the citizens of Lexington, and +especially the graver and more pious portion, he was regarded with a +love and admiration greater than any felt for him during the progress +of his military career. + +This was attributable, doubtless, to the franker and clearer +exhibition by General Lee, in his latter years, of that extraordinary +gentleness and sweetness, culminating in devoted Christian piety, +which--concealed from all eyes, in some degree, during the war--now +plainly revealed themselves, and were evidently the broad foundation +and controlling influences of his whole life and character. To +speak first of his gentleness and moderation in all his views and +utterances. Of these eminent virtues--eminent and striking, above +all, in a defeated soldier with so much to embitter him--General Lee +presented a very remarkable illustration. The result of the war seemed +to have left his great soul calm, resigned, and untroubled by the +least rancor. While others, not more devoted to the South, permitted +passion and sectional animosity to master them, and dictate acts and +expressions full of bitterness toward the North, General Lee refrained +systematically from every thing of that description; and by simple +force of greatness, one would have said, rose above all prejudices and +hatreds of the hour, counselling, and giving in his own person to all +who approached him the example of moderation and Christian charity. He +aimed to keep alive the old Southern traditions of honor and virtue; +but not that sectional hatred which could produce only evil. To a lady +who had lost her husband in the war, and, on bringing her two sons to +the college, indulged in expressions of great bitterness toward the +North, General Lee said, gently: "Madam, do not train up your children +in hostility to the Government of the United States. Remember that we +are one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and +bring them up to be Americans." + +A still more suggestive exhibition of his freedom from rancor was +presented in an interview which is thus described: + + "One day last autumn the writer saw General Lee standing at his + gate, talking pleasantly to an humbly-clad man, who seemed very + much pleased at the cordial courtesy of the great chieftain, and + turned off, evidently delighted, as we came up. After exchanging + salutations, the general said, pointing to the retreating + form, 'That is one of our old soldiers, who is in necessitous + circumstances.' I took it for granted that it was some veteran + Confederate, when the noble-hearted chieftain quietly added, + 'He fought on the other side, but we must not think of that.' I + afterward ascertained--not from General Lee, for he never alluded + to his charities--that he had not only spoken kindly to this 'old + soldier' who had 'fought on the other side,' but had sent him on + his way rejoicing in a liberal contribution to his necessities." + +Of the extent of this Christian moderation another proof was given +by the soldier, at a moment when he might not unreasonably have been +supposed to labor under emotions of the extremest bitterness. Soon +after his return to Richmond, in April, 1865, when the _immedicabile +vulnus_ of surrender was still open and bleeding, a gentleman was +requested by the Federal commander in the city to communicate to +General Lee the fact that he was about to be indicted in the United +States courts for treason.[1] In acquitting himself of his commission, +the gentleman expressed sentiments of violent indignation at such a +proceeding. But these feelings General Lee did not seem to share. The +threat of arraigning him as a traitor produced no other effect upon +him than to bring a smile to his lips; and, taking the hand of his +friend, as the latter rose to go, he said, in his mildest tones: "We +must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed +since the war began that I have not prayed for them." + +[Footnote 1: This was afterward done by one of the Federal judges, but +resulted in nothing.] + +The incidents here related define the views and feelings of General +Lee as accurately as they could be set forth in a whole volume. The +defeated commander, who could open his poor purse to "one of _our_ old +soldiers who _fought on the other side_," and pray daily during the +bitterest of conflicts for his enemies, must surely have trained his +spirit to the perfection of Christian charity. + +Of the strength and controlling character of General Lee's religious +convictions we have more than once spoken in preceding pages of this +volume. These now seemed to exert a more marked influence over his +life, and indeed to shape every action and utterance of the man. +During the war he had exhibited much greater reserve upon this the +most important of all subjects which can engage the attention of +a human being; and, although he had been from an early period, we +believe, a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he +seldom discussed religious questions, or spoke of his own feelings, +presenting in this a marked contrast, as we have said, to his +illustrious associate General Jackson. + +Even during the war, however, as the reader has seen in our notices of +his character at the end of 1863, General Lee's piety revealed itself +in conversations with his chaplains and other good men; and was not +concealed from the troops, as on the occasion of the prayer-meeting +in the midst of the fighting at Mine Run. On another occasion, when +reviewing his army near Winchester, he was seen to raise his hat to a +chaplain with the words, "I salute the Church of God;" and again, near +Petersburg, was observed kneeling in prayer, a short distance from +the road, as his troops marched by. Still another incident of the +period--that of the war--will be recorded here in the words of the +Rev. J. William Jones, who relates it: + + "Not long before the evacuation of Petersburg, the writer was one + day distributing tracts along the trenches, when he perceived + a brilliant cavalcade approaching. General Lee--accompanied by + General John B. Gordon, General A.P. Hill, and other general + officers, with their staffs--was inspecting our lines and + reconnoitring those of the enemy. The keen eye of Gordon + recognized, and his cordial grasp detained, the humble + tract-distributor, as he warmly inquired about his work. General + Lee at once reined in his horse and joined in the conversation, + the rest of the party gathered around, and the humble colporteur + thus became the centre of a group of whose notice the highest + princes of earth might well be proud. General Lee asked if we ever + had calls for prayer-books, and said that if we would call at his + headquarters he would give us some for distribution--'that some + friend in Richmond had given him a new prayer-book, and, upon his + saying that he would give his old one, that he had used ever since + the Mexican War, to some soldier, the friend had offered him a + dozen new books for the old one, and he had, of course, accepted + so good an offer, and now had twelve instead of one to give away.' + We called at the appointed hour. The general had gone out on some + important matter, but (even amid his pressing duties) had left + the prayer-books with a member of his staff, with instructions + concerning them. He had written on the fly-leaf of each, + 'Presented by R.E. Lee,' and we are sure that those of the gallant + men to whom they were given who survive the war will now cherish + them as precious legacies, and hand them down as heirlooms in + their families." + +These incidents unmistakably indicate that General Lee concealed, +under the natural reserve of his character, an earnest religious +belief and trust in God and our Saviour. Nor was this a new sentiment +with him. After his death a well-worn pocket Bible was found in his +chamber, in which was written, "R.E. Lee, Lieutenant-Colonel, U.S. +Army." It was plain, from this, that, even during the days of his +earlier manhood, in Mexico and on the Western prairies, he had read +his Bible, and striven to conform his life to its teachings. + +With the retirement of the great soldier, however, from the cares of +command which necessarily interfered in a large degree with pious +exercises and meditations, the religious phase of his character +became more clearly defined, assuming far more prominent and striking +proportions. The sufferings of the Southern people doubtless had a +powerful effect upon him, and, feeling the powerlessness of man, he +must have turned to God for comfort. But this inquiry is too profound +for the present writer. He shrinks from the attempt to sound the +depths of this truly great soul, with the view of discovering the +influences which moulded it into an almost ideal perfection. General +Lee was, fortunately for the world, surrounded in his latter days +by good and intelligent men, fully competent to present a complete +exposition of his views and feelings--and to these the arduous +undertaking is left. Our easier task is to place upon record such +incidents as we have gathered, bearing upon the religious phase of the +illustrious soldier's character. + +His earnest piety cannot be better displayed than in the anxiety which +he felt for the conversion of his students, Conversing with the Rev. +Dr. Kirkpatrick, of the Presbyterian Church, on the subject of the +religious welfare of those intrusted to his charge, "he was so +overcome by emotion," says Dr. Kirkpatrick, "that he could not utter +the words which were on his tongue." His utterance was choked, but +recovering himself, with his eyes overflowing with tears, his lips +quivering with emotion, and both hands raised, he exclaimed: "Oh! +doctor, if I could only know that all the young men in the college +were good Christians, I should have nothing more to desire." + +When another minister, the Rev. Mr. Jones, delivered an earnest +address at the "Concert of Prayer for Colleges," urging that all +Christians should pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit in changing the +hearts of the students, General Lee, after the meeting, approached the +minister and said with great warmth: "I wish, sir, to thank you for +your address. It was just what we needed. Our great want is a revival, +which shall bring these young men to Christ." + +One morning, while the venerable Dr. White was passing General Lee's +house, on his way to chapel, the general joined him, and they entered +into conversation upon religious subjects. General Lee said little, +but, just as they reached the college, stopped and remarked with great +earnestness, his eyes filling with tears as he spoke: "I shall be +disappointed, sir, I shall fail in the leading object that brought me +here, unless the young men all become real Christians; and I wish you +and others of your sacred profession to de all you can to accomplish +this result." + +When a great revival of religious feeling took place at the Virginia +Military Institute, in 1868, General Lee said to the clergyman of his +church with deep feeling: "That is the best news I have heard since I +have been in Lexington. Would that we could have such a revival in all +our colleges!" + +Although a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and preferring +that communion, General Lee seems to have been completely exempt from +sectarian feeling, and to have aimed first and last to be a true +Christian, loving God and his neighbor, and not busying himself about +theological dogmas. When he was asked once whether he believed in the +Apostolic succession, he replied that he had never thought of it, and +aimed only to become a "real Christian." His catholic views were shown +by the letters of invitation, which he addressed, at the commencement +of each session of the college, to ministers of all religious +denominations at Lexington, to conduct, in turn, the religious +exercises at the college chapel; and his charities, which were large +for a person of his limited means, were given to all alike. These +charities he seems to have regarded as a binding duty, and were so +private that only those receiving them knew any thing of them. It only +came to be known accidentally that in 1870 he gave one hundred dollars +for the education of the orphans of Southern soldiers, one hundred +dollars to the Young Men's Christian Association, and regularly made +other donations, amounting in all to considerable sums. Nearly his +last act was a liberal contribution to an important object connected +with his church. + +We shall conclude these anecdotes, illustrating General Lee's +religious character, with one for which we are indebted to the +kindness of a reverend clergyman, of Lexington, who knew General +Lee intimately in his latter years, and enjoyed his confidence. The +incident will present in an agreeable light the great soldier's +simplicity and love for children, and no less his catholic feelings in +reference to sects in the Christian Church: + +"I will give you just another incident," writes the reverend +gentleman, "illustrating General Lee's love for children, and their +freedom with him. When I first came to Lexington, my boy Carter (just +four years old then) used to go with me to chapel service when it was +my turn to officiate. The general would tell him that he must always +sit by him; and it was a scene for a painter, to see the great +chieftain reverentially listening to the truths of God's word, and +the little boy nestling close to him. One Sunday our Sunday-school +superintendent told the children that they must bring in some new +scholars, and that they must bring old people as well as the young, +since none were too old or too wise to learn God's word. The next +Sabbath Carter was with me at the chapel, from which he was to go with +me to the Sunday-school. At the close of the service, I noticed that +Carter was talking very earnestly with General Lee, who seemed very +much amused, and, on calling him to come with me, he said, with +childish simplicity: 'Father, I am trying to get General Lee to go to +the Sunday-school and _be my scholar_.' 'But,' said I, 'if the general +goes to any school, he will go to his own.' 'Which is his own, +father?' 'The Episcopal,' I replied. Heaving a deep sigh, and with a +look of disappointment, the little fellow said: 'I am very sorry he +is '_Piscopal._ I wish he was a Baptist, so he could go to _our_ +Sunday-school, and be my scholar.' The general seemed very much amused +and interested as he replied, 'Ah! Carter, we must all try and be +_good Christians_--that is the most important thing.' 'He knew all the +children in town,' adds Mr. Jones, 'and their grief at his death was +very touching.'" + +This incident may appear singular to those who have been accustomed to +regard General Lee as a cold, reserved, and even stern human being--a +statue, beneath whose chill surface no heart ever throbbed. But, +instead of a marble heart, there lay, under the gray uniform of the +soldier, one of warm flesh and blood--tender, impressible, susceptible +to the quick touches of all gentle and sweet emotion, and filling, as +it were, with quiet happiness, at the sight of children and the sound +of their voices. This impressibility has even been made the subject +of criticism. A foreign writer declares that the soldier's character +exhibited a "feminine" softness, unfitting him for the conduct of +affairs of moment. What the Confederacy wanted, intimates the writer +in question, was a rough dictator, with little regard for nice +questions of law--one to lay the rough hand of the born master on the +helm, and force the crew, from the highest to the lowest, to obey his +will. That will probably remain a question. General Lee's _will_ +was strong enough to break down all obstacles but those erected by +rightful authority; that with this masculine strength he united an +exquisite gentleness, is equally beyond question. A noble action +flushed his cheek with an emotion that the reader may, if he will, +call "feminine." A tale of suffering brought a sudden moisture to his +eyes; and a loving message from one of his poor old soldiers was seen +one day to melt him to tears. + +This poor and incomplete attempt to indicate some of the less-known +traits of the illustrious commander-in-chief of the Southern armies +will now be brought to a conclusion; we approach the sorrowful moment +when, surrounded by his weeping family,[1] he tranquilly passed away. + +[Footnote 1: General Lee had three sons and four daughters, all of +whom are living except one of the latter, Miss Anne Lee, who died in +North Carolina during the war. The sons were General G.W. Custis Lee, +aide-de-camp to President Davis--subsequently commander of infantry in +the field, and now president of Washington and Lee College, an officer +of such ability and of character so eminent that President Davis +regarded him as a fit successor of his illustrious father in command +of the Army of Northern Virginia--General W.H.F. Lee, a prominent and +able commander of cavalry, and Captain Robert E. Lee, an efficient +member of the cavalry-staff. These gentlemen bore their full share +in the perils and hardships of the war, from its commencement to the +surrender at Appomattox.] + +On the 28th of September, 1870, after laborious attention to his +duties during the early part of the day, General Lee attended, in the +afternoon, a meeting of the Vestry of Grace Church, of which he was a +member. Over this meeting he presided, and it was afterward remembered +that his last public act was to contribute the sum of fifty-five +dollars to some good object, the requisite amount to effect which was +thus made up. After the meeting, General Lee returned to his home, +and, when tea was served, took his place at the table to say grace, +as was his habit, as it had been in camp throughout the war. His lips +opened, but no sound issued from them, and he sank back in his chair, +from which he was carried to bed. + +The painful intelligence immediately became known throughout +Lexington, and the utmost grief and consternation were visible upon +every face. It was hoped, at first, that the attack would not prove +serious, and that General Lee would soon be able to resume his duties. +But this hope was soon dissipated. The skilful physicians who hastened +to his bedside pronounced his malady congestion of the brain, and, +from the appearance of the patient, who lay in a species of coma, +the attack was evidently of the most alarming character. The most +discouraging phase of the case was, that, physically, General Lee +was--if we may so say--in perfect health. His superb physique, +although not perhaps as vigorous and robust as during the war, +exhibited no indication whatever of disease. His health appeared +perfect, and twenty years more of life might have been predicted for +him from simple reference to his appearance. + +The malady was more deeply seated, however, than any bodily disease; +the cerebral congestion was but a symptom of the mental malady which +was killing its victim. From the testimony of the able physicians who +watched the great soldier, day and night, throughout his illness, and +are thus best competent to speak upon the subject, there seems no +doubt that General Lee's condition was the result of mental depression +produced by the sufferings of the Southern people. Every mail, it is +said, had brought him the most piteous appeals for assistance, from +old soldiers whose families were in want of bread; and the woes of +these poor people had a prostrating effect upon him. A year or two +before, his health had been seriously impaired by this brooding +depression, and he had visited North Carolina, the White Sulphur +Springs, and other places, to divert his mind. In this he failed. The +shadow went with him, and the result was, at last, the alarming attack +from which he never rallied. During the two weeks of his illness he +scarcely spoke, and evidently regarded his condition as hopeless. When +one of his physicians said to him, "General, you must make haste and +get well; _Traveller_ has been standing so long in his stable that he +needs exercise." General Lee shook his head slowly, to indicate that +he would never again mount his favorite horse. + +He remained in this state, with few alterations in his condition, +until Wednesday; October 12th, when, about nine in the morning, in the +midst of his family, the great soldier tranquilly expired. + +Of the universal grief of the Southern people when the intelligence +was transmitted by telegraph to all parts of the country, it is not +necessary that we should speak. The death of Lee seemed to make all +hearts stand still; and the tolling of bells, flags at half-mast, +and public meetings of citizens, wearing mourning, marked, in every +portion of the South, the sense of a great public calamity. It is not +an exaggeration to say that, in ten thousand Southern homes, tears +came to the eyes not only of women, but of bearded men, and that the +words, "Lee is dead!" fell like a funeral-knell upon every heart. + +When the intelligence reached Richmond, the Legislature passed +resolutions expressive of the general sorrow, and requesting that the +remains of General Lee might be interred in Holywood Cemetery--Mr. +Walker, the Governor, expressing in a special message his +participation in the grief of the people of Virginia and the South. +The family of General Lee, however, preferred that his remains should +rest at the scene of his last labors, and beneath the chapel of +Washington College they were accordingly interred. The ceremony was +imposing, and will long be remembered. + +On the morning of the 13th, the body was borne to the college chapel. +In front moved a guard of honor, composed of old Confederate soldiers; +behind these came the clergy; then the hearse; in rear of which was +led the dead soldier's favorite war-horse "Traveller," his equipments +wreathed with crape. The trustees and faculty of the college, the +cadets of the Military Institute, and a large number of citizens +followed--and the procession moved slowly from the northeastern gate +of the president's house to the college chapel, above which, draped in +mourning, and at half-mast, floated the flag of Virginia--the only one +displayed during this or any other portion of the funeral ceremonies. + +On the platform of the chapel the body lay in state throughout this +and the succeeding day. The coffin was covered with evergreens and +flowers, and the face of the dead was uncovered that all might look +for the last time on the pale features of the illustrious soldier. The +body was dressed in a simple suit of black, and the appearance of the +face was perfectly natural. Great crowds visited the chapel, passing +solemnly in front of the coffin--the silence interrupted only by sobs. + +Throughout the 14th the body continued to be in state, and to be +visited by thousands. On the 15th a great funeral procession preceded +the commission of it to its last resting place. At an early hour the +crowd began to assemble in the vicinity of the college, which was +draped in mourning. This great concourse was composed of men, women, +and children, all wearing crape, and the little children seemed as +much penetrated by the general distress as the elders. The bells of +the churches began to toll; and at ten o'clock the students of the +college, and officers and soldiers of the Confederate army--numbering +together nearly one thousand persons--formed in front of the chapel. +Between the two bodies stood the hearse, and the gray horse of the +soldier, both draped in mourning. + +The procession then began to move, to the strains of martial music. +The military escort, together with the staff-officers of General Lee, +moved in front; the faculty and students followed behind the hearse; +and in rear came a committee of the Legislative dignitaries of the +Commonwealth, and a great multitude of citizens from all portions of +the State. The procession continued its way toward the Institute, +where the cadets made the military salute as the hearse passed in +front of them, and the sudden thunder of artillery awoke the echoes +from the hills. The cadets then joined the procession, which was more +than a mile in length; and, heralded by the fire of artillery every +few minutes, it moved back to the college chapel, where the last +services were performed. + +General Lee had requested, it is said, that no funeral oration should +be pronounced above his remains, and the Rev. William N. Pendleton +simply read the beautiful burial-service of the Episcopal Church. The +coffin, still covered with evergreens and flowers, was then lowered to +its resting-place beneath the chapel, amid the sobs and tears of the +great assembly; and all that was mortal of the illustrious soldier +disappeared from the world's eyes. + +What thus disappeared was little. What remained was much--the memory +of the virtues and the glory of the greatest of Virginians. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +We here present to the reader a more detailed account of the +ceremonies attending the burial of General Lee, and a selection from +the countless addresses delivered in various portions of the country +when his death was announced. To notice the honors paid to his memory +in every city, town, and village of the South, would fill a volume, +and be wholly unnecessary. It is equally unnecessary to speak of the +great meetings at Richmond, Baltimore, and elsewhere, resulting in +the formation of the "Lee Memorial Association" for the erection of a +monument to the dead commander. + +The addresses here presented are placed on record rather for their +biographical interest, than to do honor to the dead. Of him it may +justly be said that he needs no record of his virtues and his glory. +His illustrious memory is fresh to-day, and will be fresh throughout +all coming generations, in every heart. + + + + +I. + +_THE FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE_. + + +The morning of the obsequies of General Lee broke bright and cheerful +over the sorrowful town of Lexington. Toward noon the sun poured down +with all the genial warmth of Indian summer, and after mid-day it was +hot, though not uncomfortably so. The same solemnity of yesterday +reigned supreme, with the difference, that people came thronging +into town, making a mournful scene of bustle. The gloomy faces, +the comparative silence, the badges and emblems of mourning that +everywhere met the eye, and the noiseless, strict decorum which was +observed, told how universal and deep were the love and veneration +of the people for the illustrious dead. Every one uniformly and +religiously wore the emblematic crape, even to the women and children, +who were crowding to the college chapel with wreaths of flowers +fringed with mourning. All sorrowfully and religiously paid their last +tributes of respect and affection to the great dead, and none there +were who did not feel a just pride in the sad offices. + +AT THE COLLEGE GROUNDS. + +Immediately in front of the chapel the scene was peculiarly sad. +All around the buildings were gloomily draped in mourning, and the +students strolled listlessly over the grounds, awaiting the formation +of the funeral procession. Ladies thronged about the chapel with +tearful eyes, children wept outright, every face wore a saddened +expression, while the solemn tolling of the church-bells rendered the +scene still more one of grandeur and gloom. The bells of the churches +joined in the mournful requiem. + +THE FUNERAL PROCESSION. + +At ten o'clock precisely, in accordance with the programme agreed +upon, the students, numbering four hundred, formed in front and to the +right of the chapel. To the left an escort of honor, numbering some +three hundred ex-officers and soldiers, was formed, at the head +of which, near the southwestern entrance to the grounds, was +the Institute band. Between these two bodies--the soldiers and +students--stood the hearse and the gray war-steed of the dead hero, +both draped in mourning. The marshals of the procession, twenty-one in +number, wore spotless white sashes, tied at the waist and shoulders +with crape, and carrying _bâtons_ also enveloped in the same +emblematic material. + +Shortly after ten, at a signal from the chief marshal, the solemn +_cortége_ moved off to the music of a mournful dirge. General Bradley +Johnson headed the escort of officers and soldiers, with Colonel +Charles T. Venable and Colonel Walters H. Taylor, both former +assistant adjutant-generals on the staff of the lamented dead. The +physicians of General Lee and the Faculty of the college fell in +immediately behind the hearse, the students following. Slowly and +solemnly the procession moved from the college grounds down Washington +Street to Jefferson, up Jefferson Street to Franklin Hall, thence to +Main Street, where they were joined by a committee of the Legislature, +dignitaries of the State, and the citizens generally. Moving still +onward, this grand funeral pageant, which had now assumed gigantic +proportions, extending nearly a mile in length, soon reached the +northeastern extremity of the town, when it took the road to the +Virginia Military Institute. + +AT THE MILITARY INSTITUTE. + +Here the scene was highly impressive and imposing. In front of the +Institute the battalion of cadets, three hundred in number, were drawn +up in line, wearing their full gray uniform, with badges of mourning, +and having on all their equipments and side-arms, but without their +muskets. Spectators thronged the entire line of the procession, gazing +sadly as it wended its way, and the sites around the Institute were +crowded. As the _cortége_ entered the Institute grounds a salute of +artillery thundered its arrival, and reverberated it far across the +distant hills and valleys of Virginia, awakening echoes which have +been hushed since Lee manfully gave up the struggle of the "lost +cause" at Appomattox. Winding along the indicated route toward the +grounds of Washington College, the procession slowly moved past the +Institute, and when the war-horse and hearse of the dead chieftain +came in front of the battalion of cadets, they uncovered their heads +as a salute of reverence and respect, which was promptly followed by +the spectators. When this was concluded, the visitors and Faculty of +the Institute joined the procession, and the battalion of cadets filed +into the line in order, and with the greatest precision. + +ORDER OF THE PROCESSION. + +The following was the order of the procession when it was completed: + + Music. + + Escort of Honor, consisting of Officers and Soldiers of the Confederate + Army. + + Chaplain and other Clergy. + + Hearse and Pall-bearers. + + General Lee's Horse. + + The Attending Physicians. + + Trustees and Faculty of Washington College. + + Dignitaries of the State of Virginia. + + Visitors and Faculty of the Virginia Military Institute. + + Other Representative Bodies and Distinguished Visitors. + + Alumni of Washington College. + + Citizens. + + Cadets Virginia Military Institute. + + Students of Washington College as Guard of Honor + +AT THE CHAPEL. + +After the first salute, a gun was fired every three minutes. Moving +still to the sound of martial music, in honor of the dead, the +procession reëntered the grounds of Washington College by the +northeastern gate, and was halted in front of the chapel. Then +followed an imposing ceremony. The cadets of the Institute were +detached from the line, and marched in double file into the chapel up +one of the aisles, past the remains of the illustrious dead, which lay +in state on the rostrum, and down the other aisle out of the church. +The students of Washington College followed next, passing with bowed +heads before the mortal remains of him they revered and loved so much +and well as their president and friend. The side-aisles and galleries +were crowded with ladies, Emblems of mourning met the eye on all +sides, and feminine affection had hung funeral garlands of flowers +upon all the pillars and walls. The central pews were filled with the +escort of honor, composed of former Confederate soldiers from this and +adjoining counties, while the spacious platform was crowded with the +trustees, faculties, clergy, Legislative Committee, and distinguished +visitors. Within and without the consecrated hall the scene was +alike imposing. The blue mountains of Virginia, towering in the near +horizon; the lovely village of Lexington, sleeping in the calm, +unruffled air, and the softened autumn sunlight; the vast assemblage, +mute and sorrowful; the tolling bells, and pealing cannon, and solemn +words of funeral service, combined to render the scene one never to be +forgotten. + +The sons of General Lee--W.H.F. Lee, G.W.C. Lee, and Robert E. +Lee--with their sisters, Misses Agnes and Mildred Lee, and the nephews +of the dead, Fitzhugh, Henry C., and Robert C. Lee, entered the church +with bowed heads, and silently took seats in front of the rostrum. + +THE FUNERAL SERVICES AND INTERMENT. + +Then followed the impressive funeral services of the Episcopal Church +for the dead, amid a silence and solemnity that were imposing and +sublimely grand. There was no funeral oration, in compliance with the +expressed wish of the distinguished dead; and at the conclusion of the +services in the chapel the vast congregation went out and mingled with +the crowd without, who were unable to gain admission. The coffin was +then carried by the pall-bearers to the library-room, in the basement +of the chapel, where it was lowered into the vault prepared for its +reception. The funeral services were concluded in the open air by +prayer, and the singing of General Lee's favorite hymn, commencing +with the well-known line-- + + "How firm a foundation, ye saint of the Lord, + Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!" + +and thus closed the funeral obsequies of Robert Edward Lee, to whom +may be fitly applied the grand poetic epitaph: + + "Ne'er to the mansions where the mighty rest, + Since their foundations, came a nobler guest; + Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed + A purer saint or a more welcome shade." + + + + +II. + +_TRIBUTES TO GENERAL LEE_. + + +In the deep emotion with which the death of General Lee has filled all +classes of our people--says the _Southern Magazine_, from whose pages +this interesting summary is taken--we have thought that a selection of +the most eloquent or otherwise interesting addresses delivered at the +various memorial meetings may not be unacceptable. + +LOUISVILLE, KY. + +On October 15th nearly the whole city was draped in mourning, and +business was suspended. A funeral service was held at St. Paul's +Church. In the evening an immense meeting assembled at Weissiger +Hall, and, after an opening address by Mayor Baxter, the following +resolutions were adopted: + +"_Resolved_, That, in the death of Robert E. Lee, the American people, +without regard to States or sections, or antecedents, or opinions, +lose a great and good man, a distinguished and useful citizen, +renowned not less in arms than in the arts of peace; and that the +cause of public instruction and popular culture is deprived of a +representative whose influence and example will be felt by the youth +of our country for long ages after the passions in the midst of which +he was engaged, but which he did not share, have passed into history, +and the peace and fraternity of the American Republic are cemented and +restored by the broadest and purest American sentiment." + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the +family of General Lee, to the Trustees of Washington College, and to +the Governor and General Assembly of Virginia." + +ADDRESS OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE. + +"_Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen_: In the humble part which it +falls to me to take in these interesting ceremonies, if for any cause +it has been supposed that I am to deliver a lengthy address, I am +not responsible for the origination of that supposition. I came here +to-night simply to mingle my grief with yours at the loss of one of +our most distinguished citizens, and, indeed, I feel more like silence +than like words. I am awe-stricken in the presence of this vast +assemblage, and my mind goes back to the past. It is preoccupied by +memories coming in prominent review of the frequent and ever-varying +vicissitudes which have characterized the last ten years. I find +myself in the presence of a vast assemblage of the people of this +great and growing city, who meet together, without distinction of +party, and presided over by your chief officer, for the purpose of +expressing respect to the memory of the man who was the leader of the +Confederate armies in the late war between the States. It is in itself +the omen of reunion. I am not surprised at the spectacle presented +here. Throughout the entire South one universal cry of grief has +broken forth at the death of General Lee, and in a very large portion +of the North manly and noble tributes have been paid to his memory. + +"My words shall be brief but plain. Why is it that at the South we see +this universal, spontaneous demonstration? First, because most of the +people mourn the loss of a leader and a friend, but beyond that I must +say they seem to enter an unconscious protest against the ascription +either to him or them of treason or personal dishonor. It may be an +unconscious protest against the employment by a portion of the public +press of those epithets which have ceased to be used in social +intercourse. It is an invitation on their part to the people of the +North and South, East and West, if there be any remaining rancor in +their bosoms, to bury it in the grave forever. I will not recall the +past. I will not enter upon any considerations of the cause of that +great struggle. This demonstration we see around us gives the plainest +evidence that there is no disposition to indulge in useless repinings +at the results of that great struggle. It is for the pen of the +historian to declare the cause, progress, and probable consequences of +it. In regard to those who followed General Lee, who gloried in his +successes and shared his misfortunes, I have but this to say: the +world watched the contest in which they were engaged, and yet gives +testimony to their gallantry, + +"The magnanimity with which they accepted the results of their defeat, +the obedience they have yielded to the laws of the Federal Government, +give an exhibition so rare that they are ennobled by their calm yet +noble submission. For the rest their escutcheon is unstained. The +conquerors themselves, for their own glory, must confess that they +were brave. Neither, my friends, do I come here to-night to speak +of the military career of General Lee. I need not speak of it this +evening. I believe that this is universally recognized, not only in +the United States, but in Europe; it has made the circuit of the +world. I come but to utter my tribute to him as a man and as a +citizen. As a man he will be remembered in history as a man of the +epoch. How little need I to speak of his character after listening to +the thrilling delineation of it which we had this morning! We all know +that he was great, noble, and self-poised. He was just and moderate, +but was, perhaps, misunderstood by those who were not personally +acquainted with him. He was supposed to be just, but cold. Far from +it. He had a warm, affectionate heart. During the last year of that +unfortunate struggle it was my good fortune to spend a great deal of +time with him. I was almost constantly by his side, and it was during +the two months immediately preceding the fall of Richmond that I came +to know and fully understand the true nobility of his character. In +all those long vigils he was considerate and kind, gentle, firm, and +self-poised. I can give no better idea of the impression it made upon +me than to say it inspired me with an ardent love of the man and a +profound veneration of his character. It was so massive and noble, so +grand in its proportions, that all men must admire its heroism and +gallantry, yet so gentle and tender that a woman might adopt and claim +it as her own. If the spirit which animates the assembly before me +to-night shall become general and permeate the whole country, then may +we say the wounds of the late war are truly healed. We ask for him +only what we give to others. Among the more eminent of the departed +Federal generals who were distinguished for their gallantry, their +nobility of character, and their patriotism, may be mentioned Thomas +and McPherson. What Confederate is there who would refuse to raise his +cap as their funeral-train went by or hesitate to drop a flower upon +their graves? Why? Because they were men of courage, honor, and +nobility; because they were true to their convictions of right, and +soldiers whose hands were unstained by cruelty or pillage. + +"Those of us who were so fortunate as to know him, and who have +appeared before this assemblage, composed of all shades of opinion, +claim for him your veneration, because he was pure and noble, and it +is because of this that we see the cities and towns of the South in +mourning. This has been the expression throughout the whole South, +without distinction of party, and also of a large portion of the +North. Is not this why these tributes have been paid to his memory? Is +it not because his piety was humble and sincere? Because he accorded +in victory; because he filled his position with admirable dignity; +because he taught his prostrate comrades how to suffer and be strong? +In a word, because he was one of the noblest products of this +hemisphere, a fit object to sit in the niche which he created in the +Temple of Fame. + +"But he failed. The result is in the future. It may be for better or +for worse. We hope for the better. But this is not the test for his +greatness and goodness. Success often gilds the shallow man, but it is +disaster alone that reveals the qualities of true greatness. Was his +life a failure? Is only that man successful who erects a material +monument of greatness by the enforcement of his ideas? Is not that man +successful also, who, by his valor, moderation, and courage, with all +their associate virtues, presents to the world such a specimen of +true manhood as his children and children's children will be proud to +imitate? In this sense he was not a failure. + +"Pardon me for having detained you so long. I know there are here and +there those who will reach out and attempt to pluck from his name the +glory which surrounds it, and strike with malignant fury at the honors +awarded to him; yet history will declare that the remains which repose +in the vault beneath the little chapel in the lovely Virginia Valley +are not only those of a valorous soldier, but those of a great and +good American." + +General John W. Finnell next addressed the audience briefly, and was +followed by. + +GENERAL WILLIAM PRESTON. + +"_Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen_: I feel that it would be very +difficult for me to add any eulogy to those which are contained in the +resolutions of the committee, or a more merited tribute of praise than +those which have already fallen from the lips of the gentlemen who +have preceded me. Yet, on an occasion like this, I am willing to come +forward and add a word to testify my appreciation of the great virtues +and admirable character of one that commands, not only our admiration, +but that of the entire country. Not alone of the entire country, +but his character has excited more admiration in Europe than among +ourselves. In coming ages his name will be marked with lustre, and +will be one of the richest treasures of the future. I speak of one +just gone down to death; ripe in all the noble attributes of manhood, +and illustrious by deeds the most remarkable in character that have +occurred in the history of America since its discovery. It is now some +two-and-twenty years since I first made the acquaintance of General +Lee. He was then in the prime of manhood, in Mexico, and I first saw +him as the chief-engineer of General Scott in the Valley of Mexico. I +see around me two old comrades who then saw General Lee. He was a +man of remarkable personal beauty and great grace of body. He had a +finished form, delicate hands, graceful in person, while here and +there a gray hair streaked with silver the dark locks with which +Nature had clothed his noble brow. There were discerning minds that +appreciated his genius, and saw in him the coming Captain of America. +His commander and his comrades appreciated his ability. To a club +which was then organized he belonged, together with General McClellan, +General Albert Sydney Johnston, General Beauregard, and a host of +others. They recognized in Lee a master-spirit.. + +"He was never violent; he never wrangled. He was averse to +quarrelling, and not a single difficulty marked his career; but +all acknowledged his justness and wonderful evenness of mind. Rare +intelligence, combined with these qualities, served to make him a fit +representative of his great prototype, General Washington. He had been +accomplished by every finish that a military education could bestow. + +"I remember when General Lee was appointed lieutenant-colonel, at the +same time that Sydney Johnston was appointed colonel, and General +Scott thought that Lee should have been colonel. I was talking with +General Scott on the subject long before the late struggle between the +North and South took place, and he then said that Lee was the greatest +living soldier in America. He did not object to the other commission, +but he thought Lee should have been first promoted. Finally, he said +to me with emphasis, which you will pardon me for relating, 'I tell +you that, if I were on my death-bed to-morrow, and the President of +the United States should tell me that a great battle was to be fought +for the liberty or slavery of the country, and asked my judgment as to +the ability of a commander, I would say with my dying breath, let it +be Robert E. Lee.' Ah! great soldier that he was, princely general +that he was, he has fulfilled his mission, and borne it so that +no invidious tongue can level the shafts of calumny at the great +character which he has left behind him. + +"But, ladies and gentlemen, it was not in this that the matchless +attributes of his character were found. You have assembled here, not +so much to do honor to General Lee, but to testify your appreciation +of the worth of the principles governing his character; and if the +minds of this assemblage were explored, you would find there was a +gentleness and a grace in his character which had won your love and +brought forth testimonials of universal admiration. Take but a single +instance. At the battle of Gettysburg, after the attack on the +cemetery, when his troops were repulsed and beaten, the men threw +up their muskets and said, 'General, we have failed, and it is our +fault.' 'No, my men,' said he, knowing the style of fighting of +General Stonewall Jackson, 'you have done well; 'tis my fault; I am to +blame, and no one but me.' What man is there that would not have gone +to renewed death for such a leader? So, when we examine his whole +character, it is in his private life that you find his true +greatness--the Christian simplicity of his character and his great +veneration for truth and nobility, the grand elements of his +greatness. What man could have laid down his sword at the feet of a +victorious general with greater dignity than did he at Appomattox +Court-House? He laid down his sword with grace and dignity, and +secured for his soldiers the best terms that fortune would permit. In +that he shows marked greatness seldom shown by great captains. + +"After the battle of Sedan, the wild cries of the citizens of Paris +went out for the blood of the emperor; but at Appomattox, veneration +and love only met the eyes of the troops who looked upon their +commander. I will not trespass upon your time much farther. When I +last saw him the raven hair had turned white. In a small village +church his reverent head was bowed in prayer. The humblest step was +that of Robert E. Lee, as he entered the portals of the temple erected +to God. In broken responses he answered to the services of the Church. +Noble, sincere, and humble in his religion, he showed forth his true +character in laying aside his sword to educate the youth of his +country. Never did he appear more noble than at that time. He is now +gone, and rests in peace, and has crossed that mysterious stream that +Stonewall Jackson saw with inspired eyes when he asked that he might +be permitted to take his troops across the river and forever rest +beneath the shadows of the trees." + +After a few remarks from Hon. D.Y. Lyttle, the meeting adjourned. + +AUGUSTA, GA. + +A meeting was held at Augusta, on October 18th, at the City Hall. The +preamble and resolutions adopted were as follows: + +"_Whereas_, This day, throughout all this Southern land, sorrow, +many-tongued, is ascending to heaven for the death of Robert E. Lee, +and communities everywhere are honoring themselves in striving to do +honor to that great name; and we, the people of Augusta, who were not +laggards in upholding his glorious banner while it floated to the +breeze, would swell the general lamentation of his departure: + +therefore be it + +"_Resolved_, That no people in the tide of time has been bereaved +as we are bereaved; for no other people has had such a man to lose. +Greece, rich in heroes; Rome, prolific mother of great citizens, so +that the name of Roman is the synonyme of all that is noblest in +citizenship--had no man coming up to the full measure of this +great departed. On scores of battle-fields, consummate commander; +everywhere, bravest soldier; in failure, sublimest hero; in disbanding +his army, most pathetic of writers; in persecution, most patient of +power's victims; in private life, purest of men--he was such that all +Christendom, with one consent, named him GREAT. We, recalling that so +also mankind have styled Alexander, Caesar, Frederick, and Napoleon, +and beholding in the Confederate leader qualities higher and better +than theirs, find that language poor indeed which only enables us to +call him 'great'--him standing among the great of all ages preëminent. + +"_Resolved_, That our admiration of the man is not the partial +judgment of his adherents only; but so clear stand his greatness and +his goodness, that even the bitterest of foes has not ventured +to asperse him. While the air has been filled with calumnies and +revilings of his cause, none have been aimed at him. If there are +spirits so base that they cannot discover and reverence his greatness +and his goodness, they have at least shrunk from encountering the +certain indignation of mankind. This day--disfranchised by stupid +power as he was; branded, as he was, in the perverted vocabulary of +usurpers as rebel and traitor--his death has even in distant lands +moved more tongues and stirred more hearts than the siege of a mighty +city and the triumphs of a great king. + +"_Resolved_, That, while he died far too soon for his country, he had +lived long enough for his fame. This was complete, and the future +could unfold nothing to add to it. In this age of startling changes, +imagination might have pictured him, even in the years which he yet +lacked of the allotted period of human life, once more at the head of +devoted armies and the conqueror of glorious fields; but none could +have been more glorious than those he had already won. Wrong, too, +might again have triumphed over Right, and he have borne defeat with +sublimest resignation; but this he had already done at Appomattox. +Unrelenting hate to his lost cause might have again consigned him to +the walks of private life, and he have become an exemplar of all the +virtues of a private station; but this he had already been in the +shades of Lexington. The contingencies of the future could only have +revealed him greatest soldier, sublimest hero, best of men; and he was +already all of these. The years to come were barren of any thing which +could add to his perfect name and fame. He had nothing to lose; but, +alas! we, his people, every thing by his departure from this world, +which was unworthy of him, to that other where the good and the pure +of all ages will welcome him. Thither follow him the undying love +of every true Southern man and woman, and the admiration of all the +world." + +ADDRESS OF GENERAL A.R. WRIGHT. + +"_Mr. Chairman_: I rise simply to move the adoption of the resolutions +which have just been read to the meeting by Major Cumming. You have +heard, and the people here assembled have heard, these resolutions. +They are truthful, eloquent, and expressive. Although announced as +a speaker on this sad occasion, I had determined to forego any such +attempt; but an allusion, a passing reference to one of the sublime +virtues of the illustrious dead, made in the resolutions which have +just been read in your hearing, has induced me to add a word or +two. Your resolutions speak of General Lee's patience under the +persecutions of power. It was this virtue which ennobled the +character, as it was one of the most prominent traits in the life, of +him for whose death a whole nation, grief-stricken, mourns, and to pay +a tribute to the memory of whom this multitude has assembled here this +morning. While General Lee was all, and more than has been said +of him--the great general, the true Christian, and the valiant +soldier--there was another character in which he appeared more +conspicuously than in any of the rest--the quiet dignity with which he +encountered defeat, and the patience with which he met the persecution +of malignant power. We may search the pages of all history, both +sacred and profane, and there seems to be but one character who +possessed in so large a degree this remarkable trait. Take General +Lee's whole life and examine it; observe his skill and courage as a +soldier, his patriotism and his fidelity to principle, the purity of +his private life, and then remember the disasters which he faced and +the persecutions to which he was subjected, and it would seem that _no +one_ ever endured so much--not even David, the sweet singer of Israel. +Job has been handed down to posterity by the pages of sacred history +as the embodiment of patience, as the man who, overwhelmed with the +most numerous and bitter afflictions, never lost his fortitude, and +who endured every fresh trial with uncomplaining resignation; but it +seems to me that even Job displayed not the patience of our own loved +hero; for, while Job suffered much, he endured less than General Lee. +Job was compelled to lose his children, his friends, and his property, +but he was never required to give up country; General Lee was, and, +with more than the persecutions of Job, he stands revealed to the +world the truest and the most sublime hero whom the ages have +produced. To a patriot like Lee the loss of country was the greatest +evil which could be experienced, and it was this last blow which has +caused us to assemble here to-day to mourn his departure. He lost +friends and kindred and property in the struggle, and yet, according +to the news which the telegraph brought us this morning, it was the +loss of his cause which finally sundered the heart-strings of the +hero, and drew him from earth to heaven. Yes, the weight of this +great sorrow which first fell upon him under the fatal apple-tree at +Appomattox, has dwelt with him, growing heavier and more unendurable +with each succeeding year, from that time until last Wednesday morn +when the soul of Lee passed away. + +"As I said before, Mr. Chairman, I only rose to move the adoption of +the resolutions; and if I have said more than I ought to have said, +it is because I knew the illustrious dead, because I loved him, and +because I mourn his loss." + +ADDRESS OF JUDGE HILLIARD. + +"It is proper that the people should pay a public tribute to the +memory of a great man when he dies. Not a ruler, not one who merely +holds a great public position, but a great man, one who has served his +day and generation. It cannot benefit the dead, but it is eminently +profitable to the living. The consciousness than when we cease to live +our memory will be cherished, is a noble incentive to live well. +This great popular demonstration is due to General Lee's life and +character. It is not ordered by the Government--the Government ignored +him; but is rendered as a spontaneous tribute to the memory of an +illustrious man--good, true, and great. He held no place in the +Government, and since the war has had no military rank; but he was a +true man. After all, that is the noblest tribute you can pay to any +man, to say of him he was a true man. + +"General Lee's character was eminently American. In Europe they +have their ideas, their standards of merit, their rewards for great +exploits. They cover one with decorations; they give him a great place +in the government; they make him a marshal. Wellington began his +career with humble rank. He was young Wellesley; he rose to be the +Duke of Wellington. In our country we have no such rewards for great +deeds. One must enjoy the patronage of the Government, or he must take +the fortunes of private life. + +"General Lee was educated at the great Military Academy, West Point. +He entered the army; was promoted from time to time for brilliant +services; in Mexico fought gallantly under the flag of the United +States; and was still advancing in his military career in 1861, when +Virginia became involved in the great contest that then grew up +between the States. Virginia was his mother; she called him to her +side to defend her, and, resigning his commission in the Army of the +United States, not for a moment looking for advancement there, not +counting the cost, not offering his sword to the service of power, nor +yet laying it down at the feet of the Government--he unsheathed it and +took his stand in defence of the great principles asserted by Virginia +in the Revolution, when she contended with Great Britain the right of +every people to choose their own form of government. Lost or won, to +him the cause was always the same--it was the cause of constitutional +liberty. He stood by it to the last. What must have been the +convictions of a man like General Lee, when, mounted on the same horse +that had borne him in battle, upon which he was seated when the lines +of battle formed by his own heroic men wavered, and he seized the +standard to lead the charge; but his soldiers rushed to him, and +laying their hands on his bridle, said, 'General, we cannot fire a +gun unless you retire?' What must have been his emotions as he rode, +through his own lines at Appomattox, to the commander of the opposing +army, and tendered his sword? Search the annals of history, ancient +and modern; consult the lives of heroes; study the examples of +greatness recorded in Greece leading the way on the triumphs of +popular liberty, or in Rome in the best days of her imperial rule; +take statesmen, generals, or men of patient thought who outwatched the +stars in exploring knowledge, and I declare to you that I do not find +anywhere a sublimer sentiment than General Lee uttered when he said, +'Human virtue ought to be equal to human calamity.' It will live +forever. + +"General Lee died at the right time. His sun did not go down in the +strife of battle, in the midst of the thunder of cannon, dimmed by the +lurid smoke of war. He survived all this: lived with so much dignity; +silent, yet thoughtful; unseduced by the offers of gain or of +advancement however tempting; disdaining to enter into contests for +small objects, until the broad disk went down behind the Virginia +hills, shedding its departing lustre not only upon this country but +upon the whole world. His memory is as much respected in England as it +is here; and at the North as well as at the South true hearts honor +it. + +"There is one thing I wish to say before I take my seat. General Lee's +fame ought to rest on the true base. He did not draw his sword to +perpetuate human slavery, whatever may have been his opinions in +regard to it; he did not seek to overthrow the Government of the +United States. He drew it in defence of constitutional liberty. That +cause is not dead, but will live forever. The result of the war +established the authority of the United States; the Union will +stand--let it stand forever. The flag floats over the whole country +from the Atlantic to the Pacific; let it increase in lustre, and let +the power of the Government grow; still the cause for which General +Lee struck is not a lost cause. It is conceded that these States must +continue united under a common government. We do not wish to sunder +it, nor to disturb it. But the great principle that underlies the +Government of the United States--the principle that the people have +a right to choose their own form of government, and to have their +liberties protected by the provisions of the Constitution--is an +indestructible principle. You cannot destroy it. Like Milton's angels, +it is immortal; you may wound, but you cannot kill it. It is like the +volcanic fires that flame in the depths of the earth; it will yet +upheave the ocean and the land, and flame up to heaven. + +"Young Emmett said, 'Let no man write my epitaph until my country is +free, and takes her place among the nations of the earth.' But you may +write General Lee's epitaph now. The principle for which he fought +will survive him. His evening was in perfect harmony with his life. He +had time to think, to recall the past, to prepare for the future. An +offer, originating in Georgia, and I believe in this very city, was +made to him to place an immense sum of money at his disposal if he +would consent to reside in the city of New York and represent Southern +commerce. Millions would have flowed to him. But he declined. He +said: 'No; I am grateful, but I have a self-imposed task which I must +accomplish. I have led the young men of the South in battle; I have +seen many of them fall under my standard. I shall devote my life now +to training young men to do their duty in life.' And he did. It was +beautiful to see him in that glorious valley where Lexington stands, +the lofty mountains throwing their protecting shadows over its quiet +home. General Lee's fame is not bounded by the limits of the South, +nor by the continent. I rejoice that the South gave him birth; I +rejoice that the South will hold his ashes. But his fame belongs to +the human race. Washington, too, was born in the South and sleeps +in the South. But his great fame is not to be appropriated by this +country; it is the inheritance of mankind. We place the name of Lee by +that of Washington. They both belong to the world." + +NEW ORLEANS. + +A meeting was held in the St. Charles Theatre, as the largest building +in the city. The Hon. W.M. Burwell delivered an eloquent address, +of which we regret that we have been able to obtain no report. The +meeting was then addressed by the + +HON. THOMAS J. SEMMES. + +"Robert E. Lee is dead. The Potomac, overlooked by the home of the +hero, once dividing contending peoples, but now no longer a boundary, +conveys to the ocean a nation's tears. South of the Potomac is +mourning; profound grief pervades every heart, lamentation is heard +from every hearth, for Lee sleeps among the slain whose memory is so +dear to us. In the language of Moina: + + 'They were slain for us, + And their blood flowed out in a rain for us, + Red, rich, and pure, on the plain for us; + And years may go, + But our tears shall flow + O'er the dead who have died in vain for us.' + +"North of the Potomac not only sympathizes with its widowed sister, +but, with respectful homage, the brave and generous, clustering around +the corpse of the great Virginian, with one accord exclaim: + + 'This earth that bears thee dead, + Bears not alive so stout a gentleman.' + +"Sympathetic nations, to whom our lamentations have been transmitted +on the wings of lightning, will with pious jealousy envy our grief, +because Robert E. Lee was an American. Seven cities claimed the honor +of having given birth to the great pagan poet; but all Christian +nations, while revering America as the mother of Robert E. Lee, will +claim for the nineteenth century the honor of his birth. There was but +one Lee, the great Christian captain, and his fame justly belongs to +Christendom. The nineteenth century has attacked every thing--it has +attacked God, the soul, reason, morals, society, the distinction +between good and evil. Christianity is vindicated by the virtues of +Lee. He is the most brilliant and cogent argument in favor of a system +illustrated by such a man; he is the type of the reign of law in the +moral order--that reign of law which the philosophic Duke of Argyll +has so recently and so ably discussed as pervading the natural as well +as the supernatural world. One of the chief characteristics of the +Christian is duty. Throughout a checkered life the conscientious +performance of duty seems to have been the mainspring of the actions +of General Lee. In his relations of father, son, husband, soldier, +citizen, duty shines conspicuous in all his acts. His agency as he +advanced to more elevated stations attracts more attention, and +surrounds him with a brighter halo of glory; but he is unchanged; from +first to last it is Robert E. Lee. + +"The most momentous act of his life was the selection of sides at the +commencement of the political troubles which immediately preceded the +recent conflict. High in military rank, caressed by General Scott, +courted by those possessed of influence and authority, no politician, +happy in his domestic relations, and in the enjoyment of competent +fortune, consisting in the main of property situated on the borders +of Virginia--nevertheless impelled by a sense of duty, as he himself +testified before a Congressional committee since the war, General Lee +determined to risk all and unite his fortunes with those of his native +State, whose ordinances as one of her citizens he considered himself +bound to obey. + +"Having joined the Confederate army, he complained not that he was +assigned to the obscure duty of constructing coast-defences for South +Carolina and Georgia, nor that he was subsequently relegated to +unambitious commands in Western Virginia. The accidental circumstance +that General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at the battle of Seven +Pines in May, 1862, placed Lee in command of the Army of Northern +Virginia. As commander of that army he achieved world-wide reputation, +without giving occasion during a period of three years to any +complaint on the part of officers, men, or citizens, or enemies, that +he had been guilty of any act, illegal, oppressive, unjust, or inhuman +in its character. This is the highest tribute possible to the wisdom +and virtue of General Lee; for, as a general rule, law was degraded; +officers, whether justly or unjustly, were constantly the subject +of complaint and discord, and jealousy prevailed in camp and in the +Senate-chamber. There was a fraction of our people represented by an +unavailing minority in Congress, who either felt, or professed to +feel, a jealousy whose theory was just, but whose application, at such +a time, was unsound. They wished to give as little power as possible +because they dreaded a military despotism, and thus desired to send +our armies forth with half a shield and broken swords to protect the +government from its enemies, lest, if the bucklers were entire and the +swords perfect, they might be tempted, in the heyday of victory, to +smite their employers. But this want of confidence never manifested +itself toward General Lee, whose conduct satisfied the most suspicious +that his ambition was not of glory but of the performance of duty. The +army always felt this: the fact that he sacrificed no masses of human +beings in desperate charges that he might gather laurels from the +spot enriched by their gore. A year or more before he was appointed +commander-in-chief of all the Confederate forces, a bill passed +Congress creating that office. It failed to become a law, the +President having withheld his approval. Lee made no complaints; his +friends solicited no votes to counteract the veto. When a bill for the +same purpose was passed at a subsequent period, it was whispered about +that he could not accept the position. To a committee of Virginians +who had called on him to ascertain the truth, his reply was, that he +felt bound to accept any post the duties of which his country believed +him competent to perform. After the battle of Gettysburg he tendered +his resignation to President Davis, because he was apprehensive his +failure, the responsibility for which he did not pretend to throw on +his troops or officers, would produce distrust of his abilities and +destroy his usefulness. I am informed the President, in a beautiful +and touching letter, declined to listen to such a proposition. During +the whole period of the war he steadily declined all presents, and +when, on one occasion, a gentleman sent him several dozen of wine, he +turned it over to the hospitals in Richmond, saying the wounded +and sick needed it more than he. He was extremely simple and +unostentatious in his habits, and shared with his soldiers their +privations as well as their dangers. Toward the close of the war, meat +was very scarce within the Confederate lines in the neighborhood of +the contending armies. An aide of the President, having occasion to +visit General Lee en official business in the field, was invited to +dinner. The meal spread on the table consisted of corn-bread and a +small piece of bacon buried in a large dish of greens. The quick-eyed +aide discovered that none of the company, which was composed of the +general's personal staff, partook of the meat, though requested to +do so in the most urbane manner by the general, who presided; he, +therefore, also declined, and noticed that the meat was carried off +untouched. After the meal was over, he inquired of one of the officers +present what was the reason for this extraordinary conduct. His reply +was, 'We had borrowed the meat for the occasion, and promised to +return it.' + +"Duty alone induced this great soldier to submit to such privation, +for the slightest intimation given to friends in Richmond would have +filled his tent with all the luxuries that blockade-runners and +speculators had introduced for the favored few able to purchase. + +"This performance of duty was accompanied by no harsh manner or +cynical expressions; for the man whose soul is ennobled by true +heroism, possesses a heart as tender as it is firm. His calmness under +the most trying circumstances, and his uniform sweetness of manner, +were almost poetical. They manifested 'the most sustained tenderness +of soul that ever caressed the chords of a lyre.' In council he +was temperate and patient, and his words fell softly and evenly as +snow-flakes, like the sentences that fell from the lips of Ulysses. + +"On the termination of the war, his conduct until his death has +challenged the admiration of friends and foes; he honestly acquiesced +in the inevitable result of the struggle; no discontent, sourness, or +complaint, has marred his tranquil life at Washington College, where +death found him at his post of duty, engaged in fitting the young +men of his country, by proper discipline and education, for the +performance of the varied duties of life. It is somewhat singular +that both Lee and his great lieutenant, Jackson, should in their last +moments have referred to Hill. It is reported that General Lee said, +'Let my tent be struck; send for Hill;' while the lamented Jackson in +his delirium cried out, 'Let A.P. Hill prepare for action; march the +infantry rapidly to the front. Let us cross over the river and rest +under the shade of the trees.' Both heroes died with commands for +military movements on their lips; both the noblest specimens of the +Christian soldier produced by any country or any age; both now rest +under the shade of the trees of heaven." + +REV. DR. PALMER + +Then spoke as follows: + +"_Ladies and Gentlemen_: I should have been better pleased had I been +permitted to sit a simple listener to the eloquent tribute paid to the +immortal chieftain who now reposes in death, by the speaker who has +just taken his seat. The nature of my calling so far separates me from +public life that I am scarcely competent for the office of alluding to +the elements which naturally gather around his career. When informed +that other artists would draw the picture of the warrior and the hero, +I yielded a cheerful compliance, in the belief that nothing was left +but to describe the Christian and the man. You are entirely familiar +with the early life of him over whose grave you this night shed tears; +with his grave and sedate boyhood giving promise of the reserved force +of mature manhood; with his academic career at West Point, where he +received the highest honors of a class brilliant with such names as +General Joseph E. Johnston; his seizure of the highest honors of a +long apprenticeship in that institution, and his abrupt ascension in +the Mexican War from obscurity to fame--all are too firmly stamped in +the minds of his admirers to require even an allusion. You are too +familiar to need a repetition from my lips of that great mental and +spiritual struggle passed, not one night, but many, when, abandoning +the service in which he had gathered so much of honor and reputation, +he determined to lay his heart upon the altar of his native State, and +swear to live or die in her defence. + +"It would be a somewhat singular subject of speculation to discover +how it is that national character so often remarkably expresses itself +in single individuals who are born as representatives of a class. It +is wonderful, for it has been the remark of ages, how the great are +born in clusters; sometimes, indeed, one star shining with solitary +splendor in the firmament above, but generally gathered in grand +constellations, filling the sky with glory. What is that combination +of influences, partly physical, partly intellectual, but somewhat more +moral, which should make a particular country productive of men great +over all others on earth and to all ages of time? Ancient Greece, with +her indented coast, inviting to maritime adventures, from her earliest +period was the mother of heroes in war, of poets in song, of sculptors +and artists, and stands up after the lapse of centuries the educator +of mankind, living in the grandeur of her works and in the immortal +productions of minds which modern civilization with all its +cultivation and refinement and science never surpassed and scarcely +equalled. And why in the three hundred years of American history it +should be given to the Old Dominion to be the grand mother, not only +of States, but of the men by whom States and empires are formed, it +might be curious were it possible for us to inquire. Unquestionably, +Mr. President, there is in this problem the element of race; for he +is blind to all the truths of history, to all the revelations of the +past, who does not recognize a select race as we recognize a select +individual of a race, to make all history; but pretermitting all +speculation of that sort, when Virginia unfolds the scroll of her +immortal sons--not because illustrious men did not precede him +gathering in constellations and clusters, but because the name shines +out through those constellations and clusters in all its peerless +grandeur--we read the name of George Washington. And then, Mr. +President, after the interval of three-quarters of a century, when +your jealous eye has ranged down the record and traced the names that +history will never let die, you come to the name--the only name in all +the annals of history that can be named in the perilous connection--of +Robert E. Lee, the second Washington. Well may old Virginia be proud +of her twin sons! born almost a century apart, but shining like those +binary stars which open their glory and shed their splendor on the +darkness of the world. + +"Sir, it is not an artifice of rhetoric which suggests this parallel +between two great names in American history; for the suggestion +springs spontaneously to every mind, and men scarcely speak of Lee +without thinking of a mysterious connection that binds the two +together. They were alike in the presage of their early history--the +history of their boyhood. Both earnest, grave, studious; both alike +in that peculiar purity which belongs only to a noble boy, and which +makes him a brave and noble man, filling the page of a history +spotless until closed in death; alike in that commanding presence +which seems to be the signature of Heaven sometimes placed on a great +soul when to that soul is given a fit dwelling-place; alike in that +noble carriage and commanding dignity, exercising a mesmeric influence +and a hidden power which could not be repressed, upon all who came +within its charm; alike in the remarkable combination and symmetry of +their intellectual attributes, all brought up to the same equal level, +no faculty of the mind overlapping any other--all so equal, so well +developed, the judgment, the reason, the memory, the fancy, that +you are almost disposed to deny them greatness, because no single +attribute of the mind was projected upon itself, just as objects +appear sometimes smaller to the eye from the exact symmetry and beauty +of their proportions; alike, above all, in that soul-greatness, that +Christian virtue to which so beautiful a tribute has been rendered by +my friend whose high privilege it was to be a compeer and comrade with +the immortal dead, although in another department and sphere; and +yet alike, Mr. President, in their external fortune, so strangely +dissimilar--the one the representative and the agent of a stupendous +revolution which it pleased Heaven to bless and give birth to one of +the mightiest nations on the globe; the other the representative and +agent of a similar revolution, upon which it pleased high Heaven to +throw the darkness of its frown; so that, bearing upon his generous +heart the weight of this crushed cause, he was at length overwhelmed; +and the nation whom he led in battle gathers with spontaneity of grief +over all this land which is ploughed with graves and reddened with +blood, and the tears of a widowed nation in her bereavement are shed +over his honored grave. + +"But these crude suggestions, which fall almost impromptu from my +lips, suggest that which I desire to offer before this audience +to-night. I accept Robert E. Lee as the true type of the American +man and the Southern gentleman. A brilliant English writer has well +remarked, with a touch of sound philosophy, that when a nation has +rushed upon its fate, the whole force of the national life will +sometimes shoot up in one grand character, like the aloe which blooms +at the end of a hundred years, shooting up in one single spike of +glory, and then expires. And wherever philosophy, refinement, and +culture, have gone upon the globe, it is possible to place the finger +upon individual men who are the exemplars of a nation's character, +those typical forms under which others less noble, less expanded, have +manifested themselves. That gentle, that perfect moderation, that +self-command which enabled him to be so self-possessed amid the most +trying difficulties of his public career, a refinement almost such as +that which marks the character of the purest woman, were blended +in him with that massive strength, that mighty endurance, that +consistency and power which gave him and the people whom he led such +momentum under the disadvantages of the struggle through which he +passed. Born from the general level of American society, blood of a +noble ancestry flowed in his veins, and he was a type of the race from +which he sprang. Such was the grandeur and urbaneness of his manner, +the dignity and majesty of his carriage, that his only peer in social +life could be found in courts and among those educated amid the +refinements of courts and thrones. In that regard there was something +beautiful and appropriate that he should become, in the later years of +his life, the educator of the young. Sir, it is a cause for mourning +before high Heaven to-night that he was not spared thirty years to +educate a generation for the time that is to come; for, as in the days +when the red banner streamed over the land, the South sent her sons +to fight under his flag and beneath the wave of his sword, these sons +have been sent again to sit at his feet when he was the disciple +of the Muses and the teacher of philosophy. Oh, that he might have +brought his more than regal character, his majestic fame, all his +intellectual and moral endowments, to the task of fitting those that +should come in the crisis of the future to take the mantle that had +fallen from his shoulders and bear it to the generations that are +unborn! + +"General Lee I accept as the representative of his people, and of the +temper with which this whole Southland entered into that gigantic, +that prolonged, and that disastrous struggle which has closed, but +closed as to us in grief. Sir, they wrong us who say that the South +was ever impatient to rupture the bonds of the American Union. The war +of 1776, which, sir, has no more yet a written history than has the +war of 1861 to 1865, tells us that it was this Southland that wrought +the Revolution of 1776. We were the heirs of all the glory of that +immortal struggle. It was purchased with our blood, with the blood of +our fathers which yet flows in these veins, and which we desire to +transmit, pure and consecrated, to the sons that are born to our +loins. The traditions of the past sixty years were a portion of our +heritage, and it never was easy for any great heart and reflective +mind even to seem to part with that heritage to enter upon the +perilous effort of establishing a new nationality. + +"Mr. President, it was my privilege once to be thrilled in a short +speech, uttered by one of the noblest names clustering upon the roll +of South Carolina; for, sir, South Carolina was Virginia's sister, +and South Carolina stood by Virginia in the old struggle, as Virginia +stood by South Carolina in the new, and the little State, small as +Greece, barren in resources but great only in the grandeur of the men, +in their gigantic proportions, whom she, like Virginia, was permitted +to produce--I heard, sir, one of South Carolina's noblest sons +speak once thus: 'I walked through the Tower of London, that grand +repository where are gathered the memorials of England's martial +prowess; and when the guide, in the pride of his English heart, +pointed to the spoils of war collected through centuries of the past,' +said this speaker, lifting himself upon tiptoe that he might reach to +his greatest height, 'I said, "You cannot point to one single +trophy from my people, or my country, though England engaged in two +disastrous wars with her."' Sir, this was the sentiment. We loved +every inch of American soil, and loved every part of that canvas +[pointing to the Stars and Stripes above him], which, as a symbol of +power and authority, floated from the spires and from the mast-head +of our vessels; and it was after the anguish of a woman in birth that +this land, that now lies in her sorrow and ruin, took upon herself +that great peril; but it is all emblematized in the regret experienced +by him whose praises are upon our lips, and who, like the English +Nelson, recognized duty engraved in letters of light as the +only ensign he could follow, and who, tearing away from all the +associations of his early life, and, abandoning the reputation gained +in the old service, made up his mind to embark in the new, and, with +that modesty and that firmness belonging only to the truly great, +expressed his willingness to live and die in the position assigned to +him. + +"And I accept this noble chieftain equally as the representative of +this Southland in the spirit of his retirement from struggle. It could +not escape any speaker upon this platform to allude to the dignity of +that retirement; how, from the moment he surrendered he withdrew from +observation, holding aloof from all political complications, and +devoting his entire energies to the great work he had undertaken to +discharge. In this he represents--an the true attitude of the South +since the close of the war attitude of quiet submission to the +conquering power and of obedience to all exactions; but without +resiling from those great principles which were embalmed in the +struggle, and which, as the convictions of a lifetime, no honest mind +could release. + +"All over this land of ours there are men like Lee--not as great, not +as symmetrical in the development of character, not as grand in the +proportions which they have reached, but who, like him, are sleeping +upon memories that are holy as death, and who, amid all reproach, +appeal to the future, and to the tribunal of History, when she shall +render her final verdict in reference to the struggle closed, for the +vindication of the people embarked in that struggle. We are silent, +resigned, obedient, and thoughtful, sleeping upon solemn memories, +Mr. President; but, as said by the poet-preacher in the Good Book, 'I +sleep, but my heart waketh,' looking upon the future that is to come, +and powerless in every thing except to pray to Almighty God, who rules +the destinies of nations, that those who have the power may at least +have the grace given them to preserve the constitutional principles +which we have endeavored to maintain. And, sir, were it my privilege +to speak in the hearing of the entire nation, I would utter with +the profoundest emphasis this pregnant truth: that no people ever +traversed those moral ideas which underlie its character, its +constitution, its institutions, and its laws, that did not in the end +perish in disaster, in shame, and in dishonor. Whatever be the glory, +the material civilization, of which such a nation may boast, it still +holds true that the truth is immortal, and that ideas rule the world. + +"And now I have but a single word to say, and that is, that the grave +of this noble hero is bedewed with the most tender and sacred +tears ever shed upon a human tomb. I was thinking in my study this +afternoon, striving to strike out something I might utter on this +platform, and this parallel between the first Washington and the +second occurred to me. I asked my own heart the question, 'Would you +not accept the fame and the glory and the career of Robert E. Lee just +as soon as accept the glory and career of the immortal man who was his +predecessor?' Sir, there is a pathos in fallen fortunes which stirs +the sensibilities, and touches the very fountain of human feeling. I +am not sure that at this moment Napoleon, the enforced guest of the +Prussian king, is not grander than when he ascended the throne of +France. There is a grandeur in misfortune when that misfortune is +borne by a noble heart, with the strength of will to endure, and +endure without complaining or breaking. Perhaps I slip easily into +this train of remarks, for it is my peculiar office to speak of that +chastening with which a gracious Providence visits men on this earth, +and by which He prepares them for heaven hereafter; and what is true +of individuals in a state of adversity, is true of nations when +clothed in sorrow. Sir, the men in these galleries that once wore the +gray are here to-night that they may bend the knee in reverence at +the grave of him whose voice and hand they obeyed amid the storms of +battle: the young widow, who but as yesterday leaned upon the arm of +her soldier-husband, but now clasps wildly to her breast the young +child that never beheld its father's face, comes here to shed her +tears over this grave to-night; and the aged matron, with the tears +streaming from her eyes as she recalls her unforgotten dead, lying on +the plains of Gettysburg, or on the heights of Fredericksburg, now, +to-night, joins in our dirge over him who was that son's chieftain and +counsellor and friend. A whole nation has risen up in the spontaneity +of its grief to render the tribute of its love. Sir, there is a unity +in the grapes when they grow together in the clusters upon the vine, +and holding the bunch in your hand you speak of it as one; but there +is another unity when you throw these grapes into the wine-press, +and the feet of those that bruise these grapes trample them almost +profanely beneath their feet together in the communion of pure wine; +and such is the union and communion of hearts that have been fused by +tribulation and sorrow, and that meet together in the true feeling of +an honest grief to express the homage of their affection, as well as +to render a tribute of praise to him upon whose face we shall never +look until on that immortal day when we shall behold it transfigured +before the throne of God." + +The meeting then adopted the following preamble and resolutions: + +"_Whereas_, Like orphans at the grave of a parent untimely snatched +away, our hearts have lingered and brooded, with a grief that no +cunning of speech could interpret, over the thought that Robert Edward +Lee exists no more, in bodily life, in sensible form, in visible +presence, for our love and veneration, for our edification and +guidance, for our comfort and solace; and-- + +"_Whereas_, We have invoked all mute funeral emblems to aid us with +their utmost eloquence of woe, and we cannot content ourselves with +contemplating, from the depth and the gloom of our bereavement, the +exalted and radiant virtues of the dead: + +"_Resolved_, That we, the people of New Orleans, have come together +under one common impulse to render united homage to the memory which +holds mastery in our minds, whether we turn with bitter regard to the +past, or with prayerful and chastened aspirations to the future. + +"_Resolved_, That as Louisianians, as Southerners, as Americans, +we proudly claim our share in the fame of Lee as an inheritance +rightfully belonging to us, and endowed with which we shall piously +cherish, though all calamities should rain upon us, true poverty--the +poverty indeed that abases and starves the spirit can never approach +us with its noisome breath and withering look. + +"_Resolved_, That it is infinitely more bitter to have to mourn the +loss of our Lee, than not to have learned to prize him as the noblest +gift which could have been allotted to a people and an epoch; a grand +man, rounded to the symmetry of equal moral and intellectual powers, +graces, and accomplishments; a man whose masterly and heroic energy +left nothing undone in defending a just cause while there was a +possibility of striking for it a rational and hopeful blow, and whose +sublime resignation when the last blow was struck in vain, and when +human virtue was challenged to match itself with the consummation of +human adversity, taught wiser, more convincing, more reassuring, more +soul-sustaining lessons than were to be found in all the philosophies +of all books. + +"_Resolved_, That worthily to show our veneration for this majestic +and beautiful character, we must revolve it habitually in our +thoughts, and try to appropriate it to the purification and elevation +of our lives, and so educate our children that they shall, if +possible, grow up into its likeness. + +"_Resolved_, That while it is honorable for a people to deeply lament +the death of such a man, it would be glorious for a generation to +mould itself after his model; for it would be a generation fraught +with all high manly qualities, tempered with all gentle and Christian +virtues; for truth, love, goodness, health, strength, would be with +it, and consequently victory, liberty, majesty, and beauty. + +"_Resolved_, That we would hail the erection of the proposed monument +as well adapted to the purpose of preserving this admirable and most +precious memory as a vital and beneficent influence for all time +to come, and we will therefore cordially aid in promoting the Lee +Monument which has just been inaugurated." + +ATLANTA, GA. + +A crowded meeting assembled in this city on October 15th. After an +impressive prayer from the Rev. Dr. Brantly, the meeting was addressed +by + +GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON. + +"_My Friends_: We have met to weep, to mingle our tears, and give vent +to our bursting hearts. The sorrowing South, already clad in mourners' +weeds, bows her head afresh to-day in a heart-stricken orphanage; and +if I could have been permitted to indulge the sensibilities of my +heart, I would have fled this most honorable task, and in solitude and +silence have wept the loss of the great and good man whose death we so +deplore. I loved General Lee; for it was my proud privilege to know +him well. I loved him with a profound and all-filial love, with a +sincere and unfaded affection. I say I would have retired from this +flattering task which your kindness has imposed, but remembering that +his words, his deeds, his great example, has taught us that duty was +the most commanding obligation, I yield this morning to your wishes. + +"We have met to honor General Lee, to honor him dead whom we loved +while living. Honor General Lee! How utterly vain, what a mockery of +language do these words seem! Honor Lee! Why, my countrymen, his deeds +have honored him! The very trump of Fame itself is proud to honor him! +Europe and the civilized world have united to honor him supremely, and +History itself has caught the echo and made it immortal. Honor Lee! +Why, sir, as the sad news of his death is with the speed of thought +communicated to the world, it will carry a pang even to the hearts of +marshals and of monarchs; and I can easily fancy that, amid the din +and clash and carnage of war, the cannon itself, in mute pause at +the whispering news, will briefly cease its roar around the walls of +Paris. The task is not without pain, while yet his manly frame lies +stretched upon his bier, to attempt to analyze the elements that made +him truly great. It has been my fortune in life from circumstances to +have come in contact with some whom the world pronounced great--some +of the earth's celebrated and distinguished; but I declare it here +to-day that, of any mortal man whom it has ever been my privilege to +approach, he was the greatest; and I assert here that, grand as might +be your conceptions of the man before, he arose in incomparable +majesty on more familiar acquaintance. This can be affirmed of few men +who have ever lived or died, and of no other man whom it has ever been +my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more you gazed the more his +grandeur grew upon you, the more his majesty expanded and filled your +spirit with a full satisfaction that left a perfect delight without +the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly majestic and dignified in +all his deportment, he was genial as the sunlight of this beautiful +day, and not a ray of that cordial, social intercourse but brought +warmth to the heart as it did light to the understanding. + +"But as one of the great captains will General Lee first pass review +and inspection before the criticism of history. We will not compare +him with Washington. The mind will halt instinctively at the +comparison of two such men, so equally and gloriously great. But with +modest, yet calm and unflinching confidence we place him by the side +of the Marlboroughs and Wellingtons who take high niches in the +pantheon of immortality. Let us dwell for a moment, my friends, on +this thought. Marlborough never met defeat, it is true. Victory marked +every step of his triumphant march; but when, where, and whom did +Marlborough fight? The ambitious and vain but able Louis XIV. But he +had already exhausted the resources of his kingdom before Marlborough +stepped upon the stage. The great marshals Turenne and Condé were +no more, and Luxembourg the beloved had vanished from the scene. +Marlborough, preëminently great as he certainly was, nevertheless led +the combined forces of England and of Holland, in the freshness of +their strength and the fulness of their financial ability, against +prostrate France, with a treasury depleted, a people worn out, +discouraged, and dejected. But let us turn to another comparison. The +great Von Moltke, who now rides upon the whirlwind and commands the +storm of Prussian invasion, has recently declared that General Lee, +in all respects, was fully the equal of Wellington, and you may the +better appreciate this admission when you remember that Wellington was +the benefactor of Prussia, and probably Von Moltke's special idol. But +let us examine the arguments ourselves. France was already prostrate +when Wellington met Napoleon. That great emperor had seemed to make +war upon the very elements themselves, to have contended with Nature, +and to have almost defeated Providence itself. The enemies of the +North, more savage than Goth or Vandal, mounting the swift gales of a +Russian winter, had carried death, desolation, and ruin, to the very +gates of Paris. Wellington fought at Waterloo a bleeding and broken +nation--a nation electrified, it is true, to almost superhuman energy +by the genius of Napoleon, but a nation prostrate and bleeding +nevertheless. Compare this, my friends, the condition of France and +the condition of the United States, in the freshness of her strength, +in the luxuriance of her resources, in the lustihood of her gigantic +youth. Tell me whether to place the chaplet of military superiority +with him, or with Marlborough, or Wellington? Even the greatest +of captains, in his Italian campaigns, flashing fame in lightning +splendor over the world, even Bonaparte met and crushed in battle but +three or four (I think) Austrian armies; while our Lee, with one army +badly equipped, in time incredibly short, met and hurled back in +broken and shattered fragments five of the greatest prepared and most +magnificently appointed invasions. Yea, more! He discrowned, in rapid +succession, one after another of the United States' most, accomplished +and admirable commanders. + +"Lee was never really defeated. Lee could not be defeated! +Overpowered, foiled in his efforts, he might be; but never defeated +until the props which supported him gave way. Never, until the +platform sank beneath him, did any enemy ever dare pursue. On that +melancholy occasion, the downfall of the Confederacy, no Leipsic, no +Waterloo, no Sedan, can ever be recorded. + +"General Lee is known to the world as a military man; but it is easy +to divine from his history how mindful of all just authority, how +observant of all constitutional restriction, would have been his +career as a civilian. When, near the conclusion of the war, darkness +was thickening about the falling fortunes of the Confederacy, when its +very life was in the sword of Lee, it was my proud privilege to know +with a special admiration the modest demeanor, the manly decorum, +respectful homage, which marked all his dealings with the constituted +authorities of his country. Clothed with all power, he hid its very +symbol behind a genial modesty, and refused ever to exert it save in +obedience to law. And even in his triumphant entry into the territory +of the enemy, so regardful was he of civilized warfare, that the +observance of his general orders as to private property and private +rights left the line of his march marked and marred by no devastated +fields, charred ruins, or desolated homes. But it is in his private +character, or rather I should say his personal emotion and virtue, +which his countrymen will most delight to consider and dwell upon. His +magnanimity, transcending all historic precedent, seemed to form a new +chapter in the book of humanity. Witness that letter to Jackson, after +his wounds at Chancellorsville, in which he said: 'I am praying for +you with more fervor than I have ever prayed for myself;' and that +other, more disinterested and pathetic: 'I could, for the good of +my country, wish that the wounds which you have received had been +inflicted upon my own body;' or that of the latter message, saying to +General Jackson that 'his wounds were not so severe as mine, for he +loses but his left arm, while I, in my loss, lose my right;' or that +other expression of unequalled magnanimity which enabled him to +ascribe the glory of their joint victory to the sole credit of +the dying hero. Did I say unequalled? Yes, that was an avowal of +unequalled magnanimity, until it met its parallel in his own grander +self-negation in assuming the sole responsibility for the defeat at +Gettysburg. Ay, my countrymen, Alexander had his Arbela, Caesar his +Pharsalia, Napoleon his Austerlitz; but it was reserved for Lee +to grow grander and more illustrious in defeat than even in +victory--grander, because in defeat he showed a spirit greater than in +the heroism of battles or all the achievements of war, a spirit which +crowns him with a chaplet grander far than ever mighty conqueror wore. + +"I turn me now to that last closing scene at Appomattox, and I will +draw thence a picture of that man as he laid aside the sword, the +unrivalled soldier, to become the most exemplary of citizens. + +"I can never forget the deferential homage paid this great citizen by +even the Federal soldiers, as with uncovered heads they contemplated +in mute admiration this now captive hero as he rode through their +ranks. Impressed forever, daguerreotyped on my heart is that last +parting scene with that handful of heroes still crowding around him. +Few indeed were the words then spoken, but the quivering lip and +the tearful eye told of the love they bore him, in symphonies more +eloquent than any language can describe. Can I ever forget? No, never +can I forget the words which fell from his lips as I rode beside him +amid the defeated, dejected, and weeping soldiery, when, turning to +me, he said, 'I could wish that I was numbered among the fallen in the +last battle;' but oh! as he thought of the loss of the cause--of the +many dead scattered over so many fields, who, sleeping neglected, with +no governmental arms to gather up their remains--sleeping neglected, +isolated, and alone, beneath the weeping stars, with naught but their +soldiers' blankets about them!--oh! as these emotions swept over his +great soul, he felt that he would have laid him down to rest in +the same grave where lay buried the common hope of his people. But +Providence willed it otherwise. He rests now forever, my countrymen, +his spirit in the bosom of that Father whom he so faithfully served, +his body beside the river whose banks are forever memorable, and whose +waters are vocal with the glories of his triumphs. No sound shall ever +wake him to martial glory again; no more shall he lead his invincible +lines to victory; no more shall we gaze upon him and draw from his +quiet demeanor lessons of life. But oh! it is a sweet consolation to +us, my countrymen, who loved him, that no more shall his bright spirit +be bowed down to earth with the burdens of the people's wrongs. It is +sweet consolation to us that his last victory, through faith in his +crucified Redeemer, is the most transcendently glorious of all his +triumphs. At this very hour, while we mourn here, kind friends +are consigning the last that remains of our hero to his quiet +sleeping-place, surrounded by the mountains of his native +State--mountains the autumnal glory of whose magnificent forests +to-day seem but habiliments of mourning. In the Valley, the pearly +dew-drops seem but tears of sadness upon the grasses and flowers. Let +him rest! And now as he has gone from us, and as we regard him in all +the aspects of his career and character and attainments as a great +captain, ranking among the first of any age; as a patriot, whose +sacrificing devotion to his country ranks him with Washington; as a +Christian, like Havelock, recognizing his duty to his God above every +other earthly consideration, with a native modesty that refused to +appropriate the glory of his own, and which surrounds now his entire +character and career with a halo of unfading light; with an integrity +of life and a sacred regard for truth which no man dare assail; with +a fidelity to principle which no misfortune could shake--he must +ever stand peerless among men in the estimation of Christendom, this +representative son of the South, Robert E. Lee, of Virginia." + +RICHMOND, VA. + +A meeting was held on November 3d, presided over by Mr. Jefferson +Davis. Mr. Davis delivered an address, of which we regret that we have +received no complete copy. We give it as reported in the Richmond +_Dispatch_. + +REMARKS OF PRESIDENT DAVIS. + +As Mr. Davis arose to walk to the stand, every person in the house +stood, and there followed such a storm of applause as seemed to shake +the very foundations of the building, while cheer upon cheer was +echoed from the throats of veterans saluting one whom they delighted +to honor. + +Mr. Davis spoke at length, and with his accustomed thrilling, moving +eloquence. We shall not attempt, at the late hour at which we write, +to give a full report of his address. + +He addressed his hearers as "Soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy, +comrades and friends: Assembled on this sad occasion, with hearts +oppressed with the grief that follows the loss of him who was our +leader on many a bloody battle-field, a pleasing though melancholy +spectacle is presented. Hitherto, and in all times, men have been +honored when successful; but here is the case of one who amid +disaster went down to his grave, and those who were his companions in +misfortune have assembled to honor his memory. It is as much an honor +to you who give as to him who receives; for, above the vulgar test of +merit, you show yourselves competent to discriminate between him who +enjoys and him who deserves success. + +"Robert E. Lee was my associate and friend in the Military Academy, +and we were friends until the hour of his death. We were associates +and friends when he was a soldier and I a Congressman; and associates +and friends when he led the armies of the Confederacy and I presided +in its cabinet. We passed through many sad scenes together, but I +cannot remember that there was ever aught but perfect harmony between +us. If ever there was difference of opinion, it was dissipated +by discussion, and harmony was the result. I repeat, _we never +disagreed_; and I may add that I never in my life saw in him the +slightest tendency to self-seeking. It was not his to make a record, +it was not his to shift blame to other shoulders; but it was his, with +an eye fixed upon the welfare of his country, never faltering, to +follow the line of duty to the end. His was the heart that braved +every difficulty; his was the mind that wrought victory out of defeat. + +"He has been charged with 'want of dash.' I wish to say that I never +knew Lee to falter to attempt any thing ever man could dare. An +attempt has also been made to throw a cloud upon his character because +he left the Army of the United States to join in the struggle for the +liberty of his State. Without trenching at all upon politics, I deem +it my duty to say one word in reference to this charge. Virginian +born, descended from a family illustrious in Virginia's annals, given +by Virginia to the service of the United States, he represented her in +the Military Academy at West Point. He was not educated by the Federal +Government, but by Virginia; for she paid her full share for the +support of that institution, and was entitled to demand in return +the services of her sons. Entering the Army of the United States, he +represented Virginia there also, and nobly. On many a hard-fought +field Lee was conspicuous, battling for his native State as much as +for the Union. He came from Mexico crowned with honors, covered by +brevets, and recognized, young as he was, as one of the ablest of his +country's soldiers. And, to prove that he was estimated then as such, +let me tell you that when Lee was a captain of engineers stationed in +Baltimore, the Cuban Junta in New York selected him to be their leader +in the struggle for the independence of their native country. They +were anxious to secure his services, and offered him every temptation +that ambition could desire. He thought the matter over, and, I +remember, came to Washington to consult me as to what he should do; +and when I began to discuss the complications which might arise from +his acceptance of the trust, he gently rebuked me, saying that this +was not the line upon which he wished my advice: the simple question +was, 'Whether it was right or not?' He had been educated by the United +States, and felt wrong to accept a place in the army of a foreign +power. Such was his extreme delicacy, such was the nice sense of honor +of the gallant gentleman whose death we deplore. But when Virginia +withdrew, the State to whom he owed his first and last allegiance, the +same nice sense of honor led him to draw his sword and throw it in the +scale for good or for evil. Pardon me for this brief defence of my +illustrious friend. + +"When Virginia joined the Confederacy, Robert Lee, the highest officer +in the little army of Virginia, came to Richmond; and, not pausing to +inquire what would be his rank in the service of the Confederacy, went +to Western Virginia under the belief that he was still an officer of +the State. He came back, carrying the heavy weight of defeat, and +unappreciated by the people whom he served, for they could not know, +as I knew, that if his plans and orders had been carried out the +result would have been victory rather than retreat. You did not know, +for I would not have known it had he not breathed it in my ear only +at my earnest request, and begging that nothing be said about it. The +clamor which then arose followed him when he went to South Carolina, +so that it became necessary on his going to South Carolina to write a +letter to the Governor of that State, telling him what manner of man +he was. Yet, through all this, with a magnanimity rarely equalled, +he stood in silence without defending himself or allowing others to +defend him, for he was unwilling to offend any one who was wearing a +sword and striking blows for the Confederacy." + +Mr. Davis then spoke of the straits to which the Confederacy was +reduced, and of the danger to which her capital was exposed, just +after the battle of Seven Pines, and told how General Lee had +conceived and executed the desperate plan to turn their flank and +rear, which, after seven days of bloody battle, was crowned with the +protection of Richmond, while the enemy was driven far from the city. + +The speaker referred also to the circumstances attending General Lee's +crossing the Potomac on the march into Pennsylvania. He (Mr. Davis) +assumed the responsibility of that movement. The enemy had long been +concentrating his force, and it was evident that if he continued his +steady progress the Confederacy would be overwhelmed. Our only hope +was to drive him to the defence of his own capital, we being enabled +in the mean time to reënforce our shattered army. How well General Lee +carried out that dangerous experiment need not be told. Richmond was +relieved, the Confederacy was relieved, and time was obtained, if +other things had favored, to reënforce the army. + +"But," said Mr. Davis, "I shall not attempt to review the military +career of our fallen chieftain. Of the man, how shall I speak? He was +my friend, and in that word is included all that I could say of +any man. His moral qualities rose to the height of his genius. +Self-denying; always intent upon the one idea of duty; self-controlled +to an extent that many thought him cold, his feelings were really +warm, and his heart melted freely at the sight of a wounded soldier, +or the story of the sufferings of the widow and orphan. During the war +he was ever conscious of the inequality of the means at his control; +but it was never his to complain or to utter a doubt; it was always +his to do. When, in the last campaign, he was beleaguered at +Petersburg, and painfully aware of the straits to which we were +reduced, he said: 'With my army in the mountains of Virginia, I could +carry on this war for twenty years longer.' His men exhausted, and his +supplies failing, he was unable to carry out his plans. An untoward +event caused him to anticipate the movement, and the Army of Northern +Virginia was overwhelmed. But, in the surrender, he anticipated +conditions that have not been fulfilled; he expected his army to be +respected, and his paroled soldiers to be allowed the enjoyments of +life and property. Whether these conditions have been fulfilled, let +others say. + +"Here he now sleeps in the land he loved so well; and that land is not +Virginia only, for they do injustice to Lee who believe he fought only +for Virginia. He was ready to go anywhere, on any service, for the +good of his country; and his heart was as broad as the fifteen States +struggling for the principles that our forefathers fought for in the +Revolution of 1776. He is sleeping in the same soil with the thousands +who fought under the same flag, but first offered up their lives. +Here, the living are assembled to honor his memory, and there the +skeleton sentinels keep watch over his grave. This citizen, this +soldier, this great general, this true patriot, left behind him the +crowning glory of a true Christian. His Christianity ennobled him in +life, and affords us grounds for the belief that he is happy beyond +the grave. + +"But, while we mourn the loss of the great and the true, drop we also +tears of sympathy with her who was his helpmeet--the noble woman +who, while her husband was in the field leading the army of the +Confederacy, though an invalid herself, passed the time in knitting +socks for the marching soldiers! A woman fit to be the mother of +heroes; and heroes are descended from her. Mourning with her, we can +only offer the consolation of a Christian. Our loss is not his; but +he now enjoys the rewards of a life well spent, and a never-wavering +trust in a risen Saviour. This day we unite our words of sorrow with +those of the good and great throughout Christendom, for his fame +is gone over the water; his deeds will be remembered, and when the +monument we build shall have crumbled into dust, his virtues will +still live, a high model for the imitation of generations yet unborn." + +We have given but a faint idea of the eloquent thoughts and chaste +oratory of the speaker. His words were heard with profound attention, +and received with frequent applause. + +MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. + +Colonel C.S. Venable then presented the following report of the +Committee on Resolutions: + +"_Whereas_, It is a high and holy duty, as well as a noble privilege, +to perpetuate the honors of those who have displayed eminent virtues +and performed great achievements, that they may serve as incentives +and examples to the latest generation of their countrymen, and +attest the reverential admiration and affectionate regard of their +compatriots; and-- + +"_Whereas_, This duty and privilege devolve on all who love and admire +General Robert E. Lee throughout this country and the world, and in +an especial manner upon those who followed him in the field, or who +fought in the same cause, who shared in his glories, partook of his +trials, and were united with him in the same sorrows and adversity, +who were devoted to him in war by the baptism of fire and blood, and +bound to him in peace by the still higher homage due to the rare and +grand exhibition of a character pure and lofty and gentle and true, +under all changes of fortune, and serene amid the greatest disasters: + +therefore, be it + +"_Resolved_, That we favor an association to erect a monument at +Richmond to the memory of Robert E. Lee, as an enduring testimonial of +our love and respect, and devotion to his fame. + +"_Resolved_, That, while donations will be gladly received from all +who recognize in the excellences of General Lee's character an honor +and an encouragement to our common humanity, and an abiding hope +that coming generations may be found to imitate his virtues, it is +desirable that every Confederate soldier and sailor should make some +contribution, however small, to the proposed monument. + +"_Resolved_, That, for the purpose of securing efficiency and +dispatch in the erection of the monument, an executive committee of +seventy-five, with a president, secretary, treasurer, auditor, etc., +be appointed, to invite and collect subscriptions, to procure designs +for said monument, to select the best, to provide for the organization +of central executive committees in other States, which may serve +as mediums of communication between the executive committee of the +Association and the local associations of these States. + +"_Resolved_, That we respectfully invite the ladies of the Hollywood +Association to lend us their assistance and coöperation in the +collection of subscriptions. + +"_Resolved_, That we cordially approve of the local monument now +proposed to be erected by other associations at Atlanta, and at +Lexington, his last home, whose people were so closely united with him +in the last sad years of his life. + +"_Resolved_, That, while we cordially thank the Governor and +Legislature of Virginia, for the steps they have taken to do honor to +the memory of General Lee, yet in deference to the wishes of his loved +and venerated widow, with whom we mourn, we will not discuss the +question of the most fitting resting-place for his ever-glorious +remains, but will content ourselves with expressing the earnest desire +and hope that at some future proper time they will be committed to the +charge of this Association." + +Generals John S. Preston, John B. Gordon, Henry A. Wise, and William +Henry Preston, and Colonels Robert E. Withers and Charles Marshall, +delivered eloquent and appropriate speeches, and argued that Richmond +is the proper place for the final interment of the remains of General +Lee. + +The resolutions were adopted, and the meeting adjourned. + +COLUMBIA, S.C. + +At a meeting in this city the following remarks were made by-- + +GENERAL WADE HAMPTON. + +"_Fellow-Citizens_: We are called together to-day by an announcement +which will cause profound sorrow throughout the civilized world, and +which comes to us bearing the additional grief of a personal and +private bereavement. The foremost man in all the world is no more; +and, as that news is carried by the speed of lightning through every +town, village, and hamlet of this land which he loved so well, +and among those people who loved and honored and venerated him so +profoundly, every true heart in the stricken South will feel that the +country has lost its pride and glory, and that the citizens of that +country have lost a father. I dare not venture to speak of him as I +feel. Nor do we come to eulogize him. Not only wherever the English +language is spoken, but wherever civilization extends, the sorrow--a +part at least of the sorrow--we feel will be felt, and more eloquent +tongues than mine will tell the fame and recount the virtues of Robert +E. Lee. We need not come to praise him. We come only to express our +sympathy, our grief, our bereavement. We come not to mourn him, for we +know that it is well with him. We come only to extend our sympathy to +those who are bereaved. + +"Now that he is fallen, I may mention what I have never spoken of +before, to show you not only what were the feelings that actuated him +in the duty to which his beloved countrymen called him, but what noble +sentiments inspired him when he saw the cause for which he had been +fighting so long about to perish. Just before the surrender, after a +night devoted to the most arduous duties, as one of his staff came +in to see him in the morning, he found him worn and weary and +disheartened, and the general said to him, 'How easily I could get rid +of this and be at rest! I have only to ride along the line, and +all will be over. But,' said he--and there spoke the Christian +patriot--'it is our duty to _live_, for what will become of the women +and children of the South if we are not here to protect them?' That +same spirit of duty which had actuated him through all the perils and +all the hardships of that unequalled conflict which he had waged so +heroically, that same high spirit of duty told him that he must live +to show that he was great--greater, if that were possible, in peace +than in war; live to teach the people whom he had before led to +victory how to bear defeat; live to show what a great and good man can +accomplish; live to set an example to his people for all time; live to +bear, if nothing else, his share of the sorrows, and the afflictions, +and the troubles, which had come upon his people. He is now at rest; +and surely we of the South can say of him, as we say of his great +exemplar, the 'Father of his Country,' that 'he was first in war, +first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.'" + +BALTIMORE. + +At a meeting of the officers and soldiers who served under General +Lee, held in this city on October 15th, a number of addresses were +made, which we are compelled to somewhat condense. That of Colonel +Marshall, General Lee's chief of staff, was as follows: + +COLONEL CHARLES MARSHALL. + +"In presenting the resolutions of the committee, I cannot refrain from +expressing the feelings inspired by the memories that crowd upon my +mind when I reflect that these resolutions are intended to express +what General Lee's surviving soldiers feel toward General Lee. The +committee are fully aware of their inability to do justice to the +sentiments that inspire the hearts of those for whom they speak. How +can we portray in words the gratitude, the pride, the veneration, the +anguish, that now fill the hearts of those who shared his victories +and his reverses, his triumphs and his defeats? How can we tell the +world what we can only feel ourselves? How can we give expression to +the crowding memories called forth by the sad event we are met to +deplore? + +"We recall him as he appeared in the hour of victory, grand, imposing, +awe-inspiring, yet self-forgetful and humble. We recall the great +scenes of his triumph, when we hailed him victor on many a bloody +field, and when above the paeans of victory we listened with reverence +to his voice as he ascribed 'all glory to the Lord of hosts, from +whom all glories are.' We remember that grand magnanimity that never +stooped to pluck those meaner things that grew nearest the earth upon +the tree of victory, but which, with eyes turned toward the stars, and +hands raised toward heaven, gathered the golden fruits of mercy, +pity, and holy charity, that ripen on its topmost boughs beneath the +approving smile of the great God of battles. We remember the sublime +self-abnegation of Chancellorsville, when, in the midst of his +victorious legions, who, with the light of battle yet on their faces, +hailed him conqueror, he thought only of his great lieutenant lying +wounded on the field, and transferred to him all the honor of that +illustrious day. + +"I will be pardoned, I am sure, for referring to an incident which +affords to my mind a most striking illustration of one of the grandest +features of his character. On the morning of May 3, 1863, as many of +you will remember, the final assault was made upon the Federal lines +at Chancellorsville. General Lee accompanied the troops in person, and +as they emerged from the fierce combat they had waged in 'the depths +of that tangled wilderness,' driving the superior forces of the enemy +before them across the open ground, he rode into their midst. The +scene is one that can never be effaced from the minds of those who +witnessed it. The troops were pressing forward with all the ardor and +enthusiasm of combat. The white smoke of musketry fringed the front of +the line of battle, while the artillery on the hills in the rear of +the infantry shook the earth with its thunder, and filled the air with +the wild shrieks of the shells that plunged into the masses of the +retreating foe. To add greater horror and sublimity to the scene, the +Chancellorsville House and the woods surrounding it were wrapped in +flames. In the midst of this awful scene, General Lee, mounted upon +that horse which we all remember so well, rode to the front of his +advancing battalions. His presence was the signal for one of those +uncontrollable outbursts of enthusiasm which none can appreciate +who have not witnessed them. The fierce soldiers, with their faces +blackened with the smoke of battle; the wounded, crawling with feeble +limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with +a common impulse. One long, unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of +those who lay helpless on the earth blended with the strong voices of +those who still fought, rose high above the roar of battle and hailed +the presence of the victorious chief. He sat in the full realization +of all that soldiers dream of--triumph; and, as I looked upon him in +the complete fruition of the success which his genius, courage, and +confidence in his army, had won, I thought it must have been from some +such scene that men in ancient days ascended to the dignity of the +gods. His first care was for the wounded of both armies, and he was +among the foremost at the burning mansion where some of them lay. But +at that moment, when the transports of his victorious troops were +drowning the roar of battle with acclamations, a note was brought to +him from General Jackson. It was brought to General Lee as he sat on +his horse near the Chancellorsville House, and, unable to open it with +his gauntleted hands, he passed it to me with directions to read it to +him. The note made no mention of the wound that General Jackson had +received, but congratulated General Lee upon the great victory. I +shall never forget the look of pain and anguish that passed over his +face as he listened. With a voice broken with emotion he bade me +say to General Jackson that the victory was his, and that the +congratulations were due to him. I know not how others may regard this +incident, but, for myself, as I gave expression to the thoughts of his +exalted mind, I forgot the genius that won the day in my reverence for +the generosity that refused its glory. + +"There is one other incident to which I beg permission to refer, that +I may perfect the picture. On the 3d day of July, 1863, the last +assault of the Confederate troops upon the heights of Gettysburg +failed, and again General Lee was among his baffled and shattered +battalions as they sullenly retired from their brave attempt. The +history of that battle is yet to be written, and the responsibility +for the result is yet to be fixed. But there, with the painful +consciousness that his plans had been frustrated by others, and that +defeat and humiliation had overtaken his army, in the presence of his +troops he openly assumed the entire responsibility of the campaign and +of the lost battle. One word from him would have relieved him of this +responsibility, but that word he refused to utter until it could be +spoken without fear of doing the least injustice. + +"Thus, my fellow-soldiers, I have presented to you our great commander +in the supreme moments of triumph and defeat. I cannot more strongly +illustrate his character. Has it been surpassed in history? Is there +another instance of such self-abnegation among men? The man rose +high above victory in one instance; and, harder still, the man rose +superior to disaster in the other. It was such incidents as these that +gave General Lee the absolute and undoubting confidence and affection +of his soldiers. Need I speak of the many exhibitions of that +confidence? You all remember them, my comrades. Have you not seen a +wavering line restored by the magic of his presence? Have you not seen +the few forget that they were fighting against the many, because he +was among the few? + +"But I pass from the contemplation of his greatness in war, to look to +his example under the oppressive circumstances of final failure--to +look to that example to which it is most useful for us now to refer +for our guidance and instruction. When the attempt to establish the +Southern Confederacy had failed, and the event of the war seemed to +have established the indivisibility of the Federal Union, General Lee +gave his adhesion to the new order of things. His was no hollow truce; +but, with the pure faith and honor that marked every act of his +illustrious career, he immediately devoted himself to the restoration +of peace, harmony, and concord. He entered zealously into the subject +of education, believing, as he often declared, that popular education +is the only sure foundation of free government. He gave his earnest +support to all plans of internal improvements designed to bind more +firmly together the social and commercial interests of the country, +and among the last acts of his life was the effort to secure the +construction of a line of railway communication of incalculable +importance as a connecting link between the North and the South. He +devoted all his great energies to the advancement of the welfare of +his countrymen while shrinking from public notice, and sought to lay +deep and strong the foundations of government which it was supposed +would rise from the ruins of the old. But I need not repeat to you, my +comrades, the history of his life since the war. You have watched it +to its close, and you know how faithfully and truly he performed every +duty of his position. Let us take to heart the lesson of his bright +example. Disregarding all that malice may impute to us, with an eye +single to the faithful performance of our duties as American citizens, +and with an honest and sincere resolution to support with heart and +hand the honor, the safety, and the true liberties of our country, let +us invoke our fellow-citizens to forget the animosities of the past by +the side of this honored grave, and, 'joining hands around this royal +corpse, friends now, enemies no more, proclaim perpetual truce to +battle.'" + +The following are among the resolutions: + +"The officers, soldiers, and sailors, of the Southern Confederacy, +residing in Maryland, who served under General Lee, desiring to record +their grief for his death, their admiration for his exalted virtues, +and their affectionate veneration for his illustrious memory-- + +"_Resolved_, That, leaving with pride the name and fame of our +illustrious commander to the judgment of history, we, who followed +him through the trials, dangers, and hardships of a sanguinary and +protracted war; who have felt the inspiration of his genius and +valor in the time of trial; who have witnessed his magnanimity and +moderation in the hour of victory, and his firmness and fortitude in +defeat, claim the privilege of laying the tribute of our heart-felt +sorrow upon his honored grave. + +"_Resolved_, That the confidence and admiration which his eminent +achievements deserved and received were strengthened by the noble +example of his constancy in adversity, and that we honored and revered +him in his retirement as we trusted and followed him on the field of +battle. + +"_Resolved_, That, as a token of respect and sorrow, we will wear the +customary badge of mourning for thirty days. + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions and of the proceedings +of this meeting be transmitted to the family of our lamented chief." + +On the 29th of October a meeting was held to appoint delegates to +represent the State of Maryland at the Richmond Lee Monumental +Convention. After some brief remarks by General I.R. Trimble, and the +adoption of resolutions constituting the Lee Monument Association of +Maryland, the Hon. Reverdy Johnson addressed the meeting as follows: + +HON. REVERDY JOHNSON. + +"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: I am here in compliance with the +request of many gentlemen present, and I not only willingly complied +with that request, but I am willing to do all I am able, to show my +appreciation of the character, civil and military, of Robert E. Lee. +It was my good fortune to know him before the Mexican War, in those +better days before the commencement of the sad struggle through which +we have recently passed. I saw in him every thing that could command +the respect and admiration of men, and I watched with peculiar +interest his course in the Mexican War. It was also my good fortune +to know the late Lieutenant-General Scott. In the commencement of +the struggle to which I have alluded, I occupied in Washington +the position of _quasi_ military adviser to him, and was, in that +capacity, intimately associated with him. I have heard him often +declare that the glorious and continued success which crowned our arms +in the war with Mexico was owing, in a large measure, to the skill, +valor, and undaunted courage of Robert E. Lee. He entertained for him +the warmest personal friendship, and it was his purpose to recommend +him as his successor in the event of his death or inability to +perform the duties of his high position. In April, 1861, after the +commencement of hostilities between the two great sections of our +country, General Lee, then lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in the Army +of the United States, offered his resignation. I was with General +Scott when he was handed the letter of resignation, and I saw what +pain the fact caused him. While he regretted the step his most +valuable officer had taken, he never failed to say emphatically, +and over and over again, that he believed he had taken it from _an +imperative sense of duty_. He was also consoled by the belief that if +he was placed at the head of the armies of the then Confederation, he +would have in him a foeman in every way worthy of him, and one who +would conduct the war upon the highest principles of civilized +warfare, and that he would not suffer encroachments to be made upon +the rights of private property and the rights of unoffending citizens. + +"Some may be surprised that I am here to eulogize Robert E. Lee. It is +well known that I did not agree with him in his political views. At +the beginning of the late war, and for many years preceding it, even +from the foundation of this Government, two great questions agitated +the greatest minds of this country. Many believed that the allegiance +of the citizen was due first to his State, and many were of the +opinion that, according to the true reading of the Constitution, a +State had no right to leave the Union and claim sovereign rights and +the perpetual allegiance of her citizens. I did not agree in the +first-named opinion, but I knew it was honestly entertained. I knew +men of the purest character, of the highest ability, and of the most +liberal and patriotic feelings, who conscientiously believed it. Now +the war is over, thank God! and to that thank I am sure this meeting +will respond, it is the duty of every citizen of this land to seek +to heal the wounds of the war, to forget past differences, and to +forgive, as far as possible, the faults to which the war gave rise. In +no other way can the Union be truly and permanently restored. We are +now together as a band of brothers. The soldiers of the Confederacy, +headed by the great chief we now mourn, have expressed their +willingness to abide by the issue of the contest. What a spectacle to +the world! After years of military devastation, with tens of thousands +dead on her battle-fields, with the flower of her children slain, with +her wealth destroyed, her commerce swept away, her agricultural and +mechanical pursuits almost ruined, the South yielded. The North, +victorious and strong, could not forget what she owed to liberty +and human rights. We may well swear now that as long as liberty is +virtuous we will be brothers. + +"Robert E. Lee is worthy of all praise. As a man, he was peerless; as +a soldier, he had no equal and no superior; as a humane and Christian +soldier, he towers high in the political horizon. You cannot imagine +with what delight, when I had the honor to represent this country +at the court of Great Britain, I heard the praises of his fame and +character which came from soldiers and statesmen. I need not speak +of the comparative merits of General Lee and the Union generals who +opposed him; this is not the place or time for a discussion of their +respective successes and defeats; but I may say that, as far as I was +able to judge of the sentiments of the military men of Great Britain, +they thought none of the Union officers superior to General Robert E. +Lee. Their admiration for him was not only on account of his skill on +the battle-field, and the skilful manner with which he planned and +executed his campaigns, but the humane manner in which he performed +his sad duty. They alluded specially to his conduct when invading the +territory of his enemy--his restraint upon his men, telling them that +the honor of the army depended upon the manner of conducting the war +in the enemy's country--and his refusal to resort to retaliatory +measures. I know that great influences were brought to bear upon him, +when he invaded Pennsylvania, to induce him to consent to extreme +measures. His answer, however, was, 'No; if I suffer my army to pursue +the course recommended, I cannot invoke the blessing of God upon my +arms.' He would not allow his troops to destroy private property or to +violate the rights of the citizens. When the necessities of his army +compelled the taking of commissary stores, by his orders his officers +paid for them in Confederate money at its then valuation. No burning +homesteads illumined his march, no shivering and helpless children +were turned out of their homes to witness their destruction by the +torch. With him all the rules of civilized war, having the higher +sanction of God, were strictly observed. The manly fortitude with +which he yielded at Appomattox to three times his numbers showed that +he was worthy of the honors and the fame the South had given him. +This is not the first time since the termination of the war I have +expressed admiration and friendship for Robert E. Lee. When I heard +that he was about to be prosecuted in a Virginia court for the alleged +crime of treason, I wrote to him at once, and with all my heart, that +if he believed I could be of any service to him, professionally, I +was at his command. All the ability I possess, increased by more +than fifty years of study and experience, would have been cheerfully +exerted to have saved him, for in saving him I believe I would have +been saving the honor of my country. I received a characteristic reply +in terms of friendship and grateful thanks. He wrote that he did not +think the prosecution would take place. Hearing, however, some time +after, that the prosecution would commence at Richmond, I went at once +to that city and saw his legal adviser, Hon. William H. McFarland, one +of the ablest men of the bar of Virginia. Mr. McFarland showed me +a copy of a letter from General Lee to General Grant, enclosing an +application for a pardon which he desired General Grant to present to +the President, but telling him not to present it if any steps had been +taken for his prosecution, as he was willing to stand the test. He +wrote that he had understood by the terms of surrender at Appomattox +that he and all his officers and men were to be protected. That +letter, I am glad to say, raised General Lee higher in my esteem. +General Grant at once replied, and he showed his reply to me. He wrote +that he had seen the President, and protested against any steps being +taken against General Lee, and had informed him that he considered his +honor and the honor of the nation pledged to him. The President +became satisfied, and no proceedings were ever taken. General Grant +transmitted to the President the application of General Lee for +pardon, indorsed with his most earnest approval. No pardon was +granted. He did not need it here, and, when he appears before that +great tribunal before which we must all be called, he will find he has +no account to settle there. No soldier who followed General Lee could +have felt more grief and sympathy at his grave than I would, could I +have been present upon the mournful occasion of his burial. I lamented +his loss as a private loss, and still more as a public loss. I knew +that his example would continue to allay the passions aroused by the +war, and which I was not surprised were excited by some acts in that +war. I love my country; I am jealous of her honor. I cherish her good +name, and I am proud of the land of my birth. I forbear to criticise +the lives and characters of her high officers and servants, but I can +say with truth that, during the late war, the laws of humanity were +forgotten, and the higher orders of God were trodden under foot. + +"The resolutions need no support which human lips can by human +language give. Their subject is their support. The name of Lee appeals +at once, and strongly, to every true heart in this land and throughout +the world. Let political partisans, influenced by fanaticism and the +hope of political plunder, find fault with and condemn us. They will +be forgotten when the name of Lee will be resplendent with immortal +glory. + +"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, in the course of Nature my career upon +earth must soon terminate. God grant that when the day of my death +comes, I may look up to Heaven with that confidence and faith which +the life and character of Robert E. Lee gave him! He died trusting in +God, as a good man, with a good life and a pure conscience. He was +consoled with the knowledge that the religion of Christ had ordered +all his ways, and he knew that the verdict of God upon the account he +would have to render in heaven would be one of judgment seasoned with +mercy. He had a right to believe that when God passed judgment upon +the account of his life, though He would find him an erring human +being, He would find virtue enough and religious faith enough to save +him from any other verdict than that of 'Well done, good and faithful +servant.' The monument will be raised; and when it is raised many a +man will visit Richmond to stand beside it, to do reverence to the +remains it may cover, and to say, 'Here lie the remains of one of the +noblest men who ever lived or died in America.'" + +HON. GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN + +"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: The able and eloquent gentlemen who +have preceded me have left but little for me to say. I rise, however, +to express my hearty assent to the resolutions. Their broad and +liberal views are worthy of the great and good man whose virtues and +fame we seek to commemorate. He has passed away from earth, and our +blame or censure is nothing to him now. The most eloquent eulogies +that human lips can utter, and the loftiest monuments that human hands +can build, cannot affect him now. But it is a satisfaction to us +to know that expressions of the love for him which lives in every +Southern heart--ay, in many a Northern heart--were heard long before +his death, and that honor shed noble lustre around the last years of +his life. He was the representative of a lost cause; he had sheathed +his sword forever; he had surrendered his army to superior numbers; +he was broken in fortune and in health, and was only president of a +Virginia college, yet he was one of the foremost men of all the world. + +"It has been said of General Lee, as it has been said of Washington, +that he was deficient in genius. His character was so complete that +what would have seemed evidences of genius with other men, were lost +in the combination of his character and mind. He was always, and +especially in every great crisis, a leader among men. During the four +years of his education at West Point he did not receive a single +reprimand. As a cavalry-officer, wherever he went he was a marked man; +and when General Scott made his wonderful march to the capital of +Mexico, Captain Lee was his right arm. At the commencement of the late +war, though only a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, he was offered the +command of the armies of the United States. What a prize for ambition! +Fortune, fame, and honors, awaited him. Where would he have been +to-day? Probably in the presidential chair of this great nation. But +he rejected all to take his chance with his own people, and to unite +with them in their resistance to the vast numbers and resources which +he knew the North was able to bring against them. There is nothing +more remarkable in the annals of warfare than the success with which +General Lee defeated for years the armies of the United States. +Consider the six-days' battles around Richmond; the second battle of +Manassas; the battles at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg; +the wonderful contest at Chancellorsville; then again the remarkable +battle of the Wilderness, in which it has been said by Federal +authority that General Lee actually killed as many men as he had under +his command; the defence at Cold Harbor, the prolonged defence of +Richmond and Petersburg, and the admirably-conducted retreat with but +a handful before an immense army. Well has he been spoken of as +'the incomparable strategist.' Did any man ever fight against more +desperate odds or resources? + +"But not merely as a great general is General Lee to be admired. He +claims our admiration as a great man--great in adversity. I think +there is nothing more admirable in all his life than his conduct in +assuming the sole responsibility at Gettysburg. In the midst of defeat +Lee was calm, unmoved, showing no fear where despair would have been +in the heart of any other general, and saying to his officers and men, +'The fault is all mine.' Let the monument be raised, not merely by +soldiers of General Lee, but by all men, no matter of what political +feelings, who appreciate and honor that which is manly, great, and +patriotic. The monument at Richmond will be the resort of pilgrims +from the North as well as from the South, and the grave of Lee will be +second only in the hearts of the people to the grave of Washington." + +LEXINGTON, KY. + +At the meeting at Lexington, resolutions were adopted similar to +those already given. The meeting was addressed by General Preston and +others. + +GENERAL W. PRESTON. + +"I am permitted to accompany the report with a few remarks, although I +deem it unnecessary to use one word of commendation on the character +of such a man. These resolutions are no doubt very short, but they +will testify the feelings of every right-minded, noble-hearted man, no +matter what may have been his opinions as to the past. Every true +and generous soul feels that these resolutions are expressive of the +sorrow entertained by the whole country. We speak not only the common +voice of America, but of the world at this hour. It is no ordinary +case of eulogy over an ordinary being, but over one who was the man +of the century; a man who, by mighty armies commanded with admirable +skill; by great victories achieved, and yet never stained by +exultation; by mighty misfortunes met with a calm eye, and submitted +to with all the dignity that belongs to elevated intelligence, and by +his simplicity and grandeur, challenged the admiration of civilized +mankind; and still more remarkable, after yielding to the greatest +vicissitudes that the world ever saw, resigned himself to the +improvement of the youth of the country, to the last moment of his +mortal life, looking to the glorious life which he contemplated beyond +the tomb. I must confess that, notwithstanding the splendor and glory +of his career, I envy him the dignity of the pacific close of +his life. Nothing more gentle, nothing more great, nothing more +uncomplaining, has ever been recorded in the history of the world. By +returning to Napoleon, we find he murmured, we find all the marks +of mortality and mortal anger; but in Lee we find a man perfect in +Christian principles--dignified, yet simple. + +"I knew him first when he was a captain. I was then a young man +connected with one of the regiments of this State, in Mexico, the +Fourth Kentucky; and when I first saw him he was a man of extreme +physical beauty, remarkable for his great gentleness of manner, and +for his freedom from all military and social vices. At that time, +General Scott, by common consent, had fixed upon General Lee as the +man who would make his mark if ever the country needed his services. +He never swore an oath, he never drank, he never wrangled, but there +was not a single dispute between gentlemen that his voice was not more +potent than any other; his rare calmness, serenity, and dignity, +were above all. When the war came on, he followed his native State, +Virginia, for he was the true representative of the great Virginia +family at Washington. He was the real type of his race. He was +possessed of all the most perfect points of Washington's character, +with all the noble traits of his own. + +"Scott maintained that Lee was the greatest soldier in the army. His +discerning eye compared men; and I remember when, in some respects, I +thought General Lee's military education had not fitted him for the +great talents which he was destined to display. I remember when +General Scott made use of these remarkable words: 'I tell you one +thing, if I was on my death-bed, and knew there was a battle to be +fought for the liberties of my country, and the President was to say +to me, "Scott, who shall command?" I tell you that, with my dying +breath, I should say Robert Lee. Nobody but Robert Lee! Robert Lee, +and nobody but Lee!' That impressed me very much, because, at the +beginning of the campaign, Lee was not prosperous; and why? because +he was building up his men with that science which he possessed. His +great qualities were discerned not after his remarkable campaigns; +but, long before it, his name was regarded with that respected +preëminence to which it did rise under that campaign. And I now say, +and even opposite officers will admit, that no man has displayed +greater power, more military ability, or more noble traits of +character, than Robert E. Lee. Therefore it is that America has lost +much. Europe will testify this as well as ourselves in this local +community. Europe will weigh this, but after-ages will weigh him with +Moltke and Bazaine, with the Duke of Magenta, and with all military +men, and, in my judgment, those ages will say that the greatest fame +and ability belonged to Robert Lee. But let us look to his moral +character, to which I have already alluded. Through his whole life he +had been a fervent and simple Christian; throughout his campaigns he +was a brave and splendid soldier. If you ask of his friends, you will +find that they adore him. If you ask his character from his enemies, +you will find that they respect him, and respect is the involuntary +tribute which friend and enemy alike have to pay to elevated worth; +and, to-day, as the bells toll, their sounds will vibrate with the +tenderest feelings through every noble heart. Public confessions of +his worth and his greatness will be made through thousands of the +towns and cities throughout this broad land; and, even where they are +silent, monitors within will tell that a great spirit hath fled. This +secret monitor will tell that a great and good man has passed away, +who has left, in my opinion, no equal behind him." + +REV. DR. HENDERSON. + +"Since the announcement of the death of Robert E. Lee, I have been +momentarily expecting the appearance of a call to pay some tribute to +his splendid memory; but, if a notice had been given of this meeting, +it altogether escaped my attention, else I would have been here freely +and voluntarily. If I am a stranger in Lexington, and my lot has been +cast here only during the last three weeks, yet I am happy that my +fellow-citizens here have paid me such great respect as to call on me, +on such an occasion as the present, to testify to the greatness and +glory of General Robert E. Lee. Some public calamity is required to +bring us into one great brotherhood. 