€¦ · PR EFACE . THOUGH more than a generation has now elapsed since General Robert E . Lee passed from the scenes of his illustrious deeds, public interest in the great soldier

THE LIFE OF

Genera Robert E Lee

THE LIFE-CAR E E R AND MILITAR YACHIE VE ME NTS O F TH E G R E AT

SOUTH E R N G E N E R AL , W ITH A

R E COR D OF TII E CAMPAIGNS OF

THE AR MY OF NORTHE R N V IR G INIA

w xr x lLIéUSTRATIONS6

I

II O

660 V“ !

A . L. BU R T COMPANY, a! J

J PUBLISHE R S, NEW YOR K

CONTE NTS.

CHAPTE R

I . Introductory1 1 . Birth ,

Youthhood , an d Ear ly Caree rIII . In the Mexican War

IV . The In terval betwe en th e Mexican War an d theWar for th e Union

V. The Opposing Forces Prepar ing for ConflictVI . The Drama OpensVII . The Campa ign aga inst Pope in Northern Vir

ginia , an d the Second Batt le of Bull R unVIII. Th e Maryland Campa ignIX. The Frede r icksburg Campa ign (Oct .-Dec. , 1862)

an d th e Edict of Emancipat ionX. Th e Chance llorsville Campa ign an d Batt leXI . The Second Invasion of the North , an d the

Batt le of Ge ttysburg (July 1-3 , 1863)XII. Lee R e treats to Virginia an d Winters behind the

R apidanXIII. Th e Wilde rne ss Campa ignXIV. Operat ions o n the South Side of the James R ive r ,

an d the Siege of Pe tersburg 1 91

XV . Th e Autumn of 1864 , an d theWinter of 1 864—65. 212

XVI . Operat ions in Georgia , Tennesse e , an d the Carolinas in theWinter of 1 864-65.

iii

CONTENTS.

PAG E

The Close ofthe Long Struggle 249

Th e R e tirement from Pe te rsburg an d R ichmond . 266

Grant’s Peace Ove r ture s to Le e , an d the Surrend e r at Appomat toxGene ral Le e insta lled as President ofWashingtonCollege , Lexington , V a

XXI. Evening Shadows, an d Death

PR EFACE .

THOUGH more than a genera tion has now

elapsed since General Robert E . Lee passed from

the scenes of his illustrious deeds,public interest

in the great soldier and his career is still active,

and turns with in creasing curiosity to any a ttrac

tive recital of the incidents in his eventful life

many as are the biographies that have a lready

been published of him . Nor is this perennia l

interest in the loved hero of a Lost Cause ” to be

wondered at,when we reca ll not only the b istori

cal importance of the long struggle in which he

so nobly fought,and against such heavy odds but

the remarkable military ability an d eminently

high character of the man whose career is iden ti

fie d with the great conflict, and whose life-storyis throughout so attractive and inspiring .

The era is n ow passed when in the North,Con

federa tes and their sympa thizers were hotly stigma tige d as

“ rebels,

’and when their a ttitude an d

their cause were aspersed as hateful as well as

treasonable . To-day, the d rama of the C ivil Wariii

iv PREFACE.

has gone into the limbo of history,and can now

be written about dispassion ately an d,even on the

Southern side, with admiring Northern curiosity

and inte rest . This is one of the manifest a d van t

ages themodern-d ay writer has in dealing with the

events of the distracting and calamitous period,

and in reviewing the whole story with calm d elib

cration and historic impartiality . Another and

special advantage has the narrator of the era’s

annals,when, as is the present case, he is writing

biography as well as history,and has so en tran c

ing a theme to deal with as the life-career and

achievements of so distinguished and revered an

actor in the tragedy of the Civil War as General

Robert E . Lee . For the latter '

an d his estimable

character the present writer has always ha d the

highest regard,and even veneration an d though

this perhaps may not shield him from criticismr should there be found shortcomings in the within

work,it ought at least to pla ca te the reader

towards the author of it, if he is also an admirer

ofLee,and lead him to be at once indulgent and

friendly.

G . M . A .

LIFE OF G E NE R AL LE E .

CHAPTER I .

INTRODUCTORY.

IN attempting to write a record of the Life an d

Career of General Robert E . Lee,the great com

mander ofthe Southern Army in the Civil War,

t h e a uthor undertakes the work with some d iffi

dence and misgiving . This is occasioned,in part

,

by a sense of responsibility in undertaking so important a task— a task that had already been so

well achieved by other and prominent biog raph e rs

of the hero of a Lost Cause ” and in part also,

by a doubt in the present writer’s mind ofbeing

able to do adequate justice to so eminent an actor

in the d rama ofhis time,who was ,moreover, one

of the greatest soldiers and most clever military

tacticians of the past century,and

,withal

,a

Splendid type ofChristian manhood . Here,how

ever, th e writer

’s hesita tion end s,and the im

pelling mot ive finally becomes admiration— long1

2 LIFE or G E NE RAL LE E .

and heartily entertained— for the noble theme of

this volume, and the ambition to add another,and it is hoped a not unworthy tribute

,to the

fame of the illustrious Genera l,who was person

ally not only greatly‘

beloved and highly esteemed

in his day,but whose professiona l eminence

among the renown ed commanders of the war is

conceded by every critic and writer of distinction

who has dealt with its tragic anna ls .

But great as is the niche filled by the grand old

soldier in the history of the Southern side of

the Civil War contest,we must remember that

this is not all we have to dea l with in relating the

life and military exploits of the man,since long

before the outbreak of the Wa r of the Rebellion

an d‘

his espousa l of the interests of his na tive

State in that dire struggle, Lee h a d ha d a length

ened,varied

,an d honorable career of service in

the Army of the United States . In tha t service,

not only h a d he won distinction as chief engineer

officer and active combatant in the War with

Mexico,where he rend ered heroic an d conspicuous

service at the siege of Vera Cruz,

an d was

wounded in the assault ; but was, moreover, of

inva luable service to the commander of the ex

pe d ition ,Genera l Winfield Scott, in his council

ofoffi cers, as well as in important reconnoissances,

INTRODUCTORY. 3

in planting batteries,in conducting columns

from point to point under fire during the assault

upon the pla ce,an d taking pa rt in the onerous a n d

often perilous opera tions of the siege . For this

highly efficient work he was repeatedly mentioned

in the General’s despa tches while from the cam

paig n as a whole he issued, as it h as been sa id,crowned with honors an d covered with brevets

for ga llant an d meritorious conduct . ” After this

we find Le e engaged in the important duty ofcon

structin g defensive works a t various points for the

Washington government and during the year

1 852—55,he acted as commandant of the Military

Academy at West Point,ofwhich he was himself

a distin guished gradua te. Later on,Colonel Le e

was transferred from the E ngineers to the Cava lry

branch of the service , when he held for a time

responsible posts in Kentucky, Missouri , Kansas,and Texa s , an d was at Harper’s Ferry

,West Vir

ginia,a t the era of the John Brown ra id . When

Civil War loomed upon the scen e,Le e

,as we

shall ere long see, h a d rea ched his fifty-fourth

year,and had thirty-two yea rs of hon orable serv

ice to his credit in the national army . Moreover,

so conspicuous had been his career,and so highly

esteemed was he as an officer a n d a gentleman,

tha t,had he remained in the service ofthe Union

,

4 LIFE OF GENERAL LE E .

his name,it is well known, was designed to be

brought before the military authorities of the

nation and that favorably, as the successor in the

chief command of the army to the then aged

warrior,Genera l Winfield Scott . Nor

,at the

crisis that then fell upon the country,was Lee

actuated by caprice o r mere partisanship in tak

ing sideswith the South in the ca lamitouswa r tha t

was about to ensue and drench the land in fra triv

cid al blood . His attitude was far otherwise for

at first we know tha t he rega rded Secession as

anarchical,if not treasonable , and locke d with

grave apprehension upon the threatened rupture

of the Union,an d was ill a t ease a t the prospect

ofthe disseverance of his own relations with the

North and the breaking of the ties,professiona l

and socia l, that had hitherto connected him with

its military service . The slavery question did not

appea l to him as a cause of sectional strife, his

chief concern being the attitude of his native

State in the unhappy prospect of war,for to his

loved Commonwealth of Virginia he was chiva l

rously loya l, and if strife was to come he felt tha t

he could not draw his sword against her and her

interests . This was his answer to his friend an d

superior officer,Genera l Winfield Scott, a s well

as to the Hon . Montgomery Bla ir, son ofthe then

INTRODUCTORY.

Postmaster-General of Washington,who was au

tho rized to offer Lee command of the Federal

army if he would remain stanch in his fidelity

to the Union . In deserting the Northern cause,

he asserted that he could not consult his own feel

ings entirely,so strong was his allegiance to his

own section of the country as well as faithful his

attachment to his own State . Save in defense

ofmy State,

” he feelingly'

wrote in the Spring of

1 861 to General Scott,in asking to be relieved of

his command,I never desire again to draw my

sword .

” After resigning his commission in the

Federal service,his own State having by this

time prepared to withdraw from the Union and

make the call upon her many brave sons to rally

to her standard and espouse the Southern side in

the pending struggle,Le e repaired to his Virginia

home as a private citizen,while deprecating wa r

and trusting that sectional strife would not break

out,but that a peaceful solution would yet be

formed of the grave problems that were then

a menace to the nation . Unhappily,war

,and not

peace , was to be the issue ofthe distracting times,for already seven Sta tes

,in accordance with con

ven tio n ordinances, h a d taken themselves out of

the Union,and at Montgomery

,Alabama, had

organized a separate government under the d esig


nation of the Confederate States of America .

A little later on,the other sister States of the

South j oined the new Confederacy,whose capita l

was Richmond, Va . while its president,provis

ion ally, became Jefferson Davis, formerly a mem

ber of the U . S . House of Representa tives and

na tiona l senator, who arrived at Richmond, May

29th an d was duly installed in office .

Meanwhile,Virginia had declared for Secession

and joined the Confederacy,and Lee

,having been

nominated by the Governor ofhis own Sta te as a

delegate to the Virginia Convention,he now re

pa ired to Richmond , where he was en thusiasti

ca lly intrusted with the chief command of the

Virginia forces and confirmed in the rank of

major-genera l,which high office had been con

ferred upon him by the Governor of his State,

under the authority of the Legisla ture .