'One touch of Nature makes the +whole world kin.' Though you are all strangers to me, yet, in that +common sympathy which we all feel, we are mourners together at the +bier of departed worth. + +"It does not become one of my profession to take any partisan view of +the life of such a man, although it was my fortune to follow the same +flag which he carried to victory upon so many fields. When it was +furled, it was done with such calm magnificence as to win the +admiration of his enemies and of the world. Yet I do not stand here to +make any reference to that cause which has passed from the theatre of +earth's activity, and taken its place only in history. But I do claim +the right, from the stand-point which I occupy, of pointing to a man +worthy of the emulation of all who love the true nobility of humanity; +a man who was magnanimous to his enemies; who would weep at the +calamities of his foes; who, throughout the sanguinary struggle, could +preserve in himself the fullest share of human sympathy. History will +challenge the world to produce a single instance in which this +great man ever wantonly inflicted a blow, or ever wilfully imposed +punishment upon any of his captives, or ever pushed his victory upon +an enemy to gain unnecessary results--a man who, in all his campaigns, +showed the same bright example to all the battalions that followed the +lead of his sword. And now, since that flag which he carried has been +furled, what a magnificent example has been presented to the world! It +was said of Washington that he was first in war and first in peace, +but, in the latter regard, Robert E. Lee showed more greatness than +even the Father of his Country. He was struck down; the sun that had +brightened up the horizon of hopes sank in dark eclipse to set in +the shadow of disappointment. Calm and magnificent in the repose of +conscious strength, he felt that he had lived and struggled for a +principle that was dear to him. Though dead, it only remained for him +to be our example to the stricken and suffering people for whom he +labored, and to show how magnanimously a brave and true Christian +could act even when all he held sacred and dear was shattered by the +hand of calamity. And, at the close of his career, he devoted his +splendid capacity to the culture of the minds of his country's +youth. He came down from the summit on which he had won the world's +admiration, to the steady, regular duties of the school-room, to take +his place in the vestry of a Christian church, and to administer the +affairs of a country parish in the interest of Christianity. A man +who, by his dignity and simplicity, preserved the constant admiration +of his enemies, without even giving offence to his friends, such a man +should receive a niche in the Pantheon of Fame. + +"He stood in that great struggle of which as a star he was the leader, +of unclouded brightness, drawing over its mournful history a splendor +which is reflected from every sentence of its chronicle. He was an +example of a man, who, though branded because of defeat, still, by +his exalted character, gave a dignity and nobility to a cause which, +doubtless, is forever dead, yet still is rendered immortal by the +achievements of Robert E. Lee's sword and character." + +NEW YORK. + +"Services were held last evening," says a New-York journal, "in the +large hall of the Cooper Institute, in commemoration of the life and +character of the late General Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate States +Army, with especial reference to his civic and Christian virtues. The +call for the meeting stated that, although it was inaugurated by the +Southern residents in the city of New York, it was 'yet to be regarded +as in no sense born of partisan feeling, but solely from the desire +to do honor to the memory of a great and good man--an illustrious +American.' The attendance therefore of all, without reference to +section or nationality, was cordially invited. + +"There was no special decoration of the hall. Grafulla's band was in +attendance, and, prior to the opening of the meeting, played several +fine dirges. The choir of St. Stephen's Church also appeared upon the +platform and opened the proceedings by singing 'Come, Holy Spirit.' +The choir consisted of Madame de Luzan, Mrs. Jennie Kempton, Dr. +Bauos, and Herr Weinlich. Mr. H.B. Denforth presided at the piano. + +"Among the gentlemen present on the platform were General Imboden, +ex-Governor Lowe, General Walker, Colonel Hunter, General Daniel W. +Adams, Dr. Van Avery, Mr. M.B. Fielding, Colonel Fellows, General +Cabell, Colonel T.L. Gnead, Mr. McCormick, Mr. T.A. Hoyt, etc. + +"Mr. M.B. Fielding called the meeting to order, and requested the Rev. +Dr. Carter to offer prayer. + +"The Hon. John E. Ward was then called to preside, and delivered +the following address--all the marked passages of which were loudly +applauded: + +"We meet to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of one whom +the whole South revered with more than filial affection. The kind +manifestations of sympathy expressed through the press of this great +metropolis, this assemblage, the presence of these distinguished men, +who join with us this evening, testify that the afflicted voice of +his bereaved people has charmed down with sweet persuasion the angry +passions kindled by the conflict in which he was their chosen leader. +This is not the occasion either for an elaborate review of his life or +a eulogy of his character. I propose to attempt neither. Born of one +of the oldest and most distinguished families of our country--one +so renowned in the field and in the cabinet that it seemed almost +impossible to give brighter lustre to it--General Robert E. Lee +rendered that family name even more illustrious, and by his genius and +virtues extended its fame to regions of the globe where it had never +before been mentioned. There is no cause for envy or hatred left +now. His soldiers adored him most, not in the glare of his brilliant +victories, but in the hour of his deepest humiliation, when his last +great battle had been fought and lost--when the government for which +he had struggled was crumbling about him--when his staff, asking, in +despair, 'What can now be done?' he gave that memorable reply, 'It +were strange indeed if human virtue were not at least as strong as +human calamity.' This is the key to his life--the belief that trials +and strength, suffering and consolation, come alike from God. +Obedience to duty was ever his ruling principle. Infallibility is not +claimed for him in the exercise of his judgment in deciding what duty +was. But what he believed duty to command, that he performed without +thought of how he would appear in the performance. In the judgment of +many he may have mistaken his duty when he decided that it did not +require him to draw his sword 'against his home, his kindred, and his +children.' But Lee was no casuist or politician; he was a soldier. +'All that he would do highly that would he do holily.' He taught the +world that the Christian and the gentleman could be united in the +warrior. It was not when in pomp and power--when he commanded +successful legions and led armies to victories--but when in sorrow +and privation he assumed the instruction and guidance of the youth of +Virginia, laying the only true foundation upon which a republic can +rest, the Christian education of its youth--that he reaped the rich +harvest of a people's love. Goodness was the chief attribute of Lee's +greatness. Uniting in himself the rigid piety of the Puritan with the +genial, generous impulses of the cavalier, he won the love of all with +whom he came in contact, from the thoughtless child, with whom it was +ever his delight to sport, to the great captain of the age, with whom +he fought all the hard-won battles of Mexico. Some may believe that +the world has given birth to warriors more renowned, to rulers more +skilled in statecraft, but all must concede that a purer, nobler man +never lived. What successful warrior or ruler, in ancient or modern +times, has descended to his grave amid such universal grief and +lamentation as our Lee? Caesar fell by the hands of his own beloved +Brutus, because, by his tyranny, he would have enslaved Rome. +Frederick the Great, the founder of an empire, became so hated of men, +and learned so to despise them, that he ordered his 'poor carcass,' as +he called it, to be buried with his favorite dogs at Potsdam. Napoleon +reached his giddy height by paths which Lee would have scorned to +tread, only to be hurled from his eminence by all the powers of Europe +which his insatiate ambition had combined against him. Wellington, the +conqueror of Napoleon, became the leader of a political party, and +lived to need the protection of police from a mob. Even our own +Washington, whose character was as high above that of the mere warrior +and conqueror as is the blue vault of heaven above us to the low earth +we tread beneath our feet, was libelled in life and slandered in +death. Such were the fates of the most successful captains and +warriors of the world. For four long years Lee occupied a position not +less prominent than that of the most distinguished among them. The +eyes of the civilized world watched his every movement and scanned his +every motive. His cause was lost. He was unsuccessful. Yet he lived +to illustrate to the world how, despite failure and defeat, a soldier +could command honor and love from those for whom he struggled, and +admiration and respect from his foes, such as no success had ever +before won for warrior, prince, or potentate. And, when his life was +ended, the whole population of the South, forming one mighty funeral +procession, followed him to his grave. His obsequies modestly +performed by those most tenderly allied to him, he sleeps in the bosom +of the land he loved so well. His spotless fame will gather new vigor +and freshness from the lapse of time, and the day is not distant when +that fame will be claimed, not as the property of a section, but as +the heritage of a united people. His soul, now forever freed from +earth's defilements, basks in the sunlight of God.' _Pro tumulo +ponas patriam, pro tegmine caelum, sidera pro facibus, pro lachrymis +maria_.'" (Great applause.) + +GENERAL IMBODEN + +Rose and said: + +"It is with emotions of infinite grief I rise to perform one of +the saddest duties of my life. The committee who have arranged the +ceremonies on this occasion, deemed it expedient and proper to select +a Virginian as their organ to present to this large assembly of the +people of New York a formal preamble and resolutions, which give +expression to their feelings in regard to the death of General Robert +E. Lee. This distinction has been conferred by the committee upon me; +and I shall proceed to read their report, without offering to submit +any remarks as to the feelings excited in my own heart by this, +mournful intelligence:" + +RESOLUTIONS. + +"In this great metropolitan city of America, where men of every clime +and of all nationalities mingle in the daily intercourse of pleasure +and of business, no great public calamity can befall any people in the +world without touching a sympathetic chord in the hearts of thousands. +When, therefore, tidings reached us that General Robert E. Lee, of +Virginia, was dead, and that the people of that and all the other +Southern States of the Union were stricken with grief, the great +public heart of New York was moved with a generous sympathy, which +found kindly and spontaneous expression through the columns of the +city press of every shade of opinion. + +"All differences of the past, all bitter memories, all the feuds +that have kept two great sections of our country in angry strife and +controversy for so long, have been forgotten in the presence of the +awe-inspiring fact that no virtues, no deeds, no honors, nor any +position, can save any member of the human family from the common lot +of all. + +"The universal and profound grief of our Southern countrymen is +natural and honorable alike to themselves and to him whom they mourn, +and is respected throughout the world; for Robert E. Lee was allied +and endeared to them by all the most sacred ties that can unite an +individual to a community. He was born and reared in their midst, +and shared their local peculiarities, opinions, and traditional +characteristics; and his preëminent abilities and exalted personal +integrity and Christian character made him, by common consent, their +leader and representative in a great national conflict in which they +had staked life, fortune, and honor; and in Virginia his family was +coeval with the existence of the State, and its name was emblazoned +upon those bright pages of her early civil and military annals which +record the patriotic deeds of Washington and his compeers. + +"By no act of his did he ever forfeit or impair the confidence thus +reposed in him by his own peculiar people; and when he had, through +years of heroic trial and suffering, done all that mortal man could +do in discharge of the high trust confided by them to his hands, +and failed, he bowed with dignified submission to the decree of +Providence; and from the day he gave his parole at Appomattox to the +hour of his death, he so lived and acted as to deprive enmity of its +malignity, and became to his defeated soldiers and countrymen a bright +example of unqualified obedience to the laws of the land, and of +support to its established government. Nay, more. With a spirit of +Christian and affectionate duty to his impoverished and suffering +people, and with a high estimate of the importance of mental and moral +culture to a generation of youth whose earlier years were attended by +war's rough teachings, he went from the tented field and the command +of armies to the quiet shades of a scholastic institution in the +secluded valleys of his own native Virginia, and entered with all the +earnestness of his nature upon the duties of instruction, and there +spent the closing years of his life in training the minds and hearts +of young men from all parts of the country for the highest usefulness +'in their day and generation.' By these pursuits, and his exemplary +and unobtrusive life since the close of the great war in America, he +won the respect and admiration of the enlightened and the good of the +whole world. It is meet and natural, therefore, that his own people +should bewail his death as a sore personal bereavement to each one of +them. Those of us here assembled who were his soldiers, friends, and +supporters, sharing all the trials and many of the responsibilities of +that period of his life which brought him so prominently before the +world, honored and trusted him then, have loved and admired him, have +been guided by his example since; and now that he is dead, we should +be unworthy of ourselves, and unworthy to be called his countrymen, +did we not feel and express the same poignant grief which now afflicts +those among whom he lived and died. + +"Those of us who were not his soldiers, friends, and supporters, when +war raged throughout the land, but who have nevertheless met here +to-day with those who were our enemies then, but are now our friends +and countrymen, and appreciate with them the character of Lee, and +admire his rare accomplishments as an American citizen, whose fame and +name are the property of the nation, we all unite over his hallowed +sepulchre in an earnest prayer that old divisions may be composed, and +that a complete and perfect reconciliation of all estrangements may be +effected at the tomb, where all alike, in a feeling of common +humanity and universal Christian brotherhood, may drop their tears of +heart-felt sorrow. + +"Therefore, without regard to our former relations toward each other, +but meeting as Americans by birth or adoption, and in the broadest +sense of national unity, and in the spirit above indicated, to do +honor to a great man and Christian gentleman who has gone down to the +grave, we do + +"_Resolve_, That we have received with feelings of profound sorrow +intelligence of the death of General Robert E. Lee. We can and do +fully appreciate the grief of our Southern countrymen at the death +of one so honored by and so dear to them, and we tender to them this +expression of our sympathy, with the assurance that we feel in +the contemplation of so sad an event that we are and ought to be, +henceforth and forever, one great and harmonious national family, +sharing on all occasions each others' joys and sympathizing in each +others' sorrows. + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of the foregoing preamble, and these +resolutions, signed by the president and secretary, be transmitted to +the Governor of Virginia, with a request that the same be preserved in +the archives of the State; and that another copy be sent to the family +of General Lee. + + "J.D. IMBODEN, + Ex. NORTON, + JOHN MITCHEL, + C.K. MARSHALL, + T.L. SNEAD, + NORMAN D. SAMPSON, + Wm. H. APPLETON, + _Committee on Resolutions_" + +"On motion, the resolutions were unanimously adopted by a standing and +silent vote, which was followed by a spontaneous outburst of hearty +applause." + +We have given but a small portion of the addresses which were called +forth by this national calamity, and these, no doubt, have suffered +injustice by imperfect reporting. But we have shown, as we wished to +show, the standard by which our people estimate an heroic character, +and how the South loves and honors the memory of her great leader. + +A few extracts from the English press will show the feeling in that +country: + +THE PALL MALL GAZETTE. + +"Even amid the turmoil of the great European struggle, the +intelligence from America announcing that General Robert E. Lee is +dead, will be received with deep sorrow by many in this country, as +well as by his followers and fellow-soldiers in America. It is but +a few years since Robert E. Lee ranked among the great men of the +present time. He was the able soldier of the Southern Confederacy, the +bulwark of her northern frontier, the obstacle to the advance of the +Federal armies, and the leader who twice threatened, by the capture +of Washington, to turn the tide of success, and to accomplish a +revolution which would have changed the destiny of the United States. +Six years passed by, and then we heard that he was dying at an obscure +town in Virginia, where, since the collapse of the Confederacy, he had +been acting as a school-master. When, at the head of the last eight +thousand of his valiant army, the remnants which battle, sickness, and +famine had left him, he delivered up his sword to General Grant at +Appomattox Court-House, his public career ended; he passed away from +men's thoughts; and few in Europe cared to inquire the fate of +the general whose exploits had aroused the wonder of neutrals and +belligerents, and whose noble character had excited the admiration of +even the most bitter of his political enemies. If, however, success is +not always to be accounted as the sole foundation of renown, General +Lee's life and career deserve to be held in reverence by all who +admire the talents of a general and the noblest qualities of a +soldier. His family were well known in Virginia. Descended from the +Cavaliers who first colonized that State, they had produced more than +one man who fought with distinction for their country. They were +allied by marriage to Washington, and, previous to the recent war, +were possessed of much wealth; General (then Colonel) Robert Lee +residing, when not employed with his regiment, at Arlington Heights, +one of the most beautiful places in the neighborhood of Washington. +When the civil war first broke out, he was a colonel in the United +States Army, who had served with distinction in Mexico, and was +accounted among the best of the American officers. To him, as to +others, the difficult choice presented itself, whether to take the +side of his State, which had joined in the secession of the South, or +to support the central Government. It is said that Lee debated the +matter with General Scott, then Commander-in-chief, that both agreed +that their first duty lay with their State, but that the former only +put the theory into practice. + +"It was not until the second year of the war that Lee came prominently +forward, when, at the indecisive battle of Fair Oaks, in front of +Richmond, General Johnston having been wounded, he took command of the +army; and subsequently drove McClellan, with great loss, to the banks +of the James River. From that time he became the recognized leader +of the Confederate army of Virginia. He repulsed wave after wave of +invasion, army after army being hurled against him only to be thrown +back, beaten and in disorder. The Government at Washington were kept +in constant alarm by the near vicinity of his troops, and witnessed +more than once the entry into their intrenchments of a defeated +and disorganized rabble, which a few days previous had left them a +confident host. Twice he entered the Northern States at the head of +a successful army, and twice indecisive battles alone preserved from +destruction the Federal Government, and turned the fortune of the war. +He impressed his character on those who acted under him. Ambition for +him had no charms, duty alone was his guide. His simplicity of life +checked luxury and display among his officers, while his disregard of +hardships silenced the murmurs of his harassed soldiery. By the troops +he was loved as a father, as well as admired as a general; and his +deeply-religious character impressed itself on all who were brought +in contact with him, and made itself felt through the ranks of the +Virginian army. It is said that, during four years of war, he never +slept in a house, but in winter and summer shared the hardships of his +soldiers. Such was the man who, in mature age, at a period of life +when few generals have acquired renown, fought against overwhelming +odds for the cause which he believed just. He saw many of his bravest +generals and dearest friends fall around him, but, although constantly +exposed to fire, escaped without a wound. + +"The battles which prolonged and finally decided the issue of the +contest are now little more than names. Antietam, Fredericksburg, +Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, are forgotten in Europe by all +excepting those who study recent wars as lessons for the future, and +would collect from the deeds of other armies experience which they +may apply to their own. To them the boldness of Lee's tactics at +Chancellorsville will ever be a subject of admiration; while even +those who least sympathize with his cause will feel for the general +who saw the repulse of Longstreet's charge at Gettysburg, and beheld +the failure of an attempt to convert a defensive war into one of +attack, together with the consequent abandonment of the bold stroke +which he had hoped would terminate the contest. Quietly he rallied +the broken troops; taking all the blame on himself, he encouraged +the officers, dispirited by the reverse, and in person formed up the +scattered detachments. Again, when Fortune had turned against the +Confederacy, when overwhelming forces from all sides pressed back +her defenders, Lee for a year held his ground with a +constantly-diminishing army, fighting battle after battle in the +forests and swamps around Richmond. No reverses seemed to dispirit +him, no misfortune appeared to ruffle his calm, brave temperament. +Only at last, when he saw the remnants of his noble army about to +be ridden down by Sheridan's cavalry, when eight thousand men, +half-starved and broken with fatigue, were surrounded by the net which +Grant and Sherman had spread around them, did he yield; his fortitude +for the moment gave way; he took farewell of his soldiers, and, giving +himself up as a prisoner, retired a ruined man into private life, +gaining his bread by the hard and uncongenial work of governing +Lexington College. + +"When political animosity has calmed down, and when Americans can look +back on those years of war with feelings unbiassed by party strife, +then will General Lee's character be appreciated by all his countrymen +as it now is by a part, and his name will be honored as that of one of +the noblest soldiers who have ever drawn a sword in a cause which they +believed just, and at the sacrifice of all personal considerations +have fought manfully a losing battle." + + +THE SATURDAY REVIEW. + +This journal, after some remarks on the death of Admiral Farragut, +continues: + +"A still more famous leader in the war has lately closed a blameless +life. There may be a difference of opinion on the military qualities +of the generals who fought on either side in the civil war; but it is +no disparagement to the capacity of Grant or of Sherman to say that +they had no opportunity of rivalling the achievements of General Lee. +Assuming the chief command in the Confederate army in the second +campaign of the war, he repelled three or four invasions of Virginia, +winning as many pitched battles over an enemy of enormously superior +resources. After driving McClellan from the Peninsula, he inflicted +on Burnside and Pope defeats which would have been ruinous if the +belligerents had been on equal terms; but twenty millions of men, with +the absolute command of the sea and the rivers, eventually overpowered +a third of their number. The drawn battle of Gettysburg proved that +the invasion of the Northern States was a blunder; and in 1863 it +became evident that the fall of the Confederacy could not be much +longer delayed. Nevertheless General Lee kept Grant's swarming legions +at bay for the whole summer and autumn, and the loss of the Northern +armies in the final campaign exceeded the entire strength of the +gallant defenders of Richmond. When General Lee, outnumbered, cut +off from his communications, and almost surrounded by his enemies, +surrendered at Appomattox Court-House, he might console himself with +the thought that he had only failed where success was impossible. From +that moment he used his unequalled and merited authority to reconcile +the Southern people to the new order of affairs. He had originally +dissented from the policy of secession; and he followed the banner +of his State exclusively from a sense of duty, in disregard of his +professional and private interests. He might at pleasure have been +Commander-in-Chief of the Northern army, for he was second in rank to +General Scott. His ancient home and his ample estate on the Potomac +were ravaged by the enemy; but he never expressed a regret for the +sacrifice of his fortune. There can be no doubt that he was often +thwarted by political superiors and by incompetent subordinates, but +his equable temper and lofty nature never inclined him to complaint. +The regret for his loss which is felt throughout the vast regions +of the South is a just tribute to one of the greatest and purest +characters in American history." + +It will not be inappropriate to reproduce here the tribute which +appeared in the London _Standard_, on the receipt of the news of +General Lee's illness: + +THE STANDARD. + +"The announcement that General R.E. Lee has been struck down by +paralysis and is not expected to recover, will be received, even at +this crisis, with universal interest, and will everywhere excite a +sympathy and regret which testify to the deep impression made on the +world at large by his character and achievements. Few are the generals +who have earned, since history began, a greater military reputation; +still fewer are the men of similar eminence, civil or military, whose +personal qualities would bear comparison with his. The bitterest +enemies of his country hardly dared to whisper a word against the +character of her most distinguished general, while neutrals regarded +him with an admiration for his deeds and a respect for his lofty +and unselfish nature which almost grew into veneration, and his own +countrymen learned to look up to him with as much confidence and +esteem as they ever felt for Washington, and with an affection which +the cold demeanor and austere temper of Washington could never +inspire. The death of such a man, even at a moment so exciting as +the present, when all thoughts are absorbed by a nearer and present +conflict, would be felt as a misfortune by all who still retain any +recollection of the interest with which they watched the Virginian +campaigns, and by thousands who have almost forgotten the names of +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania. +By the South it would be recognized as a national calamity--as the +loss of a man not only inexpressibly dear to an unfortunate people by +his intimate association with their fallen hopes and their proudest +recollections, but still able to render services such as no other man +could perform, and to give counsel whose value is enhanced tenfold +by the source from which it comes. We hope, even yet, that a life so +honorable and so useful, so pure and noble in itself, so valuable to +a country that has much need of men like him, may be spared and +prolonged for further enjoyment of domestic peace and comfort, for +further service to his country; we cannot bear to think of a career so +singularly admirable and so singularly unfortunate, should close so +soon and so sadly. By the tens of thousands who will feel as we do +when they read the news that now lies before us, may be measured the +impressions made upon the world by the life and the deeds of the great +chief of the Army of Virginia. + +"Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the merits of the +generals against whom he had to contend, and especially of the +antagonist by whom he was at last overcome, no one pretending to +understand in the least either the general principles of military +science or the particular conditions of the American War, doubts that +General Lee gave higher proofs of military genius and soldiership than +any of his opponents. He was outnumbered from first to last; and all +his victories were gained against greatly superior forces, and with +troops greatly deficient in every necessary of war except courage +and discipline. Never, perhaps, was so much achieved against odds so +terrible. The Southern soldiers--'that incomparable Southern infantry' +to which a late Northern writer renders due tribute of respect--were +no doubt as splendid troops as a general could desire; but the +different fortune of the East and the West proves that the Virginian +army owed something of its excellence to its chief. Always +outnumbered, always opposed to a foe abundantly supplied with food, +transport, ammunition, clothing, all that was wanting to his own men, +he was always able to make courage and skill supply the deficiency of +strength and of supplies; and from the day when he assumed the command +after the battle of Seven Pines, where General Joseph Johnston +was disabled, to the morning of the final surrender at Appomattox +Court-House, he was almost invariably victorious in the field. At +Gettysburg only he was defeated in a pitched battle; on the offensive +at the Chickahominy, at Centreville, and at Chancellorsville, on +the defensive at Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, and +Spottsylvania, he was still successful. But no success could avail him +any thing from the moment that General Grant brought to bear upon +the Virginian army the inexhaustible population of the North, and, +employing Sherman to cut them off from the rest of the Confederacy, +set himself to work to wear them out by the simple process of +exchanging two lives for one. From that moment the fate of Richmond +and of the South was sealed. When General Lee commenced the campaign +of the Wilderness he had, we believe, about fifty thousand men; his +adversary had thrice that number at hand, and a still larger force in +reserve. When the army of Virginia marched out of Richmond it still +numbered some twenty-six thousand men; after a retreat of six days, +in the face of an overwhelming enemy, with a crushing artillery--a +retreat impeded by constant fighting, and harassed by countless hordes +of cavalry--eight thousand were given up by the capitulation of +Appomattox Court-House. Brilliant as were General Lee's earlier +triumphs, we believe that he gave higher proofs of genius in his last +campaign, and that hardly any of his victories were so honorable to +himself and his army as that six-days' retreat. + +"There have, however, been other generals of genius as brilliant, of +courage and endurance hardly less distinguished. How many men have +ever displayed the perfect simplicity of nature, the utter absence +of vanity or affectation, which belongs to the truest and purest +greatness, in triumph or in defeat, as General Lee has done? When +Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies, he moved from point to +point, as duty required, with less parade than a European general +of division, wearing no sword, attended by no other staff than the +immediate occasion demanded, and chatting with a comrade or a visitor +with a simple courtesy which had in it no shade of condescension. +Only on one occasion does he seem to have, been accoutred with the +slightest regard to military display or personal dignity; and that, +characteristically, was the last occasion on which he wore the +Confederate uniform--the occasion of his interview with General Grant +on April 9, 1865. After the war he retired without a word into privacy +and obscurity. Ruined by the seizure and destruction of his property, +which McClellan protected, and which his successors gave up to ravage +and pillage, the late Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies +accepted the presidency of a Virginia college, and devoted himself as +simply and earnestly to its duties as if he had never filled a higher +station or performed more exciting functions. Well aware of the +jealous temper of the party dominant in the North, and anxious, above +all things, to avoid exasperating that temper against his conquered +countrymen, he carefully abstained from appearing in any public +ceremony or taking any overt part in political questions. His +influence has been exerted, quietly but steadily, in one direction, +with a single view to restore harmony and good-will between the two +sections, and to reconcile the oppressed Southerners to the Union from +which he fought so gallantly to free them. He has discountenanced all +regretful longings after the lost visions of Southern independence; +all demonstrations in honor of the 'conquered banner;' and has +encouraged the South to seek the restoration of her material +prosperity and the satisfaction of her national feelings in a frank +acceptance of the result of the war, and a loyal adhesion to the +Federal bond. It was characteristic and worthy of the man that he was +among the first to sue for a formal pardon from President Johnson; not +for any advantage which he personally could obtain thence, but to set +the example of submission to his comrades-in-arms, and to reconcile +them to a humiliation without which the conquerors refused them that +restitution to civil rights necessary to any effort to retrieve their +own or their country's fortunes. Truer greatness, a loftier nature, a +spirit more unselfish, a character purer, more chivalrous, the world +has rarely, if ever known. Of stainless life and deep religious +feeling, yet free from all taint of cant and fanaticism, and as dear +and congenial to the Cavalier Stuart as to the Puritan Stonewall +Jackson; unambitious, but ready to sacrifice all at the call of duty; +devoted to his cause, yet never moved by his feelings beyond the line +prescribed by his judgment; never provoked by just resentment to +punish wanton cruelty by reprisals which would have given a character +of needless savagery to the war--both North and South owe a deep debt +of gratitude to him, and the time will come when both will be equally +proud of him. And well they may, for his character and his life afford +a complete answer to the reproaches commonly cast on money-grubbing, +mechanical America. A country which has given birth to men like him, +and those who followed him, may look the chivalry of Europe in the +face without shame; for the fatherlands of Sidney and of Bayard never +produced a nobler soldier, gentleman, and Christian, than General +Robert E. Lee." + +We may add to these the following just remarks upon the occupation to +which General Lee devoted himself at the close of his military career, +from + +THE OLD DOMINION. + +"Surely it should be a cause of thankfulness and encouragement for +those who are teachers, that their profession has received this +reflection of glory and honor from this choice of his, from this life, +and from this death. And it is enduring honor for all the colleges of +the South, and for all our schools--an honor in which all may share +alike without jealousy--that this pure and bright name is inseparably +connected by the will of him that bore it with the cause of education, +and is blended now with that of Washington in the name of one of our +own institutions of learning. We think that so long as the name of Lee +is honored and loved among us, our Southern teachers may rejoice and +grow stronger in their work, when they remember that he was one of +their number, and that his great heart, that had so bravely borne the +fortunes of a great empire, bore also, amid its latest aspirations, +the interests, the anxieties, and the hopes of the unpretending but +noble profession of teaching. + +"To leave this out of the account would be, indeed, to do sad +injustice to General Lee's own memory. And that, not only because his +position in this profession was of his own choice, and was steadily +maintained with unchanging purpose to the end of his life, but also +because the acknowledgment of his service here is necessary to the +completeness of his fame. In no position of his life did he more +signally develop the great qualities of his character than in this; +and it may truly be said that some of the greatest can only be fully +understood in the light of the serene patience and of the simple and +quiet self-consecration of his latest years. It was then that, far +from the tumult of arms and from the great passions of public life, +with no great ambition to nerve his heart, nor any great events to +obscure the public criticism of his conduct, he displayed in calm +and steady light the grandest features of his character, and by this +crucial test, added certain confirmation to the highest estimate that +could have been formed of his character and of his abilities. It was +indeed a 'crucial test' for such a man; and that he sustained it as he +did is not among the smallest of his claims to the admiration of his +countrymen. No tribute to his memory can be just that does not take +this last great service into the account; and no history of his life +can be fairly written that shall not place in the strongest light his +career and influence as President of Washington College." + +And we may appropriately close with the following thoughtful words +from the pen of + +HON. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. + +"In the darkest hour of our trials, in the very midst of our deepest +affliction, mourning over the loss of the noble Lee, Heaven sends to +us as consolation the best sign of the times vouchsafed in many a day. +It addresses the heart, rent as it is in surveying the desolations +around us, as the rainbow upon the breast of the receding storm-cloud +when its power and fury are over. + +"That sign is the unmistakable estimation in which the real merits +and worth of this illustrious chieftain of the cause of the Southern +States is held by all classes of persons, not only in the South, but +in the North. + +"Partisans and leaders, aiming at the overthrow of our institutions, +may, while temporarily in high places, by fraud and usurpation, keep +up the false cry of _rebel_ and _traitor_; but these irrepressible +outburstings of popular sentiment, regarding no restraints on +great-occasions which cause _Nature_ to speak, show clearly how this +cry and charge are regarded and looked upon by the masses of the +people everywhere. + +"Everywhere Lee is honored; not only as a _hero_, but as a _patriot_. +This is but the foreshadowing of the general judgment of the people of +the whole United States, and of the world, not only upon Lee, but upon +all of his associates who fought, bled, and died in that glorious +cause in which he won his immortality. That cause was the sovereign +right of local self-government by the people of the several States of +this continent. _That_ cause is not dead! Let it never be abandoned; +but let its friends rally to its standard in the forum of reason and +justice, with the renewed hope and energy from this soul-inspiriting +sign that it lies deeply impressed upon the hearts of the great +majority of the people in all sections of this country. + +"In these popular manifestations of respect and veneration for the +man who won all his glory in maintaining this cause, present usurpers +should read their doom, and all friends of constitutional liberty +should take fresh courage in all political conflicts, never to lower +their standard of principles." + +THE END + +[Illustration: Portion of the VALLEY OF VIRGINIA] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee, by John Esten Cooke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. 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Lee + +Author: John Esten Cooke + +Release Date: January 12, 2004 [EBook #10692] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Maddock, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration] + + +A LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE. + +BY JOHN ESTEN COOKE. + + + "Duty is the sublimest word in our language." + "Human virtue should be equal to human calamity." + + LEE. + +1876 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +_LEE'S EARLY LIFE_. + + +I.--Introduction + +II.--The Lees of Virginia + +III.--General "Light-Horse Harry" Lee + +IV.--Stratford + +V.--Lee's Early Manhood and Career in the United States Army + +VI.--Lee and Scott + +VII.--Lee resigns + +VIII.--His Reception at Richmond + +IX.--Lee in 1861 + +X.--The War begins + +XI.--Lee's Advance into Western Virginia + +XII.--Lee's Last Interview with Bishop Meade + + +PART II. + +_IN FRONT OF RICHMOND_. + + +I.--Plan of the Federal Campaign + +II.--Johnston is wounded + +III.--Lee assigned to the Command--his Family at the White House + +IV.--Lee resolves to attack + +V.--Stuart's "Ride around McClellan" + + +PART III. + +_ON THE CHICKAHOMINY_. + + +I.--The Two Armies + +II.--Lee's Plan of Assault + +III.--The Battle of the Chickahominy + +IV.--The Retreat + +V.--Richmond in Danger--Lee's Views + +VI.--Lee and McClellan--their Identity of Opinion + + +PART IV. + +_THE WAR ADVANCES NORTHWARD_. + + +I.--Lee's Protest + +II.--Lee's Manoeuvres + +III.--Lee advances from the Rapidan + +IV.--Jackson flanks General Pope + +V.--Lee follows + +VI.--The Second Battle of Manassas + + +PART V. + +_LEE INVADES MARYLAND_. + + +I.--His Designs + +II.--Lee in Maryland + +III.--Movements of the Two Armies + +IV.--The Prelude to Sharpsburg + +V.--The Battle of Sharpsburg + +VI.--Lee and McClellan--their Merits in the Maryland Campaign + +VII.--Lee and his Men + +VIII.--Lee passes the Blue Ridge + +IX.--Lee concentrates at Fredericksburg + +X.--The Battle of Fredericksburg + +XI.--Final Movements of 1862 + +XII.--The Year of Battles + +XIII.--Lee in December, 1862 + + +PART VI. + +_CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG_. + + +I.--Advance of General Hooker + +II--The Wilderness + +III.--Lee's Determination + +IV.--Jackson's Attack and Fall + +V.--The Battle of Chancellorsville + +VI.--Flank Movement of General Sedgwick + +VII.--Lee's Generalship and Personal Demeanor during the Campaign + +VIII.--Personal Relations of Lee and Jackson + +IX.--Circumstances leading to the Invasion of Pennsylvania + +X.--Lee's Plans and Objects + +XI.--The Cavalry-fight at Fleetwood + +XII.--The March to Gettysburg + +XIII.--Lee in Pennsylvania + +XIV.--Concentration at Gettysburg + +XV.--The First Day's Fight at Gettysburg + +XVI.--The Two Armies in Position + +XVII.--The Second Day + +XVIII.--The Last Charge at Gettysburg + +XIX.--Lee after the Charge + +XX.--Lee's Retreat across the Potomac + +XXI.--Across the Blue Ridge again + + +PART VII. + +_LAST CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR_ 1863. + + +I.--The Cavalry of Lee's Army + +II.--Lee flanks General Meade + +III.--A Race between Two Armies + +IV.--The Fight at Buckland + +V.--The Advance to Mine Run + +VI.--Lee in the Autumn and Winter of 1863 + + +PART VIII. + +_LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGNS AND LAST DAYS_. + + +I.--General Grant crosses the Rapidan + +II.--The First Collision in the Wilderness + +III.--The Battle of the 6th of May + +IV.--The 12th of May + +V.--From Spottsylvania to the Chickahominy + +VI.--First Battles at Petersburg + +VII.--The Siege of Richmond begun + +VIII.--Lee threatens Washington + +IX.--The Mine Explosion + +X.--End of the Campaign of 1864 + +XI.--Lee in the Winter of 1864-'65 + +XII.--The Situation at the Beginning of 1865 + +XIII.--Lee attacks the Federal Centre + +XIV.--The Southern Lines broken + +XV.--Lee evacuates Petersburg + +XVI.--The Retreat and Surrender + +XVII.--Lee returns to Richmond + +XVIII.--General Lee after the War + +XIX.--General Lee's Last Years and Death + + + + +_APPENDIX_. + +I.--The Funeral of General Lee + +II.--Tributes to General Lee + + + + +A LIFE + +OF + +GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE. + + + +PART I. + +_LEE'S EARLY LIFE_, + + + + +I. + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The name of Lee is beloved and respected throughout the world. Men of +all parties and opinions unite in this sentiment, not only those who +thought and fought with him, but those most violently opposed to his +political views and career. It is natural that his own people should +love and honor him as their great leader and defender in a struggle of +intense bitterness--that his old enemies should share this profound +regard and admiration is due solely to the character of the +individual. His military genius will always be conceded, and his +figure remain a conspicuous landmark in history; but this does not +account for the fact that his very enemies love the man. His private +character is the origin of this sentiment. The people of the North, no +less than the people of the South, feel that Lee was truly great; and +the harshest critic has been able to find nothing to detract from this +view of him. The soldier was great, but the man himself was greater. +No one was ever simpler, truer, or more honest. Those who knew him +best loved him the most. Reserved and silent, with a bearing of almost +austere dignity, he impressed many persons as cold and unsympathetic, +and his true character was long in revealing itself to the world. +To-day all men know what his friends knew during his life--that under +the grave exterior of the soldier, oppressed with care and anxiety, +beat a warm and kindly heart, full of an even extraordinary gentleness +and sweetness; that the man himself was not cold, or stiff, or +harsh, but patient, forbearing, charitable under many trials of his +equanimity, and magnanimous without effort, from the native impulse of +his heart. Friend and foe thus to-day regard him with much the same +sentiment, as a genuinely honest man, incapable of duplicity in +thought or deed, wholly good and sincere, inspired always under all +temptations by that _prisca fides_ which purifies and ennobles, and +resolutely bent, in the dark hour, as in the bright, on the full +performance of his duty. "Duty is the sublimest word in our language," +he wrote to his son; and, if we add that other august maxim, "Human +virtue should be equal to human calamity," we shall have in a few +words a summary of the principles which inspired Lee. + +The crowning grace of this man, who was thus not only great but good, +was the humility and trust in God, which lay at the foundation of his +character. Upon this point we shall quote the words of a gentleman of +commanding intellect, a bitter opponent of the South in the war: + +"Lee is worthy of all praise. As a man, he was fearless among men. As +a soldier, he had no superior and no equal. In the course of Nature my +career on earth may soon terminate. God grant that, When the day of +my death shall come, I may look up to Heaven with that confidence and +faith which the life and character of Robert E. Lee gave him. He +died trusting in God as a good man, with a good life, and a pure +conscience." + +He had lived, as he died, with this supreme trust in an overruling and +merciful Providence; and this sentiment, pervading his whole being, +was the origin of that august calmness with which he greeted the most +crushing disasters of his military career. His faith and humble trust +sustained him after the war, when the woes of the South wellnigh +broke his great spirit; and he calmly expired, as a weary child falls +asleep, knowing that its father is near. + +Of this eminent soldier and man whose character offers so great +an example, a memoir is attempted in this volume. The work will +necessarily be "popular" rather than full and elaborate, as the public +and private correspondence of Lee are not at this time accessible. +These will throw a fuller light on the subject; but sufficient +material is at the disposal of the writer to enable him to present an +accurate likeness of Lee, and to narrate clearly the incidents of his +career. In doing so, the aim of the author is to measure out full +justice to all--not to arouse old enmities, which should be allowed to +slumber, but to treat his subject with the judicial moderation of the +student of history. + +A few words will terminate this preface. The volume before the reader +was begun in 1866. The writer first, however, informed General Lee +of his design, and had the honor to receive from him in reply the +assurance that the work "would not interfere with any he might have in +contemplation; he had not written a line of any work as yet, and might +never do so; but, should he write a history of the campaigns of the +Army of Northern Virginia, the proposed work would be rather an +assistance than a hinderance." + +As the writer had offered promptly to discontinue the work if it were +not agreeable to General Lee, this reply was regarded in the light of +an assurance that he did not disapprove of it. The composition was, +however, interrupted, and the work laid aside. It is now resumed and +completed at a time when the death of the illustrious soldier adds a +new and absorbing interest to whatever is connected with his character +or career. + + + + +II. + +THE LEES OF VIRGINIA. + + +The Lees of Virginia spring from an ancient and respectable family of +Essex, in England. + +Of some members of the family, both in the Old World and the New, a +brief account will be given. The origin of an individual explains much +that is striking and peculiar in his own character; and it will be +found that General Lee inherited many of the traits of his ancestors, +especially of some eminent personages of his name in Virginia. + +The family pedigree is traced back by Lee, in the life of his father, +to Launcelot Lee, of London, in France, who accompanied William the +Conqueror to England. After the battle of Hastings, which subjected +England to the sway of the Normans, Launcelot Lee, like others, was +rewarded by lands wrested from the subdued Saxons. His estate lay in +Essex, and this is all that is known concerning him. Lionel Lee is the +next member of the family of whom mention is made. He lived during the +reign of Richard Coeur de Lion, and, when the king went on his third +crusade, in the year 1192, Lionel Lee raised a company of gentlemen, +and marched with him to the Holy Land. His career there was +distinguished; he displayed special gallantry at the siege of Acre, +and for this he received a solid proof of King Richard's approbation. +On his return he was made first Earl of Litchfield; the king presented +him with the estate of "Ditchley," which became the name afterward of +an estate of the Lees in Virginia; and, when he died, the armor which +he had worn in the Holy Land was placed in the department of "Horse +Armory" in the great Tower of London. + +The name of Richard Lee is next mentioned as one of the followers of +the Earl of Surrey in his expedition across the Scottish border in +1542. Two of the family about this period were "Knights Companions +of the Garter," and their banners, with the Lee arms above, were +suspended in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The coat-of-arms +was a shield "band sinister battled and embattled," the crest a closed +visor surmounted by a squirrel holding a nut. The motto, which may be +thought characteristic of one of General Lee's traits as a soldier, +was, "_Non incautus futuri_" + +Such are the brief notices given of the family in England. They seem +to have been persons of high character, and often of distinction. When +Richard Lee came to Virginia, and founded the family anew there, as +Launcelot, the first Lee, had founded it in England, he brought over +in his veins some of the best and most valiant blood of the great +Norman race. + +This Richard Lee, the _princeps_ of the family in Virginia, was, +it seems, like the rest of his kindred, strongly Cavalier in his +sentiments; indeed, the Lees seem always to have been Cavalier. The +reader will recall the stately old representative of the family in +Scott's "Woodstock"--Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley--who is seen stalking +proudly through the great apartments of the palace, in his laced +doublet, slashed boots, and velvet cloak, scowling darkly at the +Puritan intruders. Sir Henry was not a fanciful person, but a real +individual; and the political views attributed to him were those of +the Lee family, who remained faithful to the royal cause in all its +hours of adversity. + +It will be seen that Richard Lee, the first of the Virginia Lees, was +an ardent monarchist. He came over during the reign of Charles I., but +returned to England, bequeathing all his lands to his servants; he +subsequently came back to Virginia, however, and lived and died there. +In his will he styles himself "Richard Lee, of Strafford Langton, in +the County of Essex, Esquire." It is not certainly known whether he +sought refuge in Virginia after the failure of the king's cause, or +was tempted to emigrate with a view to better his fortunes in the New +World. Either may have been the impelling motive. Great numbers of +Cavaliers "came over" after the overthrow of Charles at Naseby; but a +large emigration had already taken place, and took place afterward, +induced by the salubrity of the country, the ease of living, and +the cheapness and fertility of the lands on the great rivers, where +families impoverished or of failing fortunes in England might "make +new settlements" and build on a new foundation. This would amply +account for the removal of Richard Lee to Virginia, and for the +ambition he seems to have been inspired with, to build and improve, +without attributing to him any apprehension of probable punishment for +his political course. Very many families had the first-named motives, +and commenced to build great manor-houses, which were never finished, +or were too costly for any one of their descendants to possess. The +abolition of primogeniture, despite the opposition of Pendleton and +others, overthrew all this; and the Lees, like other families, now +possess few of the broad acres which their ancestors acquired. + +To return, however, to Richard Lee. He had already visited Virginia in +some official capacity under the royal governor, Sir William Berkeley, +and had been so much pleased with the soil and climate of the country, +that he, as we have said, emigrated finally, and cast his lot in the +new land. He brought a number of followers and servants, and, coming +over to Westmoreland County, in the Northern Neck of Virginia, +"took up" extensive tracts of land there, and set about building +manor-houses upon them. + +Among these, it is stated, was the original "Stratford" House, +afterward destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, however, and became the +birthplace of Richard Henry Lee, and afterward of General Robert E. +Lee. We shall speak of it more in detail after finishing, in a few +words, our notice of Richard Lee, its founder, and the founder of the +Lee family in Virginia. He is described as a person of great force of +character and many virtues--as "a man of good stature, comely visage, +enterprising genius, sound head, vigorous spirit, and generous +nature." This may be suspected to partake of the nature of epitaph; +but, of his courage and energy, the proof remains in the action taken +by him in connection with Charles II. Inheriting, it would seem, in +full measure, the royalist and Cavalier sentiments of his family, he +united with Sir William Berkeley, the royal governor, in the irregular +proclamation of Charles II. in Virginia, a year or two before his +reinstallment on the English throne. He had already, it is reported on +the authority of well-supported tradition, made a voyage across the +Atlantic to Breda, where Charles II. was then in exile, and offered +to erect his standard in Virginia, and proclaim him king there. This +proposition the young monarch declined, shrinking, with excellent good +sense, from a renewal, under less favorable circumstances, of the +struggle which terminated at Worcester. Lee was, therefore, compelled +to return without having succeeded in his enterprise; but he had made, +it seems, a very strong impression in favor of Virginia upon the +somewhat frivolous young monarch. When he came to his throne again, +Charles II. graciously wore a coronation-robe of Virginia silk, and +Virginia, who had proved so faithful to him in the hour of his need, +was authorized, by royal decree, to rank thenceforward, in the British +empire, with England, Scotland, and Ireland, and bear upon her shield +the motto, "_En dat Virginia quartam._" + +Richard Lee returned, after his unsuccessful mission, to the Northern +Neck, and addressed himself thenceforward to the management of his +private fortunes and the affairs of the colony. He had now become +possessed of very extensive estates between the Potomac and +Rappahannock Rivers and elsewhere. Besides Stratford, he owned +plantations called "Mocke Neck," "Mathotick," "Paper-Maker's Neck," +"War Captain's Neck," "Bishop's Neck," and "Paradise," with four +thousand acres besides, on the Potomac, lands in Maryland, three +islands in Chesapeake Bay, an interest in several trading-vessels, and +innumerable indented and other servants. He became a member of the +King's Council, and lived in great elegance and comfort. That he was a +man of high character, and of notable piety for an age of free living +and worldly tendencies, his will shows. In that document he bequeaths +his soul "to that good and gracious God that gave it me, and to my +blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, assuredly trusting, in and by His +meritorious death and passion, to receive salvation." + +The attention of the reader has been particularly called to the +character and career of Richard Lee, not only because he was the +founder of the family in Virginia, but because the traits of the +individual reappear very prominently in the great soldier whose life +is the subject of this volume. The coolness, courage, energy, +and aptitude for great affairs, which marked Richard Lee in the +seventeenth century, were unmistakably present in the character of +Robert E. Lee in the nineteenth century. + +We shall conclude our notice of the family by calling attention to +that great group of celebrated men who illustrated the name in the +days of the Revolution, and exhibited the family characteristics as +clearly. These were Richard Henry Lee, of Chantilly, the famous orator +and statesman, who moved in the American Congress the Declaration of +Independence; Francis Lightfoot Lee, a scholar of elegant attainments +and high literary accomplishments, who signed, with his more renowned +brother, the Declaration; William Lee, who became Sheriff of London, +and ably seconded the cause of the colonies; and Arthur Lee, +diplomatist and representative of America abroad, where he displayed, +as his diplomatic correspondence indicates, untiring energy and +devotion to the interests of the colonies. The last of these brothers +was Philip Ludwell Lee, whose daughter Matilda married her second +cousin, General Henry Lee. This gentleman, afterward famous as +"Light-Horse Harry" Lee, married a second time, and from this union +sprung the subject of this memoir. + + + + +III. + +GENERAL "LIGHT-HORSE HARRY" LEE. + + +This celebrated soldier, who so largely occupied the public eye in the +Revolution, is worthy of notice, both as an eminent member of the Lee +family, and as the father of General Robert E. Lee. + +He was born in 1756, in the county of Westmoreland--which boasts of +being the birthplace of Washington, Monroe, Richard Henry Lee, General +Henry Lee, and General Robert E. Lee, Presidents, statesmen, and +soldiers--and, after graduating at Princeton College, entered the +army, in 1776, as captain of cavalry, an arm of the service afterward +adopted by his more celebrated descendant, in the United States army. +He soon displayed military ability of high order, and, for the capture +of Paulus's Hook, received a gold medal from Congress. In 1781 he +marched with his "Legion" to join Greene in the Carolinas, carrying +with him the high esteem of Washington, who had witnessed his skilful +and daring operations in the Jerseys. His career in the arduous +campaigns of the South against Cornwallis, and the efficient commander +of his cavalry arm. Colonel Tarleton, may be best understood from +General Greene's dispatches, and from his own memoirs of the +operations of the army, which are written with as much modesty as +ability. From these it is apparent that the small body of the "Legion" +cavalry, under its active and daring commander, was the "eye and ear" +of Greene's army, whose movements it accompanied everywhere, preceding +its advances and covering its retreats. Few pages of military history +are more stirring than those in Lee's "Memoirs" describing Greene's +retrograde movement to the Dan; and this alone, if the hard work at +the Eutaws and elsewhere were left out, would place Lee's fame as a +cavalry officer upon a lasting basis. The distinguished soldier under +whose eye the Virginian operated did full justice to his courage and +capacity. "I believe," wrote Greene, "that few officers, either in +Europe or America, are held in so high a position of admiration as you +are. Everybody knows I have the highest opinion of you as an officer, +and you know I love you as a friend. No man, in the progress of the +campaign, had equal merit with yourself." The officer who wrote those +lines was not a courtier nor a diplomatist, but a blunt and honest +soldier who had seen Lee's bearing in the most arduous straits, +and was capable of appreciating military ability. Add Washington's +expression of his "love and thanks," in a letter written in 1789, +and the light in which he was regarded by his contemporaries will be +understood. + +His "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department" is a valuable +military history and a very interesting book. The movements of Greene +in face of Cornwallis are described with a precision which renders the +narrative valuable to military students, and a picturesqueness which +rivets the attention of the general reader. From these memoirs a +very clear conception of the writer's character may be derived, and +everywhere in them is felt the presence of a cool and dashing nature, +a man gifted with the _mens aequa in arduis_, whom no reverse of +fortune could cast down. The fairness and courtesy of the writer +toward his opponents is an attractive characteristic of the work,[1] +which is written with a simplicity and directness of style highly +agreeable to readers of judgment.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See his observations upon the source of his successes +over Tarleton, full of the generous spirit of a great soldier. He +attributes them in no degree to his own military ability, but to the +superior character of his large, thorough-bred horses, which rode over +Tarleton's inferior stock. He does not state that the famous "Legion" +numbered only two hundred and fifty men, and that Tarleton commanded a +much larger force of the best cavalry of the British army.] + +[Footnote 2: A new edition of this work, preceded by a life of the +author, was published by General Robert E. Lee in 1869.] + +After the war General Henry Lee served a term in Congress; was then +elected Governor of Virginia; returned in 1799 to Congress; and, in +his oration upon the death of Washington, employed the well-known +phrase, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of +his countrymen." He died in Georgia, in the year 1818, having made a +journey thither for the benefit of his health. + +General Henry Lee was married twice; first, as we have said, to his +cousin Matilda, through whom he came into possession of the old family +estate of Stratford; and a second time, June 18,1793, to Miss Anne +Hill Carter, a daughter of Charles Carter, Esq., of "Shirley," on +James River. + +The children of this second marriage were three sons and two +daughters--Charles Carter, _Robert Edward_, Smith, Ann, and Mildred. + +[Illustration: "STRATFORD HOUSE." The Birthplace of Gen. Lee.] + + + + +IV. + +STRATFORD. + + +Robert Edward Lee was born at Stratford, in Westmoreland County, +Virginia, on the 19th of January, 1807.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The date of General Lee's birth has been often given +incorrectly. The authority for that here adopted is the entry in the +family Bible, in the handwriting of his mother.] + +Before passing to Lee's public career, and the narrative of the stormy +scenes of his after-life, let us pause a moment and bestow a glance +upon this ancient mansion, which is still standing--a silent and +melancholy relic of the past--in the remote "Northern Neck." As the +birthplace of a great man, it would demand attention; but it has other +claims still, as a venerable memorial of the past and its eminent +personages, one of the few remaining monuments of a state of society +that has disappeared or is disappearing. + +The original Stratford House is supposed, as we have said, to have +been built by Richard Lee, the first of the family in the New World. +Whoever may have been its founder, it was destroyed in the time of +Thomas Lee, an eminent representative of the name, early in the +eighteenth century. Thomas Lee was a member of the King's Council, a +gentleman of great popularity; and, when it was known that his house +had been burned, contributions were everywhere made to rebuild it. The +Governor, the merchants of the colony, and even Queen Anne in person, +united in this subscription; the house speedily rose again, at a +cost of about eighty thousand dollars; and this is the edifice still +standing in Westmoreland. The sum expended in its construction must +not be estimated in the light of to-day. At that time the greater part +of the heavy work in house-building was performed by servants of the +manor; it is fair, indeed, to say that the larger part of the work +thus cost nothing in money; and thus the eighty thousand dollars +represented only the English brick, the carvings, furniture, and +decorations. + +The construction of such an edifice had at that day a distinct object. +These great old manor-houses, lost in the depths of the country, were +intended to become the headquarters of the family in all time. +In their large apartments the eldest son was to uphold the name. +Generation after generation was to pass, and some one of the old name +still live there; and though all this has passed away now, and +may appear a worn-out superstition, and, though some persons may +stigmatize it as contributing to the sentiment of "aristocracy," the +strongest opponents of that old system may pardon in us the expression +of some regret that this love of the hearthstone and old family +memories should have disappeared. The great man whose character is +sought to be delineated in this volume never lost to the last this +home and family sentiment. He knew the kinships of every one, and +loved the old country-houses of the old Virginia families--plain and +honest people, attached, like himself, to the Virginia soil. We pass +to a brief description of the old house in which Lee was born. + +Stratford, the old home of the Lees, but to-day the property of +others, stands on a picturesque bluff on the southern bank of the +Potomac, and is a house of very considerable size. It is built in the +form of the letter H. The walls are several feet in thickness; in the +centre is a saloon thirty feet in size; and surmounting each wing is a +pavilion with balustrades, above which rise clusters of chimneys. The +front door is reached by a broad flight of steps, and the grounds are +handsome, and variegated by the bright foliage of oaks, cedars, and +maple-trees. Here and there in the extensive lawn rises a slender and +ghostly old Lombardy poplar--a tree once a great favorite in Virginia, +but now seen only here and there, the relic of a past generation. + +Within, the Stratford House is as antique as without, and, with its +halls, corridors, wainscoting, and ancient mouldings, takes the +visitor back to the era of powder and silk stockings. Such was the +mansion to which General Harry Lee came to live after the Revolution, +and the sight of the old home must have been dear to the soldier's +heart. Here had flourished three generations of Lees, dispensing a +profuse and open-handed hospitality. In each generation some one of +the family had distinguished himself, and attracted the "best company" +to Stratford; the old walls had rung with merriment; the great door +was wide open; everybody was welcome; and one could see there a good +illustration of a long-passed manner of living, which had at least the +merit of being hearty, open-handed, and picturesque. General Harry +Lee, the careless soldier, partook of the family tendency to +hospitality; he kept open house, entertained all comers, and hence, +doubtless, sprung the pecuniary embarrassments embittering an old age +which his eminent public services should have rendered serene and +happy. + +Our notice of Stratford may appear unduly long to some readers, but it +is not without a distinct reference to the subject of this volume. In +this quiet old mansion--and in the very apartment where Richard Henry +and Francis Lightfoot Lee first saw the light--Robert E. Lee was born. +The eyes of the child fell first upon the old apartments, the great +grounds, the homely scenes around the old country-house--upon the tall +Lombardy poplars and the oaks, through which passed the wind bearing +to his ears the murmur of the Potomac. + +He left the old home of his family before it could have had any very +great effect upon him, it would seem; but it is impossible to estimate +these first influences, to decide the depth of the impression which +the child's heart is capable of receiving. The bright eyes of young +Robert Lee must have seen much around him to interest him and shape +his first views. Critics charged him with family pride sometimes; +if he possessed that virtue or failing, the fact was not strange. +Stratford opened before his childish eyes a memorial of the old +splendor of the Lees. He saw around him old portraits, old plate, and +old furniture, telling plainly of the ancient origin and high position +of his family. Old parchments contained histories of the deeds of his +race; old genealogical trees traced their line far back into the past; +old servants, grown gray in the house, waited upon the child; and, in +a corner of one of the great apartments, an old soldier, gray, too, +and shattered in health, once the friend of Washington and Greene, was +writing the history of the battles in which he had drawn his sword for +his native land. + +Amid these scenes and surroundings passed the first years of Robert +E. Lee. They must have made their impression upon his character at +a period when the mind takes every new influence, and grows in +accordance with it; and, to the last, the man remained simple, hearty, +proud, courteous--the _country Virginian_ in all the texture of his +character. He always rejoiced to visit the country; loved horses; was +an excellent rider; was fond of plain country talk, jests, humorous +anecdote, and chit-chat--was the plain country gentleman, in a word, +preferring grass and trees and streams to all the cities and crowds in +the world. In the last year of his life he said to a lady: "My visits +to Florida and the White Sulphur have not benefited me much; but it +did me good to go to the White House, and see _the mules walking +round, and the corn growing_." + +We notice a last result of the child's residence now, or visits +afterward to the country, and the sports in which he indulged--the +superb physical health and strength which remained unshaken afterward +by all the hardships of war. Lee, to the last, was a marvel of sound +physical development; his frame was as solid as oak, and stood the +strain of exhausting marches, loss of sleep, hunger, thirst, heat, and +cold, without failing him. + +When he died, it was care which crushed his heart; his health was +perfect. + + + + +V. + +LEE'S EARLY MANHOOD AND CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. + + +Of Lee's childhood we have no memorials, except the words of his +father, long afterward. + +"_Robert was always good_," wrote General Henry Lee.[1] + +[Footnote 1: To C.C. Lee, February 9, 1817.] + +That is all; but the words indicate much--that the good man was +"always good." It will be seen that, when he went to West Point, he +never received a demerit. The good boy was the good young officer, and +became, in due time, the good commander-in-chief. + +In the year 1811 General Henry Lee left Stratford, and removed with +his family to Alexandria, actuated, it seems, by the desire of +affording his children facilities for gaining their education. After +his death, in 1818, Mrs. Lee continued to reside in Alexandria; was +a communicant of Christ Church; and her children were taught the +Episcopal catechism by young William Meade, eventually Bishop of +Virginia. We shall see how Bishop Meade, long afterward, recalled +those early days, when he and his pupil, young Robert Lee, were +equally unknown--how, when about to die, just as the war began +in earnest, he sent for the boy he had once instructed, now the +gray-haired soldier, and, when he came to the bedside, exclaimed: "God +bless you, Robert! I can't call you 'general'--I have heard you your +catechism too often!" + +Alexandria continued to be the residence of the family until the young +man was eighteen years of age, when it was necessary for him to make +choice of a profession; and, following the bent of his temperament, he +chose the army. Application was made for his appointment from Virginia +as a cadet at West Point. He obtained the appointment, and, in 1825, +at the age of eighteen, entered the Military Academy. His progress in +his studies was steady, and it is said that, during his stay at West +Point, he was never reprimanded, nor marked with a "demerit." He +graduated, in July, 1829, second in his class, and was assigned to +duty, with the rank of lieutenant, in the corps of Engineers. + +[Illustration: R.E. LEE, AS A YOUNG OFFICER New York D Apololay & Co.] + +He is described, by those who saw him at this time, as a young man of +great personal beauty; and this is probably not an exaggeration, as he +remained to the last distinguished for the elegance and dignity of +his person. He had not yet lost what the cares of command afterward +banished--his gayety and _abandon_--and was noted, it is said, for the +sweetness of his smile and the cordiality of his manners. The person +who gave the writer these details added, "He was a perfect gentleman." +Three years after graduating at West Point--in the year 1832--he +married Mary Custis, daughter of Mr. George Washington Parke Custis, +of Arlington, the adopted son of General Washington; and by this +marriage he came into possession of the estate of Arlington and the +White House--points afterward well known in the war. + +The life of Lee up to the beginning of the great conflict of 1861-'65 +is of moderate interest only, and we shall not dwell at length upon +it. He was employed on the coast defences, in New York and Virginia; +and, in 1835, in running the boundary line between the States of Ohio +and Michigan. In September, 1836, he was promoted to the rank of first +lieutenant; in July, 1838, to a captaincy; in 1844 he became a member +of the Board of Visitors to the Military Academy; in 1845 he was a +member of the Board of Engineers; and in 1846, when the Mexican War +broke out, was assigned to duty as chief engineer of the Central Army +of Mexico, in which capacity he served to the end of the war. + +Up to the date of the Mexican War, Captain Lee had attracted no public +attention, but had impressed the military authorities, including +General Winfield Scott, with a favorable opinion of his ability as a +topographical engineer. For this department of military science he +exhibited endowments of the first class--what other faculties of the +soldier he possessed, it remained for events to show. This opportunity +was now given him in the Mexican War; and the efficient character of +his services may be seen in Scott's Autobiography, where "Captain Lee, +of the Engineers," is mentioned in every report, and everywhere with +commendation. From the beginning of operations, the young officer +seems to have been summoned to the councils of war, and General Scott +particularly mentions that held at Vera Cruz--so serious an affair, +that "a death-bed discussion could hardly have been more solemn." +The passages in which the lieutenant-general mentions Lee are too +numerous, and not of sufficient interest to quote, but two entries +will exhibit the general tenor of this "honorable mention." After +Cerro Gordo, Scott writes, in his official report of the battle: "I am +compelled to make special mention of Captain R.E. Lee, engineer. This +officer greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Vera Cruz; was +again indefatigable during these operations, in reconnoissance as +daring, as laborious, and of the utmost value." After Chapultepec, he +wrote: "Captain Lee, so constantly distinguished, also bore important +orders for me (September 13th), until he fainted from a wound, and the +loss of two nights' sleep at the batteries." + +We may add here the statement of the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, that he +"had heard General Scott more than once say that his success in Mexico +was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. +Lee." + +For these services Lee received steady promotion. For meritorious +conduct at Cerro Gordo, he was made brevet major; for the same at +Contreras and Cherubusco, brevet lieutenant-colonel; and, +after Chapultepec, he received the additional brevet of +colonel--distinctions fairly earned by energy and courage. + +When the war ended, Lee returned to his former duties in the Engineer +Corps of the U.S.A., and was placed in charge of the works, then +in process of construction, at Fort Carroll, near Baltimore. His +assignment to the duty of thus superintending the military defences +of Hampton Roads, New York Bay, and the approaches to Baltimore, in +succession, would seem to indicate that his abilities as engineer were +highly esteemed. Of his possession of such ability there can be no +doubt. The young officer was not only thoroughly trained in this high +department of military science, but had for his duties unmistakable +natural endowments. This fact was clearly indicated on many occasions +in the Confederate struggle--his eye for positions never failed him. +It is certain that, had Lee never commanded troops in the field, he +would have left behind him the reputation of an excellent engineer. + +In 1855 he was called for the first time to command men, for his +duties hitherto had been those of military engineer, astronomer, or +staff-officer. The act of Congress directing that two new cavalry +regiments should be raised excited an ardent desire in the officers of +the army to receive appointments in them, and Lee was transferred from +his place of engineer to the post of lieutenant-colonel in the Second +Cavalry, one of the regiments in question. The extraordinary number +of names of officers in this regiment who afterward became famous +is worthy of notice. The colonel was Albert Sydney Johnston; the +lieutenant-colonel, R.E. Lee; the senior major, William J. Hardee; the +junior major, George H. Thomas; the senior captain, Earl Yan Dorn; +the next ranking captain, Kirby Smith; the lieutenants, Hood, Fields, +Cosby, Major, Fitzhugh Lee, Johnson, Palmer, and Stoneman, all of +whom became general officers afterward on the Southern side, with the +exception of Thomas, and the three last named, who became prominent +generals in the Federal army. It is rare that such a constellation of +famous names is found in the list of officers of a single regiment. +The explanation is, nevertheless simple. Positions in the new +regiments were eagerly coveted by the best soldiers of the army, and, +in appointing the officers, those of conspicuous ability only were +selected. The Second Regiment of cavalry thus became the _corps +d'elite_ of the United States Army; and, after Albert Sydney Johnston, +Robert E. Lee was the ranking officer. + +Lee proceeded with his regiment to Texas, remaining there for several +years on frontier duty, and does not reappear again until 1859. + +Such was the early career in the army of the soldier soon to +become famous on a greater theatre--that of a thoroughly-trained, +hard-working, and conscientious officer. With the single exception +of his brief record in the Mexican War, his life had been passed in +official duties, unconnected with active military operations. He +was undoubtedly what is called a "rising man," but he had had no +opportunity to display the greatest faculties of the soldier. The +time was coming now when he was to be tested, and the measure of his +faculties taken in one of the greatest wars which darken the pages of +history. + +A single incident of public importance marks the life of Lee between +1855 and 1861. This was what is known to the world as the "John Brown +raid"--an incident of the year 1859, and preluding the approaching +storm. This occurrence is too well known to require a minute account +in these pages, and we shall accordingly pass over it briefly, +indicating simply the part borne in the affair by Lee. He was in +Washington at the time--the fall of 1859--on a visit to his family, +then residing at Arlington, near the city, when intelligence came that +a party of desperadoes had attacked and captured Harper's Ferry, with +the avowed intent of arming and inciting to insurrection the slaves +of the neighborhood and entire State. Lee was immediately, thereupon, +directed by President Buchanan to proceed to the point of danger and +arrest the rioters. He did so promptly; found upon his arrival that +Brown and his confederates had shut themselves up in an engine-house +of the town, with a number of their prisoners. Brown was summoned to +surrender, to be delivered over to the authorities for civil trial--he +refused; and Lee then proceeded to assault, with a force of marines, +the stronghold to which Brown had retreated. The doors were driven in, +Brown firing upon the assailants and killing or wounding two; but he +and his men were cut down and captured; they were turned over to the +Virginia authorities, and Lee, having performed the duty assigned him +returned to Washington, and soon afterward to Texas. + +He remained there, commanding the department, until the early spring +of 1861. He was then recalled to Washington at the moment when the +conflict between the North and the South was about to commence. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND SCOTT. + + +Lee found the country burning as with fever, and the air hot with +contending passions. The animosity, long smouldering between the two +sections, was about to burst into the flame of civil war; all men were +taking sides; the war of discussion on the floor of Congress was +about to yield to the clash of bayonets and the roar of cannon on the +battle-field. + +Any enumeration of the causes which led to this unhappy state of +affairs would be worse than useless in a volume like the present. Even +less desirable would be a discussion of the respective blame to be +attached to each of the great opponents in inaugurating the bitter and +long-continued struggle. Such a discussion would lead to nothing, and +would probably leave every reader of the same opinion as before. It +would also be the repetition of a worn-out and wearisome story. These +events are known of all men; for the political history of the United +States, from 1820, when the slavery agitation began, on the question +of the Missouri restriction, to 1861, when it ended in civil +convulsion, has been discussed, rediscussed, and discussed again, in +every journal, great and small, in the whole country. The person who +is not familiar, therefore, with the main points at issue, must be +ignorant beyond the power of any writer to enlighten him. We need +only say that the election of Abraham Lincoln, the nominee of the +Republican party, had determined the Gulf States to leave the Union. +South Carolina accordingly seceded, on the 20th of December, 1860; and +by the 1st of February, 1861, she had been followed by Mississippi, +Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The struggle thus +approached. Military movements began at many points, like those +distant flashes of lightning and vague mutterings which herald the +tempest. Early in February Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was +elected President of the Confederate States, at Montgomery. On the +13th of April Fort Sumter surrendered to General Beauregard, and +on the next day, April 14, 1861, President Lincoln issued his +proclamation declaring the Gulf States in rebellion, and calling upon +the States which had not seceded for seventy-five thousand men to +enforce the Federal authority. + +Tip to this time the older State of Virginia had persistently resisted +secession. Her refusal to array herself against the General Government +had been based upon an unconquerable repugnance, it seemed, for the +dissolution of that Union which she had so long loved; from real +attachment to the flag which she had done so much to make honorable, +and from a natural indisposition to rush headlong into a conflict +whose whole fury would burst upon and desolate her own soil. The +proclamation of President Lincoln, however, decided her course. The +convention had obdurately refused, week after week, to pass the +ordinance of secession. Now the naked question was, whether Virginia +should fight with or against her sisters of the Gulf States. She was +directed to furnish her quota of the seventy-five thousand troops +called for by President Lincoln, and must decide at once. On the 17th +of April, 1861, accordingly, an ordinance of secession passed the +Virginia Convention, and that Commonwealth cast her fortunes for weal +or woe with the Southern Confederacy. + +Such is a brief and rapid summary of the important public events which +had preceded, or immediately followed, Lee's return to Washington in +March, 1861. A grave, and to him a very solemn, question demanded +instant decision. Which side should he espouse--the side of the United +States or that of the South? To choose either caused him acute pain. +The attachment of the soldier to his flag is greater than the civilian +can realize, and Lee had before him the brightest military prospects. +The brief record which we have presented of his military career in +Mexico conveys a very inadequate idea of the position which he had +secured in the army. He was regarded by the authorities at Washington, +and by the country at large, as the ablest and most promising of +all the rising class of army officers. Upon General Winfield Scott, +Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, he had made an impression +which is the most striking proof of his great merit. General Scott was +enthusiastic in his expressions of admiration for the young Virginian; +and with the death of that general, which his great age rendered a +probable event at any moment, Lee was sure to become a candidate for +the highest promotion in the service. To this his great ability gave +him a title at the earliest possible moment; and other considerations +operated to advance his fortunes. He was conceded by all to be a +person of the highest moral character; was the descendant of an +influential and distinguished family, which had rendered important +services to the country in the Revolution; his father had been the +friend of Washington, and had achieved the first glories of arms, and +the ample estates derived from his wife gave him that worldly prestige +which has a direct influence upon the fortunes of an individual. +Colonel Lee could thus look forward, without the imputation of +presumption, to positions of the highest responsibility and honor +under the Government. With the death of Scott, and other aged officers +of the army, the place of commander-in-chief would fall to the most +deserving of the younger generation; and of this generation there was +no one so able and prominent as Lee.[1] + +[Footnote 1: "General Scott stated his purpose to recommend Lee as his +successor in the chief command of the army."--_Hon. Reverdy Johnson_.] + +The personal relations of Lee with General Scott constituted another +powerful temptation to decide him against going over to the Southern +side. We have referred to the great admiration which the old soldier +felt for the young officer. He is said to have exclaimed on one +occasion: "It would be better for every officer in the army, including +myself, to die than Robert Lee." There seems no doubt of the fact that +Scott looked to Lee as his ultimate successor in the supreme command, +for which his character and military ability peculiarly fitted him. +Warm personal regard gave additional strength to his feelings in +Lee's favor; and the consciousness of this regard on the part of his +superior made it still more difficult for Lee to come to a decision. + + + + +VII. + +LEE RESIGNS. + + +It is known that General Scott used every argument to persuade Lee not +to resign. To retain him in the service, he had been appointed, on his +arrival at Washington, a full colonel, and in 1860 his name had been +sent in, with others, by Scott, as a proper person to fill the vacancy +caused by the death of Brigadier-General Jessup. To these tempting +intimations that rapid promotion would attend his adherence to the +United States flag, Scott added personal appeals, which, coming from +him, must have been almost irresistible. + +"For God's sake, don't resign, Lee!" the lieutenant-general is said +to have exclaimed. And, in the protracted interviews which took place +between the two officers, every possible argument was urged by the +elder to decide Lee to remain firm. + +The attempt was in vain. Lee's attachment to the flag he had so long +fought under, and his personal affection for General Scott, were +great, but his attachment to his native State was still more powerful. +By birth a Virginian, he declared that he owed his first duty to her +and his own people. If she summoned him, he must obey the summons. As +long as she remained in the Union he might remain in the United States +Army. When she seceded from the Union, and took part with the Gulf +States, he must follow her fortunes, and do his part in defending her. +The struggle had been bitter, but brief. "My husband has wept tears of +blood," Mrs. Lee wrote to a friend, "over this terrible war; but he +must, as a man and a Virginian, share the destiny of his State, which +has solemnly pronounced for independence." + +The secession of Virginia, by a vote of the convention assembled +at Richmond, decided Lee in his course. He no longer hesitated. To +General Scott's urgent appeals not to send in his resignation, he +replied: "I am compelled to. I cannot consult my own feelings in this +matter." He accordingly wrote to General Scott from Arlington, on +the 20th of April, enclosing his resignation. The letter was in the +following words: + + GENERAL: Since my interview with you, on the 18th instant, I have + felt that I ought not longer to retain my commission in the army. + I therefore tender my resignation, which I request you will + recommend for acceptance. It would have been presented at once but + for the struggle it has cost me to separate myself from a service + to which I have devoted all the best years of my life, and all the + ability I possessed. + + During the whole of that time--more than a quarter of a century--I + have experienced nothing but kindness from my superiors, and the + most cordial friendship from my comrades. To no one, general, have + I been as much indebted as to yourself for uniform kindness and + consideration, and it has always been my ardent desire to merit + your approbation. I shall carry to the grave the most grateful + recollections of your kind consideration, and your name and fame + will always be dear to me. + + Save in defence of my native State, I never desire again to draw + my sword. Be pleased to accept my most earnest wishes for the + continuance of your happiness and prosperity, and believe me, most + truly yours, + + R.E. LEE. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, _Commanding United + States Army_. + +In this letter, full of dignity and grave courtesy, Lee vainly +attempts to hide the acute pain he felt at parting from his friend and +abandoning the old service. Another letter, written on the same day, +expresses the same sentiment of painful regret: + + ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, _April 20,1861_. + + MY DEAR SISTER: I am grieved at my inability to see you ... I have + been waiting "for a more convenient season," which has brought to + many before me deep and lasting regret. Now we are in a state of + war which will yield to nothing. The whole South is in a state of + revolution, into which Virginia, after a long struggle, has been + drawn, and, _though I recognize no necessity for this state of + things_, and would have forborne and pleaded to the end for + redress of grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own person I + had to meet the question, _whether I should take part against my + native State_. With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling + of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able + to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my + children, my home. I have, therefore, resigned my commission + in the army, and, save in defence of my native State, with the + sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I + may never be called on to draw my sword. + + I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as + you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought + right. To show you the feeling and struggle it has cost me, I send + a copy of my letter to General Scott, which accompanied my letter + of resignation. I have no time for more.... May God guard and + protect you and yours, and shower upon you every blessing, is the + prayer of your devoted brother, + + R.E. LEE. + +The expression used in this letter--"though I recognize no necessity +for this state of things"--conveys very clearly the political +sentiments of the writer. He did not regard the election of a +Republican President, even by a strictly sectional vote, as sufficient +ground for a dissolution of the Union. It may be added here, that +such, we believe, was the opinion of a large number of Southern +officers at that time. Accustomed to look to the flag as that which +they were called upon to defend against all comers, they were loath to +admit the force of the reasoning which justified secession, and called +upon them to abandon it. Their final action seems to have been taken +from the same considerations which controlled the course of Lee. Their +States called them, and they obeyed. + +In resigning his commission and going over to the South, Lee +sacrificed his private fortunes, in addition to all his hopes of +future promotion in the United States Army. His beautiful home, +Arlington, situated upon the heights opposite Washington, must be +abandoned forever, and fall into the hands of the enemy. This old +mansion was a model of peaceful loveliness and attraction. "All +around here," says a writer, describing the place, "Arlington Heights +presents a lovely picture of rural beauty. The 'General Lee house,' +as some term it, stands on a grassy lot, surrounded with a grove of +stately trees and underwood, except in front, where is a verdant +sloping ground for a few rods, when it descends into a valley, +spreading away in beautiful and broad expanse to the lovely Potomac. +This part of the splendid estate is apparently a highly-cultivated +meadow, the grass waving in the gentle breeze, like the undulating +bosom of Old Atlantic. To the south, north, and west, the grounds are +beautifully diversified into hill and valley, and richly stored with +oak, willow, and maple, though the oak is the principal wood. The view +from the height is a charming picture. Washington, Georgetown, and the +intermediate Potomac, are all before you in the foreground." + +In this old mansion crowning the grassy hill, the young officer had +passed the happiest moments of his life. All around him were spots +associated with his hours of purest enjoyment. Each object in the +house--the old furniture and very table-sets--recalled the memory of +Washington, and were dear to him. Here were many pieces of the "Martha +Washington china," portions of the porcelain set presented to Mrs. +Washington by Lafayette and others--in the centre of each piece the +monogram "M.W." with golden rays diverging to the names of the old +thirteen States. Here were also fifty pieces, remnants of the set +of one thousand, procured from China by the Cincinnati Society, and +presented to Washington--articles of elaborate decoration in blue and +gold, "with the coat-of-arms of the society, held by Fame, with a blue +ribbon, from which is suspended the eagle of the order, with a green +wreath about its neck, and on its breast a shield representing the +inauguration of the order." Add to these the tea-table used by +Washington and one of his bookcases; old portraits, antique furniture, +and other memorials of the Lee family from Stratford--let the reader +imagine the old mansion stored with these priceless relics, and he +will understand with what anguish Lee must have contemplated what came +duly to pass, the destruction, by rude hands, of objects so dear to +him. That he must have foreseen the fate of his home is certain. To +take sides with Virginia was to give up Arlington to its fate. + +There is no proof, however, that this sacrifice of his personal +fortunes had any effect upon him. If he could decide to change his +flag, and dissolve every tie which bound him to the old service, he +could sacrifice all else without much regret. No one will be found to +say that the hope of rank or emolument in the South influenced him. +The character and whole career of the man contradict the idea. His +ground of action may be summed up in a single sentence. He went with +his State because he believed it was his duty to do so, and because, +to ascertain what was his duty, and perform it, was the cardinal maxim +of his life. + + + + +VIII. + +HIS RECEPTION AT RICHMOND. + + +No sooner had intelligence of Lee's resignation of his commission +in the United States Army reached Richmond, than Governor Letcher +appointed him major-general of the military forces of Virginia. The +appointment was confirmed by the convention, rather by acclamation +than formal vote; and on the 23d of April, Lee, who had meanwhile +left Washington and repaired to Richmond, was honored by a formal +presentation to the convention. + +The address of President Janney was eloquent, and deserves to be +preserved. Lee stood in the middle aisle, and the president, rising, +said: + + "MAJOR-GENERAL LEE: In the name of the people of our native State, + here represented, I bid you a cordial and heart-felt welcome to + this hall, in which we may almost yet hear the echoes of the + voices of the statesmen, the soldiers, and sages of by-gone days, + who have borne your name, and whose blood now flows in your veins. + + "We met in the month of February last, charged with the solemn + duty of protecting the rights, the honor, and the interests of the + people of this Commonwealth. We differed for a time as to the best + means of accomplishing that object, but there never was, at any + moment, a shade of difference among us as to the great object + itself; and now, Virginia having taken her position, as far as + the power of this convention extends, we stand animated by one + impulse, governed by one desire and one determination, and that + is, that she shall be defended, and that no spot of her soil shall + be polluted by the foot of an invader. + + "When the necessity became apparent of having a leader for our + forces, all hearts and all eyes, by the impulse of an instinct + which is a surer guide than reason itself, turned to the old + county of Westmoreland. We knew how prolific she had been in other + days of heroes and statesmen. We knew she had given birth to the + Father of his Country, to Richard Henry Lee, to Monroe, and last, + though not least, to your own gallant father, and we knew well, by + your deeds, that her productive power was not yet exhausted. + + "Sir, we watched with the most profound and intense interest the + triumphal march of the army led by General Scott, to which you + were attached, from Vera Cruz to the capital of Mexico. We read of + the sanguinary conflicts and the blood-stained fields, in all + of which victory perched upon our own banners. We knew of the + unfading lustre that was shed upon the American arms by that + campaign, and we know, also, what your modesty has always + disclaimed, that no small share of the glory of those achievements + was due to your valor and your military genius. + + "Sir, one of the proudest recollections of my life will be the + honor that I yesterday had of submitting to this body confirmation + of the nomination, made by the Governor of this State, of you + as commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of this + Commonwealth. I rose to put the question, and when I asked if this + body would advise and consent to that appointment, there rushed + from the hearts to the tongues of all the members an affirmative + response, which told with an emphasis that could leave no doubt + of the feeling whence it emanated. I put the negative of the + question, for form's sake, but there was an unbroken silence. + + "Sir, we have, by this unanimous vote, expressed our convictions + that you are at this day, among the living citizens of Virginia, + 'first in war.' We pray to God most fervently that you may so + conduct the operations committed to your Charge that it may soon + be said of you that you are 'first in peace,' and when that time + comes you will have earned the still prouder distinction of being + 'first in the hearts of your countrymen.'" + +The president concluded by saying that Virginia on that day intrusted +her spotless sword to Lee's keeping, and Lee responded as follows: + +"MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: Profoundly impressed +with the solemnity of the occasion, for which I must say I was not +prepared, I accept the position assigned me by your partiality. I +would have much preferred had your choice fallen upon an abler man. +Trusting in Almighty God, an approving conscience, and the aid of my +fellow-citizens, I devote myself to the service of my native State, in +whose behalf alone will I ever again draw my sword." + +Such were the modest and dignified expressions of Lee in accepting the +great trust. The reply is brief and simple, but these are very great +merits on such an occasion. No portion of the address contains a +phrase or word denunciatory of the Federal Government, or of the +motives of the opponents of Virginia; and this moderation and absence +of all rancor characterized the utterances of Lee, both oral and +written, throughout the war. He spoke, doubtless, as he felt, and +uttered no expression of heated animosity, because he cherished no +such sentiment. His heart was bleeding still from the cruel trial it +had undergone in abruptly tearing away from the old service to embark +upon civil war; with the emotions of the present occasion, excited by +the great ovation in his honor, no bitterness mingled--or at least, if +there were such bitterness in his heart, he did not permit it to rise +to his lips. He accepted the trust confided to him in terms of dignity +and moderation, worthy of Washington; exchanged grave salutations with +the members of the convention; and then, retiring from the hall where +he had solemnly consecrated his life to his native Commonwealth, +proceeded at once to energetic work to get the State in a posture of +defence. + +The sentiment of the country in reference to Lee was even warmer than +that of the convention. For weeks, reports had been rife that he had +determined to adhere to the Federal Government in the approaching +struggle. Such an event, it was felt by all, would be a public +calamity to Virginia; and the general joy may be imagined when it was +known that Lee had resigned and come to fight with his own people. He +assumed command, therefore, of all the Virginia forces, in the +midst of universal public rejoicing; and the fact gave strength +and consistency to the general determination to resist the Federal +Government to the last. + + + + +IX. + +LEE IN 1861. + + +At this time--April, 1861--General Lee was fifty-four years of age, +and may be said to have been in the ripe vigor of every faculty. +Physically and intellectually he was "at his best," and in the bloom +of manhood. His figure was erect, and he bore himself with the brief, +somewhat stiff air of command derived from his military education +and service in the army. This air of the professional soldier, which +characterized generally the graduates of West Point, was replaced +afterward by a grave dignity, the result of high command and great +responsibilities. In April, 1861, however, he was rather the ordinary +army officer in bearing than the commander-in-chief. + +He had always been remarkable for his manly beauty, both of face and +figure, and the cares of great command had not yet whitened his hair. +There was not a gray hair in his head, and his mustache was dark and +heavy. The rest of his face was clean-shaven, and his cheeks had that +fresh, ruddy hue which indicates high physical health. This was not at +that time or afterward the result of high living. Of all the prominent +personages of his epoch. Lee was, perhaps, the most temperate. He +rarely drank even so much as a single glass of wine, and it was a +matter of general notoriety in the army afterward, that he cared not +what he ate. The ruddy appearance which characterized him from first +to last was the result of the most perfectly-developed physical +health, which no species of indulgence had ever impaired. He used no +tobacco then or afterward, in any shape--that seductive weed which has +been called "the soldier's comfort"--and seemed, indeed, superior +to all those small vices which assail men of his profession. Grave, +silent, with a military composure of bearing which amounted at times, +as we have said, to stiffness, he resembled a machine in the shape of +a man. At least this was the impression which he produced upon those +who saw him in public at this time. + +The writer's design, here, is to indicate the personal appearance and +bearing of General Lee on the threshold of the war. It may be said, by +way of summing up all, that he was a full-blooded "West-Pointer" in +appearance; the _militaire_ as distinguished from the civilian; and +no doubt impressed those who held official interviews with him as a +personage of marked reserve. The truth and frankness of the man under +all circumstances, and his great, warm heart, full of honesty and +unassuming simplicity, became known only in the progress of the war. +How simple and true and honest he was, will appear from a letter to +his son, G.W. Custis Lee, written some time before: + +"You must study," he wrote, "to be frank with the world; frankness +is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on +every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right. If a +friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, +tell him plainly why you cannot: you will wrong him and wrong yourself +by equivocation of any kind. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend +or keep one; the man who requires you to do so, is dearly purchased at +a sacrifice. Deal kindly, but firmly, with all your classmates; you +will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to +others what you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one, +tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous +experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's +face and another behind his back. We should live, act, and say, +nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only best as a matter of +principle, but it is the path to peace and honor. + +"In regard to duty, let me, in conclusion of this hasty letter, inform +you that, nearly a hundred years ago, there was a day of remarkable +gloom and darkness--still known as 'the dark day'--a day when the +light of the sun was slowly extinguished, as if by an eclipse. The +Legislature of Connecticut was in session, and, as its members saw the +unexpected and unaccountable darkness coming on, they shared in the +general awe and terror. It was supposed by many that the last day--the +day of judgment--had come. Some one, in the consternation of the hour, +moved an adjournment. Then there arose an old Puritan legislator, +Davenport, of Stamford, and said that, if the last day had come, he +desired to be found at his place doing his duty, and, therefore, moved +that candles be brought in, so that the House could proceed with +its duty. There was quietness in that man's mind, the quietness of +heavenly wisdom and inflexible willingness to obey present duty. Duty, +then, is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all +things, like the old Puritan. You cannot do more, you should never +wish to do less. Never let me and your mother wear one gray hair for +any lack of duty on your part." + +The maxims of this letter indicate the noble and conscientious +character of the man who wrote it. "Frankness is the child of honesty +and courage." "Say just what you mean to do on every occasion." "Never +do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one." "Duty is the sublimest +word in our language ... do your duty in all things ... you cannot do +more." That he lived up to these great maxims, amid all the troubled +scenes and hot passions of a stormy epoch, is Lee's greatest glory. +His fame as a soldier, great as it is, yields to the true glory of +having placed duty before his eyes always as the supreme object of +life. He resigned his commission from a sense of duty to his native +State; made this same duty his sole aim in every portion of his +subsequent career; and, when all had failed, and the cause he had +fought for was overthrown, it was the consciousness of having +performed conscientiously, and to his utmost, his whole duty, which +took the sting from defeat, and gave him that noble calmness which the +whole world saw and admired. "Human virtue should be equal to human +calamity," were his august words when all was lost, and men's minds +were sinking under the accumulated agony of defeat and despair. +Those words could only have been uttered by a man who made duty the +paramount object of living--the performance of it, the true glory and +crown of virtuous manhood. It may be objected by some critics that +he mistook his duty in espousing the Southern cause. Doubtless many +persons will urge that objection, and declare that the words here +written are senseless panegyric. But that will not affect the truth or +detract from Lee's great character. He performed at least what in his +inmost soul _he_ considered his duty, and, from the beginning of his +career, when all was so bright, to its termination, when all was so +dark, it will be found that his controlling sentiment was, first, +last, and all the time, this performance of duty. The old Puritan, +whose example he admired so much, was not more calm and resolute. +When "the last day" of the cause he fought for came--in the spring of +1865--it was plain to all who saw the man, standing unmoved in the +midst of the general disaster, that his sole desire was to be "found +at his place, and doing his duty." + +From this species of digression upon the moral constituents of the +individual, we pass to the record of that career which made the great +fame of the soldier. The war had already begun when Lee took command +of the provisional forces of Virginia, and the collisions in various +portions of the Gulf States between the Federal and State authorities +were followed by overt acts in Virginia, which all felt would be the +real battle-ground of the war. The North entered upon the struggle +with very great ardor and enthusiasm. The call for volunteers to +enforce obedience to the Federal authority was tumultuously responded +to throughout the entire North, and troops were hurried forward to +Washington, which soon became an enormous camp. The war began in +Virginia with the evacuation and attempted destruction of the works at +Harper's Ferry, by the Federal officer in command there. This was on +the 19th of April, and on the next day reinforcements were thrown into +Fortress Monroe; and the navy-yard at Norfolk, with the shipping, set +on fire and abandoned. + +Lee thus found the Commonwealth in a state of war, and all his +energies were immediately concentrated upon the work of placing her +in a condition of defence. He established his headquarters in the +custom-house at Richmond; orderlies were seen coming and going; bustle +reigned throughout the building, and by night, as well as by day, +General Lee labored incessantly to organize the means of resistance. +From the first moment, all had felt that Virginia, from her +geographical position, adjoining the Federal frontier and facing the +Federal capital, would become the arena of the earliest, longest, and +most determined struggle. Her large territory and moral influence, as +the oldest of the Southern States, also made her the chief object of +the Federal hostility. It was felt that if Virginia were occupied, and +her people reduced under the Federal authority again, the Southern +cause would be deprived of a large amount of its prestige and +strength. The authorities of the Gulf States accordingly hurried +forward to Richmond all available troops; and from all parts of +Virginia the volunteer regiments, which had sprung up like magic, +were in like manner forwarded by railway to the capital. Every train +brought additions to this great mass of raw war material; large camps +rose around Richmond, chief among which was that named "Camp Lee;" and +the work of drilling and moulding this crude material for the great +work before it was ardently proceeded with under the supervision of +Lee. + +An Executive Board, or Military Council, had been formed, consisting +of Governor Letcher and other prominent officials; but these gentlemen +had the good sense to intrust the main work of organizing an army to +Lee. As yet the great question at Richmond was to place Virginia in a +state of defence--to prepare that Commonwealth for the hour of trial, +by enrolling her own people. It will be remembered that Lee held no +commission from the Confederate States; he was major-general of the +Provisional Army of Virginia, and to place this Provisional Army in +a condition to take the field was the first duty before him. It was +difficult, not from want of ardor in the population, but from the want +of the commonest material necessary in time of war. There were +few arms, and but small supplies of ammunition. While the Federal +Government entered upon the war with the amplest resources, the South +found herself almost entirely destitute of the munitions essential +to her protection. All was to be organized and put at once into +operation--the quartermaster, commissary, ordnance, and other +departments. Transportation, supplies of rations, arms, ammunition, +all were to be collected immediately. The material existed, or could +be supplied, as the sequel clearly showed; but as yet there was +almost nothing. And it was chiefly to the work of organizing these +departments, first of all, that General Lee and the Military Council +addressed themselves with the utmost energy. + +The result was, that the State found herself very soon in a condition +to offer a determined resistance. The troops at the various camps of +instruction were successively sent to the field; others took their +places, and the work of drilling the raw material into soldiers went +on; supplies were collected, transportation found, workshops for the +construction of arms and ammunition sprung up; small-arms, cannon, +cartridges, fixed and other ammunition, were produced in quantities; +and, in a time which now seems wholly inadequate for such a result, +the Commonwealth of Virginia was ready to take the field against the +Federal Government. + + + + +X. + +THE WAR BEGINS. + + +Early in May, Virginia became formally a member of the Southern +Confederacy, and the troops which she had raised a portion of the +Confederate States Army. When Richmond became the capital +soon afterward, and the Southern Congress assembled, five +brigadier-generals were appointed, Generals Cooper, Albert S. +Johnston, Lee, J.E. Johnston, and Beauregard. Large forces had been +meanwhile raised throughout the South; Virginia became the centre +of all eyes, as the scene of the main struggle; and early in June +occurred at Bethel, in Lower Virginia, the first prominent affair, in +which General Butler, with about four thousand men, was repulsed and +forced to retire. + +The affair at Bethel, which was of small importance, was followed +by movements in Northern and Western Virginia--the battles at Rich +Mountain and Carrick's Ford; Johnston's movements in the Valley; and +the advance of the main Federal army on the force under Beauregard, +which resulted in the first battle of Manassas. In these events, +General Lee bore no part, and we need not speak of them further than +to present a summary of the results. The Federal design had been to +penetrate Virginia in three columns. One was to advance from the +northwest under General McClellan; a second, under General Patterson, +was to take possession of the Valley; and a third, under General +McDowell, was to drive Beauregard back from Manassas on Richmond. Only +one of these columns--that of McClellan--succeeded in its undertaking. +Johnston held Patterson in check in the Valley until the advance upon +Manassas; then by a flank march the Confederate general hastened to +the assistance of Beauregard. The battle of Manassas followed on +Sunday, the 21st of July. After an unsuccessful attempt to force the +Confederate right, General McDowell assailed their left, making for +that purpose a long _detour_--and at first carried all before him. +Reenforcements were hurried forward, however, and the Confederates +fought with the energy of men defending their own soil. The obstinate +stand made by Evans, Bee, Bartow, Jackson, and their brave associates, +turned the fortunes of the day, and, when reenforcements subsequently +reached the field under General Kirby Smith and General Early, the +Federal troops retreated in great disorder toward Washington. + + + + +XI. + +LEE'S ADVANCE INTO WESTERN VIRGINIA. + + +General Lee nowhere appears, as we have seen, in these first great +movements and conflicts. He was without any specific command, and +remained at Richmond, engaged in placing that city in a state of +defence. The works which he constructed proved subsequently of great +importance to the city, and a Northern officer writes of Lee: "While +the fortifications of Richmond stand, his name will evoke admiration; +the art of war is unacquainted with any defence so admirable." + +Lee's first appearance in the war, as commander of troops in the +field, took place in the fall of 1861, when he was sent to operate +against the forces under General Rosecrans in the fastnesses of +Western Virginia. This indecisive and unimportant movement has been +the subject of various comment; the official reports were burned in +the conflagration at Richmond, or captured, and the elaborate plans +drawn up by Lee of his intended movement against General Reynolds, +at Cheat Mountain, have in the same manner disappeared. Under these +circumstances, and as the present writer had no personal knowledge of +the subject, it seems best to simply quote the brief statement which +follows. It is derived from an officer of high rank and character, +whose statement is only second in value to that of General Lee +himself: + + "After General Garnett's death, General Lee was sent by the + President to ascertain what could be done in the trans-Alleghany + region, and to endeavor to harmonize our movements, etc., in that + part of the State. He was not ordered to take command of the + troops, nor did he do so, during the whole time he was there. + + "Soon after his arrival he came to the decided conclusion that + _that_ was not the line from which to make an offensive movement. + The country, although not hostile, was not friendly; supplies + could not be obtained; the enemy had possession of the Baltimore + and Ohio Railroad, from which, and the Ohio River as a base, he + could operate with great advantage against us, and our only chance + was to drive him from the railroad, take possession, and use it + ourselves. We had not the means of doing this, and consequently + could only try to hold as much country as possible, and occupy as + large a force of the enemy as could be kept in front of us. The + movement against Cheat Mountain, which failed, was undertaken with + a view of causing the enemy to contract his lines, and enable + us to unite the troops under Generals Jackson (of Georgia) and + Loring. After the failure of this movement on our part, General + Rosecrans, feeling secure, strengthened his lines in that part of + the country, and went with a part of his forces to the Kanawha, + driving our forces across the Gauley. General Lee then went to + that line of operations, to endeavor to unite the troops under + Generals Floyd and Wise, and stop the movements under Rosecrans. + General Loring, with a part of his force from Valley Mountain, + joined the forces at Sewell Mountain. Rosecrans's movement was + stopped, and, the season for operations in that country being + over, General Lee was ordered to Richmond, and soon afterward sent + to South Carolina, to meet the movement of the enemy from Port + Royal, etc. He remained in South Carolina until shortly before the + commencement of the campaign before Richmond, in 1862." + +The months spent by General Lee in superintending the coast defences +of South Carolina and Georgia, present nothing of interest, and we +shall therefore pass to the spring of 1862, when he returned to +Richmond. His services as engineer had been highly appreciated by the +people of the South, and a writer of the period said: "The time will +yet come when his superior abilities will be vindicated, both to his +own renown and the glory of his country." The time was now at hand +when these abilities, if the individual possessed them, were to have +an opportunity to display themselves. + + + + +XII. + +LEE'S LAST INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP MEADE. + + +A touching incident of Lee's life belongs to this time--the early +spring of 1862. Bishop Meade, the venerable head of the Episcopal +Church in Virginia, lay at the point of death, in the city of +Richmond. When General Lee was informed of the fact, he exhibited +lively emotion, for the good bishop, as we have said in the +commencement of this narrative, had taught him his catechism when he +was a boy in Alexandria. On the day before the bishop's death. General +Lee called in the morning to see him, but such was the state of +prostration under which the sick man labored, that only a few of his +most intimate friends were permitted to have access to his chamber. In +the evening General Lee called again, and his name was announced +to Bishop Meade. As soon as he heard it, he said faintly, for +his breathing had become much oppressed, and he spoke with great +difficulty: "I must see him, if only for a few moments." + +General Lee was accordingly introduced, and approached the dying man, +with evidences of great emotion in his countenance. Taking the thin +hand in his own, he said: + +"How do you feel, bishop?" + +"Almost gone," replied Bishop Meade, in a voice so weak that it was +almost inaudible; "but I wanted to see you once more." + +He paused for an instant, breathing heavily, and looking at Lee with +deep feeling. + +"God bless you! God bless you, Robert!" he faltered out, "and fit you +for your high and responsible duties. I can't call you 'general'--I +must call you 'Robert;' I have heard you your catechism too often." + +General Lee pressed the feeble hand, and tears rolled down his cheeks. + +"Yes, bishop--very often," he said, in reply to the last words uttered +by the bishop. + +A brief conversation followed, Bishop Meade making inquiries in +reference to Mrs. Lee, who was his own relative, and other members +of the family. "He also," says the highly-respectable clergyman who +furnishes these particulars, "put some pertinent questions to General +Lee about the state of public affairs and of the army, showing the +most lively interest in the success of our cause." + +It now became necessary to terminate an interview which, in the feeble +condition of the aged man, could not be prolonged. Much exhausted, and +laboring under deep emotion, Bishop Meade shook the general by the +hand, and said: + +"Heaven bless you! Heaven bless you! and give you wisdom for your +important and arduous duties!" + +These were the last words uttered during the interview. General Lee +pressed the dying man's hand, released it, stood for several minutes +by the bedside motionless and in perfect silence, and then went out of +the room. + +On the next morning Bishop Meade expired. + +[Illustration: Environs of Richmond.] + + + + +PART II. + +_IN FRONT OF RICHMOND_. + + + + + +I. + +PLAN OF THE FEDERAL CAMPAIGN. + + +The pathetic interview which we have just described took place in the +month of March, 1862. + +By the latter part of that month, General McClellan, in command of an +army of more than one hundred thousand men, landed on the Peninsula +between the James and York Rivers, and after stubbornly-contested +engagements with the forces of General Johnston, advanced up the +Peninsula--the Confederates slowly retiring. In the latter part of +May, a portion of the Federal forces had crossed the Chickahominy, and +confronted General Johnston defending Richmond. + +Such was the serious condition of affairs in the spring of 1862. The +Federal sword had nearly pierced the heart of Virginia, and, as the +course of events was about to place Lee in charge of her destinies, +a brief notice is indispensable of the designs of the adversaries +against whom he was to contend on the great arena of the State. + +While the South had been lulled to sleep, as it were, by the battle of +Manassas, the North, greatly enraged at the disaster, had prepared to +prosecute the war still more vigorously. The military resources of the +South had been plainly underestimated. It was now obvious that the +North had to fight with a dangerous adversary, and that the people of +the South were entirely in earnest. Many journals of the North had +ridiculed the idea of war; and one of them had spoken of the great +uprising of the Southern States from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico +as a mere "local commotion" which a force of fifty thousand men would +be able to put down without difficulty. A column of twenty-five +thousand men, it was said, would be sufficient to carry all before it +in Virginia, and capture Richmond, and the comment on this statement +had been the battle of Manassas, where a force of more than fifty +thousand had been defeated and driven back to Washington. + +It was thus apparent that the war was to be a serious struggle, in +which the North would be compelled to exert all her energies. The +people responded to the call upon them with enthusiasm. All the roving +and adventurous elements of Northern society flocked to the Federal +standard, and in a short time a large force had once more assembled at +Washington. The work now was to drill, equip, and put it in efficient +condition for taking the field. This was undertaken with great energy, +the Congress cooeperating with the Executive in every manner. The city +of Washington resounded with the wheels of artillery and the tramp +of cavalry; the workshops were busy night and day to supply arms and +ammunition; and the best officers devoted themselves, without rest, to +the work of drilling and disciplining the mass. + +By the spring of 1862 a force of about two hundred thousand men was +ready to take the field in Virginia. General Scott was not to command +in the coming campaigns. He had retired in the latter part of the +year 1861, and his place had been filled by a young officer of +rising reputation--General George B. McClellan, who had achieved the +successes of Rich Mountain and Carrick's Ford in Western Virginia. +General McClellan was not yet forty, but had impressed the authorities +with a high opinion of his abilities. A soldier by profession, and +enjoying the distinction of having served with great credit in the +Mexican War, he had been sent as United States military commissioner +to the Crimea, and on his return had written a book of marked ability +on the military organizations of the powers of Europe. When the +struggle between the North and South approached, he was said--with +what truth we know not--to have hesitated, before determining upon his +course; but it is probable that the only question with him was whether +he should fight for the North or remain neutral. In his politics he +was a Democrat, and the war on the South is said to have shocked his +State-rights view. But, whatever his sentiments had been, he accepted +command, and fought a successful campaign in Western Virginia. From +that moment his name became famous; he was said to have achieved +"two victories in one day," and he received from the newspapers the +flattering name of "the Young Napoleon." + +The result of this successful campaign, slight in importance as +it was, procured for General McClellan the high post of +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States. Operations in +every portion of the South were to be directed by him; and he was +especially intrusted with the important work of organizing the new +levies at Washington. This he performed with very great ability. Under +his vigorous hand, the raw material soon took shape. He gave his +personal attention to every department; and the result, as we have +said, in the early spring of 1862, was an army of more than two +hundred thousand men, for operations in Virginia alone. + +The great point now to be determined was the best line of operations +against Richmond. President Lincoln was strongly in favor of an +advance by way of Manassas and the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, +which he thought would insure the safety of the Federal capital. This +was always, throughout the whole war, a controlling consideration with +him; and, regarded in the light of subsequent events, this solicitude +seems to have been well founded. More than once afterward, General +Lee--to use his own expression--thought of "swapping queens," that is +to say, advancing upon Washington, without regard to the capture of +Richmond; and President Lincoln, with that excellent good sense which +he generally exhibited, felt that the loss of Washington would prove +almost fatal to the Federal cause.--Such was the origin of the +President's preference for the Manassas line. General McClellan did +not share it. He assented it seems at first, but soon resolved +to adopt another plan--an advance either from Urbanna on the +Rappahannock, or from West Point on the York. Against his views and +determination, the President and authorities struggled in vain. +McClellan treated their arguments and appeals with a want of ceremony +amounting at times nearly to contempt; he adhered to his own plan +resolutely, and in the end the President gave way. In rueful protest +against the continued inactivity of General McClellan, President +Lincoln had exclaimed, "If General McClellan does not want to use the +army, I would like to borrow it;" and "if something is not soon done, +the bottom will be out of the whole affair." + +At last General McClellan carried his point, and an advance against +Richmond from the Peninsula was decided upon. In order to assist this +movement, General Fremont was to march through Northwestern Virginia, +and General Banks up the Valley; and, having thus arranged their +programme, the Federal authorities began to move forward to the great +work. To transport an army of more than one hundred thousand men +by water to the Peninsula was a heavy undertaking; but the ample +resources of the Government enabled them to do so without difficulty. +General McClellan, who had now been removed from his post of +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, and assigned to +the command only of the army to operate against Richmond, landed his +forces on the Peninsula, and, after several actions of an obstinate +description, advanced toward the Chickahominy, General Johnston, the +Confederate commander, deliberately retiring. Johnston took up a +position behind this stream, and, toward the end of May, McClellan +crossed a portion of his forces and confronted him. + + + + +II. + +JOHNSTON IS WOUNDED. + + +The army thus threatening the city which had become the capital of the +Confederacy was large and excellently equipped. It numbered in all, +according to General McClellan's report, one hundred and fifty-six +thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight men, of whom one hundred and +fifteen thousand one hundred and two were effective troops--that is to +say, present and ready for duty as fighting-men in the field. + +Results of such magnitude' were expected from this great army, that +all the resources of the Federal Government had been taxed to bring +it to the highest possible state of efficiency. The artillery was +numerous, and of the most approved description; small-arms of the best +patterns and workmanship were profusely supplied; the ammunition was +of the finest quality, and almost inexhaustible in quantity; and +the rations for the subsistence of the troops, which were equally +excellent and abundant, were brought up in an unfailing stream from +the White House, in General McClellan's rear, over the York River +Railroad, which ran straight to his army. + +Such was the admirable condition of the large force under command of +General McClellan. It would be difficult to imagine an army better +prepared for active operations; and the position which it held had +been well selected. The left of the army was protected by the wellnigh +impassable morass of the White-oak Swamp, and all the approaches from +the direction of Richmond were obstructed by the natural difficulties +of the ground, which had been rendered still more forbidding by an +abattis of felled trees and earthworks of the best description. Unless +the right of McClellan, on the northern bank of the Chickahominy, were +turned by the Confederates, his communications with his base at the +White House and the safety of his army were assured. And even the +apparently improbable contingency of such an assault on his right had +been provided for. Other bodies of Federal troops had advanced into +Virginia to cooeperate with the main force on the Peninsula. General +McDowell, the able soldier who had nearly defeated the Confederates at +Manassas, was at Fredericksburg with a force of about forty thousand +men, which were to advance southward without loss of time and unite +with General McClellan's right. This would completely insure the +communications of his army from interruption; and it was no doubt +expected that Generals Fremont and Banks would cooeperate in the +movement also. Fremont was to advance from Northwestern Virginia, +driving before him the small Confederate force, under Jackson, in the +Valley; and General Banks, then at Winchester, was to cross the Blue +Ridge Mountains, and, posting his forces along the Manassas Railroad, +guard the approaches to Washington when McDowell advanced from +Fredericksburg to the aid of General McClellan. Thus Richmond would be +half encircled by Federal armies. General McClellan, if permitted by +the Confederates to carry out his plan of operations, would soon be in +command of about two hundred thousand men, and with this force it was +anticipated he would certainly be able to capture Richmond. + +Such was the Federal programme of the war in Virginia. It promised +great results, and ought, it would seem, to have succeeded. The +Confederate forces in Virginia did not number in all one hundred +thousand men; and it is now apparent that, without the able strategy +of Johnston, Lee, and Jackson, General McClellan would have been in +possession of Richmond before the summer. + +Prompt action was thus necessary on the part of the sagacious soldier +commanding the army at Richmond, and directing operations throughout +the theatre of action in Virginia. The officer in question was General +Joseph E. Johnston, a Virginian by birth, who had first held General +Patterson in check in the Shenandoah Valley, and then hastened to the +assistance of General Beauregard at Manassas, where, in right of his +superior rank, he took command. Before the enemy's design to advance +up the Peninsula had been developed, Johnston had made a masterly +retreat from Manassas. Reappearing with his force of about forty +thousand men on the Peninsula, he had obstinately opposed McClellan, +and only retired when he was compelled by numbers to do so, with +the resolution, however, of fighting a decisive battle on the +Chickahominy. In face, figure, and character, General Johnston was +thoroughly the soldier. Above the medium height, with an erect figure, +in a close-fitting uniform buttoned to the chin; with a ruddy face, +decorated with close-cut gray side-whiskers, mustache, and tuft on the +chin; reserved in manner, brief of speech, without impulses of any +description, it seemed, General Johnston's appearance and bearing were +military to stiffness; and he was popularly compared to "a gamecock," +ready for battle at any moment. As a soldier, his reputation +was deservedly high; to unshrinking personal courage he added a +far-reaching capacity for the conduct of great operations. Throughout +his career he enjoyed a profound public appreciation of his abilities +as a commander, and was universally respected as a gentleman and a +patriot. + +General Johnston, surveying the whole field in Virginia, and +penetrating, it would seem, the designs of the enemy, had hastened to +direct General Jackson, commanding in the Valley, to begin offensive +operations, and, by threatening the Federal force there--with +Washington in perspective--relieve the heavy pressure upon the main +arena. Jackson carried out these instructions with the vigor which +marked all his operations. In March he advanced down the Valley in the +direction of Winchester, and, coming upon a considerable force of +the enemy at Kernstown, made a vigorous assault upon them; a heavy +engagement ensued, and, though Jackson was defeated and compelled to +retreat, a very large Federal force was retained in the Valley +to protect that important region. A more decisive diversion soon +followed. Jackson advanced in May upon General Banks, then at +Strasburg, drove him from that point to and across the Potomac; and +such was the apprehension felt at Washington, that President Lincoln +ordered General McDowell, then at Fredericksburg with about forty +thousand men, to send twenty thousand across the mountains to +Strasburg in order to pursue or cut off Jackson. + +Thus the whole Federal programme in Virginia was thrown into +confusion. General Banks, after the fight at Kernstown, was kept in +the Valley. After Jackson's second attack upon him, when General Banks +was driven across the Potomac and Washington threatened, General +McDowell was directed to send half his army to operate against +Jackson. Thus General McClellan, waiting at Richmond for McDowell to +join him, did not move; with a portion of his army on one side of the +stream, and the remainder on the other side, he remained inactive, +hesitating and unwilling, as any good soldier would have been, to +commence the decisive assault. + +His indecision was brought to an end by General Johnston. Discovering +that the force in his front, near "Seven Pines," on the southern bank +of the Chickahominy, was only a portion of the Federal army, General +Johnston determined to attack it. This resolution was not in +consequence of the freshet in the Chickahominy, as has been supposed, +prompting Johnston to attack while the Federal army was cut in two, as +it were. His resolution, he states, had already been taken, and was, +with or without reference to the rains, that of a good soldier. +General Johnston struck at General McClellan on the last day of May, +just at the moment, it appears, when the Federal commander designed +commencing his last advance upon the city. The battle which took place +was one of the most desperate and bloody of the war. Both sides fought +with obstinate courage, and neither gained a decisive advantage. On +the Confederate right, near "Seven Pines," the Federal line was +broken and forced back; but, on the left, at Fair Oaks Station, the +Confederates, in turn, were repulsed. Night fell upon a field where +neither side could claim the victory. The most that could be claimed +by the Southerners was that McClellan had received a severe check; and +they sustained a great misfortune in the wound received by General +Johnston. He was struck by a fragment of shell while superintending +the attack at Fair Oaks, and the nature of his wound rendered it +impossible for him to retain command of the army. He therefore retired +from the command, and repaired to Richmond, where he remained for a +long time an invalid, wholly unable to continue in service in the +field. + +This untoward event rendered it necessary to find a new commander for +the army without loss of time. General Lee had returned some time +before from the South, and to him all eyes were turned. He had had no +opportunity to display his abilities upon a conspicuous theatre--the +sole command he had been intrusted with, that in trans-Alleghany +Virginia, could scarcely be called a real command--and he owed his +elevation now to the place vacated by General Johnston, rather to his +services performed in the old army of the United States, than to any +thing he had effected in the war of the Confederacy. The confidence +of the Virginia people in his great abilities had never wavered, and +there is no reason to suppose that the Confederate authorities were +backward in conceding his merits as a soldier. Whatever may have been +the considerations leading to his appointment, he was assigned on the +3d day of June to the command of the army, and thus the Virginians +assembled to defend the capital of their State found themselves under +the command of the most illustrious of their own countrymen. + + + + +III. + +LEE ASSIGNED TO THE COMMAND--HIS FAMILY AT THE WHITE HOUSE. + + +Lee had up to this time effected, as we have shown, almost nothing in +the progress of the war. Intrusted with no command, and employed +only in organizing the forces, or superintending the construction of +defences, he had failed to achieve any of those successes in the field +which constitute the glory of the soldier. He might possess the great +abilities which his friends and admirers claimed for him, but he was +yet to show the world at large that he did really possess them. + +The decisive moment had now arrived which was to test him. He was +placed in command of the largest and most important army in the +Confederacy, and to him was intrusted the defence of the capital not +only of Virginia, but of the South. If Richmond were to fall, the +Confederate Congress, executive, and heads of departments, would all +be fugitives. The evacuation of Virginia might or might not follow, +but, in the very commencement of the conflict, the enemy would achieve +an immense advantage. Recognition by the European powers would be +hopeless in such an event, and the wandering and fugitive government +of the Confederacy would excite only contempt. + +Such were the circumstances under which General Lee assumed command of +the "Army of Northern Virginia," as it was soon afterward styled. The +date of his assignment to duty was June 3, 1862--three days after +General Johnston had retired in consequence of his wound. Thirty days +afterward the great campaign around Richmond had been decided, and to +the narrative of what followed the appointment of Lee we shall at once +proceed, after giving a few words to another subject connected with +his family. + +When General Lee left "Washington to repair to Richmond," he removed +the ladies of his family from Arlington to the "White House" on the +Pamunkey, near the spot where that river unites with the Mattapony to +form the York River. This estate, like the Arlington property, had +come into possession of General Lee through his wife, and as Arlington +was exposed to the enemy, the ladies had taken refuge here, with the +hope that they would be safe from intrusion or danger. The result was +unfortunate. The White House was a favorable "base" for the Federal +army, and intelligence one day reached Mrs. Lee and her family that +the enemy were approaching. The ladies therefore hastened from the +place to a point of greater safety, and before her departure Mrs. Lee +is said to have affixed to the door a paper containing the following +words: + +"Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to +desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his +wife, now owned by her descendants. + +"A GRAND-DAUGHTER OF MRS. WASHINGTON." + +When the Federal forces took possession of the place, a Northern +officer, it is said, wrote beneath this: + +"A Northern officer has protected your property, in sight of the +enemy, and at the request of your overseer." + +The resolute spirit of Mrs. Lee is indicated by an incident which +followed. She took refuge with her daughters in a friend's house near +Richmond, and, when a Federal officer was sent to search the house, +handed to him a paper addressed to "the general in command," in which +she wrote: + +"Sir: I have patiently and humbly submitted to the search of my house, +by men under your command, who are satisfied that there is nothing +here which they want. All the plate and other valuables have long +since been removed to Richmond, and are now beyond the reach of any +Northern marauders who may wish for their possession. + +"WIFE OF ROBERT LEE, GENERAL C.S.A." + +The ladies finally repaired for safety to the city of Richmond, and +the White House was burned either before or when General McClellan +retreated. The place was not without historic interest, as the scene +of Washington's first interview with Martha Custis, who afterward +became his wife. He was married either at St. Peter's Church near by, +or in the house which originally stood on the site of the one now +destroyed by the Federal forces. Its historic associations thus failed +to protect the White House, and, like Arlington, it fell a sacrifice +to the pitiless hand of war. + +From this species of digression we come back to the narrative of +public events, and the history of the great series of battles which +were to make the banks of the Chickahominy historic ground. On +taking command, Lee had assiduously addressed himself to the task of +increasing the efficiency of the army: riding incessantly to and +fro, he had inspected with his own eyes the condition of the troops; +officers of the commissary, quartermaster, and ordnance departments +were held to a strict accountability; and, in a short time, the army +was in a high state of efficiency. + +"What was the amount of the Confederate force under command of Lee?" +it may be asked. The present writer is unable to state this number +with any thing like exactness. The official record, if in existence, +is not accessible, and the matter must be left to conjecture. It is +tolerably certain, however, that, even after the arrival of Jackson, +the army numbered less than seventy-five thousand. Officers of high +rank and character state the whole force to have been sixty or seventy +thousand only. + +It will thus be seen that the Federal army was larger than the +Confederate; but this was comparatively an unimportant fact. The event +was decided rather by generalship than the numbers of the combatants. + + + + +IV + +LEE RESOLVES TO ATTACK. + + +General Lee assumed command of the army on the 3d of June. A week +afterward, Jackson finished the great campaign of the Valley, by +defeating Generals Fremont and Shields at Port Republic. + +Such had been the important services performed by the famous +"Stonewall Jackson," who was to become the "right arm" of Lee in the +greater campaigns of the future. Retreating, after the defeat of +General Banks, and passing through Strasburg, just as Fremont from the +west, and the twenty thousand men of General McDowell from the east, +rushed to intercept him, Jackson had sullenly fallen back up the +Valley, with all his captured stores and prisoners, and at Cross +Keys and Port Republic had achieved a complete victory over his two +adversaries. Fremont was checked by Ewell, who then hastened across to +take part in the attack on Shields. The result was a Federal defeat +and retreat down the Valley. Jackson was free to move in any +direction; and his army could unite with that at Richmond for a +decisive attack upon General McClellan. + +The attack in question had speedily been resolved on by Lee. Any +further advance of the Federal army would bring it up to the very +earthworks in the suburbs of the city; and, unless the Confederate +authorities proposed to undergo a siege, it was necessary to check the +further advance of the enemy by a general attack. + +How to attack to the best advantage was now the question. The position +of General McClellan's army has been briefly stated. Advancing up the +Peninsula, he had reached and passed the Chickahominy, and was in +sight of Richmond. To this stream, the natural line of defence of the +city on the north and east, numerous roads diverged from the capital, +including the York River Railroad, of which the Federal commander made +such excellent use; and General McClellan had thrown his left wing +across the stream, advancing to a point on the railroad four or five +miles from the city. Here he had erected heavy defences to protect +that wing until the right wing crossed in turn. The tangled thickets +of the White-oak Swamp, on his left flank, were a natural defence; but +he had added to these obstacles, as we have stated, by felling trees, +and guarding every approach by redoubts. In these, heavy artillery +kept watch against an approaching enemy; and any attempt to attack +from that quarter seemed certain to result in repulse. In front, +toward Seven Pines, the chance of success was equally doubtful. The +excellent works of the Federal commander bristled with artillery, and +were heavily manned. It seemed thus absolutely necessary to discover +some other point of assault; and, as the Federal right beyond the +Chickahominy was the only point left, it was determined to attack, if +possible, in that quarter. + +An important question was first, however, to be decided, the character +of the defences, if any, on General McClellan's right, in the +direction of Old Church and Cold Harbor. A reconnoissance in force was +necessary to acquire this information, and General Lee accordingly +directed General Stuart, commanding the cavalry of the army, to +proceed with a portion of his command to the vicinity of Old Church, +in the Federal rear, and gain all the information possible of their +position and defences. + + + + +V. + +STUART'S "RIDE AROUND McCLELLAN." + + +General James E.B. Stuart, who now made his first prominent appearance +upon the theatre of the war, was a Virginian by birth, and not yet +thirty years of age. Resigning his commission of lieutenant in the +United States Cavalry at the beginning of the war, he had joined +Johnston in the Valley, and impressed that officer with a high opinion +of his abilities as a cavalry officer; proceeded thence to Manassas, +where he charged and broke a company of "Zouave" infantry; protected +the rear of the army when Johnston retired to the Rappahannock, and +bore an active part in the conflict on the Peninsula. In person he was +of medium height; his frame was broad and powerful; he wore a heavy +brown beard flowing upon his breast, a huge mustache of the same +color, the ends curling upward; and the blue eyes, flashing beneath a +"piled-up" forehead, had at times the dazzling brilliancy attributed +to the eyes of the eagle. Fond of movement, adventure, bright colors, +and all the pomp and pageantry of war, Stuart had entered on the +struggle with ardor, and enjoyed it as the huntsman enjoys the chase. +Young, ardent, ambitious, as brave as steel, ready with jest or +laughter, with his banjo-player following him, going into the hottest +battles humming a song, this young Virginian was, in truth, an +original character, and impressed powerfully all who approached him. +One who knew him well wrote: "Every thing striking, brilliant, and +picturesque, seemed to centre in him. The war seemed to be to Stuart a +splendid and exciting game, in which his blood coursed joyously, and +his immensely strong physical organization found an arena for the +display of all its faculties. The affluent life of the man craved +those perils and hardships which flush the pulses and make the heart +beat fast. He swung himself into the saddle at the sound of the bugle +as the hunter springs on horseback; and at such moments his cheeks +glowed and his huge mustache curled with enjoyment. The romance and +poetry of the hard trade of arms seemed first to be inaugurated when +this joyous cavalier, with his floating plume and splendid laughter, +appeared upon the great arena of the war in Virginia." Precise people +shook their heads, and called him frivolous, undervaluing his great +ability. Those best capable of judging him were of a different +opinion. Johnston wrote to him from the west: "How can I eat or sleep +in peace without _you_ upon the outpost?" Jackson said, when he fell +at Chancellorsville: "Go back to General Stuart, and tell him to act +upon his own judgment, and do what he thinks best, I have implicit +confidence in him." Lee said, when he was killed at Yellow Tavern: +"I can scarcely think of him without weeping." And the brave General +Sedgwick, of the United States Army, said: "Stuart is the best cavalry +officer ever _foaled_ in North America!" + +In the summer of 1862, when we present him to the reader, Stuart had +as yet achieved little fame in his profession, but he was burning to +distinguish himself. He responded ardently, therefore, to the order of +Lee, and was soon ready with a picked force of about fifteen hundred +cavalry, under some of his best officers. Among them were Colonels +William H.F. Lee and Fitz-Hugh Lee--the first a son of General Lee, a +graduate of West Point, and an officer of distinction afterward; +the second, a son of Smith Lee, brother of the general, and famous +subsequently in the most brilliant scenes of the war as the gay and +gallant "General Fitz Lee," of the cavalry. With his picked force, +officered by the two Lees, and other excellent lieutenants, Stuart set +out on his adventurous expedition to Old Church. He effected more +than he anticipated, and performed a daring feat of arms in addition. +Driving the outposts from Hanover Court-House, he charged and broke a +force of Federal cavalry near Old Church; pushed on to the York River +Railroad, which he crossed, burning or capturing all Federal stores +met with, including enormous wagon-camps; and then, finding the +way back barred against him, and the Federal army on the alert, he +continued his march with rapidity, passed entirely around General +McClellan's army, and, building a bridge over the Chickahominy, +safely reentered the Confederate lines just as a large force made its +appearance in his rear. The temporary bridge was destroyed, however, +and Stuart hastened to report to his superiors. His information was +important. General McClellan's right and rear were unprotected by +works of any strength. If the Confederate general desired to attack in +that quarter, there was nothing to prevent. + +The results of Stuart's famous "ride around McClellan," as the people +called it, determined General Lee to make the attack on the north bank +of the stream, if he had not already so decided. It was necessary now +to bring Jackson's forces from the Valley without delay, and almost +equally important to mask the movement from General McClellan. To this +end a very simple _ruse_ was adopted. On the 11th of June, Whiting's +division was embarked on the cars of the Danville Railroad at +Richmond, and moved across the river to a point near Belle Isle, where +at that moment a considerable number of Federal prisoners were about +to be released and sent down James River. Here the train, loaded with +Confederate troops, remained for some time, and _the secret_ was +discovered by the released prisoners. General Lee was reenforcing +Jackson, in order that the latter might march on Washington. Such was +the report carried to General McClellan, and it seems to have really +deceived him. [Footnote: "I have no doubt Jackson has been reenforced +from here."--_General McClellan to President Lincoln, June 20th_.] +Whiting's division reached Lynchburg, and was thence moved by railway +to Charlottesville--Jackson marched and countermarched with an +elaborate pretence of advancing down the Valley--at last, one morning, +the astute Confederate, who kept his own counsels, had disappeared; he +was marching rapidly to join Lee on the Chickahominy. Not even his own +soldiers knew what direction they were taking. They were forbidden +by general order to inquire even the names of the towns they passed +through; directed to reply "I don't know" to every question; and it +is said that when Jackson demanded the name and regiment of a soldier +robbing a cherry-tree, he could extract from the man no reply but "I +don't know." + +Jackson advanced with rapidity, and, on the 25th of June, was near +Ashland. Here he left his forces, and rode on rapidly to Richmond. +Passing unrecognized through the streets, after night, he went on +to General Lee's headquarters, at a house on the "Nine-mile road," +leading from the New Bridge road toward Fair Oaks Station; and here +took place the first interview, since the commencement of the war, +between Lee and Jackson. + +What each thought of the other will be shown in the course of this +narrative. We shall proceed now with the history of the great series +of battles for which Jackson's appearance was the signal. + + + + +PART III. + +_ON THE CHICKAHOMINY_. + + + + +I. + +THE TWO ARMIES. + + +The Chickahominy, whose banks were now to be the scene of a bitter and +determined conflict between the great adversaries, is a sluggish and +winding stream, which, rising above Richmond, describes a curve around +it, and empties its waters into the James, far below the city. Its +banks are swampy, and thickly clothed with forest or underwood. From +the nature of these banks, which scarcely rise in many places above +the level of the water, the least freshet produces an overflow, and +the stream, generally narrow and insignificant, becomes a sort of +lake, covering the low grounds to the bases of the wooded bluffs +extending upon each side. Numerous bridges cross the stream, from +Bottom's Bridge, below the York River Railroad, to Meadow Bridge, +north of the city. Of these, the Mechanicsville Bridge, about four +miles from the city, and the New Bridge, about nine miles, were points +of the greatest importance. + +General McClellan's position has been repeatedly referred to. He had +crossed a portion of his army east of Richmond, and advanced to within +four or five miles of the city. The remainder, meanwhile, lay on the +north bank of the stream, and swept round, in a sort of crescent, to +the vicinity of Mechanicsville, where it had been anticipated General +McDowell would unite with it, thereby covering its right flank, and +protecting the communications with the Federal base at the White +House. That this disposition of the Federal troops was faulty, in face +of adversaries like Johnston and Lee, there could be no doubt. But +General McClellan was the victim, it seems, of the shifting and +vacillating policy of the authorities at Washington. With the arrival +of the forty thousand men under McDowell, his position would have been +a safe one. General McDowell did not arrive; and this unprotected +right flank--left unprotected from the fact that McDowell's presence +was counted on--became the point of the Confederate attack. + +The amount of blame, if any, justly attributable to General McClellan, +first for his inactivity, and then for his defeat by Lee, cannot be +referred to here, save in a few brief sentences. A sort of feud +seems to have arisen between himself and General Halleck, the +commander-in-chief, stationed at Washington; and General Halleck then +and afterward appears to have regarded McClellan as a soldier without +decision or broad generalship. And yet McClellan does not seem to +have merited the censure he received. He called persistently for +reinforcements, remaining inactive meanwhile, because he estimated +the Confederate army before him at two hundred thousand men, and +was unwilling to assail this force, under command of soldiers +like Johnston and Lee, until his own force seemed adequate to the +undertaking. Another consideration was, the Confederate position in +front of the powerful earthworks of the city. These works would double +the Confederate strength in case of battle in front of them; and, +believing himself already outnumbered, the Federal commander was +naturally loath to deliver battle until reenforced. The faulty +disposition of his army, divided by a stream crossed by few bridges, +has been accounted for in like manner--he so disposed the troops, +expecting reenforcements. But Jackson's energy delayed these. +Washington was in danger, it was supposed, and General McDowell did +not come. It thus happened that General McClellan awaited attack +instead of making it, and that his army was so posted as to expose him +to the greatest peril. + +A last point is to be noted in vindication of this able soldier. +Finding, at the very last moment, that he could expect no further +assistance from the President or General Halleck, he resolved promptly +to withdraw his exposed right wing and change his base of operations +to James River, where at least his communications would be safe. This, +it seems, had been determined upon just before the Confederate attack; +or, if he had not then decided, General McClellan soon determined upon +that plan. + +To pass now to the Confederate side, where all was ready for the +great movement. General Lee's army lay in front of Richmond, exactly +corresponding with the front of General McClellan. The divisions of +Magruder and Huger, supported by those of Longstreet and D.H. Hill, +were opposite McClellan's left, on the Williamsburg and York River +roads, directly east of the city. From Magruder's left, extended the +division of General A.P. Hill, reaching thence up the river toward +Mechanicsville; and a brigade, under General Branch lay on Hill's left +near the point where the Brook Turnpike crosses the Chickahominy north +of Richmond. The approaches from the east, northeast, and north, were +thus carefully guarded. As the Confederates held the interior line, +the whole force could be rapidly concentrated, and was thoroughly in +hand, both for offensive or defensive movements. + +The army thus held in Lee's grasp, and about to assail its great +Federal adversary, was composed of the best portion of the Southern +population. The rank and file was largely made up of men of education +and high social position. And this resulted from the character of the +struggle. The war was a war of invasion on the part of the North; +and the ardent and high-spirited youth of the entire South threw +themselves into it with enthusiasm. The heirs of ancient families and +great wealth served as privates. Personal pride, love of country, +indignation at the thought that a hostile section had sent an army to +reduce them to submission, combined to draw into the Confederate ranks +the flower of the Southern youth, and all the best fighting material. +Deficient in discipline, and "hard to manage," this force was yet of +the most efficient character. It could be counted on for hard work, +and especially for offensive operations. And the officers placed over +it shared its character. + +Among these, General A.P. Hill, a Virginian by birth, was soon to be +conspicuous as commander of the "Light Division," and representative +of the spirit and dash and enthusiasm of the army. Under forty years +of age, with a slender figure, a heavily-bearded face, dark eyes, a +composed and unassuming bearing, characterized when off duty by a +quiet cordiality, he was personally popular with all who approached +him, and greatly beloved, both as man and commander. His chief merit +as a soldier was his dash and impetus in the charge. A braver heart +never beat in human breast; throughout the war he retained the respect +and admiration of the army and the country; and a strange fact in +relation to this eminent soldier is, that his name was uttered by both +Jackson and Lee as they expired. + +Associated with him in the battles of the Chickahominy, and to the +end, was the able and resolute Longstreet--an officer of low and +powerful stature, with a heavy, brown beard reaching to his breast, +a manner marked by unalterable composure, and a countenance whose +expression of phlegmatic tranquillity never varied in the hottest +hours of battle. Longstreet was as famous for his bull-dog obstinacy, +as Hill for his dash and enthusiasm. General Lee styled him his "old +war-horse," and depended upon him, as will be seen, in some of the +most critical operations of the war. + +Of the young and ardent Virginian, General Magruder, the brave +and resolute North-Carolinian, D.H. Hill, and other officers who +subsequently acquired great reputations in the army, we have no space +at present to speak. All were to cooeperate in the assault on General +McClellan, and do their part. + +On the night of the 25th of June, all was ready for the important +movement, and the troops rested on their arms, ready for the coming +battle. + + + + +II. + +LEE'S PLAN OF ASSAULT. + + +General Lee had been hitherto regarded as a soldier of too great +caution, but his plan for the assault on General McClellan indicated +the possession of a nerve approaching audacity. + +Fully comprehending his enemy's strength and position, and aware that +a large portion of the Federal army had crossed the Chickahominy, and +was directly in his front, he had resolved to pass to the north +bank of the stream with the bulk of his force, leaving only about +twenty-five thousand men to protect the city, and deliver battle where +defeat would prove ruinous. This plan indicated nothing less than +audacity, as we have already said; but, like the audacity of the flank +movement at Chancellorsville afterward, and the daring march, in +disregard of General Hooker, to Pennsylvania in 1864, it was founded +on profound military insight, and indicated the qualities of a great +soldier. + +Lee's design was to attack the Federal right wing with a part of his +force, while Jackson, advancing still farther to the left, came in on +their communications with the White House, and assailed them on their +right and rear. Meanwhile Richmond was to be protected by General +Magruder with his twenty-five thousand men, on the south bank; if +McClellan fell back down the Peninsula, this force was to cross and +unite with the rest; thus the Federal army would be driven from all +its positions, and the fate of the whole campaign against Richmond +would be decided. + +Lee's general order directing the movement of the troops is here +given. It possesses interest as a clear and detailed statement of his +intended operations; and it will be seen that what was resolved on by +the commander in his tent, his able subordinates translated detail by +detail, with unimportant modifications, into action, under his eyes in +the field: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_June_ 24, 1862. + +GENERAL ORDERS No. 75. + +I. General Jackson's command will proceed to-morrow from Ashland +toward the Slash Church, and encamp at some convenient point west of +the Central Railroad. Branch's brigade, of A.P. Hill's division, will +also, to-morrow evening, take position on the Chickahominy, near Half +Sink. At three o'clock Thursday morning, 26th instant, General Jackson +will advance on the road leading to Pale Green Church, communicating +his march to General Branch, who will immediately cross the +Chickahominy, and take the road leading to Mechanicsville. As soon as +the movements of these columns are discovered, General A.P. Hill, with +the rest of his division, will cross the Chickahominy near Meadow +Bridge, and move direct upon Mechanicsville. To aid his advance, the +heavy batteries on the Chickahominy will at the proper time open +upon the batteries at Mechanicsville. The enemy being driven from +Mechanicsville, and the passage across the bridge opened, General +Longstreet, with his division and that of General D.H. Hill, will +cross the Chickahominy at or near that point--General D.H. Hill moving +to the support of General Jackson, and General Longstreet supporting +General A.P. Hill--the four divisions keeping in communication with +each other, and moving in _echelon_ on separate roads, if practicable; +the left division in advance, with skirmishers and sharp-shooters +extending in their front, will sweep down the Chickahominy and +endeavor to drive the enemy from his position above New Bridge; +General Jackson, bearing well to his left, turning Beaver Dam Creek, +and taking the direction toward Cold Harbor. They will then press +forward toward York River Railroad, closing upon the enemy's rear and +forcing him down the Chickahominy. Any advance of the enemy toward +Richmond will be prevented by vigorously following his rear, and +crippling and arresting his progress. + +II. The divisions under Generals Huger and Magruder will hold their +positions in front of the enemy against attack, and make such +demonstrations, Thursday, as to discover his operations. Should +opportunity offer, the feint will be converted into a real attack; +and, should an abandonment of his intrenchments by the enemy be +discovered, he will be closely pursued. + +III. The Third Virginia cavalry will observe the Charles City road. +The Fifth Virginia, the First North Carolina, and the Hampton Legion +cavalry will observe the Darbytown, Varina, and Osborne roads. Should +a movement of the enemy, down the Chickahominy, be discovered, they +will close upon his flank, and endeavor to arrest his march. + +IV. General Stuart, with the First, Fourth, and Ninth Virginia +cavalry, the cavalry of Cobb's Legion, and the Jeff Davis Legion, will +cross the Chickahominy, to-morrow, and take position to the left +of General Jackson's line of march. The main body will be held in +reserve, with scouts well extended to the front and left. General +Stuart will keep General Jackson informed of the movements of the +enemy on his left, and will cooeperate with him in his advance. +The Sixteenth Virginia cavalry, Colonel Davis, will remain on the +Nine-mile road. + +V. General Ransom's brigade, of General Holmes's command, will be +placed in reserve on the Williamsburg road, by General Huger, to whom +he will report for orders. + +VI. Commanders of divisions will cause their commands to be provided +with three days' cooked rations. The necessary ambulances and +ordinance-trains will be ready to accompany the divisions, and receive +orders from their respective commanders. Officers in charge of all +trains will invariably remain with them. Batteries and wagons will +keep on the right of the road. The Chief-Engineer, Major Stevens, will +assign engineer officers to each division, whose duty it will be to +make provision for overcoming all difficulties to the progress of the +troops. The staff-departments will give the necessary instructions to +facilitate the movements herein directed. + +By command of General LEE: R.H. CHILTON, _A.A. General_. + +This order speaks for itself, and indicates Lee's plan of battle in +all its details. Further comment is unnecessary; and we proceed to +narrate the events which followed. In doing so, we shall strive to +present a clear and intelligible account of what occurred, rather than +to indulge in the warlike splendors of style which characterized the +"army correspondents" of the journals during the war. Such a treatment +of the subject is left to others, who write under the influence of +partisan afflatus, rather than with the judicious moderation of +the historian. Nor are battles themselves the subjects of greatest +interest to the thoughtful student. The combinations devised by great +commanders are of more interest than the actual struggles. We have +therefore dwelt at greater length upon the plans of Generals Lee +and McClellan than we shall dwell upon the actual fighting of their +armies. + + + + +III. + +THE BATTLE OF THE CHICKAHOMINY. + + +On the morning of the 26th of June, 1862, all was ready for the great +encounter of arms between the Confederates and the Federal forces on +the Chickahominy. General Jackson had been delayed on his march from +the mountains, and had not yet arrived; but it was known that he was +near, and would soon make his appearance; and, in the afternoon, +General Lee accordingly directed that the movement should commence. +At the word, General A.P. Hill moved from his camps to Meadow Bridge, +north of Richmond; crossed the Chickahominy there, and moved rapidly +on Mechanicsville, where a small Federal force, behind intrenchments, +guarded the head of the bridge. This force was not a serious obstacle, +and Hill soon disposed of it. He attacked the Federal works, stormed +them after a brief struggle, and drove the force which had occupied +them back toward Beaver Dam Creek, below. The Mechanicsville bridge +was thus cleared; and, in compliance with his orders from Lee, General +Longstreet hastened to throw his division across. Hill had meanwhile +pressed forward on the track of the retreating enemy, and, a mile or +two below, found himself in front of a much more serious obstruction +than that encountered at the bridge, namely, the formidable position +held by the enemy on Beaver Dam Creek. + +The ground here is of a peculiar character, and admirably adapted for +a defensive position against an enemy advancing from above. On the +opposite side of a narrow valley, through which runs Beaver Dam Creek, +rises a bold, almost precipitous, bluff, and the road which the +Confederates were compelled to take bends abruptly to the right when +near the stream, thus exposing the flank of the assaulting party to a +fire from the bluff. As Hill's column pushed forward to attack this +position, it was met by a determined fire of artillery and small-arms +from the crest beyond the stream, where a large force of riflemen, in +pits, were posted, with infantry supports. Before this artillery-fire, +raking his flanks and doing heavy execution, Hill was compelled to +fall back. It was impossible to cross the stream in face of the +fusillade and cannon. The attack ended after dark with the withdrawal +of the Confederates; but at dawn Hill resumed the struggle, attempting +to cross at another point, lower down the stream. This attempt was in +progress when the Federal troops were seen rapidly falling back from +their strong position; and intelligence soon came that this was in +consequence of the arrival of Jackson, who had passed around the +Federal right flank above, and forced them to retire toward the main +body of the Federal army below. + +No time was now lost. The memorable 27th of June had dawned clear and +cloudless, and the brilliant sunshine gave promise of a day on which +no interference of the elements would check the bloody work to be +performed. Hill advanced steadily on the track of the retiring Federal +forces, who had left evidences of their precipitate retreat all along +the road, and, about noon, came in front of the very powerful position +of the main body of the enemy, near Cold Harbor. + +General McClellan had drawn up his forces on a ridge along the +southern bank of Powhite Creek, a small water-course which, flowing +from the northeast, empties below New Bridge into the Chickahominy. +His left, nearest the Chickahominy, was protected by a deep ravine in +front, which he had filled with sharp-shooters; and his right rested +upon elevated ground, near the locality known as Maghee's House. In +front, the whole line of battle, which described a curve backward to +cover the bridges in rear, was protected by difficult approaches. The +ground was either swampy, or covered with tangled undergrowth, or +both. The ridge held by the Federal forces had been hastily fortified +by breastworks of felled trees and earth, behind which the long lines +of infantry, supported by numerous artillery, awaited the attack. + +The amount of the Federal force has been variously stated. The +impression of the Confederates differed from the subsequent statements +of Federal writers. "The principal part of the Federal army," says +General Lee, in his report, "was now on the north side of the +Chickahominy." The force has been placed by Northern writers at only +thirty, or at most thirty-five thousand. If this was the whole number +of troops engaged, from first to last, in the battle, the fact is +highly creditable to the Federal arms, as the struggle was long +doubtful. No doubt the exact truth will some day be put upon record, +and justice will be done to both the adversaries. + +The Federal force was commanded by the brave and able General +Fitz-John Porter, with General Morell commanding his right, General +Sykes his left, and General McCall forming a second line. Slocum's +division, and the brigades of Generals French and Meagher, afterward +reenforced Porter, who now prepared, with great coolness, for the +Confederate attack. + +The moment had come. A.P. Hill, pressing forward rapidly, with +Longstreet's division on the right, reached Cold Harbor, in front of +the Federal centre, about noon. Hill immediately attacked, and an +engagement of the most obstinate character ensued. General Lee, +accompanied by General Longstreet, had ridden from his headquarters, +on the Nine-mile road, to the scene of action, and now witnessed in +person the fighting of the troops, who charged under his eye, closing +in in a nearly hand-to-hand conflict with the enemy. This was, no +doubt, the first occasion on which a considerable portion of the men +had seen him--certainly in battle--and that air of supreme calmness +which always characterized him in action must have made a deep +impression upon them. He was clad simply, and wore scarcely any badges +of rank. A felt hat drooped low over the broad forehead, and the eyes +beneath were calm and unclouded. Add a voice of measured calmness, the +air of immovable composure which marked the erect military figure, +evidently at home in the saddle, and the reader will have a correct +conception of General Lee's personal appearance in the first of the +great battles of his career. + +Hill attacked with that dash and obstinacy which from this time +forward characterized him, but succeeded in making no impression on +the Federal line. In every assault he was repulsed with heavy loss. +The Federal artillery, which was handled with skill and coolness, +did great execution upon his column, as it rushed forward, and the +infantry behind their works stood firm in spite of the most determined +efforts to drive them from the ridge. Three of Hill's regiments +reached the crest, and fought hand to hand over the breastworks, but +they were speedily repulsed and driven from the crest, and, after two +hours' hard fighting, Hill found that he had lost heavily and effected +nothing. + +It was now past two o'clock in the afternoon, and General Lee listened +with anxiety for the sound of guns from the left, which would herald +the approach of General Jackson. Nothing was heard from that quarter, +however, and affairs were growing critical. The Confederate attack had +been repulsed--the Federal position seemed impregnable--and "it became +apparent," says General Lee, "that the enemy were gradually gaining +ground." Under these circumstances, General McClellan might +adopt either one of the two courses both alike dangerous to the +Confederates. He might cross a heavy force to the assistance of +General Porter, thus enabling that officer to assume the offensive; +or, finding Lee thus checked, he might advance on Magruder, crush the +small force under him, and seize on Richmond, which would be at his +mercy. It was thus necessary to act without delay, while awaiting the +appearance of Jackson. General Lee, accordingly, directed General +Longstreet, who had taken position to the right of Cold Harbor, to +make a feint against the Federal left, and thus relieve the pressure +on Hill. Longstreet proceeded with promptness to obey the order; +advanced in face of a heavy fire, and with a cross-fire of artillery +raking his right from over the Chickahominy, and made the feint which +had been ordered by General Lee. It effected nothing; and, to attain +the desired result, it was found necessary to turn the feint into a +real attack. This Longstreet proceeded to do, first dispersing with a +single volley a force of cavalry which had the temerity to charge his +infantry. As he advanced and attacked the powerful position before +him, the roar of guns, succeeded by loud cheers, was heard on the left +of Lee's line. + +Jackson had arrived and thrown his troops into action without delay. +He then rode forward to Cold Harbor, where General Lee awaited him, +and the two soldiers shook hands in the midst of tumultuous cheering +from the troops, who had received intelligence that Jackson's corps +had joined them. The contrast between the two men was extremely +striking. We have presented a brief sketch of Lee's personal +appearance upon the occasion--of the grave commander-in-chief, with +his erect and graceful seat in the saddle, his imposing dignity of +demeanor, and his calm and measured tones, as deliberate as though he +were in a drawing-room. Jackson was a very different personage. He was +clad in a dingy old coat, wore a discolored cadet-cap, tilted almost +upon his nose, and rode a rawboned horse, with short stirrups, which +raised his knees in the most ungraceful manner. Neither in his face +nor figure was there the least indication of the great faculties of +the man, and a more awkward-looking personage it would be impossible +to imagine. In his hand he held a lemon, which he sucked from time to +time, and his demeanor was abstracted and absent. + +As Jackson approached, Lee rode toward him and greeted him with a +cordial pressure of the hand. + +"Ah, general," said Lee, "I am very glad to see you. I hoped to be +with you before!" + +Jackson made a twitching movement of his head, and replied in a few +words, rather jerked from the lips than deliberately uttered. + +Lee had paused, and now listened attentively to the long roll of +musketry from the woods, where Hill and Longstreet were engaged; then +to the still more incessant and angry roar from the direction of +Jackson's own troops, who had closed in upon the Federal forces. + +"That fire is very heavy," said Lee. "Do you think your men can stand +it?" + +Jackson listened for a moment, with his head bent toward one shoulder, +as was customary with him, for he was deaf, he said, in one ear, "and +could not hear out of the other," and replied briefly: + +"They can stand almost any thing! They can stand that!" + +He then, after receiving General Lee's instructions, immediately +saluted and returned to his corps--Lee remaining still at Cold Harbor, +which was opposite the Federal centre. + +[Illustration: Lee and Jackson at Cold harbor.] + +The arrival of Jackson changed in a moment the aspect of affairs +in every part of the field. Whitney's division of his command took +position on Longstreet's left; the command of General D.H. Hill, on +the extreme right of the whole line, and Ewell's division, with part +of Jackson's old division, supported A.P. Hill. No sooner had these +dispositions been made, than General Lee ordered an attack along the +whole line. It was now five or six o'clock, and the sun was sinking. +From that moment until night came, the battle raged with a fury +unsurpassed in any subsequent engagement of the war. The Texan troops, +under General Hood, especially distinguished themselves. These, +followed by their comrades, charged the Federal left on the bluff, +and, in spite of a desperate resistance, carried the position. "The +enemy were driven," says General Lee, "from the ravine to the first +line of breastworks, over which one impetuous column dashed, up to the +intrenchments on the crest." Here the Federal artillery was captured, +their line driven from the hill, and in other parts of the field a +similar success followed the attack. As night fell, their line gave +way in all parts, and the remnants of General Porter's command +retreated to the bridges over the Chickahominy. + +The first important passage of arms between General McClellan and +General Lee--and it may be added the really decisive one--had +terminated in a great success on the side of the Confederates. + + + + +IV. + +THE RETREAT. + + +The battle of Cold Harbor--or, as General Lee styles it in his report, +the "battle of the Chickahominy"--was the decisive struggle between +the great adversaries, and determined the fate of General McClellan's +campaign against Richmond. + +This view is not held by writers on the Northern side, who represent +the battle in question as only the first of a series of engagements, +all of pretty nearly equal importance, and mere incidents attending +General McClellan's change of base to the shores of the James River. +Such a theory seems unfounded. If the battle at Cold Harbor had +resulted in a Federal victory, General McClellan would have advanced +straight on Richmond, and the capture of the city would inevitably +have followed. But at Cold Harbor he sustained a decisive defeat. +His whole campaign was reversed, and came to naught, from the events +occurring between noon and nightfall on the 27th of June. The result +of that obstinate encounter was not a Federal success, leading to the +fall of Richmond, but a Federal defeat, which led to the retreat to +the James River, and the failure of the whole campaign against the +Confederate capital. + +It is conceded that General McClellan really intended to change his +base; but after the battle of Cold Harbor every thing had changed. +He no longer had under him a high-spirited army, moving to take up +a stronger position, but a weary and dispirited multitude of human +beings, hurrying along to gain the shelter of the gunboats on the +James River, with the enemy pursuing closely, and worrying them at +every step. To the condition of the Federal army one of their own +officers testifies, and his expressions are so strong as wellnigh +to move the susceptibilities of an opponent. "We were ordered to +retreat," says General Hooker, "and it was like the retreat of a +whipped army. We retreated like a parcel of sheep; everybody on the +road at the same time; and a few shots from the rebels would have +panic-stricken the whole command."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, part +i., p. 580.] + +Such was the condition of that great army which had fought so bravely, +standing firm so long against the headlong assaults of the flower +of the Southern troops. It was the battle at Cold Harbor which had +produced this state of things, thereby really deciding the result +of the campaign. To attribute to that action, therefore, no more +importance than attached to the engagements on the retreat to James +River, seems in opposition to the truth of history. + +We shall present only a general narrative of the famous retreat which +reflected the highest credit upon General McClellan, and will remain +his greatest glory. He, at least, was too good a soldier not to +understand that the battle of the 27th was a decisive one. He +determined to retreat, without risking another action, to the banks +of the James River, where the Federal gunboats would render a second +attack from the Confederates a hazardous undertaking; and, "on the +evening of the 27th of June," as he says in his official report, +"assembled the corps commanders at his headquarters, and informed +them of his plan, its reasons, and his choice of route, and method of +execution." Orders were then issued to General Keyes to move with his +corps across the White-Oak Swamp Bridge, and, taking up a position +with his artillery on the opposite side, cover the passage of the rest +of the troops; the trains and supplies at Savage Station, on the +York River Railroad, were directed to be withdrawn; and the corps +commanders were ordered to move with such provisions, munitions, +and sick, as they could transport, on the direct road to Harrison's +Landing. + +These orders were promptly carried out. Before dawn on the 29th the +Federal army took up the line of march, and the great retrograde +movement was successfully begun. An immense obstacle to its success +lay in the character of the country through which it was necessary to +pass. White Oak Swamp is an extensive morass, similar to that skirting +the banks of the Chickahominy, and the passage through it is over +narrow, winding, and difficult roads, which furnish the worst possible +pathways for wagons, artillery, or even troops. It was necessary, +however, to use these highways or none, and General McClellan +resolutely entered upon his critical movement. + +General Lee was yet in doubt as to his opponent's designs, and the +fact is highly creditable to General McClellan. A portion of the +Federal army still remained on the left bank of the Chickahominy, and +it might be the intention of McClellan to push forward reenforcements +from the Peninsula, fight a second battle for the protection of his +great mass of supplies at the White House, or, crossing his whole army +to the left bank of the Chickahominy by the lower bridges, retreat +down the Peninsula by the same road followed in advancing. All that +General Lee could do, under these circumstances, was to remain near +Cold Harbor with his main body, send a force toward the York River +road, on the eastern bank of the Chickahominy, to check any Federal +attempt to cross there, and await further developments. + +It was not until the morning of the 29th that General McClellan's +designs became apparent. It was then ascertained that he had commenced +moving toward James River with his entire army, and Lee issued prompt +orders for the pursuit. While a portion of the Confederate army +followed closely upon the enemy's rear, other bodies were directed to +move by the Williamsburg and Charles City roads, and intercept him, +or assail his flanks. If these movements were promptly made, and no +unnecessary delay took place, it was expected that the Federal army +would be brought to bay in the White-Oak Swamp, and a final victory be +achieved by the Confederates. + +These complicated movements were soon in full progress, and at +various points on the line of retreat fierce fighting ensued. General +Magruder, advancing to Savage Station, an important depot of Federal +stores, on the York River Railroad, encountered on the 29th, the +powerful Federal rear-guard, which fought obstinately until night, +when it retired. Next day Generals Longstreet and A.P. Hill had pushed +down the Long Bridge road, and on the next day (June 30th) came on the +retreating column which was vigorously engaged. From the character +of the ground, little, however, was effected. The enemy fought with +obstinate courage, and repulsed every assault. The battle raged until +after nightfall, when the Federal army continued to retreat. + +These actions were the most important, and in both the Confederates +had failed to effect any important results. + +Even Jackson, who had been delayed, by the destruction of the +Chickahominy bridges, in crossing to the south bank from the vicinity +of Cold Harbor, and had followed in rear of the rest of the army, +found himself checked by General McClellan's admirable disposition +for the protection of his rear. Jackson made every effort to strike a +decisive blow at the Federal rear in the White-Oak Swamp, but he found +a bridge in his front destroyed, the enemy holding the opposite side +in strong force, and, when he endeavored to force a passage, the +determined fire from their artillery rendered it impossible for him to +do so. General McClellan had thus foiled the generalship of Lee, +and the hard fighting of Stonewall Jackson. His excellent military +judgement had defeated every attempt made to crush him. On the 1st of +July he had successfully passed the terrible swamp, in spite of all +his enemies, and his army was drawn up on the wellnigh impregnable +heights of Malvern Hill. + +A last struggle took place at Malvern Hill, and the Confederate +assault failed at all points. Owing to the wooded nature of the +ground, and the absence of accurate information in regard to it, the +attack was made under very great difficulties and effected nothing. +The Federal troops resisted courageously, and inflicted heavy loss +upon the assailing force, which advanced to the muzzles of the Federal +cannon, but did not carry the heights; and at nightfall the battle +ceased, the Confederates having suffered a severe repulse. + +On the next morning, General McClellan had disappeared toward +Harrison's Landing, to which he conducted his army safely, without +further molestation, and the long and bitter struggle was over. + + + + +V. + +RICHMOND IN DANGER--LEE'S VIEWS. + + +We have presented a sufficiently full narrative of the great battles +of the Chickahominy to enable the reader to form his own opinion of +the events, and the capacity of the two leaders who directed them. +Full justice has been sought to be done to the eminent military +abilities of General McClellan, and the writer is not conscious that +he has done more than justice to General Lee. + +Lee has not escaped criticism, and was blamed by many persons for not +putting an end to the Federal army on the retreat through White-Oak +Swamp. To this criticism, it may be said in reply, that putting an +end to nearly or quite one hundred thousand men is a difficult +undertaking; and that in one instance, at least, the failure of one of +his subordinates in arriving promptly, reversed his plans at the most +critical moment of the struggle. General Lee himself, however, states +the main cause of failure: "Under ordinary circumstances," he says, +"the Federal army should have been destroyed. Its escape is due to the +causes already stated. Prominent among them is the want of timely and +correct information. This fact, attributed chiefly to the character +of the country, enabled General McClellan skilfully to conceal his +retreat, and to add much to the obstruction with which Nature had +beset the way of our pursuing columns. But regret that more was not +accomplished, gives way to gratitude to the Sovereign Ruler of the +Universe for the results achieved." + +The reader will form his own opinion whether Lee was or was not +to blame for this want of accurate information, which would seem, +however, to be justly attributable to the War Department at Richmond, +rather than to an officer who had been assigned to command only three +or four weeks before. Other criticisms of Lee referred to his main +plan of operations, and the danger to which he exposed Richmond by +leaving only twenty-five thousand men in front of it, when he began +his movement against General McClellan's right wing, beyond the +Chickahominy. General Magruder, who commanded this force of +twenty-five thousand men left to guard the capital, expressed +afterward, in his official report, his views of the danger to which +the city had been exposed. He wrote: + +"From the time at which the enemy withdrew his forces to this side +of the Chickahominy, and destroyed the bridges, to the moment of his +evacuation, that is, from Friday night until Saturday morning, I +considered the situation of our army as extremely critical and +perilous. The larger portion of it was on the opposite side of +the Chickahominy. The bridges had been all destroyed; but one was +rebuilt--the New Bridge--which was commanded fully by the enemy's guns +from Goulding's; and there were but twenty-five thousand men between +his army of one hundred thousand and Richmond.... Had McClellan massed +his whole force in column, and advanced it against any point of our +line of battle, as was done at Austerlitz under similar circumstances +by the greatest captain of any age, though the head of his column +would have suffered greatly, its momentum would have insured him +success, and the occupation of our works about Richmond, and +consequently the city, might have been his reward. His failure to do +so is the best evidence that our wise commander fully understood the +character of his opponent." + +To this portion of General Magruder's report General Lee appended the +following "Remarks" in forwarding it: + +"General Magruder is under a misapprehension as to the separation of +troops operating on the north side of the Chickahominy from those +under himself and General Huger on the south side. He refers to this +subject on pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, of his report. + +"The troops on the two sides of the river were only separated until we +succeeded in occupying the position near what is known as New Bridge, +which occurred before twelve o'clock M. on Friday, June 27th, and +before the attack on the enemy at Gaines's Mill. + +"From the time we reached the position referred to, I regarded +communication between the two wings of our army as reestablished. + +"The bridge referred to, and another about three-quarters of a mile +above, were ordered to be repaired before noon on Friday, and the New +Bridge was sufficiently rebuilt to be passed by artillery on Friday +night, and the one above it was used for the passage of wagons, +ambulances, and troops, early on Saturday morning. + +"Besides this, all other bridges above New Bridge, and all the fords +above that point, were open to us." + +To this General Magruder subsequently responded as follows: + +"New Bridge was finished on Friday evening, the 27th, instead of +Saturday, 28th of June. + +"I wrote from memory in reference to the time of its being finished. + +"It was reported to me that the bridge three-quarters of a mile above +was attempted to be crossed by troops (I think Ransom's brigade), on +Saturday morning, from the south to the north side, but that, finding +the bridge or the approach to it difficult, they came down and crossed +at New Bridge on the same morning. + +"My statement in regard to these bridges was not intended as a +criticism on General Lee's plan, but to show the position of the +troops, with a view to the proper understanding of my report, and to +prove that the enemy might have reasonably entertained a design, after +concentrating his troops, to march on Richmond." + +We shall not detain the reader by entering upon a full discussion of +the interesting question here raised. General Lee, as his observations +on General Magruder's report show, did not regard Richmond as exposed +to serious danger, and was confident of his ability to recross the +Chickahominy and go to its succor in the event of an attack on the +city by General McClellan. Had this prompt recrossing of the stream +here, even, been impracticable, it may still be a question whether +General Lee did not, in his movement against the Federal right wing +with the bulk of his army, follow the dictates of sound generalship. +In war, something must be risked, and occasions arise which render +it necessary to disregard general maxims. It is one of the first +principles of military science that a commander should always keep +open his line of retreat; but the moment may come when his best policy +is to burn the bridges behind him. Of Lee's movement against General +McClellan's right, it may be said that it was based on the broadest +good sense and the best generalship. The situation of affairs rendered +an attack in some quarter essential to the safety of the capital, +which was about to be hemmed in on all sides. To attack the left of +General McClellan, promised small results. It had been tried and had +failed; his right alone remained. It was possible, certainly, that he +would mass his army, and, crushing Magruder, march into Richmond; +but it was not probable that he would make the attempt. The Federal +commander was known to be a soldier disposed to caution rather than +audacity. The small amount of force under General Magruder was a +secret which he could not be expected to know. That General Lee took +these facts into consideration, as General Magruder intimates, may or +may not have been the fact; and the whole discussion may be fairly +summed up, perhaps, by saying that success vindicated the course +adopted. "Success, after all, is the test of merit," said the brave +Albert Sydney Johnston, and Talleyrand compressed much sound reasoning +in the pithy maxim, "Nothing succeeds like success." + +On the 2d of July the campaign was over, and General McClellan must +have felt, in spite of his hopeful general orders to the troops, and +dispatches to his Government, that the great struggle for Richmond had +virtually ended. A week before, he had occupied a position within a +few miles of the city, with a numerous army in the highest spirits, +and of thorough efficiency. Now, he lay on the banks of James River, +thirty miles away from the capital, and his army was worn out by the +tremendous ordeal it had passed through, and completely discouraged. +We have not dwelt upon the horrors of the retreat, and the state of +the army, which Northern writers painted at the time in the gloomiest +colors. For the moment, it was no longer the splendid war-engine it +had been, and was again afterward. Nothing could be done with it, +and General McClellan knew the fact. Without fresh troops, a renewed +advance upon Richmond was a mere dream. + +No further attack was made by General Lee, who remained for some +days inactive in the hot forests of Charles City. His reasons for +refraining from a new assault on General McClellan are summed up in +one or two sentences of his report: "The Federal commander," he says, +"immediately began to fortify his position, which was one of great +natural strength, flanked on each side by a creek, and the approach to +his front commanded by the heavy guns of his shipping, in addition +to those mounted in his intrenchments. It was deemed inexpedient to +attack him, and in view of the condition of our troops, who had been +marching and fighting almost incessantly for seven days under the +most trying circumstances, it was determined to withdraw, in order to +afford them the repose of which they stood so much in need." + +On the 8th of July, General Lee accordingly directed his march back +toward Richmond, and the troops went into camp and rested. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND McCLELLAN--THEIR IDENTITY OF OPINION. + + +General Lee had thus, at the outset of his career, as commander of the +Confederate army, saved the capital by a blow at the enemy as sudden +as it was resistless. The class of persons who are never satisfied, +and delight in fault-finding under all circumstances, declared that +a great general would have crushed the enemy on their retreat; these +certainly were in a minority; the people at large greeted Lee as the +author of a great deliverance worked out for them, and, on his return +to Richmond, he was received with every mark of gratitude and honor. +He accepted this public ovation with the moderation and dignity which +characterized his demeanor afterward, under all circumstances, either +of victory or defeat. It was almost impossible to discover in his +bearing at this time, as on other great occasions, any evidences +whatever of elation. Success, like disaster, seemed to find him calm, +collected, and as nearly unimpressible as is possible for a human +being. + +The character of the man led him to look upon success or failure with +this supreme composure, which nothing seemed able to shake; but in +July, 1862, he probably understood that the Confederate States were +still as far as ever from having achieved the objects of the war. +General McClellan had been defeated in battle, but the great resources +of the United States Government would enable it promptly to put other +and larger armies in the field. Even the defeated army was still +numerous and dangerous, for it consisted, according to McClellan's +report, of nearly or quite ninety thousand men; and the wise brain of +its commander had devised a plan of future operations which +promised far greater results than the advance on Richmond from the +Chickahominy. + +We shall touch, in passing, on this interesting subject, but shall +first ask the reader's attention to a communication addressed, by +General McClellan, at this time to President Lincoln. It is one of +those papers which belong to history, and should be placed upon +record. It not only throws the clearest light on the character and +views of General Lee's great adversary, but expresses with admirable +lucidity the sentiments of a large portion of the Federal people at +the time. The President had invited a statement of General McClellan's +views on the conduct of the war, and on July 7th, in the very midst of +the scenes of disaster at Harrison's Landing, McClellan wrote these +statesmanlike words: + +"This rebellion has assumed the character of a war; as such it should +be regarded, and it should be conducted upon the highest principles +know to Christian civilization. It should not be a war looking to the +subjugation of the people of any State in any event. It should not be +at all a war upon population, but against armed forces and political +organization. Neither confiscation of property, political executions, +territorial organizations of States, nor forcible abolition of +slavery, should be contemplated for a moment. In prosecuting the war +all private property and unarmed persons should be strictly protected, +subject only to the necessity of military operations. All private +property taken for military use should be paid or receipted for; +pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary +trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military +toward citizens promptly rebuked. Military arrests should not be +tolerated, except in places where active hostilities exist, and oaths +not required by enactments constitutionally made should be neither +demanded nor received. Military government should be confined to the +preservation of public order and the protection of political right. +Military power should not be allowed to interfere with the relations +of servitude, either by supporting or impairing the authority of the +master, except for repressing disorder, as in other cases. Slaves +contraband under the Act of Congress, seeking military protection, +should receive it. The right of the Government to appropriate +permanently to its own service claims to slave-labor should be +asserted, and the right of the owner to compensation therefor should +be recognized. + +"This principle might be extended upon grounds of military necessity +and security to all the slaves of a particular State, thus working +manumission in such State; and in Missouri, perhaps in Western +Virginia also, and possibly even in Maryland, the expediency of such a +measure is only a question of time. + +"A system of policy thus constitutional, and pervaded by the +influences of Christianity and freedom, would receive the support of +almost all truly loyal men, would deeply impress the rebel masses +and all foreign nations, and it might be humbly hoped that it would +commend itself to the favor of the Almighty. + +"Unless the principles governing the future conduct of our struggle +shall be made known and approved, the effort to obtain requisite +forces will be almost hopeless. A declaration of radical views, +especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies. + +"The policy of the Government must be supported by concentrations +of military power. The national forces should not be dispersed in +expeditions, posts of occupation, and numerous armies; but should be +mainly collected into masses, and brought to bear upon the armies +of the Confederate States. Those armies thoroughly defeated, the +political structure which they support would soon cease to exist. + + "In carrying out any system of policy which you may form, you will + require a commander-in-chief of the army--one who possesses your + confidence, understands your views, and who is competent to + execute your orders, by directing the military forces of the + nation to the accomplishment of the objects by you proposed. I do + not ask that place for myself. I am willing to serve you in such + positions as you may assign me, and I will do so as faithfully + as ever subordinate served superior. I may be on the brink of + eternity, and, as I hope forgiveness from my Maker, I have written + this letter with sincerity toward you, and from love for my + country." + +This noble and earnest exposition of his opinion, upon the proper mode +of conducting the war, will reflect honor upon General McClellan when +his military achievements are forgotten. It discusses the situation +of affairs, both from the political and military point of view, in a +spirit of the broadest statesmanship, and with the acumen of a great +soldier. That it had no effect, is the clearest indication upon which +the war was thenceforward to be conducted. + +The removal of General McClellan, as holding views opposed to the +party in power, is said to have resulted from this communication. +It certainly placed him in open antagonism to General Halleck, the +Federal Secretary of War, and, as this antagonism had a direct effect +upon even connected with the subject of our memoir, we shall briefly +relate now it was now displayed. + +Defeated on the Chickahominy, and seeing little to encourage an +advance, on the left bank of the James, upon Richmond, General +McClellan proposed to cross that river and operate against the capital +and its communications, near Petersburg. The proof of McClellan's +desire to undertake this movement, which afterward proved so +successful under General Grant, is found in a memorandum, by General +Halleck himself, of what took place on a visit paid by him to +McClellan, at Harrison's Landing, on July 25, 1862. + +"I stated to him," says General Halleck, "that the object of my visit +was to ascertain from him his views and wishes in regard to future +operations. He said that he proposed to cross the James River at that +point, attack Petersburg, and cut off the enemy's communications by +that route South, making no further demonstration for the present +against Richmond. I stated to him very frankly my views in regard to +the manner and impracticability of the plan;" and nothing further, it +seems, was said of this highly "impracticable" plan of operations. It +became practicable afterward under General Grant; McClellan was not +permitted to essay it in July, 1862, from the fact that it had been +resolved to relieve him from command, or from General Halleck's +inability to perceive its good sense. + +General Lee's views upon this subject coincided completely with those +of General McClellan. He expressed at this time, to those in his +confidence, the opinion that Richmond could be assailed to greater +advantage from the South, as a movement of the enemy in that direction +would menace her communications with the Gulf States; and events +subsequently proved the soundness of this view. Attacks from all +other quarters failed, including a repetition by General Grant of +McClellan's attempt from the side of the Chickahominy. When General +Grant carried out his predecessor's plan of assailing the city from +the direction of Petersburg, he succeeded in putting an end to the +war. + + + + +PART IV. + +_THE WAR ADVANCES NORTHWARD_ + + + + +I. + +LEE'S PROTEST. + + +General Lee remained in front of Richmond, watching General McClellan, +but intelligence soon reached him from the upper Rappahannock that +another army was advancing in that quarter, and had already occupied +the county of Culpepper, with the obvious intention of capturing +Gordonsville, the point of junction of the Orange and Alexandria and +Virginia Central Railroads, and advancing thence upon Richmond. + +The great defeat on the Chickahominy had only inspired the Federal +authorities with new energy. Three hundred thousand new troops +were called for, large bounties were held out as an inducement to +enlistment, negro-slaves in regions occupied by the United States +armies were directed to be enrolled as troops, and military commanders +were authorized to seize upon whatever was "necessary or convenient +for their commands," without compensation to the owners. This +indicated the policy upon which it was now intended to conduct the +war, and the army occupying Culpepper proceeded to carry out the new +policy in every particular. + +This force consisted of the troops which had served under Generals +Banks, McDowell, and Fremont--a necleus--and reenforcements from the +army of McClellan, together with the troops under General Burnside, +were hastening to unite with the newly-formed army. It was styled the +"Army of Virginia," and was placed under command of Major-General John +Pope, who had hitherto served in the West. General Pope had procured +the command, it is said, by impressing the authorities with a high +opinion of his energy and activity. In these qualities, General +McClellan was supposed to be deficient; and the new commander, coming +from a region where the war was conducted on a different plan, it was +said, would be able to infuse new life into the languid movements in +Virginia. General Pope had taken special pains to allay the fears of +the Federal authorities for the safety of Washington. He intended +to "lie off on the flanks" of Lee's army, he said, and render it +impossible for the rebels to advance upon the capital while he +occupied that threatening position. When asked if, with an army like +General McClellan's, he would find any difficulty in marching through +the South to New Orleans, General Pope replied without hesitation, "I +should suppose not." + +This confident view of things seems to have procured General Pope his +appointment, and it will soon be seen that he proceeded to conduct +military operations upon principles very different from those +announced by General McClellan. War, as carried on by General Pope, +was to be war _a l'outrance._ General McClellan had written: "The war +should not be at all a war upon population, but against armed forces +... all private property, taken for military use, should be paid for; +pillage and waste should be treated as high crimes; all unnecessary +trespass sternly prohibited, and offensive demeanor by the military +toward citizens promptly rebuked." The new commander intended to act +upon a very different principle, and to show that he possessed more +activity and resolution than his predecessor. + +General Pope's assumption of the command was signalized by much pomp +and animated general orders. He arrived in a train decked out with +streamers, and issued an order in which he said to the troops: "I +desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am sorry +to find much in vogue among you. I hear constantly of taking strong +positions and holding them, _of lines of retreat and bases of +supplies_. Let us discard such ideas. The strongest position which +a soldier should desire to occupy is the one from which he can most +easily advance upon the enemy. Let us study the probable line of +retreat of our opponents, _and leave our own to take care of itself. +Let us look before, and not behind. Disaster and shame look in the +rear_." The result, as will be seen, furnished a grotesque commentary +upon that portion of General Pope's order which we have italicized. In +an address to the army, he added further: "I have come to you from the +West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies--from an army +whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and beat him when +found--where policy has been attack, and not defence. I presume I have +been called here to pursue the same system." + +Such was the tenor of General Pope's orders on assuming +command--orders which were either intended seriously as an +announcement of his real intentions, or as a blind to persuade the +Confederates that his force was large. + +Unfortunately for the region in which he now came to operate, General +Pope did not confine himself to these flourishes of rhetoric. He +proceeded to inaugurate a military policy in vivid contrast to General +McClellan's. His "expatriation orders" directed that all male citizens +disloyal to the United States should be immediately arrested; the oath +of allegiance to the United States Government should be proffered +them, and, "if they furnished sufficient security for its observance," +they should be set free again. If they refused the oath, they should +be sent beyond the Federal lines; and, if afterward found within his +lines, they should be treated as spies, "and shot, their property +to be seized and applied to the public use." All communication +with persons living within the Southern lines was forbidden; such +communication should subject the individual guilty of it to be treated +as _a spy_. Lastly, General Pope's subordinates were directed to +arrest prominent citizens, and hold them as hostages for the good +behavior of the population. If his soldiers were "bushwhacked"--that +is to say, attacked on their foraging expeditions--the prominent +citizens thus held as hostages were to _suffer death_. + +It is obvious that war carried on upon such principles is rapine. +General Pope ventured, however, upon the new programme; and a foreign +periodical, commenting upon the result, declared that this commander +had prosecuted hostilities against the South "in a way that cast +mankind two centuries back toward barbarism." We shall not pause to +view the great outrages committed by the Federal troops in Culpepper. +They have received thus much comment rather to introduce the following +communication to the Federal authorities, from General Lee, than +to record what is known now to the Old World as well as the New. +Profoundly outraged and indignant at these cruel and oppressive acts, +General Lee, by direction of the Confederate authorities, addressed, +on the 2d of August, the following note to General Halleck: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE C.S., / + + NEAR RICHMOND, VA., _August_ 2, 1862.; + + _To the General commanding the U.S. Army, Washington_: + + GENERAL: In obedience to the order of his Excellency, the + President of the Confederate States, I have the honor to make you + the following communication: + + On the 22d of July last a cartel for a general exchange of + prisoners was signed by Major-General John A. Dix, on behalf of + the United States, and by Major-General D.H. Hill, on the part of + this government. By the terms of that cartel it is stipulated that + all prisoners of war hereafter taken shall be discharged on parole + until exchanged. Scarcely had the cartel been signed, when the + military authorities of the United States commenced a practice + changing the character of the war, from such as becomes civilized + nations, into a campaign of indiscriminate robbery and murder. + + A general order issued by the Secretary of War of the United + States, in the city of Washington, on the very day that the cartel + was signed in Virginia, directs the military commanders of + the United States to take the property of our people, for the + convenience and use of the army, without compensation. + + A general order issued by Major-General Pope, on the 23d of July + last, the day after the date of the cartel, directs the murder of + our peaceful citizens as spies, if found quietly tilling their + farms in his rear, even outside of his lines. + + And one of his brigadier-generals, Steinwehr, has seized innocent + and peaceful inhabitants, to be held as hostages, to the end that + they may be murdered in cold blood if any of his soldiers + are killed by some unknown persons whom he designates as + "bushwhackers." Some of the military authorities seem to suppose + that their end will be better attained by a savage war in which no + quarter is to be given, and no age or sex is to be spared, than by + such hostilities as are alone recognized to be lawful in modern + times. We find ourselves driven by our enemies by steady progress + toward a practice which we abhor, and which we are vainly + struggling to avoid. + + Under these circumstances, this Government has issued the + accompanying general order, which I am directed by the President + to transmit to you, recognizing Major-General Pope and his + commissioned officers to be in the position which they have chosen + for themselves--that of robbers and murderers, and not that of + public enemies, entitled, if captured, to be treated as prisoners + of war. The President also instructs me to inform you that we + renounce our right of retaliation on the innocent, and will + continue to treat the private soldiers of General Pope's army as + prisoners of war; but if, after notice to your Government that + they confine repressive measures to the punishment of commissioned + officers who are willing to participate in these crimes, the + savage practices threatened in the orders alluded to be persisted + in, we shall reluctantly be forced to the last resort of accepting + the war on the terms chosen by our enemies, until the voice of an + outraged humanity shall compel a respect for the recognized usages + of war. While the President considers that the facts referred to + would justify a refusal on our part to execute the cartel by which + we have agreed to liberate an excess of prisoners of war in our + hands, a sacred regard for plighted faith, which shrinks from the + semblance of breaking a promise, precludes a resort to such an + extremity, nor is it his desire to extend to any other forces of + the United States the punishment merited by General Pope and such + commissioned officers as choose to participate in the execution of + his infamous order. + + I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + + R.E. LEE, _General commanding_. + +This communication requires no comment. It had the desired effect, +although General Halleck returned it as couched in language too +insulting to be received. On the 15th of August, the United States War +Department so far disapproved of General Pope's orders as to direct +that "no officer or soldier might, without proper authority, leave his +colors or ranks to take private property, or to enter a private house +for the purpose, under penalty of death." + + + + +II. + +LEE'S MANOEUVRES. + + +General Pope had promptly advanced, and his army lay in Culpepper, the +right reaching toward the Blue Ridge, and the left extending nearly to +the Rapidan. + +The campaign now became a contest of brains between Lee and the +Federal authorities. Their obvious aim was to leave him in doubt +whether a new advance was intended under McClellan from James River, +or the real movement was to be against Richmond from the North. Under +these circumstances, General Lee remained with the bulk of his army +in front of Richmond; but, on the 13th of July, sent Jackson with two +divisions in the direction of Gordonsville. The game of wits had thus +begun, and General Lee moved cautiously, looking in both directions, +toward James River and the Upper Rappahannock. As yet the real design +of the enemy was undeveloped. The movement of General Pope might or +might not be a real advance. But General McClellan remained inactive, +and, on the 27th of July, A.P. Hill's division was sent up to +reenforce Jackson--while, at the same time, General D.H. Hill, +commanding a force on the south bank of the James River, was directed +to make demonstrations against McClellan's communications by opening +fire on his transports. + +The moment approached now when the game between the two adversaries +was to be decided. On the 2d of August, Jackson assumed the offensive, +by attacking the enemy at Orange Court-House; and, on the 5th, General +McClellan made a prompt demonstration to prevent Lee from sending him +further reinforcements. A large Federal force advanced to Malvern +Hill, and was drawn up there in line of battle, with every indication +on the part of General McClellan of an intention to advance anew upon +Richmond. Lee promptly went to meet him, and a slight engagement +ensued on Curl's Neck. But, on the next morning, the Federal army had +disappeared, and the whole movement was seen to have been a feint. + +This state of indecision continued until nearly the middle of August. +An incident then occurred which clearly indicated the enemy's +intentions. General Burnside was known to have reached Hampton Roads +from the Southern coast with a considerable force, and the direction +which his flotilla now took would show the design of the Federal +authorities. If a new advance was intended from the James, the +flotilla would ascend that river; if General Pope's army was looked to +for the real movement, General Burnside would go in that direction. +The secret was discovered by the afterward celebrated Colonel John S. +Mosby, then a private, and just returned, by way of Fortress Monroe, +from prison in Washington. He ascertained, when he disembarked, that +Burnside's flotilla was about to move toward the Rappahannock, and, +aware of the importance of the information, hastened to communicate +it to General Lee. He was admitted, at the headquarters of the latter +near Richmond, to a private interview, and when General Lee had +finished his conversation with the plain-looking individual, then +almost unknown, he was in possession of the information necessary to +determine his plans. The Rappahannock, and not the James, was seen +to be the theatre of the coming campaign, and General Lee's whole +attention was now directed to that quarter. + +Jackson had already struck an important blow there, cooeperating +vigorously, as was habitual with him, in the general plan of action. +General McClellan had endeavored by a feint to hold Lee at Richmond. +By a battle now, Jackson hastened the retreat of the army under +McClellan from James River. With his three divisions, Jackson crossed +the Rapidan, and, on the 9th of August, attacked the advance force of +General Pope at Cedar Mountain. The struggle was obstinate, and at +one time Jackson's left was driven back, but the action terminated at +nightfall in the retreat of the Federal forces, and the Confederate +commander remained in possession of the field. He was too weak, +however, to hold his position against the main body of the Federal +army, which was known to be approaching; he accordingly recrossed +the Rapidan to the vicinity of Gordonsville, and here he was +soon afterward joined by General Lee, with the great bulk of the +Confederate army. + +Such were the events which succeeded the battles of the Chickahominy, +transferring hostilities to a new theatre, and inaugurating the great +campaigns of the summer and autumn of 1862 in Northern Virginia and +Maryland. + + + + +III. + +LEE ADVANCES FROM THE RAPIDAN. + + +General Lee, it will thus be seen, had proceeded in his military +manoeuvres with the utmost caution, determined to give his adversaries +no advantage, and remain in front of the capital until it was free +from all danger. But for the daring assault upon General McClellan, +on the Chickahominy, his critics would no doubt have charged him with +weakness and indecision now; but, under any circumstances, it is +certain that he would have proceeded in the same manner, conducting +operations in the method which his judgment approved. + +At length the necessity of caution had disappeared. General Burnside +had gone to reenforce General Pope, and a portion of McClellan's army +was believed to have followed. "It therefore seemed," says +General Lee, "that active operations on the James were no longer +contemplated," and he wisely concluded that "the most effectual way to +relieve Richmond from any danger of attack from that quarter would +be to reenforce General Jackson, and advance upon General Pope." In +commenting upon these words, an able writer of the North exclaims: +"Veracious prophecy, showing that _insight_ which is one of the +highest marks of generalship!" The movement, indeed, was the right +proceeding, as the event showed; and good generalship may be defined +to be the power of seeing what is the proper course, and the decision +of character which leads to its adoption. + +General Lee exhibited throughout his career this mingled good judgment +and daring, and his cautious inactivity was now succeeded by one +of those offensive movements which, if we may judge him, by his +subsequent career, seemed to be the natural bent of his character. +With the bulk of his army, he marched in the direction of General +Pope; the rest were speedily ordered to follow, and active operations +began for driving the newly-formed Federal "Army of Virginia" back +toward Washington. + +We have presented Lee's order for the attack on General McClellan, and +here quote his order of march for the advance against General Pope, +together with a note addressed to Stuart, commanding his cavalry, for +that officer's guidance. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_August_ 19, 1862. + +SPECIAL ORDER No. 185. + +I. General Longstreet's command, constituting the right wing of +the army, will cross the Rapidan at Raccoon Ford, and move in the +direction of Culpepper Court-House. General Jackson's command, +constituting the left wing, will cross at Summerville Ford, and move +in the same direction, keeping on the left of General Longstreet. +General Anderson's division will cross at Summerville Ford, follow the +route of General Jackson, and act in reserve. The battalion of light +artillery, under Colonel S.D. Lee, will take the same route. The +cavalry, under General Stuart, will cross at Morton's Ford, pursue the +route by Stevensburg to Rappahannock Station, destroy the railroad +bridge, cut the enemy's communications, telegraph line, and, +operating toward Culpepper Court-House, will take position on General +Longstreet's right. + +II. The commanders of each wing will designate the reserve for their +commands. Medical and ammunition wagons will alone follow the troops +across the Rapidan. The baggage and supply trains will be parked under +their respective officers, in secure positions on the south side, so +as not to embarrass the different roads. + +III. Cooked rations for three days will be carried in the haversacks +of the men, and provision must be made for foraging the animals. +Straggling from the ranks is strictly prohibited, and commanders will +make arrangements to secure and punish the offenders. + +IV. The movements herein directed will commence to-morrow, 20th +instant, at dawn of day. + +By command of General R.E. Lee: + +A.P. MASON, _A.A. G_. + +HEADQUARTERS CRENSHAW'S FARM,} + _August_ 19, 1862.} + +_General J.E.B. Stuart, commanding Cavalry_: + +General: I desire you to rest your men to-day, refresh your horses, +prepare rations and every thing for the march to-morrow. Get what +information you can of fords, roads, and position of the enemy, so +that your march can be made understandingly and with vigor. I send to +you Captain Mason, an experienced bridge-builder, etc., whom I think +will be able to aid you in the destruction of the bridge, etc. When +that is accomplished, or when in train of execution, as circumstances +permit, I wish you to operate back toward Culpepper Court-House, +creating such confusion and consternation as you can, without +unnecessarily exposing your men, till you feel Longstreet's right. +Take position there on his right, and hold yourself in reserve, and +act as circumstances may require. I wish to know during the day how +you proceed in your preparations. They will require the personal +attention of all your officers. The last reports from the +signal-stations yesterday evening were, that the enemy was breaking +up his principal encampments, and moving in direction of Culpepper +Court-House. + +Very respectfully, etc., R.E. LEE, _General_. + +These orders indicate General Lee's design--to reach the left flank +of the enemy, prevent his retreat by destroying the bridges on the +Rappahannock, and bring him to battle in the neighborhood of Culpepper +Court-House. The plan failed in consequence of a delay of two days, +which took place in its execution--a delay, attributed at that time, +we know not with what justice, to the unnecessarily deliberate +movements of the corps commanded by General Longstreet. This delay +enabled the enemy to gain information of the intended movement; and +when General Lee advanced on the 20th of August, instead of on the +18th, as he had at first determined to do, it was found that General +Pope had broken up his camps, and was in rapid retreat. Lee followed, +and reached the Rappahannock only to find that the Federal army had +passed that stream. General Pope, who had promised to conduct none but +offensive operations, and never look to the rear, had thus hastened +to interpose the waters of the Rappahannock between himself and his +adversary, and, when General Lee approached, he found every crossing +of the river heavily defended by the Federal infantry and artillery. + +In face of this large force occupying a commanding position on the +heights, General Lee made no effort to cross. He determined, he says, +"not to attempt the passage of the river at that point with the army," +but to "seek a more favorable place to cross, higher up the river, and +thus gain the enemy's right." This manoeuvre was intrusted to Jackson, +whose corps formed the Confederate left wing. Jackson advanced +promptly to the Warrenton Springs Ford, which had been selected as +the point of crossing, drove away a force of the enemy posted at the +place, and immediately began to pass the river with his troops. The +movement was however interrupted by a severe rain-storm, which swelled +the waters of the Rappahannock, and rendered a further prosecution of +it impracticable. General Lee was thus compelled to give up that plan, +and ordered Jackson to withdraw the force which had crossed. This was +done, and General Lee was now called upon to adopt some other method +of attack; or to remain inactive in face of the enemy. + +But to remain inactive was impossible. The army must either advance +or retire; information which had just reached the Confederate general +rendered one of these two proceedings indispensable. The information +referred to had been obtained by General Stuart. The activity and +energy of this officer, especially in gaining intelligence, now +proved, as they proved often afterward, of the utmost importance to +Lee. Stuart had been directed by General Lee to make an attack, with a +cavalry force, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, in the enemy's +rear; he had promptly carried out his orders by striking the Federal +communications at Catlett's Station, had destroyed there all that he +found, and torn up the railroad, but, better than all, had captured +a box containing official papers belonging to General Pope. These +papers, which Stuart hastened--marching day and night, through storm +and flood--to convey to General Lee, presented the clearest evidence +of the enemy's movements and designs. Troops were hastening from every +direction to reenforce General Pope, the entire force on James River +especially was to be brought rapidly north of the Rappahannock, and +any delay in the operations of the Confederates would thus expose them +to attack from the Federal forces concentrated from all quarters in +their front. + +[Illustration: Map--Upper Rappahannock] + + + + +IV. + +JACKSON FLANKS GENERAL POPE. + + +It was thus necessary to act with decision, and General Lee resolved +upon a movement apparently of the most reckless character. This was to +separate his army into two parts, and, while one remained confronting +the enemy on the Rappahannock, send the other by a long circuit to +fall on the Federal rear near Manassas. This plan of action was +opposed to the first rule of the military art, that a general should +never divide his force in the face of an enemy. That Lee ventured to +do so on this occasion can only be explained on one hypothesis, that +he did not highly esteem the military ability of his opponent. These +flank attacks undoubtedly, however, possessed a great attraction for +him, as they did for Jackson, and, in preferring such movement, Lee +was probably actuated both by the character of the troops on both +sides and by the nature of the country. The men of both armies were +comparatively raw levies, highly susceptible to the influence of +"surprise," and the appearance of an enemy on their flanks, or in +their rear, was calculated to throw them into disorder. The wooded +character of the theatre of war generally rendered such movements +practicable, and all that was requisite was a certain amount of daring +in the commander who was called upon to decide upon them. This daring +Lee repeatedly exhibited, and the uniform success of the movements +indicates his sound generalship. + +To command the force which was now to go on the perilous errand of +striking General Pope's rear, General Lee selected Jackson, who had +exhibited such promptness and decision in the campaigns of the Valley +of Virginia. Rapidity of movement was necessary above all things, +and, if any one could be relied upon for that, it was the now famous +Stonewall Jackson. To him the operation was accordingly intrusted, and +his corps was at once put in motion. Crossing the Rappahannock at an +almost forgotten ford, high up and out of view of the Federal right, +Jackson pushed forward day and night toward Manassas, reached +Thoroughfare Gap, in the Bull Run Mountain, west of that place, passed +through, and completely destroyed the great mass of supplies in the +Federal depot at Manassas. The whole movement had been made with +such rapidity, and General Stuart, commanding the cavalry, had so +thoroughly guarded the flank of the advancing column from observation, +that Manassas was a mass of smoking ruins almost before General Pope +was aware of the real danger. Intelligence soon reached him, however, +of the magnitude of the blow aimed by Lee, and, hastily breaking +up his camps on the Rappahannock, he hurried to attack the force +assailing his communications. + +The first part of General Lee's plan had thus fully succeeded. General +Pope, who had occupied every ford of the Rappahannock, so as to render +the passage difficult, if not impossible, had disappeared suddenly, to +go and attack the enemy in his rear. General Lee promptly moved in +his turn, with the great corps under Longstreet, and pushed +toward Manassas, over nearly the same road followed by Jackson. + +[Illustration: T.J. Jackson] + + + + +V. + +LEE FOLLOWS. + + +The contest of generalship had now fully begun, and the brain of +General Lee was matched against the brain of General Pope. It is no +part of the design of the writer of this volume to exalt unduly the +reputation of Lee, and detract from the credit due his adversaries. +Justice has been sought to be done to General McClellan; the same +measure of justice will be dealt out to his successors on the Federal +side; nor is it calculated to elevate the fame of Lee, to show that +his opponents were incapable and inefficient. Of General Pope, +however, it must be said that he suffered himself to be outgeneralled +in every particular; and the pithy comment of General Lee, that he +"did not appear to be aware of his situation," sums up the whole +subject. + +It is beyond our purpose to enter upon any thing resembling a detailed +narrative of the confused and complicated movements of the various +corps of the army under General Pope. These have been the subject of +the severest criticism by his own followers. We shall simply notice +the naked events. Jackson reached Manassas on the night of August +26th, took it, and on the next day destroyed the great depot. General +Pope was hastening to protect it, but was delayed by Ewell at Bristoe, +and a force sent up from Washington, under the brave General Taylor, +was driven off with loss. Then, having achieved his aim, Jackson fell +back toward Sudley. + +If the reader will look at the map, he will now understand the +exact condition of affairs. Jackson had burned the Federal depot of +supplies, and retired before the great force hastening to rescue them. +He had with him about twenty thousand men, and General Pope's force +was probably triple that number. Thus, the point was to hold General +Pope at arm's-length until the arrival of Lee; and, to accomplish this +great end, Jackson fell back beyond Groveton. There he formed line of +battle, and waited. + +It is obvious that, under these circumstances, the true policy of +General Pope was to obstruct Thoroughfare Gap, the only road by which +Lee could approach promptly, and then crush Jackson. On the night of +the 27th, General McDowell was accordingly sent thither with forty +thousand men; but General Pope ordered him, on the next morning, to +Manassas, where he hoped to "bag the whole crowd," he said--that is +to say, the force under Jackson. This was the fatal mistake made by +General Pope. Thoroughfare Gap was comparatively undefended. While +General Pope was marching to attack Jackson, who had disappeared, it +was the next thing to a certainty that General Lee would attack _him_. + +All parties were thus moving to and fro; but the Confederates enjoyed +the very great advantage over General Pope of knowing precisely +how affairs stood, and of having determined upon their own plan of +operations. Jackson, with his back to the mountain, was waiting for +Lee. Lee was approaching rapidly, to unite the two halves of his army. +General Pope, meanwhile, was marching and countermarching, apparently +ignorant of the whereabouts of Jackson,[1] + +General Lee, in personal command of Longstreet's corps, reached the +western end of Thoroughfare Gap about sunset, on the 28th, and the +sound of artillery from the direction of Groveton indicated that +Jackson and General Pope had come in collision. Jackson had himself +brought on this engagement by attacking the flank of one of General +Pope's various columns, as it marched across his front, over the +Warrenton road, and this was the origin of the sound wafted to General +Lee's ears as he came in sight of Thoroughfare. It was certainly +calculated to excite his nerves if they were capable of being excited. +Jackson was evidently engaged, and the disproportion between his +forces and those of General Pope rendered such an engagement extremely +critical. Lee accordingly pressed forward, reached the Gap, and the +advance force suddenly halted: the Gap was defended. The Federal force +posted here, at the eastern opening of the Gap, was small, and wholly +inadequate for the purpose; but this was as yet unknown to General +Lee. His anxiety under these circumstances must have been great. +Jackson might be crushed before his arrival. He rode up to the +summit of the commanding hill which rises just west of the Gap, and +dismounting directed his field-glass toward the shaggy defile in +front. + +[Footnote 1: "Not knowing at the time where was the enemy."--_General +Porter_.] and undecided what course to pursue. + +[Illustration: Lee Reconnoitring at Throughfare Gap.] + +The writer of these pages chanced to be near the Confederate commander +at this moment, and was vividly impressed by the air of unmoved +calmness which marked his countenance and demeanor. Nothing in the +expression of his face, and no hurried movement, indicated excitement +or anxiety. Here, as on many other occasions, Lee impressed the writer +as an individual gifted with the most surprising faculty of remaining +cool and unaffected in the midst of circumstances calculated to arouse +the most phlegmatic. After reconnoitring for some moments without +moving, he closed his glass slowly, as though he were buried in +reflection, and deliberating at his leisure, and, walking back slowly +to his horse, mounted and rode down the hill. + +The attack was not delayed, and flanking columns were sent to cross +north of the Gap and assail the enemy's rear. But the assault in front +was successful. The small force of the enemy at the eastern opening of +the Gap retired, and, by nine o'clock at night, General Longstreet's +corps was passing through. + +All the next morning (August 29th), Longstreet's troops were coming +into position on the right of Jackson, under the personal supervision +of Lee. By noon the line of battle was formed.[1] Lee's army was +once more united. General Pope had not been able to crush less than +one-half that army, for twenty-four hours nearly in his clutches, and +it did not seem probable that he would meet with greater success, now +that the whole was concentrated and held in the firm hand of Lee. + +[Footnote 1: The hour of Longstreet's arrival has been strangely a +subject of discussion. The truth is stated in the reports of Lee, +Longstreet, Jones, and other officers. But General Pope was ignorant +of Longstreet's presence _at five in the evening_; and General Porter, +his subordinate, was dismissed from the army for not at that hour +attacking Jackson's right, declared by General Pope to be undefended. +Longstreet was in line of battle by noon.] + + + + +VI. + +THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS. + + +Lee's order of battle for the coming action was peculiar. It resembled +an open V, with the opening toward the enemy--Jackson's corps forming +the left wing, and extending from near Sudley, to a point in rear of +the small village of Groveton, Longstreet's corps forming the right +wing, and reaching from Jackson's right to and beyond the Warrenton +road which runs to Stonebridge. + +The field of battle was nearly identical with that of July 21, 1861. +The only difference was, that the Confederates occupied the ground +formerly held by the Federal troops, and that the latter attacked, as +Johnston and Beauregard had attacked, from the direction of Manassas, +and the tableland around the well-known Henry House. + +The Southern order of battle seems to have contemplated a movement on +one or both of General Pope's flanks while he attacked in front. An +assault on either wing would expose him to danger from the other, +and it will be seen that the fate of the battle was decided by this +judicious arrangement of the Confederate commander. + +The action began a little after noon, when the Federal right, +consisting of the troops of Generals Banks, Sigel, and others, +advanced and made a vigorous attack on Jackson's left, under A.P. +Hill. An obstinate conflict ensued, the opposing lines fighting almost +bayonet to bayonet, "delivering their volleys into each other at the +distance of ten paces." At the first charge, an interval between two +of Hill's brigades was penetrated by the enemy, and that wing of +Jackson's corps was in great danger of being driven back. This +disaster was, however, prevented by the prompt stand made by two or +three regiments; the enemy was checked, and a prompt counter-charge +drove the Federal assaulting columns back into the woods. + +The attempt to break Jackson's line at this point was not, however, +abandoned. The Federal troops returned again and again to the +encounter, and General Hill reported "six separate and distinct +assaults" made upon him. They were all repulsed, in which important +assistance was rendered by General Early. That brave officer attacked +with vigor, and, aided by the fire of the Confederate artillery from +the elevated ground in Jackson's rear, drove the enemy before him with +such slaughter that one of their regiments is said to have carried +back but three men. + +This assault of the enemy had been of so determined a character, that +General Lee, in order to relieve his left, had directed Hood and +Evans, near his centre, to advance and attack the left of the +assaulting column. Hood was about to do so, when he found a heavy +force advancing to charge his own line. A warm engagement followed, +which resulted in the repulse of the enemy, and Hood followed them a +considerable distance, inflicting heavy loss. + +It was now nearly nine o'clock at night, and the darkness rendered +further operations impossible. The troops which had driven the enemy +were recalled from their advanced position, the Southern line was +reformed on the same ground occupied at the commencement of the +action, and General Lee prepared for the more decisive struggle of the +next day. + +Morning came (August 30th), but all the forenoon passed without a +resumption of the battle. Each of the adversaries seemed to await some +movement on the part of the other, and the Federal commander made +heavy feints against both the Confederate right and left, with the +view of discovering some weak point, or of inducing Lee to lay himself +open to attack. These movements had, however, no effect. Lee remained +obstinately in his strong position, rightly estimating the advantage +it gave him, and no doubt taking into consideration the want of +supplies General Pope must labor under, a deficiency which rendered a +prompt assault on his part indispensable. The armies thus remained in +face of each other, without serious efforts upon either side, until +nearly or quite the hour of three in the afternoon. + +General Pope then resumed the assault on Lee's left, under Jackson, +with his best troops. The charge was furious, and a bloody struggle +ensued; but Jackson succeeded in repulsing the force. It fell back in +disorder, but was succeeded by a second and a third line, which rushed +forward at the "double-quick," in a desperate attempt to break the +Southern line. These new attacks were met with greater obstinacy than +at first, and, just as the opponents had closed in, a heavy fire was +directed against the Federal column by Colonel S.D. Lee, commanding +the artillery at Lee's centre. This fire, which was of the most rapid +and destructive character, struck the enemy in front and flank at +once, and seemed to sweep back the charging brigades as they came. The +fire of the cannon was then redoubled, and Jackson's line advanced +with cheers. Before this charge, the Federal line broke, and Jackson +pressed forward, allowing them no respite. + +General Lee then threw forward Longstreet, who, knowing what was +expected of him, was already moving. The enemy were pressed thus in +front and on their flank, as Lee had no doubt intended, in forming his +peculiar line. The corps of Jackson and Longstreet closed in like two +iron arms; the Federal forces were driven from position to position; +the glare of their cannon, more and more distant, indicated that they +had abandoned further contest, and at ten at night the darkness put an +end to the battle and pursuit. General Pope was retreating with his +defeated forces toward Washington. + +On the next day, Lee dispatched Jackson to turn Centreville and cut +off the retreat of General Pope. The result was a severe engagement +near Germantown, which was put an end to by a violent storm. General +Pope, now reenforced by the commands of Generals Sumner and Franklin, +had been enabled to hold his ground until night. When, on the next day +(September 2d), the Confederates advanced to Fairfax Court-House, +it was found that the entire Federal army was in rapid retreat upon +Washington. + +Such had been the fate of General Pope. + + + + +PART V. + +_LEE INVADES MARYLAND_. + + + + +I. + +HIS DESIGNS. + + +The defeat of General Pope opened the way for movements not +contemplated, probably, by General Lee, when he marched from Richmond +to check the advance in Culpepper. His object at that time was +doubtless simply to arrest the forward movement of the new force +threatening Gordonsville. Now, however, the position of the pieces +on the great chess-board of war had suddenly changed, and it was +obviously Lee's policy to extract all the advantage possible from the +new condition of things. + +He accordingly determined to advance into Maryland--the fortifications +in front of Washington, and the interposition of the Potomac, a +broad stream easily defended, rendering a movement in that direction +unpromising. On the 3d of September, therefore, and without waiting to +rest his army, which was greatly fatigued with the nearly continuous +marching and fighting since it had left the Rapidan, General Lee moved +toward Leesburg, crossed his forces near that place, and to the +music of the bands playing the popular air, "Maryland, my Maryland," +advanced to Frederick City, which he occupied on the 7th of September. + +Lee's object in invading Maryland has been the subject of much +discussion, one party holding the view that his sole aim was to +surround and capture a force of nine or ten thousand Federal troops +stationed at Harper's Ferry; and another party maintaining that he +proposed an invasion of Pennsylvania as far as the Susquehanna, +intending to fight a decisive battle there, and advance thereafter +upon Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington. The course pursued by an +army commander is largely shaped by the progress of events. It can +only be said that General Lee, doubtless, left the future to +decide his ultimate movements; meanwhile he had a distinct and +clearly-defined aim, which he states in plain words. + +His object was to draw the Federal forces out of Virginia first. The +movement culminating in the victory over the enemy at Manassas had +produced the effect of paralyzing them in every quarter. On the coast +of North Carolina, in Western Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley, +had been heard the echo of the great events in Middle and Northern +Virginia. General Burnside's force had been brought up from the +South, leaving affairs at a stand-still in that direction; and, +contemporaneously with the retreat of General Pope, the Federal forces +at Washington and beyond had fallen back to the Potomac. This left +the way open, and Lee's farther advance, it was obvious, would now +completely clear Virginia of her invaders. The situation of affairs, +and the expected results, are clearly stated by General Lee: + +"The war was thus transferred," he says, "from the interior to the +frontier, and the supplies of rich and productive districts made +accessible to our army. To prolong a state of affairs in every way +desirable, and not to permit the season for active operations to pass +without endeavoring to inflict other injury upon the enemy, the best +course appeared to be the transfer of the army into Maryland." + +The state of things in Maryland was another important consideration. +That great Commonwealth was known to be sectionally divided in its +sentiment toward the Federal Government, the eastern portion adhering +generally to the side of the South, and the western portion generally +to the Federal side. But, even as high up as Frederick, it was hoped +that the Southern cause would find adherents and volunteers to march +under the Confederate banner. If this portion of the population had +only the opportunity to choose their part, unterrified by Federal +bayonets, it was supposed they would decide for the South. In any +event, the movement would be important. The condition of affairs in +Maryland, General Lee says, "encouraged the belief that the presence +of our army, however inferior to that of the enemy, would induce the +Washington Government to retain all its available force to provide for +contingencies which its course toward the people of that State gave +it reason to apprehend," and to cross the Potomac "might afford us an +opportunity to aid the citizens of Maryland in any efforts they might +be disposed to make to recover their liberty." + +It may be said, in summing up on this point, that Lee expected +volunteers to enroll themselves under his standard, tempted to do so +by the hope of throwing off the yoke of the Federal Government, and +the army certainly shared this expectation. The identity of sentiment +generally between the people of the States of Maryland and Virginia, +and their strong social ties in the past, rendered this anticipation +reasonable, and the feeling of the country at the result afterward was +extremely bitter. + +Such were the first designs of Lee; his ultimate aim seems as clear. +By advancing into Maryland and threatening Baltimore and Washington, +he knew that he would force the enemy to withdraw all their troops +from the south bank of the Potomac, where they menaced the Confederate +communications with Richmond; when this was accomplished, as it +clearly would be, his design was, to cross the Maryland extension of +the Blue Ridge, called there the South Mountain, advance by way of +Hagerstown into the Cumberland Valley, and, by thus forcing the enemy +to follow him, draw them to a distance from their base of supplies, +while his own communications would remain open by way of the +Shenandoah Valley. This was essentially the same plan pursued in +the campaign of 1863, which terminated in the battle of Gettysburg. +General Lee's movements now indicated similar intentions. He doubtless +wished, in the first place, to compel the enemy to pursue him--then +to lead them as far as was prudent--and then, if circumstances were +favorable, bring them to decisive battle, success in which promised to +open for him the gates of Washington or Baltimore, and end the war. + +It will now be seen how the delay caused by the movement of Jackson +against Harper's Ferry, and the discovery by General McClellan of the +entire arrangement devised by Lee for that purpose, caused the failure +of this whole ulterior design. + +[Illustration: Map--Map of the MARYLAND CAMPAIGN.] + + + + +II. + +LEE IN MARYLAND. + + +The Southern army was concentrated in the neighborhood of Frederick +City by the 7th of September, and on the next day General Lee issued +an address to the people of Maryland. + +We have not burdened the present narrative with Lee's army orders and +other official papers; but the great force and dignity of this address +render it desirable to present it in full: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,} + NEAR FREDERICKTOWN, _September_ 8, 1862.} + + _To the People of Maryland_: + + It is right that you should know the purpose that has brought the + army under my command within the limits of your State, so far as + that purpose concerns yourselves. + + The people of the Confederate States have long watched with the + deepest sympathy the wrongs and outrages that have been inflicted + upon the citizens of a Commonwealth allied to the States of the + South by the strongest social, political, and commercial ties. + + They have seen, with profound indignation, their sister State + deprived of every right, and reduced to the condition of a + conquered province. Under the pretence of supporting the + Constitution, but in violation of its most valuable provisions, + your citizens have been arrested and imprisoned upon no charge, + and contrary to all forms of law. The faithful and manly protest + against this outrage, made by the venerable and illustrious + Marylanders--to whom in better days no citizen appealed for right + in vain--was treated with scorn and contempt. The government + of your chief city has been usurped by armed strangers; your + Legislature has been dissolved by the unlawful arrest of its + members; freedom of the press and of speech have been suppressed; + words have been declared offences by an arbitrary desire of the + Federal Executive, and citizens ordered to be tried by military + commission for what they may dare to speak. + + Believing that the people of Maryland possessed a spirit too lofty + to submit to such a government, the people of the South have long + wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke, to enable + you again to enjoy the inalienable rights of freemen, and restore + independence and sovereignty to your State. + + In obedience to this wish, our army has come among you, and is + prepared to assist you, with the power of its arms, in regaining + the rights of which you have been despoiled. This, citizens + of Maryland, is our mission, so far as you are concerned. No + constraint upon your free will is intended--no intimidation will + be allowed. Within the limits of this army, at least, Marylanders + shall once more enjoy their ancient freedom of thought and speech. + We know no enemies among you, and will protect all of every + opinion. It is for you to decide your destiny, freely, and without + constraint. This army will respect your choice, whatever it may + be; and, while the Southern people will rejoice to welcome you to + your natural position among them, they will only welcome you when + you come of your own free will. + + R.E. LEE, _General commanding_. + +This address, full of grave dignity, and highly characteristic of the +Confederate commander, was in vivid contrast with the harsh orders of +General Pope in Culpepper. The accents of friendship and persuasion +were substituted for the "rod of iron." There would be no coercive +measures; no arrests, with the alternative presented of an oath to +support the South, or instant banishment. No intimidation would be +permitted. In the lines of the Southern army, at least, Marylanders +should enjoy freedom of thought and speech, and every man should +"decide his destiny freely, and without constraint." + +This address, couched in terms of such dignity, had little effect +upon the people. Either their sentiment in favor of the Union was too +strong, or they found nothing in the condition of affairs to encourage +their Southern feelings. A large Federal force was known to be +advancing; Lee's army, in tatters, and almost without supplies, +presented a very uninviting appearance to recruits, and few joined his +standard, the population in general remaining hostile or neutral. + +The condition of the army was indeed forlorn. It was worn down by +marching and fighting; the men had scarcely shoes upon their feet; +and, above the tattered figures, flaunting their rags in the sunshine, +were seen gaunt and begrimed faces, in which could be read little of +the "romance of war." The army was in no condition to undertake +an invasion; "lacking much of the material of war, feeble in +transportation, poorly provided with clothing, and thousands of them +destitute of shoes," is Lee's description of his troops. Such was the +condition of the better portion of the force; on the opposite side of +the Potomac, scattered along the hills, could be seen a weary, ragged, +hungry, and confused multitude, who had dragged along in rear of the +rest, unable to keep up, and whose miserable appearance said little +for the prospects of the army to which they belonged. + +From these and other causes resulted the general apathy of the +Marylanders, and Lee soon discovered that he must look solely to his +own men for success in his future movements. He faced that conviction +courageously; and, without uttering a word of comment, or indulging in +any species of crimination against the people of Maryland, resolutely +commenced his movements looking to the capture of Harper's Ferry and +the invasion of Pennsylvania.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The reader will perceive that the intent to _invade_ +Pennsylvania is repeatedly attributed in these pages to General Lee. +His own expression is, "by _threatening_ Pennsylvania, to induce +the enemy," etc. That he designed invasion, aided by the recruits +anticipated in Maryland, seems unquestionable; since, even after +discovering the lukewarmness of the people there by the fact that few +joined his standard, he still advanced to Hagerstown, but a step from +the Pennsylvania line. These facts have induced the present writer to +attribute the design of actual invasion to Lee with entire confidence; +and all the circumstances seem to him to support that hypothesis.] + +The promises of his address had been kept. No one had been forced to +follow the Southern flag; and now, when the people turned their backs +upon it, closing the doors of the houses in the faces of the Southern +troops, they remained unmolested. Lee had thus given a practical proof +of the sincerity of his character. He had promised nothing which he +had not performed; and in Maryland, as afterward in Pennsylvania, +in 1863, he remained firm against the temptation to adopt the harsh +course generally pursued by the commanders of invading armies. He +seems to have proceeded on the principle that good faith is as +essential in public affairs as in private, and to have resolved that, +in any event, whether of victory or disaster, his enemies should not +have it in their power to say that he broke his plighted word, or +acted in a manner unbecoming a Christian gentleman. + +Prompt action was now necessary. The remnants of General Pope's army, +greatly scattered and disorganized by the severe battle of Manassas, +had been rapidly reformed and brought into order again, and to this +force was added a large number of new troops, hurried forward from the +Northern States to Washington. This new army was not to be commanded +by General Pope, who had been weighed and found wanting in ability to +contend with Lee. The force was intrusted to General McClellan, in +spite of his unpopularity with the Federal authorities; and the urgent +manner in which he had been called upon to take the head of affairs +and protect the Federal capital, is the most eloquent of all +commentaries upon the position which he held in the eyes of the +country and the army. It was felt, indeed, by all that the Federal +ship was rolling in the storm, and an experienced pilot was necessary +for her guidance. General McClellan was accordingly directed, after +General Pope's defeat, to take command of every thing, and see to the +safety of Washington; and, finding himself at length at the head of an +army of about one hundred thousand men, he proceeded, after the manner +of a good soldier, to protect the Federal capital by advancing into +upper Maryland in pursuit of Lee. + + + + +III. + +MOVEMENTS OF THE TWO ARMIES. + + +General Lee was already moving to the accomplishment of his designs, +the capture of Harper's Ferry, and an advance into the Cumberland +Valley. + +His plan to attain the first-mentioned object was simple, and promised +to be successful. Jackson was to march around by way of "Williamsport +and Martinsburg," and thus approach from the south. A force was +meanwhile to seize upon and occupy the Maryland Heights, a lofty +spot of the mountain across the Potomac, north of the Ferry. In like +manner, another body of troops was to cross the Potomac, east of the +Blue Ridge, and occupy the Loudon Heights, looking down upon Harper's +Ferry from the east. By this arrangement the retreat of the enemy +would be completely cut off in every direction. Harper's Ferry must +be captured, and, having effected that result, the whole Confederate +force, detached for the purpose, was to follow the main body of this +army in the direction of Hagerstown, to take part in the proposed +invasion of Pennsylvania. + +This excellent plan failed, as will be seen, from no fault of the +great soldier who devised it, but in consequence of unforeseen +obstacles, and especially of one of those singular incidents which +occasionally reverse the best-laid schemes and abruptly turn aside the +currents of history. + +Jackson and the commanders cooeperating with him moved on September +10th. General Lee then with his main body crossed the South Mountain, +taking the direction of Hagerstown. Meanwhile, General McClellan had +advanced cautiously and slowly, withheld by incessant dispatches from +Washington, warning him not to move in such a manner as to expose that +city to danger. Such danger existed only in the imaginations of the +authorities, as the army in advancing extended its front from the +Potomac to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. General McClellan, +nevertheless, moved with very great precaution, feeling his way, step +by step, like a man in the dark, when on reaching Frederick City, +which the Confederates had just evacuated, good fortune suddenly came +to his assistance. This good fortune was the discovery of a copy of +General Lee's orders of march for the army, in which his whole plan +was revealed. General McClellan had therein the unmistakable evidence +of his opponent's intentions, and from that moment his advance was as +rapid as before it had been deliberate. + +The result of this fortunate discovery was speedily seen. General Lee, +while moving steadily toward Hagerstown, was suddenly compelled to +turn his attention to the mountain-passes in his rear. It had not been +the intention of Lee to oppose the passage of the enemy through the +South Mountain, as he desired to draw General McClellan as far as +possible from his base, but the delay in the fall of Harper's +Ferry now made this necessary. It was essential to defend the +mountain-defiles in order to insure the safety of the Confederate +troops at Harper's Ferry; and Lee accordingly directed General +D.H. Hill to oppose the passage of the enemy at Boonsboro Gap, and +Longstreet was sent from Hagerstown to support him. + +An obstinate struggle now ensued for the possession of the main South +Mountain Gap, near Boonsboro, and the roar of Jackson's artillery from +Harper's Ferry must have prompted the assailants to determined efforts +to force the passage. The battle continued until night (September +14th), and resulted in heavy loss on both sides, the brave General +Reno, of the United States army, among others, losing his life. +Darkness put an end to the action, the Federal forces not having +succeeded in passing the Gap; but, learning that a column of the enemy +had crossed below and threatened him with an attack in flank, General +Lee determined to retire in the direction of Sharpsburg, where Jackson +and the forces cooeperating with him could join the main body of the +army. This movement was effected without difficulty, and Lee notices +the skill and efficiency of General Fitz Lee in covering the rear with +his cavalry. The Federal army failed to press forward as rapidly as +it is now obvious it should have done. The head of the column did +not appear west of the mountain until eight o'clock in the morning +(September 15th), and, nearly at the same moment ("the attack began at +dawn; in about two hours the garrison surrendered," says General Lee), +Harper's Ferry yielded to Jackson. + +Fast-riding couriers brought the welcome intelligence of Jackson's +success to General Lee, as the latter was approaching Sharpsburg, +and official information speedily came that the result had been +the capture of more than eleven thousand men, thirteen thousand +small-arms, and seventy-three cannon. It was probably this large +number of men and amount of military stores falling into the hands of +the Confederates which afterward induced the opinion that Lee's sole +design in invading Maryland had been the reduction of Harper's Ferry. + +General McClellan had thus failed, in spite of every effort which he +had made, to relieve Harper's Ferry,[1] and no other course remained +now but to follow Lee and bring him to battle. The Federal army +accordingly moved on the track of its adversary, and, on the afternoon +of the same day (September 15th), found itself in sight of Lee's +forces drawn up on the western side of Antietam Creek, near the +village of Sharpsburg. + +[Footnote 1: All along the march he had fired signal-guns to inform +the officer in command at Harper's Ferry of his approach.] + +At last the great opponents were in face of each other, and a battle, +it was obvious, could not long be delayed. + + + + +IV. + +THE PRELUDE TO SHARPSBURG. + + +General Lee had once more sustained a serious check from the skill and +soldiership of the officer who had conducted the successful retreat of +the Federal army from the Chickahominy to James River. + +The defeat and dispersion of the army of General Pope on the last day +of August seemed to have opened Pennsylvania to the Confederates. On +the 15th of September, a fortnight afterward, General McClellan, at +the head of a new army, raised in large measure by the magic of his +name, had pursued the victorious Confederate, checked his further +advance, and, forcing him to abandon his designs of invasion, brought +him to bay a hundred miles from the capital. This was generalship, +it would seem, in the true acceptation of the term, and McClellan, +harassed and hampered by the authorities, who looked but coldly upon +him, could say, with Coriolanus, "Alone I did it." + +Lee was thus compelled to give up his movement in the direction of +Pennsylvania, and concentrate his army to receive the assault of +General McClellan. Jackson, marching with his customary promptness, +joined him with a portion of the detached force on the next day +(September 16th), and almost immediately those thunders which prelude +the great struggles of history began. + +General Lee had drawn up his army on the high ground west of the +Antietam, a narrow and winding stream which flows, through fields +dotted with homesteads and clumps of fruit and forest trees, to the +Potomac. Longstreet's corps was posted on the right of the road from +Sharpsburg to Boonsboro, his right flank guarded by the waters of the +stream, which here bends westward; on the left of the Boonsboro road +D.H. Hill's command was stationed; two brigades under General Hood +were drawn up on Hill's left; and when Jackson arrived Lee directed +him to post his command on the left of Hood, his right resting on the +Hagerstown road, and his left extending backward obliquely toward the +Potomac, here making a large bend, where Stuart with his cavalry and +horse-artillery occupied the ground to the river's bank. + +This arrangement of his troops was extremely judicious, as the sequel +proved. It was probable that General McClellan would direct his main +attack against the Confederate left, with the view of turning that +flank and hemming in the Southern army, or driving it into the river. +By retiring Jackson's left, Lee provided for this contingency, and it +will be seen that the design attributed by him to his adversary was +that determined upon. + +General McClellan occupied the ground on the eastern bank of the +Antietam. He had evidently massed his forces opposite the Confederate +left, but a heavy order of battle stood opposite the centre and right +of Lee, where bridges crossed the stream. + +The respective numbers of the adversaries can be stated with accuracy. +"Our forces at the battle of Antietam," said General McClellan, when +before the committee of investigation afterward, "were, total in +action, eighty-seven thousand one hundred and sixty-four." + +General Lee says in his report: "This great battle was fought by less +than forty thousand men on our side." + +Colonel Walter H. Taylor, a gentleman of the highest character, and +formerly adjutant-general of the army, makes the Confederate numbers +somewhat less. In a memorandum before the writer, he says: + +Our strength at Sharpsburg. I think this is correct: + + Jackson _(including A.P. Hill_) 10,000 + + Longstreet 12,000 + + D.H. Hill and Walker 7,000 + ______ + Effective infantry 29,000 + + Cavalry and artillery 8,000 + ______ + Total of all arms 37,000 + +This disproportion was very great, amounting, as it did, to more than +two for one. But this was unavoidable. The Southern army had been worn +out by their long marching and fighting. Portions of the command were +scattered all over the roads of Northern Virginia, wearily dragging +their half-clothed limbs and shoeless feet toward Winchester, whither +they were directed to repair. This was the explanation of the fact +that, in spite of the ardent desire of the whole army to participate +in the great movement northward, Lee had in line of battle at +Sharpsburg "less than forty thousand men." + +General McClellan made a demonstration against his adversary on the +evening of the 16th, before the day of the main struggle. He threw his +right, commanded by General Hooker, across the Antietam at a point out +of range of fire from the Confederates, and made a vigorous attack +on Jackson's two divisions lying near the Hagerstown road running +northward, and thus parallel with Lee's line of battle. A brief +engagement took place in the vicinity of the "Dunker Church," in a +fringe of woods west of the road, but it was too late to effect any +thing of importance; night fell, and the engagement ceased. General +Hooker retaining his position on the west side of the stream. + +The opposing lines then remained at rest, waiting for the morning +which all now saw would witness the commencement of the more serious +conflict. + + + + +V. + +THE BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG. + + +The battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, for it is known by both names, +began at early dawn on the 17th of September. + +General McClellan had obviously determined to direct his main assault +against the Confederate left, a movement which General Lee had +foreseen and provided for,[1] and at dawn commenced a rapid fire of +artillery upon that portion of the Confederate line. Under cover +of this fire, General Hooker then advanced his infantry and made +a headlong assault upon Jackson's line, with the obvious view of +crushing that wing of Lee's army, or driving it back on Sharpsburg and +the river. The Federal force making this attack, or advancing promptly +to support it, consisted of the corps of Generals Hooker, Mansfield, +and Sumner, and numbered, according to General Sumner, forty thousand +men, of whom eighteen thousand belonged to General Hooker's corps. + +[Footnote 1: "In anticipation of a movement to turn the line of +Antietam, Hood's two brigades had been transferred from the right to +the left," etc.--_Lee_.] + +Jackson's whole force was four thousand men. Of the truth of this +statement of the respective forces, proof is here given: + +"I have always believed," said General Sumner afterward, before the +war committee, "that, instead of sending these troops into that action +in driblets, had General McClellan authorized me to march _there forty +thousand men_ on the left flank of the enemy," etc. + +"Hooker formed his corps of _eighteen thousand_ men," etc., says Mr. +Swinton, the able and candid Northern historian of the war. + +Jackson's force is shown by the Confederate official reports. His +corps consisted of Ewell's division and "Jackson's old division." +General Jones, commanding the latter, reported: "The division at the +beginning of the fight numbered not over one thousand six hundred +men." Early, commanding Ewell's division,[1] reported the three +brigades to number: + + Lawton's 1,150 + + Hayes's 550 + + Walker's 700 + + 2,400 + + "Old Division," as above 1,600 + + Jackson's corps 4,000 + +[Footnote 1: After General Lawton was disabled.] + + +This was the entire force carried by General Jackson into the fight, +and these four thousand men, as the reader will perceive, bore the +brunt of the first great assault of General McClellan. + +Just as the light broadened in the east above the crest of mountains +rising in rear of the Federal lines. General Hooker made his assault. +His aim was plainly to drive the force in his front across the +Hagerstown road and back on the Potomac, and in this he seemed +about to succeed. Jackson had placed in front Ewell's division of +twenty-four hundred men. This force received General Hooker's charge, +and a furious struggle followed, in which the division was nearly +destroyed. A glance at the casualties will show this. They were +remarkable. General Lawton, division commander, was wounded and +carried from the field; Colonel Douglas, brigade commander, was +killed; Colonel Walker, also commanding brigade, was disabled; +Lawton's brigade lost five hundred and fifty-four killed and wounded +out of eleven hundred and fifty, and five out of six regimental +commanders. Hayes's brigade lost three hundred and twenty-three out of +five hundred and fifty, and all the regimental commanders. Walker's +brigade lost two hundred and twenty-eight out of less than seven +hundred, and three out of four regimental commanders; and, of the +staff-officers of the division, scarcely one remained. + +In an hour after dawn, this heavy slaughter had been effected in +Ewell's division, and the detailed statement which we have given will +best show the stubborn resistance offered by the Southern troops. +Still, they were unable to hold their ground, and fell back at last +in disorder before General Hooker, who pressed forward to seize the +Hagerstown road and crush the whole Confederate left. He was met, +however, by Jackson's Old Division of sixteen hundred men, who had +been held in reserve; and General Lee hastened to the point threatened +Hood's two small brigades, one of which. General Hood states, numbered +but eight hundred and sixty-four men. With this force Jackson now met +the advancing column of General Hooker, delivering a heavy fire +from the woods upon the Federal forces. In face of this fire they +hesitated, and Hood made a vigorous charge, General Stuart opening at +the same time a cross-fire on the enemy with his horse-artillery. The +combined fire increased their disorganization, and it now turned into +disorder. Jackson seized the moment, as always, throwing forward his +whole line, and the enemy were first checked, and then driven back in +confusion, the Confederates pursuing and cheering. + +The first struggle had thus resulted in favor of the +Confederates--with about six thousand they had repulsed eighteen +thousand--and it was obvious to General McClellan that, without +reinforcements, his right could not hold its ground. He accordingly, +just at sunrise, sent General Mansfield's corps to the aid of General +Hooker, and at nine o'clock General Sumner's corps was added, making +in all forty thousand men. + +The appearance of affairs at this moment was discouraging to the +Federal commander. His heavy assaulting column had been forced back +with great slaughter; General Hooker had been wounded and borne +from the field; General Mansfield, while forming his line, had been +mortally wounded; and now, at nine o'clock, when the corps of General +Sumner arrived, the prospect was depressing. Of the condition of the +Federal forces, General Sumner's own statement conveys a very distinct +conception: "On going upon the field," said General Sumner, before the +war committee, "I found that General Hooker's corps had been dispersed +and routed. I passed him some distance in the rear, where he had been +carried wounded, but I saw nothing of his corps at all, as I +was advancing with my command on the field. I sent one of my +staff-officers to find where they were, and General Ricketts, the only +officer we could find, stated that he could not raise three hundred +men of the corps." General Mansfield's corps also had been checked, +and now "began to waver and break." + +Such had been the result of the great Federal assault, and it was +highly creditable to the Confederate arms. With a comparatively +insignificant force, Jackson had received the attack of the entire +Federal right wing, and had not only repulsed, but nearly broken to +pieces, the large force in his front. + +The arrival of General Sumner, however, completely changed the face of +affairs, and, as his fresh troops advanced, those which had been so +roughly handled by Jackson had an opportunity to reform. This was +rapidly effected, and, having marshalled his troops, General Sumner, +an officer of great dash and courage, made a vigorous charge. From +this moment the battle began to rage with new fury. General Lee had +sent to the left the brigades of Colquitt, Ripley, and McRae, and with +these, the troops of Hood, and his own shattered division, Jackson +presented a stubborn front, but his loss was heavy. General Starke, +of the Old Division, was killed; the brigade, regimental, and company +officers fell almost without an exception, and the brigades dwindled +to mere handfuls. + +Under the great pressure, Jackson was at length forced back. One of +General Sumner's divisions drove the right of the Confederates beyond +the Hagerstown road, and, at this moment the long struggle seemed +ended; the great wrestle in which the adversaries had so long +staggered to and fro, advancing and retreating in turn, seemed at last +virtually decided in favor of the Federal arms. + +This was undoubtedly the turning-point of the battle of Sharpsburg, +and General Lee had witnessed the conflict upon his left with great +anxiety. It was impossible, however, to send thither more troops than +he had already sent. As will be seen in a moment, both his centre +and right were extremely weak. A.P. Hill and General McLaws had not +arrived from Harper's Ferry. Thus the left had been reenforced to the +full extent of Lee's ability, and now that portion of his line seemed +about to be crushed. + +Fortunately, however, General McLaws, who had been delayed longer than +was expected by General Lee, at last arrived, and was hurried to the +left. It was ten o'clock, and in that one hour the fighting of an +entire day seemed to have been concentrated. Jackson was holding his +ground with difficulty when the divisions of McLaws and Walker were +sent to him. As soon as they reached the field, they were thrown into +action, and General Lee had the satisfaction of witnessing a new order +of things. The advance--it might rather be called the onward rush--of +the Federal line was checked. Jackson's weary men took fresh heart; +that great commander promptly assumed the offensive, and, advancing +his whole line, drove the enemy before him until he reoccupied the +ground from which General Sumner had forced him to retire. + +From the ground thus occupied, the Federal forces were unable to +dislodge him, and the great struggle of "the left at Sharpsburg" was +over. It had begun at dawn and was decided by ten or eleven o'clock, +and the troops on both sides had fought as resolutely as in any other +action of the war. The event had been decided by the pertinacity of +the Southern troops, and by the prompt movement of reenforcements by +General Lee from his right and centre. Posted near his centre, he +had surveyed at one glance the whole field of action; the design of +General McClellan to direct his main assault upon the Confederate left +was promptly penetrated, and the rapid concentration of the Southern +forces in that quarter had, by defeating this movement, decided the +result of the battle. + +Attacks on the Confederate centre and right followed that upon the +left. In the centre a great disaster was at one time imminent. Owing +to a mistake of orders, the brave General Rhodes had drawn back his +brigade posted there--this was seen by the enemy--and a sudden +rush was made by them with the view of piercing Lee's centre. The +promptness and courage of a few officers and a small body of troops +defeated this attempt. General D.H. Hill rallied a few hundred men, +and opened fire with a single gun, and Colonel Cooke faced the enemy +with his regiment, "standing boldly in line," says General Lee, +"without a cartridge." The stand made by this small force saved the +army from serious disaster; the Federal line retired, but a last +assault was soon begun, this time against the Confederate right. It +continued in a somewhat desultory manner until four in the evening, +when, having massed a heavy column under General Burnside, opposite +the bridge in front of Lee's right wing, General McClellan forced the +bridge and carried the crest beyond. + +The moment was critical, as the Confederate force at this point +was less than three thousand men. But, fortunately, reenforcements +arrived, consisting of A.P. Hill's forces from Harper's Ferry. These +attacked the enemy, drove him from the hill across the Antietam again; +and so threatening did the situation at that moment appear to General +McClellan, that he is said to have sent General Burnside the message: +"Hold your ground! If you cannot, then the bridge, to the last man. +Always the bridge! If the bridge is lost, all is lost!" + +The urgency of this order sufficiently indicates that the Federal +commander was not without solicitude for the safety of his own left +wing. Ignorant, doubtless, of the extremely small force which had thus +repulsed General Burnside, in all four thousand five hundred men, he +feared that General Lee would cross the bridge, assail his left, and +that the hard-fought day might end in disaster to his own army. That +General Lee contemplated this movement, in spite of the disproportion +of numbers, is intimated in his official report. "It was nearly dark," +he says, "and the Federal artillery was massed to defend the bridge, +with General Porter's corps, consisting of fresh troops, behind it. +Under these circumstances," he adds, "it was deemed injudicious to +push our advantage further in the face of fresh troops of the enemy +much exceeding our own." + +The idea of an advance against the Federal left was accordingly +abandoned, and a movement of Jackson's command, which Lee directed, +with the view of turning the Federal right, was discontinued from the +same considerations. Night had come, both sides were worn out, neither +of the two great adversaries cared to risk another struggle, and the +bitterly-contested battle of Sharpsburg was over. + +The two armies remained facing each other throughout the following +day. During the night of this day, Lee crossed with his army back into +Virginia. He states his reasons for this: "As we could not look for a +material increase of strength," he says, "and the enemy's force could +be largely and rapidly augmented, it was not thought prudent to wait +until he should be ready again to offer battle." + +General McClellan does not seem to have been able to renew the +struggle at that time. "The next morning," he says, referring to the +day succeeding the battle, "I found that our loss had been so great, +and there was so much disorganization in some of the commands, that I +did not consider it proper to renew the attack that day." + +This decision of General McClellan's subjected him subsequently to +very harsh criticism from the Federal authorities, the theory having +obtained at Washington that he had had it in his power, by renewing +the battle, to cut Lee to pieces. Of the probability of such a +result the reader will form his own judgment. The ground for such a +conclusion seems slight. The loss and disorganization were, it would +seem, even greater on the Federal than on the Confederate side, and +Lee would have probably been better able to sustain an attack than +General McClellan to make it. It will be seen that General Meade +afterward, under circumstances more favorable still, declined to +attack Lee at Williamsport. If one of the two commanders be greatly +censured, the other must be also, and the world will be always apt +to conclude that they knew what could be effected better than the +civilians. + +But General McClellan did make an attempt to "crush Lee," such as the +authorities at Washington desired, and its result may possibly throw +light on the point in discussion. + +On the night of the 19th, Lee having crossed the Potomac on the night +of the 18th, General McClellan sent a considerable force across the +river near Shepherdstown, which drove off the Confederate artillery +there, and at daylight formed line of battle on the south bank, +protected by their cannon north of the river. Of the brief but bloody +engagement which followed--an incident of the war little dwelt upon in +the histories--General A.P. Hill, who was sent by Lee to repulse the +enemy, gives an animated account. "The Federal artillery, to the +number of seventy pieces," he says, "lined the opposite heights, and +their infantry was strongly posted on the crest of the Virginia hills. +When he advanced with his division, he was met by the most tremendous +fire of artillery he ever saw," but the men continued to move on +without wavering, and the attack resulted in the complete rout of the +enemy, who were "driven pell-mell into the river," the current of +which was "blue with floating bodies." General Hill chronicles this +incident in terms of unwonted eloquence, and declares that, by the +account of the enemy themselves, they lost "three thousand men killed +and drowned from one brigade," which appears to be an exaggeration. +His own loss was, in killed and wounded, two hundred and sixty-one. + +This repulse was decisive, and General McClellan made no further +attempt to pursue the adversary, who, standing at bay on the soil of +Virginia, was still more formidable than he had been on the soil of +Maryland. As we have intimated on a preceding page, the result of this +attempt to pursue would seem to relieve General McClellan from the +criticism of the Washington authorities. If he was repulsed with heavy +slaughter in his attempt to strike at Lee on the morning of September +20th, it is not probable that an assault on his adversary on September +18th would have had different results. + +No further crossing at that time was undertaken by the Federal +commander. His army was moved toward Harper's Ferry, an important base +for further operations, and Lee's army went into camp along the banks +of the Opequan. + + + + +VI. + +LEE AND McCLELLAN--THEIR MERITS IN THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN. + + +General Lee and his adversary had displayed conspicuous merit in the +campaign thus terminated, and we shall pause for a moment to glance +back upon this great passage at arms. + +To give precedence to General McClellan, he had assembled an army, +after the defeat at Manassas, with a promptness for which only his +own great personal popularity can adequately account, had advanced to +check Lee, and had fully succeeded in doing so; and had thus not only +protected the fertile territory of Pennsylvania from invasion, but had +struck a death-blow for the time to any designs General Lee might have +had to advance on the Federal capital. If the situation of affairs at +that moment be attentively considered, the extreme importance of these +results will not fail to appear. It may perhaps be said with justice, +that General McClellan had saved the Federal cause from decisive +defeat. There was no army to protect Washington but the body of troops +under his command; these were largely raw levies, which defeat would +have broken to pieces, and thus the way would have been open for +Lee's march upon Washington or toward Philadelphia--a movement whose +probable result would have been a treaty of peace and the independence +of the Southern Confederacy. All these hopes were reversed by +McClellan's rapid march and prompt attack. In the hours of a single +autumn day, on the banks of the Antietam, the triumphant advance of +the Confederates was checked and defeated. And, if the further fact be +considered that the adversary thus checkmated was Lee, the military +ability of General McClellan must be conceded. It is the fashion, it +would appear, in some quarters, to deny him this quality. History will +decide. + +The merit of Lee was equally conspicuous, and his partial failure in +the campaign was due to circumstances over which he had no control. +His plan, as was always the case with him, was deep-laid, and every +contingency had been provided for. He was disappointed in his aim by +three causes which he could not foresee. One was the great diminution +of his force, owing to the rapidity of his march, and the incessant +fighting; another, the failure in obtaining recruits in Maryland; and +a third, the discovery by General McClellan of the "lost dispatch," +as it is called, which revealed Lee's whole plan to his adversary. In +consequence of the "finding" of the order of march, McClellan advanced +with such rapidity that the laggards of the Southern army on the hills +north of Leesburg had no opportunity of joining the main body. The +gaps in the ranks of the army thus made were not filled up by Maryland +recruits; Lee fell back, and his adversary followed, no longer fearful +of advancing too quickly; Jackson had no time after reducing Harper's +Ferry to rejoin Lee at Hagerstown; thus concentration of his troops, +and a battle somewhere near Sharpsburg, were rendered a necessity with +General Lee. + +In this tissue of adverse events, the discovery of the order of march +by General McClellan occupies a very prominent place. This incident +resembles what the French call a fatality. Who was to blame for the +circumstance still remains a mystery; but it may be said with entire +certainty that the brave officer upon whom it was charged was entirely +guiltless of all fault in the matter. + +[Footnote: The officer here referred to is General D.H. Hill. General +McClellan said in his testimony afterward, before the congressional +committee: "When at Frederick, we found the original order issued to +D.H. Hill," etc. The inference was thus a natural one that General +Hill was to blame, but that officer has proved clearly that he had +nothing to do with the affair. He received but one copy of the order, +which was handed to him by General Jackson in person, and, knowing its +great importance, he placed it in his pocket-book, and still retains +it in his possession. This fact is conclusive, since General Hill +could not have "lost" what he continues to hold in his hands. This +mystery will be cleared up at some time, probably; at present, but one +thing is certain, that General Hill was in no manner to blame. The +present writer desires to make this statement as explicit as possible, +as, in other accounts of these transactions, he was led by General +McClellan's language to attribute blame to General Hill where he +deserved none.] + +Whatever may have been the secret history of the "lost dispatch," +however, it certainly fell into General McClellan's hands, and largely +directed the subsequent movements of the opposing armies. + +From what is here written, it will be seen that Lee was not justly +chargeable with the result of the Maryland campaign. He had provided +for every thing as far as lay in his power. Had he not been +disappointed in events to be fairly anticipated, it seemed his force +would have received large accessions, his rear would have closed up, +and the advance into Pennsylvania would have taken place. Instead +of this, he was forced to retire and fight a pitched battle at +Sharpsburg; and this action certainly exhibited on Lee's part military +ability of the highest order. The force opposed to him had been at +least double that of his own army, and the Federal troops had fought +with a gallantry unsurpassed in any other engagement of the war. That +their assault on Lee failed, was due to the fighting qualities of his +troops and his own generalship. His army had been manoeuvred with a +rapidity and precision which must have excited even the admiration of +the distinguished soldier opposed to him. He had promptly concentrated +his forces opposite every threatened point in turn, and if he had not +been able to carry out the axiom of Napoleon, that a commander should +always be superior to the enemy at the point of contact, he had at +least done all that was possible to effect that end, and had so far +succeeded as to have repulsed if not routed his adversary. This is +the main feature to be noticed in Lee's handling of his troops at +Sharpsburg. An unwary or inactive commander would have there suffered +decisive defeat, for the Confederate left wing numbered, throughout +the early part of the battle, scarcely more than four thousand men, +while the column directed against it amounted first to eighteen +thousand, and in all to forty thousand men. To meet the impact of +this heavy mass, not only desperate fighting, but rapid and skilful +manoeuvring, was necessary. The record we have presented will enable +the reader to form his own opinion whether Lee was equal to this +emergency involving the fate of his army. + +Military critics, examining this great battle with fair and candid +eyes, will not fail, we think, to discern the truth. That the Southern +army, of less than forty thousand men, repulsed more than eighty +thousand in the battle of Sharpsburg, was due to the hard fighting of +the smaller force, and the skill with which its commander manoeuvred +it. + + + + +VII. + +LEE AND HIS MEN. + + +General Lee and his army passed the brilliant days of autumn in the +beautiful valley of the Shenandoah. This region is famous for its +salubrity and the beauty of its scenery. The mountain winds are pure +and invigorating, and the forests, which in the season of autumn +assume all the colors of the rainbow, inspire the mind with the most +agreeable sensations. The region, in fact, is known as the "Garden of +Virginia," and the benign influence of their surroundings was soon +seen on the faces of the troops. + +A Northern writer, who saw them at Sharpsburg, describes them as +"ragged, hungry, and in all ways miserable;" but their forlorn +condition, as to clothing and supplies of every description, made no +perceptible difference in their demeanor now. In their camps along +the banks of the picturesque little stream called the Opequan, which, +rising south of Winchester, wanders through beautiful fields and +forests to empty into the Potomac, the troops laughed, jested, sang +rude camp-ballads, and exhibited a joyous indifference to their +privations and hardships, which said much for their courage and +endurance. Those who carefully considered the appearance and demeanor +of the men at that time, saw that much could be effected with such +tough material, and had another opportunity to witness, under +circumstances calculated to test it, the careless indifference, to the +past as well as the future, peculiar alike to soldiers and children. +These men, who had passed through a campaign of hard marches and +nearly incessant battles, seemed to have forgotten all their troubles +and sufferings. The immense strain upon their energies had left them +apparently as fresh and efficient as when the campaign begun. There +was no want of rebound; rather an excessive elasticity and readiness +to undertake new movements. They had plainly acquired confidence in +themselves, rightly regarding the event of the battle of Sharpsburg, +where they were so largely outnumbered, as highly honorable to them, +and they had acquired still greater confidence in the officers who +commanded them. + +We shall hereafter speak more particularly of the sentiment of the +troops toward General Lee at this period of his connection with the +army. The great events of the war continually modified the relations +between him and his men; as they came to know him better and better, +he steadily rose in their admiration and regard. At this time--the +autumn of 1862--it may be said that the troops had already begun to +love their leader, and had bestowed upon him as an army commander +their implicit confidence. + +Without this confidence on the part of his men, a general can effect +little; with it, he may accomplish almost any thing. The common +soldier is a child, and feels that the directing authority is above +him; that he should look upon that authority with respect and +confidence is the first necessity of effecting military organization. +Lee had already inspired the troops with this sentiment, and it was +mainly the secret of his often astounding successes afterward. The +men universally felt that their commander was equal to any and every +emergency. Such a repute cannot be usurped. Troops measure their +leaders with instinctive acumen, and a very astonishing accuracy. They +form their opinions