In wha t estimation General Lee was held , even

a t this time in the South ,may be seen from thereception a ccorded him by the Convention a t

Richmond,on the occasion of his presentation to

the body to receive its president’s address of wel

come,be formally insta lled in the office of com

mander-in -chief of the military an d nava l force

ofthe State, an d accept his instructions to mobilize

and put in the field an army for its defense and

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Abraham Lincoln, the North at last awoke to a

sense of the reality of the situation,quickened by

the levying of war by the seceded States,the de

parture oftheir representatives and senators fromCongress

,and the seizure of the forts and Federal

property in the border States . The call of Presi

dent Lincoln for militia had been issued,

and the North roused itself to action,in virtue of

the powers vested in the E xecutive head by the

Constitution and laws ofthe nation . The response

to the Northern summons of troops was immediate

and gratifying and following it came the blockade

of the ports of the seceding States,the rallying of

forces to the defense ofWashington,with prepara

tions for the invasion of Virginia and the contem

plated raid southward with the design ofcapturing

and occupying Richmond, the seat of the rebel

government .

But before proceeding with the narrative of

events embraced in the era of the Civil War, in

which General Lee,during the four protracted

years of the great conflict, bore so conspicuous and

brilliant a part,let us relate the early personal

history of the intrepid soldier and valiant captain

general of the Southern army in the War of the

Rebellion,an d fill in the deta ils ofhis remarkable

career from his birth and up-bringing, with some

INTRODUCTORY . 9

account of his family and the traditions ofhis his

toric ancestry and their genealogical belongings .

In what remains of this chapter,let us first glance

at the lineage and advent ofour hero .

Robert E dward Lee belonged to the old Colonial

family of the Lees of Virginia,which has given

not a few distinguished statesmen and soldiers to

the service ofhis country . The first ofthe fam ily

we learn of,Colonel Richard Lee

,came to Virginia

in Charles the First’s era from the o ld home ofthe

Lees in Stafford Langton, E ssex, E ngland, other

branches of the family being resident of the coun

ties ofBucks,Oxford

,and Shrops . The home of

the Lees in the latter shire was at Morton Regis,

a representative of which family branch also em

ig ra ted to the New World in early Colonial times

and settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia .

Colonel Richard Lee,being a sturdy adherent o f

the reigning Stuarts and the scion of an influ

en tial E nglish family, when he arrived inVirginia,naturally became a firm ally of Sir William

Berkeley,governor of the colony, who warmly

welcomed the newcomer as a member of the

King’s Privy Coun cil and the monarch’s nominee

for the post of the Colonial State-secretaryship .

Stanch royalist as he was,Lee

,with Berkeley’s

assistance , kept the colony true in its alleg iance

1 0 LIFE OF GENERAL LE E .

to th e Stuart cause,so long at least as the un

fortuna te Charles I . lived an d when Cromwell’s

Commonwea lth wa s crea ted he was in strumenta l

in negotiating a trea ty between it a n d the colony,recognizing the la tter a s an independent State

,

until the Restoration gave the lordship of the

Virginia colony back to the Stuart House,Charles

I I . being persuaded to proclaim himself Kin g of

Virginia,as well as of France and the separate

kingdoms of Brita in . Colonel Richard Le e a t

length died an d found a grave in Virginia,where

he had settled with his family . One son , a name

sake,survived him

,and as a man of fine parts

became a member of the Colonial council. He

married an E nglish lady,a Miss Corbin

,by whom,

besides a daughter,who subsequently married in

Virginia,he h a d five sons

,a ll of whom rose to be

influentia l men in the Colony , and by theirmarriag es allying themselves with many well-known

Virginia families . Of these sons,two became

notable in the later anna ls of, the Le e family

these were Thomas an d Henry, the fourth and

fifth sons,respectively

,ofRicha rd . Le e , who died

about the year 1 690. O f Henry Le e we sha ll

write later on . Th e fourth son, Thomas , who

resided a t Stra tford,V a .

,and there erected a

magnificent manor-house long amarvel among

INTRODUCTORY . 1 1

the colonial homes of the Old Dominion,allied

himself with an influentia l family in the colony,

the progeny including two daughters an d six

sons . The eldest of the la tter,Philip Ludwell

Le e,in turn married and had two daughters

,the

elder of whom,Ma tilda

,became the wife of her

second cousin,Colonel Henry Lee

,known in

history as Light-Horse Harry,

”a n d the father

(though by a second wife) of the subject of this

memoir— General Robert E . Lee . The third son

of Thomas Le e,Governor of Virginia

,Richard

Henry Lee (1732 was the noted champion

of American Independence,the patriot orator

who,in the Continental Congress

,in June

,1 776

,

offered the now famous resolution that“ these

United Colonies are,an d ofright ought to be free

and independent States . ” In making th is free,bold speech the sturdy sta tesman of his day took

un flin chin g ly the side of popular rights aga inst

the encroachment of the mother country,as he

previously showed in opposing the Stamp Act,and

in a brilliant,impressive speech now advocated

the Declaration of Independence . It was by the

same Congress,in July

,1775, that the historic

“Address of the Twelve Colonies to the In hab =

itan ts ofGreat Britain was adopted and trans

mitte d to the motherland . In the closing years


of the Revolutionary War,Richa rd Henry Le e

took part aga inst E ngland in the field a t the head

ofthemilitia ofWestmoreland County,Va . from

1789 to 1792, he sa t in the United States Senate,and though not a Federa list he warmly supported

the Washington administration . As an orator,

he was by his contemporaries called the Amer

ican Cicero ” and was an impressive and distin

g uish e d public speaker . He was,moreover

,

“a

man of amiable and noble cha racter,of com

manding presence, excellent abilities, and self

In these respects,hissacrificing pa triotism .

’

virtues were conspicuously reflected in his

famous son .

We now turn back to trace the pedigree of

Henry,

fifth son of Richard Le e,the early and

direct ancestor of General Robert E . Le e ; a

distant relation ofR . H . Lee , the Revolutionary

statesman ; and the grandfather of the distin

g uish e d commander of Lee’sLegion,commonly

known a s“Light -Horse Harry.

” This Henry

Le e married a Miss Bland, by whomhe hadsevera l children

,on e of whom , Henry, took a

Miss Grymes to wife,and by her had issue three

daughters and five sons .‘ Of the la tter, the third

son , a Henry a lso (1 756 became the famous

soldier of the R evolution and the father of the

INTRODUCTORY . 1 3

subject ofth e present Memoir . After graduating

at Princeton, this distinguished member of the

notable Lee family,as the present writer has else

where narrated,entered the Continental army

,

and at the battle of Germantown (Oct . 4 , 1 777 his

cavalry troop was selected by General Washington

as his personal body-guard . In January, 1778,when occupying a small stone house with a body

of ten men,the rema inder of his command being

absent on a foraging expedition,the building was

surrounded by 200British cavalry,who attempted

to take Lee prisoner,but were met with so Spirited

a resistance that they were compelled to retreat .

Soon after this, Henry Lee was advanced to the

rank of major,with the command of three com

panics of cavalry . While holding this rank he

planned and executed the brilliant assault on the

British post at Paulus Hook,their headquarters

opposite the city of New York . Le e surprised

and took the garrison under the eyes of the

British army and navy,and safely conducted his

prisoners within the American lines,many miles

distant fromthe captured post . Than this thereare few enterprises to be found on military record

equal in hazard and difficulty,o r are known to

have been conducted with more boldness, skill,and daring activity. It was

,moreover, accom


plish e d without loss, while it filled the enemy’s

camp with confusion an d astonishment,an d shed

a n unfading luster on American arms . In 1780,Le e was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel

commandant of a separa te legiona ry corps,known

as Lee’s Legion of light horse,a n d was sent to

the Southern Department of the United Sta tes,to

j oin the army under Genera l Greene,where he

rema ined until the close of the war . Le e entered

Congress in 1 787, a n d was governor of Virginia

between the years 1 792 and 1 795,during which

he commanded the expedition aga inst the V Vhis

key insurgents in Western Pennsylvania . He

sa t aga in in Congress at the period ofWa shing

ton’s death,in 1 799

,an d

,being appointed by that

body to deliver an ora tion upon the character of

the decea sed first President,sta tesman

,and wa r

rior,Lee extolled him in the terms ofthe since

famous eulogy,First in war

,first in peace

,and

first ‘ in the hearts ofhis countrymen .

”

Henry Lee’s virtues and chara cter have been

extolled by many writers,for he possessed many

of those admirable qua lities of head an d heart

which,as we sha ll see later on , were manifested

by his eminent son . His children ha d a great

venera tion,a s well as afi ection

,for him

,for he

was an excellen t an d kind father, a most e x em


1 6 LIFE OF G E NE RAITLE E .

value even to-day,since it is an outspoken an d

impartial record of events,based on the personal

experience an d observation of a contemporary

narrator— those of “ Light-Horse Harry .

”

CHAPTER II.

BIRTH,YOUTHHOOD

,AND EARLY CAREER.

HAVING in our Opening chapte r in troduced the

subject ofthis Memoir and glanced at his ancestry

and lineage,let us now record his birth and early

upbrin ging,together with such facts as are known

ofhis professiona l education as a military cadet

and of the characteristics of the youth as h e ap

peare d at the threshold of his bright and prom

ising career . The e ra of Robert E . Lee’s birth

which occurred a t’

th e family home at Stra tford,

Westmoreland County,Virginia

,Janua ry 1 9.

1 807,was a troubled on e , even for a neutra l nation

in the New World tha t ha d cut itself adrift from

the O ld,fo r at the period the two grea t world po

we rs ofE urope , France and Britain, were engaged

in an armed an d d eadly struggle for politica l mas

te ry and commercia l dominance . At the same e ra,Denmark

,Spain

,Russia

,and Prussia were fo r a

period drawn into the vortex ; while bombard

ment,invasion

,and pillage were the n a tional

sport and burn ing dread of the time . At this

grave juncture of international afl airs, Napo2 1 7


leon was, or aimed to be, supreme on the E uropean

continent, while his chief adversary a n d check

mate were the British,who held undisputed sway

on the high sea s . Aga inst each other,in the

hotly-embraced interest ofcommerce,France fired

at E ngland her heavy-shafted bolt of the Berlin

Decrees,which declared the British islands to be

in a state ofblockade while her wa ry though

inveterate enemy retorted with the British Orders

in Council,closing to neutra l commerce the ports

of the continent and authorizing the seizure of

an y neutral vessel on a voyage to any of the pro

hibite d French ports unless such vessel had first

touched at a British port . France re jome d byauthorizing

,in the Milan Decree

,the seizure of

any vessel tha t ha d entered a British port . In

this furious interna tiona l strife, America soon b e

came a sufi e re r,since the prohibitory decrees and

hostile attitude ofFrance and E ngland struck a

heavy blow at her carrying trade, and led to the

enactment of Jefferson’s E mbargo Policy, for

bidding the importa tion ofgoods from Brita in an d

her colonies and banning intercourse . Another

result Of E uropean ferment was to revive the

partly slumbering animosities between America

an d the old motherland , the result of the irritating

and humiliating right of search on board Ameri

BIRTH , YOUTHHOOD ,AND E AR LY CAREER. 1 9

can vessels on the high seas and the arrest or impressme n t ofsailors, naturalized citizens of the

United States who had renounced their allegiance

to Britain . The ill-feeling an d strained relations

of the two nations,once mother an d child

,soon

bore fruit in the unhappy second War with E n gland— that of 1 81 2— 1 4 .