for themselves on the merits of the question; and +Lee had already impressed the army with a profound admiration for his +soldiership. From this to the sentiment of personal affection the +transition was easy; and the kindness, consideration, and simplicity +of the man, made all love him. Throughout the campaign, Lee had not +been heard to utter one harsh word; a patient forbearance and kindness +had been constantly exhibited in all his dealings with officers and +men; he was always in front, indifferent plainly to personal +danger, and the men looked now with admiring eyes and a feeling of +ever-increasing affection on the erect, soldierly figure in the plain +uniform, with scarce any indication of rank, and the calm face, +with its expression of grave dignity and composure, which remained +unchanged equally on the march and in battle. It may be said that, +when he assumed command of the army before Richmond, the troops +had taken him on trust; now they had come to love him, and when he +appeared the camps buzzed, the men ran to the road, called out to each +other: "There goes Mas' Robert!" or "Old Uncle Robert!" and cheers +followed him as he rode by. + +The country generally seemed to share the opinion of the army. There +was exhibited, even at this early period of the war, by the people at +large, a very great admiration and affection for General Lee. While +in the Shenandoah Valley, where Jackson was beloved almost beyond +expression, Lee had evidences of the position which he occupied in the +eyes of the people, which must have been extremely gratifying to him. +Gray-haired men came to his camp and uttered prayers for his health +and happiness as the great leader of the South; aged ladies greeted +him with faltering expressions full of deep feeling and pathetic +earnestness; and, wherever he went, young girls and children received +him with their brightest smiles. The august fame of the great soldier, +who has now passed away, no doubt renders these memories of personal +interviews with him dear to many. Even the most trifling incidents are +cherished and kept fresh by repetition; and the writer of these +pages recalls at the moment one of these trifles, which may possibly +interest some readers. There stood and still stands an ancient and +hospitable homestead on the south bank of the Opequan, the hearts +of whose inmates, one and all, were ardently with the South in her +struggle. Soon after Sharpsburg, General Lee one day visited the old +manor-house crowning the grassy hill and overshadowed by great oaks; +Generals Jackson, Longstreet, and Stuart, accompanied him, and the +reception which he met with, though we cannot describe it, was such as +would have satisfied the most exacting. The children came to him and +held out their small hands, the ladies divided their attention between +him and the beloved "hero of the Valley," Jackson; and the lady of the +manor could only express her sense of the great honor of receiving +such company, by declaring, with a smile, that the dinner resembled +the famous _breakfast at Tillietudlem_ in Scott's "Old Mortality." +General Lee highly enjoyed this, and seemed disposed to laugh when +the curious fact was pointed out to him that he had seated himself at +table in a chair with an open-winged _United States eagle_ delineated +upon its back. The result of this visit, it appeared afterward, was a +sentiment of great regard and affection for the general personally by +all at the old country-house. Old and young were charmed by his grave +sweetness and mild courtesy, and doubtless he inspired the same +sentiment in other places. + +His headquarters were at this time in a field some miles from +Winchester. An Englishman, who visited him there, described the +general and his surroundings with accuracy, and, from the account +printed in _Blackwood's Magazine_, we quote the following sentences: + +"In visiting the headquarters of the Confederate generals, but +particularly those of General Lee, any one accustomed to see European +armies in the field cannot fail to be struck with the great absence +of all the 'pomp and circumstance of war' in and around their +encampments. Lee's headquarters consisted of about seven or eight +pole-tents, pitched with their backs to a stake fence, upon a piece +of ground so rocky that it was unpleasant to ride over it, its only +recommendation being a little stream of good water which flowed +close by the general's tent. In front of the tents were some three +four-wheeled wagons, drawn up without any regularity, and a number +of horses roamed loose about the field. The servants, who were, of +course, slaves, and the mounted soldiers, called 'couriers,' who +always accompany each general of division in the field, were +unprovided with tents, and slept in or under the wagons. Wagons, +tents, and some of the horses, were marked 'U.S.,' showing that +part of that huge debt in the North has gone to furnishing even the +Confederate generals with camp equipments. No guard or sentries were +to be seen in the vicinity; no crowd of aides-de-camp loitering about, +making themselves agreeable to visitors, and endeavoring to save their +generals from receiving those who had no particular business. A large +farm-house stands close by, which, in any other army, would have been +the general's residence _pro tem_., but, as no liberties are allowed +to be taken with personal property in Lee's army, he is particular in +setting a good example himself. His staff are crowded together, two or +three in a tent; none are allowed to carry more baggage than a small +box each, and his own kit is but very little larger. Every one who +approaches him does so with marked respect, although there is none +of that bowing and flourishing of forage caps which occurs in the +presence of European generals; and, while all honor him, and place +implicit faith in his courage and ability, those with whom he is most +intimate feel for him the affection of sons to a father. Old General +Scott was correct in saying that, when Lee joined the Southern cause, +it was worth as much as the accession of twenty thousand men to the +'rebels.' Since then every injury that it was possible to inflict, the +Northerners have heaped upon him. Notwithstanding all these personal +losses, however, when speaking of the Yankees, he neither evinced +any bitterness of feeling, nor gave utterance to a single violent +expression, but alluded to many of his former friends and companions +among them in the kindest terms. He spoke as a man proud of the +victories won by his country, and confident of ultimate success, under +the blessing of the Almighty, whom he glorified for past successes, +and whose aid he invoked for all future operations." + +The writer adds that the troops "regarded him in the light of +infallible love," and had "a fixed and unshakable faith in all he +did--a calm confidence of victory when serving under him." The +peculiarly interesting part of this foreign testimony, however, is +that in which the writer speaks of General Lee's religious sentiment, +of his gratitude for past mercies, and prayers for the assistance of +the Almighty in the hours of conflict still to come. This point we +shall return to, endeavoring to give it that prominence which it +deserves. At present we shall leave the subject of General Lee, in +his private and personal character, and proceed to narrate the last +campaign of the year 1862. + + + + +VIII. + +LEE PASSES THE BLUE RIDGE + + +From the central frontier of his headquarters, near Winchester, the +key of the lower Valley, General Lee was able to watch at once the +line of the Potomac in his front, beyond which lay General McClellan's +army, and the gaps of the Blue Ridge on his right, through which it +was possible for the enemy, by a rapid movement, to advance and attack +his flank and rear. + +If Lee had at any time the design of recrossing into Maryland, he +abandoned it. General McClellan attributed that design to him. "I have +since been confirmed in the belief," he wrote, "that if I had crossed +the Potomac below Harper's Ferry in the early part of October, General +Lee would have recrossed into Maryland." Of Lee's ability to thus +reenter Maryland there can be no doubt. His army was rested, +provisioned, and in high spirits; the "stragglers" had rejoined their +commands, and it is certain that the order for a new advance would +have been hailed by the mercurial troops with enthusiasm. No such +order was, however, issued, and soon the approach of winter rendered +the movement impossible. + +More than a month thus passed, the two armies remaining in face of +each other. No engagement of any importance occurred during this +period of inactivity, but once or twice the Federal commander sent +heavy reconnoitring forces across the Potomac; and Stuart, now +mounting to the zenith of his reputation as a cavalry-officer, +repeated his famous "ride around McClellan," on the Chickahominy. + +The object of General Lee in directing this movement of the cavalry +was the ordinary one, on such occasions, of obtaining information and +inflicting injury upon the enemy. Stuart responded with ardor to the +order. He had conceived a warm affection for General Lee, mingled with +a respect for his military genius nearly unbounded, and at this time, +as always afterward, received the orders of his commander for active +operations with enthusiasm. With about eighteen hundred troopers +and four pieces of horse-artillery, Stuart crossed the Potomac above +Williamsport, marched rapidly to Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where +he destroyed the machine-shops, and other buildings containing a large +number of arms and military stores; and continued his way thence +toward Frederick City, with the bold design of completely passing +around the Federal army, and recrossing the river east of the Blue +Ridge. In this he succeeded, thanks to his skill and audacity, in +spite of every effort of the enemy to cut off and destroy him. +Reaching White's Ford, on the Potomac, north of Leesburg, he disposed +his horse-artillery so as to cover this movement, cut his way through +the Federal cavalry disputing his passage, and recrossed into Virginia +with a large number of captured horses, and without losing a man. + +This expedition excited astonishment, and a prominent officer of +the Federal army declared that he would not have believed that +"horse-flesh could stand it," as the distance passed over in about +forty-eight hours, during which considerable delay had occurred at +Chambersburg, was nearly or quite one hundred miles. General McClellan +complained that his orders had not been obeyed, and said that after +these orders he "did not think it possible for Stuart to recross," and +believed "the destruction or capture of his entire force perfectly +certain." + +Soon afterward the Federal commander attempted reconnoissances in +his turn. A considerable force of infantry, supported by artillery, +crossed the Potomac and advanced to the vicinity of the little village +of Leetown, but on the same evening fell back rapidly, doubtless +fearful that Lee would interpose a force between them and the river +and cut off their retreat. This was followed by a movement of the +Federal cavalry, which crossed at the same spot and advanced up the +road leading toward Martinsburg. These were met and subsequently +driven back by Colonel W.H.F. Lee, son of the general. A third and +more important attempt to reconnoitre took place toward the end of +October. General McClellan then crossed a considerable body of troops +both at Shepherdstown and Harper's Ferry; the columns advanced to +Kearneysville and Charlestown respectively, and near the former +village a brief engagement took place, without results. General +McClellan, who had come in person as far as Charlestown, then returned +with his troops across the Potomac, and further hostilities for the +moment ceased. + +These reconnoissances were the prelude, however, of an important +movement which the Federal authorities had been long urging General +McClellan to make. Although the battle of Sharpsburg had been +indecisive in one acceptation of the term, in another it had been +entirely decisive. A drawn battle of the clearest sort, it yet decided +the future movements of the opposing armies. General Lee had invaded +Maryland with the design of advancing into Pennsylvania--the result of +Sharpsburg was, that he fell back into Virginia. General McClellan +had marched from Washington with no object but an offensive-defensive +campaign to afford the capital protection; he was now enabled to +undertake anew the invasion of Virginia. + +To the success of such a movement the Federal commander seems rightly +to have considered a full and complete equipment of his troops +absolutely essential. He was directed at once, after Sharpsburg, to +advance upon Lee. He replied that it was impossible, neither his men +nor his horses had shoes or rations. New orders came--General Halleck +appearing to regard the difficulties urged by General McClellan as +imaginary. New protests followed, and then new protests and new orders +again, until finally a peremptory dispatch came. This dispatch was, +"Cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south," +an order bearing the impress of the terse good sense and rough +directness of the Federal President. This order it was necessary in +the end to obey, and General McClellan, having decided in favor of +a movement across the Potomac east instead of west of the mountain, +proceeded, in the last days of October, to cross his army. His plan +was excellent, and is here set forth in his own words: + +"The plan of campaign I adopted during this advance," he says, "was +to move the army well in hand, parallel to the Blue Ridge, taking +Warrenton as the point of direction for the main army, seizing each +pass on the Blue Ridge by detachments as we approached it, and +guarding them after we had passed, as long as they would enable the +enemy to trouble our communications with the Potomac.... We depended +upon Harper's Ferry and Berlin for supplies until the Manassas Gap +Railway was reached. When that occurred, the passes in our rear were +to be abandoned, and the army massed ready for action or movement in +any direction. It was my intention, if, upon reaching Ashby's or any +other pass, the enemy were in force between it and the Potomac, in the +Valley of the Shenandoah, to move into the Valley and endeavor to gain +their rear." + +From this statement of General McClellan it will be seen that his plan +was judicious, and displayed a thorough knowledge of the country in +which he was about to operate. The conformation of the region is +peculiar. The Valley of the Shenandoah, in which Lee's army lay +waiting, is separated from "Piedmont Virginia," through which General +McClellan was about to advance, by the wooded ramparts of the Blue +Ridge Mountains, passable only at certain points. These _gaps_, as +they are called in Virginia, are the natural doorways to the Valley; +and as long as General McClellan held them, as he proposed to do, +by strong detachments, he would be able both to protect his own +communications with the Potomac, and, if he thought fit to do so, +enter the Valley and assail the Confederate rear. That he ever +seriously contemplated the latter design is, however, extremely +doubtful. It is not credible that he would have undertaken to "cut +off" Lee's whole army; and, if he designed a movement of that +description against any portion of the Southern army which might be +detached, the opportunity was certainly presented to him by Lee, when +Jackson was left, as will be seen, at Millwood. + +No sooner had General McClellan commenced crossing the Potomac, east +of the mountain, than General Lee broke up his camp along the Opequan, +and moved to check this new and formidable advance into the heart of +Virginia. It was not known, however, whether the whole of the Federal +forces had crossed east of the Blue Ridge; and, to guard against a +possible movement on his rear from the direction of Harper's Ferry, +as well as on his flank through the gaps of the mountain, Lee sent +Jackson's corps to take position on the road from Charlestown to +Berryville, where he could oppose an advance of the enemy from either +direction. The rest of the army then moved guardedly, but rapidly, +across the mountain into Culpepper. + +Under these circumstances, General McClellan had an excellent +opportunity to strike a heavy blow at Jackson, who seemed to invite +that movement by crossing soon afterward, in accordance with +directions from Lee, one of his divisions to the east side of the +mountain on the Federal rear. That General McClellan did not strike +is not creditable to him as a commander. The Confederate army was +certainly divided in a very tempting manner. Longstreet was in +Culpepper on the 3d of November, the day after General McClellan's +rear-guard had passed the Potomac, and nothing would seem to have been +easier than to cut the Confederate forces by interposing between them. +By seizing the Blue Ridge gaps, and thus shutting up all the avenues +of exit from the Valley, General McClellan would have had it in his +power, it would seem, to crush Jackson; or if that wily commander +escaped, Longstreet in Culpepper was exposed to attack. General +McClellan did not embrace this opportunity of a decisive blow, and Lee +seems to have calculated upon the caution of his adversary. Jackson's +presence in the Valley only embarrassed McClellan, as Lee no doubt +intended it should. No attempt was made to strike at him. On the +contrary, the Federal army continued steadily to concentrate upon +Warrenton, where, on the 7th of November, General McClellan was +abruptly relieved of the command. + +He was in his tent, at Rectortown, at the moment when the dispatch was +handed to him--brought by an officer from Washington through a heavy +snow-storm then falling. General Ambrose E. Burnside was in the tent. +McClellan read the dispatch calmly, and, handing it indifferently to +his visitor, said, "Well, Burnside, you are to command the army." + +Such was the abrupt termination of the military career of a commander +who fills a large space in the history of the war in Virginia. The +design of this volume is not such as to justify an extended notice of +him, or a detailed examination of his abilities as a soldier. That he +possessed military endowments of a very high order is conceded by most +persons, but his critics add that he was dangerously prone to caution +and inactivity. Such was the criticism of his enemies at Washington +and throughout the North, and his pronounced political opinions had +gained him a large number. It may, however, be permitted one who can +have no reason to unduly commend him, to say that the retreat to +James River, and the arrest of Lee in his march of invasion toward +Pennsylvania, seem to indicate the possession of something more than +"inactivity," and of that species of "caution" which achieves success. +It will probably, however, be claimed by few, even among the +personal friends of this general, that he was a soldier of the first +ability--one competent to oppose Lee. + +As to the personal qualities of General McClellan, there seems to be +no difference of opinion. He was a gentleman of high breeding, and +detested all oppression of the weak and non-combatants. Somewhat prone +to _hauteur_, in presence of the importunities of the Executive and +other civilians unskilled in military affairs, he was patient, mild, +and cordial with his men. These qualities, with others which he +possessed, seem to have rendered him peculiarly acceptable to the +private soldier, and it is certain that he was, beyond comparison, the +most popular of all the generals who, one after another, commanded the +"Army of the Potomac." + + + + +IX. + +LEE CONCENTRATES AT FREDERICKSBURG. + + +In returning from the Valley, General Lee had exhibited that +combination of boldness and caution which indicates in a commander the +possession of excellent generalship. + +One of two courses was necessary: either to make a rapid march with +his entire army, in order to interpose himself between General +McClellan and what seemed to be his objective point, Gordonsville; or, +to so manoeuvre his forces as to retard and embarrass his adversary. +Of these, Lee chose the latter course, exposing himself to what seemed +very great danger. Jackson was left in the Valley, and Longstreet sent +to Culpepper; under these circumstances, General McClellan might have +cut off one of the two detached bodies; but Lee seems to have read +the character of his adversary accurately, and to have felt that a +movement of such boldness would not probably be undertaken by him. +Provision had nevertheless been made for this possible contingency. +Jackson was directed by Lee, in case of an attack by General +McClellan, to retire, by way of Strasburg, up the Valley, and so +rejoin the main body. That this movement would become necessary, +however, was not, as we have said, contemplated. It was not supposed +by Lee that his adversary would adopt the bold plan of crossing the +Blue Ridge to assail Jackson; thus, to leave that commander in +the Valley, instead of being a military blunder, was a stroke of +generalship, a source of embarrassment to General McClellan, and a +standing threat against the Federal communications, calculated to clog +the movements of their army. That Lee aimed at this is obvious from +his order to Jackson to cross a division to the eastern side of the +Blue Ridge, in General McClellan's rear. When this was done, the +Federal commander abandoned, if he had ever resolved upon, the design +of striking in between the Confederate detachments, as is claimed +by his admirers to have been his determination; gave up all idea of +"moving into the Valley and endeavoring to gain their rear;" and from +that moment directed his whole attention to the concentration of his +army near Warrenton, with the obvious view of establishing a new +base, and operating southward on the line of the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad. + +Lee's object in these manoeuvres, besides the general one of +embarrassing his adversary, seems to have been to gain time, and thus +to render impossible, from the lateness of the season, a Federal +advance upon Richmond. Had General McClellan remained in command, it +is probable that this object would have been attained, and the battle +of Fredericksburg would not have taken place. The two armies would +have lain opposite each other in Culpepper and Fauquier respectively, +with the Upper Rappahannock between them throughout the winter; and +the Confederate forces, weary and worn by the long marches and hard +combats of 1862, would have had the opportunity to rest and recover +their energies for the coming spring. + +The change of commanders defeated these views, if they were +entertained by General Lee. On assuming command, General Burnside +conceived the project, in spite of the near approach of winter, of +crossing the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and marching on Richmond. +This he now proceeded to attempt, by steadily moving from Warrenton +toward the Lower Rappahannock, and the result, as will be seen, was a +Federal disaster to wind up this "year of battles." + +We have spoken with some particularity of the character and military +abilities of General McClellan, the first able commander of the +Federal forces in Virginia. Of General Burnside, who appears but +once, and for a brief space only, on that great theatre, it will be +necessary to say only a few words. A modest and honorable soldier, +cherishing for General McClellan a cordial friendship, he was +unwilling to supersede that commander, both from personal regard and +distrust of his own abilities. He had not sought the position, which +had rather been thrust upon him. He was "surprised" and "shocked," he +said, at his assignment to the command; he "did not want it, it had +been offered to him twice before, and he did not feel that he could +take it; he had told them that he was not competent to command such +an army as this; he had said the same over and over again to the +President and the Secretary of War." He was, however, directed to +assume command, accepted the responsibility, and proceeded to +carry out the unexpected plan of advancing upon Richmond by way of +Fredericksburg. + +To cover this movement, General Burnside made a heavy feint as though +designing to cross into Culpepper. This does not seem to have deceived +Lee, who, on the 17th of November, knew that his adversary was moving. +No sooner had the fact been discovered that General Burnside was +making for Fredericksburg, than the Confederate commander, by a +corresponding movement, passed the Rapidan and hastened in the same +direction. As early as the 17th, two divisions of infantry, with +cavalry and artillery, were in motion. On the morning of the 19th, +Longstreet's corps was sent in the same direction; and when, on +November 20th, General Burnside arrived with his army, the Federal +forces drawn up on the hills north of Fredericksburg saw, on the +highlands south of the city, the red flags and gray lines of their old +adversaries. + +As General Jackson had been promptly directed to join the main body, +and was already moving to do so, Lee would soon be able to oppose +General Burnside with his whole force. + +Such were the movements of the opposing armies which brought them face +to face at Fredericksburg. Lee had acted promptly, and, it would seem, +with good judgment; but the question has been asked, why he did not +repeat against General Burnside the strategic movement which +had embarrassed General McClellan, and arrest the march upon +Fredericksburg by threatening, with the detachment under Jackson, +the Federal rear. The reasons for not adopting this course will be +perceived by a glance at the map. General Burnside was taking up a +new base--Aquia Creek on the Potomac--and, from the character of the +country, it was wholly impossible for Lee to prevent him from doing +so. He had only to fall back before Jackson, or any force moving +against his flank or rear; the Potomac was at hand, and it was not +in the power of Lee to further annoy him. The latter accordingly +abandoned all thought of repeating his old manoeuvre, moved Longstreet +and the other troops in Culpepper toward Fredericksburg, and, +directing Jackson to join him there, thus concentrated his forces +directly in the Federal front with the view of fighting a pitched +battle, army against army. + +This detailed account of Lee's movements may appear tedious to some +readers, but it was rather in grand tactics than in fighting battles +that he displayed his highest abilities as a soldier. He uniformly +adopted the broadest and most judicious plan to bring on battle, and +personally directed, as far as was possible, every detail of his +movements. When the hour came, it may be said of him that he felt he +had done his best--the actual fighting was left largely in the hands +of his corps commanders. + +The feints and slight encounters preceding the battle of +Fredericksburg are not of much interest or importance. General +Burnside sent a force to Port Royal, about twenty-five miles below the +city, but Lee promptly detached a portion of his army to meet it, if +it attempted to cross, and that project was abandoned. No attempt was +made by General Burnside to cross above, and it became obvious that he +must pass the river in face of Lee or not at all. + +Such was the condition of affairs at Fredericksburg in the first days +of December. + + + + +X. + +THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. + + +To a correct understanding of the interesting battle of +Fredericksburg, a brief description of the ground is essential. + +The city lies on the south bank of the Rappahannock, which here makes +a considerable bend nearly southward; and along the northern bank, +opposite, extends a range of hills which command the city and the +level ground around it. South of the river the land is low, but from +the depth of the channel forms a line of bluffs, affording good +shelter to troops after crossing to assail a force beyond. The only +good position for such a force, standing on the defensive, is a range +of hills hemming in the level ground. This range begins near the +western suburbs of the city, where it is called "Marye's Hill," and +sweeps round to the southward, gradually receding from the stream, +until, at Hamilton's Crossing, on the Richmond and Potomac Railroad, a +mile or more from the river, it suddenly subsides into the plain. This +plain extends to the right, and is bounded by the deep and difficult +channel of Massaponnax Creek. As Marye's Hill is the natural position +for the left of an army posted to defend Fredericksburg, the crest +above Hamilton's Crossing is the natural position for the right +of such a line, care being taken to cover the extreme right with +artillery, to obstruct the passage of the ground between the crest and +the Massaponnax. + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of Fredericksburg.] + +Behind the hills on the north side General Burnside's army was posted, +having the railroad to Aquia Creek for the transportation of their +supplies. On the range of hills which we have described south of the +city, General Lee was stationed, the same railroad connecting him with +Richmond. Longstreet's corps composed his left wing, and extended +from Marye's Hill to about the middle of the range of hills. There +Jackson's line began, forming the right wing, and extending to the +termination of the range at Hamilton's Crossing. On Jackson's right, +to guard the plain reaching to the Massaponnax, Stuart was posted with +cavalry and artillery. + +The numbers of the adversaries at Fredericksburg can be stated with +accuracy upon one side, but not upon the other. General Lee's force +may be said to have been, in round numbers, about fifty thousand of +all arms. It could scarcely have exceeded that, unless he received +heavy reenforcements after Sharpsburg; and the present writer +has never heard or read that he received reenforcements of any +description. The number, fifty thousand, thus seems to have been the +full amount of the army. That of General Burnside's forces seems to +have been considerably larger. The Federal army consisted of the +First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Corps; the +latter a corps of reserve and large. If these had been recruited to +the full number reported by General McClellan at Sharpsburg, and the +additional troops (Fifth and Eleventh Corps) be estimated, the Federal +army must have exceeded one hundred thousand men. This estimate is +borne out by Federal authorities. "General Franklin," says a Northern +writer, "had now with him about one-half the whole army;" and General +Meade says that Franklin's force "amounted to from fifty-five thousand +to sixty thousand men," which would seem to indicate that the whole +army numbered from one hundred and ten thousand to one hundred and +twenty thousand men. + +A strong position was obviously essential to render it possible for +the Southern army, of about fifty thousand men, to successfully oppose +the advance of this force of above one hundred thousand. Lee had found +this position, and constructed earthworks for artillery, with the view +of receiving the attack of the enemy after their crossing. He was +unable to obstruct this crossing in any material degree; and he states +clearly the grounds of this inability. "The plain of Fredericksburg," +he says, "is so completely commanded by the Stafford heights, that no +effectual opposition could be made to the construction of bridges, +or the passage of the river, without exposing our troops to the +destructive fire of the numerous batteries of the enemy.... Our +position was, therefore, selected with a view to resist the enemy's +advance after crossing, and the river was guarded only by a +force sufficient to impede his movements until the army could be +concentrated." + +The brief description we have presented of the character of the ground +around Fredericksburg, and the position of the adversaries, will +sufficiently indicate the conditions under which the battle was +fought. Both armies seem to have been in excellent spirits. That of +General Burnside had made a successful march, during which they had +scarcely seen an enemy, and now looked forward, probably, to certain +if not easy victory. General Lee's army, in like manner, had undergone +recently no peculiar hardships in marching or fighting; and, to +whatever cause the fact may be attributed, was in a condition of the +highest efficiency. The men seemed to be confident of the result of +the coming conflict, and, in their bivouacs on the line of battle, in +the woods fringing the ridge which they occupied, laughed, jested, +cheered, on the slightest provocation, and, instead of shrinking from, +looked forward with eagerness to, the moment when General Burnside +would advance to attack them. This buoyant and elastic spirit in the +Southern troops was observable on the eve of nearly every battle of +the war. Whether it was due to the peculiar characteristics of the +race, or to other causes, we shall not pause here to inquire; but the +fact was plain to the most casual observation, and was never more +striking than just before Fredericksburg, unless just preceding the +battle of Gettysburg. + +Nothing of any importance occurred, from the 20th of November, when +General Burnside's army was concentrated on the heights north of +Fredericksburg, until the 11th of December, when the Federal army +began crossing the Rappahannock to deliver battle. Lee's reasons for +not attempting to resist the passage of the river have been given +above. The plain on which it would have been necessary to draw up +his army, in order to do so, was too much exposed to the numerous +artillery of the enemy on the northern bank. Lee resolved, therefore, +not to oppose the crossing of the Federal troops, but to await their +assault on the commanding ground west and south of the city. + +On the morning of December 11th, before dawn, the dull boom of Lee's +signal-guns indicated that the enemy were moving, and the Southern +troops formed line of battle to meet the coming attack. General +Burnside had made arrangements to cross the river on pontoon bridges, +one opposite the city, and another a mile or two lower down the +stream. General Franklin, commanding the two corps of the left Grand +Division, succeeded, without trouble, in laying the lower bridge, as +the ground did not permit Lee to offer material obstruction; and this +large portion of the army was now ready to cross. The passage of the +stream at Fredericksburg was more difficult. Although determined not +to make a serious effort to prevent the enemy from crossing, General +Lee had placed two regiments of Barksdale's Mississippians along the +bank of the river, in the city, to act as sharp-shooters, and impede +the construction of the pontoon bridges, with the view, doubtless, of +thus giving time to marshal his troops. The success of this device +was considerable. The workmen, busily engaged in laying the Federal +pontoons, were so much interrupted by the fire of the Confederate +marksmen--who directed their aim through the heavy fog by the noise +made in putting together the boats--that, after losing a number of +men, the Federal commander discontinued his attempt. It was renewed +again and again, without success, as before, when, provoked apparently +by the presence of this hornet's nest, which reversed all his plans, +General Burnside, about ten o'clock, opened a furious fire of +artillery upon the city. The extent of this bombardment will be +understood from the statement that one hundred and forty-seven pieces +of artillery were employed, which fired seven thousand three hundred +and fifty rounds of ammunition, in one instance piercing a single +small house with fifty round-shot. An eye-witness of this scene says: +"The enemy had planted more than a hundred pieces of artillery on the +hills to the northern and eastern sides of the town, and, from an +early hour in the forenoon, swept the streets with round-shot, shell, +and case-shot, firing frequently a hundred guns a minute. The quick +puffs of smoke, touched in the centre with tongues of flame, ran +incessantly along the lines of their batteries on the slopes, and, +as the smoke slowly drifted away, the bellowing roar came up in one +continuous roll. The town was soon fired, and a dense cloud of smoke +enveloped its roofs and steeples. The white church-spires still rose +serenely aloft, defying shot or shell, though a portion of one of them +was torn off. The smoke was succeeded by lurid flame, and the crimson +mass brought to mind the pictures of Moscow burning." The same writer +says: "Men, women, and children, were driven from the town, and +hundreds of ladies and children were seen wandering, homeless, and +without shelter, over the frozen highway, in thin clothing, knowing +not where to find a place of refuge." + +[Illustration: FREDERICKSBURG] + +General Lee watched this painful spectacle from a redoubt to the right +of the telegraph road, not far from his centre, where a shoulder +jutting out from the ridge, and now called "Lee's Hill," afforded +him a clear view of the city. The destruction of the place, and the +suffering of the inhabitants, aroused in him a deep melancholy, +mingled with exasperation, and his comment on the scene was probably +as bitter as any speech which he uttered during the whole war. +Standing, wrapped in his cape, with only a few officers near, he +looked fixedly at the flames rising from the city, and, after +remaining for a long time silent, said, in his grave, deep voice: +"These people delight to destroy the weak, and those who can make no +defence; it just suits them." + +General Burnside continued the bombardment for some hours, the +Mississippians still holding the river-bank and preventing the laying +of the pontoons, which was again begun and again discontinued. At +about four in the afternoon, however, a force was sent across in +barges, and by nightfall the city was evacuated by Lee, and General +Burnside proceeded rapidly to lay his pontoon bridge, upon which his +army then began to pass over. The crossing continued throughout the +next day, not materially obstructed by the fire of Lee's artillery, +as a dense fog rendered the aim of the cannoneers unreliable. By +nightfall (of the 12th) the Federal army was over, with the exception +of General Hooker's Centre Grand Division, which was held in reserve +on the north bank. General Burnside then proceeded to form his line of +battle. It stretched from the western suburbs of Fredericksburg down +the river, along what is called the River road, for a distance of +about four miles, and consisted of the Right Grand Division, under +General Sumner, at the city, and the Left Grand Division, under +General Franklin, lower down, and opposite Lee's right. General +Franklin's Grand Division numbered, according to General Meade, from +fifty-five to sixty thousand men; the numbers of Generals Sumner and +Hooker are not known to the present writer, but are said by Federal +authorities, as we have stated, to have amounted together to about the +same. + +At daybreak, on the morning of December 13th, a muffled sound, issuing +from the dense fog covering the low ground, indicated that the Federal +lines were preparing to advance. + +To enable the reader to understand General Burnside's plan of attack, +it is necessary that brief extracts should be presented from his +orders on the occasion, and from his subsequent testimony before the +committee on the conduct of the war. Despite the length of time since +his arrival at Fredericksburg--a period of more than three weeks--the +Federal commander had, it appears, been unable to obtain full and +accurate information of the character of the ground occupied by Lee, +and thus moved very much in the dark. He seems to have formed his plan +of attack in consequence of information from "a colored man." His +words are: "The enemy had cut a road along in the rear of the line of +heights where we made our attack.... I obtained, from a colored man +at the other side of the town, information in regard to this new road +which proved to be correct. I wanted to obtain possession of that +new road, and that was my reason for making an attack on the extreme +left." It is difficult for those familiar with the ground referred to, +to understand how this "new road," a mere country bridle-path, as it +were, extending along in the rear of Lee's right wing, could have been +regarded as a topographical feature of any importance. The road, +which remains unchanged, and may be seen by any one to-day, was +insignificant in a military point of view, and, in attaching such +importance to seizing it, the Federal commander committed a grave +error. + +What seems to have been really judicious in his plan, was the turning +movement determined on against Lee's right, along the old Richmond +road, running from the direction of the river past the end of the +ridge occupied by the Confederates, and so southward. To break through +at this point was the only hope of success, and General Burnside had +accordingly resolved, he declared, upon "a rapid movement down the old +Richmond road" with Franklin's large command. Unfortunately, however, +this wise design was complicated with another, most unwise, to send +forward _a division_, first, to seize the crest of the ridge near the +point where it sinks into the plain. On this crest were posted the +veterans of Jackson, commanded in person by that skilful soldier. +Three lines of infantry, supported by artillery, were ready to receive +the Federal attack, and, to force back this stubborn obstacle, General +Burnside sent a division. The proof is found in his order to General +Franklin at about six o'clock on the morning of the battle: "Send +out a division at least ... to seize, if possible, the heights near +Captain Hamilton's," which was the ground whereon Jackson's right +rested. + +An attack on the formidable position known as Marye's Hill, on Lee's +left, west of Fredericksburg, was also directed to be made by the same +small force. The order to General Sumner was to "form a column of +_a division_, for the purpose of pushing in the direction of the +Telegraph and Plank roads, for the purpose of seizing the heights in +the rear of the town;" or, according to another version, "up the Plank +road to its intersection with the Telegraph road, where they will +divide, with the object of seizing the heights on both sides of those +roads." + +The point of "intersection" here referred to was the locality of what +has been called "that sombre, fatal, terrible stone wall," just under +Marye's Hill, where the most fearful slaughter of the Federal forces +took place. Marye's Hill is a strong position, and its importance was +well understood by Lee. Longstreet's infantry was in heavy line of +battle behind it, and the crest bristled with artillery. There was +still less hope here of effecting any thing with "a division" than on +the Confederate right held by Jackson. + +General Burnside seems, however, to have regarded success as probable. +He added in his order: "Holding these heights, with the heights near +Captain Hamilton's, will, I hope, compel the enemy to evacuate the +whole ridge between these points." In his testimony afterward, he said +that, in the event of failure in these assaults on Lee's flanks, he +"proposed to make a direct attack on their front, and drive them out +of their works." + +These extracts from General Burnside's orders and testimony clearly +indicate his plan, which was to assail both Lee's right and left, and, +in the event of failure, direct a heavy blow at his centre. That the +whole plan completely failed was mainly due, it would seem, to the +inconsiderable numbers of the assaulting columns. + +We return now to the narrative of the battle which these comments have +interrupted. + +General Lee was ready to receive the Federal attack, and, at an early +hour of the morning, rode from his headquarters, in rear of his +centre, along his line of battle toward the right, where he probably +expected the main assault of the enemy to take place. He was clad in +his plain, well-worn gray uniform, with felt hat, cavalry-boots, and +short cape, without sword, and almost without any indications of his +rank. In these outward details, he differed much from Generals Jackson +and Stuart, who rode with him. The latter, as was usual with him, wore +a fully-decorated uniform, sash, black plume, sabre, and handsome +gauntlets. General Jackson, also, on this day, chanced to have +exchanged his dingy old coat and sun-scorched cadet-cap for a new +coat[1] covered with dazzling buttons, and a cap brilliant with a +broad band of gold lace, in which (for him) extraordinary disguise his +men scarcely knew him. + +[Footnote 1: This coat was a present from Stuart.] + +As Lee and his companions passed along in front of the line of battle, +the troops cheered them. It was evident that the army was in excellent +spirits, and ready for the hard work which the day would bring. Lee +proceeded down the old Richmond, or stage road--that mentioned in +General Burnside's order as the one over which his large flanking +column was to move--and rode on with Stuart until he was near the +River road, running toward Fredericksburg, parallel to the Federal +line of battle. Here he stopped, and endeavored to make out, through +the dense fog covering the plain, whether the Federal forces were +moving. A stifled hum issued from the mist, but nothing could be seen. +It seemed, however, that the enemy's skirmishers--probably concealed +in the ditches along the River road--had sharper eyes, as bullets +began to whistle around the two generals, and soon a number of black +specks were seen moving forward. General Lee remained for some time +longer, in spite of the exposure, conversing with great calmness and +gravity with Stuart, who was all ardor. He then rode back slowly, +passed along his line of battle, greeted wherever he was seen with +cheers, and took his position on the eminence in his centre, near the +Telegraph road, the same commanding point from which he had witnessed +the bombardment of Fredericksburg. + +The battle did not commence until ten o'clock, owing to the dense fog, +through which the light of the sun could scarcely pierce. At that hour +the mist lifted and rolled away, and the Confederates posted on the +ridge saw a heavy column of infantry advancing to attack their right, +near the Hamilton House. This force was Meade's division, supported +by Gibbon's, with a third in reserve, General Franklin having put in +action as many troops as his orders ("a division at least") permitted. +General Meade was arrested for some time by a minute but most annoying +obstacle. Stuart had placed a single piece of artillery, under Major +John Pelham, near the point where the old Richmond and River roads +meet--that is, directly on the flank of the advancing column--and this +gun now opened a rapid and determined fire upon General Meade. Major +Pelham--almost a boy in years--continued to hold his exposed position +with great gallantry, although the enemy opened fire upon him with +several batteries, killing a number of his gunners. General Lee +witnessed this duel from the hill on which he had taken his stand, and +is said to have exclaimed, "It is glorious to see such courage in one +so young!" [Footnote: General Lee's opinion of Major Pelham appears +from his report, in which he styles the young officer "the gallant +Pelham," and says: "Four batteries immediately turned upon him, but +he sustained their heavy fire with the unflinching courage that ever +distinguished him." Pelham fell at Kelly's Ford in March, 1863.] + +Pelham continued the cannonade for about two hours, only retiring when +he received a peremptory order from Jackson to do so; and it would +seem that this one gun caused a considerable delay in the attack. +"Meade advanced across the plain, but had not proceeded far," says Mr. +Swinton, "before he was compelled to stop and silence a battery that +Stuart had posted on the Port Royal road." Having brushed away this +annoying obstacle, General Meade, with a force which he states to have +amounted to ten thousand men, advanced rapidly to attack the hill upon +which the Confederates awaited him. He was suffered to approach within +a few hundred yards, when Jackson's artillery, under Colonel Walker, +posted near the end of the ridge, opened a sudden and furious fire, +which threw the Federal line into temporary confusion. The troops soon +rallied, however, and advanced again to the attack, which fell on +Jackson's front line under A.P. Hill. The struggle which now ensued +was fierce and bloody, but, a gap having been left between the +brigades of Archer and Lane, the enemy pierced the opening, turning +the left of one brigade and the right of the other, pressed on, +attacked Gregg's brigade of Hill's reserve, threw it into confusion, +and seemed about to carry the crest. Gregg's brigade was quickly +rallied, however, by its brave commander, who soon afterward fell, +mortally wounded; the further progress of the enemy was checked, and, +Jackson's second line rapidly advancing, the enemy were met and forced +back, step by step, until they were driven down the slope again. Here +they were attacked by the brigades of Hoke and Atkinson, and driven +beyond the railroad, the Confederates cheering and following them into +the plain. The repulse had been complete, and the slope and ground +in front of it were strewed with Federal dead. They had returned as +rapidly as they had charged, pursued by shot and shell, and General +Lee, witnessing the spectacle from his hill, murmured, in his grave +and measured voice: "It is well this is so terrible! we should grow +too fond of it!" + +The assault on the Confederate right had thus ended in disaster, but +almost immediately another attack took place, whose results were more +bloody and terrible still. As General Meade fell back, pursued by the +men of Jackson, the sudden roar of artillery from the Confederate left +indicated that a heavy conflict had begun in that quarter. The Federal +troops were charging Marye's Hill, which was to prove the Cemetery +Hill of Fredericksburg. This frightful charge--for no other adjective +can describe it--was made by General French's division, supported by +General Hancock. The Federal troops rushed forward over the broken +ground in the suburbs of the city, and, "as soon as the masses became +dense enough,"[1] were received with a concentrated artillery fire +from the hill in front of them. This fire was so destructive that it +"made gaps that could be seen at the distance of a mile." The charging +division had advanced in column of brigades, and the front was nearly +destroyed. The troops continued to move forward, however, and had +nearly reached the base of the hill, when the brigades of Cobb and +Cooke, posted behind a stone wall running parallel with the Telegraph +road, met them with a sudden fire of musketry, which drove them back +in terrible disorder. Nearly half the force was killed or lay disabled +on the field, and upon the survivors, now in full retreat, was +directed a concentrated artillery-fire from, the hill. + +[Footnote 1: Longstreet.] + +In face of this discharge of cannon, General Hancock's force, +supporting French, now gallantly advanced in its turn. The charge +lasted about fifteen minutes, and in that time General Hancock lost +more than two thousand of the five thousand men of his command. The +repulse was still more bloody and decisive than the first. The second +column fell back in disorder, leaving the ground covered with their +dead. + +General Burnside had hitherto remained at the "Phillips House," a mile +or more from the Rappahannock. He now mounted his horse, and, riding +down to the river, dismounted, walked up and down in great agitation, +and exclaimed, looking at Marye's Hill: "That crest must be carried +to-night."[1] + +[Footnote 1: The authority for this incident is Mr. William Swinton, +who was present.] + +In spite of the murderous results of the first charges, the Federal +commander determined on a third. General Hooker's reserve was ordered +to make it, and, although that officer protested against it, General +Burnside was immovable, and repeated his order. General Hooker +sullenly obeyed, and opened with artillery upon the stone wall at the +foot of the hill, in order to make a breach in it. This fire continued +until nearly sunset, when Humphrey's division was formed for the +charge. The men were ordered to throw aside their knapsacks, and not +to load their guns, "for there was no time there to load and fire," +says General Hooker. The word was given about sunset, and the division +charged headlong over the ground already covered with dead. A few +words will convey the result. Of four thousand men who charged, +seventeen hundred and sixty were left dead or wounded on the field. +The rest retreated, pursued by the fire of the batteries and infantry; +and night fell on the battle-field. + +This charge was the real termination of the bloody battle of +Fredericksburg, but, on the Confederate right, Jackson had planned and +begun to execute a decisive advance on the force in his front. This he +designed to undertake "precisely at sunset," and his intention was +to depend on the bayonet, his military judgment or instinct having +satisfied him that the _morale_ of the Federal army was destroyed. The +advance was discontinued, however, in consequence of the lateness of +the hour and the sudden artillery-fire which saluted him as he began +to move. A striking feature of this intended advance is the fact that +Jackson had placed his artillery _in front_ of his line of battle, +intending to attack in that manner. + +As darkness settled down, the last guns of Stuart, who had defended +the Confederate right flank with about thirty pieces of artillery, +were heard far in advance, and apparently advancing still. The Federal +lines had fallen back, wellnigh to the banks of the river, and there +seems little room to doubt that the _morale_ of the men was seriously +impaired. "From what I knew of our want of success upon the right," +says General Franklin, when interrogated on this point, "and the +demoralized condition of the troops upon the right and centre, as +represented to me by their commanders, I confess I believe the order +to recross was a very proper one." + +General Burnside refused to give the order; and, nearly overwhelmed, +apparently, by the fatal result of the attack, determined to form the +ninth corps in column of regiments, and lead it in person against +Marye's Hill, on the next morning. Such a design, in a soldier of +ability, indicates desperation. To charge Marye's Hill with a corps in +column of regiments, was to devote the force to destruction. It was +nearly certain that the whole command would be torn to pieces by the +Southern artillery, but General Burnside seems to have regarded the +possession of the hill as worth any amount of blood; and, in face of +the urgent appeals of his officers, gave orders for the movement. At +the last moment, however, he yielded to the entreaties of General +Sumner, and abandoned his bloody design. + +Still it seemed that the Federal commander was unable to come to the +mortifying resolution of recrossing the Rappahannock. The battle +was fought on the 13th of December, and until the night of the 15th +General Burnside continued to face Lee on the south bank of the +river--his bands playing, his flags flying, and nothing indicating an +intention of retiring. To that resolve he had however come, and on the +night of the 15th, in the midst of storm and darkness, the Federal +army recrossed to the north bank of the Rappahannock. + + + + +XI FINAL MOVEMENTS OF 1862 + + +The battle of Fredericksburg was another defeat of the Federal +programme of invasion, as decisive, and in one sense as disastrous, as +the second battle of Manassas. General Burnside had not lost as many +men as General Pope, and had not retreated in confusion, pursued by a +victorious enemy; but, brief as the conflict had been--two or three +hours summing up all the real fighting--its desperate character, and +the evident hopelessness of any attempt to storm Lee's position, +profoundly discouraged and demoralized the Northern troops. We have +quoted the statement of General Franklin, commanding the whole left +wing, that from "the demoralized condition of the troops upon the +right and centre, as represented to him by their commanders, he +believed the order to recross was a very proper one." Nor is there +any ground to suppose that the feeling of the left wing was greatly +better. That wing of the army had not suffered as heavily as the +right, which had recoiled with such frightful slaughter from Marye's +Hill; but the repulse of General Meade in their own front had been +equally decisive, and the non-success of the right must have reacted +on the left, discouraging that also. Northern writers, in a position +to ascertain the condition of the troops, fully bear out this view: +"That the _morale_ of the Army of the Potomac became seriously +impaired after the disaster at Fredericksburg," says Mr. Swinton, the +able and candid historian of the campaign, "was only too manifest. +Indeed, it would be impossible to imagine a graver or gloomier, a more +sombre or unmusical body of men than the Army of the Potomac a month +after the battle. And, as the days went by, despondency, discontent, +and all evil inspirations, with their natural consequent, desertion, +seemed to increase rather than to diminish, until, for the first time, +the Army of the Potomac could be said to be really demoralized." +General Sumner noticed that a spirit of "croaking" had become diffused +throughout the forces. For an army to display that tendency clearly +indicates that the troops have lost the most important element of +victory--confidence in themselves and their leader. And for this +sentiment there was valid reason. Columns wholly inadequate in numbers +had been advanced against the formidable Confederate positions, +positions so strong and well defended that it is doubtful if thrice +the force could have made any impression upon them, and the result +was such as might have been expected. The men lost confidence in the +military capacity of their commander, and in their own powers. After +the double repulse at Marye's Hill and in front of Jackson, the +troops, looking at the ground strewed with dead and wounded, were +in no condition to go forward hopefully to another struggle which +promised to be equally bloody. + +The Southern army was naturally in a condition strongly in contrast +with that of their adversary. They had repulsed the determined assault +of the Federal columns with comparative ease on both flanks. Jackson's +first line, although pierced and driven back, soon rallied, and +checked the enemy until the second line came up, when General Meade +was driven back, the third line not having moved from its position +along the road near the Hamilton House. On the left, Longstreet had +repulsed the Federal charge with his artillery and two small brigades. +The loss of the Confederates in both these encounters was much +less than that of their adversaries[1], a natural result of the +circumstances; and thus, instead of sharing the depression of their +opponents, the Southern troops were elated, and looked forward to +a renewal of the battle with confidence in themselves and in their +leader. + +[Footnote 1: "Our loss during the operation, since the movements +of the enemy began, amounts to about eighteen hundred killed and +wounded."--_Lee's Report_. Federal authorities state the Northern loss +at a little over twelve thousand; the larger part, no doubt, in the +attack on Marye's Hill.] + +It is not necessary to offer much comment upon the manner in which +General Burnside had attacked. He is said, by his critics, not to +have, at the time, designed the turning movement against General Lee's +right, upon which point the present writer is unable to decide. That +movement would seem to have presented the sole and only chance of +success for the Federal arms, as the successful advance of General +Franklin's fifty-five or sixty thousand men up the old Richmond road +would have compelled Lee to retire his whole right wing, to protect it +from an assault in flank and reverse. What dispositions he would have +made under these circumstances must be left to conjecture; but, it is +certain that the blow would have proved a serious one, calling for the +display of all his military ability. In the event, however, that this +was the main great aim of General Burnside, his method of carrying out +his design insured, it would seem, its failure. Ten thousand men only +were to clear the way for the flanking movement, in order to effect +which object it was necessary to crush Jackson. So that it may be said +that the success of the plan involved the repulse of one-half Lee's +army with ten thousand men. + +The assault on Marye's Hill was an equally fatal military mistake. +That the position could not be stormed, is proved by the result of the +actual attempt. It is doubtful if, in any battle ever fought by any +troops, men displayed greater gallantry. They rushed headlong, not +only once, but thrice, into the focus of a frightful front and cross +fire of artillery and small-arms, losing nearly half their numbers in +a few minutes; the ground was littered with their dead, and yet the +foremost had only been able to approach within sixty yards of the +terrible stone wall in advance of the hill. There they fell, throwing +up their hands to indicate that they saw at last that the attempt to +carry the hill was hopeless. + +These comments seem justified by the circumstances, and are made with +no intention of casting obloquy upon the commander who, displaying +little ability, gave evidences of unfaltering courage. He had urged +his inability to handle so large an army, but the authorities had +forced the command upon him; he had accepted it and done his best, +and, like a brave soldier, determined to lead the final charge in +person, dying, if necessary, at the head of his men. + +General Lee has not escaped criticism any more than General Burnside. +The Southern people were naturally dissatisfied with the result--the +safe retreat of the Federal army--and asked why they had not been +attacked and captured or destroyed. The London _Times_, at that +period, and a military critic recently, in the same journal, declared +that Lee had it in his power to crush General Burnside, "horse, foot, +and dragoons," and, from his failure to do so, argued his want of +great generalship. A full discussion of the question is left by the +present writer to those better skilled than himself in military +science. It is proper, however, to insert here General Lee's own +explanation of his action: + +"The attack on the 13th," he says, "had been so easily repulsed, and +by so small a part of our army, that it was not supposed the enemy +would limit his efforts to one attempt, which, in view of the +magnitude of his preparations, and the extent of his force, seemed to +be comparatively insignificant. Believing, therefore, that he would +attack us, it was not deemed expedient to lose the advantages of +our position and expose the troops to the fire of his inaccessible +batteries beyond the river, by advancing against him. But we were +necessarily ignorant of the extent to which he had suffered, and only +became aware of it when, on the morning of the 16th, it was discovered +that he had availed himself of the darkness of night, and the +prevalence of a violent storm of wind and rain, to recross the river." + +This statement was no doubt framed by General Lee to meet the +criticisms which the result of the battle occasioned. In conversing +with General Stuart on the subject, he added that he felt too great +responsibility for the preservation of his troops to unnecessarily +hazard them. "No one knows," he said, "how _brittle_ an army is." + +The word may appear strange, applied to the Army of Northern Virginia, +which had certainly vindicated its claim, under many arduous trials, +to the virtues of toughness and endurance. But Lee's meaning was +plain, and his view seems to have been founded on good sense. The +enemy had in all, probably, two hundred pieces of artillery, a large +portion of which were posted on the high ground north of the river. +Had Lee descended from his ridge and advanced into the plain to +attack, this large number of guns would have greeted him with a rapid +and destructive fire, which must have inflicted upon him a loss as +nearly heavy as he had inflicted upon General Burnside at Marye's +Hill. From such a result he naturally shrunk. It has been seen that +the Federal troops, brave as they were, had been demoralized by such +a fire; and Lee was unwilling to expose his own troops to similar +slaughter. + +There is little question, it seems, that an advance of the description +mentioned would have resulted in a conclusive victory, and the +probable surrender of the whole or a large portion of the Federal +army. Whether the probability of such a result was sufficient to +compensate for the certain slaughter, the reader will decide for +himself. General Lee did not think so, and did not order the advance. +He preferred awaiting, in his strong position, the second assault +which General Burnside would probably make; and, while he thus waited, +the enemy secretly recrossed the river, rendering an attack upon them +by Lee impossible. + +General Burnside made a second movement to cross the +Rappahannock--this time at Banks's Ford, above Fredericksburg--in the +inclement month of January; but, as he might have anticipated, the +condition of the roads was such that it was impossible to advance. His +artillery, with the horses dragging the pieces, sank into the almost +bottomless mud, where they stuck fast--even the foot-soldiers found it +difficult to march through the quagmire--and the whole movement was +speedily abandoned. + +When General Burnside issued the order for this injudicious advance, +two of his general officers met, and one asked: + +"What do you think of it?" + +"It don't seem to have the _ring_" was the reply. + +"No--the bell is broken," the other added. + +This incident, which is given on the authority of a Northern writer, +probably conveys a correct idea of the feeling of both the +officers and men of General Burnside's army. The disastrous day of +Fredericksburg had seriously injured the troops. + +"The Army of the Potomac," the writer adds, "was sadly fractured, and +its tones had no longer the clear, inspiring ring of victory." + + + + +XII. + +THE YEAR OF BATTLES. + + +The stormy year 1862 had terminated, thus, in a great Confederate +success. In its arduous campaigns, following each other in rapid +succession, General Lee had directed the movements of the main great +army, and the result of the year's fighting was to gain him that high +military reputation which his subsequent movements only consolidated +and increased. + +A rapid glance at the events of the year in their general outlines +will indicate the merit due the Southern commander. The Federal plan +of invasion in the spring had been extremely formidable. Virginia was +to be pierced by no less than four armies--from the northwest, the +Shenandoah Valley, the Potomac, and the Peninsula--the whole force to +converge upon Richmond, the "heart of the rebellion." Of these, the +army of General McClellan was the largest and most threatening. It +advanced, with little opposition, until it reached the Chickahominy, +crossed, and lay in sight of Richmond. The great force of one hundred +and fifty thousand men was about to make the decisive assault, when +Lee attacked it, and the battle which ensued drove the Federal army +to a point thirty miles from the city, with such loss as to render +hopeless any further attempt to assail the capital. + +Such was the first act of the drama; the rest speedily followed. A new +army was raised promptly by the Federal authorities, and a formidable +advance was made against Richmond again, this time from the direction +of Alexandria. Lee was watching General McClellan when intelligence of +the new movement reached him. Remaining, with a portion of his troops, +near Richmond, he sent Jackson to the Rapidan. The battle of Cedar +Mountain resulted in the repulse of General Pope's vanguard; and, +discovering at last that the real danger lay in the direction of +Culpepper, Lee moved thither, drove back General Pope, flanked him, +and, in the severe battle of Manassas, routed his army, which was +forced to retire upon Washington. + +Two armies had thus been driven from the soil of Virginia, and the +Confederate commander had moved into Maryland, in order to draw the +enemy thither, and, if practicable, transfer the war to the heart of +Pennsylvania. Unforeseen circumstances had defeated the latter of +these objects. The concentration on Sharpsburg was rendered necessary; +an obstinately-fought battle ensued there; and, not defeated, but +forced to abandon further movements toward Pennsylvania, Lee had +retired into Virginia, where he remained facing his adversary. This +was the first failure of Lee up to that point in the campaigns of the +year; and an attentive consideration of the circumstances will show +that the result was not fairly attributable to any error which he +had committed. Events beyond his control had shaped his action, and +directed all his movements; and it will remain a question whether the +extrication of his small force from its difficult position did not +better prove Lee's generalship than the victory at Manassas. + +The subsequent operations of the opposing armies indicated clearly +that the Southern forces were still in excellent fighting condition; +and the movements of Lee, during the advance of General McClellan +toward Warrenton, were highly honorable to his military ability. +With a force much smaller than that of his adversary, he greatly +embarrassed and impeded the Federal advance; confronted them on the +Upper Rappahannock, completely checking their forward movement in that +direction; and, when they moved rapidly to Fredericksburg, crossed the +Rapidan promptly, reappearing in their front on the range of hills +opposite that city. The battle which followed compensated for the +failure of the Maryland campaign and the drawn battle of Sharpsburg. +General Burnside had attacked, and sustained decisive defeat. The +stormy year, so filled with great events and arduous encounters, had +thus wound up with a pitched battle, in which the enemy suffered a +bloody repulse; and the best commentary on the decisive character of +this last struggle of the year, was the fault found with General Lee +for not destroying his adversary. + +In less than six months Lee had thus fought four great pitched +battles--all victories to his arms, with the exception of Sharpsburg, +which was neither a victory nor a defeat. The result was thus highly +encouraging to the South; and, had the Army of Northern Virginia had +its ranks filled up, as the ranks of the Northern armies were, the +events of the year 1862 would have laid the foundation of assured +success. An inquiry into the causes of failure in this particular is +not necessary to the subject of the volume before the reader. It is +only necessary to state the fact that the Army of Northern Virginia, +defending what all conceded to be the territory on which the decisive +struggle must take place, was never sufficiently numerous to follow up +the victories achieved by it. At the battles of the Chickahominy the +army numbered at most about seventy-five thousand; at the second +Manassas, about fifty thousand; at Sharpsburg, less than forty +thousand; and at Fredericksburg, about fifty thousand. In the +following year, it will be seen that these latter numbers were at +first but little exceeded, and, as the months passed on, that they +dwindled more and more, until, in April, 1865, the whole force in line +of battle at Petersburg was scarcely more than thirty thousand men. + +Such had been the number of the troops under command of Lee in 1862. +The reader has been informed of the number of the Federal force +opposed to him. This was one hundred and fifty thousand on the +Chickahominy, of whom one hundred and fifteen thousand were effective; +about one hundred thousand, it would seem, under General Pope, at the +second battle of Manassas; eighty-seven thousand actually engaged at +the battle of Sharpsburg; and at Fredericksburg from one hundred and +ten to one hundred and twenty thousand. + +These numbers are stated on the authority of Federal officers or +historians, and Lee's force on the authority of his own reports, or of +gentlemen of high character, in a situation to speak with accuracy. +Of the truth of the statements the writer of these pages can have no +doubt; and, if the fighting powers of the Northern and Southern troops +be estimated as equal, the fair conclusion must be arrived at that Lee +surpassed his adversaries in generalship. + +The result, at least, of the year's fighting, had been extremely +encouraging to the South, and after the battle of Fredericksburg no +attempts were made to prosecute hostilities during the remainder +of the year. The scheme of crossing above Fredericksburg proved a +_fiasco_, beginning and ending in a day. Thereafter all movements +ceased, and the two armies awaited the return of spring for further +operations. + + + + +XIII. + +LEE IN DECEMBER, 1862. + + +Before passing to the great campaigns of the spring and summer of +1863, we propose to say a few words of General Lee, in his private and +personal character, and to attempt to indicate the position which +he occupied at this time in the eyes of the army and the country. +Unknown, save by reputation, when he assumed command of the forces in +June, 1862, he had now, by the winter of the same year, become one of +the best-known personages in the South. Neither the troops nor the +people had perhaps penetrated the full character of Lee; and they seem +to have attributed to him more reserve and less warmth and impulse +than he possessed; but it was impossible for a human being, occupying +so prominent a station before the general eye, to hide, in any +material degree, his main great characteristics, and these had +conciliated for Lee an exalted and wellnigh universal public regard. +He was felt by all to be an individual of great dignity, sincerity, +and earnestness, in the performance of duty. Destitute plainly of that +vulgar ambition which seeks personal aggrandizement rather than the +general good, and dedicated as plainly, heart and soul, to the cause +for which he fought, he had won, even from those who had denounced +him for the supposed hesitation in his course in April, 1861, and had +afterward criticised his military operations, the repute of a truly +great man, as well as of a commander of the first ability. It was felt +by all classes that the dignity of the Southern cause was adequately +represented in the person and character of the commander of her most +important army. While others, as brave and patriotic, no doubt, but of +different temperament, had permitted themselves to become violent and +embittered in their private and public utterances in reference to the +North, Lee had remained calm, moderate, and dignified, under every +provocation. His reports were without rhodomontade or exaggeration, +and his tone uniformly modest, composed, and uninflated. After his +most decisive successes, his pulse had remained calm; he had written +of those successes with the air of one who sees no especial merit in +any thing which he has performed; and, so marked was this tone of +moderation and dignity, that, in reading his official reports to-day, +it seems wellnigh impossible that they could have been written in the +hot atmosphere of a war which aroused the bitterest passions of the +human soul. + +Upon this point of Lee's personal and official dignity it is +unnecessary to dwell further, as the quality has long since been +conceded by every one acquainted with the character of the individual, +in the Old World and the New. It is the trait, perhaps, the most +prominent to the observer, looking back now upon the individual; and +it was, doubtless, this august moderation, dignity, and apparent +exemption from natural infirmity, which produced the impression upon +many persons that Lee was cold and unimpressible. We shall speak, in +future, at greater length of his real character than is necessary in +this place; but it may here be said, that the fancy that he was cold +and unimpressible was a very great error. No man had stronger or +warmer feelings, or regarded the invasion of the South with greater +indignation, than himself. The sole difference was, that he had +his feelings under greater control, and permitted no temptation to +overcome his sense of that august dignity and composure becoming +in the chief leader of a great people struggling for independent +government. + +The sentiment of the Southern people toward Lee may be summed up in +the statement that they regarded him, in his personal and private +character, with an admiration which was becoming unbounded, and +reposed in him, as commander of the army, the most implicit +confidence. + +These expressions are strong, but they do not convey more than the +truth. And this confidence was never withdrawn from him. It remained +as strong in his hours of disaster as in his noontide of success. +A few soured or desponding people might lose heart, indulge in +"croaking," and denounce, under their breath, the commander of +the army as responsible for failure when it occurred; but these +fainthearted people were in a small minority, and had little +encouragement in their muttered criticisms. The Southern people, from +Virginia to the utmost limits of the Gulf States, resolutely persisted +in regarding Lee as one of the greatest soldiers of history, and +retained their confidence in him unimpaired to the end. + +The army had set the example of this implicit reliance upon Lee as +the chief leader and military head of the Confederacy. The brave +fighting-men had not taken his reputation on trust, but had seen him +win it fairly on some of the hardest-contested fields of history. The +heavy blow at General McClellan on the Chickahominy had first shown +the troops that they were under command of a thorough soldier. The +rout of Pope at Manassas had followed in the ensuing month. At +Sharpsburg, with less than forty thousand men, Lee had repulsed the +attack of nearly ninety thousand; and at Fredericksburg General +Burnside's great force had been driven back with inconsiderable loss +to the Southern army. These successes, in the eyes of the troops, +were the proofs of true leadership, and it did not detract from Lee's +popularity that, on all occasions, he had carefully refrained from +unnecessary exposure of the troops, especially at Fredericksburg, +where an ambitious commander would have spared no amount of bloodshed +to complete his glory by a great victory. Such was Lee's repute as +army commander in the eyes of men accustomed to close scrutiny of +their leaders. He was regarded as a thorough soldier, at once brave, +wise, cool, resolute, and devoted, heart and soul, to the cause. + +Personally, the commander-in-chief was also, by this time, extremely +popular. He did not mingle with the troops to any great extent, nor +often relax the air of dignity, somewhat tinged with reserve, which +was natural with him. This reserve, however, never amounted to +stiffness or "official" coolness. On the contrary, Lee was markedly +free from the chill demeanor of the martinet, and had become greatly +endeared to the men by the unmistakable evidences which he had given +them of his honesty, sincerity, and kindly feeling for them. It +cannot, indeed, be said that he sustained the same relation toward the +troops as General Jackson. For the latter illustrious soldier, the men +had a species of familiar affection, the result, in a great degree, of +the informal and often eccentric demeanor of the individual. There +was little or nothing in Jackson to indicate that he was an officer +holding important command. He was without reserve, and exhibited none +of that formal courtesy which characterized Lee. His manners, on the +contrary, were quite informal, familiar, and conciliated in return a +familiar regard. We repeat the word _familiar_ as conveying precisely +the idea intended to be expressed. It indicated the difference between +these two great soldiers in their outward appearance. Lee retained +about him, upon all occasions, more or less of the commander-in-chief, +passing before the troops on an excellent and well-groomed horse, his +figure erect and graceful in the saddle, for he was one of the best +riders in the army; his demeanor grave and thoughtful; his whole +bearing that of a man intrusted with great responsibilities and the +general care of the whole army. Jackson's personal appearance and air +were very different. His dress was generally dingy: a faded cadet-cap +tilted over his eyes, causing him to raise his chin into the air; his +stirrups were apt to be too short, and his knees were thus elevated +ungracefully, and he would amble along on his rawboned horse with a +singularly absent-minded expression of countenance, raising, from time +to time, his right hand and slapping his knee. This brief outline of +the two commanders will serve to show the difference between them +personally, and it must be added that Jackson's eccentric bearing was +the source, in some degree, of his popularity. The men admired him +immensely for his great military ability, and his odd ways procured +for him that familiar liking to which we have alluded. + +It is not intended, however, in these observations to convey the idea +that General Lee was regarded as a stiff and unapproachable personage +of whom the private soldiers stood in awe. Such a statement would not +express the truth. Lee was perfectly approachable, and no instance is +upon record, or ever came to the knowledge of the present writer, in +which he repelled the approach of his men, or received the humblest of +them with any thing but kindness. He was naturally simple and kind, +with great gentleness and patience; and it will not be credible, +to any who knew the man, that he ever made any difference in his +treatment of those who approached him from a consideration of their +rank in the army. His theory, expressed upon many occasions, was, that +the private soldiers--men who fought without the stimulus of rank, +emolument, or individual renown--were the most meritorious class of +the army, and that they deserved and should receive the utmost respect +and consideration. This statement, however, is doubtless unnecessary. +Men of Lee's pride and dignity never make a difference in their +treatment of men, because one is humble, and the other of high rank. +Of such human beings it may be said that _noblesse oblige_. + +The men of the army had thus found their commander all that they could +wish, and his increasing personal popularity was shown by the greater +frequency with which they now spoke of him as "Marse Robert," "Old +Uncle Robert," and by other familiar titles. This tendency in troops +is always an indication of personal regard; these nicknames had been +already showered upon Jackson, and General Lee was having his turn. +The troops regarded him now more as their fellow-soldier than +formerly, having found that his dignity was not coldness, and that he +would, under no temptation, indulge his personal convenience, or fare +better than themselves. It was said--we know not with what truth--that +the habit of Northern generals in the war was to look assiduously to +their individual comfort in selecting their quarters, and to take +pleasure in surrounding themselves with glittering staff-officers, +body-guards, and other indications of their rank, and the +consideration which they expected. In these particulars Lee differed +extremely from his opponents, and there were no evidences whatever, +at his headquarters, that he was the commander-in-chief, or even an +officer of high rank. He uniformly lived in a tent, in spite of +the urgent invitations of citizens to use their houses for his +headquarters; and this refusal was the result both of an indisposition +to expose these gentlemen to annoyance from the enemy when he himself +retired, and of a rooted objection to fare better than his troops. +They had tents only, often indeed were without even that much +covering, and it was repugnant to Lee's feelings to sleep under a good +roof when the troops were so much exposed. His headquarters tent, +at this time (December, 1862), as before and afterward, was what is +called a "house-tent," not differing in any particular from those used +by the private soldiers of the army in winter-quarters. It was pitched +in an opening in the wood near the narrow road leading to Hamilton's +Crossing, with the tents of the officers of the staff grouped near; +and, with the exception of an orderly, who always waited to summon +couriers to carry dispatches, there was nothing in the shape of a +body-guard visible, or any indication that the unpretending group of +tents was the army headquarters. + +Within, no article of luxury was to be seen. A few plain and +indispensable objects were all which the tent contained. The covering +of the commander-in-chief was an ordinary army blanket, and his fare +was plainer, perhaps, than that of the majority of his officers and +men. This was the result of an utter indifference, in Lee, to personal +convenience or indulgence. Citizens frequently sent him delicacies, +boxes filled with turkeys, hams, wine, cordials, and other things, +peculiarly tempting to one leading the hard life of the soldier, but +these were almost uniformly sent to the sick in some neighboring +hospital. Lee's principle in so acting seems to have been to set the +good example to his officers of not faring better than their men; +but he was undoubtedly indifferent naturally to luxury of all +descriptions. In his habits and feelings he was not the self-indulgent +man of peace, but the thorough soldier, willing to live hard, to sleep +upon the ground, and to disregard all sensual indulgence. In his other +habits he was equally abstinent. He cared nothing for wine, whiskey, +or any stimulant, and never used tobacco in any form. He rarely +relaxed his energies in any thing calculated to amuse him; but, when +not riding along his lines, or among the camps to see in person that +the troops were properly cared for, generally passed his time in close +attention to official duties connected with the well-being of the +army, or in correspondence with the authorities at Richmond. When he +relaxed from this continuous toil, it was to indulge in some quiet and +simple diversion, social converse with ladies in houses at which he +chanced to stop, caresses bestowed upon children, with whom he was +a great favorite, and frequently in informal conversation with his +officers. At "Hayfield" and "Moss Neck," two hospitable houses below +Fredericksburg, he at this time often stopped and spent some time in +the society of the ladies and children there. One of the latter, a +little curly-headed girl, would come up to him always to receive her +accustomed kiss, and one day confided to him, as a personal friend, +her desire to kiss General Jackson, who blushed like a girl when Lee, +with a quiet laugh, told him of the child's wish. On another occasion, +when his small friend came to receive his caress, he said, laughing, +that she would show more taste in selecting a younger gentleman than +himself, and, pointing to a youthful officer in a corner of the room, +added, "There is the handsome Major Pelham!" which caused that modest +young soldier to blush with confusion. The bearing of General Lee +in these hours of relaxation, was quite charming, and made him warm +friends. His own pleasure and gratification were plain, and gratified +others, who, in the simple and kindly gentleman in the plain gray +uniform, found it difficult to recognize the commander-in-chief of the +Southern army. + +These moments of relaxation were, however, only occasional. All the +rest was toil, and the routine of hard work and grave assiduity went +on month after month, and year after year, with little interruption. +With the exceptions which we have noted, all pleasures and +distractions seemed of little interest to Lee, and to the present +writer, at least, he seemed on all occasions to bear the most striking +resemblance to the traditional idea of Washington. High principle and +devotion to duty were plainly this human being's springs of action, +and he went through the hard and continuous labor incident to army +command with a grave and systematic attention, wholly indifferent, it +seemed, to almost every species of diversion and relaxation. + +This attempt to show how Lee appeared at that time to his solders, has +extended to undue length, and we shall be compelled to defer a full +notice of the most interesting and beautiful trait of his character. +This was his humble and profound piety. The world has by no means done +him justice upon this subject. No one doubted during the war that +General Lee was a sincere Christian in conviction, and his exemplary +moral character and life were beyond criticism. Beyond this it is +doubtful if any save his intimate associates understood the depth +of his feeling on the greatest of all subjects. Jackson's strong +religious fervor was known and often alluded to, but it is doubtful +if Lee was regarded as a person of equally fervent convictions and +feelings. And yet the fact is certain that faith in God's providence +and reliance upon the Almighty were the foundation of all his actions, +and the secret of his supreme composure under all trials. He was +naturally of such reserve that it is not singular that the extent of +this sentiment was not understood. Even then, however, good men +who frequently visited him, and conversed with him upon religious +subjects, came away with their hearts burning within them. When the +Rev. J. William Jones, with another clergyman, went, in 1863, to +consult him in reference to the better observance of the Sabbath in +the army, "his eye brightened, and his whole countenance glowed with +pleasure; and as, in his simple, feeling words, he expressed his +delight, we forgot the great warrior, and only remembered that we were +communing with an humble, earnest Christian." When he was informed +that the chaplains prayed for him, tears started to his eyes, and he +replied: "I sincerely thank you for that, and I can only say that I +am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and that I need all the +prayers you can offer for me." + +On the day after this interview he issued an earnest general order, +enjoining the observance of the Sabbath by officers and men, urging +them to attend public worship in their camps, and forbidding the +performance on Sunday of all official duties save those necessary +to the subsistence or safety of the army. He always attended public +worship, if it were in his power to do so, and often the earnestness +of the preacher would "make his eye kindle and his face glow." He +frequently attended the meetings of his chaplains, took a warm +interest in the proceedings, and uniformly exhibited, declares one +who could speak from personal knowledge, an ardent desire for the +promotion of religion in the army. He did not fail, on many occasions, +to show his men that he was a sincere Christian. When General Meade +came over to Mine Run, and the Southern army marched to meet him, Lee +was riding along his line of battle in the woods, when he came upon a +party of soldiers holding a prayer-meeting on the eve of battle. Such +a spectacle was not unusual in the army then and afterward--the rough +fighters were often men of profound piety--and on this occasion +the sight before him seems to have excited deep emotion in Lee. He +stopped, dismounted--the staff-officers accompanying him did the +same--and Lee uncovered his head, and stood in an attitude of profound +respect and attention, while the earnest prayer proceeded, in the +midst of the thunder of artillery and the explosion of the enemy's +shells.[1] + +[Footnote 1: These details are given on the authority of the Rev. J. +William Jones, of Lexington, Va.] + +[Illustration: Lee at the Soldiers' Prayer Meeting.] + +Other incidents indicating the simple and earnest piety of Lee will be +presented in the course of this narrative. The fame of the soldier has +in some degree thrown into the background the less-imposing trait of +personal piety in the individual. No delineation of Lee, however, +would be complete without a full statement of his religious principles +and feelings. As the commander-in-chief of the Army of Northern +Virginia, he won that august renown which encircles his name with a +halo of military glory, both in America and Europe. His battles and +victories are known to all men. It is not known to all that the +illustrious soldier whose fortune it was to overthrow, one after +another, the best soldiers of the Federal army, was a simple, humble, +and devoted Christian, whose eyes filled with tears when he was +informed that his chaplains prayed for him; and who said, "I am a poor +sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and need all the prayers you can +offer for me." + + + + +PART VI. + +CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG + + + + +I. + +ADVANCE OF GENERAL HOOKER. + + +Lee remained throughout the winter at his headquarters in the woods +south of Fredericksburg, watching the Northern army, which continued +to occupy the country north of the city, with the Potomac River as +their base of supplies. + +With the coming of spring, it was obviously the intention of the +Federal authorities to again essay the crossing of the Rappahannock at +some point either above or below Fredericksburg; and as the movement +above was less difficult, and promised more decisive results, it was +seen by General Lee that this would probably be the quarter from +which he might expect an attack. General Stuart, a soldier of sound +judgment, said, during the winter, "The next battle will take place at +Chancellorsville," and the position of Lee's troops seemed to indicate +that this was also his own opinion. His right remained still "opposite +Fredericksburg," barring the direct approach to Richmond, but his left +extended up the Rappahannock beyond Chancellorsville, and all the +fords were vigilantly guarded to prevent a sudden flank movement by +the enemy in that direction. As will be seen, the anticipations of Lee +were to be fully realized. The heavy blow aimed at him, in the first +days of spring, was to come from the quarter in which he had expected +it. + +The Federal army was now under command of General Joseph Hooker, an +officer of dash, energy, excellent administrative capacity, and, +Northern writers add, extremely prone to "self-assertion." General +Hooker had harshly criticised the military operations both of +General McClellan on the Chickahominy, and of General Burnside at +Fredericksburg, and so strong an impression had these strictures made +upon the minds of the authorities, that they came to the determination +of intrusting the command of the army to the officer who made them, +doubtless concluding that his own success would prove greater than +that of his predecessors. This opinion seemed borne out by the first +proceedings of General Hooker. He set to work energetically to +reorganize and increase the efficiency of the army, did away +with General Burnside's defective "grand division" arrangement, +consolidated the cavalry into an effective corps, enforced strict +discipline among officers and men alike, and at the beginning of +spring had brought his army to a high state of efficiency. His +confident tone inspired the men; the depression resulting from the +great disaster at Fredericksburg was succeeded by a spirit of buoyant +hope, and the army was once more that great war-engine, ready for any +undertaking, which it had been under McClellan. + +It numbered, according to one Federal statement, one hundred and +fifty-nine thousand three hundred men; but according to another, which +appears more reliable, one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and +artillery, and twelve thousand cavalry; in all, one hundred and +thirty-two thousand troops. The army of General Lee was considerably +smaller. Two divisions of Longstreet's corps had been sent to Suffolk, +south of James River, to obtain supplies in that region, and this +force was not present at the battle of Chancellorsville. The actual +numbers under Lee's command will appear from the following statement +of Colonel Walter H. Taylor, assistant adjutant-general of the army: + + Our strength at Chancellorsville: + Anderson and McLaws........................... 13,000 + Jackson (Hill, Rodes, and Trimble)............ 21,000 + Early (Fredericksburg)........................ 6,000 + _______ + 40,000 + Cavalry and artillery......................... 7,000 + _______ + Total of all arms............................. 47,000 + +As the Federal infantry numbered one hundred and twenty thousand, +according to the smallest estimate of Federal authorities, and Lee's +infantry forty thousand, the Northern force was precisely three times +as large as the Southern. + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of Chancellorsville.] + +General Hooker had already proved himself an excellent administrative +officer, and his plan of campaign against Lee seemed to show that he +also possessed generalship of a high order. He had determined to pass +the Rappahannock above Fredericksburg, turn Lee's flank, and thus +force him to deliver battle under this disadvantage, or retire upon +Richmond. The safe passage of the stream was the first great object, +and General Hooker's dispositions to effect this were highly +judicious. A force of about twenty thousand men was to pass the +Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and thus produce upon Lee the +impression that the Federal army was about to renew the attempt in +which they had failed under General Burnside. While General Lee's +attention was engaged by the force thus threatening his right, the +main body of the Northern army was to cross the Rappahannock and +Rapidan above Chancellorsville, and, sweeping down rapidly upon +the Confederate left flank, take up a strong position between +Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. The column which had crossed at +the latter point to engage the attention of the Confederate commander, +was then to recross to the northern bank, move rapidly to the upper +fords, which the advance of the main body would by that time have +uncovered; and, a second time crossing to the southern bank, unite +with the rest. Thus the whole Federal army would be concentrated +on the southern bank of the Rappahannock, and General Lee would be +compelled to leave his camps on the hills of the Massaponnax, and +fight upon ground dictated by his adversary. If he did not thus accept +battle, but one other course was left. He must fall back in the +direction of Richmond, to prevent his adversary from attacking his +rear, and capturing or destroying his army. + +In order to insure the success of this promising plan of attack, a +strong column of well-mounted cavalry was to cross in advance of the +army and strike for the railroads in Lee's rear, connecting him with +Richmond and the Southwest. Thus flanked or cut off, and with all his +communications destroyed, it seemed probable that General Lee would +suffer decisive defeat, and that the Federal army would march in +triumph to the capture of the Confederate capital. + +This plan was certainly excellent, and seemed sure to succeed. It was, +however, open to some criticism, as the event showed. General Hooker +was detaching, in the beginning of the movement, his whole cavalry +force for a distant operation, and dividing his army by the _ruse_ +at Fredericksburg, in face of an adversary not likely to permit that +great error to escape him. While advancing thus, apparently to the +certain destruction of Lee, General Hooker was leaving a vulnerable +point in his own armor. Lee would probably discover that point, and +aim to pierce his opponent there. At most, General Hooker was wrapping +in huge folds the sword of Lee, not remembering that there was danger +to the _cordon_ as well as to the weapon. + +Such was the plan which General Hooker had devised to bring back that +success of the Federal arms in the spring of 1863 which had attended +them in the early spring of 1862. At this latter period a heavy cloud +rested upon the Confederate cause. Donaldson and Roanoke Island, Fort +Macon, and the city of New Orleans, had then fallen; at Elkhorn, +Kernstown, Newbern, and other places, the Federal forces had achieved +important successes. These had been followed, however, by the Southern +victories on the Chickahominy, at Manassas, and at Fredericksburg. +Near this last-named spot now, where the year had wound up with so +mortifying a Federal failure, General Hooker hoped to reverse events, +and recover the Federal glories of the preceding spring. + +Operations began as early as the middle of March, when General +Averill, with about three thousand cavalry, crossed the Rappahannock +at Kelly's Ford, above its junction with the Rapidan, and made a +determined attack upon nearly eight hundred horsemen there, under +General Fitz Lee, with the view of passing through Culpepper, crossing +the Rapidan, and cutting Lee's communications in the direction of +Gordonsville. The obstinate stand of General Fitz Lee's small force, +however, defeated this object, and General Averill was forced to +retreat beyond the Rappahannock again with considerable loss, and +abandon his expedition. In this engagement fell Major John Pelham, who +had been styled in Lee's first report of the battle of Fredericksburg +"the gallant Pelham," and whose brave stand on the Port Royal road had +drawn from Lee the exclamation, "It is glorious to see such courage in +one so young." Pelham was, in spite of his youth, an artillerist of +the first order of excellence, and his loss was a serious one, in +spite of his inferior rank. + +After this action every thing remained quiet until toward the end of +April--General Lee continuing to hold the same position with his right +at Fredericksburg, his left at the fords near Chancellorsville, and +his cavalry, under Stuart, guarding the banks of the Rappahannock in +Culpepper. On the 27th of April, General Hooker began his forward +movement, by advancing three corps of his army--the Fifth, Eleventh, +and Twelfth--to the banks of the river, near Kelly's Ford; and, on the +next day, this force was joined by three additional corps--the First, +Third, and Sixth--and the whole, on Wednesday (the 29th), crossed the +river without difficulty. That this movement was a surprise to Lee, +as has been supposed by some persons, is a mistake. Stuart was an +extremely vigilant picket-officer, and both he and General Lee were in +the habit of sending accomplished scouts to watch any movements in the +Federal camps. As soon as these movements--which, in a large army, +cannot be concealed--took place, information was always promptly +brought, and it was not possible that General Hooker could move three +large army corps toward the Rappahannock, as he did on April 27th, +without early knowledge on the part of his adversary of so important a +circumstance. + +As the Federal infantry thus advanced, the large cavalry force began +also to move through Culpepper toward the Central Railroad in Lee's +rear. This column was commanded by General Stoneman, formerly a +subordinate officer in Lee's old cavalry regiment in the United States +Army; and, as General Stoneman's operations were entirely separate +from those of the infantry, and not of much importance, we shall here +dismiss them in a few words. He proceeded rapidly across Culpepper, +harassed in his march by a small body of horse, under General William +H.F. Lee; reached the Central Railroad at Trevillian's, below +Gordonsville, and tore up a portion of it; passed on to James River, +ravaging the country, and attempted the destruction of the Columbia +Aqueduct, but did not succeed in so doing; when, hearing probably of +the unforeseen result at Chancellorsville, he hastened back to the +Rapidan, pursued and harassed as in his advance, and, crossing, +regained the Federal lines beyond the Rappahannock. + +To return to the movements of the main Federal force, under the +personal command of General Hooker. This advanced rapidly across the +angle between the two rivers, with no obstruction but that offered by +the cavalry under Stuart, and on Thursday, April 30th, had crossed the +Rapidan at Germanna and Ely's Fords, and was steadily concentrating +around Chancellorsville. At the same time the Second Corps, under +General Couch, was preparing to cross at United States Ford, a few +miles distant; and General Sedgwick, commanding the detached force at +Fredericksburg, having crossed and threatened Lee, in obedience to +orders, now began passing back to the northern bank again, in order to +march up and join the main body. Thus all things seemed in train to +succeed on the side of the Federal army. General Hooker was over with +about one hundred thousand men--twenty thousand additional troops +would soon join him. Lee's army seemed scattered, and not "in hand" +to oppose him; and there was some ground for the ebullition of joy +attributed to General Hooker, as he saw his great force massing +steadily in the vicinity of Chancellorsville. To those around him he +exclaimed: "The rebel army is now the legitimate property of the Army +of the Potomac. They may as well pack up their haversacks and make for +Richmond, and I shall be after them!" + +In a congratulatory order to his troops, he declared that they +occupied now a position so strong that "the enemy must either +ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defences and give us +battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." + +Such were the joyful anticipations of General Hooker, who seems to +have regarded the campaign as virtually ended by the successful +passage of the river. His expressions and his general order would seem +to indicate an irrepressible joy, but it is doubtful if the skilful +soldiers under him shared this somewhat juvenile enthusiasm. The gray +cavalier at Fredericksburg was not reported to be retiring, as was +expected. On the contrary, the Southern troops seemed to be moving +forward with the design of accepting battle. + +Lee had determined promptly upon that course as soon as Stuart sent +him information of the enemy's movements. Chancellorsville was at once +seen to be the point for which General Hooker was aiming, and Lee's +dispositions were made for confronting him there and fighting a +pitched battle. The brigades of Posey and Mahone, of Anderson's +Division, had been in front of Banks's and Ely's Fords, and this force +of about eight thousand men was promptly ordered to fall back on +Chancellorsville. At the same time Wright's brigade was sent up to +reenforce this column; but the enemy continuing to advance in great +force, General Anderson, commanding the whole, fell back from +Chancellorsville to Tabernacle Church, on the road to Fredericksburg, +where he was joined on the next day by Jackson, whom Lee had sent +forward to his assistance. + +The _ruse_ at Fredericksburg had not long deceived the Confederate +commander. General Sedgwick, with three corps, in all about twenty-two +thousand men, had crossed just below Fredericksburg on the 29th, and +Lee had promptly directed General Jackson to oppose him there. Line of +battle was accordingly formed in the enemy's front beyond Hamilton's +Crossing; but as, neither on that day nor the next, any further +advance was made by General Sedgwick, the whole movement was seen to +be a feint to cover the real operations above. Lee accordingly turned +his attention in the direction of Chancellorsville. Jackson, as we +have related, was sent up to reenforce General Anderson, and Lee +followed with the rest of the army, with the exception of about six +thousand men, under General Early, whom he left to defend the crossing +at Fredericksburg. + +Such were the positions of the opposing forces on the 1st day of May. +Each commander had displayed excellent generalship in the preliminary +movements preceding the actual fighting. At last, however, the +opposing lines were facing each other, and the real struggle was about +to begin. + + + + +II. + +THE WILDERNESS. + + +The "Wilderness," as the region around Chancellorsville is called, is +so strange a country, and the character of the ground had so important +a bearing upon the result of the great battle fought there, that a +brief description of the locality will be here presented. + +The region is a nearly unbroken expanse of dense thicket pierced only +by narrow and winding roads, over which the traveller rides, mile +after mile, without seeing a single human habitation. It would seem, +indeed, that the whole barren and melancholy tract had been given up +to the owl, the whippoorwill, and the moccasin, its original tenants. +The plaintive cries of the night-birds alone break the gloomy silence +of the desolate region, and the shadowy thicket stretching in +every direction produces a depressing effect upon the feelings. +Chancellorsville is in the centre of this singular territory, on +the main road, or rather roads, running from Orange Court-House to +Fredericksburg, from which latter place it is distant about ten miles. +In spite of its imposing name, Chancellorsville was simply a large +country-house, originally inhabited by a private family, but afterward +used as a roadside inn. A little to the westward the "Old Turnpike" +and Orange Plank-road unite as they approach the spot, where they +again divide, to unite a second time a few miles to the east, where +they form the main highway to Fredericksburg. From the north come in +roads from United States and Ely's Fords; Germanna Ford is northwest; +from the south runs the "Brock Road" in the direction of the Rapidan, +passing a mile or two west of the place. + +The whole country, the roads, the chance houses, the silence, the +unending thicket, in this dreary wilderness, produce a sombre effect. +A writer, familiar with it, says: "There all is wild, desolate, and +lugubrious. Thicket, undergrowth, and jungle, stretch for miles, +impenetrable and untouched. Narrow roads wind on forever between +melancholy masses of stunted and gnarled oak. Little sunlight shines +there. The face of Nature is dreary and sad. It was so before the +battle; it is not more cheerful to-day, when, as you ride along, you +see fragments of shell, rotting knapsacks, rusty gun-barrels, bleached +bones, and grinning skulls.... Into this jungle," continues the same +writer, "General Hooker penetrated. It was the wolf in his den, ready +to tear any one who approached. A battle there seemed impossible. +Neither side could see its antagonist. Artillery could not move; +cavalry could not operate; the very infantry had to flatten their +bodies to glide between the stunted trees. That an army of one hundred +and twenty thousand men should have chosen that spot to fight forty +thousand, and not only chosen it, but made it a hundred times more +impenetrable by felling trees, erecting breastworks, disposing +artillery _en masse_ to sweep every road and bridle-path which led to +Chancellorsville--this fact seemed incredible." + +It was no part of the original plan of the Federal commander to permit +himself to be cooped up in this difficult and embarrassing region, +where it was impossible to manoeuvre his large army. The selection of +the Wilderness around Chancellorsville, as the ground of battle, was +dictated by Lee. General Hooker, it seems, endeavored to avoid being +thus shut up in the thicket, and hampered in his movements. Finding +that the Confederate force, retiring from in front of Ely's and United +States Fords, had, on reaching Chancellorsville, continued to fall +back in the direction of Fredericksburg, he followed them steadily, +passed through the Wilderness, and, emerging into the open country +beyond, rapidly began forming line of battle on ground highly +favorable to the manoeuvring of his large force in action. A glance at +the map will indicate the importance of this movement, and the great +advantages secured by it. The left of General Hooker's line, nearest +the river, was at least five miles in advance of Chancellorsville, and +commanded Banks's Ford, thereby shortening fully one-half the distance +of General Sedgwick's march from Fredericksburg, by enabling him to +use the ford in question as a place of crossing to the south bank, and +uniting his column with the main body. The centre and right of the +Federal army had in like manner emerged from the thickets of the +Wilderness, and occupied cleared ground, sufficiently elevated to +afford them great advantages. + +This was in the forenoon of the 1st of May, when there was no force in +General Hooker's front, except the eight thousand men of Anderson +at Tabernacle Church. Jackson had marched at midnight from the +Massaponnax Hills, with a general order from Lee to "attack and +repulse the enemy," but had not yet arrived. There was thus no serious +obstacle in the path of the Federal commander, who had it in his +power, it would seem, to mass his entire army on the commanding ground +which his vanguard already occupied. Lee was aware of the importance +of the position, and, had he not been delayed by the feint of General +Sedgwick, would himself have seized upon it. As it was, General Hooker +seemed to have won the prize in the race, and Lee would, apparently, +be forced to assail him on his strong ground, or retire in the +direction of Richmond. + +The movements of the enemy had, however, been so rapid that Lee's +dispositions seem to have been made before they were fully developed +and accurately known to him. He had sent forward Jackson, and now +proceeded to follow in person, leaving only a force of about six +thousand men, under Early, to defend the crossing at Fredericksburg. +The promptness of these movements of the Confederate commander is +noticed by Northern writers. "Lee, with instant perception of the +situation," says an able historian, "now seized the masses of his +force, and, with the grasp of a Titan, swung them into position, as +a giant might fling a mighty stone from a sling." [Footnote: Mr. +Swinton, in "Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac." Whether the force +under Lee could be justly described as "mighty," however, the reader +will form his own opinion.] + +Such were the relative positions of the two armies on the 1st of May: +General Hooker's forces well in advance of Chancellorsville, and +rapidly forming line of battle on a ridge in open country; General +Lee's, stretching along the whole distance, from Fredericksburg to +Tabernacle Church, and certainly not in any condition to deliver +or accept battle. The Federal commander seemed to have clearly +outgeneralled his adversary, and, humanly speaking, the movements of +the two armies, up to this time, seemed to point to a decisive Federal +success. + +General Hooker's own act reversed all this brilliant promise. At the +very moment when his army was steadily concentrating on the favorable +ground in advance of Chancellorsville, the Federal commander, for some +reason which has never been divulged, sent a peremptory order that +the entire force should fall back into the Wilderness. This order, +reversing every thing, is said to have been received "with mingled +amazement and incredulity" by his officers, two of whom sent him word +that, from the great advantages of the position, it should be "held at +all hazards." General Hooker's reply was, "Return at once." The army +accordingly fell back to Chancellorsville. + +This movement undoubtedly lost General Hooker all the advantages which +up to that moment he had secured. What his motive for the order in +question was, it is impossible for the present writer to understand, +unless the approach of Lee powerfully affected his imagination, and he +supposed the thicket around Chancellorsville to be the best ground to +receive that assault which the bold advance of his opponent appeared +to foretell. Whatever his motive, General Hooker withdrew his lines +from the open country, fell back to the vicinity of Chancellorsville, +and began to erect elaborate defences, behind which to receive Lee's +attack. + +In this backward movement he was followed and harassed by the forces +of Jackson, the command of Anderson being in front. Jackson's maxim +was to always press an enemy when he was retiring; and no sooner had +the Federal forces begun to move, than he made a prompt attack. He +continued to follow them up toward Chancellorsville until nightfall, +when the fighting ceased, the Confederate advance having been pushed +to Alrich's house, within about two miles of Chancellorsville. Here +the outer line of the Federal works was found, and Jackson paused. He +was unwilling at so late an hour to attempt an assault upon them with +his small force, and, directing further movements to cease, awaited +the arrival of the commander-in-chief. + +Lee arrived, and a consultation was held. The question now was, the +best manner, with a force of about thirty-five thousand, to drive the +Federal army, of about one hundred thousand, beyond the Rappahannock. + + + + +III. + +LEE'S DETERMINATION. + + +On this night, of the 1st of May, the situation of affairs was strange +indeed. + +General Hooker had crossed the Rappahannock with a force of one +hundred and twenty thousand infantry, and had, without obstruction, +secured a position so strong, he declared, that Lee must either +"ingloriously fly," or fight a battle in which "certain destruction +awaited him." So absolutely convinced, indeed, was the Federal +commander, of the result of the coming encounter, that he had +jubilantly described the Southern army as "the legitimate property of +the Army of the Potomac," which, in the event of the retreat of the +Confederates, would "be after them." There seemed just grounds for +this declaration, whatever question may have arisen of the good taste +displayed by General Hooker in making it. The force opposed to him was +in all about forty-seven thousand men, but, as cavalry take small +part in pitched battles, Lee's fighting force was only about forty +thousand. To drive back forty thousand with one hundred and twenty +thousand would not apparently prove difficult, and it was no doubt +this conviction which had occasioned the joyous exclamation of General +Hooker. + +But his own act, and the nerve of his adversary, had defeated every +thing. Instead of retreating with his small force upon Richmond, Lee +had advanced to accept or deliver battle. This bold movement, which +General Hooker does not seem to have anticipated, paralyzed his +energies. He had not only crossed the two rivers without loss, but +had taken up a strong position, where he could manoeuvre his army +perfectly, when, in consequence of Lee's approach with the evident +intent of fighting, he had ceased to advance, hesitated, and ended by +retiring. This is a fair summary of events up to the night of the 1st +of May. General Hooker had advanced boldly; he was now falling back. +He had foretold that his adversary would "ingloriously fly;" and that +adversary was pressing him closely. The Army of the Potomac, he had +declared, would soon be "after" the Army of Northern Virginia; but, +from the appearance of things at the moment, the Army of Northern +Virginia seemed "after" the Army of the Potomac. We use General +Hooker's own phrases--they are expressive, if not dignified. They +are indeed suited to the subject, which contains no little of the +grotesque. That anticipations and expressions so confident should have +been met with a "commentary of events" so damaging, was sufficient, +had the occasion not been so tragic, to cause laughter in the gravest +of human beings. + +Lee's intent was now unmistakable. Instead of falling back from the +Rappahannock to some line of defence nearer Richmond, where the force +under Longstreet, at Suffolk, might have rejoined him, with other +reenforcements, he had plainly resolved, with the forty or fifty +thousand men of his command, to meet General Hooker in open battle, +and leave the event to Providence. A design so bold would seem to +indicate in Lee a quality which at that time he was not thought to +possess--the willingness to risk decisive defeat by military movements +depending for their success upon good fortune alone. Such seemed now +the only _deus ex machina_ that could extricate the Southern army from +disaster; and a crushing defeat at that time would have had terrible +results. There was no other force, save the small body under +Longstreet and a few local troops, to protect Richmond. Had Lee been +disabled and afterward pressed by General Hooker, it is impossible to +see that any thing but the fall of the Confederate capital could have +been the result. + +From these speculations and comments we pass to the narrative of +actual events. General Hooker had abandoned the strong position in +advance of Chancellorsville, and retired to the fastnesses around +that place, to receive the Southern attack. His further proceedings +indicated that he anticipated an assault from Lee. The Federal troops +had no sooner regained the thicket from which they had advanced in +the morning, than they were ordered to erect elaborate works for the +protection of infantry and artillery. This was promptly begun, and by +the next morning heavy defences had sprung up as if by magic. Trees +had been felled, and the trunks interwoven so as to present a +formidable obstacle to the Southern attack. In front of these works +the forest had been levelled, and the fallen trunks were left lying +where they fell, forming thus an _abatis_ sufficient to seriously +delay an assaulting force, which would thus be, at every step of +the necessarily slow advance, under fire. On the roads piercing the +thicket in the direction of the Confederates, cannon were posted, to +rake the approaches to the Federal position. Having thus made his +preparations to receive Lee's attack, General Hooker awaited that +attack, no doubt confident of his ability to repulse it. + +His line resembled in some degree the two sides of an oblong +square--the longer side extending east and west in front, that is to +say, south of Chancellorsville, and the shorter side north and south +nearly, east of the place. His right, in the direction of Wilderness +Tavern, was comparatively undefended, as it was not expected that Lee +would venture upon a movement against that remote point. This line, +it would appear, was formed with a view to the possible necessity of +falling back toward the Rappahannock. A commander determined to risk +everything would, it seems, have fronted Lee boldly, with a line +running north and south, east of Chancellorsville. General Hooker's +main front was nearly east and west, whatever may have been his object +in so establishing it. + +On the night of the 1st of May, as we have said, Lee and Jackson held +a consultation to determine the best method of attacking the Federal +forces on the next day. All the information which they had been able +to obtain of the Federal positions east and south of Chancellorsville, +indicated that the defences in both these quarters were such as +to render an assault injudicious. Jackson had found his advance +obstructed by strong works near Alrich's house, on the road running +eastward from the enemy's camps; and General Stuart and General +Wright, who had moved to the left, and advanced upon the enemy's front +near the point called "The Furnace," had discovered the existence of +powerful defences in that quarter also. They had been met by a fierce +and sudden artillery-fire from Federal epaulements; and here, as to +the east of Chancellorsville, the enemy had evidently fortified their +position. + +Under these circumstances, it was necessary to discover, if possible, +some more favorable opening for an attack. There remained but one +other--General Hooker's right, west of Chancellorsville; but to divide +the army, as would be necessary in order to attack in that quarter, +seemed an undertaking too hazardous to be thought of. To execute such +a plan of assault with any thing like a hope of success, General Lee +would be compelled to detach considerably more than half of his entire +force. This would leave in General Hooker's front a body of troops too +inconsiderable to make any resistance if he advanced his lines, and +thus the movement promised to result in the certain destruction of +one portion of the army, to be followed by a triumphant march of the +Federal forces upon Richmond. In the council of war between Lee and +Jackson, on the night of the 1st of May, these considerations were +duly weighed, and the whole situation discussed. In the end, +the hazardous movement against General Hooker's right, beyond +Chancellorsville, was determined upon. This was first suggested, it is +said, by Jackson--others have attributed the suggestion to Lee. The +point is not material. The plan was adopted, and Lee determined to +detach a column of about twenty-one thousand men, under Jackson, to +make the attack on the next day. His plan was to await the arrival +of Jackson at the point selected for attack, meanwhile engaging the +enemy's attention by demonstrations in their front. When Jackson's +guns gave the signal that he was engaged, the force in front of the +enemy was to advance and participate in the assault; and thus, struck +in front and flank at once. General Hooker, it was hoped, would be +defeated and driven back across the Rappahannock. + +There was another possible result, the defeat of Lee and Jackson by +General Hooker. But the desperate character of the situation rendered +it necessary to disregard this risk. + +By midnight this plan had been determined upon, and at dawn Jackson +began to move. + +JACKSON'S ATTACK AND FALL. + +On the morning of the 2d of May, General Lee was early in the saddle, +and rode to the front, where he remained in personal command of the +force facing the enemy's main line of battle throughout the day. + +This force consisted of the divisions of Anderson and McLaws, and +amounted to thirteen thousand men. That left at Fredericksburg, as we +have said, under General Early, numbered six thousand men; and the +twenty-one thousand which Jackson had taken with him, to strike at the +enemy's right, made up the full body of troops under Lee, that is to +say, a little over forty thousand, artillerymen included. The cavalry, +numbering four or five thousand, were, like the absent Federal +cavalry, not actually engaged. + +In accordance with the plan agreed upon between Lee and Jackson, the +force left in the enemy's front proceeded to engage their attention, +and desultory fighting continued throughout the day. General +Lee meanwhile awaited the sound of Jackson's guns west of +Chancellorsville, and must have experienced great anxiety at this +trying moment, although, with his accustomed self-control, he +displayed little or none. We shall now leave this comparatively +interesting portion of the field, and invite the attention of the +reader to the movements of General Jackson, who was about to strike +his last great blow, and lose his own life in the moment of victory. + +Jackson set out at early dawn, having under him three divisions, +commanded by Rhodes and Trimble, in all about twenty-one thousand men, +and directed his march over the Old Mine road toward "The Furnace," +about a mile or so from and in front of the enemy's main line. Stuart +moved with his cavalry on the flank of the column, with the view of +masking it from observation; and it reached and passed "The Furnace," +where a regiment with artillery was left to guard the road leading +thence to Chancellorsville, and repel any attack which might be made +upon the rear of the column. Just as the rear-guard passed on, the +anticipated attack took place, and the regiment thus left, the +Twenty-third Georgia, was suddenly surrounded and the whole force +captured. The Confederate artillery, however, opened promptly upon the +assailing force, drove it back toward Chancellorsville, and Jackson +proceeded on his march without further interruption. He had thus been +seen, but it seems that the whole movement was regarded by General +Hooker as a retreat of the Confederates southward, a bend in the road +at this point toward the south leading to that supposition. + +"We know the enemy is flying," General Hooker wrote, on the afternoon +of this day, to General Sedgwick, "trying to save his trains; two of +Sickles's divisions are among them." + +Soon after leaving "The Furnace," however, Jackson, following the same +wood-road, turned westward, and, marching rapidly between the walls of +thicket, struck into the Brock road, which runs in a direction nearly +northwest toward Germanna and Ely's Fords. This would enable him to +reach, without discovery, the Orange Plank-road, or Old Turnpike, west +of Chancellorsville, as the woods through which the narrow highway +ran completely barred him from observation. Unless Federal spies were +lurking in the covert, or their scouting-parties of cavalry came in +sight of the column, it would move as secure from discovery as though +it were a hundred miles distant from the enemy; and against the +latter danger of cavalry-scouts, Stuart's presence with his horsemen +provided. The movement was thus made without alarming the enemy, and +the head of Jackson's column reached the Orange Plank-road, near +which point General Fitz Lee invited Jackson to ride up to a slight +elevation, from which the defences of the enemy were visible. Jackson +did so, and a glance showed him that he was not yet sufficiently upon +the enemy's flank. He accordingly turned to an aide and said, pointing +to the Orange Plank-road: "Tell my column to cross that road." + +The column did so, continuing to advance toward the Rapidan until it +reached the Old Turnpike running from the "Old Wilderness Tavern" +toward Chancellorsville. At this point, Jackson found himself full on +the right flank of General Hooker, and, halting his troops, proceeded +promptly to form line of battle for the attack. It was now past four +in the afternoon, and the declining sun warned the Confederates to +lose no time. The character of the ground was, however, such as to +dismay any but the most resolute, and it seemed impossible to execute +the intended movement with any thing like rapidity in such a jungle. +On both sides of the Old Turnpike rose a wall of thicket, through +which it was impossible to move a regular line of battle. All the +rules of war must be reversed in face of this obstacle, and the +assault on General Hooker's works seemed destined to be made in column +of infantry companies, and with the artillery moving in column of +pieces. + +Despite these serious obstacles, Jackson hastened to form such order +of battle as was possible, and with Rodes's division in front, +followed by Colston (Trimble) and Hill, advanced steadily down the +Old Turnpike, toward Chancellorsville. He had determined, not only to +strike the enemy's right flank, but to execute, if possible, a still +more important movement. This was, to extend his lines steadily to +the left, swing round his left wing, and so interpose himself between +General Hooker and the Rapidan. This design of unsurpassed boldness +continued to burn in Jackson's brain until he fell, and almost his +last words were an allusion to it. + +The Federal line of works, which the Confederates thus advanced to +assault, extended across the Old Turnpike near the house of Melzi +Chancellor, and behind was a second line, which was covered by the +Federal artillery in the earthworks near Chancellorsville. The +Eleventh Corps, under General Howard, was that destined to receive +Jackson's assault. This was made at a few minutes past five in the +evening, and proved decisive. The Federal troops were surprised at +their suppers, and were wholly unprepared. They had scarcely time to +run to their muskets, which were stacked[1] near at hand, when Rodes +burst upon them, stormed their works, over which the troops marched +almost unresisted, and in a few minutes the entire corps holding the +Federal right was in hopeless disorder. Rodes pressed on, followed by +the division in his rear, and the affair became rather a hunt than a +battle. The Confederates pursued with yells, killing or capturing all +with whom they could come up; the Federal artillery rushed off at a +gallop, striking against tree-trunks and overturning, and the army +of General Hooker seemed about to be hopelessly routed. This is +the account given by Northern writers, who represent the effect of +Jackson's sudden attack as indescribable. It had a serious effect, as +will be subsequently shown, on the _morale_ both of General Hooker and +his army. While opposing the heavy demonstrations of General Lee's +forces on their left and in front, this storm had burst upon them from +a quarter in which no one expected it; they were thus caught between +two fires, and, ignorant as they were of the small number of the +Confederates, must have regarded the army as seriously imperilled. + +[Footnote 1: "Their arms were stacked, and the men were away from +them and scattered about for the purpose of cooking their +suppers."--_General Hooker_.] + +Jackson continued to pursue the enemy on the road to Chancellorsville, +intent now upon making his blow decisive by swinging round his left +and cutting off the Federal army from the Rappahannock. It was +impossible, however, to execute so important a movement until his +troops were well in hand, and the two divisions which had made the +attack had become mixed up in a very confused manner. They were +accordingly directed to halt, and General A.P. Hill, whose division +had not been engaged, was sent for and ordered to advance to the +front, thus affording the disordered divisions an opportunity to +reform their broken lines. + +Soon after dispatching this order, Jackson rode out in front of his +line, on the Chancellorsville road, in order to reconnoitre in person, +and ascertain, if possible, the position and movements of the enemy, +then within a few hundred yards of him. It was now between nine and +ten o'clock at night. The fighting had temporarily ceased, and the +moon, half-seen through misty clouds, lit up the dreary thickets, in +which no sound was heard but the incessant and melancholy cries of the +whippoorwills. Jackson had ridden forward about a hundred yards in +advance of his line, on the turnpike, accompanied by a few officers, +and had checked his horse to listen for any sound coming from the +direction of Chancellorsville, when suddenly a volley was fired by his +own infantry on the right of the road, apparently directed at him +and his companions, under the impression that they were a Federal +reconnoitring-party. Several of the party fell from their horses, +and, wheeling to the left, Jackson galloped into the wood to escape a +renewal of the fire. The result was melancholy. He passed directly in +front of his men, who had been warned to guard against an attack of +cavalry. In their excited state, so near the enemy, and surrounded by +darkness, Jackson was supposed to be a Federal cavalryman. The men +accordingly fired upon him, at not more than twenty paces, and wounded +him in three places--twice in the left arm, and once in the right +hand. At the instant when he was struck he was holding his bridle with +his left hand, and had his right hand raised, either to protect his +face from boughs, or in the strange gesture habitual to him in battle. +As the bullets passed through his arm he dropped the bridle of his +horse from his left hand, but seized it again with the bleeding +fingers of his right hand, when the animal, wheeling suddenly, darted +toward Chancellorsville. In doing so he passed beneath the limb of a +pine-tree, which struck the wounded man in the face, tore off his cap, +and threw him back on his horse, nearly dismounting him. He succeeded, +however, in retaining his seat, and regained the road, where he was +received in the arms of Captain Wilbourn, one of his staff-officers, +and laid at the foot of a tree. + +The fire had suddenly ceased, and all was again still. Only Captain +Wilbourn and a courier were with Jackson, but a shadowy figure +on horseback was seen in the edge of the wood near, silent and +motionless. When Captain Wilbourn called to this person, and directed +him to ride back and see what troops had thus fired upon them, the +silent figure disappeared, and did not return. Who this could have +been was long a mystery, but it appears, from a recent statement of +General Revere, of the Federal army, that it was himself. He had +advanced to the front to reconnoitre, had come on the group at the +foot of the tree, and, receiving the order above mentioned, had +thought it prudent not to reveal his real character. He accordingly +rode into the wood, and regained his own lines. + +A few words will terminate our account of this melancholy event in the +history of the war--the fall of Jackson. He was supported to the rear +by his officers, and during this painful progress gave his last order. +General Pender recognized him, and stated that he feared he could +not hold his position. Jackson's eye flashed, and he replied with +animation, "You must hold your ground, General Pender! You must hold +your ground, sir!" + +He was now so weak as to be unable to walk, even leaning on the +shoulders of his officers. He was accordingly placed on a litter, +and borne toward the rear. Before the litter had gone far a furious +artillery-fire swept the road from the direction of Chancellorsville, +and the bearers lowered it to the earth and lay down beside it. The +fire relaxing, they again moved, but one of the bearers stumbled over +a root and let the litter fall. Jackson groaned, and as the moonlight +fell upon his face it was seen to be so pale that he appeared to be +about to die. When asked if he was much hurt, he opened his eyes, +however, and said, "No, my friend, don't trouble yourself about me." + +He was then borne to the rear, placed in an ambulance, and carried to +the hospital at the Old Wilderness Tavern, where he remained until he +was taken to Guinea's station, where he died. + +Such was the fate of Lee's great lieutenant--the man whom he spoke of +as his "right arm"--whose death struck a chill to the hearts of the +Southern people from which they never recovered. + + + + +V. + +THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. + + +General Lee was not informed of the misfortune which had befallen his +great lieutenant until toward daybreak on the next morning. + +This fact was doubtless attributable to the difficult character of +the country; the interposition of the Federal army between the two +Confederate wings, which rendered a long detour necessary in reaching +Lee; and the general confusion and dismay attending Jackson's fall. +It would be difficult, indeed, to form an exaggerated estimate of the +condition of Jackson's corps at this time. The troops had been thrown +into what seemed inextricable disorder, in consequence of the darkness +and the headlong advance of the Second (Calston's) Division upon the +heels of Rhodes, which had resulted in a complete intermingling of +the two commands; and, to make matters worse, General A.P. Hill, the +second in command, had been wounded and disabled, nearly at the +same moment with Jackson, by the artillery-fire of the enemy. This +transferred the command, of military right, to the brave and skilful +General Rhodes, the ranking officer after Hill; but Rhodes was only a +brigadier-general, and had, for that reason, never come into personal +contact with the whole corps, who knew little of him, and was not +aware of Jackson's plans, and distrusted, under these circumstances, +his ability to conduct to a successful issue so vitally important an +operation as that intrusted to this great wing of the Southern army. +Stuart, who had gone with his cavalry toward Ely's Ford to make a +demonstration on the Federal rear, was therefore sent for, and rode +as rapidly as possible to the scene of action, and the command was +formally relinquished to him by General Rhodes. Jackson sent Stuart +word from Wilderness Tavern to "act upon his own judgment, and do +what he thought best, as he had implicit confidence in him;" but, +in consequence of the darkness and confusion, it was impossible for +Stuart to promptly reform the lines, and thus all things remained +entangled and confused. + +It was essential, however, to inform General Lee of the state of +affairs, and Jackson's chief-of-staff, Colonel Pendleton, requested +Captain Wilbourn, who had witnessed all the details of the painful +scene in the wood, to go to General Lee and acquaint him with what +had taken place, and receive his orders. From a MS. statement of this +meritorious officer, we take these brief details of the interview: + +Lee was found lying asleep in a little clump of pines near his front, +covered with an oil-cloth to protect him from the dews of the night, +and surrounded by the officers of his staff, also asleep. It was +not yet daybreak, and the darkness prevented the messenger from +distinguishing the commander-in-chief from the rest. He accordingly +called for Major Taylor, Lee's adjutant-general, and that officer +promptly awoke when he was informed of what had taken place. As the +conversation continued, the sound awoke General Lee, who asked, "Who +is there?" Major Taylor informed him, and, rising upon his elbow, Lee +pointed to his blankets, and said: "Sit down here by me, captain, and +tell me all about the fight last evening." + +He listened without comment during the recital, but, when it was +finished, said with great feeling: "Ah! captain, any victory is dearly +bought which deprives us of the services of General Jackson, even for +a short time." + +From this reply it was evident that he did not regard the wounds +received by Jackson as of a serious character--as was natural, from +the fact that they were only flesh-wounds in the arm and hand--and +believed that the only result would be a temporary absence of his +lieutenant from command. As Captain Wilbourn continued to speak of the +incident, Lee added with greater emotion than at first: "Ah! don't +talk about it; thank God it is no worse!" + +He then remained silent, but seeing Captain Wilbourn rise, as if to +go, he requested him to remain, as he wished to "talk with him some +more," and proceeded to ask a number of questions in reference to the +position of the troops, who was in command, etc. When informed that +Rhodes was in temporary command, but that Stuart had been sent for, he +exclaimed: "Rhodes is a gallant, courageous, and energetic officer;" +and asked where Jackson and Stuart could be found, calling for paper +and pencil to write to them. Captain Wilbourn added that, from what he +had heard Jackson say, he thought he intended to get possession, if +possible, of the road to United States Ford in the Federal rear, and +so cut them off from the river that night, or early in the morning. At +these words, Lee rose quickly and said with animation, "These people +must be pressed to-day." + +It would seem that at this moment a messenger--probably Captain +Hotchkiss, Jackson's skilful engineer--arrived from Wilderness Tavern, +bringing a note from the wounded general. Lee read it with much +feeling, and dictated the following reply: + + GENERAL: I have just received your note informing me that you were + wounded. I cannot express my regret at the occurrence. Could I + have directed events, I should have chosen, for the good of the + country, to have been disabled in your stead. + + I congratulate you upon the victory, which is due to your skill + and energy. R.E. LEE, _General_. + +This was dispatched with a second note to Stuart, directing him to +assume command, and press the enemy at dawn. Lee then mounted his +horse, and, just as the day began to break, formed line of battle +opposite the enemy's front, his line extending on the right to +the plank-road running from Chancellorsville in the direction of +Fredericksburg. This force, under the personal command of Lee, +amounted, as we have said, originally to about thirteen thousand men; +and, as their loss had not been very severe in the demonstrations made +against the enemy on the preceding days, they were in good condition. +The obvious course now was to place the troops in a position which +would enable them, in the event of Stuart's success in driving the +Federal right, to unite the left of Lee's line with the right of +Stuart, and so press the Federal army back on Chancellorsville and the +river. We shall now return to the left wing of the army, which, in +spite of the absence of the commanding general, was the column of +attack, which was looked to for the most important results. + +In response to the summons of the preceding night, Stuart had come +back from the direction of Ely's Ford, at a swift gallop, burning with +ardor at the thought of leading Jackson's great corps into battle. The +military ambition of this distinguished commander of Lee's horse was +great, and he had often chafed at the jests directed at the cavalry +arm, and at himself as "only a cavalry-officer." He had now presented +to him an opportunity of showing that he was a trained soldier, +competent by his nerve and military ability to lead any arm of the +service, and greeted the occasion with delight. The men of Jackson had +been accustomed to see that commander pass slowly along their lines +on a horse as sedate-looking as himself, a slow-moving figure, with +little of the "poetry of war" in his appearance. They now found +themselves commanded by a youthful and daring cavalier on a spirited +animal, with floating plume, silken sash, and a sabre which gleamed in +the moonlight, as its owner galloped to and fro cheering the men and +marshalling them for the coming assault As he led the lines afterward +with joyous vivacity, his sabre drawn, his plume floating proudly, one +of the men compared him to Henry of Navarre at the battle of Ivry. But +Stuart's spirit of wild gayety destroyed the romantic dignity of the +scene. He led the men of Jackson against General Hooker's breastworks +bristling with cannon, singing "Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of +the Wilderness!" + +This sketch will convey a correct idea of the officer who had now +grasped the baton falling from the hand of the great marshal of +Lee. It was probable that the advance of the infantry under such a +commander would partake of the rush and rapidity of a cavalry-charge; +and the sequel justified this view. + +At early dawn the Southern lines began to move. Either in consequence +of orders from Lee, or following his own conception, Stuart reversed +the movement of Jackson, who had aimed to swing round his left and cut +off the enemy. He seemed to have determined to extend his right, with +the view of uniting with the left of Anderson's division under Lee, +and enclosing the enemy in the angle near Chancellorsville. Lee had +moved at the same moment on their front, advancing steadily over all +obstacles, and a Northern writer, who witnessed the combined attack, +speaks of it in enthusiastic terms: "From the large brick house +which gives the name to this vicinity," says the writer, speaking +of Chancellorsville, "the enemy could be seen, sweeping slowly but +confidently, determinedly and surely, through the clearings which +extended in front. Nothing could excite more admiration for the +qualities of the veteran soldiers than the manner in which the enemy +swept out, as they moved steadily onward, the forces which were +opposed to them. We say it reluctantly, and for the first time, that +the enemy have shown the finest qualities, and we acknowledge on this +occasion their superiority in the open field to our own men. They +delivered their fire with precision, and were apparently inflexible +and immovable under the storm of bullets and shell which they were +constantly receiving. Coming to a piece of timber, which was occupied +by a division of our own men, half the number were detailed to clear +the woods. It seemed certain that here they would be repulsed, but +they marched right through the wood, driving our own soldiers out, who +delivered their fire and fell back, halted again, fired, and fell back +as before, seeming to concede to the enemy, as a matter of course, the +superiority which they evidently felt themselves. Our own men fought +well. There was no lack of courage, but an evident feeling that they +were destined to be beaten, and the only thing for them to do was to +fire and retreat." + +This description of the steady advance of the Southern line applies +rather to the first portion of the attack, which compelled the front +line of the Federal army to retire to the stronger ground in rear. +When this was reached, and the troops of Lee saw before them the last +citadel, the steady advance became a rush. The divisions of Anderson +and McLaws, on the right, made a determined charge upon the great +force under Generals Hancock, Slocum, and others, in that quarter, and +Stuart closed in on the Federal right, steadily extending his line to +join on to Anderson. + +The spectacle here was superb. As the troops rushed on, Stuart +shouted, "Charge! and remember Jackson!" and this watchword seemed to +drive the line forward. With Stuart leading them, and singing, in +his joyous voice, "Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of the +Wilderness!"--for courage, poetry, and seeming frivolity, were +strangely mingled in this great soldier--the troops went headlong +at the Federal works, and in a few moments the real struggle of the +battle of Chancellorsville had begun. + +From this instant, when the lines, respectively commanded in person +by Lee and by Stuart, closed in with the enemy, there was little +manoeuvring of any description. It was an open attempt of Lee, by hard +fighting, to crush in the enemy's front, and force them back upon the +river. In this arduous struggle it is due to Stuart to say that his +generalship largely decided the event, and the high commendation which +he afterward received from General Lee justifies the statement. As his +lines went to the attack, his quick military eye discerned an elevated +point on his right, from which it appeared an artillery-fire woulden +filade the Federal line. About thirty pieces of cannon were at once +hastened to this point, and a destructive fire opened on the lines +of General Slocum, which threw his troops into great confusion. So +serious was this fire that General Slocum sent word to General Hooker +that his front was being swept away by it, to which the sullen +response was, "I cannot make soldiers or ammunition!" + +General Hooker was indeed, it seems, at this moment in no mood to take +a hopeful view of affairs. The heavy assault of Jackson appears to +have as much demoralized the Federal commander as his troops. During +the night he had erected a semicircular line of works, in the form of +a redan, in his rear toward the river, behind which new works he no +doubt contemplated falling back. He now awaited the result of the +Southern attack, leaning against a pillar of the porch at the +Chancellorsville House, when a cannon-ball struck the pillar, throwing +it down, and so stunning the general as to prevent him from retaining +the command, which was delegated to General Couch. + +[Illustration: Chancellorsville] + +The fate of the day had now been decided. The right wing of the +Southern army, under Lee, had gradually extended its left to meet the +extension of Stuart's right; and this junction of the two wings having +been effected, Lee took personal command of all, and advanced his +whole front in a decisive assault. Before this the Federal front gave +way, and the disordered troops were huddled back--now only a confused +and disorganized mass--upon Chancellorsville. The Southern troops +pursued with yells, leaping over the earthworks, and driving all +before them. A scene of singular horror ensued. The Chancellorsville +House, which had been set on fire by shell, was seen to spout flame +from every window, and the adjoining woods had, in like manner, caught +fire, and were heard roaring over the dead and wounded of both sides +alike. The thicket had become the scene of the cruellest of all +agonies for the unfortunates unable to extricate themselves. The whole +spectacle in the vicinity of the Chancellorsville House, now in Lee's +possession, was frightful. Fire, smoke, blood, confused yells, and +dying groans, mingled to form the dark picture. + +Lee had ridden to the front of his line, following up the enemy, and +as he passed before the troops they greeted him with one prolonged, +unbroken cheer, in which those wounded and lying upon the ground +united. In that cheer spoke the fierce joy of men whom the hard combat +had turned into blood-hounds, arousing all the ferocious instincts +of the human soul. Lee sat on his horse, motionless, near the +Chancellorsville House, his face and figure lit up by the glare of the +burning woods, and gave his first attention, even at this exciting +moment, to the unfortunates of both sides, wounded, and in danger of +being burned to death. While issuing his orders on this subject, a +note was brought to him from Jackson, congratulating him upon his +victory. After reading it, with evidences of much emotion, he turned +to the officer who had brought it and said: "Say to General Jackson +that the victory is his, and that the congratulation is due to him." + +The Federal army had fallen back in disorder, by this time, toward +their second line. It was about ten o'clock in the morning, and +Chancellorsville was in Lee's possession. + +FLANK MOVEMENT OF GENERAL SEDGWICK. + +Lee hastened to bring the Southern troops into order again, and +succeeded in promptly reforming his line of battle, his front +extending, unbroken, along the Old Turnpike, facing the river. + +His design was to press General Hooker, and reap those rich rewards of +victory to which the hard fighting of the men had entitled them. Of +the demoralized condition of the Federal forces there can be no doubt, +and the obvious course now was to follow up their retreat and endeavor +to drive them in disorder beyond the Rappahannock. + +The order to advance upon the enemy was about to be given, when a +messenger from Fredericksburg arrived at full gallop, and communicated +intelligence which arrested the order just as it was on Lee's lips. + +A considerable force of the enemy was advancing up the turnpike from +Fredericksburg, to fall upon his right flank, and upon his rear in +case he moved beyond Chancellorsville. The column was that of General +Sedgwick. This officer, it will be remembered, had been detached to +make a heavy demonstration at Fredericksburg, and was still at that +point, with his troops drawn up on the southern bank, three miles +below the city, on Saturday night, while Jackson was fighting. On that +morning General Hooker had sent for Reynolds's corps, but, even in +the absence of this force, General Sedgwick retained under him about +twenty-two thousand men; and this column was now ordered to storm the +heights at Fredericksburg, march up the turnpike, and attack Lee in +flank. + +General Sedgwick received the order at eleven o'clock on Saturday +night, about the time when Jackson was carried wounded to the rear. He +immediately made his preparations to obey, and at daylight moved up +from below the city to storm the ridge at Marye's, and march straight +upon Chancellorsville. In the first assaults he failed, suffering +considerable loss from the fire of the Southern troops under General +Barksdale, commanding the line at that point; but, subsequently +forming an assaulting column for a straight rush at the hill, he went +forward with impetuosity; drove the Southern advanced line from behind +the "stone wall," which Generals Sumner and Hooker had failed in +reaching, and, about eleven in the morning, stormed Marye's Hill, and +killed, captured, or dispersed, the entire Southern force there. The +Confederates fought hand to hand over their guns with the enemy for +the possession of the crest, but their numbers were inadequate; the +entire surviving force fell back over the Telegraph road southward, +and General Sedgwick promptly advanced up the turnpike leading from +Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville, to assail General Lee. + +It was the intelligence of this threatening movement which now reached +Lee, and induced him to defer further attack at the moment upon +General Hooker. He determined promptly to send a force against General +Sedgwick, and this resolution seems to have been based upon sound +military judgment. There was little to be feared now from General +Hooker, large as the force still was under that officer. He was +paralyzed for the time, and would not probably venture upon any +attempt to regain possession of Chancellorsville. With General +Sedgwick it was different. His column was comparatively fresh, was +flushed with victory, and numbered, even after his loss of one +thousand, more than twenty thousand men. Compared with the entire +Federal army, this force was merely a detachment, it was true, but it +was a detachment numbering as many men, probably, as the effective of +Lee's entire army at Chancellorsville. He had carried into that fight +about thirty-four thousand men. His losses had been heavy, and the +commands were much shaken. To have advanced under these circumstances +upon General Hooker, without regard to General Sedgwick's twenty +thousand troops, inspired by recent victory, would have resulted +probably in disaster. + +These comments may detract from that praise of audacity accorded to +Lee in making this movement. It seems rather to have been the dictate +of common-sense; to have advanced upon General Hooker would have been +the audacity. + +It was thus necessary to defer the final blow at the main Federal army +in his front, and General Lee promptly detached a force of about five +brigades to meet General Sedgwick, which, with Early's command, now in +rear of the Federal column, would, it was supposed, suffice. + +This body moved speedily down the turnpike to check the enemy, and +encountered the head of his column about half-way, near Salem Church. +General Wilcox, who had been sent by Lee to watch Banks's Ford, had +already moved to bar the Federal advance. When the brigades sent by +Lee joined him, the whole force formed line of battle: a brisk action +ensued, continuing from about four in the afternoon until nightfall, +when the fighting ceased, and General Sedgwick made no further attempt +to advance on that day. + +These events took place, as we have said, on Sunday afternoon, the +day of the Federal defeat at Chancellorsville. On Monday morning (May +4th), the theatre of action on the southern bank of the Rappahannock +presented a very remarkable complication. General Early had been +driven from the ridge at Fredericksburg; but no sooner had General +Sedgwick marched toward Chancellorsville, than Early returned and +seized upon Marye's Heights again. He was thus in General Sedgwick's +rear, and ready to prevent him from recrossing the Rappahannock at +Fredericksburg. Sedgwick meanwhile was moving to assail Lee's flank +and rear, and Lee was ready to attack General Hooker in front. Such +was the singular entanglement of the Northern and Southern forces on +Monday morning after the battle of Chancellorsville. What the result +was to be the hours of that day were now to decide. + +Lee resolved first, if possible, to crush General Sedgwick, when it +was his design to return and make a decisive assault upon General +Hooker. In accordance with this plan, he on Monday morning went in +personal command of three brigades of Anderson's division, reached the +vicinity of Salem Church, and proceeded to form line of battle with +the whole force there. Owing to unforeseen delays, the attack was not +begun until late in the afternoon, when the whole line advanced upon +General Sedgwick, Lee's aim being to cut him off from the river. In +this he failed, the stubborn resistance of the Federal forces enabling +them to hold their ground until night. At that time, however, they +seemed to waver and lose heart, whether from receiving intelligence of +General Hooker's mishap, or from other causes, is not known. They were +now pressed by the Southern troops, and finally gave way. General +Sedgwick retreated rapidly but in good order to Banks's Ford, where a +pontoon had been fortunately laid, and this enabled him to cross his +men. The passage was effected under cover of darkness, the Southern +cannon firing upon the retreating column; and, with this, ended the +movement of General Sedgwick. + +On Tuesday morning Lee returned with his men toward Chancellorsville, +and during the whole day was busily engaged in preparation for a +decisive attack upon General Hooker on the next morning. + +When, however, the Southern sharp-shooters felt their way, at +daylight, toward the Federal position, it was found that the works +were entirely deserted. + +General Hooker had recrossed the river, spreading pine-boughs on the +pontoon bridge to muffle the sound of his artillery-wheels. + +So the great advance ended. + + + + +VII. + +LEE'S GENERALSHIP AND PERSONAL DEMEANOR DURING THE CAMPAIGN. + + +The movements of the two armies in the Chancellorsville campaign, as +it is generally styled, have been so fully described in the foregoing +pages, that little comment upon them is here necessary. The main +feature which attracts attention, in surveying the whole series of +operations, is the boldness, amounting to apparent recklessness, of +Lee; and, first, the excellent generalship, and then the extraordinary +tissue of military errors, of General Hooker. + +Up to the 1st of May, when he emerged from the Chancellorsville +thicket, every thing had succeeded with the Federal commander, and +deserved to succeed. He had successfully brought over his great force, +which he himself described as the "finest army on the planet," and +occupied strong ground east of Chancellorsville, on the road to +Fredericksburg. General Sedgwick was absent at the latter place with a +strong detachment of the army, but the main body covered Banks's Ford, +but twelve miles from the city, and by the afternoon of this day the +whole army might have been concentrated. Then the fate of Lee would +seem to have been decided. He had not only a very small army, but +that army was scattered, and liable to be cut off in detail. General +Sedgwick menaced his right at Fredericksburg--General Hooker was in +front of his left near Chancellorsville--and to crush one of these +wings before the other could come to its assistance seemed a work of +no very great difficulty. General Hooker appears, however, to have +distrusted his ability to effect this result, and, finding that +General Lee was advancing with his main body to attack him, retired, +from his strong position in the open country, to the dense thicket +around Chancellorsville. That this was a grave military error there +can be no doubt, as, by this retrograde movement, General Hooker not +only discouraged his troops, who had been elated by his confident and +inspiring general orders, but lost the great advantage of the open +country, where his large force could be successfully manoeuvred. + +Lee took instant advantage of this fault in his adversary, and boldly +pressed the force retiring into the Wilderness, where, on the night +of the 1st of May, General Hooker was shut up with his army. This +unforeseen result presented the adversaries now in an entirely new +light. The Federal army, which had been promised by its commander +a speedy march upon Richmond in pursuit of Lee, had, instead of +advancing, made a backward movement; and Lee, who it had been supposed +would retreat, was now following and offering them battle. + +The daring resolution of Lee, to divide his army and attack the +Federal right, followed. It would seem unjust to General Hooker +greatly to blame him for the success of that blow, which could not +have been reasonably anticipated. In determining upon this, one of +the most extraordinary movements of the war, General Lee proceeded in +defiance of military rules, and was only justified in his course by +the desperate character of the situation of affairs. It was impossible +to make any impression upon General Hooker's front or left, owing to +the elaborate defences in both quarters; it was, therefore, necessary +either to retire, or attack in a different direction. As a retreat, +however, upon Richmond would have surrendered to the enemy a large and +fertile tract of country, it was desirable, if possible, to avoid that +alternative; and the attack on the Federal right followed. The results +of this were truly extraordinary. The force routed and driven back in +disorder by General Jackson was but a single corps, and that corps, it +is said, not a legitimate part of the old Army of the Potomac; but the +disorder seems to have communicated itself to the whole army, and to +have especially discouraged General Hooker. In describing the scene +in question, we refrained from dwelling upon the full extent of the +confusion into which the Federal forces were thrown: some sentences, +taken from Northern accounts, may lead to a better understanding of +the result. After Jackson's assault, a Northern historian says: "The +open plain around Chancellorsville presented such a spectacle as +a simoom sweeping over the desert might make. Through the dusk of +nightfall a rushing whirlwind of men and artillery and wagons swept +down the road, past headquarters, and on toward the fords of the +Rappahannock; and it was in vain that the staff opposed their persons +and drawn sabres to the panic-stricken fugitives." Another writer, an +eye-witness, says the spectacle presented was that of "solid columns +of infantry retreating at double-quick; a dense mass of beings flying; +hundreds of cavalry-horses, left riderless at the first discharge from +the rebels, dashing frantically about in all directions; scores of +batteries flying from the field; battery-wagons, ambulances, horses, +men, cannon, caissons, all jumbled and tumbled together in one +inextricable mass--the stampede universal, the disgrace general." + +After all, however, it was but one corps of the Federal army which +had been thus thrown into disorder, and General Hooker had no valid +grounds for distrusting his ability to defeat Lee in a more decisive +action. There are many reasons for coming to the conclusion that he +did from that moment distrust his powers. He had courageously hastened +to the assailed point, ordering the men to "throw themselves into the +breach," and receive Jackson's troops "on the bayonet;" but, after +this display of soldierly resolution, General Hooker appears to have +lost some of that nerve which should never desert a soldier, and on +the same night sent engineers to trace out a new line of defences in +his rear, to which, it seems, he already contemplated the probability +of being forced to retire. Why he came to take this depressed view +of the situation of affairs, it is difficult to say. One of General +Sedgwick's corps reached him on this night, and his force at +Chancellorsville still amounted to between ninety and one hundred +thousand men, about thrice that of Lee. No decisive trial of strength +had yet taken place between the two armies; and yet the larger force +was constructing defences in rear to protect them from the smaller--a +circumstance not tending, it would seem, to greatly encourage the +troops whose commander was thus providing for a safe retreat. + +The subsequent order to General Sedgwick to march up from +Fredericksburg and assail Lee's right was judicious, and really +saved the army from a great disaster. Lee was about to follow up the +discouraged forces of General Hooker as they fell back toward the +river; and, as the Southern army was flushed with victory, the +surrender of the great body might have ensued. This possible result +was prevented by the flank movement of General Sedgwick, and some +gratitude for assistance so important from his able lieutenant would +have seemed natural and graceful in General Hooker. This view of the +subject does not seem, however, to have been taken by the Federal +commander. He subsequently charged the defeat of Chancellorsville upon +General Sedgwick, who he declared had "failed in a prompt compliance +with his orders."[1] The facts do not bear out this charge, as the +reader has seen. General Sedgwick received the order toward midnight +on Saturday, and, at eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, had passed +over that stubborn "stone wall" which, in the battle of the preceding +December, General Hooker's column had not even been able to reach; +had stormed Marye's Hill, which General Hooker had described, in +vindication of his own failure to carry the position, as "masonry," "a +fortification," and "a mountain of rock;" and had marched thereafter +so promptly as to force Lee, in his own defence, to arrest the second +advance upon the Federal main body, and divert a considerable force to +meet the attack on his flank. + +[Footnote 1: General Hooker in Report of the Committee on the Conduct +of the War, Part I., page 130. This great collection is a valuable +repository of historic details, and contains the explanation of many +interesting questions.] + +After the repulse of General Sedgwick, and his retreat across +the Rappahannock, General Hooker seems to have been completely +discouraged, and hastened to put the river between himself and Lee. +His losses in the battles of Saturday and Sunday had amounted to +seventeen thousand one hundred and ninety-seven killed and wounded and +missing, fourteen pieces of artillery, and twenty thousand stand +of arms. The Confederate loss was ten thousand two hundred and +eighty-one. Contrary to the ordinary course of things the assailing +force had lost a less number of men than that assailed. + +The foregoing reflections, which necessarily involve a criticism of +General Hooker, arise naturally from a review of the events of the +campaign, and seem justified by the circumstances. There can be no +inducement for the present writer to underrate the military ability of +the Federal commander, as that want of ability rather detracts from +than adds to the merit of General Lee in defeating him. It may be +said, indeed, that without these errors and shortcomings of General +Hooker, Lee, humanly speaking, must have been either defeated or +forced to retire upon Richmond. + +After giving full weight, however, to all the advantages derived from +the extraordinary Federal oversights and mistakes, General Lee's merit +in this campaign was greater, perhaps, than in any other during his +entire career. Had he left behind him no other record than this, it +alone would have been sufficient to have conferred upon him the first +glories of arms, and handed his name down to posterity as that of one +of the greatest soldiers of history. It is difficult to discover a +single error committed by him, in the whole series of movements, from +the moment when General Sedgwick crossed at Fredericksburg, to the +time of General Hooker's retreat beyond the Rappahannock. It may +appear that there was unnecessary delay in permitting Tuesday to pass +without a final advance upon General Hooker, in his second line of +intrenchments; but, no doubt, many circumstances induced Lee to defer +this attack--the fatigue of his troops, consequent upon the fighting +of the four preceding days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; the +necessity of reforming his battalions for the final blow; and the +anticipation that General Hooker, who still had at his command a +force of more than one hundred thousand men, would not so promptly +relinquish his campaign, and retire. + +With the exception of this error, if it be such, Lee had made no +single false step in the whole of his movements. The campaign was +round, perfect, and complete--such as a student of the art of war +might pore over, and analyze as an instance of the greatest principles +of military science "clothed in act." The most striking features of +Lee's movements were their rapidity and audacity. It had been the +fashion with some persons to speak of Lee as slow and cautious in his +operations, and this criticism had not been completely silenced even +in the winter of 1862, when his failure to crush General Burnside +afforded his detractors another opportunity of repeating the old +charge. After the Chancellorsville campaign these fault-finders were +silenced--no one could be found to listen to them. The whole +Southern movement completely contradicted their theory. At the first +intelligence of the advance of General Hooker's main body across the +upper Rappahannock, Lee rode rapidly in that direction, and ordered +his troops at the fords of the river to fall back to Chancellorsville. +He then returned, and, finding that General Sedgwick had crossed at +Fredericksburg, held a prompt consultation with Jackson, when it was +decided at once to concentrate the main body of the army in front of +General Hooker's column. At the word, Jackson moved; Lee followed. On +the 1st of May, the enemy were pressed back upon Chancellorsville; on +the 2d, his right was crushed, and his army thrown into confusion; on +the 3d, he was driven from Chancellorsville, and, but for the flank +movement of General Sedgwick, which Lee was not in sufficient force to +prevent, General Hooker would, upon that same day, Sunday, have in all +probability suffered a decisive defeat. + +In the course of four days Lee had thus advanced, and checked, and +then attacked and repulsed with heavy slaughter, an army thrice +as large as his own. On the last day of April he had been nearly +enveloped by a host of about one hundred and twenty thousand men. On +the 3d day of May their main body was in disorderly retreat; and at +daylight on the morning of the 6th there was not a Federal soldier, +with the exception of the prisoners taken, on the southern bank of the +Rappahannock. + +During all these critical scenes, when the fate of the Confederate +capital, and possibly of the Southern cause, hung suspended in the +balance, General Lee preserved, as thousands of persons can testify, +the most admirable serenity and composure, without that jubilant +confidence displayed by General Hooker in his address to the troops, +and the exclamations to his officers. Lee was equally free from gloom +or any species of depression. His spirits seemed to rise under the +pressure upon him, and at times he was almost gay. When one of General +Jackson's aides hastened into his tent near Fredericksburg, and with +great animation informed him that the enemy were crossing the +river, in heavy force in his front, he seemed to be amused by that +circumstance, and said, smiling: "Well, I _heard_ firing, and I was +beginning to think it was time some of you lazy young fellows were +coming to tell me what it was all about. Say to General Jackson that +he knows just as well what to do with the enemy as I do." + +The commander-in-chief who could find time at such a moment to +indulge in _badinage_, must have possessed excellent nerve; and this +composure, mingled with a certain buoyant hopefulness, as of one sure +of the event, remained with Lee throughout the whole great wrestle +with General Hooker. He retained to the end his simple and quiet +manner, divested of every thing like excitement. In the consultation +with Jackson, on the night of the 1st of May, when the crisis was so +critical, his demeanor indicated no anxiety; and when, as we have +said, the news came of Jackson's wound, he said simply, "Sit +down here, by me, captain, and tell me all about the fight last +evening"--adding, "Ah! captain, any victory is dearly bought which +deprives us of the services of General Jackson even for a short +time. Don't talk about it--thank God, it is no worse!" The turns of +expression here are those of a person who permits nothing to disturb +his serenity, and indulges his gentler and tenderer feelings even +in the hot atmosphere of a great conflict. The picture presented is +surely an interesting and beautiful one. The human being who uttered +the good-natured criticism at the expense of the "lazy young fellows," +and who greeted the news of Jackson's misfortune with a sigh as tender +as that of a woman, was the soldier who had "seized the masses of his +force with the grasp of a Titan, and swung them into position as a +giant might fling a mighty stone." To General Hooker's threat to crush +him, he had responded by crushing General Hooker; nearly surrounded by +the huge cordon of the Federal army, he had cut the cordon and emerged +in safety. General Hooker with his one hundred thousand men had +retreated to the north bank of the Rappahannock, and, on the south +bank, Lee with his thirty thousand remained erect, threatening, and +triumphant. + +We have not presented in these pages the orders of Lee, on various +occasions, as these papers are for the most part of an "official" +character, and not of great interest to the general reader. We shall, +however, occasionally present these documents, and here lay before the +reader the orders of both General Hooker and General Lee, after the +battle of Chancellorsville, giving precedence to the former. The order +of the Federal commander was as follows: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, _May_ 6,1863. + + The major-general commanding tenders to this army his + congratulations on its achievements of the last seven days. If it + has not accomplished all that was expected, the reasons are + well known to the army. It is sufficient to say, they were of a + character not to be foreseen or prevented by human sagacity or + resources. + + In withdrawing from the south bank of the Rappahannock, before + delivering a general battle to our adversaries, the army has given + renewed evidence in its confidence in itself, and its fidelity to + the principles it represents. + + By fighting at a disadvantage, we would have been recreant to our + trust, to ourselves, to our cause, and to our country. Profoundly + loyal, and conscious of its strength, the Army of the Potomac will + give or decline battle whenever its interests or honor may command + it. + + By the celerity and secrecy of our movements, our advance and + passage of the river were undisputed, and on our withdrawal not + a rebel dared to follow us. The events of the last week may well + cause the heart of every officer and soldier of the army to swell + with pride. + + We have added new laurels to our former renown. We have made long + marches, crossed rivers, surprised the enemy in his intrenchments, + and, whenever we have fought, we have inflicted heavier blows than + those we have received. + + We have taken from the enemy five thousand prisoners, and fifteen + colors, captured seven pieces of artillery, and placed _hors de + combat_ eighteen thousand of our foe's chosen troops. + + We have destroyed his depots filled with vast amounts of stores, + damaged his communications, captured prisoners within the + fortifications of his capital, and filled his country with fear + and consternation. + + We have no other regret than that caused by the loss of our brave + companions, and in this we are consoled by the conviction that + they have fallen in the holiest cause ever submitted to the + arbitration of battle. + + By command of Major-General HOOKER: + + S. WILLIAMS, _Assistant Adjutant-General_ + +General Lee's order was as follows: + + HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + + _May_ 7,1863. + + With heart-felt gratification, the general commanding expresses to + the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and + men during the arduous operations in which they have just been + engaged. + + Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm you attacked the + enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, + and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant, + and by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields forced him + once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this + glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the + nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful + thanks to the only Giver of victory, for the signal deliverances + He has wrought. + + It is therefore earnestly recommended that the troops unite on + Sunday next in ascribing unto the Lord of hosts the glory due unto + His name. + + Let us not forget, in our rejoicing, the brave soldiers who have + fallen in defence of their country; and, while we mourn their + loss, let us resolve to emulate their noble example. + + The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of + one to whose bravery, energy, and skill, they are so much indebted + for success. + + The following letter from the President of the Confederate States + is communicated to the army, as an expression of his appreciation + of their success: + + "I have received your dispatch, and reverently unite with you in + giving praise to God for the success with which He has crowned our + arms. In the name of the people I offer my cordial thanks, and the + troops under your command, for this addition to the unprecedented + series of great victories which our army has achieved. The + universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be mingled + with a general regret for the good and the brave who are numbered + among the killed and the wounded." + + R.E. LEE, _General_. + + + + +VIII. + +PERSONAL RELATIONS OF LEE AND JACKSON. + + +The most important incident of the great battle of Chancellorsville +was the fall of Jackson. The services of this illustrious soldier had +now become almost indispensable to General Lee, who spoke of him +as his "right arm;" and the commander-in-chief had so long been +accustomed to lean upon the strong shoulder of his lieutenant, that +now, when this support was withdrawn, he seems to have felt the loss +of it profoundly. + +In the war, indeed, there had arisen no soldier who so powerfully drew +the public eye as Jackson. In the opinion of many persons, he was a +greater and abler commander than Lee himself; and, although such +an opinion will not be found to stand after a full review of the +characters and careers of the two leaders, there was sufficient ground +for it to induce many fair and intelligent persons to adopt it. +Jackson had been almost uniformly successful. He had conducted to a +triumphant issue the arduous campaign of the Valley, where he was +opposed in nearly every battle by a force much larger than his own; +and these victories, in a quarter so important, and at a moment so +critical, had come, borne on the wind of the mountain, to electrify +and inspire the hearts of the people of Richmond and the entire +Confederacy. Jackson's rapid march and assault on General McClellan's +right on the Chickahominy had followed; he then advanced northward, +defeated the vanguard of the enemy at Cedar Mountain, led the great +column of Lee against the rear of General Pope, destroyed Manassas, +held his ground until Lee arrived, and bore an important part in the +battle which ensued. Thence he had passed to Maryland, fallen upon +Harper's Ferry and captured it, returned to fight with Lee at +Sharpsburg, and in that battle had borne the brunt of the enemy's main +assault with an unbroken front. That the result was a drawn battle, +and not a Southern defeat, was due to Lee's generalship and Jackson's +fighting. The retrograde movement to the lowland followed, and Jackson +was left in the Valley to embarrass McClellan's advance. In this he +perfectly succeeded, and then suddenly reappeared at Fredericksburg, +where he received and repulsed one of the two great assaults of the +enemy. The battle of Chancellorsville followed, and Lee's statement +of the part borne in this hard combat by Jackson has been given. The +result was due, he said, not to his own generalship, but to the skill +and energy of his lieutenant, whose congratulations he refused to +receive, declaring that the victory was Jackson's. + +Here had at last ended the long series of nearly unbroken victories. +Jackson had become the _alter ego_ of Lee, and it is not difficult +to understand the sense of loss felt by the commander-in-chief. In +addition to this natural sentiment, was deep regret at the death of +one personally dear to him, and to whom he was himself an object of +almost reverent love. The personal relations of Lee and Jackson had, +from first to last, remained the same--not the slightest cloud had +ever arisen to disturb the perfect union in each of admiration and +affection for the other. It had never occurred to these two great +soldiers to ask what their relative position was in the public +eye--which was most spoken of and commended or admired. Human nature +is weak at best, and the fame of Jackson, mounting to its dazzling +zenith, might have disturbed a less magnanimous soul than Lee's. There +is not, however, the slightest reason to believe that Lee ever gave +the subject a thought. Entirely free from that vulgar species of +ambition which looks with cold eyes upon the success of others, as +offensive to its own _amour-propre_ Lee never seems to have instituted +any comparison between himself and Jackson--greeted praise of his +famous lieutenant with sincere pleasure--and was the first upon +every occasion, not only to express the fullest sense of Jackson's +assistance, and the warmest admiration of his genius as a soldier, but +to attribute to him, as after the battle of Chancellorsville, _all_ +the merit of every description. + +It is not possible to contemplate this august affection and admiration +of the two soldiers for each other, without regarding it as a greater +glory to them than all their successes in arms. Lee's opinion of +Jackson, and personal sentiment toward him, have been set forth in the +above sentences. The sentiment of Jackson for Lee was as strong or +stronger. He regarded him with mingled love and admiration. To excite +such feelings in a man like Jackson, it was necessary that Lee should +be not only a soldier of the first order of genius, but also a good +and pious man. It was in these lights that Jackson regarded his +commander, and from first to last his confidence in and admiration for +him never wavered. He had defended Lee from the criticism of unskilled +or ignorant persons, from the time when he assumed command of the +army, in the summer of 1862. At that time some one spoke of Lee, in +Jackson's presence, as "slow." The criticism aroused the indignation +of the silent soldier, and he exclaimed: "General Lee is _not_ 'slow.' +No one knows the weight upon his heart--his great responsibilities. +He is commander-in-chief, and he knows that, if an army is lost, it +cannot be replaced. No! there may be some persons whose good opinion +of me may make them attach some weight to my views, and, if you ever +hear that said of General Lee, I beg you will contradict it in my +name. I have known General Lee for five-and-twenty years. He is +cautious. He ought to be. But he is _not_ 'slow.' Lee is a phenomenon. +He is the only man whom I would follow blindfold!" + +The abrupt and energetic expressions of Jackson on this occasion +indicate his profound sense of the injustice done Lee by these +criticisms; and it would be difficult to imagine a stronger statement +than that here made by him. It will be conceded that he himself was +competent to estimate soldiership, and in Jackson's eyes Lee was +"a phenomenon--the only man whom he would follow blindfold." The +subsequent career of Lee seems to have strengthened and intensified +this extreme admiration. What Lee advised or did was always in +Jackson's eyes the very best that could be suggested or performed. He +yielded his own opinions, upon every occasion, with perfect readiness +and cheerfulness to those of Lee, as to the master-mind; loved him, +revered him, looked up to him, and never seems to have found fault +with him but upon one occasion--when he received Lee's note of +congratulation after Chancellorsville. He then said: "General Lee is +very kind; but he should give the glory to God." + +This affection and admiration were fully returned by General Lee, who +consulted Jackson upon every occasion, and confided in him as his +personal friend. There was seldom any question between them of +superior and subordinate--never, except when the exigency required +that the decision should be made by Lee as commander-in-chief. +Jackson's supreme genius, indeed, made this course natural, and no +further praise is due Lee in this particular, save that of modesty and +good sense; but these qualities are commendable and not universal. +He committed the greatest undertakings to Jackson with the utmost +confidence, certain that he would do all that could be done; and some +words of his quoted above express this entire confidence. "Say +to General Jackson," he replied to the young staff-officer at +Fredericksburg, "that he knows just as well what to do with the enemy +as I do." + +Lee's personal affection was strikingly displayed after the battle +of Chancellorsville, when Jackson lay painfully, but no one supposed +mortally, wounded, first at Wilderness Tavern, and then at Ginney's. +Prevented from visiting the wounded man, by the responsibilities of +command, now all the greater from Jackson's absence, and not regarding +his hurt as serious, as indeed it did not appear to be until toward +the last, Lee sent him continual messages containing good wishes +and inquiries after his health. The tone of these messages is very +familiar and affectionate, and leaves no doubt of the character of the +relations between the two men. + +"Give him my affectionate regards," he said to one officer, "and tell +him to make haste and get well, and come back to me as soon as he can. +He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right." + +When the wound of the great soldier took a bad turn, and it began to +be whispered about that the hurt might prove fatal, Lee was strongly +moved, and said with deep feeling: "Surely General Jackson must +recover! God will not take him from us, now that we need him so much. +Surely he will be spared to us, in answer to the many prayers which +are offered for him!" + +He paused after uttering these words, laboring evidently under very +deep and painful emotion. After remaining silent for some moments, +he added: "When you return I trust you will find him better. When +a suitable occasion offers, give him my love, and tell him that I +wrestled in prayer for him last night, as I never prayed, I believe, +for myself." + +The tone of these messages is, as we have said, that of familiar +affection, as from one valued friend to another. The expression, "Give +him my love," is a Virginianism, which is used only when two persons +are closely and firmly bound by long association and friendship. Such +had been the case with Lee and Jackson, and in the annals of the war +there is no other instance of a friendship so close, affectionate, and +unalloyed. + +Jackson died on the 10th of May, and the unexpected intelligence +shocked Lee profoundly. He mourned the death of the illustrious +soldier with a sorrow too deep almost to find relief in tears; and +issued a general order to the troops, which was in the following +words: + + With deep grief the commanding general announces to the army the + death of Lieutenant-General T.J. Jackson, who expired on the 10th + inst., at quarter-past three P.M. The daring, skill, and energy + of this great and good soldier, by the decree of an All-wise + Providence, are now lost to us. But, while we mourn his death, we + feel that his spirit still lives, and will inspire the whole army + with his indomitable courage and unshaken confidence in God, as + our hope and strength. Let his name be a watchword to his corps, + who have followed him to victory on so many fields. Let his + officers and soldiers emulate his invincible determination to + do every thing in defence of our beloved country. R.E. LEE, + _General_. + +It is probable that the composition of this order cost General Lee one +of the severest pangs he ever experienced. + + + + +IX. + +CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA. + + +The defeat of General Hooker at Chancellorsville was the turning-point +of the war, and for the first time there was apparently a possibility +of inducing the Federal Government to relinquish its opposition to the +establishment of a separate authority in the South. The idea of the +formation of a Southern Confederacy, distinct from the old Union, had, +up to this time, been repudiated by the authorities at Washington as a +thing utterly out of the question; but the defeat of the Federal arms +in the two great battles of the Rappahannock had caused the most +determined opponents of separation to doubt whether the South could +be coerced to return to the Union; and, what was equally or more +important, the proclamations of President Lincoln, declaring the +slaves of the South free, and placing the United States virtually +under martial law, aroused a violent clamor from the great Democratic +party of the North, who loudly asserted that all constitutional +liberty was disappearing. + +This combination of non-success in military affairs and usurpation by +the Government emboldened the advocates of peace to speak out plainly, +and utter their protest against the continuance of the struggle, +which they declared had only resulted in the prostration of all +the liberties of the country. Journals and periodicals, violently +denunciatory of the course pursued by the Government, all at once made +their appearance in New York and elsewhere. A peace convention was +called to meet in Philadelphia. Mr. Vallandigham, nominee of the +Democratic party for Governor of Ohio, eloquently denounced the whole +policy of endeavoring to subjugate the sovereign States of the South; +and Judge Curtis, of Boston, formerly Associate Judge of the Supreme +Court of the United States, published a pamphlet in which the Federal +President was stigmatized as a usurper and tyrant. "I do not see," +wrote Judge Curtis, "that it depends upon the Executive decree whether +a servile war shall be invoked to help twenty millions of the white +race to assert the rightful authority of the Constitution and laws of +their country over those who refuse to obey them. But I do see that +this proclamation" (emancipating the Southern slaves) "asserts the +power of the Executive to make such a decree! I do not perceive how it +is that my neighbors and myself, residing remote from armies and their +operations, and where all the laws of the land may be enforced by +constitutional means, should be subjected to the possibility of +arrest and imprisonment and trial before a military commission, and +punishment at its discretion, for offences unknown to the law--a +possibility to be converted into a fact at the mere will of the +President, or of some subordinate officer, clothed by him with this +power. But I do perceive that this Executive power is asserted.... It +must be obvious to the meanest capacity that, if the President of +the United States has an _implied_ constitutional right, as +Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, in time of war, to disregard +any one positive prohibition of the Constitution, or to exercise any +one power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, +because in his judgment he may thereby 'best subdue the enemy,' he +has the same right, for the same reason, to disregard each and every +provision of the Constitution, and to exercise all power _needful in +his opinion_ to enable him 'best to subdue the enemy.' ... The time +has certainly come when the people of the United States _must_ +understand and _must_ apply those great rules of civil liberty which +have been arrived at by the self-devoted efforts of thought and action +of their ancestors during seven hundred years of struggle against +arbitrary power." + +So far had reached the thunder of Lee's guns at Chancellorsville. +Their roar seemed to have awakened throughout the entire North the +great party hitherto lulled to slumber by the plea of "military +necessity," or paralyzed by the very extent of the Executive +usurpation which they saw, but had not had heart to oppose. On all +sides the advocates of peace on the basis of separation were heard +raising their importunate voices; and in the North the hearts of the +people began to thrill with the anticipation of a speedy termination +of the bloody and exhausting struggle. The occasion was embraced by +Mr. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States, to propose +negotiations. This able gentleman wrote from Georgia on the 12th of +June to President Davis, offering to go to Washington and sound the +authorities there on the subject of peace. He believed that the moment +was propitious, and wished to act before further military movements +were undertaken--especially before any further projects of invasion by +Lee--which would tend, he thought, to silence the peace party at the +North, and again arouse the war spirit. The letter of Mr. Stephens +was written on the 12th of June, and President Davis responded by +telegraph a few days afterward, requesting Mr. Stephens to come to +Richmond. He reached that city on the 22d or 23d of June, but by that +time Lee's vanguard was entering Maryland, and Gettysburg speedily +followed, which terminated all hopes of peace. + +The plan of moving the Southern army northward, with the view of +invading the Federal territory, seems to have been the result of many +circumstances. The country was elated with the two great victories of +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and the people were clamorous for +active operations against an enemy who seemed powerless to stand the +pressure of Southern steel. The army, which had been largely augmented +by the return of absentees to its ranks, new levies, and the recall +of Longstreet's two divisions from Suffolk, shared the general +enthusiasm; and thus a very heavy pressure was brought to bear upon +the authorities and on General Lee, in favor of a forward movement, +which, it was supposed, would terminate in a signal victory and a +treaty of peace. + +Lee yielded to this view of things rather than urged it. He was not +opposed to an offensive policy, and seems, indeed, to have shared the +opinion of Jackson that "the Scipio Africanus policy" was the best for +the South. His theory from the beginning of the war had been, that the +true policy of the South was to keep the enemy as far as possible +from the interior, fighting on the frontier or on Federal soil, if +possible. That of the South would there thus be protected from the +ravages of the enemy, and the further advantage would accrue, that the +Confederate capital, Richmond, would at all times be safe from danger. +This was an important consideration, as events subsequently showed. +As long as the enemy were held at arm's-length, north of the +Rappahannock, Richmond, with her net-work of railroads connecting with +every part of the South, was safe, and the Government, undisturbed in +their capital, remained a power in the eyes of the world. But, with an +enemy enveloping the city, and threatening her lines of communication, +the tenure of the place by the Government was uncertain. When General +Grant finally thus enveloped the city, and laid hold upon the +railroads, Lee's army was defeated, and the Government became +fugitive, which alone would have struck a mortal blow to its prestige +and authority. + +It was to arrive at these results, which his sagacity discerned, that +Lee always advocated such movements as would throw back the enemy, and +drive him, if possible, from the soil of Virginia. Another important +consideration was the question of supplies. These were at all times +deficient in the Confederate armies, and it was obviously the best +policy to protect as much territory, from which supplies might be +drawn, as possible. More than ever before, these supplies were now +needed; and when General Lee sent, in May or June, a requisition for +rations to Richmond, the commissary-general is said to have endorsed +upon the paper, "If General Lee wishes rations, let him seek them in +Pennsylvania." + +The considerations here stated were the main inducements for +that great movement northward which followed the battle of +Chancellorsville. The army and country were enthusiastic; the +Government rather followed than led; and, throughout the month of May, +Lee was busily engaged in organizing and equipping his forces for the +decisive advance. Experience had now dictated many alterations and +improvements in the army. It was divided into three _corps d'armee_, +each consisting of three divisions, and commanded by an officer with +the rank of lieutenant-general. Longstreet remained at the head of his +former corps, Ewell succeeded Jackson in command of "Jackson's old +corps," and A.P. Hill was assigned to a third corps made up of +portions of the two others. The infantry was thus rearranged in a +manner to increase greatly its efficiency, and the artillery arm +was entirely reorganized. The old system of assigning one or more +batteries or battalions to each division or corps was done away with, +and the artillery of the army was made a distinct command, and placed +under General W.N. Pendleton, a brave and energetic officer, who was +thenceforward Lee's "chief of artillery." The last arm, the cavalry, +was also increased in efficiency; and, on the last day of May, +General Lee had the satisfaction of finding himself in command of a +well-equipped and admirably-officered army of sixty-eight thousand +three hundred and fifty-two bayonets, and nearly ten thousand cavalry +and artillery--in all, about eighty thousand men. Never before had +the Southern army had present for duty, as fighting men, so large a +number, except just before the battles on the Chickahominy. There was, +however, this great difference between the army then and at this time: +in those first months of 1862, it was made up largely of raw troops +who had never heard the discharge of a musket in their lives: while +now, in May, 1863 the bulk of the army consisted of Lee's veterans, +men who had followed him through the fire of Manassas, Sharpsburg, +Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, and could be counted on +to effect any thing not absolutely beyond human power. General +Longstreet, conversing after the war with a gentleman of the North, +declared as much. The army at that time, he said, was in a condition +to undertake _any thing_. + + + + +X. + +LEE'S PLANS AND OBJECTS. + + +The great game of chess was now about to commence, and, taking an +illustration from that game, General Lee is reported to have said that +he believed he would "swap queens," that is, advance and attempt to +capture the city of Washington, leaving General Hooker at liberty, if +he chose so to do, to seize in turn upon Richmond. What the result of +so singular a manoeuvre would have been, it is impossible to say; it +would certainly have proved one of the strangest incidents of a war +fruitful in varied and shifting events. + +Such a plan of operations, however, if ever seriously contemplated +by Lee, was speedily abandoned. He nowhere makes mention of any such +design in his published reports, and he probably spoke of it only in +jest. His real aim in the great movement now about to commence, is +stated with brevity and reserve--then absolutely necessary--but also +with sufficient clearness, in his official report. The position of +the enemy opposite Fredericksburg was, he says, such as to render an +attack upon him injudicious. It was, therefore, desirable to manoeuvre +him out of it--force him to return toward Maryland--and thus free +the country of his forces. A further result was expected from this +movement. The lower Shenandoah Valley was occupied by the enemy under +General Milroy, who, with his headquarters at Winchester, harassed the +whole region, which he ruled with a rod of iron. With the withdrawal +of the Federal army under General Hooker, and before the advance of +the Confederates, General Milroy would also disappear, and the fertile +fields of the Valley be relieved. The whole force of the enemy would +thus, says Lee, "be compelled to leave Virginia, and possibly to draw +to its support troops designed to operate against other parts of the +country." He adds: "In this way it was supposed that the enemy's plan +of campaign for the summer would be broken up, and part of the season +of active operations be consumed in the formation of new combinations +and the preparations that they would require. In addition to these +advantages, it was hoped that other valuable results might be attained +by military success," that is to say, by a battle which Lee intended +to fight when circumstances were favorable. That he expected to fight, +not merely to manoeuvre the enemy from Virginia, is apparent from +another sentence of the report. "It was thought," he says, "that the +corresponding movements on the part of the enemy, to which those +contemplated by us would probably give rise, might _offer a fair +opportunity to strike a blow at the army therein, commanded by General +Hooker_" the word "therein" referring to the region "north of the +Potomac." In the phrase, "other valuable results which might be +attained by military success," the reference is plainly to the +termination of the contest by a treaty of peace, based upon the +independence of the South. + +These sentences, taken from the only publication ever made by Lee +on the subject of the Gettysburg campaign, express guardedly, but +distinctly, his designs. He aimed to draw General Hooker north of the +Potomac, clear the Valley, induce the enemy to send troops in other +quarters to the assistance of the main Federal army, and, when the +moment came, attack General Hooker, defeat him if possible, and thus +end the war. That a decisive defeat of the Federal forces at that time +in Maryland or Pennsylvania, would have virtually put an end to the +contest, there seems good reason to believe. Following the Southern +victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, a third bloody +disaster would, in all human probability, have broken the resolution +of the Federal authorities. With Lee thundering at the gates of +Washington or Philadelphia, and with the peace party encouraged to +loud and importunate protest, it is not probable that the war would +have continued. Intelligent persons in the North are said to have so +declared, since the war, and the declaration seems based upon good +sense. + +Before passing from this necessary preface to the narrative of events, +it is proper to add that, in the contemplated battle with General +Hooker, when he had drawn him north of the Potomac, Lee did not intend +to assume a _tactical offensive_, but to force the Federal commander, +if possible, to make the attack. [Footnote: "It had not been intended +to fight a general battle at such a distance from our base, unless +attacked by the enemy."--_Lee's Report_] From this resolution he was +afterward induced by circumstances to depart, and the result is known. + +What is above written will convey to the reader a clear conception of +Lee's views and intentions in undertaking his last great offensive +campaign; and we now proceed to the narrative of the movements of the +two armies, and the battle of Gettysburg. + + + + +XI. + +THE CAVALRY-FIGHT AT FLEETWOOD. + + +Lee began his movement northward on the 3d day of June, just one month +after the battle of Chancellorsville. From this moment to the time +when his army was concentrated in the vicinity of Gettysburg, his +operations were rapid and energetic, but with a cautious regard to the +movements of the enemy. + +Pursuing his design of manoeuvring the Federal army out of Virginia, +without coming to action, Lee first sent forward one division of +Longstreet's corps in the direction of Culpepper, another then +followed, and, on the 4th and 5th of June, Ewell's entire corps was +sent in the same direction--A.P. Hill remaining behind on the south +bank of the Rappahannock, near Fredericksburg, to watch the enemy +there, and bar the road to Richmond. These movements became speedily +known to General Hooker, whose army lay north of the river near that +point, and on the 5th he laid a pontoon just below Fredericksburg, +and crossed about a corps to the south bank, opposite Hill. This +threatening demonstration, however, was not suffered by Lee to arrest +his own movements. Seeing that the presence of the enemy there was +"intended for the purpose of observation rather than attack," and only +aimed to check his operations, he continued the withdrawal of his +troops, by way of Culpepper, in the direction of the Shenandoah +Valley. + +A brilliant pageant, succeeded by a dramatic and stirring incident, +was now to prelude the march of Lee into the enemy's territory. On +the 8th of June, the day of the arrival of Lee's head of column in +Culpepper, a review of Stuart's cavalry took place in a field east of +the court-house. The review was a picturesque affair. General Lee was +present, sitting his horse, motionless, on a little knoll--the erect +figure half concealed by the short cavalry-cape falling from his +shoulders, and the grave face overshadowed by the broad gray +hat--while above him, from a lofty pole, waved the folds of a large +Confederate flag. The long column of about eight thousand cavalry was +first drawn up in line, and afterward passed in front of Lee at a +gallop--Stuart and his staff-officers leading the charge with sabres +at tierce point, a species of military display highly attractive to +the gallant and joyous young commander. The men then charged in mimic +battle the guns of the "Stuart Horse-Artillery," which were posted +upon an adjoining hill; and, as the column of cavalry approached, +the artillerists received them with a thunderous discharge of blank +ammunition, which rolled like the roar of actual battle among the +surrounding hills. This sham-fight was kept up for some time, and no +doubt puzzled the enemy on the opposite shore of the Rappahannock. On +the next morning--either in consequence of a design formed before the +review, or to ascertain what this discharge of artillery meant--two +divisions of Federal cavalry, supported by two brigades of "picked +infantry," were sent across the river at Kelly's and Beverley's Fords, +east of the court-house, to beat up the quarters of Stuart and find +what was going on in the Southern camps. + +The most extensive cavalry-fight, probably, of the whole war, +followed. One of Stuart's brigades, near Beverley's Ford, was nearly +surprised and resolutely attacked at daylight by Buford's division, +which succeeded in forcing back the brigade a short distance toward +the high range called Fleetwood Hill, in the rear. From this eminence, +where his headquarters were established, Stuart went to the front at a +swift gallop, opened a determined fire of artillery and sharp-shooters +upon the advancing enemy, and sent Hampton's division to attack them +on their left. Meanwhile, however, the enemy were executing a rapid +and dangerous movement against Stuart's, rear. General Gregg, +commanding the second Federal cavalry division, crossed at Kelly's +Ford below, passed the force left in that quarter, and came in +directly on Stuart's rear, behind Fleetwood Hill. In the midst of the +hard fight in front, Stuart was called now to defend his rear. He +hastened to do so by falling back and meeting the enemy now charging +the hill. The attack was repulsed, and the enemy's artillery charged +in turn by the Southerners. This was captured and recaptured two or +three times, but at last remained in the hands of Stuart. + +General Gregg now swung round his right, and prepared to advance +along the eastern slope of the hill. Stuart had, however, posted his +artillery there, and, as the Federal line began to move, arrested +it with a sudden and destructive fire of shell. At the same time a +portion of Hampton's division, under the brave Georgian, General +P.M.B. Young, was ordered to charge the enemy. The assault was +promptly made with the sabre, unaided by carbine or pistol fire, and +Young cut down or routed the force in front of him, which dispersed +in disorder toward the river. The dangerous assault on the rear of +Fleetwood Hill was thus repulsed, and the advance of the enemy on the +left, near the river, met with the same ill success. General W.H.F. +Lee, son of the commanding general, gallantly charged them in that +quarter, and drove them back to the Rappahannock, receiving a severe +wound, which long confined him to his bed. Hampton had followed the +retreating enemy on the right, under the fire of Stuart's guns from +Fleetwood Hill; and by nightfall the whole force had recrossed the +Rappahannock, leaving several hundred dead and wounded upon the field. +[Footnote: The Southern loss was also considerable. Colonel Williams +was killed, Generals Lee and Butler severely wounded--the latter +losing his foot--and General Stuart's staff had been peculiarly +unfortunate. Of the small group of officers, Captain Farley was +killed, Captain White wounded, and Lieutenant Goldsborough captured. +The Federal force sustained a great loss in the death of the gallant +Colonel Davis, of the Eighth New-York Cavalry, and other officers.] + +This reconnoissance in force--the Federal numbers probably amounting +to fifteen thousand--had no other result than the discovery of the +fact that Lee had infantry in Culpepper. Finding that the event of the +fight was critical, General Lee had moved a body of infantry in the +direction of the field of action, and the gleam of the bayonets was +seen by the enemy. The infantry was not, however, engaged on either +side, unless the Federal infantry participated in the initial skirmish +near Beverley's Ford, and General Lee's numbers and position were not +discovered. + +We have dwelt with some detail upon this cavalry combat, which was an +animated affair, the hand-to-hand encounter of nearly twenty thousand +horsemen throughout a whole day. General Stuart was censured at the +time for allowing himself to be "surprised," and a ball at Culpepper +Court-House, at which some of his officers were present several days +before, was pointed to as the origin of this surprise. The charge was +wholly unjust, Stuart not having attended the ball. Nor was there any +truth in the further statement that "his headquarters were captured" +in consequence of his negligence. His tents on Fleetwood Hill were all +sent to the rear soon after daylight; nothing whatever was found there +but a section of the horse-artillery, who fought the charging cavalry +with sabres and sponge-staffs over the guns; that Fleetwood Hill +was at one time in the hands of the enemy, was due not to Stuart's +negligence, but to the numbers and excellent soldiership of General +Gregg, who made the flank and rear attack while Stuart was breasting +that in front. + +These detached statements, which may seem unduly minute, are made in +justice to a brave soldier, who can no longer defend himself. + + + + +XII. + +THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. + + +This attempt of the enemy to penetrate his designs had not induced +General Lee to interrupt the movement of his infantry toward the +Shenandoah Valley. The Federal corps sent across the Rappahannock at +Fredericksburg, still remained facing General Hill; and, two days +after the Fleetwood fight. General Hooker moved up the river with his +main body, advancing the Third Corps to a point near Beverley's Ford. +But these movements were disregarded by Lee. On the same day Ewell's +corps moved rapidly toward Chester Gap, passed through that defile in +the mountain, pushed on by way of Front Royal, and reached Winchester +on the evening of the 13th, having in three days marched seventy +miles. + +The position of the Southern army now exposed it to very serious +danger, and at first sight seemed to indicate a deficiency of +soldiership in the general commanding it. In face of an enemy whose +force was at least equal to his own,[Footnote: General Hooker stated +his "effective" at this time to have been diminished to eighty +thousand infantry.] Lee had extended his line until it stretched over +a distance of about one hundred miles. When Ewell came in sight of +Winchester, Hill was still opposite Fredericksburg, and Longstreet +half-way between the two in Culpepper. Between the middle and rear +corps was interposed the Rapidan River, and between the middle and +advanced corps the Blue Ridge Mountains. General Hooker's army was on +the north bank of the Rappahannock, well in hand, and comparatively +massed, and the situation of Lee's army seemed excellent for the +success of a sudden blow at it. + +It seems that the propriety of attacking the Southern army while +thus _in transitu_, suggested itself both to General Hooker and to +President Lincoln, but they differed as to the point and object of the +attack. In anticipation of Lee's movement, General Hooker had written +to the President, probably suggesting a counter-movement across the +Rappahannock, somewhere near Fredericksburg, to threaten Richmond, and +thus check Lee's advance. This, however. President Lincoln refused to +sanction. + +"In case you find Lee coming to the north of the Rappahannock," +President Lincoln wrote to General Hooker, "I would by no means cross +to the south of it. I would not take any risk of being entangled upon +the river, _like an ox jumped half over a fence, and liable to be torn +by dogs, front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick +the other_" + +Five days afterward the President wrote: "I think Lee's army, and not +Richmond, is your true objective point. If he comes toward the Upper +Potomac, fight him when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, +_fret him and fret him_." + +When intelligence now reached Washington that the head of Lee's column +was approaching the Upper Potomac, while the rear was south of the +Rappahannock, the President wrote to General Hooker: "_If the head of +Lee's army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the plank road_ +between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the _animal must be very +slim somewhere--could you not break him?_" + +General Hooker did not seem to be able to determine upon a decisive +course of action, in spite of the tempting opening presented to him by +Lee. It would seem that nothing could have been plainer than the good +policy of an attack upon Hill at Fredericksburg, which would certainly +have checked Lee's movement by recalling Longstreet from Culpepper, +and Ewell from the Valley. But this bold operation did not appear to +commend itself to the Federal authorities. Instead of reenforcing the +corps sent across at Fredericksburg and attacking Hill, General Hooker +withdrew the corps, on the 13th, to the north bank of the river, got +his forces together, and began to fall back toward Manassas, and even +remained in ignorance, it seems, of all connected with his adversary's +movements. Even as late as the 17th of June, his chief-of-staff, +General Butterfield, wrote to one of his officers; "Try and hunt up +somebody from Pennsylvania who knows something, and has a cool enough +head to judge what is the actual state of affairs there with regard to +the enemy. _My impression is, that Lee's movement on the Upper Potomac +is a cover for a cavalry-raid on the south side of the river.... We +cannot go boggling around until we know what we are going after._" + +Such was the first result of Lee's daring movement to transfer +military operations to the region north of the Potomac. A Northern +historian has discerned in his plan of campaign an amount of boldness +which "seemed to imply a great contempt for his opponent." This +is perhaps a somewhat exaggerated statement of the case. Without +"boldness" a commander is but half a soldier, and it may be declared +that a certain amount of that quality is absolutely essential to +successful military operations. But the question is, Did Lee expose +himself, by these movements of his army, to probable disaster, if his +adversary--equal to the occasion--struck at his flank? A failure of +the campaign of invasion would probably have resulted from such an +attack either upon Hill at Fredericksburg, or upon Longstreet in +Culpepper, inasmuch as Ewell's column, in that event, must have fallen +back. But a _defeat_ of the combined forces of Hill and Longstreet, +who were within supporting distance of each other, was not an event +which General Hooker could count upon with any degree of certainty. +The two corps numbered nearly fifty thousand men--that is to say, +two-thirds of the Southern army; General Hooker's whole force was +but about eighty thousand; and it was not probable that the +eighty thousand would be able to rout the fifty thousand, when at +Chancellorsville less than this last number of Southerners had +defeated one hundred and twenty thousand. + +There seems little reason to doubt that General Lee took this view of +the subject, and relied on Hill and Longstreet to unite and repulse +any attack upon them, while Ewell's great "raiding column" drove +forward into the heart of the enemy's territory. That the movement was +bold, there can certainly be no question; that it was a reckless and +hazardous operation, depending for its success, in Lee's eyes, solely +on the supposed inefficiency of General Hooker, does not appear. +These comments delay the narrative, but the subject is fruitful in +suggestion. It may be pardoned a Southern writer if he lingers over +this last great offensive movement of the Southern army. The last, it +was also one of the greatest and most brilliant. The war, therefore, +was to enter upon its second stage, in which the South was to simply +maintain the defensive. But Lee was terminating the first stage of +the contest by one of those great campaigns which project events and +personages in bold relief from the broad canvas, and illumine the +pages of history. + +Events were now in rapid progress. Ewell's column--the sharp head of +the Southern spear--reached Winchester on the 13th of June, and +Rodes, who had been detached at Front Royal to drive the enemy from +Berryville, reached the last-named village on the same day when the +force there retreated to Winchester. On the next morning Early's +division attacked the forces of Milroy at Winchester, stormed and +captured their "Star Fort," on a hill near the place, and so complete +was the rout of the enemy that their commander, General Milroy, had +scarcely time to escape, with a handful of his men, in the direction +of the Potomac. + +For this disaster the unfortunate officer was harshly criticised by +General Hooker, who wrote to his Government, "In my opinion, Milroy's +men will fight better _under a soldier_." + +After thus clearing the country around Winchester, Ewell advanced +rapidly on Martinsburg, where he took a number of prisoners and some +artillery. The captures in two days had been more than four thousand +prisoners and twenty-nine cannon, with four hundred horses and a large +amount of stores. Ewell continued then to advance, and, entering +Maryland, sent a portion of his cavalry, under General Imboden, +westward, to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and another +body, under General Jenkins, in advance, toward Chambersburg. +Meanwhile, the rest of the army was moving to join him. Hill, finding +that the enemy had disappeared from his front near Fredericksburg, +hastened to march from that vicinity, and was sent forward by Lee, on +the track of Ewell, passing in rear of Longstreet, who had remained +in Culpepper. The latter was now directed by Lee to move along +the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, and, by occupying Ashby's and +Snicker's Gaps, protect the flank of the column in the Valley from +attack--a work in which Stuart's cavalry, thrown out toward the enemy, +assisted. + +Such was the posture of affairs when General Hooker's chief-of-staff +became so much puzzled, and described the Federal army as "boggling +around," and not knowing "what they were going after." Lee's whole +movement, it appears, was regarded as a feint to "cover a cavalry-raid +on the south side of the river"--a strange conclusion, it would seem, +in reference to a movement of such magnitude. It now became absolutely +necessary that Lee's designs should be unmasked, if possible; and +to effect this object Stuart's cavalry force, covering the southern +flank, east of the Blue Ridge, must be driven back. This was +undertaken in a deliberate manner. Three corps of cavalry, with a +division of infantry and a full supply of artillery, were sent forward +from the vicinity of Manassas, to drive Stuart in on all the roads +leading to the mountain. A fierce struggle followed, in which Stuart, +who knew the importance of his position, fought the great force +opposed to him from every hill and knoll. But he was forced back +steadily, in spite of a determined resistance, and at Upperville a +hand-to-hand sabre-fight wound up the movement, in which the Federal +cavalry was checked, when Stuart fell back toward Paris, crowned the +mountain-side with his cannon, and awaited a final attack. This was +not, however, made. Night approaching, the Federal force fell back +toward Manassas, and on the next morning Stuart followed them, on the +same road over which he had so rapidly retreated, beyond Middleburg. + +Lee paid little attention to these operations on his flank east of +the mountains, but proceeded steadily, in personal command of his +infantry, in the direction of the Cumberland Valley. Ewell was moving +rapidly toward Harrisburg, with orders to "take" that place "if he +deemed his force adequate,"[1] General Jenkins, commanding cavalry, +preceding the advance of his infantry. He had thus pierced the enemy's +territory, and it was necessary promptly to support him. Hill +and Longstreet were accordingly directed to pass the Potomac at +Shepherdstown and Williamsport. The columns united at Hagerstown, and +on the 27th of June entered Chambersburg. + +[Footnote 1: This statement of Lee's orders is derived by the writer +from Lieutenant-General Ewell.] + +General Hooker had followed, crossing the Potomac, opposite Leesburg, +at about the moment when Lee's rear was passing from Maryland into +Pennsylvania. The direction of the Federal march was toward Frederick, +from which point General Hooker could move in either one of two +directions--either across the mountain toward Boonsboro, which would +throw him upon Lee's communications, or northward to Westminster, or +Gettysburg, which would lead to an open collision with the invading +army in a pitched battle. + +At this juncture of affairs, just as the Federal army was +concentrating near Frederick, General Hooker, at his own request, was +relieved from command. The occasion of this unexpected event seems to +have been a difference of opinion between himself and General +Halleck, the Federal general-in-chief, on the question whether the +fortifications at Harper's Ferry should or should not be abandoned. +The point at issue would appear to have been unimportant, but ill +feeling seems to have arisen: General Hooker resented the action +of the authorities, and requested to be relieved; his request was +complied with, and his place was filled by Major-General George G. +Meade. + +[Illustration: Map--Sketch of the Country Around GETTYSBURG.] + +General Meade, an officer of excellent soldiership, and enjoying the +repute of modesty and dignity, assumed command of the Federal army, +and proceeded rapidly in pursuit of Lee. The design of moving directly +across the South Mountain on Lee's communications, if ever entertained +by him, was abandoned. The outcry from Pennsylvania drew him perforce. +Ewell, with one division, had penetrated to Carlisle; and Early, with +another division, was at York; everywhere the horses, cattle, and +supplies of the country, had been seized upon for the use of the +troops; and General Meade was loudly called upon to go to the +assistance of the people thus exposed to the terrible rebels. His +movements were rapid. Assuming command on June 28th, he began to +move on the 29th, and on the 30th was approaching the town of +Gettysburg.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The movements of the Federal commander were probably +hastened by the capture, about this time at Hagerstown, of a dispatch +from President Davis to General Lee. Lee, it seems, had suggested +that General Beauregard should be sent to make a demonstration in the +direction of Culpepper, and by thus appearing to threaten Washington, +embarrass the movements of the Northern army. To this suggestion the +President is said to have replied that he had no troops to make such +a movement; and General Meade had thus the proof before him that +Washington was in no danger. The Confederacy was thus truly +unfortunate again, as in September, 1862, when a similar incident came +to the relief of General McClellan.] + + + + +XIII. + +LEE IN PENNSYLVANIA. + + +Lee, in personal command of the corps of Hill and Longstreet, had +meanwhile moved on steadily in the direction of the Susquehanna, and, +reaching Chambersburg on the 27th of June, "made preparations to +advance upon Harrisburg." + +At Chambersburg he issued an order to the troops, which should find a +place in every biography of this great soldier. The course pursued +by many of the Federal commanders in Virginia had been merciless and +atrocious beyond words. General Pope had ravaged the counties north +of the Rappahannock, especially the county of Culpepper, in a manner +which reduced that smiling region wellnigh to a waste; General Milroy, +with his headquarters at Winchester, had so cruelly oppressed the +people of the surrounding country as to make them execrate the very +mention of his name; and the excesses committed by the troops of these +officers, with the knowledge and permission of their commanders, had +been such, said a foreign writer, as to "cast mankind two centuries +back toward barbarism." + +Now, the tables were turned, and the world looked for a sudden and +merciless retaliation on the part of the Southerners. Lee was in +Pennsylvania, at the head of an army thirsting to revenge the +accumulated wrongs against their helpless families. At a word from +him the fertile territory of the North would be made to feel the iron +pressure of military rule, proceeding on the theory that retaliation +is a just principle to adopt toward an enemy. Fire, slaughter, and +outrage, would have burst upon Pennsylvania, and the black flag, which +had been virtually raised by Generals Pope and Milroy, would have +flaunted now in the air at the head of the Southern army. + +Instead of permitting this disgraceful oppression of non-combatants, +Lee issued, at Chambersburg, the following general order to his +troops: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +CHAMBERSBURG, PA., _June_ 27, 1863. + +The commanding general has observed with much satisfaction the conduct +of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results +commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested. No troops +could have displayed greater fortitude, or better performed the +arduous marches of the past ten days. Their conduct in other respects +has, with few exceptions, been in keeping with their character as +soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise. + +There have, however, been instances of forgetfulness, on the part of +some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of +the army, and that the duties exacted of us by civilization and +Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than +in our own. + +The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace could befall +the army, and, through it, our whole people, than the perpetration of +the barbarous outrages on the innocent and defenceless, and the wanton +destruction of private property, that have marked the course of the +enemy in our own country. Such proceedings not only disgrace the +perpetrators, and all connected with them, but are subversive of the +discipline and efficiency of the army, and destructive of the ends of +our present movements. It must be remembered that we make war only +upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our +people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all +whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemy, +without offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without +whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain. + +The commanding general, therefore, earnestly exhorts the troops to +abstain, with most scrupulous care, from unnecessary or wanton injury +to private property; and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and +bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against +the orders on this subject. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The noble maxims and truly Christian spirit of this paper will +remain the undying glory of Lee. Under what had been surely a bitter +provocation, he retained the calmness and forbearance of a great soul, +saying to his army: "The duties exacted of us by civilization and +Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than +in our own.... No greater disgrace could befall the army, and through +it our whole people, than the perpetration of outrage upon the +innocent and defenceless.... We make war only upon armed men, and +cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without +offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor +and support our efforts must all prove in vain." + +Such were the utterances of Lee, resembling those we might attribute +to the ideal Christian warrior; and, indeed, it was such a spirit that +lay under the plain uniform of the great Virginian. What he ordered +was enforced, and no one was disturbed in his person or property. Of +this statement many proofs could be given. A Pennsylvania farmer said +to a Northern correspondent, in reference to the Southern troops: "I +must say they acted like gentlemen, and, their cause aside, I would +rather have forty thousand rebels quartered on my premises than one +thousand Union troops." From the journal of Colonel Freemantle, +an English officer accompanying the Southern army, we take these +sentences: + +"In passing through Greencastle we found all the houses and windows +shut up, the natives in their Sunday clothes, standing at their doors +regarding the troops in a very unfriendly manner. I saw no straggling +into the houses, nor were any of the inhabitants disturbed or annoyed +by the soldiers. Sentries were placed at the doors of many of the +best houses, to prevent any officer or soldier from getting in on any +pretence.... I entered Chambersburg at 6 P.M.... Sentries were placed +at the doors of all the principal houses, and the town was cleared +of all but the military passing through or on duty.... No officer or +soldier under the rank of a general is allowed in Chambersburg without +a special order from General Lee, which he is very chary of giving, +and I hear of officers of rank being refused this pass.... I went into +Chambersburg again, and witnessed the singularly good behavior of the +troops toward the citizens. I heard soldiers saying to one another +that they did not like being in a town in which they were very +naturally detested. To any one who has seen, as I have, the ravages +of the Northern troops in Southern towns, this forbearance seems most +commendable and surprising." + +A Northern correspondent said of the course pursued by General +Jenkins, in command of Ewell's cavalry: "By way of giving the devil +his due, it must be said that, although there were over sixty acres +of wheat and eighty acres of corn and oats in the same field, he +protected it most carefully, and picketed his horses so that it could +not be injured. No fences were wantonly destroyed, poultry was not +disturbed, nor did he compliment our blooded cattle so much as to test +the quality of their steak and roast." + +Of the feeling of the troops these few words from the letter of an +officer written to one of his family will convey an idea: "I felt +when I first came here that I would like to revenge myself upon these +people for the devastation they have brought upon our own beautiful +home--that home where we could have lived so happily, and that we +loved so much, from which their vandalism has driven you and my +helpless little ones. But, though I had such severe wrongs and +grievances to redress, and such great cause for revenge, yet, when +I got among these people, I could not find it in my heart to molest +them." + +Such was the treatment of the people of Pennsylvania by the Southern +troops in obedience to the order of the commander-in-chief. Lee +in person set the example. A Southern journal made the sarcastic +statement that he became irate at the robbing of cherry-trees; and, if +he saw the _top rail_ of a fence lying upon the ground as he rode by, +would dismount and replace it with his own hands. + + + + +XIV. + +CONCENTRATION AT GETTYSBURG. + + +This was the position of the great adversaries in the last days of +June. Lee was at Chambersburg, in the Cumberland Valley, about to +follow Ewell, who was approaching Harrisburg. Early had captured York; +and the Federal army was concentrating rapidly on the flank of the +Southern army, toward Gettysburg. + +Lee had ordered the movement of Early upon York, with the object of +diverting the attention of the Federal commander from his own rear, +in the Cumberland Valley. The exact movements and position of General +Meade were unknown to him; and this arose in large measure from the +absence of Stuart's cavalry. This unfortunate incident has given rise +to much comment, and Stuart has been harshly criticised for an alleged +disobedience of Lee's plain orders. The question is an embarrassing +one. Lee's statement is as follows: "General Stuart was left to guard +the passes of the mountains" (Ashby's and other gaps in the Blue +Ridge, in Virginia), "and observe the movements of the enemy, whom +he was instructed to harass and impede as much as possible should +he attempt to cross the Potomac. _In that event, General Stuart was +directed to move into Maryland, crossing the Potomac east or west of +the Blue Ridge, as in his judgment should be best, and take position +on the right of our column as it advanced._" + +This order was certainly plain up to a certain point. Stuart was +to harass and embarrass the movements of the enemy, in case they +attempted to cross to the north bank of the Potomac. When they did +cross, he also was to pass the river, either east or west of the Blue +Ridge, "as in his judgment should seem best." So far the order was +unmistakable. The river was to be crossed at such point as Stuart +should select, either on the lower waters, or in the Valley. Lee +added, however, that this movement should be made in such a manner as +to enable Stuart to "take position on the right of our column as it +advanced"--the meaning appearing to be that the cavalry should move +_between_ the two armies, in order to guard the Southern flank as it +advanced into the Cumberland Valley. Circumstances arose, however, +which rendered it difficult for Stuart to move on the line thus +indicated with sufficient promptness to render his services valuable. +The enemy crossed at Leesburg while the Southern cavalry was near +Middleburg; and, from the jaded condition of his horses, Stuart feared +that he would be unable, in case he crossed above, to place his column +between the two armies then rapidly advancing. He accordingly took the +bold resolution of passing the Potomac _below_ Leesburg, designing to +shape his course due northward toward Harrisburg, the objective point +of the Southern army. This he did--crossing at Seneca Falls--but on +the march he was delayed by many incidents. Near Rockville he stopped +to capture a large train of Federal wagons; at Westminster and +Hanovertown he was temporarily arrested by combats with the Federal +cavalry; and, ignorant as he was of the concentration of Lee's troops +upon Gettysburg, he advanced rapidly toward Carlisle, where, in the +midst of an attack on that place, he was recalled by Lee. + +Such were the circumstances leading to, and the incidents attending, +this movement. The reader must form his own opinion of the amount +of blame to be justly attached to Stuart. He always declared, and +asserted in his report of these occurrences, that he had acted in +exact obedience to his orders; but, on the contrary, as appears from +General Lee's report, those orders were meant to prescribe a different +movement. He had marched in one sense on "the right" of the Southern +column "as it advanced;" but in another sense he had not done so. +Victory at Gettysburg would have silenced all criticism of this +difference of construction; but, unfortunately, the event was +different, and the strictures directed at Stuart were natural. The +absence of the cavalry unquestionably embarrassed Lee greatly; but, in +his report, he is moderate and guarded, as usual, in his expressions. +"The absence of cavalry," he says, "rendered it impossible to obtain +accurate information" of General Meade's movements; and "the march +toward Gettysburg was conducted more slowly than it would have been +had the movements of the Federal army been known." + +[Illustration: Map--Battle of GETTYSBURG] + +To return now to the movements of Lee's infantry, after the arrival of +the main body at Chambersburg. Lee was about to continue his advance +in the direction of Harrisburg, when, on the night of the 29th, his +scouts brought him intelligence that the Federal army was rapidly +advancing, and the head of the column was near the South Mountain. A +glance at the map will indicate the importance of this intelligence. +General Meade would be able, without difficulty, in case the Southern +army continued its march northward, to cross the South-Mountain range, +and place himself directly in Lee's rear, in the Cumberland Valley. +Then the Southern forces would be completely intercepted--General +Meade would be master of the situation--and Lee must retreat east of +the mountain or cut his way through the Federal army. + +A battle was thus clearly about to be forced upon the Southern +commander, and it only remained for him to so manoeuvre his army as to +secure a position in which he could receive the enemy's attack with +advantage. Lee accordingly put his column in motion across the +mountain toward Gettysburg, and, sending couriers to Ewell and Early +to return from Harrisburg and York toward the same point, made his +preparations to take position and fight. + +On the morning of the 1st day of July, this was then the condition of +affairs. General Meade was advancing with rapidity upon the town +of Gettysburg, and Lee was crossing the South Mountain, opposite +Chambersburg, to meet him. + +When the heads of the two columns came together in the vicinity of +Gettysburg, the thunders of battle began. + + + + +XV. + +THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHT AT GETTYSBURG. + + +The sanguinary struggle which now ensued between the Army of Northern +Virginia and the Army of the Potomac continued for three days, and the +character of these battles, together with their decisive results, have +communicated to the events an extraordinary interest. Every fact has +thus been preserved, and the incidents of the great combat, down to +the most minute details, have been placed upon record. The subject is, +indeed, almost embarrassed by the amount of information collected and +published; and the chief difficulty for a writer, at this late day, is +to select from the mass such salient events as indicate clearly the +character of the conflict. + +This difficulty the present writer has it in his power to evade, +in great measure, by confining himself mainly to the designs and +operations of General Lee. These were plain and simple. He had been +forced to relinquish his march toward the Susquehanna by the dangerous +position of General Meade so near his line of retreat; this rendered +a battle unavoidable; and Lee was now moving to accept battle, +designing, if possible, to secure such a position as would give him +the advantage in the contest. Before he succeeded in effecting this +object, battle was forced upon him--not by General Meade, but by +simple stress of circumstances. The Federal commander had formed the +same intention as that of his adversary--to accept, and not deliver, +battle--and did not propose to fight near Gettysburg. He was, rather, +looking backward to a strong position in the direction of Westminster, +when suddenly the head of his column became engaged near Gettysburg, +and this determined every thing. + +A few words are necessary to convey to the reader some idea of the +character of the ground. Gettysburg is a town, nestling down in a +valley, with so many roads centring in the place that, if a circle +were drawn around it to represent the circumference of a wheel, the +roads would resemble the spokes. A short distance south of the town is +a ridge of considerable height, which runs north and south, bending +eastward in the vicinity of Gettysburg, and describing a curve +resembling a hook. From a graveyard on this high ground it is called +Cemetery Hill, or Ridge. Opposite this ridge, looking westward, is a +second and lower range called Seminary Ridge. This extends also north +and south, passing west of Gettysburg. Still west of Seminary Ridge +are other still lower ranges, between which flows a small stream +called Willoughby Run; and beyond these, distant about ten miles, rise +the blue heights of the South Mountain. + +Across the South Mountain, by way of the village of Cashtown, Lee, on +the morning of the 1st of July, was moving steadily toward Gettysburg, +when Hill, holding the front, suddenly encountered the head of the +enemy's column in the vicinity of Willoughby Run. This consisted of +General Buford's cavalry division, which had pushed on in advance +of General Reynolds's infantry corps, the foremost infantry of the +Federal army, and now, almost before it was aware of Hill's presence, +became engaged with him. General Buford posted his horse-artillery +to meet Hill's attack, but it soon became obvious that the Federal +cavalry could not stand before the Southern infantry fire, and General +Reynolds, at about ten in the morning, hastening forward, reached +the field. An engagement immediately took place between the foremost +infantry divisions of Hill and Reynolds. A brigade of Hill's, from +Mississippi, drove back a Federal brigade, seizing upon its artillery; +but, in return, Archer's brigade was nearly surrounded, and several +hundred of the men captured. Almost immediately after this incident +the Federal forces sustained a serious loss; General Reynolds--one +of the most trusted and energetic lieutenants of General Meade--was +mortally wounded while disposing his men for action, and borne from +the field. The Federal troops continued, however, to fight with +gallantry. Some of the men were heard exclaiming, "We have come to +stay!" in reference to which, one of their officers afterward said, +"And a very large portion of them never left that ground."[1] + +[Footnote 1: General Doubleday: Report of Committee on the Conduct of +the War, Part I., p. 307.] + +Battle was now joined in earnest between the two heads of column, and +on each side reenforcements were sent forward to take part in this +unexpected encounter. Neither General Lee nor General Meade had +expected or desired it. Both had aimed, in manoeuvring their forces, +to select ground suitable for receiving instead of making an attack, +and now a blind chance seemed about to bring on a battle upon ground +unknown to both commanders. When the sound of the engagement was first +heard by Lee, he was in the rear of his troops at the headquarters +which Hill had just vacated, near Cashtown, under the South Mountain. +The firing was naturally supposed by him to indicate an accidental +collision with some body of the enemy's cavalry, and, when +intelligence reached him that Hill was engaged with the Federal +infantry, the announcement occasioned him the greatest astonishment. +General Meade's presence so near him was a circumstance completely +unknown to Lee, and certainly was not desired by him. But a small +portion of his forces were "up." Longstreet had not yet passed the +mountain, and the forces of General Ewell, although that officer +had promptly fallen back, in obedience to his orders, from the +Susquehanna, were not yet in a position to take part in the +engagement. Under these circumstances, if the whole of General Meade's +army had reached Gettysburg, directly in Lee's front, the advantage in +the approaching action must be largely in favor of the Federal army, +and a battle might result in a decisive Confederate defeat. + +No choice, however, was now left General Lee. The head of his +advancing column had come into collision with the enemy, and it was +impossible to retire without a battle. Lee accordingly ordered Hill's +corps to be closed up, and reenforcements to be sent forward rapidly +to the point of action. He then mounted his horse and rode in the +direction of the firing, guided by the sound, and the smoke which rose +above the tranquil landscape. + +It was a beautiful day and a beautiful season of the year. The fields +were green with grass, or golden with ripening grain, over which +passed a gentle breeze, raising waves upon the brilliant surface. The +landscape was broken here and there by woods; in the west rose the +blue range of the South Mountain; the sun was shining through showery +clouds, and in the east the sky was spanned by a rainbow. This +peaceful scene was now disturbed by the thundering of artillery and +the rattle of musketry. The sky was darkened, here and there, by +clouds of smoke rising from barns or dwelling-houses set on fire by +shell; and beneath rose red tongues of flame, roaring in response to +the guns. + +Each side had now sent forward reinforcements to support the +vanguards, and an obstinate struggle ensued, the proportions of the +fight gradually increasing, until the action became a regular battle. +Hill, although suffering from indisposition, which the pallor of his +face indicated, met the Federal attack with his habitual resolution. +He was hard pressed, however, when fortunately one of General Ewell's +divisions, under Rodes, debouched from the Carlisle road, running +northward from Gettysburg, and came to his assistance. Ewell had just +begun to move from Carlisle toward Harrisburg--his second division, +under Early, being at York--when a dispatch from Lee reached him, +directing him to return, and "proceed to Gettysburg or Cashtown, as +his circumstances might direct." He promptly obeyed, encamped within +about eight miles of Gettysburg on the evening of the 30th, and was +now moving toward Cashtown, where Johnson's division of his corps then +was, when Hill sent him word that he needed his assistance. Rodes was +promptly sent forward to the field of action. Early was ordered to +hurry back, and Rodes soon reached the battle-field, where he formed +his line on high ground, opposite the Federal right. + +The appearance of this important reenforcement relieved Hill, and +caused the enemy to extend his right to face Rodes. The Federal line +thus resembled a crescent, the left half, fronting Hill, toward the +northwest; and the right, half-fronting Rodes, toward the north--the +town of Gettysburg being in rear of the curve. An obstinate attack was +made by the enemy and by Rodes at nearly the same moment. The loss +on both sides was heavy, but Rodes succeeded in shaking the Federal +right, when Early made his appearance from the direction of York. This +compelled the Federal force to still farther extend its right, to meet +the new attack. The movement greatly weakened them. Rodes charged +their centre with impetuosity; Early came in on their right, with +Gordon's brigade in front, and under this combined attack the Federal +troops gave way, and retreated in great disorder to and through +Gettysburg, leaving the ground covered with their dead and wounded to +the number of about five thousand, and the same number of prisoners in +the hands of the Confederates. + +The first collision of the two armies had thus resulted in a clear +Southern victory, and it is to be regretted that this important +success was not followed up by the seizure of the Cemetery Range, +south of the town, which it was in the power of the Southern forces +at that time to do. To whom the blame--if blame there be--of this +failure, is justly chargeable, the writer of these pages is unable to +state. All that he has been able to ascertain with certainty is the +following: As soon as the Federal forces gave way, General Lee rode +forward, and at about four o'clock in the afternoon was posted on an +elevated point of Seminary Ridge, from which he could see the broken +lines of the enemy rapidly retreating up the slope of Cemetery Range, +in his front. The propriety of pursuit, with a view to seizing this +strong position, was obvious, and General Lee sent an officer of his +staff with a message to General Ewell, to the effect that "he could +see the enemy flying, that they were disorganized, and that it was +only necessary to push on vigorously, and the Cemetery heights were +ours." [Footnote: The officer who carried the order is our authority +for this statement.] Just about the moment, it would seem, when this +order was dispatched--about half-past four--General Hill, who had +joined Lee on the ridge, "received a message from General Ewell, +requesting him (Hill) to press the enemy in front, while he performed +the same operation on his right." This statement is taken from the +journal of Colonel Freemantle, who was present and noted the hour. He +adds: "The pressure was accordingly applied, in a mild degree, but the +enemy were too strongly posted, and it was too late in the evening +for a regular attack." General Ewell, an officer of great courage and +energy, is said to have awaited the arrival of his third division +(Johnson's) before making a decisive assault. Upon the arrival of +Johnson, about sunset, General Ewell prepared to advance and seize +upon the eastern terminus of the Cemetery Range, which commanded the +subsequent Federal position. At this moment General Lee sent him word +to "proceed with his troops to the [Confederate] right, in case he +could do nothing where he was;" he proceeded to General Lee's tent +thereupon to confer with him, and the result was that it was agreed +to first assault the hill on the right. It was now, however, after +midnight, and the attack was directed by Lee to be deferred until the +next morning. + +It was certainly unfortunate that the advance was not then made; but +Lee, in his report, attributes no blame to any one. "The attack," +he says, "was not pressed that afternoon, _the enemy's force being +unknown, and it being considered advisable to await the arrival of the +rest of our troops._" + +The failure to press the enemy immediately after their retreat, with +the view of driving them from and occupying Cemetery Heights, is +susceptible of an explanation which seems to retrieve the Southern +commander and his subordinates from serious criticism. The Federal +forces had been driven from the ground north and west of Gettysburg, +but it was seen now that the troops thus defeated constituted only +a small portion of General Meade's army, and Lee had no means of +ascertaining, with any degree of certainty, that the main body was not +near at hand. The fact was not improbable, and it was not known that +Cemetery Hill was not then in their possession. The wooded character +of the ground rendered it difficult for General Lee, even from his +elevated position on Seminary Ridge, to discover whether the heights +opposite were, or were not, held by a strong force. Infantry were +visible there; and in the plain in front the cavalry of General Buford +were drawn up, as though ready to accept battle. It was not until +after the battle that it was known that the heights might have been +seized upon--General Hancock, who had succeeded Reynolds, having, to +defend them, but a single brigade. This fact was not known to Lee; the +sun was now declining, and the advance upon Cemetery Hill was deferred +until the next day. + +When on the next morning, between daybreak and sunrise, General Lee, +accompanied by Hill, Longstreet, and Hood, ascended to the same point +on Seminary Ridge, and reconnoitred the opposite heights through his +field-glass, they were seen to be occupied by heavy lines of infantry +and numerous artillery. The moment had passed; the rampart in his +front bristled with bayonets and cannon. General Hancock, in command +of the Federal advance, had hastened back at nightfall to General +Meade, who was still some distance in rear, and reported the position +to be an excellent one for receiving the Southern attack. Upon this +information General Meade had at once acted; by one o'clock in the +morning his headquarters were established upon the ridge; and when +Lee, on Seminary Hill opposite, was reconnoitring the heights, the +great bulk of the Federal army was in position to receive his assault. + +The adversaries were thus face to face, and a battle could not well +be avoided. Lee and his troops were in high spirits and confident of +victory, but every advantage of position was seen to be on the side of +the enemy. + + + + +XVI. + +THE TWO ARMIES IN POSITION. + + +The morning of the 2d of July had arrived, and the two armies were in +presence of each other and ready for battle. The question was, which +of the great adversaries would make the attack. + +General Meade was as averse to assuming the offensive as his opponent. +Lee's statement on this subject has been given, but is here repeated: +"It had not been intended to fight a general battle," he wrote, "at +such a distance from our base, _unless attacked by the enemy_." +General Meade said before the war committee afterward, "It was my +desire to fight a defensive rather than an offensive battle," and he +adds the obvious explanation, that he was "satisfied his chances of +success were greater in a defensive battle than an offensive one." +There was this great advantage, however, on the Federal side, that +the troops were on their own soil, with their communications +uninterrupted, and could wait, while General Lee was in hostile +territory, a considerable distance from his base of supplies, and +must, for that reason, either attack his adversary or retreat. + +He decided to attack. To this decision he seems to have been impelled, +in large measure, by the extraordinary spirit of his troops, whose +demeanor in the subsequent struggle was said by a Federal officer +to resemble that of men "drunk on champagne." General Longstreet +described the army at this moment as able, from the singular afflatus +which bore it up, to undertake "any thing," and this sanguine spirit +was the natural result of a nearly unbroken series of victories. At +Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and in the preliminary struggle of +Gettysburg, they had driven the enemy before them in disorder, and, on +the night succeeding this last victory, both officers and men spoke of +the coming battle "as a certainty, and the universal feeling in the +army was one of profound contempt for an enemy whom they had beaten so +constantly, and under so many disadvantages."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Colonel Freemantle. He was present, and speaks from +observation.] Contempt of an adversary is dangerous, and pride goes +before a fall. The truth of these pithy adages was now about to be +shown. + +General Lee, it is said, shared the general confidence of his troops, +and was carried away by it. He says in his report "Finding ourselves +unexpectedly confronted by the Federal army, it became a matter of +difficulty to withdraw through the mountain with our large trains; at +the same time, the country was unfavorable for collecting supplies +while in the presence of the enemy's main body, as he was enabled to +restrain our foraging-parties by occupying the passes of the mountains +with regular and local troops. A battle thus became in a measure +unavoidable." But, even after the battle, when the Southern army +was much weaker, it was found possible, without much difficulty, to +"withdraw through the mountains" with the trains. A stronger motive +than this is stated in the next sentence of General Lee's report:" +_Encouraged by the successful issue of the engagement of the first +day, and in view of the valuable results that would ensue from the +defeat of the army of General Meade_, it was thought advisable to +renew the attack." The meaning of the writer of these words is plain. +The Federal troops had been defeated with little difficulty in the +first day's fight; it seemed probable that a more serious conflict +would have similar results; and a decisive victory promised to end the +war. + +General Meade, it seems, scarcely expected to be attacked. He +anticipated a movement on Lee's part, over the Emmetsburg road +southward. [Footnote: Testimony of General Meade before the war +committee.] By giving that direction to his army, General Lee would +have forced his adversary to retire from his strong position on +Cemetery Hill, or come out and attack him; whether, however, it was +desirable on General Lee's part to run the risk of such an attack on +the Southern column _in transitu_, it is left to others better able +than the present writer to determine. + +This unskilled comment must pass for what it is worth. It is easy, +after the event, for the smallest to criticise the greatest. Under +whatever influences, General Lee determined not to retreat, either +through the South Mountain or toward Emmetsburg, but marshalled his +army for an attack on the position held by General Meade. + +The Southern lines were drawn up on Seminary Ridge, and on the ground +near Gettysburg. Longstreet's corps was posted on the right, opposite +the Federal left, near the southern end of Cemetery Ridge. Next came +Hill's corps, extending along the crest nearly to Gettysburg. There +it was joined by Ewell's line, which, passing through the town, bent +round, adapting itself to the position of the Federal right which held +the high ground, curving round in the shape of a hook, at the north +end of the ridge. + +The Federal lines thus occupied the whole Cemetery Range--which, being +higher, commanded Seminary Ridge--and consisted, counting from right +to left, of the troops of Generals Howard, Hancock, Sickles, Sykes, +and Sedgwick; the two latter forming a strong reserve to guard the +Federal left. The position was powerful, as both flanks rested upon +high ground, which gave every advantage to the assailed party; but on +the Federal left an accidental error, it seems, had been committed by +General Sickles. He had advanced his line to a ridge in front of the +main range, which appeared to afford him a better position; but this +made it necessary to retire the left wing of his corps, to cover the +opening in that direction. The result was, an angle--the effect +of which is to expose troops to serious danger--and this faulty +disposition of the Federal left seems to have induced General Lee to +direct his main attack at the point in question, with the view of +breaking the Federal line, and seizing upon the main ridge in rear. +"In front of General Longstreet," he says, "the enemy held a position +from which, if he could be driven, it was thought that our army could +be used to advantage in assailing the more elevated ground beyond." In +order to cooeperate in this, the main attack, Ewell was ordered at the +same time to assail the Federal right toward Gettysburg, and Hill +directed to threaten their centre, and, if there were an opening, make +a real attack. These demonstrations against the enemy's right and +centre, Lee anticipated, would prevent him from reenforcing his left. +Longstreet would thus, he hoped, be "enabled to reach the west of the +ridge" in rear of the Federal line; and General Meade afterward said, +"If they had succeeded in occupying that, it would have prevented +me from holding any of the ground which I subsequently held at the +last"--that is to say, that he would have been driven from the entire +Cemetery Range. + +Such was the position of the two adversaries, and such the design of +Lee, on the 2d of July, when the real struggle was about to begin. + + + + +XVII. + +THE SECOND DAY. + + +Throughout the forenoon of the day about to witness one of those great +passages of arms which throw so bloody a glare upon the pages of +history, scarcely a sound disturbed the silence, and it was difficult +to believe that nearly two hundred thousand men were watching each +other across the narrow valley, ready at the word to advance and do +their best to tear each other to pieces. + +During all these long hours, when expectation and suspense were +sufficient to try the stoutest nerves, the two commanders were +marshalling their lines for the obstinate struggle which was plainly +at hand. General Meade, who knew well the ability of his opponent, was +seeing, in person, to every thing, and satisfying himself that +his lines were in order to receive the attack. Lee was making his +preparations to commence the assault, upon which, there could be +little doubt, the event of the whole war depended. + +From the gallantry which the Federal troops displayed in this battle, +they must have been in good heart for the encounter. It is certain +that the Southern army had never been in better condition for a +decisive conflict. We have spoken of the extraordinary confidence +of the men, in themselves and in their commander. This feeling now +exhibited itself either in joyous laughter and the spirit of jesting +among the troops, or in an air of utter indifference, as of men sure +of the result, and giving it scarcely a thought. The swarthy gunners, +still begrimed with powder from the work of the day before, lay down +around the cannon in position along the crest, and passed the moments +in uttering witticisms, or in slumber; and the lines of infantry, +seated or lying, musket in hand, were as careless. The army was +plainly ready, and would respond with alacrity to Lee's signal. Of the +result, no human being in this force of more than seventy thousand men +seemed to have the least doubt. + +Lee was engaged during the whole morning and until past noon in +maturing his preparations for the assault which he designed making +against the enemy's left in front of Longstreet. All was not ready +until about four in the afternoon; then he gave the word, and +Longstreet suddenly opened a heavy artillery-fire on the position +opposite him. At this signal the guns of Hill opened from the ridge +on his left, and Ewell's artillery on the Southern left in front of +Gettysburg thundered in response. Under cover of his cannon-fire, +Longstreet then advanced his lines, consisting of Hood's division on +the right, and McLawe's division on the left, and made a headlong +assault upon the Federal forces directly in his front. + +The point aimed at was the salient, formed by the projection of +General Sickles's line forward to the high ground known as "The Peach +Orchard." Here, as we have already said, the Federal line of battle +formed an angle, with the left wing of Sickles's corps bending +backward so as to cover the opening between his line and the main +crest in his rear. Hood's division swung round to assail the portion +of the line thus retired, and so rapid was the movement of this +energetic soldier, that in a short space of time he pushed his right +beyond the Federal left flank, had pierced the exposed point, and was +in direct proximity to the much-coveted "crest of the ridge," upon the +possession of which depended the fate of the battle. Hood was fully +aware of its importance, and lost not a moment in advancing to seize +it. His troops, largely composed of those famous Texas regiments which +Lee had said "fought grandly and nobly," and upon whom he relied "in +all tight places," responded to his ardent orders: a small run was +crossed, the men rushed up the slope, and the crest was almost in +their very grasp. + +Success at this moment would have decided the event of the battle +of Gettysburg, and in all probability that of the war. All that was +needed was a single brigade upon either side--a force sufficient to +seize the crest, for neither side held it--and with this brigade a +rare good fortune, or rather the prompt energy of a single officer, +according to Northern historians, supplied the Federal commander. +Hood's line was rushing up with cheers to occupy the crest, which here +takes the form of a separate peak, and is known as "Little Round Top," +when General Warren, chief-engineer of the army, who was passing, saw +the importance of the position, and determined, at all hazards, to +defend it. He accordingly ordered the Federal signal-party, which had +used the peak as a signal-station, but were hastily folding up their +flags, to remain where they were, laid violent hands upon a brigade +which was passing, and ordered it to occupy the crest; and, when +Hood's men rushed up the rocky slope with yells of triumph, they were +suddenly met by a fusillade from the newly-arrived brigade, delivered +full in their faces. A violent struggle ensued for the possession of +the heights. The men fought hand to hand on the summit, and the issue +remained for some time doubtful. At last it was decided in favor of +the Federal troops, who succeeded in driving Hood's men from the hill, +the summit of which was speedily crowned with artillery, which opened +a destructive fire upon the retreating Southerners. They fell back +sullenly, leaving the ground strewed with their dead and wounded. Hood +had been wounded, and many of his best officers had fallen. For an +instant he had grasped in his strong hand the prize which would have +been worth ten times the amount of blood shed; but he had been unable +to retain his hold; he was falling back from the coveted crest, +pursued by that roar of the enemy's cannon which seemed to rejoice in +his discomfiture. + +An obstinate struggle was meanwhile taking place in the vicinity of +the Peach Orchard, where the left of Hood and the division of McLaws +had struck the front of General Sickles, and were now pressing his +line back steadily toward the ridge in his rear. In spite of resolute +resistance the Federal troops at this point were pushed back to a +wheat-field in the rear of the Peach Orchard, and, following up this +advantage, Longstreet charged them and broke their line, which fell +back in disorder toward the high ground in rear. In this attack McLaws +was assisted by Hill's right division--that of Anderson. With this +force Longstreet continued to press forward, and, piercing the Federal +line, seemed about to inflict upon them a great disaster by seizing +the commanding position occupied by the Federal left. Nothing appears +to have saved them at this moment from decisive defeat but the +masterly concentration of reenforcements after reenforcements at the +point of danger. The heavy reserves under Generals Sykes and Sedgwick +were opposite this point, and other troops were hastened forward to +oppose Longstreet. This reenforcement was continuous throughout the +entire afternoon. In spite of Lee's demonstrations in other quarters +to direct attention, General Meade--driven by necessity--continued to +move fresh troops incessantly to protect his left; and success finally +came as the reward of his energy and soldiership. Longstreet found his +weary troops met at every new step in advance by fresh lines, and, as +night had now come, he discontinued the attack. The Federal lines had +been driven considerably beyond the point which they had held before +the assault, and were now east of the wheat-field, where some of the +hardest fighting of the day had taken place, but, in spite of this +loss of ground, they had suffered no serious disaster, and, above +all, Lee had not seized upon that "crest of the ridge," which was the +keystone of the position. + +Thus Longstreet's attack had been neither a success nor a failure. He +had not accomplished all that was expected, but he had driven back the +enemy from their advanced position, and held strong ground in their +front. A continuance of the assault was therefore deferred until the +next day--night having now come--and General Longstreet ordered the +advance to cease, and the firing to be discontinued. + +During the action on the right, Hill had continued to make heavy +demonstrations on the Federal centre, and Ewell had met with excellent +success in the attack, directed by Lee, to be made against the enemy's +right. This was posted upon the semicircular eminence, a little +southeast of Gettysburg, and the Federal works were attacked by Ewell +about sunset. With Early's division on his right, and Johnson's on +his left, Ewell advanced across the open ground in face of a heavy +artillery-fire, the men rushed up the slope, and in a brief space of +time the Federal artillerists and infantry were driven from the works, +which at nightfall remained in Ewell's hands. + +Such had been the fate of the second struggle around Gettysburg. The +moon, which rose just as the fighting terminated, threw its ghastly +glare upon a field where neither side had achieved full success. + +Lee had not failed, and he had not succeeded. He had aimed to drive +the Federal forces from the Cemetery Range, and had not been able to +effect that object; but they had been forced back upon both their +right and left, and a substantial advantage seemed thus to have been +gained. That the Confederate success was not complete, seems to have +resulted from the failure to seize the Round-Top Hill. The crisis +of the battle had undoubtedly been the moment when Hood was so near +capturing this position--in reference to the importance of which we +quoted General Meade's own words. It was saved to the Federal army by +the presence of mind, it seems, of a single officer, and the gallantry +of a single brigade. Such are the singular chances of battle, in which +the smallest causes so often effect the greatest results. + +General Lee, in company with General Hill, had, during the battle, +occupied his former position on Seminary Ridge, near the centre of his +line--quietly seated, for the greater portion of the time, upon the +stump of a tree, and looking thoughtfully toward the opposite heights +which Longstreet was endeavoring to storm. His demeanor was entirely +calm and composed. An observer would not have concluded that he was +the commander-in-chief. From time to time he raised his field-glass to +his eyes, and rising said a few words to General Hill or General Long, +of his staff. After this brief colloquy, he would return to his seat +on the stump, and continue to direct his glass toward the wooded +heights held by the enemy. A notable circumstance, and one often +observed upon other occasions, was that, during the entire action, he +scarcely sent an order. During the time Longstreet was engaged--from +about half-past four until night--he sent but one message, and +received but one report. Having given full directions to his able +lieutenants, and informed them of the objects which he desired to +attain, he, on this occasion as upon others, left the execution of his +orders to them, relying upon their judgment and ability. + +A singular incident occurred at this moment, which must have diverted +Lee, temporarily, from his abstracted mood. In the midst of the most +furious part of the cannonade, when the air was filled with exploding +shell, a Confederate band of music, between the opposing lines, just +below General Lee's position, began defiantly playing polkas and +waltzes on their instruments. The incident was strange in the midst +of such a hurly-burly. The bloody battle-field seemed turned into a +ballroom. + +With nightfall the firing sunk to silence. The moon had risen, and the +pale light now lit up the faces of the dead and wounded of both sides. + +Lee's first great assault had failed to secure the full results which +he had anticipated from it. + + + + +XVIII. + +THE LAST CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. + + +The weird hours of the moonlit night succeeding the "second day at +Gettysburg" witnessed a consultation between Lee and his principal +officers, as to the propriety of renewing the attack on the Federal +position, or falling back in the direction of the Potomac. In favor of +the latter course there seemed to be many good reasons. The supplies, +both of provisions and ammunition, were running short. The army, +although unshaken, had lost heavily in the obstinately-disputed +attack. In the event of defeat now, its situation might become +perilous, and the destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia was +likely to prove that of the Southern cause. On the other hand, the +results of the day's fighting, if not decisive, had been highly +encouraging. On both the Federal wings the Confederates had gained +ground, which they still held. Longstreet's line was in advance of the +Peach Orchard, held by the enemy on the morning of the second, +and Ewell was still rooted firmly, it seemed, in their works near +Gettysburg. These advantages were certainly considerable, and promised +success to the Southern arms, if the assault were renewed. But the +most weighty consideration prompting a renewal of the attack was the +condition of the troops. They were undismayed and unshaken either in +spirit or efficiency, and were known both to expect and to desire +a resumption of the assault. Even after the subsequent charge of +Pickett, which resulted so disastrously, the ragged infantry were +heard exclaiming: "We've not lost confidence in the old man! This +day's work won't do him no harm! Uncle Robert will get us into +Washington yet!" Add to this the fact that the issue of the second day +had stirred up in Lee himself all the martial ardor of his nature; +and there never lived a more thorough _soldier_, when he was fully +aroused, than the Virginian. All this soldiership of the man revolted +at the thought of retreating and abandoning his great enterprise. He +looked, on the one hand, at his brave army, ready at the word to again +advance upon the enemy--at that enemy scarce able on the previous +day to hold his position--and, weighing every circumstance in his +comprehensive mind, which "looked before and after," Lee determined on +the next morning to try a decisive assault upon the Federal troops; +to storm, if possible, the Cemetery Range, and at one great blow +terminate the campaign and the war. + +The powerful influences which we have mentioned, cooeperating, shaped +the decision to which Lee had come. He would not retreat, but fight. +The campaign should not be abandoned without at least one great charge +upon the Federal position; and orders were now given for a renewal +of the attack on the next morning. "The general plan of attack," Lee +says, "was unchanged, except that one division and two brigades of +Hill's corps were ordered to support Longstreet." From these words it +is obvious that Lee's main aim now, as on the preceding day, was to +force back the Federal left in front of Longstreet, and seize the high +ground commanding the whole ridge in flank and reverse. To this +end Longstreet was reenforced, and the great assault was evidently +intended to take place in that quarter. But circumstances caused +an alteration, as will be seen, in Lee's plans. The centre, thus +weakened, was from stress of events to become the point of decisive +struggle. The assaults of the previous day had been directed against +the two extremities of the enemy; the assault of the third day, which +would decide the fate of the battle and the campaign, was to be the +furious rush of Pickett's division of Virginian troops at the enemy's +centre, on Cemetery Hill. + +A preliminary conflict, brought on by the Federal commander, took +place early in the morning. Ewell had continued throughout the night +to hold the enemy's breastworks on their right, from which he had +driven them in the evening. As dawn approached now, he was about to +resume the attack; and, in obedience to Lee's orders, attempt to +"dislodge the enemy" from other parts of the ridge, when General Meade +took the initiative, and opened upon him a furious fire of cannon, +which was followed by a determined infantry charge to regain the hill. +Ewell held his ground with the obstinate nerve which characterized +him, and the battle raged about four hours--that is, until about eight +o'clock. At that time, however, the pressure of the enemy became too +heavy to stand. General Meade succeeded in driving Ewell from the +hill, and the Federal lines were reestablished on the commanding +ground which they had previously occupied. + +This event probably deranged, in some degree, General Lee's +plans, which contemplated, as we have seen, an attack by Ewell +contemporaneous with the main assault by Longstreet. Ewell was in no +condition at this moment to assume the offensive again; and the pause +in the fighting appears to have induced General Lee to reflect and +modify his plans. Throughout the hours succeeding the morning's +struggle, Lee, attended by Generals Hill and Longstreet, and their +staff-officers, rode along the lines, reconnoitring the opposite +heights, and the cavalcade was more than once saluted by bullets from +the enemy's sharp-shooters, and an occasional shell. The result of +the reconnoissance seems to have been the conclusion that the Federal +left--now strengthened by breastworks, behind which powerful reserves +lay waiting--was not a favorable point for attack. General Meade, +no doubt, expected an assault there; and, aroused to a sense of his +danger by the Confederate success of the previous day, had made every +preparation to meet a renewal of the movement. The Confederate left +and centre remained, but it seemed injudicious to think of attacking +from Ewell's position. A concentration of the Southern force there +would result in a dangerous separation of the two wings of the army; +and, in the event of failure, the enemy would have no difficulty in +descending and turning Lee's right flank, and thus interposing between +him and the Potomac. + +The centre only was left, and to this Lee now turned his attention. A +determined rush, with a strong column at Cemetery Hill in his front, +might wrest that point from the enemy. Then their line would be +pierced; the army would follow; Lee would be rooted on this commanding +ground, directly between the two Federal wings, upon which their own +guns might be turned, and the defeat of General Meade must certainly +follow. Such were, doubtless, the reflections of General Lee, as he +rode along the Seminary Range, scanning, through his field-glass, the +line of the Federal works. His decision was made, and orders were +given by him to prepare the column for the assault. For the hard +work at hand, Pickett's division of Virginian troops, which had just +arrived and were fresh, was selected. These were to be supported by +Heth's division of North Carolina troops, under General Pettigrew, who +was to move on Pickett's left; and a brigade of Hill's, under General +Wilcox, was to cover the right of the advancing column, and protect it +from a flank attack. + +The advance of the charging column was preceded by a tremendous +artillery-fire, directed from Seminary Ridge at the enemy's left and +centre. This began about an hour past noon, and the amount of thunder +thus unloosed will be understood from the statement that Lee employed +one hundred and forty-five pieces of artillery, and the enemy +replied with eighty--in all _two hundred and twenty-five_ guns, all +discharging at the same time. For nearly two hours this frightful +hurly-burly continued, the harsh roar reverberating ominously in the +gorges of the hills, and thrown back, in crash after crash, from the +rocky slopes of the two ridges. To describe this fire afterward, +the cool soldier, General Hancock, could find no other but the word +_terrific_. "Their artillery-fire," he says, "was the most terrific +cannonade I ever witnessed, and the most prolonged.... It was a +most terrific and appalling cannonade--one possibly hardly ever +paralleled." + +While this artillery-duel was in progress, the charging column was +being formed on the west of Seminary Ridge, opposite the Federal +centre on Cemetery Hill. Pickett drew up his line with Kemper's and +Garnett's brigades in front, and Armistead's brigade in rear. The +brigade under General Wilcox took position on the right, and on the +left was placed the division under Pettigrew, which was to participate +in the charge. The force numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand +men; but, as will be seen, nearly in the beginning of the action +Pickett was left alone, and thus his force of about five thousand was +all that went forward to pierce the centre of the Federal army. + +The opposing ridges at this point are about one mile asunder, and +across this space Pickett moved at the word, his line advancing +slowly, and perfectly "dressed," with its red battle-flags flying, and +the sunshine darting from the gun-barrels and bayonets. The two armies +were silent, concentrating their whole attention upon this slow and +ominous advance of men who seemed in no haste, and resolved to allow +nothing to arrest them. When the column had reached a point about +midway between the opposing heights the Federal artillery suddenly +opened a furious fire upon them, which inflicted considerable loss. +This, however, had no effect upon the troops, who continued to advance +slowly in the same excellent order, without exhibiting any desire +to return the fire. It was impossible to witness this steady and +well-ordered march under heavy fire without feeling admiration for the +soldiership of the troops who made it. Where shell tore gaps in the +ranks, the men quietly closed up, and the hostile front advanced in +the same ominous silence toward the slope where the real struggle, all +felt, would soon begin. + +They were within a few hundred yards of the hill, when suddenly a +rapid cannon-fire thundered on their right, and shell and canister +from nearly fifty pieces of artillery swept the Southern line, +enfilading it, and for an instant throwing the right into some +disorder. This disappeared at once, however. The column closed up, and +continued to advance, unmoved, toward the height. At last the moment +came. The steady "common-time" step had become "quick time;" this had +changed to "double-quick;" then the column rushed headlong at the +enemy's breastworks on the slope of the hill. As they did so, the real +thunder began. A fearful fire of musketry burst forth, and struck them +in the face, and this hurricane scattered the raw troops of Pettigrew +as leaves are scattered by a wind. That whole portion of the line gave +way in disorder, and fled from the field, which was strewed with their +dead; and, as the other supports had not kept up, the Virginians under +Pickett were left alone to breast the tempest which had now burst upon +them in all its fury. + +They returned the fire from the breastworks in their front with a +heavy volley, and then, with loud cheers, dashed at the enemy's works, +which they reached, stormed, and took possession of at the point of +the bayonet. Their loss, however, was frightful. Garnett was killed; +Armistead fell, mortally wounded, as he leaped on the breastworks, +cheering and waving his hat; Kemper was shot and disabled, and the +ranks of the Virginians were thinned to a handful. The men did not, +however, pause. The enemy had partially retreated, from their first +line of breastworks, to a second and stronger one about sixty yards +beyond, and near the crest; and here the Federal reserve, as Northern +writers state, was drawn up "four deep." This line, bristling with +bayonets and cannon, the Virginians now charged, in the desperate +attempt to storm it with the bayonet, and pierce, in a decisive +manner, the centre of the Federal army. But the work was too great +for their powers. As they made their brave rush they were met by a +concentrated fire full in their faces, and on both flanks at the +same moment. This fire did not so much cause them to lose heart, as +literally hurl them back. Before it the whole charging column seemed +to melt and disappear. The bravest saw now that further fighting was +useless--that the works in their front could not be stormed--and, with +the frightful fire of the enemy still tearing their lines to pieces, +the poor remnants of the brave division retreated from the hill. As +they fell back, sullenly, like bull-dogs from whom their prey had been +snatched just as it was in their grasp, the enemy pursued them with a +destructive fire both of cannon and musketry, which mowed down large +numbers, if large numbers, indeed, can be said to have been left. +The command had been nearly annihilated. Three generals, fourteen +field-officers, and three-fourths of the men, were dead, wounded, or +prisoners. The Virginians had done all that could be done by soldiers. +They had advanced undismayed into the focus of a fire unsurpassed, +perhaps, in the annals of war; had fought bayonet to bayonet; had left +the ground strewed with their dead; and the small remnant who +survived were now sullenly retiring, unsubdued; and, if repulsed, not +"whipped." + +Such was the last great charge at Gettysburg. Lee had concentrated in +it all his strength, it seemed. When it failed, the battle and the +campaign failed with it. + +[Illustration: Lee at Gettysburg.] + + + + +XIX. + +LEE AFTER THE CHARGE. + + +The demeanor of General Lee at this moment, when his hopes were all +reversed, and his last great blow at the enemy had failed, excited the +admiration of all who witnessed it, and remains one of the greatest +glories of his memory. + +Seeing, from his place on Seminary Ridge, the unfortunate results +of the attack, he mounted his horse and rode forward to meet and +encourage the retreating troops. The air was filled with exploding +shell, and the men were coming back without order. General Lee now met +them, and with his staff-officers busied himself in rallying them, +uttering as he did so words of hope and encouragement. Colonel +Freemantle, who took particular notice of him at this moment, +describes his conduct as "perfectly sublime." "Lee's countenance," he +adds, "did not show signs of the slightest disappointment, care, or +annoyance," but preserved the utmost placidity and cheerfulness. The +hurry and confusion of the scene seemed not to move him in any manner, +and he rode slowly to and fro, saying in his grave, kindly voice to +the men: "All this will come right in the end. We'll talk it over +afterward, but in the mean time all good men must rally. We want all +good and true men just now." + +Numbers of wounded passed him, some stretched on litters, which men +wearing the red badge of the ambulance corps were bearing to the rear, +others limping along bleeding from hurts more or less serious. To the +badly wounded Lee uttered words of sympathy and kindness; to those +but slightly injured, he said: "Come, bind up your wound and take a +musket," adding "my friend," as was his habit. + +An evidence of his composure and absence of flurry was presented by a +slight incident. An officer near him was striking his horse violently +for becoming frightened and unruly at the bursting of a shell, when +General Lee, seeing that the horse was terrified and the punishment +would do no good, said, in tones of friendly remonstrance: "Don't +whip him, captain, don't whip him. I've got just such a foolish horse +myself, and whipping does no good." + +Meanwhile the men continued to stream back, pursued still by that +triumphant roar of the enemy's artillery which swept the whole valley +and slope of Seminary Ridge with shot and shell. Lee was everywhere +encouraging them, and they responded by taking off their hats and +cheering him--even the wounded joining in this ceremony. Although +exposing himself with entire indifference to the heavy fire, he +advised Colonel Freemantle, as that officer states, to shelter +himself, saying: "This has been a sad day for us, colonel, a sad day. +But we can't expect always to gain victories." + +As he was thus riding about in the fringe of woods, General Wilcox, +who, about the time of Pickett's repulse, had advanced and speedily +been thrown back with loss, rode up and said, almost sobbing as he +spoke, that his brigade was nearly destroyed. Lee held out his hand to +him as he was speaking, and, grasping the hand of his subordinate in +a friendly manner, replied with great gentleness and kindness: "Never +mind, general, all this has been _my_ fault. It is _I_ who have lost +this fight, and you must help me out of it in the best way you can." + +This supreme calmness and composure in the commander-in-chief rapidly +communicated itself to the troops, who soon got together again, and +lay down quietly in line of battle in the fringe of woods along the +crest of the ridge, where Lee placed them as they came up. In front of +them the guns used in the great cannonade were still in position, and +Lee was evidently making every preparation in his power for the highly +probable event of an instant assault upon him in his disordered +condition, by the enemy. It was obvious that the situation of affairs +at the moment was such as to render such an attack highly perilous to +the Southern troops--and a sudden cheering which was now heard running +along the lines of the enemy on the opposite heights, seemed clearly +to indicate that their forces were moving. Every preparation possible +under the circumstances was made to meet the anticipated assault; the +repulsed troops of Pickett, like the rest of the army, were ready and +even eager for of the attack--but it did not come. The cheering was +afterward ascertained to have been simply the greeting of the men to +some one of their officers as he rode along the lines; and night fell +without any attempt on the Federal side to improve their success. + +That success was indeed sufficient, and little would have been gained, +and perhaps much perilled, by a counter-attack. Lee was not defeated, +but he had not succeeded. General Meade could, with propriety, refrain +from an attack. The battle of Gettysburg had been a Federal victory. + +Thus had ended the last great conflict of arms on Northern soil--in a +decisive if not a crushing repulse of the Southern arms. The chain of +events has been so closely followed in the foregoing pages, and the +movements of the two armies have been described with such detail, +that any further comment or illustration is unnecessary. The opposing +armies had been handled with skill and energy, the men had never +fought better, and the result seems to have been decided rather by +an occult decree of Providence than by any other circumstance. The +numbers on each side were nearly the same, or differed so slightly +that, in view of past conflicts, fought with much greater odds in +favor of the one side, they might be regarded as equal. The Southern +army when it approached Gettysburg numbered sixty-seven thousand +bayonets, and the cavalry and artillery probably made the entire force +about eighty thousand. General Meade's statement is that his own force +was about one hundred thousand. The Federal loss was twenty-three +thousand one hundred and ninety. The Southern losses were also severe, +but cannot be ascertained. They must have amounted, however, to at +least as large a number, even larger, perhaps, as an attacking army +always suffers more heavily than one that is attacked. + +What is certain, however, is that the Southern army, if diminished in +numbers and strength, was still unshaken. + + + + +XX. + +LEE'S RETREAT ACROSS THE POTOMAC. + + +Lee commenced his retreat in the direction of the Potomac on the night +of the 4th of July. That the movement did not begin earlier is the +best proof of the continued efficiency of his army and his own +willingness to accept battle if the enemy were inclined to offer it. + +After the failure of the attack on the Federal centre, he had +withdrawn Ewell from his position southeast of Gettysburg, and, +forming a continuous line of battle on Seminary Ridge, awaited the +anticipated assault of General Meade. What the result of such an +assault would have been it is impossible to say, but the theory that +an attack would have terminated in the certain rout of the Southern +army has nothing whatever to support it. The _morale_ of Lee's army +was untouched. The men, instead of being discouraged by the tremendous +conflicts of the preceding days, were irate, defiant, and ready to +resume the struggle. Foreign officers, present at the time, testify +fully upon this point, describing the demeanor of the troops as all +that could be desired in soldiers; and General Longstreet afterward +stated that, with his two divisions under Hood and McLaws, and his +powerful artillery, he was confident, had the enemy attacked, of +inflicting upon them a blow as heavy as that which they had +inflicted upon Pickett. The testimony of General Meade himself fully +corroborates these statements. When giving his evidence afterward +before the war committee, he said: + +"My opinion is, now, that General Lee evacuated that position, _not +from the fear that he would be dislodged from it by any active +operations on my part_, but that he was fearful that a force would be +sent to Harper's Ferry to cut off his communications.... That was what +caused him to retire." + +When asked the question, "Did you discover, after the battle of +Gettysburg, any symptoms of demoralization in Lee's army?" General +Meade replied, "No, sir; I saw nothing of that kind."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Report of Committee on Conduct of War, Part I., page +337.] + +There was indeed no good reason why General Lee should feel any +extreme solicitude for the safety of his army, which, after all its +losses, still numbered more than fifty thousand troops; and, with that +force of veteran combatants, experience told him, he could count upon +holding at bay almost any force which the enemy could bring against +him. At Chancellorsville, with a less number, he had nearly routed a +larger army than General Meade's. If the _morale_ of the men remained +unbroken, he had the right to feel secure now; and we have shown that +the troops were as full of fight as ever. The exclamations of the +ragged infantry, overheard by Colonel Freemantle, expressed the +sentiment of the whole army. Recoiling from the fatal charge on +Cemetery Hill, and still followed by the terrible fire, they had heart +to shout defiantly: "We've not lost confidence in the old man! This +day's work won't do him no harm! Uncle Robert will get us into +Washington yet--you bet he will!" + +Lee's reasons for retiring toward the Potomac were unconnected with +the _morale_ of his army. "The difficulty of procuring supplies," he +says, "rendered it impossible to continue longer where we were." What +he especially needed was ammunition, his supply of which had been +nearly exhausted by the three days' fighting, and it was impossible to +count upon new supplies of these essential stores now that the enemy +were in a condition to interrupt his communications in the direction +of Harper's Ferry and Williamsport. The danger to which the army was +thus exposed was soon shown not to have been overrated. General Meade +promptly sent a force to occupy Harper's Ferry, and a body of his +cavalry, hastening across the South Mountain, reached the Potomac near +Falling Waters, where they destroyed a pontoon bridge laid there for +the passage of the Southern army. + +Lee accordingly resolved to retire, and, after remaining in line of +battle on Seminary Ridge throughout the evening and night of the 3d +and the whole of the 4th, during which time he was busy burying his +dead, began to withdraw, by the Fairfield and Chambersburg roads, on +the night of this latter day. The movement was deliberate, and without +marks of haste, the rear-guard not leaving the vicinity of Gettysburg +until the morning of the 5th. Those who looked upon the Southern army +at this time can testify that the spirit of the troops was unsubdued. +They had been severely checked, but there every thing had ended. +Weary, covered with dust, with wounds whose bandages were soaked in +blood, the men tramped on in excellent spirits, and were plainly ready +to take position at the first word from Lee, and meet any attack of +the enemy with a nerve as perfect as when they had advanced. + +For the reasons stated by himself, General Meade did not attack. He +had secured substantial victory by awaiting Lee's assault on strong +ground, and was unwilling now to risk a disaster, such as he had +inflicted, by attacking Lee in position. The enthusiasm of the +authorities at Washington was not shared by the cool commander of +the Federal army. He perfectly well understood the real strength and +condition of his adversary, and seems never to have had any intention +of striking at him unless a change of circumstances gave him some +better prospect of success than he could see at that time. + +The retrograde movement of the Southern army now began, Lee's trains +retiring by way of Chambersburg, and his infantry over the Fairfield +road, in the direction of Hagerstown. General Meade at first moved +directly on the track of his enemy. The design of a "stern chase" was, +however, speedily abandoned by the Federal commander, who changed the +direction of his march and moved southward toward Frederick. When near +that point he crossed the South Mountain, went toward Sharpsburg, and +on the 12th of July found himself in front of the Southern army near +Williamsport, where Lee had formed line of battle to receive his +adversary's attack. + +The deliberate character of General Meade's movements sufficiently +indicates the disinclination he felt to place himself directly in his +opponent's front, and thus receive the full weight of his attack. +There is reason, indeed, to believe that nothing could better have +suited the views of General Meade than for Lee to have passed the +Potomac before his arrival--which event would have signified the +entire abandonment of the campaign of invasion, leaving victory on the +side of the Federal army. But the elements seemed to conspire to bring +on a second struggle, despite the reluctance of both commanders. The +recent rains had swollen the Potomac to such a degree as to render it +unfordable, and, as the pontoon near Williamsport had been destroyed +by the Federal cavalry, Lee was brought to bay on the north bank of +the river, where, on the 12th, as we have said, General Meade found +him in line of battle. + +Lee's demeanor, at this critical moment, was perfectly undisturbed, +and exhibited no traces whatever of anxiety, though he must have felt +much. In his rear was a swollen river, and in his front an adversary +who had been reenforced with a considerable body of troops, and now +largely outnumbered him. In the event of battle and defeat, the +situation of the Southern army must be perilous in the extreme. +Nothing would seem to be left it, in that event, but surrender, or +dispersion among the western mountains, where the detached bodies +would be hunted down in detail and destroyed or captured. Confidence +in himself and his men remained, however, with General Lee, and, +with his line extending from near Hagerstown to a point east of +Williamsport, he calmly awaited the falling of the river, resolved, +doubtless, if in the mean time the enemy attacked him, to fight to the +last gasp for the preservation of his army. + +No attack was made by General Meade, who, arriving in front of Lee on +the 12th, did no more, on that day, than feel along the Southern lines +for a point to assault. On the next day he assembled a council of war, +and laid the question before them, whether or not it were advisable +to make an assault. The votes of the officers were almost unanimously +against it, as Lee's position seemed strong and the spirit of his army +defiant; and the day passed without any attempt of the Federal army to +dislodge its adversary. + +While General Meade was thus hesitating, Lee was acting. A portion +of the pontoon destroyed by the enemy was recovered, new boats were +built, and a practicable bridge was completed, near Falling Waters, by +the evening of the 13th. The river had also commenced falling, and by +this time was fordable near Williamsport. Toward dawn on the 14th the +army commenced moving, in the midst of a violent rain-storm, across +the river at both points, and Lee, sitting his horse upon the river's +bank, superintended the operation, as was his habit on occasions of +emergency. Loss of rest and fatigue, with that feeling of suspense +unavoidable under the circumstances, had impaired the energies of even +his superb physical constitution. As the bulk of the rear-guard of the +army safely passed over the shaky bridge, which Lee had looked at +with some anxiety as it swayed to and fro, lashed by the current, he +uttered a sigh of relief, and a great weight seemed taken from his +shoulders. Seeing his fatigue and exhaustion. General Stuart gave him +some coffee; he drank it with avidity, and declared, as he handed back +the cup, that nothing had ever refreshed him so much. + +When General Meade, who is said to have resolved on an attack, in +spite of the opposition of his officers, looked, on the morning of the +14th, toward the position held on the previous evening by the Southern +army, he saw that the works were deserted. The Army of Northern +Virginia had vanished from the hills on which it had been posted, and +was at that moment crossing the Potomac. Pressing on its track toward +Falling Waters, the Federal cavalry came up with the rear, and in the +skirmish which ensued fell the brave Pettigrew, who had supported +Pickett in the great charge at Gettysburg, where he had waved his hat +in front of his men, and, in spite of a painful wound, done all in his +power to rally his troops. With this exception, and a few captures +resulting from accident, the army sustained no losses. The movement +across the Potomac had been effected, in face of the whole Federal +army, as successfully as though that army had been a hundred miles +distant.