It was at this era that the child Robert E . Lee

was born,an e ra ofunhappy friction between the

United States and the disowned mother country,

rendered more so as the result of fruitless inter

national diplomacy,irrita ting retaliatory legisla

tion,a n d a clashing ofcommercia l interests which

brought about a period of n on -intercourse,and

,

fina lly,a state of war . Within the country

,

nevertheless,it was an era ofstrenuous political

,

industria l,and social efi o r t in the build ing up

,

by its sturdy na tion-makers,

of the youthful

American Republic. The war,costly as itwas to

the young na tion and a heavy dra in upon its yet

slender financia l resources,h a d its compensations ,

not only in withd rawing the Republic from the

complica tions Of OldWorld politics, but in impart

ing to it a la rger measure ofself-reliance a n d in

dependence,with a feeling of increased pride in

the successes,o n land and lake, Ofhermilitia and

marine service . It also quickened the spirit of

20 LIFE OF GENE RALLE E .

enterprise over the country,which followed the

close of the struggle,an d did much to cement the

Union an d implant in the hea rt Of the nation love

for its grand heritage and faith in its future

mighty destiny

Unfortunately for the still youthful scion of the

Lee family,he early lost the fostering care of his

father,who

,when the boywas but six yea rs o ld

,

had to betake himself to the West Indies in theendeavor to restore his shattered health . A

father’s interest in an d love for the lad were more

than compensated,however

,by the devotion an d

attachment of his wise,tender mother

,whose in

fluen ce upon himwas grea t,and to his lasting

good . It was she who instilled in his youthful

mind those high moral principles an d tha t in

teg rity and rectitude of conduct which in a fter

years were marked tra its in the character of her

eminent son . On the la tter’s pa rt,there was a

strong reciproca l a tta chment and fine filial feeling,which showed itself in a loving ca re an d dutiful

regard and solicitude . The need for this was the

more urgent,a s the self-sacrificin g mother was at

this period much a lone, her husband being in the

tropics,and her other sons were absent a t College

while of the two daughters one was as yet quite

young an d the other was in indifferent health .

BIRTH ,YOUTHHOOD , AND EARLY CAREER . 21

Hence Robert was the on e child to whom the noble

mother looked for those attentions and that com

pan ion ship which were a comfort to her. while she

watched with earnest solicitude his careful home

training and strove to embue his mind with sound

religious prin ciples and inspire him with high

ideals and lofty purposes in life .

Previous to this,o r

,more precisely

,when Robert

E . Lee was but four years old,the Lee family had

removed from the old homestead at Stratford,in

Westmoreland County (near the birthplace and

early home of George Washington), and settled

higher up the Potomac at Alexandria , six miles

South of the Federal capital . Th e city at this

period had,like the city

'

ofWashington itself,fo r

a time fallen into the hands of the British and

here,near by

,at Arlington

,young Lee had also

associations with the home ofPresident Wa shing

ton,whose relative

,the daughter ofGeorge Wash

in g ton Parke Custis, he was afterwards to be

allied with inmarriage . At Alexandria Academy

young Robert received his early education,after

wards passing to a more advanced institution kept

by a ! uaker, named Hallowell, who has.

left o n

record his high opinion of his pupil as a zealous

student,most exemplary in his conduct and habits .

Throughout his school career he gave the utmost '


satisfaction to his several masters,while he was

popular among his fellows, being manly in his

bearing an d attra ctive in his manners .

In the Spring of 1 81 8,his father

,General

Henry Le e,when returning from th eWest Indies,

ha d to be put a shore on the coast ofGeorgia as

his death was imminent . He died at Dunge

ness,

” the home of a daughter ofhis old friend,General Nathana el Greene

,while his son Robert

was but in his twelfth year . The death of

Light-Horse Harry,as he was familiarly

called, wa s much and widely lamented

,and at his

funeral in Georgia military and naval honors

were paid to his remains as they were interred

beneath the magnolias,cedars

,an d myrtles of

beautiful Dungeness . ” As his son Robert grew

up and the time came when he must make choice

Of a profession na tura lly he sough t to follow a

military career , like his distinguished fa ther, the

Genera l . His brother,Sydney Smith Lee

,had

taken to the navy, and was a lready beginning to

carve out his own career in that profession (la ter

o n,he was known as Commodore Lee of the

Confederate service and father of General Fitz

hugh Le e,the famous cava lry commander). E re

long Robert succeeded in h is applica tion fo r admit

tance to theUnited States Military Academy,an d



With a highly creditable standing as a West

Pointer,

” Robert E . Le e,after a brief furlough

,

entered actively on his professional career,fin d

ing employment for severa l years In duties, e n

thusiastically performed , in connection with the

coast d efenses of th e Un ited States a t Hampton

Roads an d elsewhere: Society a t that era,as

well as n ow,was exceedingly attractive in the

city of Washington and its vicinity ; and to the

handsome young lieutenant of engineers it h ad

its charms,for he was well fitted to shine among

the elite of the capita l,and tha t not alone for his

good looks,but a lso by reason of his superior

education and fine prospects in the army,not to

speak of his high birth an d the fair repute an d

heroic traditions of his family . With the young

ma trons and belles ofthe capital and its adjoining

city ofA lexandria, his own home, Lieutenant Lee

was much made of while he was popular among

h is own sex,a n d especially among the knots of

milita ry men always to be found at the sa lon s

of Society people a t Wa shington and a t the

manor-houses in the neighborhood . At Arlington,

the home of the Custis family,the young e n

g in e er lieutenant was at the period particularly

welcome,for he had long known an d admired the

beautiful daughter of the house,Mary Custis

,

BIRTH,YOUTHHOOD ,

AND EARLY CAREER. 25

the granddaughter ofMartha Washington and

already more than a liking for each other had

come about,which was soon now to bring both

within Hymen’s silken bonds . Only two years

h a d passed since Lee had graduated at West

Point a n d received his commission in the army

but while only in his twenty-fifth yea r he fell into

Cupid’s snares and succumbed to the irresistible

attractions of his affian ced Mary Custis . Their

ma rriage speedily followed, the ceremony taking

place within the sta tely mansion of Arlington

House,replete as it was with historic interest and

attractive by its traditions ofWashington an d his

fellow-patriots of Revolutionary days . Through

his marriage,which was solemnized June 30

,1 831 ,

Lee with his wife subsequently became owners

of Arlington,as well as of another property

belonging to the Custis family on the Pamun

key River,where Washington

,in 1 759, married

the widow Custis ’— a property tha t was ruth

lessly given to the flames by the Federal troops in

the Civil Wa r .

After a brief honeymoon,Le e returned to h is

army duties a t Hampton Roads,but ere long wa s

transferred to Washington,where he became

assistant to the chief government engineer,and

was consequently near to his bride and her pater


nal home at Arlington . Promotion here came to

him,first to a full lieutenancy and afterwards to

a captaincy in the corps ofengineers . After this,

he acted fo r a time as astronomer to a commis

sion appointed to define the boundary between

the States of Ohio and Michigan and then was

despatched to St . Louis to engage actively in pI'

O’

fessio n a l work in connection with the channel of

the Mississippi River,so as to obviate its over

flowing its bounds on the side opposite St . Louis,as well as to recover waste lands on its borders

which at periods had been subj ect to inundation .

Indefa tigable as well as professionally successful

in his work . Lee rendered admirable service in

improving the legitimate bed Of the grea t

river an d in artificially confining the Fa ther of

Waters ” to its natural and desirable course .

When this important task ha d been accomplished,

he was despa tched to New York to strengthen

the defenses of Fort Hamilton,which protects the

entrance to th e spacious harbor of the city while

recognition Ofhis merits otherwise came to him

in being elected a member of the Board Of Visi

tors a t West Point an d appointed one of the

Board of E ngineers, a t his professional a lmama ter .

CHAPTER III .

IN THE ME! ICAN WAR .

AT this period ofh is career,when he was ap

proachin g his fortieth year, the War with Mexico

broke out,precipitated by the independence of

Texas, and its subsequent admission as a State

of the Union . Besides the local attitude ofTexas,

matters between Mexico and the United States

were complicated by the Washington a dmin istra tion insisting that the Southwestern boundary

ofTexas should be the Rio Grande . This was in

the year 1 846, when the Wa r Department of the

United Sta tes appointed General Winfield Scott

to the supreme command of an expedition de

signed to opera te in Mexican territory,and

,if

deemed expedient,invest and lay siege to Vera

Cruz , thus opening the way for an advance upon

the city of Mexico . Previous to this,General

! achary Taylor, with an American force, ha d

appeared at Corpus Christi,Texas

,and there,

having increa sed his army,he was ordered to

advance to the Rio Grande,which he did and

27


erected a fort on the-river opposite Matamoros,

with his base of supplies twenty-five miles east

ward a t Point Isabel . Here the Mexican general

(Ampudia) ordered Taylor to withdraw beyond

the Neuces river,as he and his American troops

were then on Mexican territory . This Taylor

refused to d o,

l

but proceed ed with his operations

in the region,when the battles ofPalo Alta and

Resaca de la Palma were fought and won while,

later on,Monterey

,after some resistance

,capitu

lated . General S . W . Kearny,meanwhile

,a t

the head of the A rmy of the West,had advanced

from Fort Leavenworth and made conquest of

the province of New Mexico,an d a t Santa Fe, in

August,1 846

,he established a provisional Ameri

can government,subsequently proceeding to

California . The latter country, by this time, had

practically been annexed,partly by means of the

exploring expedition of Colonel Fremont,and

partly by the joint operations of Commodores

Sloa t and Stockton . In 1 848, peaceful cession of

the territory came about,aided by the influx of

myriads of gold—seekers , known as the forty

n in ers ; and Ca lifornia, in 1 850,was lost to

Mexico and gained as a State of the American

Union .

But let us now return to General Winfield

IN THE MEXICAN WAR . 9

Scott and the chief command that had been given

him to conduct an expedition to invade Mexico,by

way Of the Gulf,effecting a landing at o r near

Vera Cruz . This inroad directly upon the enemy,

with the design ofassaulting and capturing the

chief Mexican towns,including the capital

,was

undertaken with the view of bringing Santa

Anna’s Administration and the Republic of the

Mexican States to terms,after precipitating war

upon American arms,as it was construed by

President Polk’s government,though history

views the matter more in the light ofan un justi

fiable aggression upon a weak sister nation of

the continent . Be this as it may or may n o t,

Genera l Scott had been given his orders,which

were to proceed to Vera Cruz,where with his own

forces and part of those under General Kea rny

he was to invest the town,take it

,and proceed to

the interior to reduce the Mexicans to submission .