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Upon this point different statements were subsequently +made by Generals Lee and Meade, and Lee's reply to the statements of +his opponent is here given: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_July 21, 1863._ + +_General S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector-General C.S.A., Richmond, +Va_.: + +GENERAL: I have seen in Northern papers what purported to be an +official dispatch from General Meade, stating that he had captured +a brigade of Infantry, two pieces of artillery, two caissons, and a +large number of small-arms, as this army retired to the south bank of +the Potomac, on the 13th and 14th inst. + +This dispatch has been copied into the Richmond papers, and, as its +official character may cause it to be believed, I desire to state that +it is incorrect. The enemy did not capture any organized body of men +on that occasion, but only stragglers, and such as were left asleep +on the road, exhausted by the fatigue and exposure of one of the most +inclement nights I have ever known at this season of the year. It +rained without cessation, rendering the road by which our troops +marched to the bridge at Falling Waters very difficult to pass, and +causing so much delay that the last of the troops did not cross the +river at the bridge until 1 P.M. on the 14th. While the column was +thus detained on the road a number of men, worn down by fatigue, lay +down in barns, and by the roadside, and though officers were sent +back to arouse them, as the troops moved on, the darkness and rain +prevented them from finding all, and many were in this way left +behind. Two guns were left on the road. The horses that drew them +became exhausted, and the officers went forward to procure others. +When they returned, the rear of the column had passed the guns so far +that it was deemed unsafe to send back for them, and they were thus +lost. No arms, cannon, or prisoners, were taken by the enemy in +battle, but only such as were left behind under the circumstances I +have described. The number of stragglers thus lost I am unable to +state with accuracy, but it is greatly exaggerated in the dispatch +referred to. + +I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The solicitude here exhibited by the Southern commander, that the +actual facts should be recorded, is natural, and displayed Lee's +spirit of soldiership. He was unwilling that his old army should +appear in the light of a routed column, retreating in disorder, with +loss of men and munitions, when they lost neither.] + + + + +XXI. + +ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE AGAIN. + + +Lee moved his army to the old encampment on the banks of the Opequan +which it had occupied after the retreat from Sharpsburg, in September, +1862, and here a few days were spent in resting. + +We have, in the journal of a foreign officer, an outline of Lee's +personal appearance at this time, and, as we are not diverted from +these characteristic details at the moment by the narrative of great +events, this account of Lee, given by the officer in question--Colonel +Freemantle, of the British Army--is laid before the reader: + + "General Lee is, almost without exception, the handsomest man of + his age I ever saw. He is tall, broad-shouldered, very well made, + well set up--a thorough soldier in appearance--and his manners are + most courteous, and full of dignity. He is a perfect gentleman + in every respect. I imagine no man has so few enemies, or is so + universally esteemed. Throughout the South, all agree in + pronouncing him as near perfection as man can be. He has none of + the small vices, such as smoking, drinking, chewing, or swearing; + and his bitterest enemy never accused him of any of the greater + ones. He generally wears a well-worn, long gray jacket, a high + black-felt hat, and blue trousers, tucked into his Wellington + boots. I never saw him carry arms, and the only marks of his + military rank are the three stars on his collar. He rides a + handsome horse, which is extremely well governed. He himself is + very neat in his dress and person, and in the most arduous marches + he always looks smart and clean.... It is understood that General + Lee is a religious man, though not so demonstrative in that + respect as Jackson, and, unlike his late brother-in-arms, he is a + member of the Church of England. His only faults, so far as I can + learn, arise from his excessive amiability." + +This personal description is entirely correct, except that the word +"jacket" conveys a somewhat erroneous idea of Lee's undress uniform +coat, and his hat was generally gray. Otherwise, the sketch is exactly +accurate, and is here presented as the unprejudiced description and +estimate of a foreign gentleman, who had no inducement, such as might +be attributed to a Southern writer, to overcolor his portrait. Such, +in personal appearance, was the leader of the Southern army--a plain +soldier, in a plain dress, without arms, with slight indications of +rank, courteous, full of dignity, a "perfect gentleman," and with no +fault save an "excessive amiability." The figure is attractive to the +eye--it excited the admiration of a foreign officer, and remains in +many memories now, when the sound of battle is hushed, and the great +leader, in turn, has finished his life-battle and lain down in peace. + +The movements of the two armies were soon resumed, and we shall +briefly follow those movements, which led the adversaries back to the +Rappahannock. + +Lee appears to have conceived the design, after crossing the Potomac +at Williamsport, to pass the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge, and +thus place himself in the path of General Meade if he crossed east +of the mountain, or threaten Washington. This appears from his own +statement. "Owing," he says, "to the swollen condition of _the +Shenandoah River, the plan of operations which had been contemplated +when we recrossed the Potomac could not be put in execution_". The +points fixed upon by Lee for passing the mountain were probably +Snicker's and Ashby's Gaps, opposite Berryville and Millwood. The +rains had, however, made the river, in these places, unfordable. On +the 17th and 18th days of July, less than a week after Lee's crossing +at Williamsport, General Meade passed the Potomac above Leesburg, and +Lee moved his army in the direction of Chester Gap, near Front Royal, +toward Culpepper. + +The new movements were almost identically the same as the old, when +General McClellan advanced, in November, 1862, and the adoption of +the same plans by General Meade involves a high compliment to his +predecessor. He acted with even more energy. As Lee's head of column +was defiling toward Chester Gap, beyond Front Royal, General Meade +struck at it through Manassas Gap, directly on its flank, and an +action followed which promised at one time to become serious. The +enemy was, however, repulsed, and the Southern column continued its +way across the mountain. The rest of the army followed, and descended +into Culpepper, from which position, when Longstreet was detached to +the west, Lee retired, taking post behind the Rapidan. + +General Meade thereupon followed, and occupied Culpepper, his advance +being about half-way between Culpepper Court-House and the river. + +Such was the position of the two armies in the first days of October, +when Lee, weary, it seemed, of inactivity, set out to flank and fight +his adversary. + + + + +PART VII. + +_LAST CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR_ 1863. + + + + +I. + +THE CAVALRY OF LEE'S ARMY. + + +In a work of the present description, the writer has a choice between +two courses. He may either record the events of the war in all +quarters of the country, as bearing more or less upon his narrative, +or may confine himself to the life of the individual who is the +immediate subject of his volume. Of these two courses, the writer +prefers the latter for many reasons. To present a narrative of +military transactions in all portions of the South would expand this +volume to undue proportions; and there is the further objection that +these occurrences are familiar to all. It might be necessary, in +writing for persons ignorant of the events of the great conflict, to +omit nothing; but this ignorance does, not probably exist in the +case of the readers of these pages; and the writer will continue, +as heretofore, to confine himself to the main subject, only noting +incidentally such prominent events in other quarters as affected Lee's +movements. + +One such event was the fall of Vicksburg, which post surrendered at +the same moment with the defeat at Gettysburg, rendering thereafter +impossible all movements of invasion; and another was the advance of +General Rosecrans toward Atlanta, which resulted, in the month of +September, in a Southern victory at Chickamauga. + +The immediate effect of the Federal demonstration toward Chattanooga +had been to detach Longstreet's corps from General Lee's army, for +service under General Bragg. General Meade's force is said to have +also been somewhat lessened by detachments sent to enforce the draft +in New York; and these circumstances had, in the first days of +October, reduced both armies in Virginia to a less force than they had +numbered in the past campaign. General Meade, however, presented a +bold front to his adversary, and, with his headquarters near Culpepper +Court-House, kept close watch upon Lee, whose army lay along the south +bank of the Rapidan. + +For some weeks no military movements took place, and an occasional +cavalry skirmish between the troopers of the two armies was all which +broke the monotony of the autumn days. This inactivity, however, was +now about to terminate. Lee had resolved to attempt a flank movement +around General Meade's right, with the view of bringing him to battle; +and a brief campaign ensued, which, if indecisive, and reflecting +little glory upon the infantry, was fruitful in romantic incidents and +highly creditable to the cavalry of the Southern army. + +In following the movements, and describing the operations of the main +body of the army--the infantry--we have necessarily been compelled to +pass over, to a great extent, the services of the cavalry in the past +campaign. These had, nevertheless, been great--no arm of the service +had exhibited greater efficiency; and, but for the fact that in all +armies the brunt of battle falls upon the foot-soldiers, it might be +added that the services of the cavalry had been as important as those +of the infantry. Stuart was now in command of a force varying from +five to eight thousand sabres, and among his troopers were some of +the best fighting-men of the South. The cavalry had always been the +favorite arm with the Southern youth; it had drawn to itself, as +privates in the ranks, thousands of young men of collegiate education, +great wealth, and the highest social position; and this force was +officered, in Virginia, by such resolute commanders as Wade Hampton, +Fitz Lee, William H.F. Lee, Rosser, Jones, Wickham, Young, +Munford, and many others. Under these leaders, and assisted by +the hard-fighting "Stuart Horse-Artillery" under Pelham and his +successors, the cavalry had borne their full share in the hard +marches and combats of the army. On the Chickahominy; in the march +to Manassas, and the battles in Maryland; in the operations on +the Rappahannock, and the incessant fighting of the campaign to +Gettysburg, Stuart and his troopers had vindicated their claim to the +first honors of arms; and, if these services were not duly estimated +by the infantry of the army, the fact was mainly attributable to the +circumstance that the fighting of the cavalry had been done at a +distance upon the outposts, far more than in the pitched battles, +where, in modern times, from the improved and destructive character +of artillery, playing havoc with horses, the cavalry arm can achieve +little, and is not risked. The actual losses in Stuart's command left, +however, no doubt of the obstinate soldiership of officers and men. +Since the opening of the year he had lost General Hampton, cut down in +a hand-to-hand sabre-fight at Gettysburg; General W.H.F. Lee, shot in +the fight at Fleetwood; Colonels Frank Hampton and Williams, killed in +the same action; Colonel Butler, torn by a shell; Major Pelham, Chief +of Artillery, killed while leading a charge; [Footnote: In this +enumeration the writer mentions only such names as occur at the moment +to his memory. A careful examination of the records of the cavalry +would probably furnish the names of ten times as many, equally brave +and unfortunate.] about six officers of his personal staff either +killed, wounded, or captured; and in the Gettysburg campaign he had +lost nearly one-third of his entire command. Of its value to the army, +the infantry might have their doubts, but General Lee had none. Stuart +and his horsemen had been the eyes and ears of the Army of Northern +Virginia; had fought incessantly as well as observed the enemy; and +Lee never committed the injustice of undervaluing this indispensable +arm, which, if his official commendation of its operations under +Stuart is to be believed, was only second in importance in his +estimation to the infantry itself. + +The army continued, nevertheless, to amuse itself at the expense of +the cavalry, and either asserted or intimated, on every favorable +occasion, that the _real fighting_ was done by themselves. This +flattering assumption might be natural under the circumstances, but it +was now about to be shown to be wholly unfounded. A campaign was at +hand in which the cavalry were to turn the tables upon their jocose +critics, and silence them; where the infantry were doomed to failure +in nearly all which they attempted, and the troopers were to do the +greater part of the fighting and achieve the only successes. + +To the narrative of this brief and romantic episode of the war we now +proceed. General Lee's aim was to pass around the right flank of his +adversary, and bring him to battle; and, although the promptness +of General Meade's movements defeated the last-named object nearly +completely, the manoeuvres of the two armies form a highly-interesting +study. The eminent soldiers commanding the forces played a veritable +game of chess with each other. There was little hard fighting, but +more scientific manoeuvring than is generally displayed in a campaign. +The brains of Lee and Meade, rather than the two armies, were matched +against each other; and the conflict of ideas proved more interesting +than the actual fighting. + + + + +II. + +LEE FLANKS GENERAL MEADE. + + +In prosecution of the plan determined upon, General Lee, on the +morning of the 9th of October, crossed the Rapidan at the fords +above Orange Court-House, with the corps of Ewell and A.P. Hill, and +directed his march toward Madison Court-House. + +Stuart moved with Hampton's cavalry division on the right of the +advancing column--General Fitz Lee having been left with his division +to guard the front on the Rapidan--and General Imboden, commanding +west of the Blue Ridge, was ordered by Lee to "advance down the +Valley, and guard the gaps of the mountains on our left." + +We have said that Lee's design was to bring General Meade to battle. +It is proper to state this distinctly, as some writers have attributed +to him in the campaign, as his real object, the design of manoeuvring +his adversary out of Culpepper, and pushing him back to the Federal +frontier. His own words are perfectly plain. He set out "with the +design," he declares, "of _bringing on an engagement with the Federal +army_"--that is to say, of _fighting_ General Meade, not simply +forcing him to fall back. His opponent, it seems, was not averse to +accepting battle; indeed, from expressions attributed to him, he +appears to have ardently desired it, in case he could secure an +advantageous position for receiving the Southern attack. It is +desirable that this readiness in both commanders to fight should be +kept in view. The fact adds largely to the interest of this brief +"campaign of manoeuvres," in which the army, falling back, like that +advancing, sought battle. + +To proceed to the narrative, which will deal in large measure with the +operations of the cavalry--that arm of the service, as we have said, +having borne the chief share of the fighting, and achieved the only +successes. Stuart moved out on the right of the infantry, which +marched directly toward Madison Court-House, and near the village +of James City, directly west of Culpepper Court-House, drove in the +cavalry and infantry outposts of General Kilpatrick on the main body +beyond the village. Continuous skirmishing ensued throughout the rest +of the day--Stuart's object being to occupy the enemy, and divert +attention from the infantry movement in his rear. In this he seems to +have fully succeeded. Lee passed Madison Court-House, and moving, as +he says, "by circuitous and concealed roads," reached the vicinity of +Griffinsburg, on what is called the Sperryville Road, northwest of +Culpepper Court-House. A glance at the map will show the relative +positions of the two armies at this moment. General Meade lay around +Culpepper Court-House, with his advance about half-way between that +place and the Rapidan, and Lee had attained a position which gave him +fair hopes of intercepting his adversary's retreat. That retreat must +be over the line of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad; but from +Griffinsburg to Manassas was no farther than from Culpepper +Court-House to the same point. If the Federal army fell back, as Lee +anticipated, it would be a question of speed between the retreating +and pursuing columns; and, as the narrative will show, the race was +close--a few hours lost making the difference between success and +failure in Lee's movement. + +On the morning of the 10th while the infantry were still near +Griffinsburg, General Stuart moved promptly down upon Culpepper +Court-House, driving the enemy from their large camps near Stonehouse +Mountain. These were elaborately provided with luxuries of every +description, and there were many indications of the fact that the +troops had expected to winter there. No serious fighting occurred. +A regiment of infantry was charged and dispersed by the Jefferson +Company of Captain Baylor, and Stuart then proceeded rapidly to +Culpepper Court-House, where the Federal cavalry, forming the +rear-guard of the army, awaited him. + +General Meade was already moving in the direction of the Rappahannock. +The presence of the Southern army near Griffinsburg had become known +to him; he was at no loss to understand Lee's object; and, leaving +his cavalry to cover his rear, he moved toward the river. As Stuart +attacked the Federal horse posted on the hills east of the village, +the roar of cannon on his right, steadily drawing nearer, indicated +that General Fitz Lee was forcing the enemy in that direction to fall +back. Stuart was now in high spirits, and indulged in hearty laughter, +although the enemy's shells were bursting around him. + +"Ride back to General Lee," he said to an officer of his staff, "and +tell him we are forcing the enemy back on the Rappahannock, and I +think I hear Fitz Lee's guns toward the Rapidan." + +The officer obeyed, and found General Lee at his headquarters, which +consisted of one or two tents, with a battle-flag set up in front, on +the highway, near Griffinsburg. He was conversing with General Ewell, +and the contrast between the two soldiers was striking. Ewell was +thin, cadaverous, and supported himself upon a crutch, for he had not +yet recovered from the wound received at Manassas. General Lee, on +the contrary, was erect, ruddy, robust, and exhibited indications of +health and vigor in every detail of his person. When Stuart's message +was delivered to him, he bowed with that grave courtesy which he +exhibited alike toward the highest and the lowest soldier in his army, +and said: "Thank you. Tell General Stuart to continue to press them +back toward the river." + +He then smiled, and added, with that accent of sedate humor which at +times characterized him: "But tell him, too, to spare his horses--to +spare his horses. It is not necessary to send so many messages." + +He turned as he spoke to General Ewell, and, pointing to the officer +who had come from Stuart, and another who had arrived just before him, +said, with lurking humor: "I think these two young gentlemen make +_eight_ messengers sent me by General Stuart!" + +He then said to Ewell: "You may as well move on with your troops, I +suppose, general;" and soon afterward the infantry began to advance. + +Stuart was meanwhile engaged in an obstinate combat with the Federal +cavalry near Brandy, in the immediate vicinity of Fleetwood Hill, the +scene of the great fight in June. The stand made by the enemy was +resolute, but the arrival of General Fitz Lee decided the event. That +officer had crossed the Rapidan and driven General Buford before him. +The result now was that, while Stuart was pressing the enemy in his +front, General Buford came down on Stuart's rear, and Fitz Lee on the +rear of Buford. The scene which ensued was a grand commingling of the +tragic and serio-comic. Every thing was mingled in wild confusion, but +the day remained with the Southern cavalry, who, at nightfall, had +pressed their opponents back toward the river, which the Federal army +crossed that night, blowing up the railroad bridge behind them. + +Such was the first act of the bustling drama. At the approach of Lee, +General Meade had vanished from Culpepper, and so well arranged was +the whole movement, in spite of its rapidity, that scarce an empty box +was left behind. Lee's aim to bring his adversary to battle south of +the Rappahannock had thus failed; but the attempt was renewed by a +continuation of the flanking movement toward Warrenton Springs, +"with the design," Lee says, "of reaching the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad, north of the river, and interrupting the retreat of the +enemy." Unfortunately, however, for this project, which required of +all things rapidity of movement, it was found necessary to remain +nearly all day on the 11th near Culpepper Court-House, to supply the +army with provisions. It was not until the 12th that the army again +moved. Stuart preceded it, and after a brisk skirmish drove the enemy +from Warrenton Springs--advancing in person in front of his column +as it charged through the river and up the hill beyond, where a +considerable body of Federal marksmen were put to flight. The cavalry +then pressed on toward Warrenton, and the infantry, who had witnessed +their prowess and cheered them heartily, followed on the same road. +The race between Lee and General Meade was in full progress. + +It was destined to become complicated, and an error committed by +General Meade came very near exposing him to serious danger. It +appears that, after retreating across the Rappahannock, the Federal +commander began to entertain doubt whether the movement had not been +hasty, and would not justly subject him to the charge of yielding to +sudden panic. Influenced apparently by this sentiment, he now ordered +three corps of the Federal army, with a division of cavalry, back to +Culpepper; and this, the main body, accordingly crossed back, leaving +but one corps north of the river. Such was now the very peculiar +situation of the two armies. General Lee was moving steadily in the +direction of Warrenton to cut off his adversary from Manassas, and +that adversary was moving back into Culpepper to hunt up Lee there. +The comedy of errors was soon terminated, but not so soon as it +otherwise would have been but for a _ruse de guerre_ played by +Generals Rosser and Young. General Rosser had been left by Stuart near +Brandy, with about two hundred horsemen and one gun; and, when the +three infantry corps and the cavalry division of General Meade moved +forward from the river, they encountered this obstacle. Insignificant +as was his force. General Rosser so manoeuvred it as to produce the +impression that it was considerable; and, though forced, of course, to +fall back, he did so fighting at every step. Assistance reached him +just at dusk in the shape of a brigade of cavalry, from above the +court-house under General Young, the same officer whose charge at the +Fleetwood fight had had so important a bearing upon the result there. +Young now formed line with his men dismounted, and, advancing with a +confident air, opened fire upon the Federal army. The darkness proved +friendly, and, taking advantage of it, General Young kindled fires +along a front of more than a mile, ordered his band to play, and must +have caused the enemy to doubt whether Lee was not still in large +force near Culpepper Court-House. They accordingly went into camp to +await the return of daylight, when at midnight a fast-riding courier +came with orders from General Meade. + +These orders were urgent, and directed the Federal troops to recross +the river with all haste. General Lee, it was now ascertained, had +left an insignificant force in Culpepper, and, with nearly his whole +army, was moving rapidly toward Warrenton to cut off his adversary. + + + + +III. + +A RACE BETWEEN TWO ARMIES. + + +The game of hide-and-seek--to change the figure--was now in full +progress, and nothing more dramatic could be conceived of than the +relative positions of the two armies. + +At midnight, on Monday, October 12th, Lee's army was near Warrenton +Springs, ready to advance in the morning upon Warrenton, while three +of the four corps under General Meade were half-way between the +Rappahannock and Culpepper Court-House, expecting battle there. Thus a +choice of two courses was presented to the Federal commander: to order +back his main force, and rapidly retreat toward Manassas, or move the +Fourth Corps to support it, and place his whole army directly in Lee's +rear. The occasion demanded instant decision. Every hour now counted. +But, unfortunately for General Meade, he was still in the dark as to +the actual amount of Lee's force in Culpepper. The movement toward +Warrenton might be a mere _ruse_. The great master of the art of war +to whom he was opposed might have laid this trap for him--have counted +upon his falling into the snare--and, while a portion of the Southern +force was engaged in Culpepper, might design an attack with the rest +upon the Federal right flank or rear. In fact, the situation of +affairs was so anomalous and puzzling that Lee might design almost any +thing, and succeed in crushing his adversary. + +The real state of the case was, that Lee designed nothing of this +description, having had no intimation whatever of General Meade's new +movement back toward Culpepper. He was advancing toward Warrenton, +under the impression that his adversary was retreating, and aimed to +come up with him somewhere near that place and bring him to battle. +Upon this theory his opponent now acted by promptly ordering back his +three corps to the north bank of the Rappahannock. They began to march +soon after midnight; recrossed the river near the railroad; and on +the morning of the 13th hastened forward by rapid marches to pass the +dangerous point near Warrenton, toward which Lee was also moving with +his infantry. + +In this race every advantage seemed to be on the side of Lee. The +three Federal corps had fully twice as far to march as the Southern +forces. Lee was concentrating near Warrenton, while they were far in +the rear; and, if the Confederates moved with only half the rapidity +of their adversaries, they were certain to intercept them, and compel +them either to surrender or cut their way through. + +These comments--tedious, perhaps--are necessary to the comprehension +of the singular "situation." We proceed now with the narrative. Stuart +had pushed on past Warrenton with his cavalry, toward the Orange +Railroad, when, on the night of the 13th, he met with one of those +adventures which were thickly strewed throughout his romantic career. +He was near Auburn, just at nightfall, when, as his rear-guard closed +up, information reached him from that quarter that the Federal +army was passing directly in his rear. Nearly at the same moment +intelligence arrived that another column of the enemy, consisting, +like the first, of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, was moving across +his front. + +Stuart was now in an actual trap, and his situation was perilous in +the extreme. He was enclosed between two moving walls of enemies, and, +if discovered, his fate seemed sealed. But one course was left him: to +preserve, if possible, complete silence in his command; to lie _perdu_ +in the wood, and await the occurrence of some fortunate event to +extricate him from his highly-embarrassing situation. He accordingly +issued stringent orders to the men that no noise of any description +should be made, and not a word be uttered; and there was little +necessity to repeat this command. The troopers remained silent and +motionless in the saddle throughout the night, ready at any instant +to move at the order; and thus passed the long hours of darkness--the +Southern horsemen as silent as phantoms; the Federal columns +passing rapidly, with the roll of artillery-wheels, the tramp of +cavalry-horses, and the shuffling sound of feet, on both sides of the +command--the column moving in rear of Stuart being distant but two or +three hundred yards. + +This romantic incident was destined to terminate fortunately for +Stuart, who, having dispatched scouts to steal through the Federal +column, and announce his situation to General Lee, prepared to seize +upon the first opportunity to release his command from its imminent +peril. The opportunity came at dawn. The Federal rear, under General +Caldwell, had bivouacked near, and had just kindled fires to cook +their breakfast, when, from the valley beneath the hill on which +the troops had halted, Stuart opened suddenly upon them with his +Horse-Artillery, and, as he says in his report, knocked over +coffee-pots and other utensils at the moment when the men least +expected it. He then advanced his sharp-shooters and directed a rapid +fire upon the disordered troops; and, under cover of this fire, +wheeled to the left and emerged safely toward Warrenton. The army +greeted him with cheers, and he was himself in the highest spirits. +He had certainly good reason for this joy, for he had just grazed +destruction. + +As Stuart's artillery opened, the sound was taken up toward Warrenton, +where Ewell, in obedience to Lee's orders, had attacked the Federal +column. Nothing resulted, however, from this assault: General Meade +had concentrated his army, and was hastening toward Manassas. All now +depended again upon the celerity of Lee's movements in pursuit. He had +lost many hours at Warrenton, where "another halt was made," he says, +"to supply the troops with provisions." Thus, on the morning of the +14th he was as far from intercepting General Meade as before; and all +now depended upon the movements of Hill, who, while Ewell moved toward +Greenwich, had been sent by way of New Baltimore to come in on the +Federal line of retreat at Bristoe Station, near Manassas. In spite, +however, of his excellent soldiership and habitual promptness, Hill +did not arrive in time. He made the detour prescribed by Lee, passed +New Baltimore, and hastened on toward Bristoe, where, on approaching +that point, he found only the rear-guard of the Federal army--the +whole force, with this exception, having crossed Broad Run, and +hastened on toward Manassas. Hill's arrival had thus been tardy: it +would have been fortunate for him if he had not arrived at all. Seeing +the Federal column under General Warren hastening along the railroad +to pass Broad Run, he ordered a prompt attack, and Cooke's brigade led +the charge. The result was unfortunate for the Confederates. General +Warren, seeing his peril, had promptly disposed his line behind the +railroad embankment at the spot, where, protected by this impromptu +breastwork, the men rested their guns upon the iron rails and poured a +destructive fire upon the Southerners rushing down the open slope in +front. By this fire General Cooke was severely wounded and fell, and +his brigade lost a considerable part of its numbers. Before a new +attack could be made, General Warren hastily withdrew, carrying +off with him in triumph a number of prisoners, and five pieces of +artillery, captured on the banks of the run. Before his retreat could +be again interrupted, he was safe on the opposite side of the stream, +and lost no time in hurrying forward to join the main body, which was +retreating on Centreville. + +General Meade had thus completely foiled his adversary. Lee had set +out with the intention of bringing the Federal commander to battle; +had not succeeded in doing so, owing to the rapidity of his retreat; +had come up only with his rear-guard, under circumstances which seemed +to seal the fate of that detached force, and the small rear-guard had +repulsed him completely, capturing prisoners and artillery from him, +and retiring in triumph. Such had been the issue of the campaign; all +the success had been on the side of General Meade. He is said to have +declared that "it was like pulling out his eye-teeth not to have had a +fight;" but something resembling _bona-fide_ fighting had occurred on +the banks of Broad Run, and the victory was clearly on the side of the +Federal troops. + +To turn to General Lee, it would be an interesting question to discuss +whether he really desired to _intercept_ General Meade, if there +were any data upon which to base a decision. The writer hazards the +observation that it seems doubtful whether this was Lee's intention. +He had a high opinion of General Meade, and is said to have declared +of that commander, that he "gave him" (Lee) "as much trouble as any of +them." Lee was thus opposed to a soldier whose ability he respected, +and it appears doubtful whether he desired to move so rapidly as to +expose his own communications to interruption by his adversary. This +view seems to derive support from the apparently unnecessary delays +at Culpepper Court-House and Warrenton. There was certainly no good +reason why, under ordinary circumstances, an army so accustomed to +rapid marches as the Army of Northern Virginia should not have been +able to reach Warrenton from the neighborhood of Culpepper Court-House +in less than _four days._ "We were _compelled_ to halt," Lee writes +of the delay at Culpepper; but of that at Warrenton he simply says, +"Another halt was made." Whether these views have, or have not +foundation, the reader must judge. We shall aim, in a few pages, to +conclude our account of this interesting campaign. + + + + +IV. + +THE FIGHT AT BUCKLAND. + + +Lee rode forward to the field upon which General Hill had sustained +his bloody repulse, and Hill--depressed and mortified at the +mishap--endeavored to explain the _contretemps_ and vindicate himself +from censure. Lee is said to have listened in silence, as they rode +among the dead bodies, and to have at length replied, gravely and +sadly: "Well, well, general, bury these poor men, and let us say no +more about it." + +He had issued orders that the troops should cease the pursuit, and +riding on the next morning, with General Stuart, to the summit of a +hill overlooking Broad Run, dismounted, and held a brief conversation +with the commander of his cavalry, looking intently, as he spoke, in +the direction of Manassas. His demeanor was that of a person who is +far from pleased with the course of events, and the word _glum_ best +describes his expression. The safe retreat of General Meade, with the +heavy blow struck by him in retiring, was indeed enough to account for +this ill-humor. The campaign was altogether a failure, since General +Meade's position at Centreville was unassailable; and, if he were only +driven therefrom, he had but to retire to the defences at Washington. +Lee accordingly gave Stuart directions to follow up the enemy in the +direction of Centreville, and, ordering the Orange and Alexandria +Railroad to be torn up back to the Rappahannock, put his infantry in +motion, and marched back toward Culpepper. + +We shall now briefly follow the movements of the cavalry. Stuart +advanced to Manassas, following up the Federal rear, and hastening +their retreat across Bull Run beyond. He then left Fitz Lee's division +near Manassas in the Federal front, and moving, with Hampton's +division, to the left toward Groveton, passed the Little Catharpin, +proceeded thence through the beautiful autumn forest toward Frying +Pan, and there found and attacked, with his command dismounted and +acting as sharp-shooters, the Second Corps of the Federal army. This +sudden appearance of Southern troops on the flank of Centreville, is +said to have caused great excitement there, as it was not known that +the force was not General Lee's army. The fact was soon apparent, +however, that it was merely a cavalry attack. The Federal infantry +advanced, whereupon Stuart retired; and the adventurous Southern +horsemen moved back in the direction of Warrenton. + +They were not to rejoin Lee's army, however, before a final conflict +with the Federal cavalry; and the circumstances of this conflict +were as dramatic and picturesque as the _ruse de guerre_ of Young in +Culpepper, and the midnight adventure of Stuart near Auburn. The bold +assault on the Second Corps seemed to have excited the ire of the +Federal commander, and he promptly sent forward a considerable body +of his cavalry, under General Kilpatrick, to pursue Stuart, and if +possible come up with and defeat him. + +Stuart was near the village of Buckland, on the road to Warrenton, +when intelligence of the approach of the Federal cavalry reached him. +The movement which followed was suggested by General Fitz Lee. He +proposed that Stuart should retire toward Warrenton with Hampton's +division, while he, with his own division, remained on the enemy's +left flank. Then, at a given signal, Stuart was to face about; he, +General Fitz Lee, would attack them in flank; when their rout would +probably ensue. This plan was carried out to the letter. General +Kilpatrick, who seems to have been confident of his ability to drive +Stuart before him, pressed forward on the Warrenton road, closely +following up his adversary, when the sudden boom of artillery from +General Fitz Lee gave the signal. Stuart wheeled at the signal, and +made a headlong charge upon his pursuers. Fitz Lee came in at the same +moment and attacked them in flank; and the result was that General +Kilpatrick's entire command was routed, and retreated in confusion, +Stuart pursuing, as he wrote, "from within three miles of Warrenton to +Buckland, the horses at full speed the whole distance." So terminated +an incident afterward known among the troopers of Stuart by the jocose +title of "The Buckland Races," and the Southern cavalry retired +without further molestation behind the Rappahannock. + +The cooeperation of General Imboden in the campaign should not be +passed over. That officer, whose special duty had been to guard the +gaps in the Blue Ridge, advanced from Berryville to Charlestown, +attacked the Federal garrison at the latter place, drove them in +disorder toward Harper's Ferry, and carried back with him four or five +hundred prisoners. The enemy followed him closely, and he was forced +to fight them off at every step. He succeeded, however, in returning +in safety, having performed more than the duty expected of him. + +Lee was now behind the Rappahannock, and it remained to be seen what +course General Meade would pursue--whether he would remain near +Centreville, or strive to regain his lost ground. + +All doubt was soon terminated by the approach of the Federal army, +which, marching from Centreville on October 19th, and repairing the +railroad as it advanced, reached the Rappahannock on the 7th of +November. Lee's army at this time was in camp toward Culpepper +Court-House, with advanced forces in front of Kelly's Ford and the +railroad bridge. General Meade acted with vigor. On his arrival he +promptly sent a force across at Kelly's Ford; the Southern troops +occupying the rifle-pits there were driven off, with the loss of many +prisoners; and an attack near the railroad bridge had still more +unfortunate results for General Lee. A portion of Early's division had +been posted in the abandoned Federal works, on the north bank at this +point, and these were now attacked, and, after a fierce resistance, +completely routed. Nearly the whole command was captured--the remnant +barely escaping--and, the way having thus been cleared, General Meade +threw his army across into Culpepper. + +General Lee retired before him with a heavy heart and a deep +melancholy, which, in spite of his great control over himself, was +visible in his countenance. The infantry-fighting of the campaign had +begun, and ended in disaster for him. In the thirty days he had lost +at least two thousand men, and was back again in his old camps, having +achieved absolutely nothing. + + + + +V. + +THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. + + +November of the bloody year 1863 had come; and it seemed not +unreasonable to anticipate that a twelvemonth, marked by such +incessant fighting at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Salem +Church, Winchester, Gettysburg, Front Royal, Bristoe, and along the +Rappahannock, would now terminate in peace, permitting the +combatants on both sides, worn out by their arduous work, to go into +winter-quarters, and recuperate their energies for the operations of +the ensuing spring. + +But General Meade had otherwise determined. He had resolved to try +a last advance, in spite of the inclement weather; and Lee's +anticipations of a season of rest and refreshment for his troops, +undisturbed by hostile demonstrations on the part of the enemy, were +destined speedily to be disappointed. The Southern army had gone +regularly into winter-quarters, south of the Rapidan, and the men were +felicitating themselves upon the prospect of an uninterrupted season +of leisure and enjoyment in their rude cabins, built in sheltered +nooks, or under their breadths of canvas raised upon logs, and fitted +with rough but comfortable chimneys, built of notched pine-saplings, +when suddenly intelligence was brought by scouts that the Federal army +was in motion. The fact reversed all their hopes of rest, and song, +and laughter, by the good log-fires. The musket was taken from its +place on the rude walls, the cartridge-box assumed, and the army was +once more ready for battle--as gay, hopeful, and resolved, as in the +first days of spring. + +General Meade had, indeed, resolved that the year should not end +without another blow at his adversary, and the brief campaign, known +as the "Advance to Mine Run," followed. It was the least favorable +of all seasons for active operations; but the Federal commander is +vindicated from the charge of bad soldiership by two circumstances +which very properly had great weight with him. The first was, the +extreme impatience of the Northern authorities and people at the small +results of the bloody fighting of the year. Gettysburg had seemed +to them a complete defeat of Lee, since he had retreated thereafter +without loss of time to Virginia; and yet three months afterward the +defeated commander had advanced upon and forced back his victorious +adversary. That such should be the result of the year's campaigning +seemed absurd to the North. A clamorous appeal was made to the +authorities to order another advance; and this general sentiment is +said to have been shared by General Meade, who had declared himself +bitterly disappointed at missing a battle with Lee in October. A +stronger argument in favor of active operations lay in the situation, +at the moment, of the Southern army. Lee, anticipating no further +fighting during the remainder of the year, opposed the enemy on the +Rapidan with only one of his two corps--that of Ewell; while the +other--that of Hill--was thrown back, in detached divisions, at +various points on the Orange and the Virginia Central Railroads, for +the purpose of subsistence during the winter. This fact, becoming +known to General Meade, dictated, it is said, his plan of operations. +An advance seemed to promise, from the position of the Southern +forces, a decisive success. Ewell's right extended no farther than +Morton's Ford, on the Rapidan, and thus the various fords down to +Chancellorsville were open. If General Meade could cross suddenly, and +by a rapid march interpose between Ewell and the scattered divisions +of Hill far in rear, it appeared not unreasonable to conclude that +Lee's army would be completely disrupted, and that the two corps, one +after another, might be crushed by the Federal army. + +This plan, which is given on the authority of Northern writers, +exhibited good soldiership, and, if Lee were to be caught unawares, +promised to succeed. Without further comment we shall now proceed to +the narrative of this brief movement, which, indecisive as it was in +its results, was not uninteresting, and may prove as attractive to the +military student as other operations more imposing and accompanied by +bloodier fighting. + +General Meade began to move toward the Rapidan on November 26th, +and every exertion was made by him to advance with such secrecy and +rapidity as to give him the advantage of a surprise. In this, however, +he was disappointed. No sooner had his orders been issued, and the +correspondent movements begun, than the accomplished scouts of Stuart +hurried across the Rapidan with the intelligence. Stuart, whose +headquarters were in a hollow of the hills near Orange, and not +far from General Lee's, promptly communicated in person to the +commander-in-chief this important information, and Lee dispatched +immediately an order to General A.P. Hill, in rear, to march at once +and form a junction with Ewell in the vicinity of Verdierville. The +latter officer was directed to retire from his advanced position upon +the Rapidan, which exposed him to an attack on his right flank and +rear, and to fall back and take post behind the small stream called +Mine Run. + +In following with a critical eye the operations of General Lee, the +military student must be struck particularly by one circumstance, that +in all his movements he seemed to proceed less according to the nice +technicalities of the art of war, than in accordance with the dictates +of a broad and comprehensive good sense. It may be said that, in +choosing position, he always chose the right and never the wrong one; +and the choice of Mine Run now as a defensive line was a proof of +this. The run is a small water-course which, rising south of the great +highway between Orange and Chancellorsville, flows due northward amid +woods and between hills to the Rapidan, into which it empties itself a +few miles above Germanna, General Meade's main place of crossing. This +stream is the natural defence of the right flank of an army posted +between Orange and the Rapidan. It is also the natural and obvious +line upon which to receive the attack of a force marching from below +toward Gordonsville. Behind Mine Run, therefore, just east of the +little village of Verdierville, General Lee directed his two corps to +concentrate; and at the word, the men, lounging but now carelessly in +winter-quarters, sprung to arms, "fell in," and with burnished muskets +took up the line of march. + +We have spoken of the promptness with which the movement was made, and +it may almost be said that General Meade had scarcely broken up his +camps north of the Rapidan, when Lee was in motion to go and meet him. +On the night of the 26th, Stuart, whose cavalry was posted opposite +the lower fords, pushed forward in person, and bivouacked under some +pines just below Verdierville; and before daylight General Lee was +also in the saddle, and at sunrise had reached the same point. The +night had been severely cold, for winter had set in in earnest; but +General Lee, always robust and careless of weather, walked down, +without wrapping, and wearing only his plain gray uniform, to Stuart's +_impromptu_ headquarters under the pines, where, beside a great fire, +and without other covering than his army-blanket, the commander of the +cavalry had slept since midnight. + +As Lee approached, Stuart came forward, and Lee said, admiringly, +"What a hardy soldier!" + +They consulted, Stuart walking back with General Lee, and receiving +his orders. He then promptly mounted, and hastened to the front, +where, taking command of his cavalry, he formed it in front of the +advancing enemy, and with artillery and dismounted sharp-shooters, +offered every possible impediment to their advance. + +General Meade made the passage of the Rapidan without difficulty; and, +as his expedition was unencumbered with wagons, advanced rapidly. The +only serious obstruction to his march was made by Johnson's division +of Ewell's corps, which had been thrown out beyond the run, toward the +river. Upon this force the Federal Third Corps, under General French, +suddenly blundered, by taking the wrong road, it is said, and +an active engagement followed, which resulted in favor of the +Southerners. The verdict of Lee's troops afterward was, that the enemy +fought badly; but General French probably desired nothing better than +to shake off this hornets'-nest into which he had stumbled, and to +reach, in the time prescribed by General Meade, the point of Federal +concentration near Robertson's Tavern. + +Toward that point the Northern forces now converged from the various +crossings of the river; and Stuart continued to reconnoitre and feel +them along the entire front, fighting obstinately, and falling back +only when compelled to do so. Every step was thus contested with +sharp-shooters and the Horse-Artillery, from far below to above +New-Hope Church. The Federal infantry, however, continued steadily to +press forward, forcing back the cavalry, and on the 27th General Meade +was in face of Mine Run. + +Lee was ready. Hill had promptly marched, and his corps was coming +into position on the right of Ewell. Receiving intelligence of the +enemy's movement only upon the preceding day, Lee had seemed to move +the divisions of Hill, far back toward Charlottesville, as by the wave +of his hand. The army was concentrated; the line of defence occupied; +and General Meade's attempt to surprise his adversary, by interposing +between his widely-separated wings, had resulted in decisive failure. +If he fought now, the battle must be one of army against army; and, +what was worst of all, it was Lee who held all the advantages of +position. + +We have spoken of Mine Run: it is a strong defensive position, on its +right bank and on its left. Flowing generally between hills, and with +densely-wooded banks, it is difficult to cross from either side in +face of an opposing force; and it was Lee's good fortune to occupy the +attitude of the party to be assailed. He seemed to feel that he had +nothing to fear, and was in excellent spirits, as were the men; an +eye-witness describes them as "gay, lively, laughing, magnificent." In +front of his left wing he had already erected works; his centre and +right were as yet undefended, but the task of strengthening the line +at these points was rapidly prosecuted. Lee superintended in person +the establishment of his order of battle, and it was plain to those +who saw him thus engaged that the department of military engineering +was a favorite one with him. Riding along the western bank of the +water-course, a large part of which was densely clothed in oak, +chestnut, and hickory, he selected, with the quick eye of the trained +engineer, the best position for his line--promptly moved it when it +had been established on bad ground--pointed out the positions for +artillery; and, as he thus rode slowly along, the works which he had +directed seemed to spring up behind him as though by magic. As the +troops of Hill came up and halted in the wood, the men seized axes, +attacked the large trees, which soon fell in every direction, and the +heavy logs were dragged without loss of time to the prescribed line, +where they were piled upon each other in double walls, which were +filled in rapidly with earth; and thus, in an inconceivably short +space of time the men had defences breast-high which would turn a +cannon-shot. In front, for some distance, too, the timber had been +felled and an _abatis_ thus formed. A few hours after the arrival of +the troops on the line marked out by Lee, they were rooted behind +excellent breastworks, with forest, stream, and _abatis_ in front, to +delay the assailing force under the fire of small-arms and cannon. + +This account of the movements of the army, and the preparations made +to receive General Meade's attack, may appear of undue length and +minuteness of detail, in view of the fact that no battle ensued. But +the volume before the reader is not so much a history of the battles +of Virginia, which have often been described, as an attempt to +delineate the military and personal character of General Lee, which +displayed itself often more strikingly in indecisive events than in +those whose results attract the attention of the world. It was the +vigorous brain, indeed, of the great soldier, that made events +indecisive--warding off, by military acumen and ability, the disaster +with which he was threatened. At Mine Run, Lee's quick eye for +position, and masterly handling of his forces, completely checkmated +an adversary who had advanced to deliver decisive battle. With felled +trees, breastworks, and a crawling stream, Lee reversed all the +calculations of the commander of the Federal army. + +From the 27th of November to the night of the 1st of December, General +Meade moved to and fro in front of the formidable works of his +adversary, feeling them with skirmishers and artillery, and essaying +vainly to find some joint in the armor through which to pierce. There +was none. Lee had inaugurated that great system of breastworks which +afterward did him such good service in his long campaign with General +Grant. A feature of the military art unknown to Jomini had thus its +birth in the woods of America; and this fact, if there were naught +else of interest in the campaign, would communicate to the Mine-Run +affair the utmost interest. + +General Meade, it seems, was bitterly opposed to foregoing an attack. +In spite of the powerful position of his adversary, he ordered an +assault, it is said; but this did not take place, in consequence, +it would appear, of the reluctance of General Warren to charge the +Confederate right. This seemed so strong that the men considered it +hopeless. When the order was communicated to them, each one wrote his +name on a scrap of paper and pinned it to his breast, that his corpse +might be recognized, and, if possible, conveyed to his friends. This +was ominous of failure: General Warren suspended the attack; and +General Meade, it is said, acquiesced in his decision. He declared, it +is related, that he could carry the position _with a loss of thirty +thousand men_; but, as that idea was frightful, there seemed nothing +to do but retreat. + +Lee seemed to realize the embarrassment of his adversary, and was in +excellent heart throughout the whole affair. Riding to and fro along +his line among his "merry men"--and they had never appeared in finer +spirits, or with greater confidence in their commander--he addressed +encouraging words to them, exposed himself with entire indifference to +the shelling, and seemed perfectly confident of the result. It was on +this occasion that, finding a party of his ragged soldiers devoutly +kneeling in one of the little glades behind the breastworks, and +holding a praying-meeting in the midst of bursting shells, he +dismounted, took off his hat, and remained silently and devoutly +listening until the earnest prayer was concluded. A great revival was +then going on in the army, and thousands were becoming professors of +religion. The fact may seem strange to those who have regarded Lee +as only a West-Pointer and soldier, looking, like all soldiers, to +military success; but the religious enthusiasm of his men in this +autumn of 1863 probably gave him greater joy than any successes +achieved over his Federal adversary. Those who saw him on the lines at +Mine Run will remember the composed satisfaction of his countenance. +An eye-witness recalls his mild face, as he rode along, accompanied +by "Hill, in his drooping hat, simple and cordial; Early, laughing; +Ewell, pale and haggard, but with a smile _de bon coeur_" [Footnote: +Journal of a staff-officer.] He was thus attended, sitting his horse +upon a hill near the left of his line, when a staff officer rode up +and informed him that the enemy were making a heavy demonstration +against his extreme right. + +"Infantry or cavalry?" he asked, with great calmness. + +"Infantry, I think, general, from the appearance of the guns. General +Wilcox thinks so, and has sent a regiment of sharp-shooters to meet +them." + +"Who commands the regiment?" asked General Lee; and it was to +introduce this question that this trifle has been mentioned. Lee knew +his army man by man almost, and could judge of the probable result +of the movement here announced to him by the name of the officer in +command. + +Finding that General Meade would not probably venture to assail him. +Lee determined, on the night of December 1st, to attack his adversary +on the next morning. His mildness on this night yielded to soldierly +ardor, and he exclaimed: + +"They must be attacked! they must be attacked!" + +His plan is said to have contemplated a movement of his right wing +against the Federal left flank, for which the ground afforded great +advantages. All was ready for such a movement, and the orders are +said to have been issued, when, as the dawn broke over the hills, the +Federal camps were seen to be deserted. General Meade had abandoned +his campaign, and was in full retreat toward the Rapidan. + +The army immediately moved in pursuit, with Lee leading the column. +The disappearance of the enemy was an astounding event to them, and +they could scarcely realize it. An entertaining illustration of this +fact is found in the journal of a staff-officer, who was sent with an +order to General Hampton. "In looking for him," says the writer, "I +got far to our right, and in a hollow of the woods found a grand +guard of the Eleventh Cavalry, with pickets and videttes out, gravely +sitting their horses, and watching the wood-roads for the advance +of an enemy who was then retreating across Ely's Ford!" Stuart was +pressing their rear with his cavalry, while the infantry were steadily +advancing. But the pursuit was vain. General Meade had disappeared +like a phantom, and was beyond pursuit, to the extreme regret and +disappointment of General Lee, who halted his troops, in great +discouragement, at Parker's Store. + +"Tell General Stuart," he said, with an air of deep melancholy, to an +officer whom he saw passing, "that I had received his dispatch when +he turned into the Brock Road, and have halted my infantry here, not +wishing to march them unnecessarily." + +Even at that early hour all chance of effective pursuit was lost. +General Meade, without wagons, and not even with the weight of the +rations brought over, which the men had consumed, had moved with the +rapidity of cavalry, and was already crossing the river far below. He +was afterward asked by a gentleman of Culpepper whether in crossing +the Rapidan he designed a real advance. + +"Certainly," he is reported by the gentleman in question to have +replied, "I meant to go to Richmond if I could, but Lee's position was +so strong that to storm it would have cost me thirty thousand men. I +could not remain without a battle--the weather was so cold that my +sentinels froze to death on post." + +The pursuit was speedily abandoned by General Lee as entirely +impracticable, and the men were marched back between the burning +woods, set on fire by the Federal campfires. The spectacle was +imposing--the numerous fires, burning outerward in the carpet of +thick leaves, formed picturesque rings of flame resembling brilliant +necklaces; and, as the flames reached the tall trees, wrapped to +the summit in dry vines, these would blaze aloft like gigantic +torches--true "torches of war"--let fall by the Federal commander in +his hasty retrograde. + +Twenty-four hours afterward the larger part of General Lee's army +were back in their winter-quarters. In less than a week the Mine-Run +campaign had begun and ended. The movement of General Meade might have +been compared to that of the King of France and his forty thousand +men in the song; but the campaign was not ill devised, was rather +the dictate of sound military judgment. All that defeated it was the +extreme promptness of Lee, the excellent choice of position, and +the beginning of that great system of impromptu breastworks which +afterward became so powerful an engine against General Grant. + + + + +VI. + +LEE IN THE AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1863. + + +General Lee's headquarters remained, throughout the autumn and winter +of 1863, in a wood on the southern slope of the spur called Clarke's +Mountain, a few miles east of Orange Court-House. + +Here his tents had been pitched, in a cleared space amid pines and +cedars; and the ingenuity of the "couriers," as messengers and +orderlies were called in the Southern army, had fashioned alleys and +walks leading to the various tents, the tent of the commanding general +occupying the centre. Of the gentlemen of General Lee's staff we have +not considered it necessary to speak; but it may here be said that it +was composed of officers of great efficiency and of the most courteous +manners, from Colonel Taylor, the indefatigable adjutant-general, to +the youngest and least prominent member of the friendly group. Among +these able assistants of the commander-in-chief were Colonel Marshall, +of Maryland, a gentleman of distinguished intellect; Colonel Peyton, +who had entered the battle of Manassas as a private in the ranks, but, +on the evening of that day, for courage and efficiency, occupied the +place of a commissioned officer on Beauregard's staff; and others +whose names were comparatively unknown to the army, but whose part in +the conduct of affairs, under direction of Lee, was most important. + +With the gentlemen of his staff General Lee lived on terms of the most +kindly regard. He was a strict disciplinarian, and abhorred the theory +that a commissioned officer, from considerations of rank, should hold +himself above the private soldiers; but there was certainly no fault +of this description to be found at army headquarters, and the general +and his staff worked together in harmonious cooeperation. The respect +felt for him by gentlemen who saw him at all hours, and under none of +the guise of ceremony, was probably greater than that experienced +by the community who looked upon him from a distance. That distant +perspective, hiding little weaknesses, and revealing only the great +proportions of a human being, is said to be essential generally to the +heroic sublime. No man, it has been said, can be great to those always +near him; but in the case of General Lee this was far from being the +fact. He seemed greater and nobler, day by day, as he was better and +more intimately known; and upon this point we shall quote the words of +the brave John B. Gordon, one of his most trusted lieutenants: + +"It has been my fortune in life," says General Gordon, "from +circumstances, to have come in contact with some whom the world +pronounced great--some of the earth's celebrated and distinguished; +but I declare it here to-day, that of any mortal man whom it has ever +been my privilege to approach, he was the greatest; and I assert here, +that, _grand as might be your conception of the man before, he arose +in incomparable majesty on more familiar acquaintance_. This can be +affirmed of few men who have ever lived or died, and of no other man +whom it has ever been my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more +you gazed, the more its grandeur grew upon you, the more its majesty +expanded and filled your spirit with a full satisfaction that left a +perfect delight without the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly +majestic and dignified in all his deportment, he was genial as the +sunlight of this beautiful day; and not a ray of that cordial social +intercourse but brought warmth to the heart as it did light to the +understanding." + +Upon this point, General Breckinridge, too, bears his testimony: +"During the last year of that unfortunate struggle," he says, "it was +my good fortune to spend a great deal of time with him. I was almost +constantly by his side, and it was during the two months immediately +preceding the fall of Richmond that I came to know and fully +understand the true nobility of his character. In all those long +vigils, he was considerate and kind, gentle, firm, and self-poised. I +can give no better idea of the impression it made upon me, than to +say it inspired me with an ardent love of the man and a profound +veneration of his character. It was so massive and noble, so grand in +its proportions, that all men must admire its heroism and gallantry, +yet so gentle and tender that a woman might adopt and claim it as her +own." + +We beg the reader to observe that in these two tributes to the worth +of the great soldier, his distinguished associates dwell with peculiar +emphasis upon the charms of private intercourse with him, and bear +their testimony to the fact that to know him better was to love and +admire him more and more. The fact is easily explained. There was in +this human being's character naught that was insincere, assumed, or +pretentious. It was a great and massive soul--as gentle, too, and +tender, as a woman's or a child's--that lay beneath the reserved +exterior, and made the soldier more beloved as its qualities +were better known. Other men reveal their weaknesses on nearer +acquaintance--Lee only revealed his greatness; and he was more and +more loved and admired. + +The justice of these comments will be recognized by all who had +personal intercourse with the illustrious soldier; and, in this autumn +and winter of 1863, his army, lying around him along the Rapidan, +began to form that more intimate acquaintance which uniformly resulted +in profound admiration for the man. In the great campaigns of the two +past years the gray soldier had shared their hardships, and never +relaxed his fatherly care for all their wants; he had led them in +battle, exposing his own person with entire indifference; had never +exposed _them_ when it was possible to avoid it; and on every occasion +had demanded, often with disagreeable persistence from the civil +authorities, that the wants of his veterans should be supplied if all +else was neglected. These facts were now known to the troops, and +made Lee immensely popular. From the highest officers to the humblest +private soldiers he was universally respected and beloved. The whole +army seemed to feel that, in the plainly-clad soldier, sleeping, like +themselves, under canvas, in the woods of Orange, they had a guiding +and protecting head, ever studious of their well-being, jealous of +their hard-earned fame, and ready, both as friend and commander, to +represent them and claim their due. + +We have spoken of the great revival of religion which at this time +took place in the army. The touching spectacle was presented of +bearded veterans, who had charged in a score of combats, kneeling +devoutly under the rustic roofs of evergreens, built for religious +gatherings, and praying to the God of battles who had so long +protected them. A commander-in-chief of the old European school might +have ridiculed these emotional assemblages, or, at best, passed them +without notice, as freaks in which he disdained to take part. Lee, +on the contrary, greeted the religious enthusiasm of his troops +with undisguised pleasure. He went among them, conversed with the +chaplains, assisted the good work by every means in his power; and +no ordained minister of the Gospel could have exhibited a simpler, +sincerer, or more heartfelt delight than himself at the general +extension of religious feeling throughout the army. We have related +how, in talking with army-chaplains, his cheeks flushed and his eyes +filled with tears at the good tidings. He begged them to pray for him +too, as no less needing their pious intercession; and in making the +request he was, as always, simple and sincere. Unaccustomed to exhibit +his feelings upon this, the profoundest and most sacred of subjects, +he was yet penetrated to his inmost soul by a sense of his own +weakness and dependence on divine support; and, indeed, it may be +questioned whether any other element of the great soldier's character +was so deep-seated and controlling as his spirit of love to God. It +took, in the eyes of the world, the form of a love of duty; but with +Lee the word duty was but another name for the will of the Almighty; +and to discover and perform this was, first and last, the sole aim of +his life. + +We elaborate this point before passing to the last great campaign of +the war, since, to understand Lee in those last days, it is absolutely +necessary to keep in view this utter subjection of the man's heart to +the sense of an overruling Providence--that Providence which "shapes +our ends, rough-hew them how we will." We shall be called upon to +delineate the soldier meeting adverse circumstances and disaster at +every turn with an imperial calmness and a resolution that never +shook; and, up to a certain point, this noble composure may be +attributed to the stubborn courage of the man's nature. There came in +due time, however, a moment of trial when military courage simply +was of no avail--when that human being never lived, who, looking to +earthly support alone, would not have lost heart and given up the +contest. Lee did not, in this hour of conclusive trial, either lose +heart or give up the struggle; and the world, not understanding the +phenomenon, gazed at him with wonder. Few were aware of the true +explanation of his utter serenity when all things were crumbling +around him, and when he knew that they were crumbling. The stout heart +of the soldier who will not yield to fate was in his breast; but he +had a still stronger sentiment than manly courage to support him--the +consciousness that he was doing his duty, and that God watched over +him, and would make all things work together for good to those who +loved Him. + +As yet that last great wrestle of the opposing armies lay in the +future. The veterans of the Army of Northern Virginia defended the +line of the Rapidan, and the gray commander-in-chief, in his tent +on Clarke's Mountain, serenely awaited the further movements of the +enemy. During the long months of winter he was busily engaged, as +usual, in official correspondence, in looking to the welfare of his +men, and in preparations for the coming campaign. He often rode among +the camps, and the familiar figure in the well-known hat, cape, +and gray uniform, mounted upon the powerful iron-gray--the famous +"Traveller," who survived to bear his master after the war--was +everywhere greeted by the ragged veterans with cheers and marks of the +highest respect and regard. At times his rides were extended to +the banks of the Rapidan, and, in passing, he would stop at the +headquarters of General Stuart, or other officers. On these occasions +he had always some good-humored speech for all, not overlooking the +youngest officer; but he shone in the most amiable light, perhaps, in +conversing with some old private soldier, gray-haired like himself. +At such moments the general's countenance was a pleasant spectacle. A +kindly smile lit up the clear eyes, and moved the lips half-concealed +by the grizzled mustache. The _bonhomie_ of this smile was +irresistible, and the aged private soldier, in his poor, tattered +fighting-jacket, was made to feel by it that his commander-in-chief +regarded him as a friend and comrade. + +We dwell at too great length, perhaps, upon these slight personal +traits of the soldier, but all relating to such a human being is +interesting, and worthy of record. To the writer, indeed, this is the +most attractive phase of his subject. The analysis and description of +campaigns and battles is an unattractive task to him; but the personal +delineation of a good and great man, even in his lesser and more +familiar traits, is a pleasing relief--a portion of his subject upon +which he delights to linger. What the writer here tries to draw, he +looked upon with his own eyes, the figure of a great, calm soldier, +with kindly sweetness and dignity, but, above all, a charming +sincerity and simplicity in every movement, accent, and expression. +Entirely free from the trappings of high command, and with nothing to +distinguish him from any other soldier save the well-worn stars on the +collar of his uniform-coat, the commander-in-chief was recognizable at +the very first glance, and no less the simple and kindly gentleman. +His old soldiers remember him as he appeared on many battle-fields, +and will describe his martial seat in the saddle as he advanced with +the advancing lines. But they will speak of him with even greater +pleasure as he appeared in the winters of 1862 and 1863, on the +Rappahannock and the Rapidan--a gray and simple soldier, riding among +them and smiling kindly as his eyes fell upon their tattered uniforms +and familiar faces. + + + + +PART VIII. + +_LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGNS AND LAST DAYS_. + + + + +I. + +GENERAL GRANT CROSSES THE RAPIDAN. + + +In the first days of May, 1864, began the immense campaign which was +to terminate only with the fall of the Confederacy. + +For this, which was regarded as the decisive trial of strength, the +Federal authorities had made elaborate preparations. New levies were +raised by draft to fill up the ranks of the depleted forces; great +masses of war material were accumulated at the central depots at +Washington, and the Government summoned from the West an officer of +high reputation to conduct hostilities on what was more plainly than +ever before seen to be the theatre of decisive conflict--Virginia. The +officer in question was General Ulysses S. Grant, who had received the +repute of eminent military ability by his operations in the West; +he was now commissioned lieutenant-general, and President Lincoln +assigned him to the command of "all the armies of the United States," +at that time estimated to number one million men. + +General Grant promptly accepted the trust confided to him, and, +relinquishing to Major-General Sherman the command of the Western +forces, proceeded to Culpepper and assumed personal command of the +Army of the Potomac, although nominally that army remained under +command of General Meade. The spring campaign was preceded, in +February, by two movements of the Federal forces: one the advance of +General B.F. Butler up the Peninsula to the Chickahominy, where for a +few hours he threatened Richmond, only to retire hastily when opposed +by a few local troops; the other the expedition of General Kilpatrick +with a body of cavalry, from the Rapidan toward Richmond, with the +view of releasing the Federal prisoners there. This failed completely, +like the expedition up the Peninsula. General Kilpatrick, after +threatening the city, rapidly retreated, and a portion of his command, +under Colonel Dahlgren, was pursued, and a large portion killed, +including their commander. It is to be hoped, for the honor of human +nature, that Colonel Dahlgren's designs were different from those +which are attributed to him on what seems unassailable proof. Papers +found upon his body contained minute directions for releasing the +prisoners and giving up the city to them, and for putting to death the +Confederate President and his Cabinet. + +To return to the more important events on the Rapidan. General Grant +assumed the direction of the Army of the Potomac under most favorable +auspices. Other commanders--especially General McClellan--had labored +under painful disadvantages, from the absence of cooeperation and good +feeling on the part of the authorities. The new leader entered upon +the great struggle under very different circumstances. Personally and +politically acceptable to the Government, he received their hearty +cooeperation: all power was placed in his hands; he was enabled to +concentrate in Virginia the best troops, in large numbers; and the +character of this force seemed to promise him assured victory. General +McClellan and others had commanded troops comparatively raw, and +were opposed by Confederate armies in the full flush of anticipated +success. General Grant had now under him an army of veterans, and the +enemy he was opposed to had, month by month, lost strength. Under +these circumstances it seemed that he ought to succeed in crushing his +adversary. + +The Federal army present and ready for duty May 1, 1864, numbered one +hundred and forty-one thousand one hundred and sixty-six men. That of +General Lee numbered fifty-two thousand six hundred and twenty-six. +Colonel Taylor, adjutant-general of the Army, states the strictly +effective at a little less, viz.: + + Ewell 13,000 + Hill 17,000 + Longstreet 10,000 + + Infantry 40,000 + Cavalry and artillery 10,000 + + Total 50,000 + +The two statements do not materially differ, and require no +discussion. The force at Lee's command was a little over one-third +of General Grant's; and, if it be true that the latter commander +continued to receive reenforcements between the 1st and 4th days of +May, when he crossed the Rapidan, Lee's force was probably less than +one-third of his adversary's. + +Longstreet, it will be seen, had been brought back from the West, but +the Confederates labored under an even more serious disadvantage than +want of sufficient force. Lee's army, small as it was, was wretchedly +supplied. Half the men were in rags, and, worse still, were but +one-fourth fed. Against this suicidal policy, in reference to an army +upon which depended the fate of the South, General Lee had protested +in vain. Whether from fault in the authorities or from circumstances +over which they could exercise no control, adequate supplies of food +did not reach the army; and, when it marched to meet the enemy, in the +first days of May, the men were gaunt, half-fed, and in no condition +to enter upon so arduous a campaign. There was naught to be done, +however, but to fight on to the end. Upon the Army of Northern +Virginia, depleted by casualties, and unprovided with the commonest +necessaries, depended the fate of the struggle. Generals Grant and Lee +fully realized that fact; and the Federal commander had the acumen to +perceive that the conflict was to be long and determined. He indulged +no anticipations of an early or easy success. His plan, as stated in +his official report, was "to _hammer continuously_ against the armed +force of the enemy and his resources, until _by mere attrition_, if +by nothing else, there should be nothing left of him but an equal +submission with the loyal section of our common country to the +Constitution and the laws." The frightful cost in blood of this policy +of hammering continuously and thus wearing away his adversary's +strength by mere attrition, did or did not occur to General Grant. In +either case he is not justly to be blamed. + +It was the only policy which promised to result in Federal success. +Pitched battles had been tried for nearly three years, and in victory +or in defeat the Southern army seemed equally unshaken and dangerous. +This fact was now felt and acknowledged even by its enemies. "Lee's +army," said a Northern writer, referring to it at this time, "is an +army of veterans: it is an instrument sharpened to a perfect edge. You +turn its flanks--well, its flanks are made to be turned. This effects +little or nothing. All that we reckon as gained, therefore, is the +loss of life inflicted on the enemy." With an army thus trained in +many combats, and hardened against misfortune, defeat in one or a +dozen battles decided nothing. General Grant seems to have +understood this, and to have resolutely adopted the programme of +"attrition"--coldly estimating that, even if he lost ten men to +General Lee's one, he could better endure that loss, and could afford +it, if thereby he "crushed the rebellion." + +The military theory of the Federal commander having thus been set +forth in his own words, it remains to notice his programme for the +approaching campaign. He had hesitated between two plans--"one to +cross the Rapidan below Lee, moving by his right flank; the other +above, moving by his left." The last was abandoned, from the +difficulty of keeping open communication with any base of supplies, +and the latter adopted. General Grant determined to "fight Lee between +Culpepper and Richmond, if he would stand;" to advance straight upon +the city and invest it from the north and west, thereby cutting its +communications in three directions; and then, crossing the James River +above the city, form a junction with the left of Major-General Butler, +who, moving with about thirty thousand men from Fortress Monroe, at +the moment when the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan, was to +occupy City Point, advance thence up the south side of James River, +and reach a position where the two armies might thus unite. + +It is proper to keep in view this programme of General Grant. Lee +completely reversed it by promptly moving in front of his adversary +at every step which he took in advance; and it will be seen that the +Federal commander was finally compelled to adopt a plan which does not +seem to have entered his mind, save as a _dernier ressort_, at the +beginning of the campaign. + +On the morning of the 4th of May, General Grant commenced crossing the +Rapidan at Germanna and other fords above Chancellorsville, and by the +morning of the 5th his army was over. It appears from his report that +he had not anticipated so easy a passage of the stream, and greatly +felicitated himself upon effecting it so successfully. "This I +regarded," he says, "as a great success, and it removed from my mind +the most serious apprehension I had entertained, that of crossing +the river in the face of an active, large, well-appointed, and +ably-commanded army." Lee had made no movement to dispute the passage +of the stream, from the fact, perhaps, that his army was _not_ either +"large" or "well-appointed." He preferred to await the appearance of +his adversary, and direct an assault on the flank of his column as it +passed across his front. From a speech attributed to General Meade, it +would seem to have been the impression in the Federal army that Lee +designed falling back to a defensive position somewhere near the South +Anna. His movements were, however, very different. Instead of retiring +before General Grant in the direction of Richmond, he moved with his +three corps toward the Wilderness, to offer battle. + +[Illustration: Routes of Lee & Grant, May and June 1864.] + +The head of the column consisted of Ewell's corps, which had retained +its position on the Rapidan, forming the right of Lee's line. General +A.P. Hill, who had been stationed higher up, near Liberty Mills, +followed; and Longstreet, who lay near Gordonsville, brought up the +rear. These dispositions dictated, as will be seen, the positions of +the three commands in the ensuing struggle. Ewell advanced in front +down the Old Turnpike, that one of the two great highways here running +east and west which is nearest the Rapidan; Hill came on over the +Orange Plank-road, a little south of the turnpike, and thus formed +on Ewell's right; and Longstreet, following, came in on the right of +Hill. + +General Grant had plunged with his army into the dense and melancholy +thicket which had been the scene of General Hooker's discomfiture. His +army, followed by its great train of four thousand wagons, indicating +the important nature of the movement, had reached Wilderness Tavern +and that Brock Road over which Jackson advanced in his secret +flank-march against the Federal right in May, 1863. In May of 1864, +now, another Federal army had penetrated, the sombre and depressing +shadows of the interminable thickets of the Wilderness, and a more +determined struggle than the first was to mark with its bloody hand +this historic territory. + + + + +II. + +THE FIRST COLLISION IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +To understand the singular combat which now ensued, it is necessary to +keep in view the fact that nothing more surprised General Grant than +the sudden appearance of his adversary face to face with him in the +Wilderness. + +It had not been supposed, either by the lieutenant-general or his +corps-commanders, that Lee, with his small army, would have recourse +to a proceeding so audacious. It was anticipated, indeed, that, +somewhere on the road to Richmond, Lee would make a stand and fight, +in a carefully-selected position which would enable him to risk +collision with his great adversary; but that Lee himself would bring +on this collision by making an open attack, unassisted by position +of any sort, was the last thing which seems to have occurred to his +adversary. + +Such, however, as has been said, was the design, from the first, of +the Southern commander, and he moved with his accustomed celerity +and energy. As soon as General Grant broke up his camps north of the +Rapidan, Lee was apprised of the fact, and ordered his three corps +to concentrate in the direction of Chancellorsville. Those who were +present in the Southern army at this time will bear record to the +soldierly promptness of officers and men. On the evening of the 3d of +May the camps were the scenes of noise, merriment, and parade: the +bands played; the woods were alive; nothing disturbed the scene of +general enjoyment of winter-quarters. On the morning of the 4th all +this was changed. The camps were deserted; no sound was anywhere +heard; the troops were twenty miles away, fully armed and ready for +battle. General Lee was in the saddle, and his presence seemed to push +forward his column. Ewell, marching with celerity, bivouacked +that night directly in face of the enemy; and it was the +suddenly-discovered presence of the troops of this commander which +arrested General Grant, advancing steadily in the direction of +Spottsylvania Court-House. + +He must have inwardly chafed at a circumstance so unexpected and +embarrassing. It had been no part of his plan to fight in the thickets +of the Wilderness, and yet an adversary of but one-third his own +strength was about to reverse his whole programme, and dictate the +terms of the first battles of the campaign. There was nothing to do, +however, but to fight, and General Grant hastened to form order of +battle for that purpose, with General Sedgwick commanding his right, +Generals Warren and Burnside his centre, and General Hancock his left, +near the Brock Road. The line thus formed extended from northwest to +southeast, and, as the right wing was in advance with respect to Lee, +that circumstance occasioned the first collision. + +This occurred about mid-day on the 5th of May, and was brought on by +General Warren, who attacked the head of Swell's column, on the Old +Turnpike. An obstinate engagement ensued, and the division which +received the assault was forced back. It quickly, however, reformed, +and being reenforced advanced in turn against General Warren, and, +after a hard fight, he was driven back with a loss of three thousand +men and two pieces of artillery. + +This first collision of the armies on the Confederate left was +followed almost immediately by a bloody struggle on the centre. This +was held by A.P. Hill, who had marched down the Plank-road, and was +near the important point of junction of that road with the Brock Road, +when he was suddenly attacked by the enemy. The struggle which ensued +was long and determined. General Lee wrote: "The assaults were +repeated and desperate, but every one was repulsed." When night fell, +Hill had not been driven back, but had not advanced; and the two +armies rested on their arms, awaiting the return of light to continue +the battle. + + + + +III. + +THE BATTLE OF THE 6TH OF MAY. + + +The morning of the 6th of May came, and, with the first light of dawn, +the adversaries, as by a common understanding, advanced at the same +moment to attack each other. + +The battle which followed is wellnigh indescribable, and may be said, +in general terms, to have been naught but the blind and desperate +clutch of two great bodies of men, who could scarcely see each other +when they were but a few feet apart, and who fired at random, rather +by sound than sight. A Southern writer, describing the country and +the strange combat, says: "The country was sombre--a land of thicket, +undergrowth, jungle, ooze, where men could not see each other twenty +yards off, and assaults had to be made by the compass. The fights +there were not even as easy as night attacks in open country, for +at night you can travel by the stars. Death came unseen; regiments +stumbled on each other, and sent swift destruction into each other's +ranks, guided by the crackling of the bushes. It was not war--military +manoeuvring: science had as little to do with it as sight. Two wild +animals were hunting each other; when they heard each other's steps, +they sprung and grappled. The conqueror advanced, or went elsewhere. +The dead were lost from all eyes in the thicket. The curious spectacle +was here presented of officers advancing to the charge, in the jungle, +_compass in hand_, attacking, not by sight, but by the bearing of the +needle. In this mournful and desolate thicket did the great campaign +of 1864 begin. Here, in blind wrestle as at midnight, did two hundred +thousand men in blue and gray clutch each other--bloodiest and +weirdest of encounters. War had had nothing like it. The genius of +destruction, tired apparently of the old commonplace killing, had +invented the 'unseen death.' At five in the morning, the opponents +closed in, breast to breast, in the thicket. Each had thrown up here +and there slight, temporary breastworks of saplings and dirt; beyond +this, they were unprotected. The question now was, which would succeed +in driving his adversary from these defences, almost within a few +yards of each other, and from behind which crackled the musketry. +Never was sight more curious. On the low line of these works, dimly +seen in the thicket, rested the muzzles spouting flame; from the +depths rose cheers; charges were made and repulsed, the lines scarcely +seeing each other; men fell and writhed, and died unseen--their +bodies lost in the bushes, their death-groans drowned in the steady, +continuous, never-ceasing crash." + +These sentences convey a not incorrect idea of the general character +of this remarkable engagement, which had no precedent in the war. We +shall now proceed to speak of General Lee's plans and objects, and to +indicate where they failed or succeeded. The commanders of both armies +labored under great embarrassments. General Grant's was the singular +character of the country, with which he was wholly unacquainted; and +General Lee's, the delay in the arrival of Longstreet. Owing to the +distance of the camps of the last-named officer, he had not, at dawn, +reached the field of battle. As his presence was indispensable to a +general assault, this delay in his appearance threatened to result in +unfortunate consequences, as it was nearly certain that General Grant +would make an early and resolute attack. Under these circumstances, +Lee resolved to commence the action, and did so, counting, doubtless, +on his ability, with the thirty thousand men at his command, to at +least maintain his ground. His plan seems to have been to make a heavy +demonstration against the Federal right, and, when Longstreet arrived, +throw the weight of his whole centre and right against the Federal +left, with the view of seizing the Brock Road, running southward, +and forcing back the enemy's left wing into the thickets around +Chancellorsville. This brilliant conception, which, if carried out, +would have arrested General Grant in the beginning of his campaign, +was very near meeting with success. The attack on the Federal right, +under General Sedgwick, commenced at dawn, and the fighting on both +sides was obstinate. It continued with indecisive results throughout +the morning, gradually involving the Federal centre; but, nearly +at the moment when it began, a still more obstinate conflict was +inaugurated between General Hancock, holding the Federal left, and +Hill, who opposed him on the Plank-road. The battle raged in this +quarter with great fury for some time, but, attacked in front and +flank at once by his able opponent, Hill was forced back steadily, and +at last, in some disorder, a considerable distance from the ground +which had witnessed the commencement of the action. At this point, +however, he was fortunately met by Longstreet. That commander rapidly +brought his troops into line, met the advancing enemy, attacked +them with great fury, and, after a bloody contest, in which General +Wadsworth was killed, drove them back to their original position on +the Brock Road. + +It now seemed nearly certain that Lee's plan of seizing upon this +important highway would succeed. General Hancock had been forced back +with heavy loss, Longstreet was pressing on, and, as he afterward +said, he "thought he had another Bull Run on them," when a singular +casualty defeated all. General Longstreet, who had ridden in front of +his advancing line, turned to ride back, when he was mistaken by +his own men for a Federal cavalryman, fired upon, and disabled by +a musket-ball. This threw all into disorder, and the advance was +discontinued. General Lee, as soon as he was apprised of the accident, +hastened to take personal command of the corps, and, as soon as order +was restored, directed the line to press forward. The most bloody and +determined struggle of the day ensued. The thicket filled the valleys, +and, as at Chancellorsville, a new horror was added to the horror +of battle. A fire broke out in the thicket, and soon wrapped the +adversaries in flame and smoke. They fought on, however, amid the +crackling flames. Lee continued to press forward; the Federal +breastworks along a portion of their front were carried, and a part of +General Hancock's line was driven from the field. The struggle had, +however, been decisive of no important results, and, from the lateness +of the hour when it terminated, it could not be followed up. On the +left Lee had also met with marked but equally indecisive success. +General Gordon had attacked the Federal right, driven the force at +that point in disorder from their works, and but for the darkness this +success might have been followed up and turned into a complete defeat +of that wing of the enemy. It was only discovered on the next morning +what important successes Gordon had effected with a single brigade; +and there is reason to believe that with a larger force this able +soldier might have achieved results of a decisive character.[1] + +[Footnote 1: General Early, in his "Memoir of the Last Year of the War +for Independence," bears his testimony to the important character of +the blow struck by General Gordon. He says: "At light, on the morning +of the 7th, an advance was made, which disclosed the fact that the +enemy had given up his line of works in front of my whole line and a +good portion of Johnson's. Between the lines a large number of his +dead had been left, and at his breastworks a large number of muskets +and knapsacks had been abandoned, and there was every indication of +great confusion. It was not till then that we understood the full +extent of the success attending the movement of the evening before." +General Gordon had proposed making the attack on the _morning_ of the +6th, but was overruled.] + +Such had been the character and results of the first conflicts between +the two armies in the thickets of the Wilderness. As we have already +said, the collision there was neither expected nor desired by General +Grant, who, unlike General Hooker, in May of the preceding year, seems +fully to have understood the unfavorable nature of the region for +manoeuvring a large army. His adversary had, however, forced him to +accept battle, leaving him no choice, and the result of the actions of +the 5th and 6th had been such as to determine the Federal commander to +emerge as soon as possible from the tangled underwood which hampered +all his movements. On the 7th he accordingly made no movement to +attack Lee, and on the night of that day marched rapidly in the +direction of Hanover Junction, following the road by Todd's Tavern +toward Spottsylvania Court-House. + +For this determination to avoid further fighting in the Wilderness, +General Grant gives a singular explanation. "On the morning of the +7th," he says, "reconnoissance showed that the enemy _had fallen +behind his intrenched lines_, with pickets to the front, covering a +part of the battle-field. From this it was evident that the two-days' +fighting had satisfied him of his inability to further maintain +the contest in the open field, _notwithstanding his advantage of +position_, and that he would wait an attack behind his works." The +"intrenched lines" and "advantage of position" of Lee, were both +imaginary. No lines of intrenchment had been made, and the ground was +not more favorable on General Lee's side than on General Grant's. Both +armies had erected impromptu breastworks of felled trees and earth, +as continued to be their habit throughout the campaign, and the flat +country gave no special advantage to either. The forward movement of +General Grant is susceptible of much easier explanation. The result of +the two-days' fighting had very far from pleased him; he desired +to avoid further conflict in so difficult a country, and, taking +advantage of the quiescence of Lee, and the hours of darkness, he +moved with his army toward the more open country. + + + + +IV. + +THE 12TH OF MAY. + + +Throughout the entire day succeeding this first great conflict, +General Lee remained quiet, watching for some movement of his +adversary. His success in the preliminary straggle had been +gratifying, considering the great disproportion of numbers, but he +indulged no expectation of a retrograde movement across the Rapidan, +on the part of General Grant. He expected him rather to advance, and +anxiously awaited some development of this intention. There were no +indications of such a design up to the night of the 7th, but at that +time, to use the words of a confidential member of Lee's staff, "he +all at once seemed to conceive the idea that his enemy was preparing +to forsake his position, and move toward Hanover Junction _via_ the +Spottsylvania Court-House, and, believing this, he at once detailed +Anderson's division with orders to proceed rapidly toward the +court-house." + +General Anderson commenced his march about nine o'clock at night, when +the Federal column was already upon its way. A race now began for +the coveted position, and General Stuart, with his dismounted +sharp-shooters behind improvised breastworks, harassed and impeded the +Federal advance, at every step, throughout the night. This greatly +delayed their march, and their head of column did not reach the +vicinity of Spottsylvania Court-House until past sunrise. General +Warren, leading the Federal advance, then hurried forward, followed +by General Hancock, when suddenly he found himself in front of +breastworks, and was received with a fire of musketry. Lee had +succeeded in interposing himself between General Grant and Richmond. + +On the same evening the bulk of the two armies were facing each other +on the line of the Po. + +By the rapidity of his movements General Lee had thus completely +defeated his adversary's design to seize on the important point, +Spottsylvania Court-House. General Grant, apparently conceiving some +explanation of this untoward event to be necessary, writes: "The +enemy, having become aware of our movement, and _having the shorter +line_, was enabled to reach there first." The statement that General +Lee had the shorter of the two lines to march over is a mistake. The +armies moved over parallel roads until beyond Todd's Tavern, after +which the distance to the south bank of the Po was greater by Lee's +route than General Grant's. The map will sufficiently indicate this. +Two other circumstances defeated General Grant's attempt to reach the +point first--the extreme rapidity of the march of the Confederate +advance force, and the excellent fighting of Stuart's dismounted men, +who harassed and delayed General Warren, leading the Federal advance +throughout the entire night. + +An additional fact should be mentioned, bearing upon this point, and +upon General Lee's designs. "General Lee's orders to me," says General +Early, who, from the sickness of A.P. Hill, had been assigned to the +command of the corps, "were to _move by Todd's Tavern along the Brock +Road_, to Spottsylvania Court-House, as soon as our front was clear of +the enemy." From this order it would appear either that General Lee +regarded the Brock Road, over which General Grant moved, as the +"shorter line," or that he intended the movement of Early on the +enemy's rear to operate as a check upon them, while he went forward to +their front with his main body. + +These comments may seem tedious to the general reader, but all that +illustrates the military designs, or defends the good soldiership of +Lee, is worthy of record. + +We proceed now to the narrative. In the Wilderness General Grant had +found a dangerous enemy ready to strike at his flank. He now saw in +his front the same active and wary adversary, prepared to bar the +direct road to Richmond. General Lee had taken up his position on the +south bank of one of the four tributaries of the Mattapony. These four +streams are known as the Mat, Ta, Po, and Nye Rivers, and bear the +same relation to the main stream that the fingers of the open hand do +to the wrist. General Lee was behind the Po, which is next to the Nye, +the northernmost of these water-courses. Both were difficult to cross, +and their banks heavily wooded. It was now to be seen whether, either +by a front attack or a turning movement, General Grant could oust his +adversary, and whether General Lee would stand on the defensive or +attack. + +All day, during the 9th, the two armies were constructing breastworks +along their entire fronts, and these works, from the Rapidan to the +banks of the Chickahominy, remain yet in existence. On the evening of +this day a Federal force was thrown across the Po, on the Confederate +left, but soon withdrawn; and on the 10th a similar movement took +place near the same point, which resulted in a brief but bloody +conflict, during which the woods took fire, and many of the assaulting +troops perished miserably in the flames. The force was then recalled, +and, during that night and the succeeding day, nothing of importance +occurred, although heavy skirmishing and an artillery-fire took place +along the lines. + +On the morning of the 12th, at the first dawn of day, General Grant +made a more important and dangerous assault than any yet undertaken in +the campaign. This was directed at a salient on General Lee's right +centre, occupied by Johnson's division of Ewell's corps, and was one +of the bloodiest and most terrible incidents of the war. For this +assault General Grant is said to have selected his best troops. These +advanced in a heavy charging column, through the half darkness of +dawn, passed silently over the Confederate skirmishers, scarcely +firing a shot, and, just as the first streak of daylight touched the +eastern woods, burst upon the salient, which they stormed at the point +of the bayonet. In consequence of the suddenness of the assault and +the absence of artillery--against whose removal General Johnston is +stated to have protested, and which arrived too late--the Federal +forces carried all before them, and gained possession of the works, in +spite of a stubborn and bloody resistance. + +Such was the excellent success of the Federal movement, and the +Southern line seemed to be hopelessly disrupted. Nearly the whole of +Johnson's division were taken prisoners--the number amounting to about +three thousand--and eighteen pieces of artillery fell into the hands +of the assaulting column. + +The position of affairs was now exceedingly critical; and, unless +General Lee could reform his line at the point, it seemed that nothing +was left him but an abandonment of his whole position. The Federal +army had broken his line; was pouring into the opening; and, to +prevent him from concentrating at the point to regain possession of +the works, heavy attacks were begun by the enemy on his right and left +wings. It is probable that at no time during the war was the Southern +army in greater danger of a bloody and decisive disaster. + +At this critical moment General Lee acted with the nerve and coolness +of a soldier whom no adverse event can shake. Those who saw him will +testify to the stern courage of his expression; the glance of the eye, +which indicated a great nature, aroused to the depth of its powerful +organization. Line of battle was promptly formed a short distance +in rear of the salient then in the enemy's possession, and a fierce +charge was made by the Southerners, under the eye of Lee, to regain +it. It was on this occasion that, on fire with the ardor of battle, +which so seldom mastered him, Lee went forward in front of his line, +and, taking his station beside the colors of one of his Virginian +regiments, took off his hat, and, turning to the men, pointed toward +the enemy. A storm of cheers greeted the general, as he sat his gray +war-horse, in front of the men--his head bare, his eyes flashing, and +his cheeks flushed with the fighting-blood of the soldier. General +Gordon, however, spurred to his side and seized his rein. + +"General Lee!" he exclaimed, "this is no place for you. Go to the +rear. These are Virginians and Georgians, sir--men who have never +failed!--Men, you will not fail now!" he cried, rising in his stirrups +and addressing the troops. + +"No, no!" was the reply of the men; and from the whole line burst the +shout, "Lee to the rear! Lee to the rear!" + +Instead of being needed, it was obvious that his presence was an +embarrassment, as the men seemed determined not to charge unless he +retired. He accordingly did so, and the line advanced to the attack, +led by General Gordon and other officers of approved ability and +courage. The charge which followed was resolute, and the word +ferocious best describes the struggle which followed. It continued +throughout the entire day, Lee making not less than five distinct +assaults in heavy force to recover the works. The fight involved the +troops on both flanks, and was desperate and unyielding. The opposing +flags were at times within only a few yards of each other, and so +incessant and concentrated was the fire of musketry, that a tree of +about eighteen inches in diameter was cut down by bullets, and is +still preserved, it is said, in the city of Washington, as a memorial +of this bloody struggle. + +[Illustration: The Wilderness. "Lee to the Rear"] + +The fighting only ceased several hours after dark. Lee had not +regained his advanced line of works, but he was firmly rooted in an +interior and straighter line, from which the Federal troops had found +it impossible to dislodge him. This result of the stubborn action was +essentially a success, as General Grant's aim in the operation had +been to break asunder his adversary's army--in which he very nearly +succeeded. + +At midnight all was again silent. The ground near the salient was +strewed with dead bodies. The loss of the three thousand men and +eighteen guns of Johnson had been followed by a bloody retaliation, +the Federal commander having lost more than eight thousand men. + + + + +V. + +FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE CHICKAHOMINY. + + +After the bloody action of the 12th of May, General Grant remained +quiet for many days, "awaiting," he says, "the arrival of +reenforcements from Washington." The number of these fresh troops is +not known to the present writer. General Lee had no reinforcements to +expect, and continued to confront his adversary with his small army, +which must have been reduced by the heavy fighting to less than forty +thousand men, while that of General Grant numbered probably about one +hundred and forty thousand. + +Finding that his opponent was not disposed to renew hostilities. +General Lee, on the 19th of May, sent General Ewell to turn his right +flank; but this movement resulted in nothing, save the discovery by +General Ewell that the Federal army was moving. This intelligence was +dispatched to General Lee on the evening of the 21st, and reached +him at Souther's House, on the banks of the Po, where he was calmly +reconnoitring the position of the enemy. + +As soon as he read the note of General Ewell, he mounted his horse, +saying, in his grave voice, to his staff, "Come, gentlemen;" and +orders were sent to the army to prepare to move. The troops began +their march on the same night, in the direction of Hanover Junction, +which they reached on the evening of the 22d. When, on May 23d, +General Grant reached the banks of the North Anna, he found Lee +stationed on the south bank, ready to oppose his crossing. + +The failure of General Grant to reach and seize upon the important +point of Hanover Junction before the arrival of Lee, decided the fate +of the plan of campaign originally devised by him. If the reader will +glance at the map of Virginia, this fact will become apparent. Hanover +Junction is the point where the Virginia Central and Richmond and +Fredericksburg Railroads cross each other, and is situated in the +angle of the North Anna and South Anna Rivers, which unite a short +distance below to form the Pamunkey. Once in possession of this point, +General Grant would have had easy communication with the excellent +base of supplies at Aquia Creek; would have cut the Virginia Central +Railroad; and a direct march southward would have enabled him to +invest Richmond from the north and northwest, in accordance with his +original plan. Lee had, however, reached the point first, and from +that moment, unless the Southern force were driven from its position, +the entire plan of campaign must necessarily be changed. + +The great error of General Grant in this arduous campaign would seem +to have been the feebleness of the attack which he here made upon +Lee. The position of the Southern army was not formidable, and on +his arrival they had had no time to erect defences. The river is not +difficult of crossing, and the ground on the south bank gives +no decided advantage to a force occupying it. In spite of +these facts--which it is proper to say General Grant denies, +however--nothing was effected, and but little attempted. A few words +will sum up the operations of the armies during the two or three days. +Reaching the river, General Grant threw a column across some miles +up the stream, at a point known as Jericho Ford, where a brief but +obstinate encounter ensued between Generals Hill and Warren, and +this was followed by the capture of an old redoubt defending the +Chesterfield bridge, near the railroad crossing, opposite Lee's right, +which enabled another column to pass the stream at that point. These +two successful passages of the river on Lee's left and right seemed to +indicate a fixed intention on the part of his adversary to press both +the Southern flanks, and bring on a decisive engagement; and, to +cooeperate in this plan, a third column was now thrown over opposite +Lee's centre. + +These movements were, however, promptly met. Lee retired his two +wings, but struck suddenly with his centre at the force attempting to +cross there; and then active operations on both sides ceased. In spite +of having passed the river with the bulk of his army, and formed line +of battle, General Grant resolved not to attack. His explanation of +this is that Lee's position was found "stronger than either of his +previous ones." + +Such was the result of the able disposition of the Southern force +at this important point. General Grant found his whole programme +reversed, and, on the night of the 26th, silently withdrew and +hastened down the north bank of the Pamunkey toward Hanovertown +preceded by the cavalry of General Sheridan. + +That officer had been detached from the army as it approached +Spottsylvania Court-House, to make a rapid march toward Richmond, +and destroy the Confederate communications. In this he partially +succeeded, but, attempting to ride into Richmond, was repulsed +with considerable loss. The only important result, indeed, of the +expedition, was the death of General Stuart. This distinguished +commander of General Lee's cavalry had been directed to pursue General +Sheridan; had done so, with his customary promptness, and intercepted +his column near Richmond, at a spot known as the Yellow Tavern; and +here, in a stubborn engagement, in which Stuart strove to supply his +want of troops by the fury of his attack, the great chief of cavalry +was mortally wounded, and expired soon afterward. His fall was a +grievous blow to General Lee's heart, as well as to the Southern +cause. Endowed by nature with a courage which shrunk from nothing; +active, energetic, of immense physical stamina, which enabled him to +endure any amount of fatigue; devoted, heart and soul, to the cause +in which he fought, and looking up to the commander of the army with +childlike love and admiration, Stuart could be ill spared at this +critical moment, and General Lee was plunged into the deepest +melancholy at the intelligence of his death. When it reached him he +retired from those around him, and remained for some time communing +with his own heart and memory. When one of his staff entered, and +spoke of Stuart, General Lee said, in a low voice, "I can scarcely +think of him without weeping." + +The command of the cavalry devolved upon General Hampton, and it +was fought throughout the succeeding campaign with the nerve and +efficiency of a great soldier; but Stuart had, as it were, formed and +moulded it with his own hands; he was the first great commander of +horse in the war; and it was hard for his successors, however great +their genius, to compete with his memory. His name will thus remain +that of the greatest and most prominent cavalry-officer of the war. + +Crossing the Pamunkey at Hanovertown, after a rapid night-march, +General Grant sent out a force toward Hanover Court-House to cut off +Lee's retreat or discover his position. This resulted in nothing, +since General Lee had not moved in that direction. He had, as soon as +the movement of General Grant was discovered, put his lines in motion, +directed his march across the country on the direct route to Cold +Harbor, and, halting behind the Tottapotomoi, had formed his line +there, to check the progress of his adversary on the main road from +Hanovertown toward Richmond. For the third time, thus, General Grant +had found his adversary in his path; and no generalship, or rapidity +in the movement of his column, seemed sufficient to secure to him the +advantages of a surprise. On each occasion the march of the Federal +army had taken place in the night; from the Wilderness on the night of +May 7th; from Spottsylvania on the night of May 21st; and from near +the North Anna on the night of May 26th. Lee had imitated these +movements of his opponent, interposing on each occasion, at the +critical moment, in his path, and inviting battle. This last statement +may be regarded as too strongly expressed, as it seems the opinion of +Northern writers that Lee, in these movements, aimed only to maintain +a strict defensive, and, by means of breastworks, simply keep his +adversary at arm's length. This is an entire mistake. Confident of the +efficiency of his army, small as it was, he was always desirous to +bring on a decisive action, under favorable circumstances. General +Early bears his testimony to the truth of this statement. "I happen to +know," says this officer, "that General Lee had always the greatest +anxiety to strike at Grant in the open field." During the whole +movement from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, the Confederate commander +was in excellent spirits. When at Hanover Junction he spoke of the +situation almost jocosely, and said to the venerable Dr. Gwathmey, +speaking of General Grant, "If I can get one more pull at him, I will +defeat him." + +This expression does not seem to indicate any depression or want of +confidence in his ability to meet General Grant in an open pitched +battle. It may, however, be asked why, if such were his desire, he did +not come out from behind his breastworks and fight. The reply is, that +General Grant invariably defended his lines by breastworks as powerful +as--in many cases much more powerful than--his adversary's. The +opposing mounds of earth and trees along the routes of the two armies +remain to prove the truth of what is here stated. At Cold Harbor, +especially, the Federal works are veritable forts. In face of them, +the theory that General Grant uniformly acted upon the offensive, +without fear of offensive operations in turn on the part of Lee, +will be found untenable. Nor is this statement made with the view of +representing General Grant as over-cautious, or of detracting from his +merit as a commander. It was, on the contrary, highly honorable to +him, that, opposed to an adversary of such ability, he should have +neglected nothing. + +Reaching the Tottapotomoi, General Grant found his opponent in a +strong position behind that sluggish water-course, prepared to dispute +the road to Richmond; and it now became necessary to force the passage +in his front, or, by another flank march, move still farther to the +left, and endeavor to cross the Chickahominy somewhere in the vicinity +of Cold Harbor. This last operation was determined upon by General +Grant, and, sending his cavalry toward Cold Harbor, he moved rapidly +in the same direction with his infantry. This movement was discovered +at once by Lee; he sent Longstreet's corps forward, and, when the +Federal army arrived, the Southern forces were drawn up in their +front, between them and Richmond, thus barring, for the fourth time in +the campaign, the road to the capital. + +During these movements, nearly continuous fighting had taken place +between the opposing columns, which clung to each other, as it were, +each shaping its march more or less by that of the other. At last they +had reached the ground upon which the obstinate struggle of June, +1862, had taken place, and it now became necessary for General Grant +either to form some new plan of campaign, or, by throwing his whole +army, in one great mass, against his adversary, break through all +obstacles, cross the Chickahominy, and seize upon Richmond. This was +now resolved upon. + +Heavy fighting took place on June 2d, near Bethesda Church and at +other points, while the armies were coming into position; but this was +felt to be but the preface to the greater struggle which General Lee +now clearly divined. It came without loss of time. On the morning of +the 3d of June, soon after daylight, General Grant threw his whole +army straightforward against Lee's front--all along his line. The +conflict which followed was one of those bloody grapples, rather +than battles, which, discarding all manoeuvring or brain-work in the +commanders, depend for the result upon the brute strength of the +forces engaged. The action did not last half an hour, and, in that +time, the Federal loss was thirteen thousand men. When General Lee +sent a messenger to A.P. Hill, asking the result of the assault on +his part of the line, Hill took the officer with him in front of his +works, and, pointing to the dead bodies which were literally lying +upon each other, said: "Tell General Lee it is the same all along my +front." + +The Federal army had, indeed, sustained a blow so heavy, that even the +constant mind and fixed resolution of General Grant and the Federal +authorities seem to have been shaken. The war seemed hopeless to many +persons in the North after the frightful bloodshed of this thirty +minutes at Cold Harbor, of which fact there is sufficient proof. "So +gloomy," says a Northern historian,[1] "was the military outlook after +the action on the Chickahominy, and to such a degree, by consequence, +had the moral spring of the public mind become relaxed, that there was +at this time great danger of a collapse of the war. The history of +this conflict, truthfully written, will show this. The archives of the +State Department, when one day made public, will show how deeply the +Government was affected by the want of military success, and to what +resolutions the Executive had in consequence come. Had not success +elsewhere come to brighten the horizon, it would have been difficult +to have raised new forces to recruit the Army of the Potomac, which, +shaken in its structure, its valor quenched in blood, and thousands of +its ablest officers killed and wounded, was the Army of the Potomac no +more." + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Swinton, in his able and candid "Campaigns of the +Army of the Potomac."] + +The campaign of one month--from May 4th to June 4th--had cost +the Federal commander sixty thousand men and three thousand +officers--numbers which are given on the authority of Federal +historians--while the loss of Lee did not exceed eighteen thousand. +The result would seem an unfavorable comment upon the choice of the +route across the country from Culpepper instead of that by the James. +General McClellan, two years before, had reached Cold Harbor with +trifling losses. To attain the same point had cost General Grant +a frightful number of lives. Nor could it be said that he had any +important successes to offset this loss. He had not defeated his +adversary in any of the battle-fields of the campaign; nor did it +seem that he had stricken him any serious blow. The Army of Northern +Virginia, not reenforced until it reached Hanover Junction, and then +only by about nine thousand men under Generals Breckinridge and +Pickett, had held its ground against the large force opposed to it; +had repulsed every assault; and, in a final trial of strength with a +force largely its superior, had inflicted upon the enemy, in about an +hour, a loss of thirteen thousand men. + +These facts, highly honorable to Lee and his troops, are the plainest +and most compendious comment we can make upon the campaign. The whole +movement of General Grant across Virginia is, indeed, now conceded +even by his admirers to have been unfortunate. It failed to accomplish +the end expected from it--the investment of Richmond on the north and +west--and the lives of about sixty thousand men were, it would seem, +unnecessarily lost, to reach a position which might have been attained +with losses comparatively trifling, and without the unfortunate +prestige of defeat. + + + + +VI. + +FIRST BATTLES AT PETERSBURG. + + +General Lee remained facing his adversary in his lines at Cold Harbor, +for many days after the bloody struggle of the 3d of June, confident +of his ability to repulse any new attack, and completely barring the +way to Richmond. The Federal campaign, it was now seen, was at an end +on that line, and it was obvious that General Grant must adopt some +other plan, in spite of his determination expressed in the beginning +of the campaign, to "fight it out on that line if it took all the +summer." The summer was but begun, and further fighting on that line +was hopeless. Under these circumstances the Federal commander resolved +to give up the attempt to assail Richmond from the north or east, and +by a rapid movement to Petersburg, seize upon that place, cut the +Confederate railroads leading southward, and thus compel an evacuation +of the capital. + +[Illustration: Map of Petersburg and Environs.] + +It would be interesting to inquire what the course of General Lee +would have been in the event of the success of this plan, and how the +war would have resulted. It would seem that, under such circumstances, +his only resource would have been to retire with his army in the +direction of Lynchburg, where his communications would have remained +open with the south and west. If driven from that point, the +fastnesses of the Alleghanies were at hand; and, contemplating +afterward the possibility of being forced to take refuge there, he +said: "With my army in the mountains of Virginia, I could carry on +this war for twenty years longer." That spectacle was lost to the +world--Lee and his army fighting from mountain fastness to mountain +fastness--and the annals of war are not illustrated by a chapter so +strange. That Lee was confident of his ability to carry on such a +struggle successfully is certain; and Washington had conceived the +same idea in the old Revolution, when he said that if he were driven +from the seaboard he would take refuge in West Augusta, and thereby +prolong the war interminably. + +To return from these speculations to the narrative of events. General +Grant remained in front of Lee until the 12th of June, when, moving +again by his left flank, he crossed the Chickahominy, proceeded in +the direction of City Point, at which place the Appomattox and James +Rivers mingle their waters, and, crossing the James on pontoons, +hastened forward in order to seize upon Petersburg. This important +undertaking had been strangely neglected by Major-General Butler, +who, in obedience to General Grant's orders, had sailed from Fortress +Monroe on the 4th of May, reached Bermuda Hundred, the peninsula +opposite City Point, made by a remarkable bend in James River, and +proceeded to intrench himself. It was in his power on his arrival to +have seized upon Petersburg, but this he failed to do at that time, +and the appearance of a force under General Beauregard, from the +south, soon induced him to give his entire attention to his own +safety. An attack by Beauregard had been promptly made, which nearly +resulted in General Butler's destruction. He succeeded, however, in +retiring behind his works across the neck of the Peninsula, in which +he now found himself completely shut up; and so powerless was his +situation, with his large force of thirty thousand men, that General +Grant wrote, "His army was as completely shut off ... as if it had +been in a bottle strongly corked." + +The attempt of General Grant to seize upon Petersburg by a surprise +failed. His forces were not able to reach the vicinity of the place +until the 15th, when they were bravely opposed behind impromptu works +by a body of local troops, who fought like regular soldiers, and +succeeded in holding the works until night ended the contest. + +When morning came long lines were seen defiling into the breastworks, +and the familiar battle-flags of the Army of Northern Virginia rose +above the long line of bayonets giving assurance that the possession +of Petersburg would be obstinately disputed. + +General Lee had moved with his accustomed celerity, and, as usual, +without that loss of time which results from doubt of an adversary's +intentions. If General Grant retired without another battle on the +Chickahominy, it was obvious to Lee that he must design one of two +things: either to advance upon Richmond from the direction of Charles +City, or attempt a campaign against the capital from the south of +James River. Lee seems at once to have satisfied himself that the +latter was the design. An inconsiderable force was sent to feel the +enemy near the White-Oak Swamp; he was encountered there in some +force, but, satisfied that this was a feint to mislead him, General +Lee proceeded to cross the James River above Drury's Bluff, near +"Wilton," and concentrate his army at Petersburg. On the 16th he was +in face of his adversary there. General Grant had adopted the plan of +campaign which Lee expected him to adopt. General McClellan had +not been permitted in 1862 to carry out the same plan; it was now +undertaken by General Grant, who sustained better relations toward +the Government, and the result would seem to indicate that General +McClellan was, after all, a soldier of sound views. + +As soon as General Lee reached Petersburg, he began promptly to draw a +regular line of earthworks around the city, to the east and south, for +its defence. It was obvious that General Grant would lose no time in +striking at him, in order to take advantage of the slight character +of the defences already existing; and this anticipation was speedily +realized. General Lee had scarcely gotten his forces in position on +the 16th when he was furiously attacked, and such was the weight of +this assault that Lee was forced from his advanced position, east of +the city, behind his second line of works, by this time well forward +in process of construction. Against this new line General Grant threw +heavy forces, in attack after attack, on the 17th and 18th, losing, it +is said, more than four thousand men, but effecting nothing. On the +21st General Lee was called upon to meet a more formidable assault +than any of the preceding ones--this time more to his right, in the +vicinity of the Weldon Railroad, which runs southward from Petersburg. +A heavy line was advanced in that quarter by the enemy; but, observing +that an interval had been left between two of their corps, General Lee +threw forward a column under General Hill, cut the Federal lines, and +repulsed their attack, bearing off nearly three thousand prisoners. + +On the same night an important cavalry expedition, consisting of the +divisions of General Wilson and Kautz, numbering about six thousand +horse, was sent westward to cut the Weldon, Southside, and Danville +Railroads, which connected the Southern army with the South and West. +This raid resulted in apparently great but really unimportant injury +to the Confederate communications against which it was directed. The +Federal cavalry tore up large portions of the tracks of all three +railroads, burning the wood-work, and laying waste the country around; +but the further results of the expedition were unfavorable. They were +pursued and harassed by a small body of cavalry under General W. H.F. +Lee, and, on their return in the direction of Reams's Station, were +met near Sapponey Church by a force of fifteen hundred cavalry under +General Hampton. That energetic officer at once attacked; the fighting +continued furiously throughout the entire night, and at dawn the +Federal horse retreated in confusion. Their misfortunes were not, +however, ended. Near Reams's, at which point they attempted to cross +the Weldon Railroad, they were met by General Fitz Lee's horsemen +and about two hundred infantry under General Mahone, and this force +completed their discomfiture. After a brief attempt to force their +way through the unforeseen obstacle, they broke in disorder, leaving +behind them twelve pieces of artillery, and more than a thousand +prisoners, and, with foaming and exhausted horses, regained the +Federal lines. + +Such was the result of an expedition from which General Grant +probably expected much. The damage done to Lee's communications was +inconsiderable, and did not repay the Federal commander for the losses +sustained. The railroads were soon repaired and in working order +again; and the Federal cavalry was for the time rendered unfit for +further operations. + +It was now the end of June, and every attempt made by General Grant +to force Lee's lines had proved unsuccessful. It was apparent that +surprise of the able commander of the Confederate army was hopeless. +His works were growing stronger every day, and nothing was left to +his great adversary but to lay regular siege to the long line of +fortifications; to draw lines for the protection of his own front from +attack; and, by gradually extending his left, reach out toward the +Weldon and Southside Railroads. + +To obtain possession of these roads was from this time General Grant's +great object; and all his movements were shaped by that paramount +consideration. + + + + +VII. + +THE SIEGE OF RICHMOND BEGUN. + + +The first days of July, 1864, witnessed, at Petersburg, the +commencement of a series of military manoeuvres, for which few, if +any, precedents existed in all the annals of war. An army of forty or +fifty thousand men, intrenched along a line extending finally over +a distance of nearly forty miles, was defending, against a force of +about thrice its numbers, a capital more than twenty miles in its +rear; and, from July of one year to April of the next, there never +was a moment when, to have broken through this line, would not +have terminated the war, and resulted in the destruction of the +Confederacy. + +A few words in reference to the topography of the country and the +situation will show this. Petersburg is twenty-two miles south of +Richmond, and is connected with the South and West by the Weldon and +Southside Railroads, which latter road crosses the Danville Railroad, +the main line of communication between the capital and the Gulf +States. With the enemy once holding these roads and those north of the +city, as they were preparing to do, the capital would be isolated, and +the Confederate Government must evacuate Virginia. In that event the +Army of Northern Virginia had also nothing left to it but retreat. +Virginia must be abandoned; the Federal authority would be extended +over the oldest and one of the largest and most important members of +the Confederacy; and, under circumstances so adverse, it might well be +a question whether, disheartened as they would be by the loss of so +powerful an ally, the other States of the Confederacy would have +sufficient resolution to continue the contest. + +These considerations are said to have been fully weighed by General +Lee, whose far-reaching military sagacity divined the exact situation +of affairs, and the probable results of a conflict so unequal as +that which General Grant now forced upon him. We have noticed, on +a preceding page, his opinions upon this subject, expressed to a +confidential friend as far back as 1862. He then declared that the +true line of assault upon Richmond was that now adopted by General +Grant. As long as the capital was assailed from the north or the east, +he might hope with some reason, by hard fighting, to repulse the +assault, and hold Richmond. But, with an enemy at Petersburg, +threatening with a large force the Southern railroads, it was +obviously only a question of time when Richmond, and consequently +Virginia, must be abandoned. + +General Lee, we repeat, fully realized the facts here stated, when +his adversary, giving up all other lines, crossed James River to +Petersburg. Lee is said, we know not with what truth, to have coolly +recommended an evacuation of Richmond. But this met with no favor. +A powerful party, including both the friends and enemies of the +Executive, spoke of the movement as a "pernicious idea." If +recommended by Lee, it was speedily abandoned, and all the energies of +the Government were concentrated upon the difficult task of holding +the enemy at arm's length south of the Appomattox and in Charles City. + +In a few weeks after the appearance of the adversaries opposite each +other at Petersburg, the lines of leaguer and defence were drawn, +and the long struggle began. General Grant had crossed a force into +Charles City, on the north bank of James River, and thus menaced +Richmond with an assault from that quarter. His line extended thence +across the neck of the Peninsula of Bermuda Hundred, and east and +south of Petersburg, where, day by day, it gradually reached westward, +approaching nearer and nearer to the railroads feeding the Southern +army and capital. Lee's line conformed itself to that of his +adversary. In addition to the works east and southeast of Richmond, an +exterior chain of defences had been drawn, facing the hostile force +near Deep Bottom; and the river at Drury's Bluff, a fortification of +some strength, had been guarded, by sunken obstructions, against the +approach of the Federal gunboats. The Southern lines then continued, +facing those of the enemy north of the Appomattox, and, crossing that +stream, extended around the city of Petersburg, gradually moving +westward in conformity with the works of General Grant. A glance at +the accompanying diagram will clearly indicate the positions and +relations to each other of the Federal and Confederate works. These +will show that the real struggle was anticipated, by both commanders, +west of Petersburg; and, as the days wore on, it was more and more +apparent that somewhere in the vicinity of Dinwiddie Court-House the +last great wrestle of the opposing armies must take place. + +To that conclusive trial of strength we shall advance with as few +interruptions as possible. The operations of the two armies at +Petersburg do not possess, for the general reader, that dramatic +interest which is found in battles such as those of Chancellorsville +and Gettysburg, deciding for the time the fates of great campaigns. +At Petersburg the fighting seemed to decide little, and the bloody +collisions had no names. The day of pitched battles, indeed, seemed +past. It was one long battle, day and night, week after week, and +month after month--during the heat of summer, the sad hours of autumn, +and the cold days and nights of winter. It was, in fact, the siege +of Richmond which General Grant had undertaken, and the fighting +consisted less of battles, in the ordinary acceptation of that word, +than of attempts to break through the lines of his adversary--now +north of James River, now east of Petersburg, now at some point in +the long chain of redans which guarded the approaches to the coveted +Southside Railroad, which, once in possession of the Federal +commander, would give him victory. + +Of this long, obstinate, and bloody struggle we shall describe only +those prominent incidents which rose above the rest with a species +of dramatic splendor. For the full narrative the reader must have +recourse to military histories aiming to chronicle the operations of +each corps, division, and brigade in the two armies--a minuteness of +detail beyond our scope, and probably not desired by those who will +peruse these pages. + + + + +VIII. + +LEE THREATENS WASHINGTON. + + +The month of July began and went upon its way, with incessant fighting +all along the Confederate front, both north of James River and south +of the Appomattox. General Grant was thus engaged in the persistent +effort to, at some point, break through his opponent's works, when +intelligence suddenly reached him, by telegraph from Washington, that +a strong Confederate column had advanced down the Shenandoah Valley, +crossed the Potomac, and was rapidly moving eastward in the direction +of the Federal capital. + +This portentous incident was the result of a plan of great boldness +devised by General Lee, from which he expected much. A few words will +explain this plan. + +A portion of General Grant's plan of campaign had been an advance up +the Valley, and another from Western Virginia, toward the Lynchburg +and Tennessee Railroad--the two columns to cooeperate with the main +army by cutting the Confederate communications. The column in Western +Virginia effected little, but that in the Valley, under General +Hunter, hastened forward, almost unopposed, from the small numbers of +the Southern force, and early in June threatened Lynchburg. The news +reached Lee at Cold Harbor soon after his battle there with General +Grant, and he promptly detached General Early, at the head of about +eight thousand men, with orders to "move to the Valley through +Swift-Run Gap, or Brown's Gap, attack Hunter, and then cross the +Potomac and threaten Washington." [Footnote: This statement of his +orders was derived from Lieutenant-General Early.] + +General Early, an officer of great energy and intrepidity, moved +without loss of time, and an engagement ensued between him and General +Hunter near Lynchburg. The battle was soon decided. General Hunter, +who had more cruelly oppressed the inhabitants of the Valley than even +General Milroy, was completely defeated, driven in disordered flight +toward the Ohio, and Early hastened down the Valley, and thence into +Maryland, with the view of threatening Washington, as he had been +ordered to do by Lee. His march was exceedingly rapid, and he found +the road unobstructed until he reached the Monocacy near Frederick +City, where he was opposed by a force under General Wallace. This +force he attacked, and soon drove from the field; he then pressed +forward, and on the 11th of July came in sight of Washington. + +It was the intelligence of this advance of a Confederate force into +Maryland, and toward the capital, which came to startle General Grant +while he was hotly engaged with Lee at Petersburg. The Washington +authorities seem to have been completely unnerved, and to have +regarded the capture of the city as nearly inevitable. General Grant, +however, stood firm, and did not permit the terror of the civil +authorities to affect him. He sent forward to Washington two army +corps, and these arrived just in time. If it had been in the power of +General Early to capture Washington--which seems questionable--the +opportunity was lost. He found himself compelled to retire across the +Potomac again to avoid an attack in his rear; and this he effected +without loss, taking up, in accordance with orders from Lee, a +position in the Valley, where he remained for some months a standing +threat to the enemy. + +Such was the famous march of General Early to Washington; and there +seems at present little reason to doubt that the Federal capital had a +narrow escape from capture by the Confederates. What the result of so +singular an event would have been, it is difficult to say; but it +is certain that it would have put an end to General Grant's entire +campaign at Petersburg. Then--but speculations of this character are +simply loss of time. The city was not captured; the war went upon its +way, and was destined to terminate by pure exhaustion of one of the +combatants, unaffected by _coups de main_ in any part of the theatre +of conflict. + +We have briefly spoken of the engagement between Generals Early and +Hunter, near Lynchburg, and the abrupt retreat of the latter to the +western mountains and thence toward the Ohio. It may interest the +reader to know General Lee's views on the subject of this retreat, +which, it seems, were drawn from him by a letter addressed to him by +General Hunter: + +"As soon after the war as mail communications were opened," writes +the gentleman of high character from whom we derive this incident, +"General David Hunter wrote to General Lee, begging that he would +answer him frankly on two points:" + +'I. His (Hunter's) campaign in 1864 was undertaken on information +received by General Halleck that General Lee was about to detach forty +thousand picked troops to send to Georgia. Did not his (Hunter's) move +prevent this? + +'II. When he found it necessary to retreat from Lynchburg, did he not +take the most feasible route?' + +General Lee wrote a very courteous reply, in which he said: + +'I. General Halleck was misinformed. I had _no troops to spare_, and +forty thousand would have taken nearly my whole army. + +'II. I am not advised as to the motives which induced you to adopt +your line of retreat, and am not, perhaps, competent to judge of the +question; _but I certainly expected you to retreat by way_ of the +Shenandoah Valley.' + +"General Hunter," adds our correspondent, "never published this +letter, but I heard General Lee tell of it one day with evident +pleasure." + +Lee's opinion of the military abilities of both Generals Hunter +and Sheridan was indeed far from flattering. He regarded those two +commanders--especially General Sheridan--as enjoying reputations +solely conferred upon them by the exhaustion of the resources of +the Confederacy, and not warranted by any military efficiency in +themselves. + + + + +IX. + +THE MINE EXPLOSION. + + +The end of the month of July was now approaching, and every attempt +made by General Grant to break through Lee's lines had resulted in +failure. At every point which he assailed, an armed force, sufficient +to repulse his most vigorous attacks, seemed to spring from the earth; +and no movement of the Federal forces, however sudden and rapid, had +been able to take the Confederate commander unawares. The campaign was +apparently settling down into stubborn fighting, day and night, in +which the object of General Grant was to carry out his programme of +attrition. Such was the feeling in both armies when, at dawn on the +30th of July, a loud explosion, heard for thirty miles, took place on +the lines near Petersburg, and a vast column of smoke, shooting upward +to a great height, seemed to indicate the blowing up of an extensive +magazine. + +Instead of a magazine, it was a mine which had thus been exploded; and +the incident was not the least singular of a campaign unlike any which +had preceded it. + +The plan of forming a breach in the Southern works, by exploding a +mine beneath them, is said by Northern writers to have originated with +a subordinate officer of the Federal army, who, observing the close +proximity of the opposing works near Petersburg, conceived it feasible +to construct a subterranean gallery, reaching beneath those of General +Lee. The undertaking was begun, the earth being carried off in +cracker-boxes; and such was the steady persistence of the workmen that +a gallery five hundred feet long, with lateral openings beneath the +Confederate works, was soon finished; and in these lateral recesses +was placed a large amount of powder. + +All was now ready, and the question was how to utilize the explosion. +General Grant decided to follow it by a sudden charge through the +breach, seize a crest in rear, and thus interpose a force directly in +the centre of Lee's line. A singular discussion, however, arose, and +caused some embarrassment. Should the assaulting column consist of +white or negro troops? This question was decided, General Grant +afterward declared, by "pulling straws or tossing coppers"--the white +troops were the fortunate or unfortunate ones--and on the morning of +July 30th the mine was exploded. The effect was frightful, and the +incident will long be remembered by those present and escaping +unharmed. The small Southern force and artillery immediately above the +mine were hurled into the air. An opening, one hundred and fifty feet +long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep, suddenly appeared, where +a moment before had extended the Confederate earthworks; and the +Federal division, selected for the charge, rushed forward to pierce +the opening. + +The result did not justify the sanguine expectations which seem to +have been excited in the breasts of the Federal officers. A Southern +writer thus describes what ensued: + +"The 'white division' charged, reached the crater, stumbled over +the _debris_, were suddenly met by a merciless fire of artillery, +enfilading them right and left, and of infantry fusillading them in +front; faltered, hesitated, were badly led, lost heart, gave up the +plan of seizing the crest in rear, huddled into the crater, man on +top of man, company mingled with company; and upon this disordered, +unstrung, quivering mass of human beings, white and black--for the +black troops had followed--was poured a hurricane of shot, shell, +canister, musketry, which made the hideous crater a slaughter-pen, +horrible and frightful beyond the power of words. All order was lost; +all idea of charging the crest abandoned. Lee's infantry was seen +concentrating for the carnival of death; his artillery was massing to +destroy the remnants of the charging divisions; those who deserted the +crater, to scramble over the _debris_ and run back, were shot down; +then all that was left to the shuddering mass of blacks and whites in +the pit was to shrink lower, evade the horrible _mitraille_, and wait +for a charge of their friends to rescue them or surrender." + +These sentences sufficiently describe the painful scene which followed +the explosion of the mine. The charging column was unable to advance +in face of the very heavy fire directed upon them by the Southern +infantry and artillery; and the effect of this fire was so appalling +that General Mahone, commanding at the spot, is said to have ordered +it to cease, adding that the spectacle made him sick. The Federal +forces finally succeeded in making their way back, with a loss of +about four thousand prisoners; and General Lee, whose losses had been +small, reestablished his line without interruption. + +Before passing from this incident, a singular circumstance connected +with it is deserving of mention. This was the declaration of the +Congressional Committee, which in due time investigated the whole +affair. + +The conclusion of the committee was not flattering to the veteran Army +of the Potomac. The report declared that "the first and great cause of +disaster was the employment of white instead of black troops to make +the charge." + + + + +X. + +END OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1864. + + +Throughout the months of August and September, Lee continued to be +attacked at various points along his entire front, but succeeded +in repulsing every assault. General Grant's design may be said, in +general terms, to have been a steady extension of his left toward +the Confederate communications west of Petersburg, while taking the +chances, by attacks north of James River, to break through in that +quarter and seize upon Richmond. It is probable that his hopes of +effecting the last-mentioned object were small; but operations in that +direction promised the more probable result of causing Lee to weaken +his right, and thus uncover the Southside Railroad. + +An indecisive attack on the north of James River was followed, toward +the end of August, by a heavy advance, to seize upon the Weldon +Railroad near Petersburg. In this General Grant succeeded, an event +clearly foreseen by Lee, who had long before informed the authorities +that he could not hold this road. General Grant followed up this +success by sending heavy forces to seize Reams's Station, on the same +road, farther south, and afterward to destroy it to Hicksford--which, +however, effected less favorable results, Lee meeting and defeating +both forces after obstinate engagements, in which the Federal troops +lost heavily, and were compelled to retreat. + +These varying successes did not, however, materially affect the +general result. The Federal left gradually reached farther and farther +westward, until finally it had passed the Vaughan, Squirrel Level, and +other roads, running south-westward from Petersburg, and in October +was established on the left bank of Hatcher's Run, which unites with +Gravelly Run to form the Rowanty. It was now obvious that a further +extension of the Federal left would probably enable General Grant to +seize upon the Southside Railroad. An energetic attempt was speedily +made by him to effect this important object, to which it is said +he attached great importance from its anticipated bearing on the +approaching presidential election. + +On the 27th of October a heavy column was thrown across Hatcher's +Run, in the vicinity of Burgess's Mill, on the Boydton Road, and +an obstinate attack was made on Lee's lines there with the view of +breaking through to the Southside Road. In this, however, General +Grant did not succeed. His column was met in front and flank by +Generals Hampton--who here lost his brave son, Preston--and W.H.F. +Lee, with dismounted sharp-shooters; infantry was hastened to the +threatened point by General Lee, and, after an obstinate struggle, +the Federal force was driven back. General Lee reporting that General +Mahone charged and "broke three lines of battle."