Here was now to become the rea l, as it was to be

the chief,seat ofwa r and for its successful ex

ploitation General Scott had brought with him a

strong contingent of engineers and artillery,in

add ition to his cavalry and foot-soldiers . The

divisional commands of the invading army were

intrusted,under the Commander-in -chief, to G en

erals Twiggs,Worth

,and ! uitman while severa l


able eng in e er officers directed the assaulting opera

tions,among whom were Colonel Totten

,Lieu

tenant Beauregard,and our hero

,Capta in Robert

E . Lee,who had the honor ofbeing placed on the

Commander-in -chief’s personal sta ff .

When General Scott h ad been assigned the task

of taking a leading part in the war,and before

the landing ofhis forces,by means of surf boats

,a

little to the south of Vera Cruz . Capta in Lee appears to have been for a time attached to General J .

E . Wool’s command, which had penetra ted Mexico

from San An tonia, a cross the Rio Grande, as far

as Sa ltillo, to the West of Tampico . This seems

to have been the case,for we find him writing to

his wife from Rio Grande early in October,1 846

,

and to two ofhis boys from Sa ltillo on the d aybefore Christmas . Presumably, therefore, he

was with Wool’s ; contingent a t the battle of

Buena Vista (Feb . 22,1 847) a t the critica l period

in tha t hot but successful engagement with the

Mexicans when Wool was j oined by the force

under General ! achary Taylor Old Rough and

Ready as the la tter was familiarly ca lled).

Later on we know,however

,he was summoned

by Genera l Scott to Vera Cruz,where he became

on e of the Commander in -chief’s wa r council, an d ,

as we have already related, a member of h is per



empire of Iturbide,was the dictator ofthe amal

gam of States which now represented the once

mighty empire ofMontezuma an d wha t rema ined

of the historic Spanish Conquest . The country

was in a parlous sta te,with disorganiza tion and

conflict going on in a lmost every section of the

Republic. It had,however

,purged itself of the

taint of slavery by decrees issued in 1 827,an d

again and finally, in 1 837. Aga inst American in

vasion it was naturally opposed, believing that the

United States had no righteous cla im to the terri

tory in Texa s lying to the south of the Neuces,

and therefore it resisted ! achary Taylor’s taking

possession ofthe region for the American Govern

ment southward to the Rio Grande . As we h ave

seen,the Mexican troops under Arista were re

pea ted ly defea ted in opposing Taylor’s aggression

,

and had also been worsted on her own un ques

tion ed side of the Rio . The Mexicans had now

fa llen back successively, but still sought to ma in

tain resistance to American arms . O f Genera l

Scott’s campaign,so far as undertaken

,we have

a lso seen the result . in the surrender of Vera

Cruz,with the capitula tion of its defensive force

an d its seven thousand inhabitants . Now this

forward movement was about to . be launched ,over some two hundred miles ofdifficult country,


to the Mexican capital . It was the middle of

April (1 847)before the expedition was in shape to

proceed,and when it did

,it met its first serious

obstacle at Cerro Gordo,fifty miles northwest of

Vera Cruz . Here Santa Anna and his Mexican s

had posted themselves in a strong position on the

heights around a rugged mountain pass,with a

battery commanding every turn of the road .

To the reconn oissance of CaptainLee and Lieu

tenant Beauregard,both of the E ngineers corps

,

Winfield Scott was indebted for discovering a

pathway,which a little engineering effort made

practicable,for a flank attack upon the enemy.

Over this route light batteries were hauled and

placed in position fo r efi ective work while Gen

eral Twiggs’division,led by Captain Lee

,a d

van ce d and opened a fusilade which drove the

outposts of the Mexicans from the ravine back

upon the hill slopes of Cerro Gordo , This prelim

in ary achievement was effected over night, and

in, the early morning of the 1 8th of April the

batteries opened a destructive fire, and three col

umus of American troops gallantly advanced,

while the fighting d ivisions of Generals Twiggs

and Worth stormed the heights in front,and

,in

spite of a stout resistan ce,finally carried them

,

though at the cost of much bloodshed . Lee .p er


son ally leading a column ofmen,now stole OE

to turn the enemy’s left,which he at length suc

cee d e d in doing, the Mexicans taking to flight

down the Jalapa road,leaving behind themnot

only their dead,but much oftheir ammunition

,

small arms,and cannon . Our troops continued

to press the enemy back,to Jalapa

,making an

ascent above the valley road during the day of

over feet,meanwhile capturing many of

Santa Anna’s men .

For Lee’s share in the successes of the day,

General Scott paid suitable and hearty ackn owl

e d gmen t, besides raising him to the brevet rankofmajor . His skill as an engineer enabled him

to be of much and varied service to the Com

mander-in -ch ief during the progress of the cam

paig n while he was also highly useful in e x pe

rien ced scouting work, in which his bravery an d

venturesomeness at times led him into no little

personal peril . This was the case shortly a fter the

victory at Cerro Gordo,when on a reconnoissance

in advance of the army he escaped Mexican

vigilance only by concealing himself a ll one a fter

noon under a fallen t ree, until nightfa ll enabled

him to issue from his hiding-place and rega in

the outposts ofthe invading force . A like hero

ism and disregard ofhimself characterized Major

IN THE ME! ICAN WAR . 35

Lee at both Churubusco and Contreras,where

,

for his d istinguished services he received a further

step in the line of promotion,this time to the

brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel . Almost con

stan tly in the saddle, he was not only actively

occupied in his own important duties as an en

g in eer officer and counsellor to his Commander

in-chief in the difficulties that lay in the path of

the advance,but he was also ofmuch service

,

when a battlewas on,in carrying General Scott’s

orders to sections ofhis command,even at much

peril to himself . In the interesting Memoir of

Lee by his nephew,Fitzhugh Le e

,the renowned

cavalry commander, Ma j or Lee’s distinguished

services in this Mexican campaign are thus at

tested His deeds of personal daring,his

scientific counsels,his coup d

’aez

'

l of the battle

field,his close personal recon nmssan ces under

the scorching rays of a tropical sun,amid the

lighting’s flash o r thunder’s roa r,d id much to

fashion the key which unlocked the ga tes of the

Golden City . The reports ofhis commander are

filled with commendations ofhis bravery That

he was as famous for felicitous execution as for

science and daring that a t Chapultepec Captain

Lee was constantly conspicuous, bearing import

an t orders ’from him,

‘ till he fa inted from a

36 LIFE OF GE NERAL LE E .

wound and the loss of two nights’sleep at the

batteries .’ This veteran general,

” Fitzhugh

Le e adds,“ in referring afterward to this cam

paig n , was heard to say that his success in Mex

ico was largely due to the skill,valor

,and uh

daunted courage ofRobert E . Lee,

’and that he

was the grea test military genius in America,the

best soldier that he ever saw in the field,and tha t,

if opportunity offered,he would show himself the

foremost captain ofhis time .’

We are, however, anticipating, for there is

considerable yet to be told of the incidents of the

campaign ere the Mexican capita l was taken and

the unhappy war brought to a close . When the

Mexicans fell back on Ja lapa,Scott’s command

followed the enemy up, drove themout ofthe

place,an d pushed on and occupied Puebla . Here

a ha lt of two months took place, to enable the

American force,exhausted by the rapid advance

during the hottest months of the year,to pull it

self together,awa i t reinforcements from the

coast,drill and make them effi cient when they ar

rived . On August 7th,the forward movement

again began,an d by the 1 9th and 2otb of the

month three stubbornly fought ba ttles took place,parts of on e genera l encounter with the enemy,namely those ofContrera s, Churubusco, and San


Antonio . The issue ofeach engagement was the

same— the rout of the Mexican s,an d their rear

ward flig ht even to the ga tes ofthe capital . At

this juncture,an arm istice was mutually agreed

upon,to permit the negotiations ofthe American

commissioner, Nicholas P . Trist,who was ih

structed to offer the Mexicans peace upon certain

conditions before further blood was shed in the

alternative assault upon the City ofMexico . The

armistice,however

,came to nought

,and taoti

cally was a maladroit proposal it lasted from

August 23rd to September 7th . On the latter

day the fighting was resumed, Molino d el Rey

being then atta cked and carried by assault,while

San ta Anna and his tr00ps fled from the place .

By the 1 2th of the month,the struggle was re ‘

newed by the American batteries opening fire

upon the stronghold of Chapultepec , and by an

assault upon the place by Scott’s combined force,

which met with a desperate an d bloody resist

ance . Finally,the place was stormed by a plucky

d ash,when the Mex icans became panic-stricken

,

abandoned their defensive works,and fled in con

fusion .

I t was here,at Chapultepec

,that Lee was

wounded,though fortunately not very seriously .

In the campaign, other ofhis Southern brother


Officers snfi e re d a lso from casualties in the field

among them being Joseph E . Johnston (la ter on

the renowned Confedera te commander), Long

street,Magruder, General Shields, Capta in Mason,

and others . The Mexican war,indeed

,was an

excellent active training-school to numbers of

men who,in the War of the Rebellion, were to

become distinguished under both the Federal an d

the Confederate flag . O f these,besides Robert

E . Lee,the following were among the Mexican

campa igners Ulysses S . Grant, Albert Sidney

Johnston,Joseph Hooker

,Braxton Bragg

,Jubal

E arly,George Gordon Meade

,George B . Mc

Clellan,Irvin McDowell

,George H . Thomas

,

Gideon J . Pillow,Ambrose P . Hill

,T . J . Stone

wall ”) Jackson . Their swords,then drawn for

victory against a common fo e,

” as Fitzhugh Le e

admirably puts it,were

,fourteen years la ter

,

“ to be pointed against each other’s breast,a n d

those who slept beneath the same blanket,drank

from the same canteen,and formed those ties

of steel which a re strongest when pled ged amid

common d angers around a common mess-table,

were to be marshalled under the banners of

Opposing armies .

Wha t the common d angers in the Mexican

war then were,Le e himself relates with pathos



grief ofa little girl how he had the dying Mexi

can taken OE the boy,and how gra teful the little

girl was . Her large black eyes,

” he said,were

streaming with tears, her hands crossed over her

breast her ha ir in on e long plait behind reached

her waist,her shoulders and arms bare

,and with

out stockings o r shoes . Her plaintive tone of

‘Mille g r a cious, Sig n or ,’as I ha d the dying man

lifted ofl the boy and both carried to the hospital,still lingers in my ear . After I had broken

away through the Chaparral and turned to

ward Cerro Gordo I mounted Creole,who stepped

over the dead men with such care as if she feared

to hurt them but when I started with the

dragoons in the pursuit,she was as fierce as pos

sible, and I could hardly hold her .”