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Dispatch of Lee, October_ 28, 1864.--It was the habit +of General Lee, throughout the last campaign of the war, to send to +Richmond, from time to time, brief dispatches announcing whatever +occurred along the lines; and these, in the absence of official +reports of these occurrences on the Confederate side, are valuable +records of the progress of affairs. These brief summaries are reliable +from the absence of all exaggeration, but cannot be depended upon +by the historian, for a very singular reason, namely, that almost +invariably the Confederate successes are understated. On the present +occasion, the Federal loss in prisoners near Burgess's Mill and east +of Richmond--where General Grant had attacked at the same time to +effect a diversion--are put down by General Lee at eight hundred, +whereas thirteen hundred and sixty-five were received at Richmond. + +Lee's dispatch of October 28th is here given, as a specimen of these +brief military reports. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_October_ 28, 1864. + +_Hon. Secretary of War_: + +General Hill reports that the attack of General Heth upon the enemy +on the Boydton Plank-road, mentioned in my dispatch last evening, was +made by three brigades under General Mahone in front, and General +Hampton in the rear. Mahone captured four hundred prisoners, three +stand of colors, and six pieces of artillery. The latter could not be +brought off, the enemy having possession of the bridge. + +In the attack subsequently made by the enemy General Mahone broke +three lines of battle, and during the night the enemy retreated from +the Boydton Road, leaving his wounded and more than two hundred and +fifty dead on the field. + +About nine o'clock P.M. a small force assaulted and took possession of +our works on the Baxter Road, in front of Petersburg, but were soon +driven out. + +On the Williamsburg Road General Field captured upward of four hundred +prisoners and seven stand of colors. The enemy left a number of dead +in front of our works, and to-day retreated to his former position. + +R.E. Lee] + +With this repulse of the Federal forces terminated active operations +of importance for the year; and but one other attempt was made, during +the winter, to gain ground on the left. This took place early in +February, and resulted in failure like the former--the Confederates +losing, however, the brave General John Pegram. + +The presidential election at the North had been decided in favor +of Mr. Lincoln--General McClellan and Mr. Pendleton, the supposed +advocates of peace, suffering defeat. The significance of this fact +was unmistakable. It was now seen that unless the Confederates +fought their way to independence, there was no hope of a favorable +termination of the war, and this conclusion was courageously faced by +General Lee. The outlook for the coming year was far from encouraging; +the resources of the Confederacy were steadily being reduced; her +coasts were blockaded; her armies were diminishing; discouragement +seemed slowly to be invading every heart--but, in the midst of this +general foreboding, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia +retained an august composure; and, conversing with one of the Southern +Senators, said, "For myself, I intend to die sword in hand." + +That his sense of duty did not afterward permit him to do so, was +perhaps one of the bitterest pangs of his whole life. + + + + +XI. + +LEE IN THE WINTER OF 1864-'65. + + +Before entering upon the narrative of the last and decisive campaign +of the war, we shall speak of the personal demeanor of General Lee at +this time, and endeavor to account for a circumstance which astonished +many persons--his surprising equanimity, and even cheerfulness, under +the pressure of cares sufficient, it would seem, to crush the most +powerful organization. + +He had established his headquarters a mile or two west of Petersburg, +on the Cox Road, nearly opposite his centre, and here he seemed to +await whatever the future would bring with a tranquillity which was a +source of surprise and admiration to all who were thrown in contact +with him. Many persons will bear their testimony to this extraordinary +composure. His countenance seldom, if ever, exhibited the least traces +of anxiety, but was firm, hopeful, and encouraged those around him in +the belief that he was still confident of success. That he did not, +however, look forward with any thing like hope to such success, we +have endeavored already to show. From the first, he seems to have +regarded his situation, unless his army were largely reenforced, as +almost desperate; those reenforcements did not come; and yet, as he +saw his numbers day by day decreasing, and General Grant's increasing +a still larger ratio, he retained his courage, confronting the +misfortunes closing in upon him with unmoved composure, and at no time +seemed to lose his "heart of hope." + +Of this phenomenon the explanation has been sought in the +constitutional courage of the individual, and that instinctive +rebound against fate which takes place in great organizations. This +explanation, doubtless, is not without a certain amount of truth; but +an attentive consideration of the principles which guided this eminent +soldier throughout his career, will show that his equanimity, at a +moment so trying, was due to another and more controlling sentiment. +This sentiment was his devotion to Duty--"the sublimest word in our +language." Throughout his entire life he had sought to discover and +perform his duty, without regard to consequences. That had been with +him the great question in April, 1861, when the war broke out: he had +decided in his own mind what he ought to do, and had not hesitated. + +From that time forward he continued to do what Duty commanded without +a murmur. In the obscure campaign of Western Virginia--in the unnoted +work of fortifying the Southern coast--in the great campaigns which he +had subsequently fought--and everywhere, his consciousness of having +performed his duty to the best of his knowledge and ability sustained +him. It sustained him, above all, at Gettysburg, where he had done his +best, giving him strength to take upon himself the responsibility of +that disaster; and, now, in these last dark days at Petersburg, it +must have been the sense of having done his whole duty, and expended +upon the cause every energy of his being, which enabled him to meet +the approaching catastrophe with a calmness which seemed to those +around him almost sublime. + +If this be not the explanation of the composure of General Lee, +throughout the last great struggle with the Federal Army, the writer +of these pages is at a loss to account for it. The phenomenon was +plain to all eyes, and crowned the soldier with a glory greater than +that which he had derived from his most decisive military successes. +Great and unmoved in the dark hour as in the bright, he seemed to have +determined to perform his duty to the last, and to shape his conduct, +under whatever pressure of disaster, upon the two maxims, "Do your +duty," and "Human virtue should be equal to human calamity." + +There is little reason to doubt that General Lee saw this "calamity" +coming, for the effort to reenforce his small army with fresh levies +seemed hopeless. The reasons for this unfortunate state of things must +be sought elsewhere. The unfortunate fact will be stated, without +comment, that, while the Federal army was regularly and largely +reenforced, so that its numbers at no time fell below one hundred +and fifty thousand men. Lee's entire force at Petersburg at no time +reached sixty thousand, and in the spring of 1865, when he still +continued to hold his long line of defences, numbered scarcely half +of sixty thousand. This was the primary cause of the failure of the +struggle. General Grant's immense hammer continued to beat upon his +adversary, wearing away his strength day by day. No new troops arrived +to take the places of those who had fallen; and General Lee saw, +drawing closer and closer, the inevitable hour when, driven from his +works, or with the Federal army upon his communications, he must cut +his way southward or surrender. + +A last circumstance in reference to General Lee's position at this +time should be stated; the fact that, from the autumn of 1864 to the +end in the spring of 1865, he was felt by the country and the army to +be the sole hope of the Confederacy. To him alone now all men +looked as the _deus ex machina_ to extricate them from the dangers +surrounding them. This sentiment needed no expression in words. It was +seen in the faces and the very tones of voice of all. Old men visited +him, and begged him with faltering voices not to expose himself, for, +if he were killed, all would be lost. The troops followed him with +their eyes, or their cheers, whenever he appeared, feeling a singular +sense of confidence from the presence of the gray-haired soldier in +his plain uniform, and assured that, as long as Lee led them, the +cause was safe. All classes of the people thus regarded the fate +of the Confederacy as resting, not partially, but solely, upon the +shoulders of Lee; and, although he was not entitled by his rank in the +service to direct operations in other quarters than Virginia, there +was a very general desire that the whole conduct of the war everywhere +should be intrusted to his hands. This was done, as will be seen, +toward the spring of 1865, but it was too late. + +These notices of General Lee individually are necessary to a clear +comprehension of the concluding incidents of the great conflict. It is +doubtful if, in any other struggle of history, the hopes of a people +were more entirely wrapped up in a single individual. All criticisms +of the eminent soldier had long since been silenced, and it may, +indeed, be said that something like a superstitious confidence in his +fortunes had become widely disseminated. It was the general sentiment, +even when Lee himself saw the end surely approaching, that all was +safe while he remained in command of the army. This hallucination must +have greatly pained him, for no one ever saw more clearly, or was less +blinded by irrational confidence. Lee fully understood and represented +to the civil authorities--with whom his relations were perfectly +friendly and cordial--that if his lines were broken at any point, the +fate of the campaign was sealed. Feeling this truth, of which his +military sagacity left him in no doubt, he had to bear the further +weight of that general confidence which he did not share. He did not +complain, however, or in any manner indicate the desperate straits to +which he had come. He called for fresh troops to supply his losses; +when they did not arrive he continued to oppose his powerful adversary +with the remnant still at his command. These were now more like old +comrades than mere private soldiers under his orders. What was left +of the army was its best material. The fires of battle had tested the +metal, and that which emerged from the furnace was gold free from +alloy. The men remaining with Lee were those whom no peril of the +cause in which they were fighting could dishearten or prompt to desert +or even temporarily absent themselves from the Southern standard; and +this _corps d' elite_ was devoted wholly to their commander. For this +devotion they certainly had valid reason. Never had leader exhibited a +more systematic, unfailing, and almost tender care of his troops. Lee +seemed to feel that these veterans in their ragged jackets, with their +gaunt faces, were personal friends of his own, who were entitled to +his most affectionate exertions for their welfare. His calls on the +civil authorities in their behalf were unceasing. The burden of +these demands was that, unless his men's wants were attended to, the +Southern cause was lost; and it plainly revolted his sense of the +fitness of things that men upon whom depended the fate of the South +should be shoeless, in tatters, and forced to subsist on a quarter +of a pound of rancid bacon and a little corn bread, when thousands +remaining out of the army, and dodging the enrolling-officers, were +well clothed and fed, and never heard the whistle of a bullet. The +men understood this care for them, and returned the affectionate +solicitude of their commander in full. He was now their ideal of a +leader, and all that he did was perfect in their eyes. All awe of him +had long since left them--they understood what treasures of kindness +and simplicity lay under the grave exterior. The tattered privates +approached the commander-in-chief without embarrassment, and his +reception of them was such as to make them love him more than ever. +Had we space we might dwell upon this marked respect and attention +paid by General Lee to his private soldiers. He seemed to think them +more worthy of marks of regard than his highest officers. And there +was never the least air of condescension in him when thrown with them, +but a perfect simplicity, kindness, and unaffected sympathy, which +went to their hearts. This was almost a natural gift with Lee, and +arose from the genuine goodness of his heart. His feeling toward his +soldiers is shown in an incident which occurred at this time, and was +thus related in one of the Richmond journals: "A gentleman who was in +the train from this city to Petersburg, a very cold morning not long +ago, tells us his attention was attracted by the efforts of a young +soldier, with his arm in a sling, to get his overcoat on. His teeth, +as well as his sound arm, were brought into use to effect the object; +but, in the midst of his efforts, an officer rose from his seat, +advanced to him, and very carefully and tenderly assisted him, drawing +the coat gently over his wounded arm, and buttoning it up comfortably; +then, with a few kind and pleasant words, returning to his seat. Now +the officer in question was not clad in gorgeous uniform, with a +brilliant wreath upon his collar, and a multitude of gilt lines upon +the sleeves, resembling the famous labyrinth of Crete, but he was clad +in a simple suit of gray, distinguished from the garb of a civilian +only by the three stars which every Confederate colonel in the +service, by the regulations, is entitled to wear. And yet he was no +other than our chief, General Robert E. Lee, who is not braver than he +is good and modest." + +To terminate this brief sketch of General Lee, personally, in the +winter of 1864. He looked much older than at the beginning of the war, +but by no means less hardy or robust. On the contrary, the arduous +campaigns through which he had passed seemed to have hardened +him--developing to the highest degree the native strength of his +physical organization. His cheeks were ruddy, and his eye had that +clear light which indicates the presence of the calm, self-poised +will. But his hair had grown gray, like his beard and mustache, which +were worn short and well-trimmed. His dress, as always, was a plain +and serviceable gray uniform, with no indications of rank save the +stars on the collar. Cavalry-boots reached nearly to his knees, and he +seldom wore any weapon. A broad-brimmed gray-felt hat rested low upon +the forehead; and the movements of this soldierly figure were as firm, +measured, and imposing, as ever. It was impossible to discern in +General Lee any evidences of impaired strength, or any trace of the +wearing hardships through which he had passed. He seemed made of iron, +and would remain in his saddle all day, and then at his desk half the +night, without apparently feeling any fatigue. He was still almost an +anchorite in his personal habits, and lived so poorly that it is said +he was compelled to borrow a small piece of meat when unexpected +visitors dined with him. + +Such, in brief outline, was the individual upon whose shoulders, +in the last months of 1864 and the early part of 1865, rested the +Southern Confederacy. + + + + +XII. + +THE SITUATION AT THE BEGINNING OF 1865. + + +In approaching the narrative of the last tragic scenes of the +Confederate struggle, the writer of these pages experiences emotions +of sadness which will probably be shared by not a few even of those +readers whose sympathies, from the nature of things, were on the side +of the North. To doubt this would be painful, and would indicate a +contempt for human nature. Not only in the eyes of his friends and +followers, but even in the eyes of his bitterest enemies, Lee must +surely have appeared great and noble. Right or wrong in the struggle, +he believed that he was performing his duty; and the brave army at +his back, which had fought so heroically, were inspired by the same +sentiment, and risked all on the issue. + +This great soldier was now about to suffer the cruellest pang which +the spite of Fate can inflict, and his army to be disbanded, to return +in poverty and defeat to their homes. That spectacle was surely +tragic, and appealed to the hardest heart; and if any rejoiced in such +misery he must have been unsusceptible of the sentiment of admiration +for heroism in misfortune. + +The last and decisive struggle between the two armies at Petersburg +began in March, 1865. But events of great importance in many quarters +had preceded this final conflict, the result of which had been to +break down all the outer defences of the Confederacy, leaving only the +inner citadel still intact. The events in question are so familiar to +those who will peruse these pages, that a passing reference to them is +all that is necessary. Affairs in the Valley of Virginia, from autumn +to spring, had steadily proceeded from bad to worse. In September, +General Sheridan, with a force of about forty-five thousand, had +assailed General Early near Winchester, with a force of about eight +or nine thousand muskets, and succeeded in driving him up the Valley +beyond Strasburg, whence, attacked a second time, he had retreated +toward Staunton. This was followed, in October, by another battle at +Cedar Run, where Early attacked and nearly crushed General Sheridan, +but eventually was again repulsed, and forced a second time to retreat +up the Valley to Waynesboro', where, in February, his little remnant +was assailed by overwhelming numbers and dispersed. General Sheridan, +who had effected this inglorious but important success, then proceeded +to the Lowlands, joined General Grant's army, and was ready, with his +large force of horse, to take part in the coming battles. + +A more important success had attended the Federal arms in the West. +General Johnston, who had been restored to command there at the +solicitation of Lee, had found his force insufficient to oppose +General Sherman's large army; the Confederates had accordingly +retreated; and General Sherman, almost unresisted, from the exhaustion +of his adversary, marched across the country to Savannah, which fell +an easy prize, and thence advanced to Goldsborough, in North Carolina, +where he directly threatened Lee's line of retreat from Virginia. + +Such was the condition of affairs in the months of February and +March, 1865. In the former month, commissioners from the Confederate +Government had met President Lincoln in Hampton Roads, but no terms of +peace could be agreed upon; the issue was still left to be decided by +arms, and every advantage was upon the Federal side. General Lee, who +had just been appointed "General-in-Chief"--having thus imposed upon +him the mockery of a rank no longer of any value--saw the armies of +the enemy closing in upon him, and did not deceive himself with the +empty hope that he could longer hold his lines at Petersburg. The +country, oppressed as it was, and laboring under a sentiment akin +to despair, still retained in almost undiminished measure its +superstitious confidence in him; but he himself saw clearly the +desperate character of the situation. General Grant was in his front +with a force of about one hundred and fifty thousand men, and General +Sherman was about to enter Virginia with an army of about the same +numbers. Lee's force at Petersburg was a little over thirty thousand +men--that of Johnston was not so great, and was detained by Sherman. +Under these circumstances, it was obviously only a question of time +when the Army of Northern Virginia would be overwhelmed. In February, +1865, these facts were perfectly apparent to General Lee: but one +course was left to him--to retreat from Virginia; and he promptly +began that movement in the latter part of the month, ordering his +trains to Amelia Court-House, and directing pontoons to be got ready +at Roanoke River. His aim was simple--to unite his army with that of +General Johnston, and retreat into the Gulf States. In the mountains +of Virginia he could carry on the war, he had said, for twenty years; +in the fertile regions of the South he might expect to prolong +hostilities, or at least make favorable terms of peace--which would be +better than to remain in Virginia until he was completely surrounded, +and an unconditional submission would alone be left him. + +It will probably remain a subject of regret to military students, that +Lee was not permitted to carry out this retreat into the Gulf States. +The movement was arrested after a consultation with the civil +authorities at Richmond. Upon what grounds a course so obviously +necessary was opposed, the present writer is unable to declare. +Whatever the considerations, Lee yielded his judgment; the movement +suddenly stopped; and the Army of Northern Virginia--if a skeleton can +be called such--remained to await its fate. + +The condition of the army in which "companies" scarce existed, +"regiments" were counted by tens, and "divisions" by hundreds only, +need not here be elaborately dwelt upon. It was indeed the phantom of +an army, and the gaunt faces were almost ghostly. Shoeless, in rags, +with just sufficient coarse food to sustain life, but never enough +to keep at arm's-length the gnawing fiend Hunger, Lee's old veterans +remained firm, scattered like a thin skirmish-line along forty miles +of works; while opposite them lay an enemy in the highest state of +efficiency, and numbering nearly five men to their one. That the +soldiers of the army retained their nerve under circumstances so +discouraging is surely an honorable fact, and will make their names +glorious in history. They remained unshaken and fought undismayed to +the last, although their courage was subjected to trials of the most +exhausting character. Day and night, for month after month, the +incessant fire of the Federal forces had continued, and every engine +of human destruction had been put in play to wear away their strength. +They fought all through the cheerless days of winter, and, when they +lay down in the cold trenches at night, the shell of the Federal +mortars rained down upon them, bursting, and mortally wounding them. +All day long the fire of muskets and cannon--then, from sunset to +dawn, the curving fire of the roaring mortars, and the steady, +never-ceasing crack of the sharp-shooters along the front. Snow, or +blinding sleet, or freezing rains, might be falling, but the fire went +on--it seemed destined to go on to all eternity. + +In March, 1865 however, the end was approaching, and General Lee +must have felt that all was lost. His last hope had been the retreat +southward in the month of February. That hope had been taken from +him; the result was at hand; and his private correspondence, if he +intrusted to paper his views of the situation, will probably show that +from that moment he gave up all anticipation of success, and prepared +to do his simple duty as a soldier, leaving the issue of affairs +to Providence. Whatever may have been his emotions, they were not +reflected in his countenance. The same august composure which had +accompanied him in his previous campaigns remained with him still, and +cheered the fainting hearts around him. To the 2d of April, and even +up to the end, this remarkable calmness continued nearly unchanged, +and we can offer no explanation of a circumstance so astonishing, save +that which we have already given in a preceding chapter. + + + + +XIII. + +LEE ATTACKS THE FEDERAL CENTRE. + + +General Lee became aware, as the end of March drew near, that +preparations were being made in the Federal army for some important +movement. What that movement would be, there was little reason to +doubt. The Federal lines had been extended gradually toward the +Southside Railroad; and it was obvious now that General Grant had in +view a last and decisive advance in that quarter, which should place +him on his opponent's communications, and completely intercept his +retreat southward. + +The catastrophe which General Lee had plainly foreseen for many months +now stared him in the face, and, unless he had recourse to some +expedient as desperate as the situation, the end of the struggle must +soon come. The sole course left to him was retreat, but this now +seemed difficult, if not impossible. General Grant had a powerful +force not far from the main roads over which Lee must move; and, +unless a diversion of some description were made, it seemed barely +possible that the Southern army could extricate itself. This diversion +General Lee now proceeded to make; and although we have no authority +to state that his object was to follow up the blow, if it were +successful, by an evacuation of his lines at Petersburg, it is +difficult to conceive what other design he could have had in risking +an operation so critical. He had resolved to throw a column against +the Federal centre east of Petersburg, with the view to break through +there and seize the commanding ground in rear of the line. He would +thus be rooted in the middle of General Grant's army, and the Federal +left would probably be recalled, leaving the way open if he designed +to retreat. If he designed, however, to fight a last pitched battle +which should decide all, he would be able to do so, in case the +Federal works were broken, to greater advantage than under any other +circumstances. + +The point fixed upon was Fort Steadman, near the south bank of the +Appomattox, where the opposing works were scarcely two hundred yards +from each other. The ground in front was covered with _abatis_, and +otherwise obstructed, but it was hoped that the assaulting column +would be able to pass over the distance undiscovered. In that event a +sudden rush would probably carry the works--a large part of the army +would follow--the hill beyond would be occupied--and General Grant +would be compelled to concentrate his army at the point, for his own +protection. + +On the morning of March 25th, before dawn, the column was ready. It +consisted of three or four thousand men under General Gordon, but an +additional force was held in reserve to follow up the attack if it +succeeded. Just as dawn appeared, Gordon put his column in motion. +It advanced silently over the intervening space, made a rush for the +Federal works, mounted them, drove from them in great confusion the +force occupying them, and a loud cheer proved that the column of +Gordon had done its work. But this auspicious beginning was the only +success achieved by the Confederates. For reasons unknown to the +present writer, the force directed by Lee to be held in readiness, and +to move at once to Gordon's support, did not go forward; the brave +commander and his men were left to breast the whole weight of the +Federal onslaught which ensued; and disaster followed the first great +success. The forts to the right and left of Fort Steadman suddenly +opened their thunders, and something like a repetition of the scene +succeeding the mine explosion ensued. A considerable portion of the +assaulting column was unable to get back, and fell into the enemy's +hands; their works were quickly reoccupied; and Lee saw that his last +hope had failed. Nothing was left to him now but such courageous +resistance as it was in his power to make, and he prepared, with the +worn weapon which he still held in his firm grasp, to oppose as +he best could the immense "hammer"--to use General Grant's own +illustration--which was plainly about to be raised to strike. + + + + +XIV. + +THE SOUTHERN LINES BROKEN. + + +The hour of the final struggle now rapidly drew near. On the 29th of +March, General Lee discovered that a large portion of the Federal army +was moving steadily in the direction of his works beyond Burgen Mill, +and there could be no doubt what this movement signified. General +Grant was plainly about to make a decisive attack on the Confederate +right, on the White-Oak Road; and, if that attack succeeded, Lee was +lost. + +Had not General Lee and his men become accustomed to retain their +coolness under almost any circumstances of trial, the prospect now +before them must have filled them with despair. The bulk of the +Federal army was obviously about to be thrown against the Confederate +right, and it was no secret in the little body of Southerners that +Lee would be able to send thither only a painfully inadequate force, +unless his extensive works were left in charge of a mere line of +skirmishers. This could not be thought of; the struggle on the right +must be a desperate one, and the Southern troops must depend upon hard +fighting rather than numbers if they hoped to repulse the attack of +the enemy. + +Such was the situation of affairs, and neither the Confederate +commander nor his men shrunk in the hour of trial. Leaving Longstreet +to confront the enemy north of the James, and Gordon in command of +Ewell's corps--if it could be called such--in front of Petersburg, Lee +moved with nearly the whole remainder of his small force westward, +beyond Hatcher's Run, to meet the anticipated attack. The force thus +moved to the right to receive General Grant's great assault consisted +of about fifteen thousand infantry, and about two thousand cavalry +under General Fitz Lee, who, in consequence of the departure of +Hampton to North Carolina, now commanded the cavalry of the army. This +force, however, was cavalry only in name; and General Lee, speaking +afterward of General Sheridan, said that his victories were won +"when we had no horses for our cavalry, and no men to ride the few +broken-down steeds that we could muster." + +With this force, amounting in all to about seventeen thousand men, +Lee proceeded to take position behind the works extending along +the White-Oak Road, in the direction of Five Forks, an important +_carrefour_ beyond his extreme right. The number of men left north +of James River and in front of Petersburg was a little under twenty +thousand. As General Grant had at his command a force about four times +as great as his adversary's, it seemed scarcely possible that Lee +would be able to offer serious resistance. + +It soon became evident, however, that, in spite of this great +disproportion of force, General Lee had determined to fight to the +last. To attribute this determination to despair and recklessness, +would be doing injustice to the great soldier. It was still possible +that he might be able to repulse the assault upon his right, and, by +disabling the Federal force there, open his line of retreat. To this +hope he no doubt clung, and the fighting-blood of his race was now +thoroughly aroused. At Chancellorsville and elsewhere the odds had +been nearly as great, and a glance at his gaunt veterans showed him +that they might still be depended upon for a struggle as obstinate as +any in the past history of the war. + +The event certainly vindicated the justice of this latter view, and +we shall briefly trace the occurrences of the next three or four days +which terminated the long conflict at Petersburg. + +General Grant's assaulting force was not in position near the Boydton +Road, beyond Hatcher's Run, until March 31st, when, before he could +attack, Lee suddenly advanced and made a furious onslaught on the +Federal front. Before this attack, the divisions first encountered +gave way in confusion, and it seemed that the Confederate commander, +at a single blow, was about to extricate himself from his embarrassing +situation. The force opposed to him, however, was too great, and he +found himself unable to encounter it in the open field. He therefore +fell back to his works, and the fighting ceased, only to be renewed, +however, at Five Forks. This had been seized by the cavalry of General +Sheridan, and, as the point was one of importance, Lee detached a +small body of infantry to drive away the Federal horse. This was done +without difficulty, and the Confederate infantry then advanced toward +Dinwiddie Court-House; but late at night it was withdrawn, and the +day's fighting ended. + +On the next day, the 1st of April, a more determined struggle ensued, +for the possession of Five Forks, where Lee had stationed the small +remnants of the divisions of Pickett and Johnson. These made a brave +resistance, but were wholly unable to stand before the force brought +against them. They maintained their ground as long as possible, but +were finally broken to pieces and scattered in confusion, the whole +right of the Confederate line and the Southside Road falling into the +hands of the enemy. + +[Illustration: Lee at Petersburg] + +This was virtually the end of the contest, but General Grant, it would +appear, deemed it inexpedient to venture any thing. So thinly manned +were the lines in front of Petersburg, in the absence of Longstreet +north of James River, and the troops sent beyond Hatcher's Run, that +on the 1st of April the Federal commander might have broken through +the works at almost any point. He elected to wait, however, until the +following day, thereby running the risk of awaking to find that Lee +had retreated. + +At dawn on the 2d the long struggle ended. The Federal forces advanced +all along the Confederate front, made a furious attack, and, breaking +through in front of the city, carried all before them. The forts, +especially Fort Gregg, made a gallant resistance. This work was +defended by the two hundred and fifty men of Harris's Mississippi +Brigade, and these fought until their numbers were reduced to thirty, +killing or wounding five hundred of the assailants. The fort was taken +at last, and the Federal lines advanced toward the city. In this +attack fell the eminent soldier General A.P. Hill, whose record had +been so illustrious, and whose fortune it was to thus terminate his +life while the Southern flag still floated. + + + + +XV. + +LEE EVACUATES PETERSBURG. + + +Any further resistance upon the part of General Lee seemed now +impossible, and nothing appeared to be left him but to surrender his +army. This course he does not seem, however, to have contemplated. It +was still possible that he might be able to maintain his position on +an inner line near the city until night; and, if he could do so, the +friendly hours of darkness might enable him to make good his retreat +to the north bank of the Appomattox, and shape his course toward North +Carolina, where General Johnston awaited him. If the movements of the +Federal forces, however, were so prompt as to defeat his march in that +direction, he might still be able to reach Lynchburg, beyond which +point the defiles of the Alleghanies promised him protection against +the utmost efforts of his enemy. Of his ability to reach North +Carolina, following the line of the Danville Railroad, Lee, however, +seems to have had no doubt. The Federal army would not probably +be able to concentrate in sufficient force in his path to bar his +progress if his march were rapid; if detached bodies only opposed +him on his line of retreat, there was little doubt that the Army of +Northern Virginia, reduced as it was, would be able to cut its way +through them. + +This preface is necessary to an intelligent comprehension of Lee's +movements on the unfortunate 2d of April when his lines were broken. +This occurrence took place, as we have said, about sunrise, and, an +hour or two afterward, the Federal forces pressed forward all along +the line, surging toward the suburbs of Petersburg. We have mentioned +the position of General Lee's headquarters, about a mile and a half +west of the city, on the Cox Road, nearly opposite the tall Federal +observatory. Standing on the lawn, in front of his headquarters, +General Lee now saw, approaching rapidly, a heavy column of Federal +infantry, with the obvious design of charging a battery which had +opened fire upon them from a hill to the right. The spectacle was +picturesque and striking. Across the extensive fields houses set on +fire by shell were sending aloft huge clouds of smoke and tongues +of flame; at every instant was seen the quick glare of the Federal +artillery, firing from every knoll, and in front came on the charging +column, moving at a double quick, with burnished gun-barrels and +bayonets flashing in the April sunshine. + +General Lee watched with attention, but with perfect composure, this +determined advance of the enemy; and, although he must have realized +that his army was on the verge of destruction, it was impossible to +discern in his features any evidences of emotion. He was in full +uniform, and had buckled on his dress-sword, which he seldom +wore--having, on this morning declared, it is said, that if he were +compelled to surrender he would do so in full harness. Of his calmness +at this trying moment the writer is able to bear his personal +testimony. Chancing to hear a question addressed to a member of his +staff, General Lee turned with great courtesy, raised his gray hat in +response to the writer's salute, and gave him the desired information +in a voice entirely measured and composed. It was impossible to regard +a calmness so striking without strong sentiments of admiration, and +Lee's appearance and bearing at this moment will always remain vividly +impressed upon the writer's memory. + +The Federal column was soon in dangerous proximity to the battery on +the hill, and it was obliged to retire at a gallop to escape capture. +An attempt was made to hold the ground near the headquarters, but a +close musketry-fire from the enemy rendered this also impossible--the +artillery was withdrawn--and General Lee, mounting his iron-gray, +slowly rode back, accompanied by a number of officers, toward his +inner line. He still remained entirely composed, and only said to one +of his staff, in his habitual tone: "This is a bad business, colonel." + +"Well, colonel," he said afterward to another officer, "it has +happened as I told them it would at Richmond. The line has been +stretched until it has broken." + +The Federal column was now pressing forward along the Cox Road toward +Petersburg, and General Lee continued to ride slowly back in the +direction of the city. He was probably recognized by officers of the +Federal artillery, or his _cortege_ drew their fire. The group was +furiously shelled, and one of the shells burst a few feet in rear +of him, killing the horse of an officer near him, cutting the +bridle-reins of others, and tearing up the ground in his immediate +vicinity. This incident seemed to arouse in General Lee his +fighting-blood. He turned his head over his right shoulder, his +cheeks became flushed, and a sudden flash of the eye showed with what +reluctance he retired before the fire directed upon him. No other +course was left him, however, and he continued to ride slowly toward +his inner line--a low earthwork in the suburbs of the city--where a +small force was drawn up, ardent, hopeful, defiant, and saluting the +shell, now bursting above them, with cheers and laughter. It was plain +that the fighting-spirit of the ragged troops remained unbroken; and +the shout of welcome with which they received Lee indicated their +unwavering confidence in him, despite the untoward condition of +affairs. + +Arrangements were speedily made to hold the inner line, if possible, +until night. To General Gordon had been intrusted the important duty +of defending the lines east of the city, and General Longstreet had +been directed to vacate the works north of James River, and march at +once to the lines of Petersburg. This officer made his appearance, +with his small force, at an early hour of the day; and, except that +the Federal army continued firing all along the front, no other active +operations took place. To those present on the Confederate side this +fact appeared strange. As the force beyond Hatcher's Run had been +completely defeated and dispersed, General Lee's numbers for the +defence of Petersburg on this day did not amount to much, if any, more +than fifteen thousand men. General Grant's force was probably one +hundred and fifty thousand, of whom about one hundred thousand might, +it would appear, have been concentrated in an hour or two directly in +front of the city. That, with this large force at his disposal, the +Federal commander did not at once attack, and so end all on that day, +surprised the Confederate troops, and still continues to surprise the +writer. + +Night came at last, and General Lee began his retreat. He had sent, +early in the morning, a dispatch to the civil authorities, at +Richmond, informing them of the fact that his lines had been broken, +and that he would that night retreat from Petersburg. Orders had also +been sent to all the forces holding the lines north of James River +to move at once and join him, and, just at nightfall, the army at +Petersburg began crossing the Appomattox. This movement was effected +without interruption from the enemy; and the army, turning into what +is called the Hickory Road, leading up the north bank of the river, +moved on steadily through the half light. Its march was superintended +by Lee in person. He had stationed himself at the mouth of the Hickory +Road, and, standing with the bridle of his horse in his hand, gave his +orders. His bearing still remained entirely composed, and his voice +had lost none of its grave strength of intonation. When the rear was +well closed up, Lee mounted his horse, rode on slowly with his men; +and, in the midst of the glare and thunder of the exploding magazines +at Petersburg, the small remnant of the Army of Northern Virginia, +amounting to about fifteen thousand men, went on its way through the +darkness. + + + + +XVI. + +THE RETREAT AND SURRENDER. + + +On the morning of the 3d of April, General Lee, after allowing his +column a brief period of rest, continued his march up the north bank +of the Appomattox. + +The aspect of affairs at this time was threatening, and there seemed +little ground to hope that the small force would be able to make good +its retreat to North Carolina. General Grant had a short and direct +route to the Danville Railroad--a considerable portion of his army was +already as far west as Dinwiddie Court-House--and it was obvious that +he had only to use ordinary diligence to completely cut General Lee +off in the vicinity of Burkesville Junction. A glance at the map will +indicate the advantages possessed by the Federal commander. He could +move over the chord, while Lee was compelled to follow the arc of the +circle. Unless good fortune assisted Lee and ill fortune impeded his +opponent, the event seemed certain; and it will be seen that these +conditions were completely reversed. + +Under the circumstances here stated, it appeared reasonable to +expect in Lee and his army some depression of spirits. The fact was +strikingly the reverse. The army was in excellent spirits, probably +from the highly-agreeable contrast of the budding April woods with +the squalid trenches, and the long-unfelt joy of an unfettered march +through the fields of spring. General Lee shared this hopeful feeling +in a very remarkable degree. His expression was animated and buoyant, +his seat in the saddle erect and commanding, and he seemed to look +forward to assured success in the critical movement which he had +undertaken. + +"I have got my army safe out of its breastworks," he said, on the +morning of this day, "and, in order to follow me, the enemy must +abandon his lines, and can derive no further benefit from his +railroads or James River." + +The design of the Confederate commander has been already stated, but +an important condition upon which he depended for success has not been +mentioned. This was a supply of food for his army. The troops, during +the whole winter, had lived, from day to day, on quarter-rations, +doled out to them with a sparing hand; and, in moving now from +Petersburg, Lee saw that he must look to supplies somewhere upon his +line of retreat. These he had directed to be brought from the south +and deposited at Amelia Court-House; and the expectation of finding at +that point full subsistence for his men, had doubtless a great effect +in buoying up his spirits. An evil chance, however, reversed all the +hopes based on this anticipation. From fault or misapprehension, the +train loaded with supplies proceeded to Richmond without depositing +the rations at Amelia Court-House; there was no time to obtain other +subsistence, and when, after unforeseen delay, in consequence of +high water in the Appomattox, Lee, at the head of his half-starved +soldiers, reached Amelia Court-House, it was only to find that there +was nothing there for the support of his army, and to realize that a +successful retreat, under the circumstances, was wellnigh hopeless. + +Those who accompanied the Southern army on this arduous march will +recall the dismayed expression of the emaciated faces at this +unlooked-for calamity; and no face wore a heavier shadow than that of +General Lee. The failure of the supply of rations completely paralyzed +him. He had intended, and was confident of his ability, to cut his way +through the enemy; but an army cannot march and fight without food. +It was now necessary to halt and send out foraging parties into the +impoverished region around. Meanwhile General Grant, with his great +force, was rapidly moving to bar his adversary's further advance; +the want of a few thousand pounds of bread and meat had virtually +terminated the war. + +An anxious and haggard expression came to General Lee's face when he +was informed of this great misfortune; and, at once abandoning his +design of cutting his way through to North Carolina, he turned +westward, and shaped his march toward Lynchburg. This movement began +on the night of the 5th of April, and it would seem that General Grant +had had it in his power to arrest it by an attack on Lee at Amelia +Court-House. General Sheridan was in the immediate vicinity, with a +force of about eighteen thousand well-mounted cavalry, and, although +it was not probable that this command could effect any thing against +Lee's army of about the same number of infantry, it might still have +delayed him by constructing breastworks in his way, and thus giving +the Federal infantry time to come up and attack. + +[Illustration: LEE AT THE SURRENDER.] + +The opportunity of crushing his adversary at Amelia Court-House was +thus allowed to pass, and General Grant now pressed forward his +infantry, to bring Lee to bay, if possible, before he reached +Lynchburg. From this moment began the struggle between the adversaries +which was to continue, day and night, without intermission, for the +next four days. The phenomenon was here presented of an army, reduced +to less than twenty thousand men, holding at arm's-length an enemy +numbering about one hundred and fifty thousand, and very nearly +defeating every effort of the larger force to arrest their march. It +would not interest the reader, probably, to follow in minute detail +the circumstances of this melancholy retreat. From the importance of +the transactions, and the natural attention directed to them, both +North and South, they are doubtless familiar to all who will read +these pages. We shall only speak of one or two incidents of the +retreat, wherein General Lee appeared prominent personally, leaving +to the imagination of the reader the remainder of the long and tragic +struggle whose result decided the fate of the Confederacy. + +General Grant doubtless saw now that every thing depended upon the +celerity of his movements, and, sending in advance his large body of +cavalry, he hastened forward as rapidly as possible with his infantry, +bent on interposing, if possible, a heavy force in his adversary's +front. Lee's movements were equally rapid. He seemed speedily to have +regained his old calmness, after the trying disappointment at Amelia +Court-House; and those who shared his counsels at this time can +testify that the idea of surrender scarcely entered his mind for a +moment--or, if it did so, was speedily banished. Under the pressure of +circumstances so adverse that they seemed calculated to break down the +most stubborn resolution. General Lee did not falter; and throughout +the disheartening scenes of the retreat, from the moment when he left +Amelia Court-House to the hour when his little column was drawing near +Appomattox, still continued to believe that the situation was not +desperate, and that he would be able to force his way through to +Lynchburg. + +On the evening of the 6th, when the army was near Farmville, a sudden +attack was made by the Federal cavalry on the trains of the army +moving on a parallel road; and the small force of infantry guarding +them was broken and scattered. This occurrence took place while +General Lee was confronting a body of Federal infantry near Sailor's +Creek; and, taking a small brigade, he immediately repaired to the +scene of danger. The spectacle which followed was a very striking and +imposing one, and is thus described by one who witnessed it: "The +scene was one of gloomy picturesqueness and tragic interest. On a +plateau raised above the forest from which they had emerged, were +the disorganized troops of Ewell and Anderson, gathered in groups, +un-officered, and uttering tumultuous exclamations of rage and +defiance. Rising above the weary groups which had thrown themselves +upon the ground, were the grim barrels of cannon, in battery, ready +to fire, as soon as the enemy appeared. In front of all was the still +line of battle, just placed by Lee, and waiting calmly. General Lee +had rushed his infantry over, just at sunset, leading it in person, +his face animated, and his eye brilliant with the soldier's spirit of +fight, but his bearing unflurried as before. An artist desiring to +paint his picture, ought to have seen the old cavalier at this moment, +sweeping on upon his large iron-gray, whose mane and tail floated in +the wind; carrying his field-glass half-raised in his right hand; with +head erect, gestures animated, and in the whole face and form +the expression of the hunter close upon his game. The line once +interposed, he rode in the twilight among the disordered groups +above mentioned, and the sight of him aroused a tumult. Fierce cries +resounded on all sides, and, with hands clinched violently and raised +aloft, the men called on him to lead them against the enemy. 'It's +General Lee!' 'Uncle Robert!' 'Where's the man who won't follow Uncle +Robert?' I heard on all sides--the swarthy faces full of dirt and +courage, lit up every instant by the glare of the burning wagons. +Altogether, the scene was indescribable." + +On the 7th the army pressed on beyond Farmville, still harassed as it +advanced by the Federal infantry and cavalry; but, in some of these +encounters, the pursuing force met with what was probably a very +unexpected discomfiture. General Fitz Lee, bringing up the rear of the +army with his force of about fifteen hundred cavalry on broken-down +horses, succeeded not only in repulsing the attacks of the large and +excellently-mounted force under General Sheridan, but achieved over +them highly-honorable successes. One such incident took place on the +7th, when General Gregg attacked with about six thousand horse, but +was met, defeated, and captured by General Fitz Lee, to the great +satisfaction of General Lee, who said to his son, General W.H.F. Lee: + +"Keep your command together and in good spirits, general--don't let +them think of surrender--I will get you out of this." + +On the 8th and 9th, however, this hope seemed unwarranted by the +circumstances, and the commander-in-chief appeared to be almost the +only human being who remained sanguine of the result. The hardships +of the retreat, arising chiefly from want of food, began to seriously +impair the resolution of the troops, and the scenes through which they +advanced were not calculated to raise their spirits. "These scenes," +declares one who witnessed them, "were of a nature which can be +apprehended only by men who are thoroughly familiar with the harrowing +details of war. Behind and on either flank, a ubiquitous and +increasingly adventurous enemy--every mud-hole and every rise in the +road choked with blazing wagons--the air filled with the deafening +reports of ammunition exploding, and shells bursting when touched +by the flames, dense columns of smoke ascending to heaven from the +burning and exploding vehicles, exhausted men, worn-out mules and +horses, lying down side by side--gaunt Famine glaring hopelessly +from sunken, lack-lustre eyes--dead mules, dead horses, dead +men everywhere--death many times welcomed as God's messenger in +disguise--who can wonder if many hearts, tried in the fiery furnace of +four unparalleled years, and never hitherto found wanting, should have +quailed in presence of starvation, fatigue, sleeplessness, misery, +unintermitted for five or six days, and culminating in hopelessness?" +It cannot, however, be said with truth, that any considerable portion +of the Southern forces were greatly demoralized, to use the military +phrase, as the fighting of the last two days, when the suffering +of the retreat culminated, will show. The men were almost entirely +without food, and were glad to find a little corn to eat; but those +who were not physically unable longer to carry their muskets--and +the number of these latter was large--still marched and fought with +soldierly cheerfulness and resolution. + +General Lee's spirits do not seem at any time to have flagged, and +up to a late period of the retreat he had not seriously contemplated +surrender. The necessity for this painful course came home to his +corps commanders first, and they requested General Pendleton, the +efficient chief of artillery of the army, to inform General Lee that +in their opinion further struggle was hopeless. General Pendleton +informed General Lee of this opinion of his officers, and it seemed to +communicate something like a shock to him. + +"Surrender!" he exclaimed with a flash of the eye, "I have too many +good fighting-men for that!" + +Nevertheless, the necessity of seriously contemplating this result was +soon forced upon him. Since the morning of the 7th, a correspondence +had taken place between himself and General Grant; and, as these notes +are interesting, we here present those which were exchanged up to the +night of the 8th: + +_April_ 7, 1865. + +_General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A._: + +GENERAL: The result of the last week must convince you of the +hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern +Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my +duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion +of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the +Confederate Southern Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. + +Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +U.S. GRANT, + +_Lieutenant-General commanding Armies of the United States_. + +_April_ 7, 1865. + +GENERAL: I have received your note of this day. Though not entirely of +the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on +the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire +to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering +your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its +surrender. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U.S. GRANT, + +_Commanding Armies of the United States_. + +_April_ 8, 1865. + +_To General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A_.: + +GENERAL: Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of the same date, +asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army +of Northern Virginia is just received. + +In reply, I would say, that peace being my first desire, there is but +one condition that I insist upon, viz.: + +That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms +again against the Government of the United States until properly +exchanged. + +I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any officers you may +name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the +purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of +the Army of Northern Virginia will he received. + +Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant-General, commanding Armies of the United +States_. + +_April_ 8, 1865. + +GENERAL: I received, at a late hour, your note of to-day, in answer to +mine of yesterday. + +I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern +Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do +not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender. + +But as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I +desire to know whether your proposals would tend to that end. + +I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of +Northern Virginia; but so far as your proposition may affect the +Confederate States forces under my command and tend to the restoration +of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 A.M. to-morrow, on +the old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two +armies. Very respectfully, + +Your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General C.S.A._ + +To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, + +_Commanding Armies of the United States_. + +[Illustration: Last Council of War.] + +No reply was received to this last communication from General Lee, +on the evening of the 8th, and that night there was held, around a +bivouac-fire in the woods, the last council of war of the Army of +Northern Virginia. The scene was a very picturesque one. The red glare +from the bivouac-fire lit up the group, and brought out the details +of each figure. None were present but General Lee and Generals +Longstreet, Gordon, and Fitz Lee, all corps commanders. Generals +Gordon and Fitz Lee half reclined upon an army-blanket near the fire; +Longstreet sat upon a log, smoking; and General Lee stood by the +fire, holding in his hand the correspondence which had passed between +himself and General Grant. The question what course it was advisable +to pursue, was then presented, in a few calm words, by General Lee +to his corps commanders, and an informal conversation ensued. It was +finally agreed that the army should advance, on the next morning, +beyond Appomattox Court-House, and, if only General Sheridan's cavalry +were found in front, brush that force from its path, and proceed on +its way to Lynchburg. If, however, the Federal infantry was discovered +in large force beyond the Court-House, the attempt to break through +was to be abandoned, and a flag dispatched to General Grant requested +an interview for the arrangement of the terms of a capitulation of the +Southern army. + +With a heavy heart, General Lee acquiesced in this plan of proceeding, +and soon afterward the council of war terminated--the corps commanders +saluting the commander-in-chief, who returned their bows with grave +courtesy, and separating to return to their own bivouacs. + +In spite, however, of the discouraging and almost desperate condition +of affairs, General Lee seems still to have clung to the hope that he +might be able to cut his way through the force in his front. He woke +from brief slumber beside his bivouac-fire at about three o'clock in +the morning, and calling an officer of his staff, Colonel Venable, +sent him to General Gordon, commanding the front, to ascertain his +opinion, at that moment, of the probable result of an attack upon the +enemy. General Gordon's reply was, "Tell General Lee that my old corps +is reduced to a frazzle, and, unless I am supported by Longstreet +heavily, I do not think we can do any thing more." + +General Lee received this announcement with an expression of great +feeling, and after a moment's silence said: "There is nothing left but +to go to General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths!" + +His staff-officers had now gathered around him, and one of them said: +"What will history say of our surrendering if there is any possibility +of escape? Posterity will not understand it." To these words, General +Lee replied: "Yes, yes, they will not understand our situation; but +that is not the question. The question is, whether it is _right_; and, +if it is right, I take the responsibility." + +His expression of buoyant hopefulness had now changed to one of deep +melancholy, and it was evident to those around him that the thought of +surrender was worse to him than the bitterness of death. For the first +time his courage seemed to give way, and he was nearly unmanned. +Turning to an officer standing near him, he said, his deep voice +filled with hopeless sadness: "How easily I could get rid of this, and +be at rest! I have only to ride along the line and all will be over!" + +He was silent for a short time after uttering these words, and then +added, with a heavy sigh: "But it is our duty to live. What will +become of the women and children of the South, if we are not here to +protect them?" + +The moment had now come when the fate of the retreat was to be +decided. To General Gordon, who had proved himself, in the last +operations of the war, a soldier of the first ability, had been +intrusted the command of the advance force; and this was now moved +forward against the enemy beyond Appomattox Court-House. Gordon +attacked with his infantry, supported by Fitz Lee's cavalry, and the +artillery battalion of Colonel Carter, and such was the impetuosity +of his advance that he drove the Federal forces nearly a mile. But +at that point he found himself in face of a body of infantry, stated +afterward, by Federal officers, to number about eighty thousand. +As his own force was less than five thousand muskets, he found it +impossible to advance farther; and the Federal lines were already +pressing forward to attack him, in overwhelming force, when the +movement suddenly ceased. Seeing the hopelessness of further +resistance. General Lee had sent a flag to General Grant, requesting +an interview looking to the arrangement, if possible, of terms of +surrender; and to this end the forward movement of the Federal forces +was ordered to be discontinued. + +The two armies then remained facing each other during the interview +between the two commanders, which took place in a farm-house in +Appomattox Court-House. General Lee was accompanied only by Colonel +Marshall, of his staff, and on the Federal side only a few officers +were present. General Grant's demeanor was courteous, and that of +General Lee unmarked by emotion of any description. The hardships of +the retreat had somewhat impaired his strength, and his countenance +exhibited traces of fatigue; but no other change had taken place +in his appearance. He was erect, calm, courteous, and confined his +observations strictly to the disagreeable business before him. The +interview was brief; and, seated at a plain table, the two commanders +wrote and exchanged the accompanying papers: + +APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, _April_ 9, 1865. + +_General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A._.: + +In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., +I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on +the following terms, to wit: + +Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to +be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by +such officers as you may designate. + +The officers to give their individual parole not to take arms against +the Government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each +company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of +their commands. + +The arms, artillery, and public property, to be parked and stacked, +and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This +will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private +horses or baggage. + +This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their +homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they +observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside. + +Very respectfully, + +U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant-General_. + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_April_ 9,1865. + +_Lieut.-General U.S. Grant, commanding U.S.A_.: + +GENERAL: I have received your letter of this date, containing the +terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by +you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your +letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to +designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. + +Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The two generals then bowed to each other, and, leaving the house, +General Lee mounted his gray, and rode back to his headquarters. + +The scene as he passed through the army was affecting. The men +gathered round him, wrung his hand, and in broken words called +upon God to help him. This pathetic reception by his old soldiers +profoundly affected Lee. The tears came to his eyes, and, looking at +the men with a glance of proud feeling, he said, in suppressed tones, +which trembled slightly: "We have fought through the war together. I +have done the best I could for you. My heart is too full to say more!" + +These few words seemed to be all he could utter. He rode on, and, +reaching his headquarters in the woods, disappeared in his tent, +whither we shall not follow him. + +On the next day the Army of Northern Virginia, numbering about +twenty-six thousand men, of whom but seven thousand eight hundred +carried muskets, was formally surrendered, and the Confederate War was +a thing of the past. + + + + +XVII. + +LEE RETURNS TO RICHMOND. + + +General Lee, on the day following the capitulation of his army, issued +an address to his old soldiers, which they received and read with very +deep emotion. The address was in these words: + +HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, + +_April_ 10, 1865. + +After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and +fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield +to overwhelming numbers and resources. + +I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have +remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result +from no distrust of them; but, feeling that valor and devotion could +accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have +attended the continuation of the contest, I have determined to avoid +the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them +to their countrymen. + +By the terms of agreement, officers and men can return to their homes +and remain there until exchanged. + +You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the +consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray that +a merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection. + +With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to +your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous +consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell. + +R.E. LEE, _General_. + +The painful arrangements connected with the capitulation were on this +day concluded; and General Lee prepared to set out on his return to +Richmond--like his men, a "paroled prisoner of the Army of Northern +Virginia." The parting between him and his soldiers was pathetic. He +exchanged with all near him a close pressure of the hand, uttered +a few simple words of farewell, and, mounting his iron-gray, +"Traveller," who had passed through all the fighting of the campaign +unharmed, rode slowly in the direction of Richmond. He was escorted by +a detachment of Federal cavalry, preceded only by a guidon; and the +party, including the officers who accompanied him, consisted of about +twenty-five horsemen. The _cortege_ was followed by several wagons +carrying the private effects of himself and his companions, and by +the well-known old black open vehicle which he had occasionally +used during the campaigns of the preceding year, when indisposition +prevented him from mounting his horse. In this vehicle it had been his +custom to carry stores for the wounded--it had never been used for +articles contributing to his personal convenience. + +General Lee's demeanor on his way to Richmond was entirely composed, +and his thoughts seemed much more occupied by the unfortunate +condition of the poor people, at whose houses he stopped, than by +his own situation. When he found that all along his route the +impoverished people had cooked provisions in readiness for him, and +were looking anxiously for him, with every indication of love and +admiration, he said to one of his officers: "These good people are +kind--too kind. Their hearts are as full as when we began our first +campaigns in 1861. They do too much--more than they are able to +do--for us." + +His soldierly habits remained unchanged, and he seemed unwilling to +indulge in any luxuries or comforts which could not be shared by the +gentlemen accompanying him At a house which he reached just as night +came, a poor woman had prepared an excellent bed for him, but, with a +courteous shake of the head, he spread his blanket, and slept upon the +floor. Stopping on the next day at the house of his brother, Charles +Carter Lee, in Powhatan, he spent the evening in conversation; but, +when bedtime came, left the house, in spite of the fact that it had +begun to rain, and, crossing the road into the woods, took up his +quarters for the night on the hard planks of his old black vehicle. On +the route he exhibited great solicitude about a small quantity of +oats which he had brought with him, in one of the wagons, for his old +companion, "Traveller," mentioning it more than once, and appearing +anxious lest it should be lost or used by some one. + +[Illustration: LEE'S ENTRY INTO RICHMOND AFTER THE SURRENDER.] + +The party came in sight of Richmond at last, and, two or three miles +from the city, General Lee rode ahead of his escort, accompanied only +by a few officers, and, crossing the pontoon bridge below the ruins of +Mayo's bridge, which had been destroyed when the Confederate forces +retreated, entered the capital. The spectacle which met his eyes +at this moment must have been exceedingly painful. In the great +conflagration which had taken place on the morning of the 3d of April, +a large portion of the city had been burned; and, as General Lee rode +up Main Street, formerly so handsome and attractive, he saw on either +hand only masses of blackened ruins. As he rode slowly through the +opening between these masses of _debris_, he was recognized by the few +persons who were on the street, and instantly the intelligence of his +presence spread through the city. The inhabitants hastened from their +houses and flocked to welcome him, saluting him with cheers and the +waving of hats and handkerchiefs. He seemed desirous, however, of +avoiding this ovation, and, returning the greeting by simply raising +his hat, rode on and reached his house on Franklin Street, where, +respecting his desire for privacy under circumstances so painful, his +admirers did not intrude upon him. + +We have presented this brief narrative of the incidents attending +General Lee's return to his home after the surrender, to show with +what simplicity and good sense he accepted his trying situation. A +small amount of diplomacy--sending forward one of his officers to +announce his intended arrival; stopping for a few moments as he +ascended Main Street; making an address to the citizens who first +recognized him, and thus affording time for a crowd to assemble--these +proceedings on the part of General Lee would have resulted in an +ovation such as a vanquished commander never before received at the +hands of any people. Nothing, however, was less desired by General Lee +than this tumultuous reception. The native modesty of the man not only +shrunk from such an ovation; he avoided it for another reason--the +pretext it would probably afford to the Federal authorities to proceed +to harsh measures against the unfortunate persons who took part in it. +In accordance with these sentiments, General Lee had not announced his +coming, had not stopped as he rode through the city; and now, shutting +himself up in his house, signified his desire to avoid a public +reception, and to be left in privacy. + +This policy he is well known to have pursued from that time to the end +of his life. He uniformly declined, with great courtesy, but firmly, +invitations to attend public gatherings of any description, where his +presence might arouse passions or occasion discussions connected with +the great contest in which he had been the leader of the South. A +mind less firm and noble would doubtless have yielded to this great +temptation. It is sweet to the soldier, who has been overwhelmed and +has yielded up his sword, to feel that the love and admiration of a +people still follow him; and to have the consolation of receiving +public evidences of this unchanged devotion. That this love of the +Southern people for Lee deeply touched him, there can be no doubt; but +it did not blind him to his duty as the representative individual of +the South. Feeling that nothing was now left the Southern people but +an honest acceptance of the situation, and a cessation, as far as +possible, of all rancor toward the North, he refused to encourage +sentiments of hostility between the two sections, and did all in his +power to restore amicable feeling. "I am very glad to learn," he said +in a note to the present writer, "that your life of General Jackson +is of the character you describe. I think all topics or questions +calculated to excite angry discussion or hostile feelings should be +avoided." These few words convey a distinct idea of General Lee's +views and feelings. He had fought to the best of his ability for +Southern independence of the North; the South had failed in the +struggle, and it was now, in his opinion, the duty of every good +citizen to frankly acquiesce in the result, and endeavor to avoid all +that kept open the bleeding wounds of the country. + +His military career had placed him, in the estimation of the first men +of his time, among the greatest soldiers of history; but the dignity +and moderation of the course pursued by him, from the end of the war +to the time of his death, will probably remain, in the opinion of both +his friends and enemies, the noblest illustration of the character of +the man. + + + + +XVIII. + +GENERAL LEE AFTER THE WAR. + + +In the concluding pages of this volume we shall not be called upon to +narrate either military or political events. With the surrender at +Appomattox Court-House the Confederate War ended--no attempt was made +by General Johnston or other commanders to prolong it--in that great +whirlpool all hopes of further resistance disappeared. + +We have, therefore, now no task before us but to follow General Lee +into private life, and present a few details of his latter years, and +his death. These notices will be brief, but will not, we hope, be +devoid of interest. The soldier who had so long led the Confederate +armies was to enter in his latter days upon a new field of labor; and, +if in this field he won no new glories, he at least displayed the +loftiest virtues, and exhibited that rare combination of greatness and +gentleness which makes up a character altogether lovely. + +Adhering to the resolution, formed in 1861, never again to draw his +sword except in defence of Virginia, General Lee, after the surrender, +sought for some occupation, feeling the necessity, doubtless, of in +some manner employing his energies. He is said to have had offered to +him, but to have courteously declined, estates in England and Ireland; +and to have also declined the place of commercial agent of the South +in New York, which would have proved exceedingly lucrative. In the +summer of 1865, however, he accepted an offer more congenial to +his feelings--that of the presidency of Washington College at +Lexington--and in the autumn of that year entered upon his duties, +which he continued to perform with great energy and success to the +day of his death. Of the excellent judgment and great administrative +capacity which he displayed in this new field of labor, we have never +heard any question. It was the name and example, however, of Lee which +proved so valuable, drawing to the college more than five hundred +students from all portions of the South, and some even from the North. + +Upon the subject of General Lee's life at Washington College, a more +important authority than that of the present writer will soon speak. +In the "Memorial Volume," whose publication will probably precede or +immediately follow the appearance of this work, full details will, no +doubt, be presented of this interesting period. The subject possesses +rare interest, and the facts presented will, beyond all question, +serve to bring out new beauties in a character already regarded with +extraordinary love and admiration by men of all parties and opinions. +To the volume in question we refer the reader who desires the +full-length portrait of one concerning whom too much cannot be +written. + +During the period extending between the end of the war and General +Lee's death, he appeared in public but two or three times--once at +Washington, as a "witness" before a Congressional committee, styled +"The Reconstruction Committee," to inquire into the condition of +things in the South; again, as a witness on the proposed trial of +President Davis; and perhaps on one or two additional occasions not of +great interest or importance. His testimony was not taken on the trial +of the President, which was deferred and finally abandoned; but he +was subjected before the Washington committee to a long and searching +examination, in which it is difficult to decide whether his own +calmness, good sense, and outspoken frankness, or the bad taste of +some of the questions prepounded to him, were the more remarkable. +As the testimony of General Lee, upon this occasion, presents a +full exposition of his views upon many of the most important points +connected with the condition of the South, and the "reconstruction" +policy, a portion of the newspaper report of his evidence is here +given, as both calculated to interest the reader, and to illustrate +the subject. + +The examination of General Lee took place in March, 1866, and the +following is the main portion of it: + +General ROBERT E. LEE, sworn and examined by Mr. Howard: + +Question. Where is your present residence? + +Answer. Lexington, Va. + +Q. How long have you resided in Lexington? + +A. Since the 1st of October last--nearly five months. + +THE FEELING IN VIRGINIA. + +Q. Are you acquainted with the state of feeling among what we call +secessionists in Virginia, at present, toward the Government of the +United States? + +A. I do not know that I am; I have been living very retired, and have +had but little communication with politicians; I know nothing more +than from my own observation, and from such facts as have come to my +knowledge. + +Q. From your observation, what is your opinion as to the loyalty +toward the Government of the United States among the secession portion +of the people of that State at this time? + +A. So far as has come to my knowledge, I do not know of a single +person who either feels or contemplates any resistance to the +Government of the United States, or indeed any opposition to it; no +word has reached me to either purpose. + +Q. From what you have observed among them, is it your opinion that +they are friendly toward the Government of the United States, and +that they will cooeperate to sustain and uphold the Government for the +future? + +A. I believe that they entirely acquiesce in the Government of the +United States, and, so far as I have heard any one express an opinion, +they are for cooeperating with President Johnson in his policy. + +Q. In his policy in regard to what? + +A. His policy in regard to the restoration of the whole country; I +have heard persons with whom I have conversed express great confidence +in the wisdom of his policy of restoration, and they seem to look +forward to it as a hope of restoration. + +Q. How do they feel in regard to that portion of the people of the +United States who have been forward and zealous in the prosecution of +the war against the rebellion? + +A. Well, I don't know as I have heard anybody express any opinion in +regard to it; as I said before, I have not had much communication with +politicians in the country, if there are any; every one seems to be +engaged in his own affairs, and endeavoring to restore the civil +government of the State; I have heard no expression of a sentiment +toward any particular portion of the country. + +Q. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the payment of the debt +of the United States contracted in the prosecution of the war? + +A. I have never heard anyone speak on the subject; I suppose they must +expect to pay the taxes levied by the Government; I have heard them +speak in reference to the payment of taxes, and of their efforts to +raise money to pay taxes, which, I suppose, are for their share of the +debt; I have never heard any one speak in opposition to the payment of +taxes, or of resistance to their payment; their whole effort has been +to try and raise the money for the payment of the taxes. + +THE DEBT. + +Q. From your knowledge of the state of public feeling in Virginia, is +it your opinion that the people would, if the question were left to +them, repudiate and reject that debt? + +A. I never heard any one speak on that subject; but, from my knowledge +of the people, I believe that they would be in favor of the payment of +all just debts. + +Q. Do they, in your opinion, regard that as a just debt? + +A. I do not know what their opinion is on the subject of that +particular debt; I have never heard any opinion expressed contrary +to it; indeed, as I said in the beginning, I have had very little +discussion or intercourse with the people; I believe the people +will pay the debts they are called upon to pay; I say that from my +knowledge of the people generally. + +Q. Would they pay that debt, or their portion of it, with as much +alacrity as people ordinarily pay their taxes to their Government? + +A. I do not know that they would make any distinction between the two. +The taxes laid by the Government, so far as I know, they are prepared +to pay to the best of their ability. I never heard them make any +distinction. + +Q. What is the feeling of that portion of the people of Virginia in +regard to the payment of the so-called Confederate debt? + +A. I believe, so far as my opinion goes--I have no facts to go upon, +but merely base my opinion on the knowledge I have of the people--that +they would be willing to pay the Confederate debt, too. + +Q. You think they would? + +A. I think they would, if they had the power and ability to do so. I +have never heard any one in the State, with whom I have conversed, +speak of repudiating any debt. + +Q. I suppose the Confederate debt is almost entirely valueless, even +in the market in Virginia? + +A. Entirely so, as far as I know. I believe the people generally look +upon it as lost entirely. I never heard any question on the subject. + +Q. Do you recollect the terms of the Confederate bonds--when they were +made payable? + +A. I think I have a general recollection that they were made payable +six months after a declaration of peace. + +Q. Six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the +United States and the Confederate Government? + +A. I think they ran that way. + +Q. So that the bonds are not due yet by their terms? + +A. I suppose, unless it is considered that there is a peace now, they +are not due. + +THE FREEDMEN. + +Q. How do the people of Virginia, secessionists more particularly, +feel toward the freedmen? + +A. Every one with whom I associate expresses the kindest feelings +toward the freedmen. They wish to see them get on in the world, and +particularly to take up some occupation for a living, and to turn +their hands to some work. I know that efforts have been made among the +farmers near where I live to induce them to engage for the year at +regular wages. + +Q. Do you think there is a willingness on the part of their old +masters to give them fair living wages for their labor? + +A. I believe it is so; the farmers generally prefer those servants who +have been living with them before; I have heard them express their +preferences for the men whom they knew, who had lived with them +before, and their wish to get them to return to work. + +Q. Are you aware of the existence of any combination among the +"whites" to keep down the wages of the "blacks?" + +A. I am not; I have heard that in several counties the land-owners +have met in order to establish a uniform rate of wages, but I never +heard, nor do I know of any combination to keep down wages or +establish any rule which they did not think fair; the means of paying +wages in Virginia are very limited now, and there is a difference of +opinion as to how much each person is able to pay. + +Q. How do they feel in regard to the education of the blacks? Is there +a general willingness to have them educated? + +A. Where I am, and have been, the people have exhibited a willingness +that the blacks should be educated, and they express an opinion that +it would be better for the blacks and better for the whites. + +Q. General, you are very competent to judge of the capacity of black +men for acquiring knowledge--I want your opinion on that capacity as +compared with the capacity of white men? + +A. I do not know that I am particularly qualified to speak on that +subject, as you seem to intimate, but I do not think that the black +man is as capable of acquiring knowledge as the white man. There are +some more apt than others. I have known some to acquire knowledge and +skill in their trade or profession. I have had servants of my own who +learned to read and write very well. + +Q. Do they show a capacity to obtain knowledge of mathematics and the +exact sciences? + +A. I have no knowledge on that subject; I am merely acquainted with +those who have learned the common rudiments of education. + +Q. General, are you aware of the existence among the blacks of +Virginia, anywhere within the limits of the State, of combinations, +having in view the disturbance of the peace, or any improper or +unlawful acts? + +A. I am not; I have seen no evidence of it, and have heard of none; +wherever I have been they have been quiet and orderly; not disposed to +work; or, rather, not disposed to any continuous engagement to work, +but just very short jobs to provide them with the immediate means of +subsistence. + +Q. Has the colored race generally as great love of money and property +as the white race possesses? + +A. I do not think it has; the blacks with whom I am acquainted look +more to the present time than to the future. + +Q. Does that absence of a lust of money and property arise more from +the nature of the negro than from his former servile condition? + +A. Well, it may be in some measure attributed to his former condition; +they are an amiable, social race; they like their ease and comfort, +and I think look more to their present than to their future condition. + +IN CASE OF WAR, WOULD VIRGINIA JOIN OUR ENEMIES? + +Q. In the event of a war between the United States and any foreign +power, such as England or France, if there should be held out to the +secession portion of the people of Virginia, or the other recently +rebel States, a fair prospect of gaining their independence and +shaking off the Government of the United States, is it or is it not +your opinion that they would avail themselves of that opportunity? + +A. I cannot answer with any certainty on that point; I do not know how +far they might be actuated by their feelings; I have nothing whatever +to base an opinion upon; so far as I know, they contemplate nothing of +the kind now; what may happen in the future I cannot say. + +Q. Do you not frequently hear, in your intercourse with secessionists +in Virginia, expressions of a hope that such a war may break out? + +A. I cannot say that I have heard it; on the contrary, I have heard +persons--I do not know whether you could call them secessionists or +not, I mean those people in Virginia with whom I associate--express +the hope that the country may not be led into a war. + +Q. In such an event, do you not think that that class of people whom I +call secessionists would join the common enemy? + +A. It is possible; it depends upon the feeling of the individual. + +Q. If it is a fair question--you may answer or not, as you +choose--what, in such an event, might be your choice? + +A. I have no disposition now to do it, and I never have had. + +Q. And you cannot foresee that such would be your inclination in such +an event? + +A. No; I can only judge from the past; I do not know what +circumstances it may produce; I cannot pretend to foresee events; so +far as I know the feeling of the people of Virginia, they wish for +peace. + +Q. During the civil war, was it not contemplated by the Government +of the Confederacy to form an alliance with some foreign nation if +possible? + +A. I believe it was their wish to do so if they could; it was their +wish to have the Confederate Government recognized as an independent +government; I have no doubt that if it could have made favorable +treaties it would have done so, but I know nothing of the policy of +the government; I had no hand or part in it; I merely express my own +opinion. + +Q. The question I am about to put to you, you may answer or not, as +you choose. Did you take an oath of fidelity, or allegiance, to the +Confederate Government? + +A. I do not recollect having done so, but it is possible that when I +was commissioned I did; I do not recollect whether it was required; if +it was required, I took it, or if it had been required I would have +taken it; but I do not recollect whether it was or not. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) In reference to the effect of President Johnson's +policy, if it were adopted, would there be any thing like a return +of the old feeling? I ask that because you used the expression +"acquiescing in the result." + +A. I believe it would take time for the feelings of the people to be +of that cordial nature to the Government they were formerly. + +Q. Do you think that their preference for that policy arises from a +desire to have peace and good feeling in the country, or from the +probability of their regaining political power? + +PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S POLICY. + +A. So far as I know the desire of the people of the South, it is for +restoration of their civil government, and they look upon the policy +of President Johnson as the one which would most clearly and most +surely reestablish it. + +CONDITION OF THE POORER CLASSES. + +Q. Do you see any change among the poorer classes in Virginia, in +reference to industry? Are they as much, or more, interested in +developing their material interests than they were? + +A. I have not observed any change; every one now has to attend to his +business for his support. + +Q. The poorer classes are generally hard at work, are they? + +A. So far as I know, they are; I know nothing to the contrary. + +Q. Is there any difference in their relations to the colored people? +Is their prejudice increased or diminished? + +A. I have noticed no change; so far as I do know the feelings of all +the people of Virginia, they are kind to the colored people; I have +never heard any blame attributed to them as to the present condition +of things, or any responsibility. + +Q. There are very few colored laborers employed, I suppose? + +A. Those who own farms have employed, more or less, one or two colored +laborers; some are so poor that they have to work themselves. + +Q. Can capitalists and workingmen from the North go into any portion +of Virginia with which you are familiar and go to work among the +people? + +A. I do not know of any thing to prevent them. Their peace and +pleasure there would depend very much on their conduct. If they +confined themselves to their own business and did not interfere to +provoke controversies with their neighbors, I do not believe they +would be molested. + +Q. There is no desire to keep out capital? + +A. Not that I know of. On the contrary, they are very anxious to get +capital into the State. + +Q. You see nothing of a disposition to prevent such a thing? + +A. I have seen nothing, and do not know of any thing, as I said +before; the manner in which they would be received would depend +entirely upon the individuals themselves; they might make themselves +obnoxious, as you can understand. + +Q. (By Mr. Howard.) Is there not a general dislike of Northern men +among secessionists? + +A. I suppose they would prefer not to associate with them; I do not +know that they would select them as associates. + +Q. Do they avoid and ostracize them socially? + +A. They might avoid them; they would not select them as associates +unless there was some reason; I do not know that they would associate +with them unless they became acquainted; I think it probable they +would not admit them into their social circles. + +THE POSITION OF THE COLORED RACE. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) What is the position of the colored men in Virginia +with reference to persons they work for? Do you think they would +prefer to work for Northern or Southern men? + +A. I think it very probable they would prefer the Northern man, +although I have no facts to go upon. + +Q. That having been stated very frequently in reference to the cotton +States, does it result from a bad treatment on the part of the +resident population, or from the idea that they will be more fairly +treated by the new-comers? What is your observation in that respect in +regard to Virginia? + +A. I have no means of forming an opinion; I do not know any case in +Virginia; I know of numbers of the blacks engaging with their old +masters, and I know of many to prefer to go off and look for new +homes; whether it is from any dislike of their former masters, or from +any desire to change, or they feel more free and independent, I don't +know. + +THE MATERIAL INTERESTS OF VIRGINIA. + +Q. What is your opinion in regard to the material interests of +Virginia; do you think they will be equal to what they were before the +rebellion under the changed aspect of affairs? + +A. It will take a long time for them to reach their former standard; I +think that after some years they will reach it, and I hope exceed it; +but it cannot be immediately, in my opinion. + +Q. It will take a number of years? + +A. It will take a number of years, I think. + +Q. On the whole, the condition of things in Virginia is hopeful both +in regard to its material interests and the future peace of the +country? + +A. I have heard great hopes expressed, and there is great cheerfulness +and willingness to labor. + +Q. Suppose this policy of President Johnson should be all you +anticipate, and that you should also realize all that you expect in +the improvement of the material interests, do you think that the +result of that will be the gradual restoration of the old feeling? + +A. That will be the natural result, I think; and I see no other way in +which that result can be brought about. + +Q. There is a fear in the public mind that the friends of the policy +in the South adopt it because they see in it the means of repairing +the political position which they lost in the recent contest. Do you +think that that is the main idea with them, or that they merely look +to it, as you say, as the best means of restoring civil government and +the peace and prosperity of their respective States? + +A. As to the first point you make, I do not know that I ever heard any +person speak upon it; I never heard the points separated; I have heard +them speak generally as to the effect of the policy of President +Johnson; the feeling is, so far as I know now, that there is not that +equality extended to the Southern States which is enjoyed by the +North. + +Q. You do not feel down there that, while you accept the result, we +are as generous as we ought to be under the circumstances? + +A. They think that the North can afford to be generous. + +Q. That is the feeling down there? + +A. Yes; and they think it is the best policy; those who reflect upon +the subject and are able to judge. + +Q. I understand it to be your opinion that generosity and liberality +toward the entire South would be the surest means of regaining their +good opinion? + +A. Yes, and the speediest. + +Q. (By Mr. Howard.) I understand you to say generally that you had no +apprehension of any combination among the leading secessionists to +renew the war, or any thing of the kind? + +A. I have no reason in the world to think so. + +Q. Have you heard that subject talked over among any of the +politicians? + +A. No, sir; I have not; I have not heard that matter even suggested. + +Q. Let me put another hypothetical state of things. Suppose the +executive government of the United States should be held by a +President who, like Mr. Buchanan, rejected the right of coercion, so +called, and suppose a Congress should exist here entertaining the +same political opinions, thus presenting to the once rebel States the +opportunity to again secede from the Union, would they, or not, in +your opinion, avail themselves of that opportunity, or some of them? + +A. I suppose it would depend: upon the circumstances existing at the +time; if their feelings should remain embittered, and their affections +alienated from the rest of the States, I think it very probable they +might do so, provided they thought it was to their interests. + +Q. Do you not think that at the present time there is a deep-seated +feeling of dislike toward the Government of the United States on the +part of the secessionists? + +A. I do not know that there is any deep-seated dislike; I think it is +probable there may be some animosity still existing among the people +of the South. + +Q. Is there not a deep-seated feeling of disappointment and chagrin at +the result of the war? + +A. I think that at the time they were disappointed at the result of +the war. + +Q. Do you mean to be understood as saying that there is not a +condition of discontent against the Government of the United States +among the secessionists generally? + +A. I know none. + +Q. Are you prepared to say that they respect the Government of the +United States, and the loyal people of the United States, so much at +the present time as to perform their duties as citizens of the United +States, and of the States, faithfully and well? + +A. I believe that they will perform all the duties that they are +required to perform; I think that is the general feeling so far as I +know. + +Q. Do you think it would be practicable to convict a man in Virginia +of treason for having taken part in this rebellion against the +Government by a Virginian jury without packing it with direct +reference to a verdict of guilty? + +A. On that point I have no knowledge, and I do not know what they +would consider treason against the United States--if you refer to past +acts. + +Mr. Howard: Yes, sir. + +Witness: I have no knowledge what their views on that subject in the +past are. + +Q. You understand my question. Suppose a jury was impanelled in your +own neighborhood, taken by lot, would it be possible to convict, for +instance, Jefferson Davis, for having levied war upon the United +States, and thus having committed the crime of treason? + +A. I think it is very probable that they would not consider he had +committed treason. + +THEIR VIEWS OF TREASON. + +Q. Suppose the jury should be clearly and plainly instructed by the +Court that such an act of war upon the part of Mr. Davis or any other +leading man constituted the crime of treason under the Constitution of +the United States, would the jury be likely to heed that instruction, +and, if the facts were plainly in proof before them, convict the +offender? + +A. I do not know, sir, what they would do on that question. + +Q. They do not generally suppose that it was treason against the +United States, do they? + +A. I do not think that they so consider it. + +Q. In what light would they view it? What would be their excuse or +justification? How would they escape, in their own mind? I refer to +the past--I am referring to the past and the feelings they would have? + + +A. So far as I know, they look upon the action of the State in +withdrawing itself from the Government of the United States as +carrying the individuals of the State along with it; that the State +was responsible for the act, not the individuals, and that the +ordinance of secession, so called, or those acts of the State which +recognized a condition of war between the State and the General +Government stood as their justification for their bearing arms against +the Government of the United States; yes, sir, I think they would +consider the act of the State as legitimate; that they were merely +using the reserved rights, which they had a right to do. + +Q. State, if you please--and if you are disinclined to answer the +question you need not do so--what your own personal views on that +question are? + +A. That was my view; that the act of Virginia in withdrawing herself +from the United States carried me along as a citizen of Virginia, and +that her laws and her acts were binding on me. + +Q. And that you felt to be your justification in taking the course you +did? + +A. Yes, sir. + +Q. I have been told, general, that you have remarked to some of your +friends, in conversation, that you were rather wheedled or cheated +into that course by politicians? + +A. I do not recollect ever making any such remark; I do not think I +ever made it. + +Q. If there be any other matter about which you wish to speak on this +occasion, do so, freely. + +A. Only in reference to that last question you put to me. I may have +said and may have believed that the positions of the two sections +which they held to each other was brought about by the politicians of +the country; that the great masses of the people, if they understood +the real question, would have avoided it; but not that I had been +individually wheedled by the politicians. + +Q. That is probably the origin of the whole thing. + +A. I may have said that, but I do not even recollect that; but I did +believe at the time that it was an unnecessary condition of affairs, +and might have been avoided if forbearance and wisdom had been +practised on both sides. + +Q. You say that you do not recollect having sworn allegiance and +fidelity to the Confederate Government? + +A. I do not recollect it, nor do I know it was ever required. I was +regularly commissioned in the army of the Confederate States, but I do +not really recollect that that oath was required. If it was required, +I have no doubt I took it; or, if it had been required, I would have +taken it. + +Q. Is there any other matter which you desire to state to the +committee? + +A. No, sir; I am ready to answer any question which you think proper +to put to me. + +NEGRO CITIZENSHIP. + +Q. How would an amendment to the Constitution be received by the +secessionists, or by the people at large, allowing the colored people, +or certain classes of them, to exercise the right of voting at +elections? + +A. I think, so far as I can form an opinion, in such an event they +would object. + +Q. They would object to such an amendment? + +A. Yes, sir. + +Q. Suppose an amendment should nevertheless be adopted, conferring on +the blacks the right of suffrage, would that, in your opinion, lead to +scenes of violence or breaches of the peace between the two races in +Virginia? + +A. I think it would excite unfriendly feelings between the two races; +I cannot pretend to say to what extent it would go, but that would be +the result. + +Q. Are you acquainted with the proposed amendment now pending in the +Senate of the United States? + +A. No, sir, I am not; I scarcely ever read a paper. [The substance +of the proposed amendment was here explained to the witness by Mr. +Conkling.] So far as I can see, I do not think that the State of +Virginia would object to it. + +Q. Would she consent, under any circumstances, to allow the +black people to vote, even if she were to gain a large number of +representatives in Congress? + +A. That would depend upon her interests; if she had the right of +determining that, I do not see why she would object; if it were to her +interest to admit these people to vote, that might overrule any other +objection that she had to it. + +Q. What, in your opinion, would be the practical result? Do you think +that Virginia would consent to allow the negro to vote? + +A. I think that at present she would accept the smaller +representation; I do not know what the future may develop; if it +should be plain to her that these persons will vote properly and +understandingly, she might admit them to vote. + +Q. (By Mr. Blow.) Do you not think it would turn a good deal, in the +cotton States, upon the value of the labor of the black people? Upon +the amount which they produce? + +A. In a good many States in the South, and in a good many counties in +Virginia, if the black people were allowed to vote, it would, I think, +exclude proper representation--that is, proper, intelligent people +would not be elected, and, rather than suffer that injury, they would +not let them vote at all. + +Q. Do you not think that the question as to whether any Southern State +would allow the colored people the right of suffrage in order to +increase representation would depend a good deal on the amount which +the colored people might contribute to the wealth of the State, in +order to secure two things--first, the larger representation, and, +second, the influence desired from those persons voting? + +A. I think they would determine the question more in reference +to their opinion as to the manner in which those votes would be +exercised, whether they consider those people qualified to vote; my +own opinion is, that at this time they cannot vote intelligently, and +that giving them the right of suffrage would open the door to a good +deal of demagogism, and lead to embarrassments in various ways; what +the future may prove, how intelligent they may become, with what +eyes they may look upon the interests of the State in which they may +reside, I cannot say more than you can. + +The above extract presents the main portion of General Lee's +testimony, and is certainly an admirable exposition of the clear +good sense and frankness of the individual. Once or twice there is +obviously an under-current of dry satire, as in his replies upon the +subject of the Confederate bonds. When asked whether he remembered at +what time these bonds were made payable, he replied that his "general +recollection was, that they were made payable six months after +a declaration of peace." The correction was at once made by his +interrogator in the words "six months after _the ratification of a +treaty of peace_" etc. "I think they ran that way," replied General +Lee. "So that," retorted his interrogator, "the bonds are not yet due +by their terms?" General Lee's reply was, "I suppose, _unless it is +considered that there is a peace now, they are not due_." + +This seems to have put an abrupt termination to the examination on +that point. To the question whether he had taken an oath of allegiance +to the Confederate Government, he replied: "I do not recollect having +done so, but it is possible that when I was commissioned I did; I do +not recollect whether it was required; if it was required, I took it, +or if it had been required, I would have taken it." + +If this reply of General Lee be attentively weighed by the reader, +some conception may be formed of the bitter pang which he must have +experienced in sending in, as he did, to the Federal Government, +his application for pardon. The fact cannot be concealed that this +proceeding on the part of General Lee was a subject of deep regret to +the Southern people; but there can be no question that his motive was +disinterested and noble, and that he presented, in so doing, the most +remarkable evidence of the true greatness of his character. He had no +personal advantage to expect from a pardon; cared absolutely nothing +whether he were "pardoned" or not; and to one so proud, and so +thoroughly convinced of the justice of the cause in which he had +fought, to appear as a supplicant must have been inexpressibly +painful. He, nevertheless, took this mortifying step--actuated +entirely by that sense of duty which remained with him to the last, +overmastering every other sentiment of his nature. He seems in this, +as in many other things, to have felt the immense import of his +example. The old soldiers of his army, and thousands of civilians, +were obliged to apply for amnesty, or remain under civic disability. +Brave men, with families depending upon them, had been driven to this +painful course, and General Lee seems to have felt that duty to +his old comrades demanded that he, too, should swallow this bitter +draught, and share their humiliation as he had shared their dangers +and their glory. If this be not the explanation of the motives +controlling General Lee's action, the writer is unable to account for +the course which he pursued. That it is the sole explanation, the +writer no more doubts than he doubts the fact of his own existence. + + + + +XIX. + +GENERAL LEE'S LAST YEARS AND DEATH. + + +For about five years--from the latter part of 1865 nearly to the end +of 1870--General Lee continued to concentrate his entire attention and +all his energies upon his duties as President of Washington College, +to which his great name, and the desire of Southern parents to have +their sons educated under a guide so illustrious, attracted, as we +have said, more than five hundred students. The sedentary nature of +these occupations was a painful trial to one so long accustomed to +lead a life of activity; but it was not in the character of the +individual to allow personal considerations to interfere with the +performance of his duty; and the laborious supervision of the +education of this large number of young gentlemen continued, day after +day, and year after year, to occupy his mind and his time, to the +exclusion, wellnigh, of every other thought. His personal popularity +with the students was very great, and it is unnecessary to add that +their respect for him was unbounded. By the citizens of Lexington, and +especially the graver and more pious portion, he was regarded with a +love and admiration greater than any felt for him during the progress +of his military career. + +This was attributable, doubtless, to the franker and clearer +exhibition by General Lee, in his latter years, of that extraordinary +gentleness and sweetness, culminating in devoted Christian piety, +which--concealed from all eyes, in some degree, during the war--now +plainly revealed themselves, and were evidently the broad foundation +and controlling influences of his whole life and character. To +speak first of his gentleness and moderation in all his views and +utterances. Of these eminent virtues--eminent and striking, above +all, in a defeated soldier with so much to embitter him--General Lee +presented a very remarkable illustration. The result of the war seemed +to have left his great soul calm, resigned, and untroubled by the +least rancor. While others, not more devoted to the South, permitted +passion and sectional animosity to master them, and dictate acts and +expressions full of bitterness toward the North, General Lee refrained +systematically from every thing of that description; and by simple +force of greatness, one would have said, rose above all prejudices and +hatreds of the hour, counselling, and giving in his own person to all +who approached him the example of moderation and Christian charity. He +aimed to keep alive the old Southern traditions of honor and virtue; +but not that sectional hatred which could produce only evil. To a lady +who had lost her husband in the war, and, on bringing her two sons to +the college, indulged in expressions of great bitterness toward the +North, General Lee said, gently: "Madam, do not train up your children +in hostility to the Government of the United States. Remember that we +are one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and +bring them up to be Americans." + +A still more suggestive exhibition of his freedom from rancor was +presented in an interview which is thus described: + + "One day last autumn the writer saw General Lee standing at his + gate, talking pleasantly to an humbly-clad man, who seemed very + much pleased at the cordial courtesy of the great chieftain, and + turned off, evidently delighted, as we came up. After exchanging + salutations, the general said, pointing to the retreating + form, 'That is one of our old soldiers, who is in necessitous + circumstances.' I took it for granted that it was some veteran + Confederate, when the noble-hearted chieftain quietly added, + 'He fought on the other side, but we must not think of that.' I + afterward ascertained--not from General Lee, for he never alluded + to his charities--that he had not only spoken kindly to this 'old + soldier' who had 'fought on the other side,' but had sent him on + his way rejoicing in a liberal contribution to his necessities." + +Of the extent of this Christian moderation another proof was given +by the soldier, at a moment when he might not unreasonably have been +supposed to labor under emotions of the extremest bitterness. Soon +after his return to Richmond, in April, 1865, when the _immedicabile +vulnus_ of surrender was still open and bleeding, a gentleman was +requested by the Federal commander in the city to communicate to +General Lee the fact that he was about to be indicted in the United +States courts for treason.[1] In acquitting himself of his commission, +the gentleman expressed sentiments of violent indignation at such a +proceeding. But these feelings General Lee did not seem to share. The +threat of arraigning him as a traitor produced no other effect upon +him than to bring a smile to his lips; and, taking the hand of his +friend, as the latter rose to go, he said, in his mildest tones: "We +must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed +since the war began that I have not prayed for them." + +[Footnote 1: This was afterward done by one of the Federal judges, but +resulted in nothing.] + +The incidents here related define the views and feelings of General +Lee as accurately as they could be set forth in a whole volume. The +defeated commander, who could open his poor purse to "one of _our_ old +soldiers who _fought on the other side_," and pray daily during the +bitterest of conflicts for his enemies, must surely have trained his +spirit to the perfection of Christian charity. + +Of the strength and controlling character of General Lee's religious +convictions we have more than once spoken in preceding pages of this +volume. These now seemed to exert a more marked influence over his +life, and indeed to shape every action and utterance of the man. +During the war he had exhibited much greater reserve upon this the +most important of all subjects which can engage the attention of +a human being; and, although he had been from an early period, we +believe, a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he +seldom discussed religious questions, or spoke of his own feelings, +presenting in this a marked contrast, as we have said, to his +illustrious associate General Jackson. + +Even during the war, however, as the reader has seen in our notices of +his character at the end of 1863, General Lee's piety revealed itself +in conversations with his chaplains and other good men; and was not +concealed from the troops, as on the occasion of the prayer-meeting +in the midst of the fighting at Mine Run. On another occasion, when +reviewing his army near Winchester, he was seen to raise his hat to a +chaplain with the words, "I salute the Church of God;" and again, near +Petersburg, was observed kneeling in prayer, a short distance from +the road, as his troops marched by. Still another incident of the +period--that of the war--will be recorded here in the words of the +Rev. J. William Jones, who relates it: + + "Not long before the evacuation of Petersburg, the writer was one + day distributing tracts along the trenches, when he perceived + a brilliant cavalcade approaching. General Lee--accompanied by + General John B. Gordon, General A.P. Hill, and other general + officers, with their staffs--was inspecting our lines and + reconnoitring those of the enemy. The keen eye of Gordon + recognized, and his cordial grasp detained, the humble + tract-distributor, as he warmly inquired about his work. General + Lee at once reined in his horse and joined in the conversation, + the rest of the party gathered around, and the humble colporteur + thus became the centre of a group of whose notice the highest + princes of earth might well be proud. General Lee asked if we ever + had calls for prayer-books, and said that if we would call at his + headquarters he would give us some for distribution--'that some + friend in Richmond had given him a new prayer-book, and, upon his + saying that he would give his old one, that he had used ever since + the Mexican War, to some soldier, the friend had offered him a + dozen new books for the old one, and he had, of course, accepted + so good an offer, and now had twelve instead of one to give away.' + We called at the appointed hour. The general had gone out on some + important matter, but (even amid his pressing duties) had left + the prayer-books with a member of his staff, with instructions + concerning them. He had written on the fly-leaf of each, + 'Presented by R.E. Lee,' and we are sure that those of the gallant + men to whom they were given who survive the war will now cherish + them as precious legacies, and hand them down as heirlooms in + their families." + +These incidents unmistakably indicate that General Lee concealed, +under the natural reserve of his character, an earnest religious +belief and trust in God and our Saviour. Nor was this a new sentiment +with him. After his death a well-worn pocket Bible was found in his +chamber, in which was written, "R.E. Lee, Lieutenant-Colonel, U.S. +Army." It was plain, from this, that, even during the days of his +earlier manhood, in Mexico and on the Western prairies, he had read +his Bible, and striven to conform his life to its teachings. + +With the retirement of the great soldier, however, from the cares of +command which necessarily interfered in a large degree with pious +exercises and meditations, the religious phase of his character +became more clearly defined, assuming far more prominent and striking +proportions. The sufferings of the Southern people doubtless had a +powerful effect upon him, and, feeling the powerlessness of man, he +must have turned to God for comfort. But this inquiry is too profound +for the present writer. He shrinks from the attempt to sound the +depths of this truly great soul, with the view of discovering the +influences which moulded it into an almost ideal perfection. General +Lee was, fortunately for the world, surrounded in his latter days +by good and intelligent men, fully competent to present a complete +exposition of his views and feelings--and to these the arduous +undertaking is left. Our easier task is to place upon record such +incidents as we have gathered, bearing upon the religious phase of the +illustrious soldier's character. + +His earnest piety cannot be better displayed than in the anxiety which +he felt for the conversion of his students, Conversing with the Rev. +Dr. Kirkpatrick, of the Presbyterian Church, on the subject of the +religious welfare of those intrusted to his charge, "he was so +overcome by emotion," says Dr. Kirkpatrick, "that he could not utter +the words which were on his tongue." His utterance was choked, but +recovering himself, with his eyes overflowing with tears, his lips +quivering with emotion, and both hands raised, he exclaimed: "Oh! +doctor, if I could only know that all the young men in the college +were good Christians, I should have nothing more to desire." + +When another minister, the Rev. Mr. Jones, delivered an earnest +address at the "Concert of Prayer for Colleges," urging that all +Christians should pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit in changing the +hearts of the students, General Lee, after the meeting, approached the +minister and said with great warmth: "I wish, sir, to thank you for +your address. It was just what we needed. Our great want is a revival, +which shall bring these young men to Christ." + +One morning, while the venerable Dr. White was passing General Lee's +house, on his way to chapel, the general joined him, and they entered +into conversation upon religious subjects. General Lee said little, +but, just as they reached the college, stopped and remarked with great +earnestness, his eyes filling with tears as he spoke: "I shall be +disappointed, sir, I shall fail in the leading object that brought me +here, unless the young men all become real Christians; and I wish you +and others of your sacred profession to de all you can to accomplish +this result." + +When a great revival of religious feeling took place at the Virginia +Military Institute, in 1868, General Lee said to the clergyman of his +church with deep feeling: "That is the best news I have heard since I +have been in Lexington. Would that we could have such a revival in all +our colleges!" + +Although a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and preferring +that communion, General Lee seems to have been completely exempt from +sectarian feeling, and to have aimed first and last to be a true +Christian, loving God and his neighbor, and not busying himself about +theological dogmas. When he was asked once whether he believed in the +Apostolic succession, he replied that he had never thought of it, and +aimed only to become a "real Christian." His catholic views were shown +by the letters of invitation, which he addressed, at the commencement +of each session of the college, to ministers of all religious +denominations at Lexington, to conduct, in turn, the religious +exercises at the college chapel; and his charities, which were large +for a person of his limited means, were given to all alike. These +charities he seems to have regarded as a binding duty, and were so +private that only those receiving them knew any thing of them. It only +came to be known accidentally that in 1870 he gave one hundred dollars +for the education of the orphans of Southern soldiers, one hundred +dollars to the Young Men's Christian Association, and regularly made +other donations, amounting in all to considerable sums. Nearly his +last act was a liberal contribution to an important object connected +with his church. + +We shall conclude these anecdotes, illustrating General Lee's +religious character, with one for which we are indebted to the +kindness of a reverend clergyman, of Lexington, who knew General +Lee intimately in his latter years, and enjoyed his confidence. The +incident will present in an agreeable light the great soldier's +simplicity and love for children, and no less his catholic feelings in +reference to sects in the Christian Church: + +"I will give you just another incident," writes the reverend +gentleman, "illustrating General Lee's love for children, and their +freedom with him. When I first came to Lexington, my boy Carter (just +four years old then) used to go with me to chapel service when it was +my turn to officiate. The general would tell him that he must always +sit by him; and it was a scene for a painter, to see the great +chieftain reverentially listening to the truths of God's word, and +the little boy nestling close to him. One Sunday our Sunday-school +superintendent told the children that they must bring in some new +scholars, and that they must bring old people as well as the young, +since none were too old or too wise to learn God's word. The next +Sabbath Carter was with me at the chapel, from which he was to go with +me to the Sunday-school. At the close of the service, I noticed that +Carter was talking very earnestly with General Lee, who seemed very +much amused, and, on calling him to come with me, he said, with +childish simplicity: 'Father, I am trying to get General Lee to go to +the Sunday-school and _be my scholar_.' 'But,' said I, 'if the general +goes to any school, he will go to his own.' 'Which is his own, +father?' 'The Episcopal,' I replied. Heaving a deep sigh, and with a +look of disappointment, the little fellow said: 'I am very sorry he +is '_Piscopal._ I wish he was a Baptist, so he could go to _our_ +Sunday-school, and be my scholar.' The general seemed very much amused +and interested as he replied, 'Ah! Carter, we must all try and be +_good Christians_--that is the most important thing.' 'He knew all the +children in town,' adds Mr. Jones, 'and their grief at his death was +very touching.'" + +This incident may appear singular to those who have been accustomed to +regard General Lee as a cold, reserved, and even stern human being--a +statue, beneath whose chill surface no heart ever throbbed. But, +instead of a marble heart, there lay, under the gray uniform of the +soldier, one of warm flesh and blood--tender, impressible, susceptible +to the quick touches of all gentle and sweet emotion, and filling, as +it were, with quiet happiness, at the sight of children and the sound +of their voices. This impressibility has even been made the subject +of criticism. A foreign writer declares that the soldier's character +exhibited a "feminine" softness, unfitting him for the conduct of +affairs of moment. What the Confederacy wanted, intimates the writer +in question, was a rough dictator, with little regard for nice +questions of law--one to lay the rough hand of the born master on the +helm, and force the crew, from the highest to the lowest, to obey his +will. That will probably remain a question. General Lee's _will_ +was strong enough to break down all obstacles but those erected by +rightful authority; that with this masculine strength he united an +exquisite gentleness, is equally beyond question. A noble action +flushed his cheek with an emotion that the reader may, if he will, +call "feminine." A tale of suffering brought a sudden moisture to his +eyes; and a loving message from one of his poor old soldiers was seen +one day to melt him to tears. + +This poor and incomplete attempt to indicate some of the less-known +traits of the illustrious commander-in-chief of the Southern armies +will now be brought to a conclusion; we approach the sorrowful moment +when, surrounded by his weeping family,[1] he tranquilly passed away. + +[Footnote 1: General Lee had three sons and four daughters, all of +whom are living except one of the latter, Miss Anne Lee, who died in +North Carolina during the war. The sons were General G.W. Custis Lee, +aide-de-camp to President Davis--subsequently commander of infantry in +the field, and now president of Washington and Lee College, an officer +of such ability and of character so eminent that President Davis +regarded him as a fit successor of his illustrious father in command +of the Army of Northern Virginia--General W.H.F. Lee, a prominent and +able commander of cavalry, and Captain Robert E. Lee, an efficient +member of the cavalry-staff. These gentlemen bore their full share +in the perils and hardships of the war, from its commencement to the +surrender at Appomattox.] + +On the 28th of September, 1870, after laborious attention to his +duties during the early part of the day, General Lee attended, in the +afternoon, a meeting of the Vestry of Grace Church, of which he was a +member. Over this meeting he presided, and it was afterward remembered +that his last public act was to contribute the sum of fifty-five +dollars to some good object, the requisite amount to effect which was +thus made up. After the meeting, General Lee returned to his home, +and, when tea was served, took his place at the table to say grace, +as was his habit, as it had been in camp throughout the war. His lips +opened, but no sound issued from them, and he sank back in his chair, +from which he was carried to bed. + +The painful intelligence immediately became known throughout +Lexington, and the utmost grief and consternation were visible upon +every face. It was hoped, at first, that the attack would not prove +serious, and that General Lee would soon be able to resume his duties. +But this hope was soon dissipated. The skilful physicians who hastened +to his bedside pronounced his malady congestion of the brain, and, +from the appearance of the patient, who lay in a species of coma, +the attack was evidently of the most alarming character. The most +discouraging phase of the case was, that, physically, General Lee +was--if we may so say--in perfect health. His superb physique, +although not perhaps as vigorous and robust as during the war, +exhibited no indication whatever of disease. His health appeared +perfect, and twenty years more of life might have been predicted for +him from simple reference to his appearance. + +The malady was more deeply seated, however, than any bodily disease; +the cerebral congestion was but a symptom of the mental malady which +was killing its victim. From the testimony of the able physicians who +watched the great soldier, day and night, throughout his illness, and +are thus best competent to speak upon the subject, there seems no +doubt that General Lee's condition was the result of mental depression +produced by the sufferings of the Southern people. Every mail, it is +said, had brought him the most piteous appeals for assistance, from +old soldiers whose families were in want of bread; and the woes of +these poor people had a prostrating effect upon him. A year or two +before, his health had been seriously impaired by this brooding +depression, and he had visited North Carolina, the White Sulphur +Springs, and other places, to divert his mind. In this he failed. The +shadow went with him, and the result was, at last, the alarming attack +from which he never rallied. During the two weeks of his illness he +scarcely spoke, and evidently regarded his condition as hopeless. When +one of his physicians said to him, "General, you must make haste and +get well; _Traveller_ has been standing so long in his stable that he +needs exercise." General Lee shook his head slowly, to indicate that +he would never again mount his favorite horse. + +He remained in this state, with few alterations in his condition, +until Wednesday; October 12th, when, about nine in the morning, in the +midst of his family, the great soldier tranquilly expired. + +Of the universal grief of the Southern people when the intelligence +was transmitted by telegraph to all parts of the country, it is not +necessary that we should speak. The death of Lee seemed to make all +hearts stand still; and the tolling of bells, flags at half-mast, +and public meetings of citizens, wearing mourning, marked, in every +portion of the South, the sense of a great public calamity. It is not +an exaggeration to say that, in ten thousand Southern homes, tears +came to the eyes not only of women, but of bearded men, and that the +words, "Lee is dead!" fell like a funeral-knell upon every heart. + +When the intelligence reached Richmond, the Legislature passed +resolutions expressive of the general sorrow, and requesting that the +remains of General Lee might be interred in Holywood Cemetery--Mr. +Walker, the Governor, expressing in a special message his +participation in the grief of the people of Virginia and the South. +The family of General Lee, however, preferred that his remains should +rest at the scene of his last labors, and beneath the chapel of +Washington College they were accordingly interred. The ceremony was +imposing, and will long be remembered. + +On the morning of the 13th, the body was borne to the college chapel. +In front moved a guard of honor, composed of old Confederate soldiers; +behind these came the clergy; then the hearse; in rear of which was +led the dead soldier's favorite war-horse "Traveller," his equipments +wreathed with crape. The trustees and faculty of the college, the +cadets of the Military Institute, and a large number of citizens +followed--and the procession moved slowly from the northeastern gate +of the president's house to the college chapel, above which, draped in +mourning, and at half-mast, floated the flag of Virginia--the only one +displayed during this or any other portion of the funeral ceremonies. + +On the platform of the chapel the body lay in state throughout this +and the succeeding day. The coffin was covered with evergreens and +flowers, and the face of the dead was uncovered that all might look +for the last time on the pale features of the illustrious soldier. The +body was dressed in a simple suit of black, and the appearance of the +face was perfectly natural. Great crowds visited the chapel, passing +solemnly in front of the coffin--the silence interrupted only by sobs. + +Throughout the 14th the body continued to be in state, and to be +visited by thousands. On the 15th a great funeral procession preceded +the commission of it to its last resting place. At an early hour the +crowd began to assemble in the vicinity of the college, which was +draped in mourning. This great concourse was composed of men, women, +and children, all wearing crape, and the little children seemed as +much penetrated by the general distress as the elders. The bells of +the churches began to toll; and at ten o'clock the students of the +college, and officers and soldiers of the Confederate army--numbering +together nearly one thousand persons--formed in front of the chapel. +Between the two bodies stood the hearse, and the gray horse of the +soldier, both draped in mourning. + +The procession then began to move, to the strains of martial music. +The military escort, together with the staff-officers of General Lee, +moved in front; the faculty and students followed behind the hearse; +and in rear came a committee of the Legislative dignitaries of the +Commonwealth, and a great multitude of citizens from all portions of +the State. The procession continued its way toward the Institute, +where the cadets made the military salute as the hearse passed in +front of them, and the sudden thunder of artillery awoke the echoes +from the hills. The cadets then joined the procession, which was more +than a mile in length; and, heralded by the fire of artillery every +few minutes, it moved back to the college chapel, where the last +services were performed. + +General Lee had requested, it is said, that no funeral oration should +be pronounced above his remains, and the Rev. William N. Pendleton +simply read the beautiful burial-service of the Episcopal Church. The +coffin, still covered with evergreens and flowers, was then lowered to +its resting-place beneath the chapel, amid the sobs and tears of the +great assembly; and all that was mortal of the illustrious soldier +disappeared from the world's eyes. + +What thus disappeared was little. What remained was much--the memory +of the virtues and the glory of the greatest of Virginians. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +We here present to the reader a more detailed account of the +ceremonies attending the burial of General Lee, and a selection from +the countless addresses delivered in various portions of the country +when his death was announced. To notice the honors paid to his memory +in every city, town, and village of the South, would fill a volume, +and be wholly unnecessary. It is equally unnecessary to speak of the +great meetings at Richmond, Baltimore, and elsewhere, resulting in +the formation of the "Lee Memorial Association" for the erection of a +monument to the dead commander. + +The addresses here presented are placed on record rather for their +biographical interest, than to do honor to the dead. Of him it may +justly be said that he needs no record of his virtues and his glory. +His illustrious memory is fresh to-day, and will be fresh throughout +all coming generations, in every heart. + + + + +I. + +_THE FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE_. + + +The morning of the obsequies of General Lee broke bright and cheerful +over the sorrowful town of Lexington. Toward noon the sun poured down +with all the genial warmth of Indian summer, and after mid-day it was +hot, though not uncomfortably so. The same solemnity of yesterday +reigned supreme, with the difference, that people came thronging +into town, making a mournful scene of bustle. The gloomy faces, +the comparative silence, the badges and emblems of mourning that +everywhere met the eye, and the noiseless, strict decorum which was +observed, told how universal and deep were the love and veneration +of the people for the illustrious dead. Every one uniformly and +religiously wore the emblematic crape, even to the women and children, +who were crowding to the college chapel with wreaths of flowers +fringed with mourning. All sorrowfully and religiously paid their last +tributes of respect and affection to the great dead, and none there +were who did not feel a just pride in the sad offices. + +AT THE COLLEGE GROUNDS. + +Immediately in front of the chapel the scene was peculiarly sad. +All around the buildings were gloomily draped in mourning, and the +students strolled listlessly over the grounds, awaiting the formation +of the funeral procession. Ladies thronged about the chapel with +tearful eyes, children wept outright, every face wore a saddened +expression, while the solemn tolling of the church-bells rendered the +scene still more one of grandeur and gloom. The bells of the churches +joined in the mournful requiem. + +THE FUNERAL PROCESSION. + +At ten o'clock precisely, in accordance with the programme agreed +upon, the students, numbering four hundred, formed in front and to the +right of the chapel. To the left an escort of honor, numbering some +three hundred ex-officers and soldiers, was formed, at the head +of which, near the southwestern entrance to the grounds, was +the Institute band. Between these two bodies--the soldiers and +students--stood the hearse and the gray war-steed of the dead hero, +both draped in mourning. The marshals of the procession, twenty-one in +number, wore spotless white sashes, tied at the waist and shoulders +with crape, and carrying _batons_ also enveloped in the same +emblematic material. + +Shortly after ten, at a signal from the chief marshal, the solemn +_cortege_ moved off to the music of a mournful dirge. General Bradley +Johnson headed the escort of officers and soldiers, with Colonel +Charles T. Venable and Colonel Walters H. Taylor, both former +assistant adjutant-generals on the staff of the lamented dead. The +physicians of General Lee and the Faculty of the college fell in +immediately behind the hearse, the students following. Slowly and +solemnly the procession moved from the college grounds down Washington +Street to Jefferson, up Jefferson Street to Franklin Hall, thence to +Main Street, where they were joined by a committee of the Legislature, +dignitaries of the State, and the citizens generally. Moving still +onward, this grand funeral pageant, which had now assumed gigantic +proportions, extending nearly a mile in length, soon reached the +northeastern extremity of the town, when it took the road to the +Virginia Military Institute. + +AT THE MILITARY INSTITUTE. + +Here the scene was highly impressive and imposing. In front of the +Institute the battalion of cadets, three hundred in number, were drawn +up in line, wearing their full gray uniform, with badges of mourning, +and having on all their equipments and side-arms, but without their +muskets. Spectators thronged the entire line of the procession, gazing +sadly as it wended its way, and the sites around the Institute were +crowded. As the _cortege_ entered the Institute grounds a salute of +artillery thundered its arrival, and reverberated it far across the +distant hills and valleys of Virginia, awakening echoes which have +been hushed since Lee manfully gave up the struggle of the "lost +cause" at Appomattox. Winding along the indicated route toward the +grounds of Washington College, the procession slowly moved past the +Institute, and when the war-horse and hearse of the dead chieftain +came in front of the battalion of cadets, they uncovered their heads +as a salute of reverence and respect, which was promptly followed by +the spectators. When this was concluded, the visitors and Faculty of +the Institute joined the procession, and the battalion of cadets filed +into the line in order, and with the greatest precision. + +ORDER OF THE PROCESSION. + +The following was the order of the procession when it was completed: + + Music. + + Escort of Honor, consisting of Officers and Soldiers of the Confederate + Army. + + Chaplain and other Clergy. + + Hearse and Pall-bearers. + + General Lee's Horse. + + The Attending Physicians. + + Trustees and Faculty of Washington College. + + Dignitaries of the State of Virginia. + + Visitors and Faculty of the Virginia Military Institute. + + Other Representative Bodies and Distinguished Visitors. + + Alumni of Washington College. + + Citizens. + + Cadets Virginia Military Institute. + + Students of Washington College as Guard of Honor + +AT THE CHAPEL. + +After the first salute, a gun was fired every three minutes. Moving +still to the sound of martial music, in honor of the dead, the +procession reentered the grounds of Washington College by the +northeastern gate, and was halted in front of the chapel. Then +followed an imposing ceremony. The cadets of the Institute were +detached from the line, and marched in double file into the chapel up +one of the aisles, past the remains of the illustrious dead, which lay +in state on the rostrum, and down the other aisle out of the church. +The students of Washington College followed next, passing with bowed +heads before the mortal remains of him they revered and loved so much +and well as their president and friend. The side-aisles and galleries +were crowded with ladies, Emblems of mourning met the eye on all +sides, and feminine affection had hung funeral garlands of flowers +upon all the pillars and walls. The central pews were filled with the +escort of honor, composed of former Confederate soldiers from this and +adjoining counties, while the spacious platform was crowded with the +trustees, faculties, clergy, Legislative Committee, and distinguished +visitors. Within and without the consecrated hall the scene was +alike imposing. The blue mountains of Virginia, towering in the near +horizon; the lovely village of Lexington, sleeping in the calm, +unruffled air, and the softened autumn sunlight; the vast assemblage, +mute and sorrowful; the tolling bells, and pealing cannon, and solemn +words of funeral service, combined to render the scene one never to be +forgotten. + +The sons of General Lee--W.H.F. Lee, G.W.C. Lee, and Robert E. +Lee--with their sisters, Misses Agnes and Mildred Lee, and the nephews +of the dead, Fitzhugh, Henry C., and Robert C. Lee, entered the church +with bowed heads, and silently took seats in front of the rostrum. + +THE FUNERAL SERVICES AND INTERMENT. + +Then followed the impressive funeral services of the Episcopal Church +for the dead, amid a silence and solemnity that were imposing and +sublimely grand. There was no funeral oration, in compliance with the +expressed wish of the distinguished dead; and at the conclusion of the +services in the chapel the vast congregation went out and mingled with +the crowd without, who were unable to gain admission. The coffin was +then carried by the pall-bearers to the library-room, in the basement +of the chapel, where it was lowered into the vault prepared for its +reception. The funeral services were concluded in the open air by +prayer, and the singing of General Lee's favorite hymn, commencing +with the well-known line-- + + "How firm a foundation, ye saint of the Lord, + Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!" + +and thus closed the funeral obsequies of Robert Edward Lee, to whom +may be fitly applied the grand poetic epitaph: + + "Ne'er to the mansions where the mighty rest, + Since their foundations, came a nobler guest; + Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed + A purer saint or a more welcome shade." + + + + +II. + +_TRIBUTES TO GENERAL LEE_. + + +In the deep emotion with which the death of General Lee has filled all +classes of our people--says the _Southern Magazine_, from whose pages +this interesting summary is taken--we have thought that a selection of +the most eloquent or otherwise interesting addresses delivered at the +various memorial meetings may not be unacceptable. + +LOUISVILLE, KY. + +On October 15th nearly the whole city was draped in mourning, and +business was suspended. A funeral service was held at St. Paul's +Church. In the evening an immense meeting assembled at Weissiger +Hall, and, after an opening address by Mayor Baxter, the following +resolutions were adopted: + +"_Resolved_, That, in the death of Robert E. Lee, the American people, +without regard to States or sections, or antecedents, or opinions, +lose a great and good man, a distinguished and useful citizen, +renowned not less in arms than in the arts of peace; and that the +cause of public instruction and popular culture is deprived of a +representative whose influence and example will be felt by the youth +of our country for long ages after the passions in the midst of which +he was engaged, but which he did not share, have passed into history, +and the peace and fraternity of the American Republic are cemented and +restored by the broadest and purest American sentiment." + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the +family of General Lee, to the Trustees of Washington College, and to +the Governor and General Assembly of Virginia." + +ADDRESS OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE. + +"_Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen_: In the humble part which it +falls to me to take in these interesting ceremonies, if for any cause +it has been supposed that I am to deliver a lengthy address, I am +not responsible for the origination of that supposition. I came here +to-night simply to mingle my grief with yours at the loss of one of +our most distinguished citizens, and, indeed, I feel more like silence +than like words. I am awe-stricken in the presence of this vast +assemblage, and my mind goes back to the past. It is preoccupied by +memories coming in prominent review of the frequent and ever-varying +vicissitudes which have characterized the last ten years. I find +myself in the presence of a vast assemblage of the people of this +great and growing city, who meet together, without distinction of +party, and presided over by your chief officer, for the purpose of +expressing respect to the memory of the man who was the leader of the +Confederate armies in the late war between the States. It is in itself +the omen of reunion. I am not surprised at the spectacle presented +here. Throughout the entire South one universal cry of grief has +broken forth at the death of General Lee, and in a very large portion +of the North manly and noble tributes have been paid to his memory. + +"My words shall be brief but plain. Why is it that at the South we see +this universal, spontaneous demonstration? First, because most of the +people mourn the loss of a leader and a friend, but beyond that I must +say they seem to enter an unconscious protest against the ascription +either to him or them of treason or personal dishonor. It may be an +unconscious protest against the employment by a portion of the public +press of those epithets which have ceased to be used in social +intercourse. It is an invitation on their part to the people of the +North and South, East and West, if there be any remaining rancor in +their bosoms, to bury it in the grave forever. I will not recall the +past. I will not enter upon any considerations of the cause of that +great struggle. This demonstration we see around us gives the plainest +evidence that there is no disposition to indulge in useless repinings +at the results of that great struggle. It is for the pen of the +historian to declare the cause, progress, and probable consequences of +it. In regard to those who followed General Lee, who gloried in his +successes and shared his misfortunes, I have but this to say: the +world watched the contest in which they were engaged, and yet gives +testimony to their gallantry, + +"The magnanimity with which they accepted the results of their defeat, +the obedience they have yielded to the laws of the Federal Government, +give an exhibition so rare that they are ennobled by their calm yet +noble submission. For the rest their escutcheon is unstained. The +conquerors themselves, for their own glory, must confess that they +were brave. Neither, my friends, do I come here to-night to speak +of the military career of General Lee. I need not speak of it this +evening. I believe that this is universally recognized, not only in +the United States, but in Europe; it has made the circuit of the +world. I come but to utter my tribute to him as a man and as a +citizen. As a man he will be remembered in history as a man of the +epoch. How little need I to speak of his character after listening to +the thrilling delineation of it which we had this morning! We all know +that he was great, noble, and self-poised. He was just and moderate, +but was, perhaps, misunderstood by those who were not personally +acquainted with him. He was supposed to be just, but cold. Far from +it. He had a warm, affectionate heart. During the last year of that +unfortunate struggle it was my good fortune to spend a great deal of +time with him. I was almost constantly by his side, and it was during +the two months immediately preceding the fall of Richmond that I came +to know and fully understand the true nobility of his character. In +all those long vigils he was considerate and kind, gentle, firm, and +self-poised. I can give no better idea of the impression it made upon +me than to say it inspired me with an ardent love of the man and a +profound veneration of his character. It was so massive and noble, so +grand in its proportions, that all men must admire its heroism and +gallantry, yet so gentle and tender that a woman might adopt and claim +it as her own. If the spirit which animates the assembly before me +to-night shall become general and permeate the whole country, then may +we say the wounds of the late war are truly healed. We ask for him +only what we give to others. Among the more eminent of the departed +Federal generals who were distinguished for their gallantry, their +nobility of character, and their patriotism, may be mentioned Thomas +and McPherson. What Confederate is there who would refuse to raise his +cap as their funeral-train went by or hesitate to drop a flower upon +their graves? Why? Because they were men of courage, honor, and +nobility; because they were true to their convictions of right, and +soldiers whose hands were unstained by cruelty or pillage. + +"Those of us who were so fortunate as to know him, and who have +appeared before this assemblage, composed of all shades of opinion, +claim for him your veneration, because he was pure and noble, and it +is because of this that we see the cities and towns of the South in +mourning. This has been the expression throughout the whole South, +without distinction of party, and also of a large portion of the +North. Is not this why these tributes have been paid to his memory? Is +it not because his piety was humble and sincere? Because he accorded +in victory; because he filled his position with admirable dignity; +because he taught his prostrate comrades how to suffer and be strong? +In a word, because he was one of the noblest products of this +hemisphere, a fit object to sit in the niche which he created in the +Temple of Fame. + +"But he failed. The result is in the future. It may be for better or +for worse. We hope for the better. But this is not the test for his +greatness and goodness. Success often gilds the shallow man, but it is +disaster alone that reveals the qualities of true greatness. Was his +life a failure? Is only that man successful who erects a material +monument of greatness by the enforcement of his ideas? Is not that man +successful also, who, by his valor, moderation, and courage, with all +their associate virtues, presents to the world such a specimen of +true manhood as his children and children's children will be proud to +imitate? In this sense he was not a failure. + +"Pardon me for having detained you so long. I know there are here and +there those who will reach out and attempt to pluck from his name the +glory which surrounds it, and strike with malignant fury at the honors +awarded to him; yet history will declare that the remains which repose +in the vault beneath the little chapel in the lovely Virginia Valley +are not only those of a valorous soldier, but those of a great and +good American." + +General John W. Finnell next addressed the audience briefly, and was +followed by. + +GENERAL WILLIAM PRESTON. + +"_Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen_: I feel that it would be very +difficult for me to add any eulogy to those which are contained in the +resolutions of the committee, or a more merited tribute of praise than +those which have already fallen from the lips of the gentlemen who +have preceded me. Yet, on an occasion like this, I am willing to come +forward and add a word to testify my appreciation of the great virtues +and admirable character of one that commands, not only our admiration, +but that of the entire country. Not alone of the entire country, +but his character has excited more admiration in Europe than among +ourselves. In coming ages his name will be marked with lustre, and +will be one of the richest treasures of the future. I speak of one +just gone down to death; ripe in all the noble attributes of manhood, +and illustrious by deeds the most remarkable in character that have +occurred in the history of America since its discovery. It is now some +two-and-twenty years since I first made the acquaintance of General +Lee. He was then in the prime of manhood, in Mexico, and I first saw +him as the chief-engineer of General Scott in the Valley of Mexico. I +see around me two old comrades who then saw General Lee. He was a +man of remarkable personal beauty and great grace of body. He had a +finished form, delicate hands, graceful in person, while here and +there a gray hair streaked with silver the dark locks with which +Nature had clothed his noble brow. There were discerning minds that +appreciated his genius, and saw in him the coming Captain of America. +His commander and his comrades appreciated his ability. To a club +which was then organized he belonged, together with General McClellan, +General Albert Sydney Johnston, General Beauregard, and a host of +others. They recognized in Lee a master-spirit.. + +"He was never violent; he never wrangled. He was averse to +quarrelling, and not a single difficulty marked his career; but +all acknowledged his justness and wonderful evenness of mind. Rare +intelligence, combined with these qualities, served to make him a fit +representative of his great prototype, General Washington. He had been +accomplished by every finish that a military education could bestow. + +"I remember when General Lee was appointed lieutenant-colonel, at the +same time that Sydney Johnston was appointed colonel, and General +Scott thought that Lee should have been colonel. I was talking with +General Scott on the subject long before the late struggle between the +North and South took place, and he then said that Lee was the greatest +living soldier in America. He did not object to the other commission, +but he thought Lee should have been first promoted. Finally, he said +to me with emphasis, which you will pardon me for relating, 'I tell +you that, if I were on my death-bed to-morrow, and the President of +the United States should tell me that a great battle was to be fought +for the liberty or slavery of the country, and asked my judgment as to +the ability of a commander, I would say with my dying breath, let it +be Robert E. Lee.' Ah! great soldier that he was, princely general +that he was, he has fulfilled his mission, and borne it so that +no invidious tongue can level the shafts of calumny at the great +character which he has left behind him. + +"But, ladies and gentlemen, it was not in this that the matchless +attributes of his character were found. You have assembled here, not +so much to do honor to General Lee, but to testify your appreciation +of the worth of the principles governing his character; and if the +minds of this assemblage were explored, you would find there was a +gentleness and a grace in his character which had won your love and +brought forth testimonials of universal admiration. Take but a single +instance. At the battle of Gettysburg, after the attack on the +cemetery, when his troops were repulsed and beaten, the men threw +up their muskets and said, 'General, we have failed, and it is our +fault.' 