”4, Nor was Robert E . Lee less courageous than

tender and humane, as we learn from General

Winfield Scott’s own account in his despatches

to Washington,or in after-reminiscences of the

war by some of his contemporary staff.

officers in

the campaign . One of the latter recounts Lee’s

daring in an action preceding the battle ofCon

tre ras, when General Scott’s troops had become

separated on the field Of Pe d rig a l, and it was nec

essary to communicate instructions to those on the

other side of the barrier ofrocks and lava .

”At

IN THE ME! ICAN WAR . 1

this crisis,General Scott

,as set forth in his r e

port,states that he had sent seven Officers after

sundown to give them their instructions, but a ll

returned without getting through , save the gal

lant and indefatigable Captain Lee of the E ngi

n e ers,who has been constantly with the Operating

forces . Subsequently Scott (to quote again

from his biographer), while giving testimony b e

fore a court of inquiry said Captain Lee

came to me from Contreras with a message from

Brigadier-Genera l Smith . I think about the

same time (midnight)he, having passed over the

difficult ground by daylight, found it just possible

to return on foot and alone to St . Augustine in

the dark,the greatest feat ofphysical and moral

courage performed by any individual to my

knowledge during the campaign .

”

The successful close of the war was hailed by

all with feelings ofrelief this was especially the

case with Colonel Le e,and indeed with the entire

command under General Scott and his divisional

commanders . After the brilliant assault on Cha

pultepec and the overpowering ofthe enemy at the

ga tes of the capital, the City ofMexico was en

te red and taken possession of. Before its official

surrender,Santa Anna and the chief civic au

thorities had fled from the place but representa


tives ofthe Republic were there, with whom the

American Commissioner arranged the terms uponwhich the wa r was to close and the country be

relieved of its conquering invaders . After some

haggling,peace was finally declared

,and the

American troops,in due course

,withdrew

,the

military power of Mexico having in the war

been broken as well as humiliated . By the Peace

Trea ty,which was negotiated at Guadalupe

Hidalgo, Feb . 2,1 848

,subsequently ratified by

both sides,the United States secured the rights

contended for to the southwestern territory of

Texas as far as the Rio Grande . The Treaty,

moreover,added New Mexico and California to

the nationa l domain though a monetary com

pen sation therefor was to be pa id to Mexico, of

fifteen million dollars,while the Un ited States

assumed the claims ofher citizens against the R e

public,who had suffered in the war

,to the ex

tent Of three an d a half millions more .

It was toward the end Of May (1 848) before

Colonel Lee was free to — leave the City of Mexico

to return homeward , though a month la ter hewas

rejoiced once more to be at Arlington and in the

bosom ofhis family . Public recognition of his ser

vices in Mexico came later, in 1 852, when, after the

resumption of his professional work o n the Gov~


e rnmen t defenses at Baltimore, he was appointedsuperintendent of the U . S . Military Academy at

West Point . General Winfield Scott, the Commander-in-Chief

,an attached and admiring friend

ofLee , was,on the other hand , somewhat scurvily

treated by the War Department . Owing to some

difficulty with a subordinate general Offi cer in

Mexico,he had to submit to the annoyance of a

General Court OfInquiry . Congress, meanwhile,applied a solatium to the wounded feelings of the

old veteran by awarding him a gold medal an d

the thanks oftheLegislature . Later, the auth o ri

ties made amends to the old warrior by ra ising

him to the rank of Lieutenant-General,the first

creation of that high titula r office in the United

States army . General ! achary Taylor,the hero

of Buena Vista and of a lon g list of earlier

triumphs,fared better

,having on his return from

the Va lley of the Rio Grande received the thanks

ofCongress, accompanied by a gold medal while

his popularity in the nation gained himthe nomin ation

,on the Whig ticket

, ofthe Presidency .

His inauguration to that elevated Office took pla ce

Mar . 4 , 1 849, though his death unhappily occurred

July 9th in the following year .

CHAPTE R IV.

THE INTERVAL BETWEEN THE ME! ICAN WAR AND

THE WAR FOR THE UNION.

COLONEL LE E,in 1 852

,entered actively on his

duties as head of the U . S . Military Academy a t

West Point, from which he had himself so credit

ably graduated in 1 829. At this period,his eldest

son, G . W . Custis Lee,was a pupil ofthe in stitu

tion , and, like his father before him,stood high

in his cla ss and graduated two years later as

cadet-adjutant,also following the pa ternal bent

,

Of choosing to serve in the E ngineers . Colonel

Lee’s administration of the Academy lasted for

three years,and

,like everything he did

,it was

characterized by efficiency and ability . He had

ever a high sense of duty,and was assiduous in

in cula tin g it not only in his sons, but in all who

were at any time subordinate to him . On his r e

tirement from the superintendency ofthe Acad

emy,Le e was assigned to the Cavalry branch of

the U . S . military service,two new Cavalry regi

ments having just then been raised for duty in the44

BEFORE THE WAR FOR THE UNION . 45

West,to give increased military protection in

tha t section,where settlement was fast making

inroads,and where

,in Kansas an d Texas espe

cially, there was at the time considerable men

ace from marauding bands Of Indians under the

Comanche chief Ca tumseh . Though hitherto

an E ngineer Officer Of eminence, he took kindly to

the Cavalry service ; nevertheless, he withdrew

from his own pa rticular branch Ofthe profession

Of arms,in which he had greatly distinguished

himself,with regret . Moreover

,he was fond of

horses and much accustomed to be in the saddle

while many from his own State and section ofthe

country were entering the Cavalry service,after

wards to gain distinction in it as Confederate

commanders . One Of these was Albert Sidney

Johnston,who was given the“ colonelcy of the

second Cavalry corps,while Colonel Lee was ap

pointedLieutenant-Colonel . The destination ofthe

corps was Western Texa s ; an d thither the regi

ment went,a fter Colonel Johnston had established

his headquarters a t Louisville,Ky .

,where Lt .

-Col .

Lee joined it, proceeding la ter to Jefl erson Bar

racks, Missouri, thence to active duty in Texas .

Before reaching Texas, Lt .

-Col . Lee was deta iled

for service on a court-martial in Kansas,the

occasion being the trial of an assistant army

46 LIFE OF GENER AL LE E .

surgeon who had left his station during the prev

a lence of an a larming epidemic . On rej oining

the regiment in Texas,the la tter became broken

into detachments , ordered for duty over a fa r

reaching a rea . This was rendered necessary by

the wide stretch of frontier the regiment had

then to guard,there being as yet few towns an d

no ra ilways in the Territory . Pa rts of it were

scattered over the region from the Rio Grande

far to the north-westward,Lee himself doing duty

at one time a t Ringgold Barra cks, at another at

Camp Cooper,on on e of the forks of the Brazos

River,an d a t still another a t Fort Brown . His life

a t this time could not have been much to his liking,for the region was still in th e rough

,and regiment

al officers of Lee’

s standing and eminence,cut off

to a large extent as they were from the comforts

an d elegancies they ha d at home been a ccustomed

to,could find little to compensate

,and less to

interest,them in a country yet in the wild sta te

where the United States ma ils h a d to be tran s

ported from post to post by armed soldiers on

mules,often over long strips of dreary, unin

habited country . Nor was there any a ctive duty

worthy of their prowess . All there was consisted,

for the most part,of scouting duty, performed

amid much discomfort an d frequent sickness, when


BEFOR E THE WAR FOR THE UNION .

the stations were unhealthy,and occasionally in

no little peril from the poisoned arrows of

treacherous Indians shot at them from ambush .

The life was n ow and then varied by visits to

dirty Indian camps,for a parley with their chiefs

,

who it was Often found,however

,were fine

specimens of nature’s children and magnificent

horsemen,their nomadic life making them

active,vigilant

,and a foe not to be despised .

”

While Lee was in the West,b e naturally main

taine d a regular and affectionate correspondence

with his family at Arlington,and longed Often

to be back to'

them and to civiliza tion . At this

period, the autumn Of 1 857, the dea th of his

father-in -law,Mr . Custis, reca lled him for a time

to his home . The latter’s wife h ad predeceased

him and now with his own dea th the Arlington

House esta te came into the possession ofColonel

Lee’s wife,Mary Custis Le e

,together with the

Arlington h eirlooms and family plate . Un fo r

tun ate ly , the fine historic property was ere long

n ow to be lost to the Lees , in the calamitous out

break Of the civil wa r , while the family slaves

were given their freedom by the good-will an d

humanity of their fond master an d ) mistress .

That the sectional struggle,now about to ensue ,

was foreseen by Lee and by all though tful observ

LIFE OF GENERAL LE E .

ers need hardly be said . Though Lee personally

took no part in politics,he could not be

,n or was

he, ignorant of the sectional strife by which it was

preceded still less was he indifferent to the out

break Of the calamity,dreadful as it was sure to

be to the antagonists on either side .

Already the Federal tie which had bound the

States in on e family since the Revolution was

loosening,owing to the growing abolition senti

ment in the North,which

,on con scientious moral

grounds,as well as from the fact that she was an

industria l an d commercial community,was op

posed to slavery in the South (an agricultural and

cotton-g rowin g section) and to its extension in the

new states an d territories of the Union . The

anti-slavery sentiment was resented by the South

as an intolerable interference with its na tural,

though peculiar,institution

,which not only had

imposed restrictions on its extension in the new

an d fast-settling regions of the country, but

sough t to proscribe an d eliminate it in the South .

Th is resistance speedily showed itself in the new

theories which h a d now become preva lent in the

Southern ha lf of the Union as to sta te-sovereignty

an d the so-called state-rights in the cotton

growing section an d a long the border States . The

first practica l step taken towards secession was

BEFOR E THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 49

manifested by South Carolina,which was the

earliest to take action among the irreconcilable

sisterhood in the South . This step she took Dec .

20th,1 860

,then declaring the Union dissolved, as

far as she was concerned,and setting forth the

reasons for her course with regard to repeal and

the erection Of an independent State government .

The chief reason assigned was the threatened

Federal interference with slavery,following upon

Mr . Lincoln’s election to the Presidency of the

United States . A like attitude was taken by

other of her sister States,which ere long (before

the inauguration of Lincoln,March 4th

,1 861)

j oined her in revolt these were Mississippi,Lou

isian a,Florida

,Alabama

,Georgia

,and Texas .

These Sta tes not only seceded from the Union,

but seized the military posts and national prop

e rty within their severa l Sta te jurisdictions .

The motive of secession was the same in all,

namely,unmistakable j ealousy Of their favored in

stitution ofslavery, and the desire to perpetuate it

within the area ofthe seceding States . The prin

ciple which governed their joint action was that

embodied in the const itutional theories held and

propounded by Ca lhoun,viz . , tha t each Sta te was

in its own right sovereign and an independent

entity,

an interpretation of the Constitution


radically at variance With the views held by the

people and their leading statesmen in the North ,who maintained tha t the United States Was a

n ation,on e and indivisible

,and by their moral

sense opposed,at least

,to the extension of slavery

,

and dedicated,in so far as practicable

,to free

labor . This was the Opinion held and expressed

by Mr. Lincoln in his first Inaugura l,but more

decidedly affirmed in his message to Congress of

July 4,1 861

,where he insisted that the individua l

States had no other lega l status in the na tiona l

commonwealth than tha t of the Union,and that

none of them had a Constitution independent of

the Union and hence,if it is broken

,o r if any Of

them dissevered themselves from it, they did so

against law and only by revolutionary process .

In justice, it must be said, that not all the aboli

tion ists o fthe North viewed Secession in this ex

treme and disputed light . Many,on the contrary

,

deemed the view of a centra lized government as

a nationa l compact between all the Sta tes not to

be broken or dissevered as an autocra tic and ag

g ressive on e,fraught with peril to the stability

and perpetuation of the Union . Among those who

took the more cautious a n d reasonable side in the

distracting controversies of the time were men

like DanielWebster,who

,with Clay and Calhoun


of the South , protested against the aggressions

a n d heedlessness ofabolitionism while men,like

Horace Greeley and Henry W’

a rd Beecher, were

Opposed to coercion and took action with the Border

States as peacemakers,by desiring that the South ,

if she wished it,should withdraw in pea ce . As to

the lega l right of an y State under the Constitution

to secede,there were others aga in who took on e o r

the other side Of the controversy,an d by their

contentions added to the ferment and disquiet of

the time . On this fie rcely-deba ted question not a

few of the best minds ofthe era were a t issue with

each other while there were those who,without

rashly committing themselves to either side,took

the ground,like Secretary Sewa rd

,tha t there was

a “ Higher Law,

” above the Constitution,whose

moral dictates were worthy ofbeing impera tively

heard,a n d which

,as in Mr . Seward’s ca se

,con

d emn ed slavery out and out, an d incited theNorthto ban it by force from the na tion .

As we ca lmly look back now on the distracting

period,with the knowled ge we historica lly have of

the issues of the contest— the result lar g ely ofthe

rabid and inflammatory appea ls addressed to the

North by the abolitionists— we can see tha t there

was much reason for a more sane and restrained

judgment,and for less ofthe extravagant an d

59 LIFE OF GENE RAL LE E .

melodramatic censure of negro slavery and the

fugitive slave law,to which the period was

recklessly treated in public speeches and in parti

san appeals through the medium of fiction such

as that of Uncle Tom’s Cabin .

”E ven eman

cipation ,had it been brought about slowly an d

dispassionately,was a most difficult problem

,

especially in the absence in the negro of adequate

preliminary training for freedom,and of due

precautionary measures for the self-interest an d

safety alike of slave and of master . Slavery

might be a curse and a blight to the South— a n d

doubtless it was,as it has been

,wherever it has

existed— but the fact that it was this hardly

justified intemperate and vituperative denuncia

tion ofthose who treated the slave well,as it was

the economic interest of the master,a s well as

creditable to his humanity,to do while it led

,as

it did,to the most untoward event in the annals

Of the nation— disunion and its frightful con

sequences to both sides in the prolonged and

calamitous Civil War .

But it is time to return to Colonel Lee and the

th eme proper Of our biography . In the distract

in g controversies of the period we have been

dea ling with , he, as we have a lready Indicated,

took no pe rsona l,an d still less a public

,part . The



storms and tempests of fiery controversy . While

we see the course Of the fin a l abolition of human

slavery is still onward, and give it the aid Of our

prayers,and all justifiable means in our power

,

we must,

’ he adds,leave the progress as well as

the result in His hands who sees the end,who

chooses to work by slow influences,and with whom

a thousand years are but as a single day .

” At

the same time,he termed Secession nothing but

revolution , and dreaded no greater calamity for

the country than a dissolution of the Union .

The framers ofour Constitution,

” he writes,in

January,1 861 , in a letter to his son,

“ never ex

hauste d so much labor, wisdom,and forbearance

in its formation , and surrounded it with so many

guards an d securities,if it was intended to be

broken .by every member of the Confederacy at

will . Still,

” he is careful to a d d,a Union

that can only be ma inta ined by swords and

bayonets,and in which strife and civil war are to

take the pla ce of brotherly love and kindness,

has no charm for me . I sha ll mourn for my

country and for the welfare and progress of

mankind . If the Union is dissolved,and the

government disrupted,

” he concludes,

“ I sha ll

return to my na t ive Sta te an d share the miseries

ofmy people, an d , save in defense, will drawmy


sword on none . E lsewhere he patriotically I

declared,that “ if he owned all the negroes in the

South he would gladly yield them up for the pres

e rvation of the Union These are brave and in

spiring words to come from on e who was soon n ow'

to be termed by the North “ rebel and chief

among rebels ; but whose whole past testified to

the fidelity ofa loyal and true gentleman,alike to

the Union and to the Constitution,as they were

founded and established by the Fathers .

Meanwhile matters political were fast ap

proachin g a crisis in the country, for the John

Brown raid upon Harper’s Ferry had taken place,

and a wild scheme was formed by this hero-fana

tic and his nineteen followers to free the slaves

ofthe South , though it bore on its fa ce the de

sign, if not the intent, of inciting a servile war .

When it occurred and the U . S . arsenal ha d been

seized by Brown and his meager band, Lee was

on furlough at Arlington to settle his deceased

father-in -law’s affairs . Being on the spot,the

Secretary ofWa r summoned him to proceed to

Harper’s Ferry with some marines and four companics Of soldiers from Fort Monroe to quell

the trouble ; which Lee promptly did, Brown

and a portion of his fana tical following being

captured in a hiding-place in which they had


sought refuge and were turned over to the civil

authorities . John Brown,as all know

,was sub

sequently tried on a charge of treason and con

spiracy, found guilty, sentenced,an d executed ;

while Colonel Le e returned to Washington,and

from Arlington he once more proceeded to his

command in Texas . Here,in ga rrison at San

Antonio,Lee spent his last year of service under

the United Sta tes flag,for on Februa ry 1 3

,1 861 ,

when Texa s ha d withdrawn from the Union,

he delivered over his authority at Fort Mason

and repaired to the national capital,at the sum

mons of the Secretary ofWar.

On his return to Washington,Lee was con

fronted with ah embarrassing and pa inful situ

a tion . Not only h a d seven of the Sta tes of the

South pa ssed ordinances of secession and seized

United States forts within their State juris

dictions,but his own loved commonwealth Of

Virginia was on the brink ofwithdrawing from

the Union . This action was followed ere long

by other States,while the Southern Confederacy

was forma lly inaugurated— if we may not saylegalized— by the installation of Jefi erson Davis

as its president . As president Of the Union

G overnment,Abraham Lincoln was installed in

Offi ce, and presently made his call for


troops to suppress insurrection ary violence and

oppose the secession of the slave-holding States .

The period was obviously on e Of intense excite

ment, for coercion on the part Of the United

States government over the disaffected States

that had arrayed themselves against Federal

authority and taken themselves out ofthe Union,

was an unusual,as it was a n extreme

,course

,

and naturally affected the attitude of most of

the Southern officers who were then serving in

the Union a rmy . TO Colonel Lee,the struggle

between his sense ofduty and attachment to his

n ative Sta te, in conflict with loyalty in his own

breast to the country he had so long and faith

fully served,was a distressing and pa inful on e .

E specially was it this when he realized what co

ercion meant, and that coercion would be the

penalty to be paid by h is own State of Virginia

when,as presently happened

,she j oined the

sisterhood of States embraced in the Southern

Confederacy . Aga inst his own State he could

n o t,ofcourse

,draw his sword, still less could he

stand idly by when she was menaced and a t

tacked by the Federal power as a commonwealthin revolt fromUnion authority . In his mind

there was nothing of sectional enmity or hatred,

only love for his native State, and sorrow over

‘

5; LIFE OF GENERAL LE E .

the dire conditions that had arisen to compel her

to withdraw from the North and join her forces

with those of the Confederacy .

Into the vortex of war the two sections of the

Republic soon now drifted,an d with Lincoln’s

call for troops an d the War Department’s prep

a ra tion s to invade the South,Colonel Lee’s men

tal struggle as to wha t he should do came to an

e n d . H is devotion to the Union ha d hitherto

delayed his action and made infirm his will ;while it brought him overtures from the authori

ties to take command of the proposed a rmy of

invasion,which

,of course, was repugnant to him

,

and,in declining

,he a t the same time handed in

his resignation as an officer of the United States

a rmy . His period of sore tria l was,happily

,now

soon over,though it cost him much to quit the

service with which he had been so long an d hon

o r ab ly connected and separa te himself from his

o ld comrades in the Union a rmy an d his friends

and associates in the North . To Genera l Win

field Scott,who loved him as a son an d pleaded

with him aga inst resigning, he wrote a kindly

letter of regret at parting with him,while ao

knowledging his appreciation of a long and cor

dia l friendship . His resignation was a ccepted

April 20th and three days later the Legis

BEFORE THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 59

lature ofVirginia authorized the Governor Of the

State to Offer Lee command of the military forces

of the State, with the rank of Major-General .

This changed the course of his career,and for

the future identified himself with the cause of

the South,in which he played so conspicuous and

strenuous a part , shedding glory upon its arms,despite the final issue of the long and bloody

conflict . Taking leave once more of Arlington

and its loved inmates,Lee repaired to Richmond

,

Va . and to his new duties as commander-in-chief

Of the army of Virginia .

CHAPTE R V

THE OPPOSING FORCE S PR EPAR ING FOR CONFLICT.

THE two sections of the riven Union,when

Major-General Lee betook himself to Richmond,

were speedily n ow to come together in the clash

Of arms . Already,the weakly-garrisoned and

badly-provisioned Federal Fort Sumter,in Charles

ton harbor,had been the Object ofSouthern attack

and occupation by a Confederate force under Gen

era l Beauregard . Major Anderson and his slender

Northern command evacuated the Fort on April

1 4th (1 861) with the honors ofwar, the Confed

e rates permitting its temporary defenders to board

the Federal Steamship Ba ltic,lying on the

bar,and convey themto New York . Contem

porary with the fall of Fort Sumter, sympathy

with Secession showed itself in rioting in Balti

more,a street mob there

,being exasperated over

the passing through the city ofa body of Massa

chusetts and Pennsylvania troops bound for

Washington,assailed them.with stones and other

missiles . The troops,resenting the insult paid60



to the North early in the war , such as those at

Big Bethel,near Yorktown

,and at Rich Moun

ta in and Laurel Ridge,in the valley ofVirgin ia

,

followed by the more important victory for the

South at Bull Run, with its humiliating and

disastrous rout of the Northern troops backward

upon Wa shington .