'No, my men,' said he, knowing the style of fighting of +General Stonewall Jackson, 'you have done well; 'tis my fault; I am to +blame, and no one but me.' What man is there that would not have gone +to renewed death for such a leader? So, when we examine his whole +character, it is in his private life that you find his true +greatness--the Christian simplicity of his character and his great +veneration for truth and nobility, the grand elements of his +greatness. What man could have laid down his sword at the feet of a +victorious general with greater dignity than did he at Appomattox +Court-House? He laid down his sword with grace and dignity, and +secured for his soldiers the best terms that fortune would permit. In +that he shows marked greatness seldom shown by great captains. + +"After the battle of Sedan, the wild cries of the citizens of Paris +went out for the blood of the emperor; but at Appomattox, veneration +and love only met the eyes of the troops who looked upon their +commander. I will not trespass upon your time much farther. When I +last saw him the raven hair had turned white. In a small village +church his reverent head was bowed in prayer. The humblest step was +that of Robert E. Lee, as he entered the portals of the temple erected +to God. In broken responses he answered to the services of the Church. +Noble, sincere, and humble in his religion, he showed forth his true +character in laying aside his sword to educate the youth of his +country. Never did he appear more noble than at that time. He is now +gone, and rests in peace, and has crossed that mysterious stream that +Stonewall Jackson saw with inspired eyes when he asked that he might +be permitted to take his troops across the river and forever rest +beneath the shadows of the trees." + +After a few remarks from Hon. D.Y. Lyttle, the meeting adjourned. + +AUGUSTA, GA. + +A meeting was held at Augusta, on October 18th, at the City Hall. The +preamble and resolutions adopted were as follows: + +"_Whereas_, This day, throughout all this Southern land, sorrow, +many-tongued, is ascending to heaven for the death of Robert E. Lee, +and communities everywhere are honoring themselves in striving to do +honor to that great name; and we, the people of Augusta, who were not +laggards in upholding his glorious banner while it floated to the +breeze, would swell the general lamentation of his departure: + +therefore be it + +"_Resolved_, That no people in the tide of time has been bereaved +as we are bereaved; for no other people has had such a man to lose. +Greece, rich in heroes; Rome, prolific mother of great citizens, so +that the name of Roman is the synonyme of all that is noblest in +citizenship--had no man coming up to the full measure of this +great departed. On scores of battle-fields, consummate commander; +everywhere, bravest soldier; in failure, sublimest hero; in disbanding +his army, most pathetic of writers; in persecution, most patient of +power's victims; in private life, purest of men--he was such that all +Christendom, with one consent, named him GREAT. We, recalling that so +also mankind have styled Alexander, Caesar, Frederick, and Napoleon, +and beholding in the Confederate leader qualities higher and better +than theirs, find that language poor indeed which only enables us to +call him 'great'--him standing among the great of all ages preeminent. + +"_Resolved_, That our admiration of the man is not the partial +judgment of his adherents only; but so clear stand his greatness and +his goodness, that even the bitterest of foes has not ventured +to asperse him. While the air has been filled with calumnies and +revilings of his cause, none have been aimed at him. If there are +spirits so base that they cannot discover and reverence his greatness +and his goodness, they have at least shrunk from encountering the +certain indignation of mankind. This day--disfranchised by stupid +power as he was; branded, as he was, in the perverted vocabulary of +usurpers as rebel and traitor--his death has even in distant lands +moved more tongues and stirred more hearts than the siege of a mighty +city and the triumphs of a great king. + +"_Resolved_, That, while he died far too soon for his country, he had +lived long enough for his fame. This was complete, and the future +could unfold nothing to add to it. In this age of startling changes, +imagination might have pictured him, even in the years which he yet +lacked of the allotted period of human life, once more at the head of +devoted armies and the conqueror of glorious fields; but none could +have been more glorious than those he had already won. Wrong, too, +might again have triumphed over Right, and he have borne defeat with +sublimest resignation; but this he had already done at Appomattox. +Unrelenting hate to his lost cause might have again consigned him to +the walks of private life, and he have become an exemplar of all the +virtues of a private station; but this he had already been in the +shades of Lexington. The contingencies of the future could only have +revealed him greatest soldier, sublimest hero, best of men; and he was +already all of these. The years to come were barren of any thing which +could add to his perfect name and fame. He had nothing to lose; but, +alas! we, his people, every thing by his departure from this world, +which was unworthy of him, to that other where the good and the pure +of all ages will welcome him. Thither follow him the undying love +of every true Southern man and woman, and the admiration of all the +world." + +ADDRESS OF GENERAL A.R. WRIGHT. + +"_Mr. Chairman_: I rise simply to move the adoption of the resolutions +which have just been read to the meeting by Major Cumming. You have +heard, and the people here assembled have heard, these resolutions. +They are truthful, eloquent, and expressive. Although announced as +a speaker on this sad occasion, I had determined to forego any such +attempt; but an allusion, a passing reference to one of the sublime +virtues of the illustrious dead, made in the resolutions which have +just been read in your hearing, has induced me to add a word or +two. Your resolutions speak of General Lee's patience under the +persecutions of power. It was this virtue which ennobled the +character, as it was one of the most prominent traits in the life, of +him for whose death a whole nation, grief-stricken, mourns, and to pay +a tribute to the memory of whom this multitude has assembled here this +morning. While General Lee was all, and more than has been said +of him--the great general, the true Christian, and the valiant +soldier--there was another character in which he appeared more +conspicuously than in any of the rest--the quiet dignity with which he +encountered defeat, and the patience with which he met the persecution +of malignant power. We may search the pages of all history, both +sacred and profane, and there seems to be but one character who +possessed in so large a degree this remarkable trait. Take General +Lee's whole life and examine it; observe his skill and courage as a +soldier, his patriotism and his fidelity to principle, the purity of +his private life, and then remember the disasters which he faced and +the persecutions to which he was subjected, and it would seem that _no +one_ ever endured so much--not even David, the sweet singer of Israel. +Job has been handed down to posterity by the pages of sacred history +as the embodiment of patience, as the man who, overwhelmed with the +most numerous and bitter afflictions, never lost his fortitude, and +who endured every fresh trial with uncomplaining resignation; but it +seems to me that even Job displayed not the patience of our own loved +hero; for, while Job suffered much, he endured less than General Lee. +Job was compelled to lose his children, his friends, and his property, +but he was never required to give up country; General Lee was, and, +with more than the persecutions of Job, he stands revealed to the +world the truest and the most sublime hero whom the ages have +produced. To a patriot like Lee the loss of country was the greatest +evil which could be experienced, and it was this last blow which has +caused us to assemble here to-day to mourn his departure. He lost +friends and kindred and property in the struggle, and yet, according +to the news which the telegraph brought us this morning, it was the +loss of his cause which finally sundered the heart-strings of the +hero, and drew him from earth to heaven. Yes, the weight of this +great sorrow which first fell upon him under the fatal apple-tree at +Appomattox, has dwelt with him, growing heavier and more unendurable +with each succeeding year, from that time until last Wednesday morn +when the soul of Lee passed away. + +"As I said before, Mr. Chairman, I only rose to move the adoption of +the resolutions; and if I have said more than I ought to have said, +it is because I knew the illustrious dead, because I loved him, and +because I mourn his loss." + +ADDRESS OF JUDGE HILLIARD. + +"It is proper that the people should pay a public tribute to the +memory of a great man when he dies. Not a ruler, not one who merely +holds a great public position, but a great man, one who has served his +day and generation. It cannot benefit the dead, but it is eminently +profitable to the living. The consciousness than when we cease to live +our memory will be cherished, is a noble incentive to live well. +This great popular demonstration is due to General Lee's life and +character. It is not ordered by the Government--the Government ignored +him; but is rendered as a spontaneous tribute to the memory of an +illustrious man--good, true, and great. He held no place in the +Government, and since the war has had no military rank; but he was a +true man. After all, that is the noblest tribute you can pay to any +man, to say of him he was a true man. + +"General Lee's character was eminently American. In Europe they +have their ideas, their standards of merit, their rewards for great +exploits. They cover one with decorations; they give him a great place +in the government; they make him a marshal. Wellington began his +career with humble rank. He was young Wellesley; he rose to be the +Duke of Wellington. In our country we have no such rewards for great +deeds. One must enjoy the patronage of the Government, or he must take +the fortunes of private life. + +"General Lee was educated at the great Military Academy, West Point. +He entered the army; was promoted from time to time for brilliant +services; in Mexico fought gallantly under the flag of the United +States; and was still advancing in his military career in 1861, when +Virginia became involved in the great contest that then grew up +between the States. Virginia was his mother; she called him to her +side to defend her, and, resigning his commission in the Army of the +United States, not for a moment looking for advancement there, not +counting the cost, not offering his sword to the service of power, nor +yet laying it down at the feet of the Government--he unsheathed it and +took his stand in defence of the great principles asserted by Virginia +in the Revolution, when she contended with Great Britain the right of +every people to choose their own form of government. Lost or won, to +him the cause was always the same--it was the cause of constitutional +liberty. He stood by it to the last. What must have been the +convictions of a man like General Lee, when, mounted on the same horse +that had borne him in battle, upon which he was seated when the lines +of battle formed by his own heroic men wavered, and he seized the +standard to lead the charge; but his soldiers rushed to him, and +laying their hands on his bridle, said, 'General, we cannot fire a +gun unless you retire?' What must have been his emotions as he rode, +through his own lines at Appomattox, to the commander of the opposing +army, and tendered his sword? Search the annals of history, ancient +and modern; consult the lives of heroes; study the examples of +greatness recorded in Greece leading the way on the triumphs of +popular liberty, or in Rome in the best days of her imperial rule; +take statesmen, generals, or men of patient thought who outwatched the +stars in exploring knowledge, and I declare to you that I do not find +anywhere a sublimer sentiment than General Lee uttered when he said, +'Human virtue ought to be equal to human calamity.' It will live +forever. + +"General Lee died at the right time. His sun did not go down in the +strife of battle, in the midst of the thunder of cannon, dimmed by the +lurid smoke of war. He survived all this: lived with so much dignity; +silent, yet thoughtful; unseduced by the offers of gain or of +advancement however tempting; disdaining to enter into contests for +small objects, until the broad disk went down behind the Virginia +hills, shedding its departing lustre not only upon this country but +upon the whole world. His memory is as much respected in England as it +is here; and at the North as well as at the South true hearts honor +it. + +"There is one thing I wish to say before I take my seat. General Lee's +fame ought to rest on the true base. He did not draw his sword to +perpetuate human slavery, whatever may have been his opinions in +regard to it; he did not seek to overthrow the Government of the +United States. He drew it in defence of constitutional liberty. That +cause is not dead, but will live forever. The result of the war +established the authority of the United States; the Union will +stand--let it stand forever. The flag floats over the whole country +from the Atlantic to the Pacific; let it increase in lustre, and let +the power of the Government grow; still the cause for which General +Lee struck is not a lost cause. It is conceded that these States must +continue united under a common government. We do not wish to sunder +it, nor to disturb it. But the great principle that underlies the +Government of the United States--the principle that the people have +a right to choose their own form of government, and to have their +liberties protected by the provisions of the Constitution--is an +indestructible principle. You cannot destroy it. Like Milton's angels, +it is immortal; you may wound, but you cannot kill it. It is like the +volcanic fires that flame in the depths of the earth; it will yet +upheave the ocean and the land, and flame up to heaven. + +"Young Emmett said, 'Let no man write my epitaph until my country is +free, and takes her place among the nations of the earth.' But you may +write General Lee's epitaph now. The principle for which he fought +will survive him. His evening was in perfect harmony with his life. He +had time to think, to recall the past, to prepare for the future. An +offer, originating in Georgia, and I believe in this very city, was +made to him to place an immense sum of money at his disposal if he +would consent to reside in the city of New York and represent Southern +commerce. Millions would have flowed to him. But he declined. He +said: 'No; I am grateful, but I have a self-imposed task which I must +accomplish. I have led the young men of the South in battle; I have +seen many of them fall under my standard. I shall devote my life now +to training young men to do their duty in life.' And he did. It was +beautiful to see him in that glorious valley where Lexington stands, +the lofty mountains throwing their protecting shadows over its quiet +home. General Lee's fame is not bounded by the limits of the South, +nor by the continent. I rejoice that the South gave him birth; I +rejoice that the South will hold his ashes. But his fame belongs to +the human race. Washington, too, was born in the South and sleeps +in the South. But his great fame is not to be appropriated by this +country; it is the inheritance of mankind. We place the name of Lee by +that of Washington. They both belong to the world." + +NEW ORLEANS. + +A meeting was held in the St. Charles Theatre, as the largest building +in the city. The Hon. W.M. Burwell delivered an eloquent address, +of which we regret that we have been able to obtain no report. The +meeting was then addressed by the + +HON. THOMAS J. SEMMES. + +"Robert E. Lee is dead. The Potomac, overlooked by the home of the +hero, once dividing contending peoples, but now no longer a boundary, +conveys to the ocean a nation's tears. South of the Potomac is +mourning; profound grief pervades every heart, lamentation is heard +from every hearth, for Lee sleeps among the slain whose memory is so +dear to us. In the language of Moina: + + 'They were slain for us, + And their blood flowed out in a rain for us, + Red, rich, and pure, on the plain for us; + And years may go, + But our tears shall flow + O'er the dead who have died in vain for us.' + +"North of the Potomac not only sympathizes with its widowed sister, +but, with respectful homage, the brave and generous, clustering around +the corpse of the great Virginian, with one accord exclaim: + + 'This earth that bears thee dead, + Bears not alive so stout a gentleman.' + +"Sympathetic nations, to whom our lamentations have been transmitted +on the wings of lightning, will with pious jealousy envy our grief, +because Robert E. Lee was an American. Seven cities claimed the honor +of having given birth to the great pagan poet; but all Christian +nations, while revering America as the mother of Robert E. Lee, will +claim for the nineteenth century the honor of his birth. There was but +one Lee, the great Christian captain, and his fame justly belongs to +Christendom. The nineteenth century has attacked every thing--it has +attacked God, the soul, reason, morals, society, the distinction +between good and evil. Christianity is vindicated by the virtues of +Lee. He is the most brilliant and cogent argument in favor of a system +illustrated by such a man; he is the type of the reign of law in the +moral order--that reign of law which the philosophic Duke of Argyll +has so recently and so ably discussed as pervading the natural as well +as the supernatural world. One of the chief characteristics of the +Christian is duty. Throughout a checkered life the conscientious +performance of duty seems to have been the mainspring of the actions +of General Lee. In his relations of father, son, husband, soldier, +citizen, duty shines conspicuous in all his acts. His agency as he +advanced to more elevated stations attracts more attention, and +surrounds him with a brighter halo of glory; but he is unchanged; from +first to last it is Robert E. Lee. + +"The most momentous act of his life was the selection of sides at the +commencement of the political troubles which immediately preceded the +recent conflict. High in military rank, caressed by General Scott, +courted by those possessed of influence and authority, no politician, +happy in his domestic relations, and in the enjoyment of competent +fortune, consisting in the main of property situated on the borders +of Virginia--nevertheless impelled by a sense of duty, as he himself +testified before a Congressional committee since the war, General Lee +determined to risk all and unite his fortunes with those of his native +State, whose ordinances as one of her citizens he considered himself +bound to obey. + +"Having joined the Confederate army, he complained not that he was +assigned to the obscure duty of constructing coast-defences for South +Carolina and Georgia, nor that he was subsequently relegated to +unambitious commands in Western Virginia. The accidental circumstance +that General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at the battle of Seven +Pines in May, 1862, placed Lee in command of the Army of Northern +Virginia. As commander of that army he achieved world-wide reputation, +without giving occasion during a period of three years to any +complaint on the part of officers, men, or citizens, or enemies, that +he had been guilty of any act, illegal, oppressive, unjust, or inhuman +in its character. This is the highest tribute possible to the wisdom +and virtue of General Lee; for, as a general rule, law was degraded; +officers, whether justly or unjustly, were constantly the subject +of complaint and discord, and jealousy prevailed in camp and in the +Senate-chamber. There was a fraction of our people represented by an +unavailing minority in Congress, who either felt, or professed to +feel, a jealousy whose theory was just, but whose application, at such +a time, was unsound. They wished to give as little power as possible +because they dreaded a military despotism, and thus desired to send +our armies forth with half a shield and broken swords to protect the +government from its enemies, lest, if the bucklers were entire and the +swords perfect, they might be tempted, in the heyday of victory, to +smite their employers. But this want of confidence never manifested +itself toward General Lee, whose conduct satisfied the most suspicious +that his ambition was not of glory but of the performance of duty. The +army always felt this: the fact that he sacrificed no masses of human +beings in desperate charges that he might gather laurels from the +spot enriched by their gore. A year or more before he was appointed +commander-in-chief of all the Confederate forces, a bill passed +Congress creating that office. It failed to become a law, the +President having withheld his approval. Lee made no complaints; his +friends solicited no votes to counteract the veto. When a bill for the +same purpose was passed at a subsequent period, it was whispered about +that he could not accept the position. To a committee of Virginians +who had called on him to ascertain the truth, his reply was, that he +felt bound to accept any post the duties of which his country believed +him competent to perform. After the battle of Gettysburg he tendered +his resignation to President Davis, because he was apprehensive his +failure, the responsibility for which he did not pretend to throw on +his troops or officers, would produce distrust of his abilities and +destroy his usefulness. I am informed the President, in a beautiful +and touching letter, declined to listen to such a proposition. During +the whole period of the war he steadily declined all presents, and +when, on one occasion, a gentleman sent him several dozen of wine, he +turned it over to the hospitals in Richmond, saying the wounded +and sick needed it more than he. He was extremely simple and +unostentatious in his habits, and shared with his soldiers their +privations as well as their dangers. Toward the close of the war, meat +was very scarce within the Confederate lines in the neighborhood of +the contending armies. An aide of the President, having occasion to +visit General Lee en official business in the field, was invited to +dinner. The meal spread on the table consisted of corn-bread and a +small piece of bacon buried in a large dish of greens. The quick-eyed +aide discovered that none of the company, which was composed of the +general's personal staff, partook of the meat, though requested to +do so in the most urbane manner by the general, who presided; he, +therefore, also declined, and noticed that the meat was carried off +untouched. After the meal was over, he inquired of one of the officers +present what was the reason for this extraordinary conduct. His reply +was, 'We had borrowed the meat for the occasion, and promised to +return it.' + +"Duty alone induced this great soldier to submit to such privation, +for the slightest intimation given to friends in Richmond would have +filled his tent with all the luxuries that blockade-runners and +speculators had introduced for the favored few able to purchase. + +"This performance of duty was accompanied by no harsh manner or +cynical expressions; for the man whose soul is ennobled by true +heroism, possesses a heart as tender as it is firm. His calmness under +the most trying circumstances, and his uniform sweetness of manner, +were almost poetical. They manifested 'the most sustained tenderness +of soul that ever caressed the chords of a lyre.' In council he +was temperate and patient, and his words fell softly and evenly as +snow-flakes, like the sentences that fell from the lips of Ulysses. + +"On the termination of the war, his conduct until his death has +challenged the admiration of friends and foes; he honestly acquiesced +in the inevitable result of the struggle; no discontent, sourness, or +complaint, has marred his tranquil life at Washington College, where +death found him at his post of duty, engaged in fitting the young +men of his country, by proper discipline and education, for the +performance of the varied duties of life. It is somewhat singular +that both Lee and his great lieutenant, Jackson, should in their last +moments have referred to Hill. It is reported that General Lee said, +'Let my tent be struck; send for Hill;' while the lamented Jackson in +his delirium cried out, 'Let A.P. Hill prepare for action; march the +infantry rapidly to the front. Let us cross over the river and rest +under the shade of the trees.' Both heroes died with commands for +military movements on their lips; both the noblest specimens of the +Christian soldier produced by any country or any age; both now rest +under the shade of the trees of heaven." + +REV. DR. PALMER + +Then spoke as follows: + +"_Ladies and Gentlemen_: I should have been better pleased had I been +permitted to sit a simple listener to the eloquent tribute paid to the +immortal chieftain who now reposes in death, by the speaker who has +just taken his seat. The nature of my calling so far separates me from +public life that I am scarcely competent for the office of alluding to +the elements which naturally gather around his career. When informed +that other artists would draw the picture of the warrior and the hero, +I yielded a cheerful compliance, in the belief that nothing was left +but to describe the Christian and the man. You are entirely familiar +with the early life of him over whose grave you this night shed tears; +with his grave and sedate boyhood giving promise of the reserved force +of mature manhood; with his academic career at West Point, where he +received the highest honors of a class brilliant with such names as +General Joseph E. Johnston; his seizure of the highest honors of a +long apprenticeship in that institution, and his abrupt ascension in +the Mexican War from obscurity to fame--all are too firmly stamped in +the minds of his admirers to require even an allusion. You are too +familiar to need a repetition from my lips of that great mental and +spiritual struggle passed, not one night, but many, when, abandoning +the service in which he had gathered so much of honor and reputation, +he determined to lay his heart upon the altar of his native State, and +swear to live or die in her defence. + +"It would be a somewhat singular subject of speculation to discover +how it is that national character so often remarkably expresses itself +in single individuals who are born as representatives of a class. It +is wonderful, for it has been the remark of ages, how the great are +born in clusters; sometimes, indeed, one star shining with solitary +splendor in the firmament above, but generally gathered in grand +constellations, filling the sky with glory. What is that combination +of influences, partly physical, partly intellectual, but somewhat more +moral, which should make a particular country productive of men great +over all others on earth and to all ages of time? Ancient Greece, with +her indented coast, inviting to maritime adventures, from her earliest +period was the mother of heroes in war, of poets in song, of sculptors +and artists, and stands up after the lapse of centuries the educator +of mankind, living in the grandeur of her works and in the immortal +productions of minds which modern civilization with all its +cultivation and refinement and science never surpassed and scarcely +equalled. And why in the three hundred years of American history it +should be given to the Old Dominion to be the grand mother, not only +of States, but of the men by whom States and empires are formed, it +might be curious were it possible for us to inquire. Unquestionably, +Mr. President, there is in this problem the element of race; for he +is blind to all the truths of history, to all the revelations of the +past, who does not recognize a select race as we recognize a select +individual of a race, to make all history; but pretermitting all +speculation of that sort, when Virginia unfolds the scroll of her +immortal sons--not because illustrious men did not precede him +gathering in constellations and clusters, but because the name shines +out through those constellations and clusters in all its peerless +grandeur--we read the name of George Washington. And then, Mr. +President, after the interval of three-quarters of a century, when +your jealous eye has ranged down the record and traced the names that +history will never let die, you come to the name--the only name in all +the annals of history that can be named in the perilous connection--of +Robert E. Lee, the second Washington. Well may old Virginia be proud +of her twin sons! born almost a century apart, but shining like those +binary stars which open their glory and shed their splendor on the +darkness of the world. + +"Sir, it is not an artifice of rhetoric which suggests this parallel +between two great names in American history; for the suggestion +springs spontaneously to every mind, and men scarcely speak of Lee +without thinking of a mysterious connection that binds the two +together. They were alike in the presage of their early history--the +history of their boyhood. Both earnest, grave, studious; both alike +in that peculiar purity which belongs only to a noble boy, and which +makes him a brave and noble man, filling the page of a history +spotless until closed in death; alike in that commanding presence +which seems to be the signature of Heaven sometimes placed on a great +soul when to that soul is given a fit dwelling-place; alike in that +noble carriage and commanding dignity, exercising a mesmeric influence +and a hidden power which could not be repressed, upon all who came +within its charm; alike in the remarkable combination and symmetry of +their intellectual attributes, all brought up to the same equal level, +no faculty of the mind overlapping any other--all so equal, so well +developed, the judgment, the reason, the memory, the fancy, that +you are almost disposed to deny them greatness, because no single +attribute of the mind was projected upon itself, just as objects +appear sometimes smaller to the eye from the exact symmetry and beauty +of their proportions; alike, above all, in that soul-greatness, that +Christian virtue to which so beautiful a tribute has been rendered by +my friend whose high privilege it was to be a compeer and comrade with +the immortal dead, although in another department and sphere; and +yet alike, Mr. President, in their external fortune, so strangely +dissimilar--the one the representative and the agent of a stupendous +revolution which it pleased Heaven to bless and give birth to one of +the mightiest nations on the globe; the other the representative and +agent of a similar revolution, upon which it pleased high Heaven to +throw the darkness of its frown; so that, bearing upon his generous +heart the weight of this crushed cause, he was at length overwhelmed; +and the nation whom he led in battle gathers with spontaneity of grief +over all this land which is ploughed with graves and reddened with +blood, and the tears of a widowed nation in her bereavement are shed +over his honored grave. + +"But these crude suggestions, which fall almost impromptu from my +lips, suggest that which I desire to offer before this audience +to-night. I accept Robert E. Lee as the true type of the American +man and the Southern gentleman. A brilliant English writer has well +remarked, with a touch of sound philosophy, that when a nation has +rushed upon its fate, the whole force of the national life will +sometimes shoot up in one grand character, like the aloe which blooms +at the end of a hundred years, shooting up in one single spike of +glory, and then expires. And wherever philosophy, refinement, and +culture, have gone upon the globe, it is possible to place the finger +upon individual men who are the exemplars of a nation's character, +those typical forms under which others less noble, less expanded, have +manifested themselves. That gentle, that perfect moderation, that +self-command which enabled him to be so self-possessed amid the most +trying difficulties of his public career, a refinement almost such as +that which marks the character of the purest woman, were blended +in him with that massive strength, that mighty endurance, that +consistency and power which gave him and the people whom he led such +momentum under the disadvantages of the struggle through which he +passed. Born from the general level of American society, blood of a +noble ancestry flowed in his veins, and he was a type of the race from +which he sprang. Such was the grandeur and urbaneness of his manner, +the dignity and majesty of his carriage, that his only peer in social +life could be found in courts and among those educated amid the +refinements of courts and thrones. In that regard there was something +beautiful and appropriate that he should become, in the later years of +his life, the educator of the young. Sir, it is a cause for mourning +before high Heaven to-night that he was not spared thirty years to +educate a generation for the time that is to come; for, as in the days +when the red banner streamed over the land, the South sent her sons +to fight under his flag and beneath the wave of his sword, these sons +have been sent again to sit at his feet when he was the disciple +of the Muses and the teacher of philosophy. Oh, that he might have +brought his more than regal character, his majestic fame, all his +intellectual and moral endowments, to the task of fitting those that +should come in the crisis of the future to take the mantle that had +fallen from his shoulders and bear it to the generations that are +unborn! + +"General Lee I accept as the representative of his people, and of the +temper with which this whole Southland entered into that gigantic, +that prolonged, and that disastrous struggle which has closed, but +closed as to us in grief. Sir, they wrong us who say that the South +was ever impatient to rupture the bonds of the American Union. The war +of 1776, which, sir, has no more yet a written history than has the +war of 1861 to 1865, tells us that it was this Southland that wrought +the Revolution of 1776. We were the heirs of all the glory of that +immortal struggle. It was purchased with our blood, with the blood of +our fathers which yet flows in these veins, and which we desire to +transmit, pure and consecrated, to the sons that are born to our +loins. The traditions of the past sixty years were a portion of our +heritage, and it never was easy for any great heart and reflective +mind even to seem to part with that heritage to enter upon the +perilous effort of establishing a new nationality. + +"Mr. President, it was my privilege once to be thrilled in a short +speech, uttered by one of the noblest names clustering upon the roll +of South Carolina; for, sir, South Carolina was Virginia's sister, +and South Carolina stood by Virginia in the old struggle, as Virginia +stood by South Carolina in the new, and the little State, small as +Greece, barren in resources but great only in the grandeur of the men, +in their gigantic proportions, whom she, like Virginia, was permitted +to produce--I heard, sir, one of South Carolina's noblest sons +speak once thus: 'I walked through the Tower of London, that grand +repository where are gathered the memorials of England's martial +prowess; and when the guide, in the pride of his English heart, +pointed to the spoils of war collected through centuries of the past,' +said this speaker, lifting himself upon tiptoe that he might reach to +his greatest height, 'I said, "You cannot point to one single +trophy from my people, or my country, though England engaged in two +disastrous wars with her."' Sir, this was the sentiment. We loved +every inch of American soil, and loved every part of that canvas +[pointing to the Stars and Stripes above him], which, as a symbol of +power and authority, floated from the spires and from the mast-head +of our vessels; and it was after the anguish of a woman in birth that +this land, that now lies in her sorrow and ruin, took upon herself +that great peril; but it is all emblematized in the regret experienced +by him whose praises are upon our lips, and who, like the English +Nelson, recognized duty engraved in letters of light as the +only ensign he could follow, and who, tearing away from all the +associations of his early life, and, abandoning the reputation gained +in the old service, made up his mind to embark in the new, and, with +that modesty and that firmness belonging only to the truly great, +expressed his willingness to live and die in the position assigned to +him. + +"And I accept this noble chieftain equally as the representative of +this Southland in the spirit of his retirement from struggle. It could +not escape any speaker upon this platform to allude to the dignity of +that retirement; how, from the moment he surrendered he withdrew from +observation, holding aloof from all political complications, and +devoting his entire energies to the great work he had undertaken to +discharge. In this he represents--an the true attitude of the South +since the close of the war attitude of quiet submission to the +conquering power and of obedience to all exactions; but without +resiling from those great principles which were embalmed in the +struggle, and which, as the convictions of a lifetime, no honest mind +could release. + +"All over this land of ours there are men like Lee--not as great, not +as symmetrical in the development of character, not as grand in the +proportions which they have reached, but who, like him, are sleeping +upon memories that are holy as death, and who, amid all reproach, +appeal to the future, and to the tribunal of History, when she shall +render her final verdict in reference to the struggle closed, for the +vindication of the people embarked in that struggle. We are silent, +resigned, obedient, and thoughtful, sleeping upon solemn memories, +Mr. President; but, as said by the poet-preacher in the Good Book, 'I +sleep, but my heart waketh,' looking upon the future that is to come, +and powerless in every thing except to pray to Almighty God, who rules +the destinies of nations, that those who have the power may at least +have the grace given them to preserve the constitutional principles +which we have endeavored to maintain. And, sir, were it my privilege +to speak in the hearing of the entire nation, I would utter with +the profoundest emphasis this pregnant truth: that no people ever +traversed those moral ideas which underlie its character, its +constitution, its institutions, and its laws, that did not in the end +perish in disaster, in shame, and in dishonor. Whatever be the glory, +the material civilization, of which such a nation may boast, it still +holds true that the truth is immortal, and that ideas rule the world. + +"And now I have but a single word to say, and that is, that the grave +of this noble hero is bedewed with the most tender and sacred +tears ever shed upon a human tomb. I was thinking in my study this +afternoon, striving to strike out something I might utter on this +platform, and this parallel between the first Washington and the +second occurred to me. I asked my own heart the question, 'Would you +not accept the fame and the glory and the career of Robert E. Lee just +as soon as accept the glory and career of the immortal man who was his +predecessor?' Sir, there is a pathos in fallen fortunes which stirs +the sensibilities, and touches the very fountain of human feeling. I +am not sure that at this moment Napoleon, the enforced guest of the +Prussian king, is not grander than when he ascended the throne of +France. There is a grandeur in misfortune when that misfortune is +borne by a noble heart, with the strength of will to endure, and +endure without complaining or breaking. Perhaps I slip easily into +this train of remarks, for it is my peculiar office to speak of that +chastening with which a gracious Providence visits men on this earth, +and by which He prepares them for heaven hereafter; and what is true +of individuals in a state of adversity, is true of nations when +clothed in sorrow. Sir, the men in these galleries that once wore the +gray are here to-night that they may bend the knee in reverence at +the grave of him whose voice and hand they obeyed amid the storms of +battle: the young widow, who but as yesterday leaned upon the arm of +her soldier-husband, but now clasps wildly to her breast the young +child that never beheld its father's face, comes here to shed her +tears over this grave to-night; and the aged matron, with the tears +streaming from her eyes as she recalls her unforgotten dead, lying on +the plains of Gettysburg, or on the heights of Fredericksburg, now, +to-night, joins in our dirge over him who was that son's chieftain and +counsellor and friend. A whole nation has risen up in the spontaneity +of its grief to render the tribute of its love. Sir, there is a unity +in the grapes when they grow together in the clusters upon the vine, +and holding the bunch in your hand you speak of it as one; but there +is another unity when you throw these grapes into the wine-press, +and the feet of those that bruise these grapes trample them almost +profanely beneath their feet together in the communion of pure wine; +and such is the union and communion of hearts that have been fused by +tribulation and sorrow, and that meet together in the true feeling of +an honest grief to express the homage of their affection, as well as +to render a tribute of praise to him upon whose face we shall never +look until on that immortal day when we shall behold it transfigured +before the throne of God." + +The meeting then adopted the following preamble and resolutions: + +"_Whereas_, Like orphans at the grave of a parent untimely snatched +away, our hearts have lingered and brooded, with a grief that no +cunning of speech could interpret, over the thought that Robert Edward +Lee exists no more, in bodily life, in sensible form, in visible +presence, for our love and veneration, for our edification and +guidance, for our comfort and solace; and-- + +"_Whereas_, We have invoked all mute funeral emblems to aid us with +their utmost eloquence of woe, and we cannot content ourselves with +contemplating, from the depth and the gloom of our bereavement, the +exalted and radiant virtues of the dead: + +"_Resolved_, That we, the people of New Orleans, have come together +under one common impulse to render united homage to the memory which +holds mastery in our minds, whether we turn with bitter regard to the +past, or with prayerful and chastened aspirations to the future. + +"_Resolved_, That as Louisianians, as Southerners, as Americans, +we proudly claim our share in the fame of Lee as an inheritance +rightfully belonging to us, and endowed with which we shall piously +cherish, though all calamities should rain upon us, true poverty--the +poverty indeed that abases and starves the spirit can never approach +us with its noisome breath and withering look. + +"_Resolved_, That it is infinitely more bitter to have to mourn the +loss of our Lee, than not to have learned to prize him as the noblest +gift which could have been allotted to a people and an epoch; a grand +man, rounded to the symmetry of equal moral and intellectual powers, +graces, and accomplishments; a man whose masterly and heroic energy +left nothing undone in defending a just cause while there was a +possibility of striking for it a rational and hopeful blow, and whose +sublime resignation when the last blow was struck in vain, and when +human virtue was challenged to match itself with the consummation of +human adversity, taught wiser, more convincing, more reassuring, more +soul-sustaining lessons than were to be found in all the philosophies +of all books. + +"_Resolved_, That worthily to show our veneration for this majestic +and beautiful character, we must revolve it habitually in our +thoughts, and try to appropriate it to the purification and elevation +of our lives, and so educate our children that they shall, if +possible, grow up into its likeness. + +"_Resolved_, That while it is honorable for a people to deeply lament +the death of such a man, it would be glorious for a generation to +mould itself after his model; for it would be a generation fraught +with all high manly qualities, tempered with all gentle and Christian +virtues; for truth, love, goodness, health, strength, would be with +it, and consequently victory, liberty, majesty, and beauty. + +"_Resolved_, That we would hail the erection of the proposed monument +as well adapted to the purpose of preserving this admirable and most +precious memory as a vital and beneficent influence for all time +to come, and we will therefore cordially aid in promoting the Lee +Monument which has just been inaugurated." + +ATLANTA, GA. + +A crowded meeting assembled in this city on October 15th. After an +impressive prayer from the Rev. Dr. Brantly, the meeting was addressed +by + +GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON. + +"_My Friends_: We have met to weep, to mingle our tears, and give vent +to our bursting hearts. The sorrowing South, already clad in mourners' +weeds, bows her head afresh to-day in a heart-stricken orphanage; and +if I could have been permitted to indulge the sensibilities of my +heart, I would have fled this most honorable task, and in solitude and +silence have wept the loss of the great and good man whose death we so +deplore. I loved General Lee; for it was my proud privilege to know +him well. I loved him with a profound and all-filial love, with a +sincere and unfaded affection. I say I would have retired from this +flattering task which your kindness has imposed, but remembering that +his words, his deeds, his great example, has taught us that duty was +the most commanding obligation, I yield this morning to your wishes. + +"We have met to honor General Lee, to honor him dead whom we loved +while living. Honor General Lee! How utterly vain, what a mockery of +language do these words seem! Honor Lee! Why, my countrymen, his deeds +have honored him! The very trump of Fame itself is proud to honor him! +Europe and the civilized world have united to honor him supremely, and +History itself has caught the echo and made it immortal. Honor Lee! +Why, sir, as the sad news of his death is with the speed of thought +communicated to the world, it will carry a pang even to the hearts of +marshals and of monarchs; and I can easily fancy that, amid the din +and clash and carnage of war, the cannon itself, in mute pause at +the whispering news, will briefly cease its roar around the walls of +Paris. The task is not without pain, while yet his manly frame lies +stretched upon his bier, to attempt to analyze the elements that made +him truly great. It has been my fortune in life from circumstances to +have come in contact with some whom the world pronounced great--some +of the earth's celebrated and distinguished; but I declare it here +to-day that, of any mortal man whom it has ever been my privilege to +approach, he was the greatest; and I assert here that, grand as might +be your conceptions of the man before, he arose in incomparable +majesty on more familiar acquaintance. This can be affirmed of few men +who have ever lived or died, and of no other man whom it has ever been +my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more you gazed the more his +grandeur grew upon you, the more his majesty expanded and filled your +spirit with a full satisfaction that left a perfect delight without +the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly majestic and dignified in +all his deportment, he was genial as the sunlight of this beautiful +day, and not a ray of that cordial, social intercourse but brought +warmth to the heart as it did light to the understanding. + +"But as one of the great captains will General Lee first pass review +and inspection before the criticism of history. We will not compare +him with Washington. The mind will halt instinctively at the +comparison of two such men, so equally and gloriously great. But with +modest, yet calm and unflinching confidence we place him by the side +of the Marlboroughs and Wellingtons who take high niches in the +pantheon of immortality. Let us dwell for a moment, my friends, on +this thought. Marlborough never met defeat, it is true. Victory marked +every step of his triumphant march; but when, where, and whom did +Marlborough fight? The ambitious and vain but able Louis XIV. But he +had already exhausted the resources of his kingdom before Marlborough +stepped upon the stage. The great marshals Turenne and Conde were +no more, and Luxembourg the beloved had vanished from the scene. +Marlborough, preeminently great as he certainly was, nevertheless led +the combined forces of England and of Holland, in the freshness of +their strength and the fulness of their financial ability, against +prostrate France, with a treasury depleted, a people worn out, +discouraged, and dejected. But let us turn to another comparison. The +great Von Moltke, who now rides upon the whirlwind and commands the +storm of Prussian invasion, has recently declared that General Lee, +in all respects, was fully the equal of Wellington, and you may the +better appreciate this admission when you remember that Wellington was +the benefactor of Prussia, and probably Von Moltke's special idol. But +let us examine the arguments ourselves. France was already prostrate +when Wellington met Napoleon. That great emperor had seemed to make +war upon the very elements themselves, to have contended with Nature, +and to have almost defeated Providence itself. The enemies of the +North, more savage than Goth or Vandal, mounting the swift gales of a +Russian winter, had carried death, desolation, and ruin, to the very +gates of Paris. Wellington fought at Waterloo a bleeding and broken +nation--a nation electrified, it is true, to almost superhuman energy +by the genius of Napoleon, but a nation prostrate and bleeding +nevertheless. Compare this, my friends, the condition of France and +the condition of the United States, in the freshness of her strength, +in the luxuriance of her resources, in the lustihood of her gigantic +youth. Tell me whether to place the chaplet of military superiority +with him, or with Marlborough, or Wellington? Even the greatest +of captains, in his Italian campaigns, flashing fame in lightning +splendor over the world, even Bonaparte met and crushed in battle but +three or four (I think) Austrian armies; while our Lee, with one army +badly equipped, in time incredibly short, met and hurled back in +broken and shattered fragments five of the greatest prepared and most +magnificently appointed invasions. Yea, more! He discrowned, in rapid +succession, one after another of the United States' most, accomplished +and admirable commanders. + +"Lee was never really defeated. Lee could not be defeated! +Overpowered, foiled in his efforts, he might be; but never defeated +until the props which supported him gave way. Never, until the +platform sank beneath him, did any enemy ever dare pursue. On that +melancholy occasion, the downfall of the Confederacy, no Leipsic, no +Waterloo, no Sedan, can ever be recorded. + +"General Lee is known to the world as a military man; but it is easy +to divine from his history how mindful of all just authority, how +observant of all constitutional restriction, would have been his +career as a civilian. When, near the conclusion of the war, darkness +was thickening about the falling fortunes of the Confederacy, when its +very life was in the sword of Lee, it was my proud privilege to know +with a special admiration the modest demeanor, the manly decorum, +respectful homage, which marked all his dealings with the constituted +authorities of his country. Clothed with all power, he hid its very +symbol behind a genial modesty, and refused ever to exert it save in +obedience to law. And even in his triumphant entry into the territory +of the enemy, so regardful was he of civilized warfare, that the +observance of his general orders as to private property and private +rights left the line of his march marked and marred by no devastated +fields, charred ruins, or desolated homes. But it is in his private +character, or rather I should say his personal emotion and virtue, +which his countrymen will most delight to consider and dwell upon. His +magnanimity, transcending all historic precedent, seemed to form a new +chapter in the book of humanity. Witness that letter to Jackson, after +his wounds at Chancellorsville, in which he said: 'I am praying for +you with more fervor than I have ever prayed for myself;' and that +other, more disinterested and pathetic: 'I could, for the good of +my country, wish that the wounds which you have received had been +inflicted upon my own body;' or that of the latter message, saying to +General Jackson that 'his wounds were not so severe as mine, for he +loses but his left arm, while I, in my loss, lose my right;' or that +other expression of unequalled magnanimity which enabled him to +ascribe the glory of their joint victory to the sole credit of +the dying hero. Did I say unequalled? Yes, that was an avowal of +unequalled magnanimity, until it met its parallel in his own grander +self-negation in assuming the sole responsibility for the defeat at +Gettysburg. Ay, my countrymen, Alexander had his Arbela, Caesar his +Pharsalia, Napoleon his Austerlitz; but it was reserved for Lee +to grow grander and more illustrious in defeat than even in +victory--grander, because in defeat he showed a spirit greater than in +the heroism of battles or all the achievements of war, a spirit which +crowns him with a chaplet grander far than ever mighty conqueror wore. + +"I turn me now to that last closing scene at Appomattox, and I will +draw thence a picture of that man as he laid aside the sword, the +unrivalled soldier, to become the most exemplary of citizens. + +"I can never forget the deferential homage paid this great citizen by +even the Federal soldiers, as with uncovered heads they contemplated +in mute admiration this now captive hero as he rode through their +ranks. Impressed forever, daguerreotyped on my heart is that last +parting scene with that handful of heroes still crowding around him. +Few indeed were the words then spoken, but the quivering lip and +the tearful eye told of the love they bore him, in symphonies more +eloquent than any language can describe. Can I ever forget? No, never +can I forget the words which fell from his lips as I rode beside him +amid the defeated, dejected, and weeping soldiery, when, turning to +me, he said, 'I could wish that I was numbered among the fallen in the +last battle;' but oh! as he thought of the loss of the cause--of the +many dead scattered over so many fields, who, sleeping neglected, with +no governmental arms to gather up their remains--sleeping neglected, +isolated, and alone, beneath the weeping stars, with naught but their +soldiers' blankets about them!--oh! as these emotions swept over his +great soul, he felt that he would have laid him down to rest in +the same grave where lay buried the common hope of his people. But +Providence willed it otherwise. He rests now forever, my countrymen, +his spirit in the bosom of that Father whom he so faithfully served, +his body beside the river whose banks are forever memorable, and whose +waters are vocal with the glories of his triumphs. No sound shall ever +wake him to martial glory again; no more shall he lead his invincible +lines to victory; no more shall we gaze upon him and draw from his +quiet demeanor lessons of life. But oh! it is a sweet consolation to +us, my countrymen, who loved him, that no more shall his bright spirit +be bowed down to earth with the burdens of the people's wrongs. It is +sweet consolation to us that his last victory, through faith in his +crucified Redeemer, is the most transcendently glorious of all his +triumphs. At this very hour, while we mourn here, kind friends +are consigning the last that remains of our hero to his quiet +sleeping-place, surrounded by the mountains of his native +State--mountains the autumnal glory of whose magnificent forests +to-day seem but habiliments of mourning. In the Valley, the pearly +dew-drops seem but tears of sadness upon the grasses and flowers. Let +him rest! And now as he has gone from us, and as we regard him in all +the aspects of his career and character and attainments as a great +captain, ranking among the first of any age; as a patriot, whose +sacrificing devotion to his country ranks him with Washington; as a +Christian, like Havelock, recognizing his duty to his God above every +other earthly consideration, with a native modesty that refused to +appropriate the glory of his own, and which surrounds now his entire +character and career with a halo of unfading light; with an integrity +of life and a sacred regard for truth which no man dare assail; with +a fidelity to principle which no misfortune could shake--he must +ever stand peerless among men in the estimation of Christendom, this +representative son of the South, Robert E. Lee, of Virginia." + +RICHMOND, VA. + +A meeting was held on November 3d, presided over by Mr. Jefferson +Davis. Mr. Davis delivered an address, of which we regret that we have +received no complete copy. We give it as reported in the Richmond +_Dispatch_. + +REMARKS OF PRESIDENT DAVIS. + +As Mr. Davis arose to walk to the stand, every person in the house +stood, and there followed such a storm of applause as seemed to shake +the very foundations of the building, while cheer upon cheer was +echoed from the throats of veterans saluting one whom they delighted +to honor. + +Mr. Davis spoke at length, and with his accustomed thrilling, moving +eloquence. We shall not attempt, at the late hour at which we write, +to give a full report of his address. + +He addressed his hearers as "Soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy, +comrades and friends: Assembled on this sad occasion, with hearts +oppressed with the grief that follows the loss of him who was our +leader on many a bloody battle-field, a pleasing though melancholy +spectacle is presented. Hitherto, and in all times, men have been +honored when successful; but here is the case of one who amid +disaster went down to his grave, and those who were his companions in +misfortune have assembled to honor his memory. It is as much an honor +to you who give as to him who receives; for, above the vulgar test of +merit, you show yourselves competent to discriminate between him who +enjoys and him who deserves success. + +"Robert E. Lee was my associate and friend in the Military Academy, +and we were friends until the hour of his death. We were associates +and friends when he was a soldier and I a Congressman; and associates +and friends when he led the armies of the Confederacy and I presided +in its cabinet. We passed through many sad scenes together, but I +cannot remember that there was ever aught but perfect harmony between +us. If ever there was difference of opinion, it was dissipated +by discussion, and harmony was the result. I repeat, _we never +disagreed_; and I may add that I never in my life saw in him the +slightest tendency to self-seeking. It was not his to make a record, +it was not his to shift blame to other shoulders; but it was his, with +an eye fixed upon the welfare of his country, never faltering, to +follow the line of duty to the end. His was the heart that braved +every difficulty; his was the mind that wrought victory out of defeat. + +"He has been charged with 'want of dash.' I wish to say that I never +knew Lee to falter to attempt any thing ever man could dare. An +attempt has also been made to throw a cloud upon his character because +he left the Army of the United States to join in the struggle for the +liberty of his State. Without trenching at all upon politics, I deem +it my duty to say one word in reference to this charge. Virginian +born, descended from a family illustrious in Virginia's annals, given +by Virginia to the service of the United States, he represented her in +the Military Academy at West Point. He was not educated by the Federal +Government, but by Virginia; for she paid her full share for the +support of that institution, and was entitled to demand in return +the services of her sons. Entering the Army of the United States, he +represented Virginia there also, and nobly. On many a hard-fought +field Lee was conspicuous, battling for his native State as much as +for the Union. He came from Mexico crowned with honors, covered by +brevets, and recognized, young as he was, as one of the ablest of his +country's soldiers. And, to prove that he was estimated then as such, +let me tell you that when Lee was a captain of engineers stationed in +Baltimore, the Cuban Junta in New York selected him to be their leader +in the struggle for the independence of their native country. They +were anxious to secure his services, and offered him every temptation +that ambition could desire. He thought the matter over, and, I +remember, came to Washington to consult me as to what he should do; +and when I began to discuss the complications which might arise from +his acceptance of the trust, he gently rebuked me, saying that this +was not the line upon which he wished my advice: the simple question +was, 'Whether it was right or not?' He had been educated by the United +States, and felt wrong to accept a place in the army of a foreign +power. Such was his extreme delicacy, such was the nice sense of honor +of the gallant gentleman whose death we deplore. But when Virginia +withdrew, the State to whom he owed his first and last allegiance, the +same nice sense of honor led him to draw his sword and throw it in the +scale for good or for evil. Pardon me for this brief defence of my +illustrious friend. + +"When Virginia joined the Confederacy, Robert Lee, the highest officer +in the little army of Virginia, came to Richmond; and, not pausing to +inquire what would be his rank in the service of the Confederacy, went +to Western Virginia under the belief that he was still an officer of +the State. He came back, carrying the heavy weight of defeat, and +unappreciated by the people whom he served, for they could not know, +as I knew, that if his plans and orders had been carried out the +result would have been victory rather than retreat. You did not know, +for I would not have known it had he not breathed it in my ear only +at my earnest request, and begging that nothing be said about it. The +clamor which then arose followed him when he went to South Carolina, +so that it became necessary on his going to South Carolina to write a +letter to the Governor of that State, telling him what manner of man +he was. Yet, through all this, with a magnanimity rarely equalled, +he stood in silence without defending himself or allowing others to +defend him, for he was unwilling to offend any one who was wearing a +sword and striking blows for the Confederacy." + +Mr. Davis then spoke of the straits to which the Confederacy was +reduced, and of the danger to which her capital was exposed, just +after the battle of Seven Pines, and told how General Lee had +conceived and executed the desperate plan to turn their flank and +rear, which, after seven days of bloody battle, was crowned with the +protection of Richmond, while the enemy was driven far from the city. + +The speaker referred also to the circumstances attending General Lee's +crossing the Potomac on the march into Pennsylvania. He (Mr. Davis) +assumed the responsibility of that movement. The enemy had long been +concentrating his force, and it was evident that if he continued his +steady progress the Confederacy would be overwhelmed. Our only hope +was to drive him to the defence of his own capital, we being enabled +in the mean time to reenforce our shattered army. How well General Lee +carried out that dangerous experiment need not be told. Richmond was +relieved, the Confederacy was relieved, and time was obtained, if +other things had favored, to reenforce the army. + +"But," said Mr. Davis, "I shall not attempt to review the military +career of our fallen chieftain. Of the man, how shall I speak? He was +my friend, and in that word is included all that I could say of +any man. His moral qualities rose to the height of his genius. +Self-denying; always intent upon the one idea of duty; self-controlled +to an extent that many thought him cold, his feelings were really +warm, and his heart melted freely at the sight of a wounded soldier, +or the story of the sufferings of the widow and orphan. During the war +he was ever conscious of the inequality of the means at his control; +but it was never his to complain or to utter a doubt; it was always +his to do. When, in the last campaign, he was beleaguered at +Petersburg, and painfully aware of the straits to which we were +reduced, he said: 'With my army in the mountains of Virginia, I could +carry on this war for twenty years longer.' His men exhausted, and his +supplies failing, he was unable to carry out his plans. An untoward +event caused him to anticipate the movement, and the Army of Northern +Virginia was overwhelmed. But, in the surrender, he anticipated +conditions that have not been fulfilled; he expected his army to be +respected, and his paroled soldiers to be allowed the enjoyments of +life and property. Whether these conditions have been fulfilled, let +others say. + +"Here he now sleeps in the land he loved so well; and that land is not +Virginia only, for they do injustice to Lee who believe he fought only +for Virginia. He was ready to go anywhere, on any service, for the +good of his country; and his heart was as broad as the fifteen States +struggling for the principles that our forefathers fought for in the +Revolution of 1776. He is sleeping in the same soil with the thousands +who fought under the same flag, but first offered up their lives. +Here, the living are assembled to honor his memory, and there the +skeleton sentinels keep watch over his grave. This citizen, this +soldier, this great general, this true patriot, left behind him the +crowning glory of a true Christian. His Christianity ennobled him in +life, and affords us grounds for the belief that he is happy beyond +the grave. + +"But, while we mourn the loss of the great and the true, drop we also +tears of sympathy with her who was his helpmeet--the noble woman +who, while her husband was in the field leading the army of the +Confederacy, though an invalid herself, passed the time in knitting +socks for the marching soldiers! A woman fit to be the mother of +heroes; and heroes are descended from her. Mourning with her, we can +only offer the consolation of a Christian. Our loss is not his; but +he now enjoys the rewards of a life well spent, and a never-wavering +trust in a risen Saviour. This day we unite our words of sorrow with +those of the good and great throughout Christendom, for his fame +is gone over the water; his deeds will be remembered, and when the +monument we build shall have crumbled into dust, his virtues will +still live, a high model for the imitation of generations yet unborn." + +We have given but a faint idea of the eloquent thoughts and chaste +oratory of the speaker. His words were heard with profound attention, +and received with frequent applause. + +MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. + +Colonel C.S. Venable then presented the following report of the +Committee on Resolutions: + +"_Whereas_, It is a high and holy duty, as well as a noble privilege, +to perpetuate the honors of those who have displayed eminent virtues +and performed great achievements, that they may serve as incentives +and examples to the latest generation of their countrymen, and +attest the reverential admiration and affectionate regard of their +compatriots; and-- + +"_Whereas_, This duty and privilege devolve on all who love and admire +General Robert E. Lee throughout this country and the world, and in +an especial manner upon those who followed him in the field, or who +fought in the same cause, who shared in his glories, partook of his +trials, and were united with him in the same sorrows and adversity, +who were devoted to him in war by the baptism of fire and blood, and +bound to him in peace by the still higher homage due to the rare and +grand exhibition of a character pure and lofty and gentle and true, +under all changes of fortune, and serene amid the greatest disasters: + +therefore, be it + +"_Resolved_, That we favor an association to erect a monument at +Richmond to the memory of Robert E. Lee, as an enduring testimonial of +our love and respect, and devotion to his fame. + +"_Resolved_, That, while donations will be gladly received from all +who recognize in the excellences of General Lee's character an honor +and an encouragement to our common humanity, and an abiding hope +that coming generations may be found to imitate his virtues, it is +desirable that every Confederate soldier and sailor should make some +contribution, however small, to the proposed monument. + +"_Resolved_, That, for the purpose of securing efficiency and +dispatch in the erection of the monument, an executive committee of +seventy-five, with a president, secretary, treasurer, auditor, etc., +be appointed, to invite and collect subscriptions, to procure designs +for said monument, to select the best, to provide for the organization +of central executive committees in other States, which may serve +as mediums of communication between the executive committee of the +Association and the local associations of these States. + +"_Resolved_, That we respectfully invite the ladies of the Hollywood +Association to lend us their assistance and cooeperation in the +collection of subscriptions. + +"_Resolved_, That we cordially approve of the local monument now +proposed to be erected by other associations at Atlanta, and at +Lexington, his last home, whose people were so closely united with him +in the last sad years of his life. + +"_Resolved_, That, while we cordially thank the Governor and +Legislature of Virginia, for the steps they have taken to do honor to +the memory of General Lee, yet in deference to the wishes of his loved +and venerated widow, with whom we mourn, we will not discuss the +question of the most fitting resting-place for his ever-glorious +remains, but will content ourselves with expressing the earnest desire +and hope that at some future proper time they will be committed to the +charge of this Association." + +Generals John S. Preston, John B. Gordon, Henry A. Wise, and William +Henry Preston, and Colonels Robert E. Withers and Charles Marshall, +delivered eloquent and appropriate speeches, and argued that Richmond +is the proper place for the final interment of the remains of General +Lee. + +The resolutions were adopted, and the meeting adjourned. + +COLUMBIA, S.C. + +At a meeting in this city the following remarks were made by-- + +GENERAL WADE HAMPTON. + +"_Fellow-Citizens_: We are called together to-day by an announcement +which will cause profound sorrow throughout the civilized world, and +which comes to us bearing the additional grief of a personal and +private bereavement. The foremost man in all the world is no more; +and, as that news is carried by the speed of lightning through every +town, village, and hamlet of this land which he loved so well, +and among those people who loved and honored and venerated him so +profoundly, every true heart in the stricken South will feel that the +country has lost its pride and glory, and that the citizens of that +country have lost a father. I dare not venture to speak of him as I +feel. Nor do we come to eulogize him. Not only wherever the English +language is spoken, but wherever civilization extends, the sorrow--a +part at least of the sorrow--we feel will be felt, and more eloquent +tongues than mine will tell the fame and recount the virtues of Robert +E. Lee. We need not come to praise him. We come only to express our +sympathy, our grief, our bereavement. We come not to mourn him, for we +know that it is well with him. We come only to extend our sympathy to +those who are bereaved. + +"Now that he is fallen, I may mention what I have never spoken of +before, to show you not only what were the feelings that actuated him +in the duty to which his beloved countrymen called him, but what noble +sentiments inspired him when he saw the cause for which he had been +fighting so long about to perish. Just before the surrender, after a +night devoted to the most arduous duties, as one of his staff came +in to see him in the morning, he found him worn and weary and +disheartened, and the general said to him, 'How easily I could get rid +of this and be at rest! I have only to ride along the line, and +all will be over. But,' said he--and there spoke the Christian +patriot--'it is our duty to _live_, for what will become of the women +and children of the South if we are not here to protect them?' That +same spirit of duty which had actuated him through all the perils and +all the hardships of that unequalled conflict which he had waged so +heroically, that same high spirit of duty told him that he must live +to show that he was great--greater, if that were possible, in peace +than in war; live to teach the people whom he had before led to +victory how to bear defeat; live to show what a great and good man can +accomplish; live to set an example to his people for all time; live to +bear, if nothing else, his share of the sorrows, and the afflictions, +and the troubles, which had come upon his people. He is now at rest; +and surely we of the South can say of him, as we say of his great +exemplar, the 'Father of his Country,' that 'he was first in war, +first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.'" + +BALTIMORE. + +At a meeting of the officers and soldiers who served under General +Lee, held in this city on October 15th, a number of addresses were +made, which we are compelled to somewhat condense. That of Colonel +Marshall, General Lee's chief of staff, was as follows: + +COLONEL CHARLES MARSHALL. + +"In presenting the resolutions of the committee, I cannot refrain from +expressing the feelings inspired by the memories that crowd upon my +mind when I reflect that these resolutions are intended to express +what General Lee's surviving soldiers feel toward General Lee. The +committee are fully aware of their inability to do justice to the +sentiments that inspire the hearts of those for whom they speak. How +can we portray in words the gratitude, the pride, the veneration, the +anguish, that now fill the hearts of those who shared his victories +and his reverses, his triumphs and his defeats? How can we tell the +world what we can only feel ourselves? How can we give expression to +the crowding memories called forth by the sad event we are met to +deplore? + +"We recall him as he appeared in the hour of victory, grand, imposing, +awe-inspiring, yet self-forgetful and humble. We recall the great +scenes of his triumph, when we hailed him victor on many a bloody +field, and when above the paeans of victory we listened with reverence +to his voice as he ascribed 'all glory to the Lord of hosts, from +whom all glories are.' We remember that grand magnanimity that never +stooped to pluck those meaner things that grew nearest the earth upon +the tree of victory, but which, with eyes turned toward the stars, and +hands raised toward heaven, gathered the golden fruits of mercy, +pity, and holy charity, that ripen on its topmost boughs beneath the +approving smile of the great God of battles. We remember the sublime +self-abnegation of Chancellorsville, when, in the midst of his +victorious legions, who, with the light of battle yet on their faces, +hailed him conqueror, he thought only of his great lieutenant lying +wounded on the field, and transferred to him all the honor of that +illustrious day. + +"I will be pardoned, I am sure, for referring to an incident which +affords to my mind a most striking illustration of one of the grandest +features of his character. On the morning of May 3, 1863, as many of +you will remember, the final assault was made upon the Federal lines +at Chancellorsville. General Lee accompanied the troops in person, and +as they emerged from the fierce combat they had waged in 'the depths +of that tangled wilderness,' driving the superior forces of the enemy +before them across the open ground, he rode into their midst. The +scene is one that can never be effaced from the minds of those who +witnessed it. The troops were pressing forward with all the ardor and +enthusiasm of combat. The white smoke of musketry fringed the front of +the line of battle, while the artillery on the hills in the rear of +the infantry shook the earth with its thunder, and filled the air with +the wild shrieks of the shells that plunged into the masses of the +retreating foe. To add greater horror and sublimity to the scene, the +Chancellorsville House and the woods surrounding it were wrapped in +flames. In the midst of this awful scene, General Lee, mounted upon +that horse which we all remember so well, rode to the front of his +advancing battalions. His presence was the signal for one of those +uncontrollable outbursts of enthusiasm which none can appreciate +who have not witnessed them. The fierce soldiers, with their faces +blackened with the smoke of battle; the wounded, crawling with feeble +limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with +a common impulse. One long, unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of +those who lay helpless on the earth blended with the strong voices of +those who still fought, rose high above the roar of battle and hailed +the presence of the victorious chief. He sat in the full realization +of all that soldiers dream of--triumph; and, as I looked upon him in +the complete fruition of the success which his genius, courage, and +confidence in his army, had won, I thought it must have been from some +such scene that men in ancient days ascended to the dignity of the +gods. His first care was for the wounded of both armies, and he was +among the foremost at the burning mansion where some of them lay. But +at that moment, when the transports of his victorious troops were +drowning the roar of battle with acclamations, a note was brought to +him from General Jackson. It was brought to General Lee as he sat on +his horse near the Chancellorsville House, and, unable to open it with +his gauntleted hands, he passed it to me with directions to read it to +him. The note made no mention of the wound that General Jackson had +received, but congratulated General Lee upon the great victory. I +shall never forget the look of pain and anguish that passed over his +face as he listened. With a voice broken with emotion he bade me +say to General Jackson that the victory was his, and that the +congratulations were due to him. I know not how others may regard this +incident, but, for myself, as I gave expression to the thoughts of his +exalted mind, I forgot the genius that won the day in my reverence for +the generosity that refused its glory. + +"There is one other incident to which I beg permission to refer, that +I may perfect the picture. On the 3d day of July, 1863, the last +assault of the Confederate troops upon the heights of Gettysburg +failed, and again General Lee was among his baffled and shattered +battalions as they sullenly retired from their brave attempt. The +history of that battle is yet to be written, and the responsibility +for the result is yet to be fixed. But there, with the painful +consciousness that his plans had been frustrated by others, and that +defeat and humiliation had overtaken his army, in the presence of his +troops he openly assumed the entire responsibility of the campaign and +of the lost battle. One word from him would have relieved him of this +responsibility, but that word he refused to utter until it could be +spoken without fear of doing the least injustice. + +"Thus, my fellow-soldiers, I have presented to you our great commander +in the supreme moments of triumph and defeat. I cannot more strongly +illustrate his character. Has it been surpassed in history? Is there +another instance of such self-abnegation among men? The man rose +high above victory in one instance; and, harder still, the man rose +superior to disaster in the other. It was such incidents as these that +gave General Lee the absolute and undoubting confidence and affection +of his soldiers. Need I speak of the many exhibitions of that +confidence? You all remember them, my comrades. Have you not seen a +wavering line restored by the magic of his presence? Have you not seen +the few forget that they were fighting against the many, because he +was among the few? + +"But I pass from the contemplation of his greatness in war, to look to +his example under the oppressive circumstances of final failure--to +look to that example to which it is most useful for us now to refer +for our guidance and instruction. When the attempt to establish the +Southern Confederacy had failed, and the event of the war seemed to +have established the indivisibility of the Federal Union, General Lee +gave his adhesion to the new order of things. His was no hollow truce; +but, with the pure faith and honor that marked every act of his +illustrious career, he immediately devoted himself to the restoration +of peace, harmony, and concord. He entered zealously into the subject +of education, believing, as he often declared, that popular education +is the only sure foundation of free government. He gave his earnest +support to all plans of internal improvements designed to bind more +firmly together the social and commercial interests of the country, +and among the last acts of his life was the effort to secure the +construction of a line of railway communication of incalculable +importance as a connecting link between the North and the South. He +devoted all his great energies to the advancement of the welfare of +his countrymen while shrinking from public notice, and sought to lay +deep and strong the foundations of government which it was supposed +would rise from the ruins of the old. But I need not repeat to you, my +comrades, the history of his life since the war. You have watched it +to its close, and you know how faithfully and truly he performed every +duty of his position. Let us take to heart the lesson of his bright +example. Disregarding all that malice may impute to us, with an eye +single to the faithful performance of our duties as American citizens, +and with an honest and sincere resolution to support with heart and +hand the honor, the safety, and the true liberties of our country, let +us invoke our fellow-citizens to forget the animosities of the past by +the side of this honored grave, and, 'joining hands around this royal +corpse, friends now, enemies no more, proclaim perpetual truce to +battle.'" + +The following are among the resolutions: + +"The officers, soldiers, and sailors, of the Southern Confederacy, +residing in Maryland, who served under General Lee, desiring to record +their grief for his death, their admiration for his exalted virtues, +and their affectionate veneration for his illustrious memory-- + +"_Resolved_, That, leaving with pride the name and fame of our +illustrious commander to the judgment of history, we, who followed +him through the trials, dangers, and hardships of a sanguinary and +protracted war; who have felt the inspiration of his genius and +valor in the time of trial; who have witnessed his magnanimity and +moderation in the hour of victory, and his firmness and fortitude in +defeat, claim the privilege of laying the tribute of our heart-felt +sorrow upon his honored grave. + +"_Resolved_, That the confidence and admiration which his eminent +achievements deserved and received were strengthened by the noble +example of his constancy in adversity, and that we honored and revered +him in his retirement as we trusted and followed him on the field of +battle. + +"_Resolved_, That, as a token of respect and sorrow, we will wear the +customary badge of mourning for thirty days. + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions and of the proceedings +of this meeting be transmitted to the family of our lamented chief." + +On the 29th of October a meeting was held to appoint delegates to +represent the State of Maryland at the Richmond Lee Monumental +Convention. After some brief remarks by General I.R. Trimble, and the +adoption of resolutions constituting the Lee Monument Association of +Maryland, the Hon. Reverdy Johnson addressed the meeting as follows: + +HON. REVERDY JOHNSON. + +"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: I am here in compliance with the +request of many gentlemen present, and I not only willingly complied +with that request, but I am willing to do all I am able, to show my +appreciation of the character, civil and military, of Robert E. Lee. +It was my good fortune to know him before the Mexican War, in those +better days before the commencement of the sad struggle through which +we have recently passed. I saw in him every thing that could command +the respect and admiration of men, and I watched with peculiar +interest his course in the Mexican War. It was also my good fortune +to know the late Lieutenant-General Scott. In the commencement of +the struggle to which I have alluded, I occupied in Washington +the position of _quasi_ military adviser to him, and was, in that +capacity, intimately associated with him. I have heard him often +declare that the glorious and continued success which crowned our arms +in the war with Mexico was owing, in a large measure, to the skill, +valor, and undaunted courage of Robert E. Lee. He entertained for him +the warmest personal friendship, and it was his purpose to recommend +him as his successor in the event of his death or inability to +perform the duties of his high position. In April, 1861, after the +commencement of hostilities between the two great sections of our +country, General Lee, then lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in the Army +of the United States, offered his resignation. I was with General +Scott when he was handed the letter of resignation, and I saw what +pain the fact caused him. While he regretted the step his most +valuable officer had taken, he never failed to say emphatically, +and over and over again, that he believed he had taken it from _an +imperative sense of duty_. He was also consoled by the belief that if +he was placed at the head of the armies of the then Confederation, he +would have in him a foeman in every way worthy of him, and one who +would conduct the war upon the highest principles of civilized +warfare, and that he would not suffer encroachments to be made upon +the rights of private property and the rights of unoffending citizens. + +"Some may be surprised that I am here to eulogize Robert E. Lee. It is +well known that I did not agree with him in his political views. At +the beginning of the late war, and for many years preceding it, even +from the foundation of this Government, two great questions agitated +the greatest minds of this country. Many believed that the allegiance +of the citizen was due first to his State, and many were of the +opinion that, according to the true reading of the Constitution, a +State had no right to leave the Union and claim sovereign rights and +the perpetual allegiance of her citizens. I did not agree in the +first-named opinion, but I knew it was honestly entertained. I knew +men of the purest character, of the highest ability, and of the most +liberal and patriotic feelings, who conscientiously believed it. Now +the war is over, thank God! and to that thank I am sure this meeting +will respond, it is the duty of every citizen of this land to seek +to heal the wounds of the war, to forget past differences, and to +forgive, as far as possible, the faults to which the war gave rise. In +no other way can the Union be truly and permanently restored. We are +now together as a band of brothers. The soldiers of the Confederacy, +headed by the great chief we now mourn, have expressed their +willingness to abide by the issue of the contest. What a spectacle to +the world! After years of military devastation, with tens of thousands +dead on her battle-fields, with the flower of her children slain, with +her wealth destroyed, her commerce swept away, her agricultural and +mechanical pursuits almost ruined, the South yielded. The North, +victorious and strong, could not forget what she owed to liberty +and human rights. We may well swear now that as long as liberty is +virtuous we will be brothers. + +"Robert E. Lee is worthy of all praise. As a man, he was peerless; as +a soldier, he had no equal and no superior; as a humane and Christian +soldier, he towers high in the political horizon. You cannot imagine +with what delight, when I had the honor to represent this country +at the court of Great Britain, I heard the praises of his fame and +character which came from soldiers and statesmen. I need not speak +of the comparative merits of General Lee and the Union generals who +opposed him; this is not the place or time for a discussion of their +respective successes and defeats; but I may say that, as far as I was +able to judge of the sentiments of the military men of Great Britain, +they thought none of the Union officers superior to General Robert E. +Lee. Their admiration for him was not only on account of his skill on +the battle-field, and the skilful manner with which he planned and +executed his campaigns, but the humane manner in which he performed +his sad duty. They alluded specially to his conduct when invading the +territory of his enemy--his restraint upon his men, telling them that +the honor of the army depended upon the manner of conducting the war +in the enemy's country--and his refusal to resort to retaliatory +measures. I know that great influences were brought to bear upon him, +when he invaded Pennsylvania, to induce him to consent to extreme +measures. His answer, however, was, 'No; if I suffer my army to pursue +the course recommended, I cannot invoke the blessing of God upon my +arms.' He would not allow his troops to destroy private property or to +violate the rights of the citizens. When the necessities of his army +compelled the taking of commissary stores, by his orders his officers +paid for them in Confederate money at its then valuation. No burning +homesteads illumined his march, no shivering and helpless children +were turned out of their homes to witness their destruction by the +torch. With him all the rules of civilized war, having the higher +sanction of God, were strictly observed. The manly fortitude with +which he yielded at Appomattox to three times his numbers showed that +he was worthy of the honors and the fame the South had given him. +This is not the first time since the termination of the war I have +expressed admiration and friendship for Robert E. Lee. When I heard +that he was about to be prosecuted in a Virginia court for the alleged +crime of treason, I wrote to him at once, and with all my heart, that +if he believed I could be of any service to him, professionally, I +was at his command. All the ability I possess, increased by more +than fifty years of study and experience, would have been cheerfully +exerted to have saved him, for in saving him I believe I would have +been saving the honor of my country. I received a characteristic reply +in terms of friendship and grateful thanks. He wrote that he did not +think the prosecution would take place. Hearing, however, some time +after, that the prosecution would commence at Richmond, I went at once +to that city and saw his legal adviser, Hon. William H. McFarland, one +of the ablest men of the bar of Virginia. Mr. McFarland showed me +a copy of a letter from General Lee to General Grant, enclosing an +application for a pardon which he desired General Grant to present to +the President, but telling him not to present it if any steps had been +taken for his prosecution, as he was willing to stand the test. He +wrote that he had understood by the terms of surrender at Appomattox +that he and all his officers and men were to be protected. That +letter, I am glad to say, raised General Lee higher in my esteem. +General Grant at once replied, and he showed his reply to me. He wrote +that he had seen the President, and protested against any steps being +taken against General Lee, and had informed him that he considered his +honor and the honor of the nation pledged to him. The President +became satisfied, and no proceedings were ever taken. General Grant +transmitted to the President the application of General Lee for +pardon, indorsed with his most earnest approval. No pardon was +granted. He did not need it here, and, when he appears before that +great tribunal before which we must all be called, he will find he has +no account to settle there. No soldier who followed General Lee could +have felt more grief and sympathy at his grave than I would, could I +have been present upon the mournful occasion of his burial. I lamented +his loss as a private loss, and still more as a public loss. I knew +that his example would continue to allay the passions aroused by the +war, and which I was not surprised were excited by some acts in that +war. I love my country; I am jealous of her honor. I cherish her good +name, and I am proud of the land of my birth. I forbear to criticise +the lives and characters of her high officers and servants, but I can +say with truth that, during the late war, the laws of humanity were +forgotten, and the higher orders of God were trodden under foot. + +"The resolutions need no support which human lips can by human +language give. Their subject is their support. The name of Lee appeals +at once, and strongly, to every true heart in this land and throughout +the world. Let political partisans, influenced by fanaticism and the +hope of political plunder, find fault with and condemn us. They will +be forgotten when the name of Lee will be resplendent with immortal +glory. + +"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, in the course of Nature my career upon +earth must soon terminate. God grant that when the day of my death +comes, I may look up to Heaven with that confidence and faith which +the life and character of Robert E. Lee gave him! He died trusting in +God, as a good man, with a good life and a pure conscience. He was +consoled with the knowledge that the religion of Christ had ordered +all his ways, and he knew that the verdict of God upon the account he +would have to render in heaven would be one of judgment seasoned with +mercy. He had a right to believe that when God passed judgment upon +the account of his life, though He would find him an erring human +being, He would find virtue enough and religious faith enough to save +him from any other verdict than that of 'Well done, good and faithful +servant.' The monument will be raised; and when it is raised many a +man will visit Richmond to stand beside it, to do reverence to the +remains it may cover, and to say, 'Here lie the remains of one of the +noblest men who ever lived or died in America.'" + +HON. GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN + +"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: The able and eloquent gentlemen who +have preceded me have left but little for me to say. I rise, however, +to express my hearty assent to the resolutions. Their broad and +liberal views are worthy of the great and good man whose virtues and +fame we seek to commemorate. He has passed away from earth, and our +blame or censure is nothing to him now. The most eloquent eulogies +that human lips can utter, and the loftiest monuments that human hands +can build, cannot affect him now. But it is a satisfaction to us +to know that expressions of the love for him which lives in every +Southern heart--ay, in many a Northern heart--were heard long before +his death, and that honor shed noble lustre around the last years of +his life. He was the representative of a lost cause; he had sheathed +his sword forever; he had surrendered his army to superior numbers; +he was broken in fortune and in health, and was only president of a +Virginia college, yet he was one of the foremost men of all the world. + +"It has been said of General Lee, as it has been said of Washington, +that he was deficient in genius. His character was so complete that +what would have seemed evidences of genius with other men, were lost +in the combination of his character and mind. He was always, and +especially in every great crisis, a leader among men. During the four +years of his education at West Point he did not receive a single +reprimand. As a cavalry-officer, wherever he went he was a marked man; +and when General Scott made his wonderful march to the capital of +Mexico, Captain Lee was his right arm. At the commencement of the late +war, though only a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, he was offered the +command of the armies of the United States. What a prize for ambition! +Fortune, fame, and honors, awaited him. Where would he have been +to-day? Probably in the presidential chair of this great nation. But +he rejected all to take his chance with his own people, and to unite +with them in their resistance to the vast numbers and resources which +he knew the North was able to bring against them. There is nothing +more remarkable in the annals of warfare than the success with which +General Lee defeated for years the armies of the United States. +Consider the six-days' battles around Richmond; the second battle of +Manassas; the battles at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg; +the wonderful contest at Chancellorsville; then again the remarkable +battle of the Wilderness, in which it has been said by Federal +authority that General Lee actually killed as many men as he had under +his command; the defence at Cold Harbor, the prolonged defence of +Richmond and Petersburg, and the admirably-conducted retreat with but +a handful before an immense army. Well has he been spoken of as +'the incomparable strategist.' Did any man ever fight against more +desperate odds or resources? + +"But not merely as a great general is General Lee to be admired. He +claims our admiration as a great man--great in adversity. I think +there is nothing more admirable in all his life than his conduct in +assuming the sole responsibility at Gettysburg. In the midst of defeat +Lee was calm, unmoved, showing no fear where despair would have been +in the heart of any other general, and saying to his officers and men, +'The fault is all mine.' Let the monument be raised, not merely by +soldiers of General Lee, but by all men, no matter of what political +feelings, who appreciate and honor that which is manly, great, and +patriotic. The monument at Richmond will be the resort of pilgrims +from the North as well as from the South, and the grave of Lee will be +second only in the hearts of the people to the grave of Washington." + +LEXINGTON, KY. + +At the meeting at Lexington, resolutions were adopted similar to +those already given. The meeting was addressed by General Preston and +others. + +GENERAL W. PRESTON. + +"I am permitted to accompany the report with a few remarks, although I +deem it unnecessary to use one word of commendation on the character +of such a man. These resolutions are no doubt very short, but they +will testify the feelings of every right-minded, noble-hearted man, no +matter what may have been his opinions as to the past. Every true +and generous soul feels that these resolutions are expressive of the +sorrow entertained by the whole country. We speak not only the common +voice of America, but of the world at this hour. It is no ordinary +case of eulogy over an ordinary being, but over one who was the man +of the century; a man who, by mighty armies commanded with admirable +skill; by great victories achieved, and yet never stained by +exultation; by mighty misfortunes met with a calm eye, and submitted +to with all the dignity that belongs to elevated intelligence, and by +his simplicity and grandeur, challenged the admiration of civilized +mankind; and still more remarkable, after yielding to the greatest +vicissitudes that the world ever saw, resigned himself to the +improvement of the youth of the country, to the last moment of his +mortal life, looking to the glorious life which he contemplated beyond +the tomb. I must confess that, notwithstanding the splendor and glory +of his career, I envy him the dignity of the pacific close of +his life. Nothing more gentle, nothing more great, nothing more +uncomplaining, has ever been recorded in the history of the world. By +returning to Napoleon, we find he murmured, we find all the marks +of mortality and mortal anger; but in Lee we find a man perfect in +Christian principles--dignified, yet simple. + +"I knew him first when he was a captain. I was then a young man +connected with one of the regiments of this State, in Mexico, the +Fourth Kentucky; and when I first saw him he was a man of extreme +physical beauty, remarkable for his great gentleness of manner, and +for his freedom from all military and social vices. At that time, +General Scott, by common consent, had fixed upon General Lee as the +man who would make his mark if ever the country needed his services. +He never swore an oath, he never drank, he never wrangled, but there +was not a single dispute between gentlemen that his voice was not more +potent than any other; his rare calmness, serenity, and dignity, +were above all. When the war came on, he followed his native State, +Virginia, for he was the true representative of the great Virginia +family at Washington. He was the real type of his race. He was +possessed of all the most perfect points of Washington's character, +with all the noble traits of his own. + +"Scott maintained that Lee was the greatest soldier in the army. His +discerning eye compared men; and I remember when, in some respects, I +thought General Lee's military education had not fitted him for the +great talents which he was destined to display. I remember when +General Scott made use of these remarkable words: 'I tell you one +thing, if I was on my death-bed, and knew there was a battle to be +fought for the liberties of my country, and the President was to say +to me, "Scott, who shall command?" I tell you that, with my dying +breath, I should say Robert Lee. Nobody but Robert Lee! Robert Lee, +and nobody but Lee!' That impressed me very much, because, at the +beginning of the campaign, Lee was not prosperous; and why? because +he was building up his men with that science which he possessed. His +great qualities were discerned not after his remarkable campaigns; +but, long before it, his name was regarded with that respected +preeminence to which it did rise under that campaign. And I now say, +and even opposite officers will admit, that no man has displayed +greater power, more military ability, or more noble traits of +character, than Robert E. Lee. Therefore it is that America has lost +much. Europe will testify this as well as ourselves in this local +community. Europe will weigh this, but after-ages will weigh him with +Moltke and Bazaine, with the Duke of Magenta, and with all military +men, and, in my judgment, those ages will say that the greatest fame +and ability belonged to Robert Lee. But let us look to his moral +character, to which I have already alluded. Through his whole life he +had been a fervent and simple Christian; throughout his campaigns he +was a brave and splendid soldier. If you ask of his friends, you will +find that they adore him. If you ask his character from his enemies, +you will find that they respect him, and respect is the involuntary +tribute which friend and enemy alike have to pay to elevated worth; +and, to-day, as the bells toll, their sounds will vibrate with the +tenderest feelings through every noble heart. Public confessions of +his worth and his greatness will be made through thousands of the +towns and cities throughout this broad land; and, even where they are +silent, monitors within will tell that a great spirit hath fled. This +secret monitor will tell that a great and good man has passed away, +who has left, in my opinion, no equal behind him." + +REV. DR. HENDERSON. + +"Since the announcement of the death of Robert E. Lee, I have been +momentarily expecting the appearance of a call to pay some tribute to +his splendid memory; but, if a notice had been given of this meeting, +it altogether escaped my attention, else I would have been here freely +and voluntarily. If I am a stranger in Lexington, and my lot has been +cast here only during the last three weeks, yet I am happy that my +fellow-citizens here have paid me such great respect as to call on me, +on such an occasion as the present, to testify to the greatness and +glory of General Robert E. Lee. Some public calamity is required to +bring us into one great brotherhood. 'One touch of Nature makes the +whole world kin.' Though you are all strangers to me, yet, in that +common sympathy which we all feel, we are mourners together at the +bier of departed worth. + +"It does not become one of my profession to take any partisan view of +the life of such a man, although it was my fortune to follow the same +flag which he carried to victory upon so many fields. When it was +furled, it was done with such calm magnificence as to win the +admiration of his enemies and of the world. Yet I do not stand here to +make any reference to that cause which has passed from the theatre of +earth's activity, and taken its place only in history. But I do claim +the right, from the stand-point which I occupy, of pointing to a man +worthy of the emulation of all who love the true nobility of humanity; +a man who was magnanimous to his enemies; who would weep at the +calamities of his foes; who, throughout the sanguinary struggle, could +preserve in himself the fullest share of human sympathy. History will +challenge the world to produce a single instance in which this +great man ever wantonly inflicted a blow, or ever wilfully imposed +punishment upon any of his captives, or ever pushed his victory upon +an enemy to gain unnecessary results--a man who, in all his campaigns, +showed the same bright example to all the battalions that followed the +lead of his sword. And now, since that flag which he carried has been +furled, what a magnificent example has been presented to the world! It +was said of Washington that he was first in war and first in peace, +but, in the latter regard, Robert E. Lee showed more greatness than +even the Father of his Country. He was struck down; the sun that had +brightened up the horizon of hopes sank in dark eclipse to set in +the shadow of disappointment. Calm and magnificent in the repose of +conscious strength, he felt that he had lived and struggled for a +principle that was dear to him. Though dead, it only remained for him +to be our example to the stricken and suffering people for whom he +labored, and to show how magnanimously a brave and true Christian +could act even when all he held sacred and dear was shattered by the +hand of calamity. And, at the close of his career, he devoted his +splendid capacity to the culture of the minds of his country's +youth. He came down from the summit on which he had won the world's +admiration, to the steady, regular duties of the school-room, to take +his place in the vestry of a Christian church, and to administer the +affairs of a country parish in the interest of Christianity. A man +who, by his dignity and simplicity, preserved the constant admiration +of his enemies, without even giving offence to his friends, such a man +should receive a niche in the Pantheon of Fame. + +"He stood in that great struggle of which as a star he was the leader, +of unclouded brightness, drawing over its mournful history a splendor +which is reflected from every sentence of its chronicle. He was an +example of a man, who, though branded because of defeat, still, by +his exalted character, gave a dignity and nobility to a cause which, +doubtless, is forever dead, yet still is rendered immortal by the +achievements of Robert E. Lee's sword and character." + +NEW YORK. + +"Services were held last evening," says a New-York journal, "in the +large hall of the Cooper Institute, in commemoration of the life and +character of the late General Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate States +Army, with especial reference to his civic and Christian virtues. The +call for the meeting stated that, although it was inaugurated by the +Southern residents in the city of New York, it was 'yet to be regarded +as in no sense born of partisan feeling, but solely from the desire +to do honor to the memory of a great and good man--an illustrious +American.' The attendance therefore of all, without reference to +section or nationality, was cordially invited. + +"There was no special decoration of the hall. Grafulla's band was in +attendance, and, prior to the opening of the meeting, played several +fine dirges. The choir of St. Stephen's Church also appeared upon the +platform and opened the proceedings by singing 'Come, Holy Spirit.' +The choir consisted of Madame de Luzan, Mrs. Jennie Kempton, Dr. +Bauos, and Herr Weinlich. Mr. H.B. Denforth presided at the piano. + +"Among the gentlemen present on the platform were General Imboden, +ex-Governor Lowe, General Walker, Colonel Hunter, General Daniel W. +Adams, Dr. Van Avery, Mr. M.B. Fielding, Colonel Fellows, General +Cabell, Colonel T.L. Gnead, Mr. McCormick, Mr. T.A. Hoyt, etc. + +"Mr. M.B. Fielding called the meeting to order, and requested the Rev. +Dr. Carter to offer prayer. + +"The Hon. John E. Ward was then called to preside, and delivered +the following address--all the marked passages of which were loudly +applauded: + +"We meet to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of one whom +the whole South revered with more than filial affection. The kind +manifestations of sympathy expressed through the press of this great +metropolis, this assemblage, the presence of these distinguished men, +who join with us this evening, testify that the afflicted voice of +his bereaved people has charmed down with sweet persuasion the angry +passions kindled by the conflict in which he was their chosen leader. +This is not the occasion either for an elaborate review of his life or +a eulogy of his character. I propose to attempt neither. Born of one +of the oldest and most distinguished families of our country--one +so renowned in the field and in the cabinet that it seemed almost +impossible to give brighter lustre to it--General Robert E. Lee +rendered that family name even more illustrious, and by his genius and +virtues extended its fame to regions of the globe where it had never +before been mentioned. There is no cause for envy or hatred left +now. His soldiers adored him most, not in the glare of his brilliant +victories, but in the hour of his deepest humiliation, when his last +great battle had been fought and lost--when the government for which +he had struggled was crumbling about him--when his staff, asking, in +despair, 'What can now be done?' he gave that memorable reply, 'It +were strange indeed if human virtue were not at least as strong as +human calamity.' This is the key to his life--the belief that trials +and strength, suffering and consolation, come alike from God. +Obedience to duty was ever his ruling principle. Infallibility is not +claimed for him in the exercise of his judgment in deciding what duty +was. But what he believed duty to command, that he performed without +thought of how he would appear in the performance. In the judgment of +many he may have mistaken his duty when he decided that it did not +require him to draw his sword 'against his home, his kindred, and his +children.' But Lee was no casuist or politician; he was a soldier. +'All that he would do highly that would he do holily.' He taught the +world that the Christian and the gentleman could be united in the +warrior. It was not when in pomp and power--when he commanded +successful legions and led armies to victories--but when in sorrow +and privation he assumed the instruction and guidance of the youth of +Virginia, laying the only true foundation upon which a republic can +rest, the Christian education of its youth--that he reaped the rich +harvest of a people's love. Goodness was the chief attribute of Lee's +greatness. Uniting in himself the rigid piety of the Puritan with the +genial, generous impulses of the cavalier, he won the love of all with +whom he came in contact, from the thoughtless child, with whom it was +ever his delight to sport, to the great captain of the age, with whom +he fought all the hard-won battles of Mexico. Some may believe that +the world has given birth to warriors more renowned, to rulers more +skilled in statecraft, but all must concede that a purer, nobler man +never lived. What successful warrior or ruler, in ancient or modern +times, has descended to his grave amid such universal grief and +lamentation as our Lee? Caesar fell by the hands of his own beloved +Brutus, because, by his tyranny, he would have enslaved Rome. +Frederick the Great, the founder of an empire, became so hated of men, +and learned so to despise them, that he ordered his 'poor carcass,' as +he called it, to be buried with his favorite dogs at Potsdam. Napoleon +reached his giddy height by paths which Lee would have scorned to +tread, only to be hurled from his eminence by all the powers of Europe +which his insatiate ambition had combined against him. Wellington, the +conqueror of Napoleon, became the leader of a political party, and +lived to need the protection of police from a mob. Even our own +Washington, whose character was as high above that of the mere warrior +and conqueror as is the blue vault of heaven above us to the low earth +we tread beneath our feet, was libelled in life and slandered in +death. Such were the fates of the most successful captains and +warriors of the world. For four long years Lee occupied a position not +less prominent than that of the most distinguished among them. The +eyes of the civilized world watched his every movement and scanned his +every motive. His cause was lost. He was unsuccessful. Yet he lived +to illustrate to the world how, despite failure and defeat, a soldier +could command honor and love from those for whom he struggled, and +admiration and respect from his foes, such as no success had ever +before won for warrior, prince, or potentate. And, when his life was +ended, the whole population of the South, forming one mighty funeral +procession, followed him to his grave. His obsequies modestly +performed by those most tenderly allied to him, he sleeps in the bosom +of the land he loved so well. His spotless fame will gather new vigor +and freshness from the lapse of time, and the day is not distant when +that fame will be claimed, not as the property of a section, but as +the heritage of a united people. His soul, now forever freed from +earth's defilements, basks in the sunlight of God.' _Pro tumulo +ponas patriam, pro tegmine caelum, sidera pro facibus, pro lachrymis +maria_.'" (Great applause.) + +GENERAL IMBODEN + +Rose and said: + +"It is with emotions of infinite grief I rise to perform one of +the saddest duties of my life. The committee who have arranged the +ceremonies on this occasion, deemed it expedient and proper to select +a Virginian as their organ to present to this large assembly of the +people of New York a formal preamble and resolutions, which give +expression to their feelings in regard to the death of General Robert +E. Lee. This distinction has been conferred by the committee upon me; +and I shall proceed to read their report, without offering to submit +any remarks as to the feelings excited in my own heart by this, +mournful intelligence:" + +RESOLUTIONS. + +"In this great metropolitan city of America, where men of every clime +and of all nationalities mingle in the daily intercourse of pleasure +and of business, no great public calamity can befall any people in the +world without touching a sympathetic chord in the hearts of thousands. +When, therefore, tidings reached us that General Robert E. Lee, of +Virginia, was dead, and that the people of that and all the other +Southern States of the Union were stricken with grief, the great +public heart of New York was moved with a generous sympathy, which +found kindly and spontaneous expression through the columns of the +city press of every shade of opinion. + +"All differences of the past, all bitter memories, all the feuds +that have kept two great sections of our country in angry strife and +controversy for so long, have been forgotten in the presence of the +awe-inspiring fact that no virtues, no deeds, no honors, nor any +position, can save any member of the human family from the common lot +of all. + +"The universal and profound grief of our Southern countrymen is +natural and honorable alike to themselves and to him whom they mourn, +and is respected throughout the world; for Robert E. Lee was allied +and endeared to them by all the most sacred ties that can unite an +individual to a community. He was born and reared in their midst, +and shared their local peculiarities, opinions, and traditional +characteristics; and his preeminent abilities and exalted personal +integrity and Christian character made him, by common consent, their +leader and representative in a great national conflict in which they +had staked life, fortune, and honor; and in Virginia his family was +coeval with the existence of the State, and its name was emblazoned +upon those bright pages of her early civil and military annals which +record the patriotic deeds of Washington and his compeers. + +"By no act of his did he ever forfeit or impair the confidence thus +reposed in him by his own peculiar people; and when he had, through +years of heroic trial and suffering, done all that mortal man could +do in discharge of the high trust confided by them to his hands, +and failed, he bowed with dignified submission to the decree of +Providence; and from the day he gave his parole at Appomattox to the +hour of his death, he so lived and acted as to deprive enmity of its +malignity, and became to his defeated soldiers and countrymen a bright +example of unqualified obedience to the laws of the land, and of +support to its established government. Nay, more. With a spirit of +Christian and affectionate duty to his impoverished and suffering +people, and with a high estimate of the importance of mental and moral +culture to a generation of youth whose earlier years were attended by +war's rough teachings, he went from the tented field and the command +of armies to the quiet shades of a scholastic institution in the +secluded valleys of his own native Virginia, and entered with all the +earnestness of his nature upon the duties of instruction, and there +spent the closing years of his life in training the minds and hearts +of young men from all parts of the country for the highest usefulness +'in their day and generation.' By these pursuits, and his exemplary +and unobtrusive life since the close of the great war in America, he +won the respect and admiration of the enlightened and the good of the +whole world. It is meet and natural, therefore, that his own people +should bewail his death as a sore personal bereavement to each one of +them. Those of us here assembled who were his soldiers, friends, and +supporters, sharing all the trials and many of the responsibilities of +that period of his life which brought him so prominently before the +world, honored and trusted him then, have loved and admired him, have +been guided by his example since; and now that he is dead, we should +be unworthy of ourselves, and unworthy to be called his countrymen, +did we not feel and express the same poignant grief which now afflicts +those among whom he lived and died. + +"Those of us who were not his soldiers, friends, and supporters, when +war raged throughout the land, but who have nevertheless met here +to-day with those who were our enemies then, but are now our friends +and countrymen, and appreciate with them the character of Lee, and +admire his rare accomplishments as an American citizen, whose fame and +name are the property of the nation, we all unite over his hallowed +sepulchre in an earnest prayer that old divisions may be composed, and +that a complete and perfect reconciliation of all estrangements may be +effected at the tomb, where all alike, in a feeling of common +humanity and universal Christian brotherhood, may drop their tears of +heart-felt sorrow. + +"Therefore, without regard to our former relations toward each other, +but meeting as Americans by birth or adoption, and in the broadest +sense of national unity, and in the spirit above indicated, to do +honor to a great man and Christian gentleman who has gone down to the +grave, we do + +"_Resolve_, That we have received with feelings of profound sorrow +intelligence of the death of General Robert E. Lee. We can and do +fully appreciate the grief of our Southern countrymen at the death +of one so honored by and so dear to them, and we tender to them this +expression of our sympathy, with the assurance that we feel in +the contemplation of so sad an event that we are and ought to be, +henceforth and forever, one great and harmonious national family, +sharing on all occasions each others' joys and sympathizing in each +others' sorrows. + +"_Resolved_, That a copy of the foregoing preamble, and these +resolutions, signed by the president and secretary, be transmitted to +the Governor of Virginia, with a request that the same be preserved in +the archives of the State; and that another copy be sent to the family +of General Lee. + + "J.D. IMBODEN, + Ex. NORTON, + JOHN MITCHEL, + C.K. MARSHALL, + T.L. SNEAD, + NORMAN D. SAMPSON, + Wm. H. APPLETON, + _Committee on Resolutions_" + +"On motion, the resolutions were unanimously adopted by a standing and +silent vote, which was followed by a spontaneous outburst of hearty +applause." + +We have given but a small portion of the addresses which were called +forth by this national calamity, and these, no doubt, have suffered +injustice by imperfect reporting. But we have shown, as we wished to +show, the standard by which our people estimate an heroic character, +and how the South loves and honors the memory of her great leader. + +A few extracts from the English press will show the feeling in that +country: + +THE PALL MALL GAZETTE. + +"Even amid the turmoil of the great European struggle, the +intelligence from America announcing that General Robert E. Lee is +dead, will be received with deep sorrow by many in this country, as +well as by his followers and fellow-soldiers in America. It is but +a few years since Robert E. Lee ranked among the great men of the +present time. He was the able soldier of the Southern Confederacy, the +bulwark of her northern frontier, the obstacle to the advance of the +Federal armies, and the leader who twice threatened, by the capture +of Washington, to turn the tide of success, and to accomplish a +revolution which would have changed the destiny of the United States. +Six years passed by, and then we heard that he was dying at an obscure +town in Virginia, where, since the collapse of the Confederacy, he had +been acting as a school-master. When, at the head of the last eight +thousand of his valiant army, the remnants which battle, sickness, and +famine had left him, he delivered up his sword to General Grant at +Appomattox Court-House, his public career ended; he passed away from +men's thoughts; and few in Europe cared to inquire the fate of +the general whose exploits had aroused the wonder of neutrals and +belligerents, and whose noble character had excited the admiration of +even the most bitter of his political enemies. If, however, success is +not always to be accounted as the sole foundation of renown, General +Lee's life and career deserve to be held in reverence by all who +admire the talents of a general and the noblest qualities of a +soldier. His family were well known in Virginia. Descended from the +Cavaliers who first colonized that State, they had produced more than +one man who fought with distinction for their country. They were +allied by marriage to Washington, and, previous to the recent war, +were possessed of much wealth; General (then Colonel) Robert Lee +residing, when not employed with his regiment, at Arlington Heights, +one of the most beautiful places in the neighborhood of Washington. +When the civil war first broke out, he was a colonel in the United +States Army, who had served with distinction in Mexico, and was +accounted among the best of the American officers. To him, as to +others, the difficult choice presented itself, whether to take the +side of his State, which had joined in the secession of the South, or +to support the central Government. It is said that Lee debated the +matter with General Scott, then Commander-in-chief, that both agreed +that their first duty lay with their State, but that the former only +put the theory into practice. + +"It was not until the second year of the war that Lee came prominently +forward, when, at the indecisive battle of Fair Oaks, in front of +Richmond, General Johnston having been wounded, he took command of the +army; and subsequently drove McClellan, with great loss, to the banks +of the James River. From that time he became the recognized leader +of the Confederate army of Virginia. He repulsed wave after wave of +invasion, army after army being hurled against him only to be thrown +back, beaten and in disorder. The Government at Washington were kept +in constant alarm by the near vicinity of his troops, and witnessed +more than once the entry into their intrenchments of a defeated +and disorganized rabble, which a few days previous had left them a +confident host. Twice he entered the Northern States at the head of +a successful army, and twice indecisive battles alone preserved from +destruction the Federal Government, and turned the fortune of the war. +He impressed his character on those who acted under him. Ambition for +him had no charms, duty alone was his guide. His simplicity of life +checked luxury and display among his officers, while his disregard of +hardships silenced the murmurs of his harassed soldiery. By the troops +he was loved as a father, as well as admired as a general; and his +deeply-religious character impressed itself on all who were brought +in contact with him, and made itself felt through the ranks of the +Virginian army. It is said that, during four years of war, he never +slept in a house, but in winter and summer shared the hardships of his +soldiers. Such was the man who, in mature age, at a period of life +when few generals have acquired renown, fought against overwhelming +odds for the cause which he believed just. He saw many of his bravest +generals and dearest friends fall around him, but, although constantly +exposed to fire, escaped without a wound. + +"The battles which prolonged and finally decided the issue of the +contest are now little more than names. Antietam, Fredericksburg, +Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, are forgotten in Europe by all +excepting those who study recent wars as lessons for the future, and +would collect from the deeds of other armies experience which they +may apply to their own. To them the boldness of Lee's tactics at +Chancellorsville will ever be a subject of admiration; while even +those who least sympathize with his cause will feel for the general +who saw the repulse of Longstreet's charge at Gettysburg, and beheld +the failure of an attempt to convert a defensive war into one of +attack, together with the consequent abandonment of the bold stroke +which he had hoped would terminate the contest. Quietly he rallied +the broken troops; taking all the blame on himself, he encouraged +the officers, dispirited by the reverse, and in person formed up the +scattered detachments. Again, when Fortune had turned against the +Confederacy, when overwhelming forces from all sides pressed back +her defenders, Lee for a year held his ground with a +constantly-diminishing army, fighting battle after battle in the +forests and swamps around Richmond. No reverses seemed to dispirit +him, no misfortune appeared to ruffle his calm, brave temperament. +Only at last, when he saw the remnants of his noble army about to +be ridden down by Sheridan's cavalry, when eight thousand men, +half-starved and broken with fatigue, were surrounded by the net which +Grant and Sherman had spread around them, did he yield; his fortitude +for the moment gave way; he took farewell of his soldiers, and, giving +himself up as a prisoner, retired a ruined man into private life, +gaining his bread by the hard and uncongenial work of governing +Lexington College. + +"When political animosity has calmed down, and when Americans can look +back on those years of war with feelings unbiassed by party strife, +then will General Lee's character be appreciated by all his countrymen +as it now is by a part, and his name will be honored as that of one of +the noblest soldiers who have ever drawn a sword in a cause which they +believed just, and at the sacrifice of all personal considerations +have fought manfully a losing battle." + + +THE SATURDAY REVIEW. + +This journal, after some remarks on the death of Admiral Farragut, +continues: + +"A still more famous leader in the war has lately closed a blameless +life. There may be a difference of opinion on the military qualities +of the generals who fought on either side in the civil war; but it is +no disparagement to the capacity of Grant or of Sherman to say that +they had no opportunity of rivalling the achievements of General Lee. +Assuming the chief command in the Confederate army in the second +campaign of the war, he repelled three or four invasions of Virginia, +winning as many pitched battles over an enemy of enormously superior +resources. After driving McClellan from the Peninsula, he inflicted +on Burnside and Pope defeats which would have been ruinous if the +belligerents had been on equal terms; but twenty millions of men, with +the absolute command of the sea and the rivers, eventually overpowered +a third of their number. The drawn battle of Gettysburg proved that +the invasion of the Northern States was a blunder; and in 1863 it +became evident that the fall of the Confederacy could not be much +longer delayed. Nevertheless General Lee kept Grant's swarming legions +at bay for the whole summer and autumn, and the loss of the Northern +armies in the final campaign exceeded the entire strength of the +gallant defenders of Richmond. When General Lee, outnumbered, cut +off from his communications, and almost surrounded by his enemies, +surrendered at Appomattox Court-House, he might console himself with +the thought that he had only failed where success was impossible. From +that moment he used his unequalled and merited authority to reconcile +the Southern people to the new order of affairs. He had originally +dissented from the policy of secession; and he followed the banner +of his State exclusively from a sense of duty, in disregard of his +professional and private interests. He might at pleasure have been +Commander-in-Chief of the Northern army, for he was second in rank to +General Scott. His ancient home and his ample estate on the Potomac +were ravaged by the enemy; but he never expressed a regret for the +sacrifice of his fortune. There can be no doubt that he was often +thwarted by political superiors and by incompetent subordinates, but +his equable temper and lofty nature never inclined him to complaint. +The regret for his loss which is felt throughout the vast regions +of the South is a just tribute to one of the greatest and purest +characters in American history." + +It will not be inappropriate to reproduce here the tribute which +appeared in the London _Standard_, on the receipt of the news of +General Lee's illness: + +THE STANDARD. + +"The announcement that General R.E. Lee has been struck down by +paralysis and is not expected to recover, will be received, even at +this crisis, with universal interest, and will everywhere excite a +sympathy and regret which testify to the deep impression made on the +world at large by his character and achievements. Few are the generals +who have earned, since history began, a greater military reputation; +still fewer are the men of similar eminence, civil or military, whose +personal qualities would bear comparison with his. The bitterest +enemies of his country hardly dared to whisper a word against the +character of her most distinguished general, while neutrals regarded +him with an admiration for his deeds and a respect for his lofty +and unselfish nature which almost grew into veneration, and his own +countrymen learned to look up to him with as much confidence and +esteem as they ever felt for Washington, and with an affection which +the cold demeanor and austere temper of Washington could never +inspire. The death of such a man, even at a moment so exciting as +the present, when all thoughts are absorbed by a nearer and present +conflict, would be felt as a misfortune by all who still retain any +recollection of the interest with which they watched the Virginian +campaigns, and by thousands who have almost forgotten the names of +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania. +By the South it would be recognized as a national calamity--as the +loss of a man not only inexpressibly dear to an unfortunate people by +his intimate association with their fallen hopes and their proudest +recollections, but still able to render services such as no other man +could perform, and to give counsel whose value is enhanced tenfold +by the source from which it comes. We hope, even yet, that a life so +honorable and so useful, so pure and noble in itself, so valuable to +a country that has much need of men like him, may be spared and +prolonged for further enjoyment of domestic peace and comfort, for +further service to his country; we cannot bear to think of a career so +singularly admirable and so singularly unfortunate, should close so +soon and so sadly. By the tens of thousands who will feel as we do +when they read the news that now lies before us, may be measured the +impressions made upon the world by the life and the deeds of the great +chief of the Army of Virginia. + +"Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the merits of the +generals against whom he had to contend, and especially of the +antagonist by whom he was at last overcome, no one pretending to +understand in the least either the general principles of military +science or the particular conditions of the American War, doubts that +General Lee gave higher proofs of military genius and soldiership than +any of his opponents. He was outnumbered from first to last; and all +his victories were gained against greatly superior forces, and with +troops greatly deficient in every necessary of war except courage +and discipline. Never, perhaps, was so much achieved against odds so +terrible. The Southern soldiers--'that incomparable Southern infantry' +to which a late Northern writer renders due tribute of respect--were +no doubt as splendid troops as a general could desire; but the +different fortune of the East and the West proves that the Virginian +army owed something of its excellence to its chief. Always +outnumbered, always opposed to a foe abundantly supplied with food, +transport, ammunition, clothing, all that was wanting to his own men, +he was always able to make courage and skill supply the deficiency of +strength and of supplies; and from the day when he assumed the command +after the battle of Seven Pines, where General Joseph Johnston +was disabled, to the morning of the final surrender at Appomattox +Court-House, he was almost invariably victorious in the field. At +Gettysburg only he was defeated in a pitched battle; on the offensive +at the Chickahominy, at Centreville, and at Chancellorsville, on +the defensive at Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, and +Spottsylvania, he was still successful. But no success could avail him +any thing from the moment that General Grant brought to bear upon +the Virginian army the inexhaustible population of the North, and, +employing Sherman to cut them off from the rest of the Confederacy, +set himself to work to wear them out by the simple process of +exchanging two lives for one. From that moment the fate of Richmond +and of the South was sealed. When General Lee commenced the campaign +of the Wilderness he had, we believe, about fifty thousand men; his +adversary had thrice that number at hand, and a still larger force in +reserve. When the army of Virginia marched out of Richmond it still +numbered some twenty-six thousand men; after a retreat of six days, +in the face of an overwhelming enemy, with a crushing artillery--a +retreat impeded by constant fighting, and harassed by countless hordes +of cavalry--eight thousand were given up by the capitulation of +Appomattox Court-House. Brilliant as were General Lee's earlier +triumphs, we believe that he gave higher proofs of genius in his last +campaign, and that hardly any of his victories were so honorable to +himself and his army as that six-days' retreat. + +"There have, however, been other generals of genius as brilliant, of +courage and endurance hardly less distinguished. How many men have +ever displayed the perfect simplicity of nature, the utter absence +of vanity or affectation, which belongs to the truest and purest +greatness, in triumph or in defeat, as General Lee has done? When +Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies, he moved from point to +point, as duty required, with less parade than a European general +of division, wearing no sword, attended by no other staff than the +immediate occasion demanded, and chatting with a comrade or a visitor +with a simple courtesy which had in it no shade of condescension. +Only on one occasion does he seem to have, been accoutred with the +slightest regard to military display or personal dignity; and that, +characteristically, was the last occasion on which he wore the +Confederate uniform--the occasion of his interview with General Grant +on April 9, 1865. After the war he retired without a word into privacy +and obscurity. Ruined by the seizure and destruction of his property, +which McClellan protected, and which his successors gave up to ravage +and pillage, the late Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies +accepted the presidency of a Virginia college, and devoted himself as +simply and earnestly to its duties as if he had never filled a higher +station or performed more exciting functions. Well aware of the +jealous temper of the party dominant in the North, and anxious, above +all things, to avoid exasperating that temper against his conquered +countrymen, he carefully abstained from appearing in any public +ceremony or taking any overt part in political questions. His +influence has been exerted, quietly but steadily, in one direction, +with a single view to restore harmony and good-will between the two +sections, and to reconcile the oppressed Southerners to the Union from +which he fought so gallantly to free them. He has discountenanced all +regretful longings after the lost visions of Southern independence; +all demonstrations in honor of the 'conquered banner;' and has +encouraged the South to seek the restoration of her material +prosperity and the satisfaction of her national feelings in a frank +acceptance of the result of the war, and a loyal adhesion to the +Federal bond. It was characteristic and worthy of the man that he was +among the first to sue for a formal pardon from President Johnson; not +for any advantage which he personally could obtain thence, but to set +the example of submission to his comrades-in-arms, and to reconcile +them to a humiliation without which the conquerors refused them that +restitution to civil rights necessary to any effort to retrieve their +own or their country's fortunes. Truer greatness, a loftier nature, a +spirit more unselfish, a character purer, more chivalrous, the world +has rarely, if ever known. Of stainless life and deep religious +feeling, yet free from all taint of cant and fanaticism, and as dear +and congenial to the Cavalier Stuart as to the Puritan Stonewall +Jackson; unambitious, but ready to sacrifice all at the call of duty; +devoted to his cause, yet never moved by his feelings beyond the line +prescribed by his judgment; never provoked by just resentment to +punish wanton cruelty by reprisals which would have given a character +of needless savagery to the war--both North and South owe a deep debt +of gratitude to him, and the time will come when both will be equally +proud of him. And well they may, for his character and his life afford +a complete answer to the reproaches commonly cast on money-grubbing, +mechanical America. A country which has given birth to men like him, +and those who followed him, may look the chivalry of Europe in the +face without shame; for the fatherlands of Sidney and of Bayard never +produced a nobler soldier, gentleman, and Christian, than General +Robert E. Lee." + +We may add to these the following just remarks upon the occupation to +which General Lee devoted himself at the close of his military career, +from + +THE OLD DOMINION. + +"Surely it should be a cause of thankfulness and encouragement for +those who are teachers, that their profession has received this +reflection of glory and honor from this choice of his, from this life, +and from this death. And it is enduring honor for all the colleges of +the South, and for all our schools--an honor in which all may share +alike without jealousy--that this pure and bright name is inseparably +connected by the will of him that bore it with the cause of education, +and is blended now with that of Washington in the name of one of our +own institutions of learning. We think that so long as the name of Lee +is honored and loved among us, our Southern teachers may rejoice and +grow stronger in their work, when they remember that he was one of +their number, and that his great heart, that had so bravely borne the +fortunes of a great empire, bore also, amid its latest aspirations, +the interests, the anxieties, and the hopes of the unpretending but +noble profession of teaching. + +"To leave this out of the account would be, indeed, to do sad +injustice to General Lee's own memory. And that, not only because his +position in this profession was of his own choice, and was steadily +maintained with unchanging purpose to the end of his life, but also +because the acknowledgment of his service here is necessary to the +completeness of his fame. In no position of his life did he more +signally develop the great qualities of his character than in this; +and it may truly be said that some of the greatest can only be fully +understood in the light of the serene patience and of the simple and +quiet self-consecration of his latest years. It was then that, far +from the tumult of arms and from the great passions of public life, +with no great ambition to nerve his heart, nor any great events to +obscure the public criticism of his conduct, he displayed in calm +and steady light the grandest features of his character, and by this +crucial test, added certain confirmation to the highest estimate that +could have been formed of his character and of his abilities. It was +indeed a 'crucial test' for such a man; and that he sustained it as he +did is not among the smallest of his claims to the admiration of his +countrymen. No tribute to his memory can be just that does not take +this last great service into the account; and no history of his life +can be fairly written that shall not place in the strongest light his +career and influence as President of Washington College." + +And we may appropriately close with the following thoughtful words +from the pen of + +HON. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. + +"In the darkest hour of our trials, in the very midst of our deepest +affliction, mourning over the loss of the noble Lee, Heaven sends to +us as consolation the best sign of the times vouchsafed in many a day. +It addresses the heart, rent as it is in surveying the desolations +around us, as the rainbow upon the breast of the receding storm-cloud +when its power and fury are over. + +"That sign is the unmistakable estimation in which the real merits +and worth of this illustrious chieftain of the cause of the Southern +States is held by all classes of persons, not only in the South, but +in the North. + +"Partisans and leaders, aiming at the overthrow of our institutions, +may, while temporarily in high places, by fraud and usurpation, keep +up the false cry of _rebel_ and _traitor_; but these irrepressible +outburstings of popular sentiment, regarding no restraints on +great-occasions which cause _Nature_ to speak, show clearly how this +cry and charge are regarded and looked upon by the masses of the +people everywhere. + +"Everywhere Lee is honored; not only as a _hero_, but as a _patriot_. +This is but the foreshadowing of the general judgment of the people of +the whole United States, and of the world, not only upon Lee, but upon +all of his associates who fought, bled, and died in that glorious +cause in which he won his immortality. That cause was the sovereign +right of local self-government by the people of the several States of +this continent. _That_ cause is not dead! Let it never be abandoned; +but let its friends rally to its standard in the forum of reason and +justice, with the renewed hope and energy from this soul-inspiriting +sign that it lies deeply impressed upon the hearts of the great +majority of the people in all sections of this country. + +"In these popular manifestations of respect and veneration for the +man who won all his glory in maintaining this cause, present usurpers +should read their doom, and all friends of constitutional liberty +should take fresh courage in all political conflicts, never to lower +their standard of principles." + +THE END + +[Illustration: Portion of the VALLEY OF VIRGINIA] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee, by John Esten Cooke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. 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