Still darker fo r theNorth was the prospect when,

besides the secession of the seven Southern States,

came the breaking away from the Union of

Virginia,North Carolina

,Tennessee

,and Ar

kansas,together with the subsequent recognition

by Great Britain and Fran ce of the Confederate

Government and their according it belligerent

rights,following upon the Northern proclamation

Of a blockade of the Southern ports . In these

fateful times,the North

,though slow to realize

the rift within the Union lute, and hardly dreaming

that the Southerners were serious in their estrange

ment fromtheir Northern brethren, was meanwhile full ofunrequisitioned resource, alike in men

and in money while her people, when they awoke

from their lethargy,were ardently bent on , as well

as pa triotically zealous for , the prosecution of the

wa r . The firing upon and capture ofFort Sumter,however incredibly the report of its occurring was

at first received,aroused and made indignant the

PREPARING FOR CONFLICT. 63

North ; while it brought her people to face the

rea lity and braced them to the point of armed

coercion . Here and there,dissent from the latter

was heard,and doubt cast upon the prospect ofan

“ irrepressible conflict . ” In these quarters,hope

ofreconcilia tion was still clung to,and much was

made of the sentimenta lly viewed spectacle of

brother shedding brother’s blood . The day of

peace , however, had gone by, an d hope ofarresting

civil war before it had passed the appeals ofargu

ment and the bounds ofrea son was now seen to

be futile . In the South,on the other hand

,there

was more inflexibility as well as unity ; while,at first

,its government was better prepared for a

conflict,and it knew

,moreover

,that the North

was n o t . Subjugation by the North was,as yet

,

hardly d reamed of while Southern invasion Of

the North and the capture ofWashington were

widely enterta ined ideas as well a s hopefully

deemed projects . Had Ma ryland,Kentucky

,and

Missouri jo In e d the Confedera cy, as a t one time

seemed probable,the scenes of the coming conflict

would more likely have been the North rather

than the South,and possibly with another than

the after historica l result . Aside from this,and

from the con stitutiona l argument involved in the

question of the right ofSecession, the North had


the advantage ofpossessing a moralmotive,with

the prestige it natura lly gave it,in the conflict ;

while the South fa ta lly handicapped itself by

fighting,in the main

,for the preserva tion Of

its favored institution . The doctrine of human

chattelhood,to an enlightened an d religious

world, was the South’s moral condemna tion

,an d

as fanatica l was its adherence to and preaching

of this as were fana tical the extreme views and

the hysterical incitement to aggression o n the

part ofNorthern abolitionists . The better minds

of the South obviously saw and admitted this

though they could ill brook the sectiona l in tole r

ance of the North,and so took the stand they did ,

further influenced by the loca l cla ims ofthe region

and the ties of family connection a n d tradition

in the Sou th . With them,D isunion was not so

much their motive— indeed,by many it was d is

tin ctly disavowed— as the believed right they h a d

ofsepara tion,coupled

,as in the case of Ma j or

Genera l Le e,with an ardent a ffection for their

native State,loya lty to its interests

,and the cla im

each section h a d to its sons’a llegiance an d succor

when in j eopa rdy,or when it had become the

Object ofmenace and aggression by the government of wha t was deemed ‘ a sectional and

minority President . ”

PR EPAR ING FOR CONFLICT. 65

To the North,it was unfortunate that the crisis

that had come upon the country had found it un

prepared for the pending conflict,and that

,when

it was launched,it was a t once paralyzed as well

as dismayed at the immedia te result . The effect

ofthis on the South was naturally encouraging,while the Confederates were more united and ingreater earnest

,and possessed

,moreover

,the

abler army leaders,in such experienced generals

and clever tacticians as Lee,Johnston

,Long

street, and Stonewall Jackson . It was, on the

other hand,at a disadvantage in having little

of a navy,and was consequently unable to cope

with the sea-power resources of the North in

blockading and investing Southern ports , with

the fine fighting qualities and admirable sea

manship manifested by men like Farragut,Foote

,

and Porter . In command of the sinews of war,

the South was also at a disadvantage compared

with the North,though the drain even upon the

latter became,as we know

,unprecedentedly great

and most embarrassing to its financial backers

at home and abroad,a s well as to the distracted

Administration at Washington . This was espe

cially the case in the later stages in the war, when

the nationa l currency ha d greatly depreciated,

and when the North was staggering under its


burdensome load of taxation,with a national debt

which had risen from about in 1 860

to over in the autumn of1 865. In

this respect,the South had its own perplexities

and troubles,in Spite ofheavy levies in the way

of taxation,its risky

,surreptitious sales of cotton

and the grea tly-needed provisions it Obtained for

this,when it succeeded in passing the vigilant

blockade and paying loot to the army ofprivate

speculators . With all in its favor,or could pro

cure by hook o r by crook,the Southern army

was Often in sore straits for daily rations,having

Often to rely almost solely on corn mea l while it

was usually sadly deficient in tents for shelter,as

well as in shoes,clothing

,and blankets . The

facilities fo r caring for the sick and wounded were

also Often lamentably indifferent ; while the pri

vation s endured by even the strong and the well

on the march,or when being transported in close

bo x -cars from place to place,were at times too

harrowing fo r words .

The curta in ofwar was now,however, rung up,

and from the general aspects of the struggle as it

aflecte d both combatants we pass to describe, in

some reasonable deta il,the chief incidents in the

eventful drama . The Federa l Administration we

have seen , had received Lincoln as its presiding


head , and he was judicious in the selection Of a Cab

inet,which was composed, as a whole , of e x pe ri

e n ced as well as able Northern statesmen . The

Vice-President wasHannibal Hamlin,who , in 1 864 ,

when Lincoln was elected fo r another term of

office,was replaced by Andrew Johnson in the

subordinate post,and who became his successor .

The more prominent of Mr . Lincoln’s advisers

were Sewa rd,Chase

,an d Cameron

,a ll of whom

ha d been influential in the political circles of the

capital . To these were entrusted the secretary

ships , respectively, of the State Department ,the Treasury

,and the War Office . Secretary

Sewa rd remained during the war at the head of

the Sta te Department,though Chase

,in 1 864

,

when he was created chief-justice of the Supreme

Court,gave place at the head of the Treasury to

Fessenden,and later on to MacCulloch ; while

Cameron,in 1 862

,gave way to E . M . Stanton in

the control of the War Department . TO Gideon

Wells fell the post of Secretary of the Navy ;Montgomery Blair became Postmaster-General ;Ca leb B . Smith

,Secretary of the Interior ; and

E dward Bates was appointed Attorney-General .

The representa tive department heads of the

Southern cause,who had been Officia lly installed

at Montgomery,Ala . under Jefferson Davis (of


Miss .) as President of the Confederate Govern

ment,with A . H . Stephens (of Ga .) as Vice

President,were : Robert Toombs (of Secre

tary of State ; C . G . Memminger (Of S .

Secretary of the Treasury ; and L. P . Wa lker

(of Secretary ofWar . To these were later

appointed S . R . Mallory (of Secretary of

the Navy ; and J . H . Reagan (of Texa s), Post

master-General . The chief change in the above

posts was’

that which gave to Judah Philip Ben

jamin,in 1 861

,the Secretaryship ofWar

,and from

February 1 862,to the collapse of the Confeder

acy,the Secretaryship Of State . Later on

,the

headquarters of the Confederate Government was

transferred from Montgomery,Ala . ,

to Rich

mond,Va . ,

and thither,after his withdrawal

from the military service ofthe Union,did Major

General Lee,as we have related, proceed . Here

the distinguished son of Virginia met with a

hearty,vociferous welcome

,and that alike from

the Richmond populace and from the Virginia

convention,then in session

,and before which

,on

his coming to the capital,he had been invited to

appear . Governor Letcher had already nomin

ated himto the chief command ofthe military

forces of the Sta te, with the rank of major-gen

eral,and as such the convention

,together with



j oined her fortunes with those of the Confed

e racy . For this act Of loyalty to the Common

wealth of Virginia,he had to abandon his loved

Arlington,while he

,with his dear wife and a t

tach e d family,had become homeless

,save for

the temporary domicile in the White House,at

Pamunkey, in which his wife a n d children had

meanwhile found safety and shelter . But with

all the patriotic sacrifice he had been called upon

to make,Le e was not one to repine over duty

conscientiously performed . His attitude amid

the distractions an d perils of the time is well

shown at this j uncture in a letter to his wife

fromRichmond (under date May 8,

He

there says I grieve at the anxiety that d r Ives

you fromyour home . I can appreciate your

feelings on the occasion,and pray that you may

receive comfort and strength in the difficulties

that surround you . When I reflect Upon the

calamity pending over the country,

” he bravely

and resignedly adds, my own sorrows sink into

in sig n ifican ce .

” Very touching at this time is the

spirit shown by Lee’s noble wife, in a letter she

addressed to her husband’s admiring friend, the

aged Genera l Scott,giving him an a ccount ofher

worthy husband’s welcome by the Virginia Con

ven tion . Writing from Arlington (May 5, 1 861)


before quitting her ancestral home,she thus

addresses the veteran soldier : My dear Gen

eral : — Hearing that you desire to see the account

Ofmy husband’s reception in Richmond, I have

sent it to you . NO honors can reconcile us to

this fratricidal war which we would have laid

down our lives to avert . Whatever may happen,

I feel that I may expect from your kindness all

the protection you can in honor a fford . Nothing

can ever make me forget your kind appreciation

of Mr. Lee . If you knew all you would not think

so hardly Ofme . Were it not that I would n ot

add one feather to his load of care,nothing would

induce me to abandon my home . Oh,that you

could command peace to our distracted country !

Yours in sadness and sorrow,M . C . LE E .

” Less

than three weeks from the date of this epistle,

the paternal home of the Lee family had to be

abandoned, on the approach of an outpost of the

Federal army,wh ich made Arlington its head

quarters,while taking possession of the heights

of Washington and the region of the Potomac’sbanks as far as Alexandria .

CHAPTE R VI.

TH E DR AMA OPENS.

WHE N the Civil War was launched, the South

though confident and bold even to audacity,was

in numbers weak, as compared with the North

and the North-Western region,that threw in its

lot with the Union . O f the thirty-on e millionsrepresenting the population of the United Sta tes

according to the Census of 1 860,only some twelve

millions dwelt in the Slave States,and but nine

million s could be counted among the States of

the South that actually seceded, since the Slave

States Of Delaware,Maryland

,West Virginia

,

Kentucky,and Missouri, did not unite with the

Confederacy . O f these nine millions,it has to be

remember,moreover

,that about three an d a half

millions were slaves so that the entire strength

Of the Confederate States, in freemen, that broke

away from and defied the Union,was only some

five and a ha lf millions,of which

,in round

numbers, two and a half millions were women,72

THE DRAMA OPENs. 73

leaving but three m illions ofa possible figh ting

strength to be opposed,roughly speaking

,to three

times the number in the North . The disparity in

wealth and resources was also great , the pr epon

derance being vastly on the side of the Union . On

the other hand,the South was at the outset better

prepared for conflict,and had proportiona tely a

larger number of expert soldiers,used to arms

,

among them being many able Officers who ha d

seen considerable service in the Union army,an d

had a practical as well as a theoretical knowledge

of and genius for war . The South,moreover

,

was from the first in deadly earnest , and fought

in the main , on the defensive and on its own soil,and that n ot only for what it conceived to be its

rights in the institution of slavery,but for the

inherent right Of Secession,especially when its

interests and free,independent action were in

peril from Northern coercion and the clamor of

what was deemed incendiary abolition dictation

and fanaticism . In the view it took with regard

to these rig hts an d sectional claims, it looked at

the outset for a division ofsentiment in its favor

in the North and West, as well as for recognition

by,if not practical aid from, the E uropean

nations whose industry and commerce were depen

dent upon “ King Cotton .

” In the indulging of


these hopes it was largely disappointed,for the

West remained loyal to the Union ; while the

efi ectiven es'

s of the Northern blockade of the

Southern ports,and the absence ofa Confederate

navy,proved futile to Southern expectation of

E uropean interference and aid . Nor was it fin an

cially in a position to enter upon a prolonged

struggle,as was ere long seen in the collapse Of

the Confederate Government’s credit,depending

,

in the main,as it did upon issues ofpaper money

which so depreciated in value that towards the

close of the struggle it took $500 of Confederate

money to buy a pair Of trooper’s boots .

Another matter that favored the South through

out the course of the strugg le, was the unity of its

army organization, in the main, under a single

directing mind,on e who knew his men well

,and

that not only in units but in masses,and whom

his men knew and trusted in a remarkable degree .

In General Lee,moreover

,the Southern cause

had a commander capable offighting a battle on

a large scale,and who

,as an engineer Officer of

great ex perience and astuteness,possessed a

trained eye for adequate preliminary reconnais

sance,and for every coign of vantage in the field

and at the same time ha d phenomenal personal

qualities that gave him pre-eminence among the

THE DRAMA OPE Ns. 75

leaders of the South , while they removed him farabove self-seeking, petty j ealousy, and fretfulness

as to his rank-status or right to be where he was

and remained throughout the war . In contrast

with these things, the North, especially at the out

set of the war,had no such single Commander to

lead with confidence and unerring judgment an dpurpose its arms, o r who could bring on the field

masses of trained men,enured to fighting

,rather

than fresh,hastily mobilized units

,without stay

ing power in a hot encounter, and who had all the

inefficiency and timorousness Ofraw recruits . The

North,we know, did better later on in th e strug

gle,after it had got over its early chastening time

of d efeat and baffiemen t,and had fully roused

itself to bring its greater strength Of men and

re sources to bear upon the rebels and prosecute

the war with effect and vigor to its final and

successful issue . It did better, moreover, when

such leaders of its armies as Grant,Sherman

,

Sheridan,Rosecrans

,Pope

,and Thomas came

to the front and replaced or overshadowed men

of the lesser stamp like McClellan , Hancock,McDowell, Buell, Burnside, and

.

Meade ; though,at the best

,if we except Grant, whose bull-d og

tenacity and sledge-hammer though sanguinary

work told in the issues Of the conflict, with the


brilliant achievements of Sheridan and Sherman,

th e North had no such array of fighting generals,

skilful tacticians,an d strong

,sagacious leaders

as the South had in Le e , J . E . and A . S . Johnston,

Stonewall ” Jackson,Beauregard

,Bragg

,Hood

,

and E arly,who proved themselves foes it was folly

to underrate . Besides this disadvantage, the North

at the outset, moreover, made the palpable mistake

ofbelittling its Union adversaries, and was even

sceptical as to the imminence Of war though the

firing on Fort Sumter, the affair at Big Bethel,and d iscomfiture at Bull Run, with the flight of

Union forces back upon the capital,speedily unde

ceive d her and yet n ot to a greater or more

adequate extent than led President Lincoln,some

months before,to summon to the Nation’s aid a

defensive and aggressive force no heavier than

that of men,to serve for a period of only

three months

Meanwhile, as we know,the South was strain

ing every nerve not only to strengthen the assail

able sections of her frontier and vast coast line,

put Richmond,now the Confed erate capital

,in an

adequa te sta te of defense,and watch the ap

proach es to Virginia’s borders

,but even meditated

a menacing raid upon Washington, to assail the

North in its then ill-defended capital . Already



his attention to the deta ils of organization

occupied him fully,in spite ofNorthern impa tience

with his tardiness . At length, however, he pro

posed to put his command in motion,with the view

ofmeeting the Union clamor for the capture of

Richmond,though the Washington Administra

tion insisted that in the move aga inst the Con

federa te capita l the safety Of the Union capita l

should be amply provided for an d secured . Mc

Clellan’s proj ect in advancing upon Richmond

was not to move in force upon the Confedera te

entrenchments at Manassas an d try the hazard of

battle there with Genera l J . E . Johnston, but to

transport his army by water to the lower Chesa

peake— to the Peninsula formed by the James and

York rivers— an d,with his base resting upon

Fortress Monroe, advance upon Richmond from

tha t quarter .

Before the Peninsular campa ign was entered

upon,in April

,1 862

,it ha d been going ill with

the fortunes of the South in the West . There,

thanks to the aid aflord ed by the Northern fleet,

under Commodore Foote,Ulysses Grant

,ea rlier in

the year,had made his way up the Tennessee

River and captured Fort Henry, following that

by an attack upon Fort Donelson, on the Cumber

land River,which

,after two days’severe fighting

THE DRAMA OPENs. 79

surrendered to him,with a loss of nearly

men . A little later than these Southern defeats,

came other Northern successes,in the capture Of

Island Number Ten,on the Mississippi, and the

fall of New Orleans to Admirals Fa rragut and

Porter ; while the fierce ly-contested ba ttle of

Shiloh,between A . S . Johnston and Buell and

Grant,had been fought, the losses on both sides

amounting to over men,besides the killing

Of the Confederate commander (Johnston), whose

command was taken over by Beauregard . These

losses,together with the earlier Northern vic

tories under Thomas at Mill Spring,and under

Curtis at Pea Ridge, with the later surrender o f

Memphis to Commodore Davis,were irretrievable

disasters to the South,not to speak of its having

to abandon the control of the Mississippi . For

the time,the Southern heart, on the other

han d,was cheered by the doings of the armor-clad

Mer rimac,in Hampton Roads

,where the trans

mo g rifie d craft rammed and sank the Northernfrigate Cumber la n d , burned the Con g r ess andforced theMin n eso ta to seek safety in shoa l water .

After this,came the encounter with an equally

formidable adversary,the E ricsson revolving tur

ret ship .Mon itor (March, and the with

d rawal of both Mon itor and Mer rimac a fter a


lavish waste of shot on both sides though the pres

ence ofa n d reputation gained by the Mon itor r e

lieve d the Northern mind from dread ofSouthern

attack on E astern harbors by the Confedera te ram.

Nor were the complications ofthe era between the

United States Government and Great Britain,in

the Tr en t affair,without a ray of hope to the

South,as being likely to lead to trouble between

the two nations,and so be advantageous to the

Confederate cause . The threa tening a spect of

affa irs,as we know, however, speedily blew over,

theWashington authorities having the good sense

to recognize that Capta in Wilkes’ seizure Of

Messrs . Slidell and Mason on board the Tr en t

was not only a violation of neutrality,but con

trary to American contention and tradition .

While these events were happenin g, General

McClellan ,tardily meeting the Northern clamor

for an advance upon Richmond,pursued his Object

of proceeding with his Army of the Potomac to

Fortress Monroe,there to initiate his movement

against the Confederate capital . Before setting

out with his Peninsular army of invasion, the

North ha d a tWa shington a fighting force of about

men yet,with this large bod y Of troops

a t his command,McClellan was

,as we have

seen,timidly afra id Of marching upon Richmond

THE DR AMA OPENS. 81

through Johnston’s defensive lines at Man assas .

He preferred,as we have related

,to operate from

the lower Chesapeake,where he hoped to have had

the aid of the Northern gunboats to protect the

flanks of his army . In this he was, however,disappointed

,since the Union gunboats were at

the time fully occupied in keeping watch over the

terrible ironclad,the Mer rimac. He was further

d isappointed in having to leave behind him , for

the defense of Washington,about instead

of men,the Lincoln Administration insist

ing thatMcDowell’s army corps should be retained

,

in addition to the troops,which were all

McClellan had designed to leave at the capital .

As it was,he had with him a force well nigh

strong, to pit against the Southern armies,all told , Of less than ha lf that number in Virginia ,to protect Richmond

,and guard the coast line and

other approaches to the Southern capita l . O f the

latter force,the Southern general

,Magruder had

under him,to confront McClellan when he reached

the Peninsula,a body Of but troops

,which

were extended behind defensive lines,some twelve

miles in length,from Yorktown

,where his left

rested,along the Warwick River to Mulberry

Island,to his right flank o n the James . On Mc

Clellan’s fa ilur e to meet Johnston at Manassas


and proceeding to the Chesapeake, the latter met

the movement by withdrawing from th e region Of

Bull Run,and took up a n ew position on the

R appahan n ock, where he could better oppose

McClellan . Meanwhile,Magruder’s front was

reinforced by the divisions of Jubal E arly,D . R .

Jones,an d D . H . Hill

,increasing the Southern

defensive array to Oppose the Federa l advan ce to

men, the chief command of all being n ew

assumed (April 1 7, 1 862)by Genera l J . E . JOhn

ston, who had also the general charge of the De

par tmen t of Norfolk .

It took the remainder of the mon th of April

for McClellan to make h is reconnaissances in the

region and ascertain the strength of the forces

opposed to him an d when this was done he pro

ce ed ed to erect batteries commanding Yorktown

a n d to prepare for a gen era l assault . While

thus engaged,a council Of war had been held a t

Richmond, in which General Le e took a leading

directing part,an d which favored the withdrawal

ofthe Southern defensiveline an d concentra te it

nearer to the Confedera te capita l . This decision

having been come to,Yorktown was abandoned,

the retrea t upon Williamsburg being for a time

adroitly concealed by a furious cannonade fromthe batteries of the place . The movement was .

THE DRAMA OPENS . 83

on e Of chagrin to McClellan ,for he had hoped

to take Yorktown by siege and assault,havin g

expended weeks in preparing for it,and was

,

moreover,confident of success . All he had for

his pains was the occupying of the evacuated

Confederate works,and the pursuit Of the retreat

ing Southern defen ders ofthe post . In the retreat

towards R ichmond , an effective stand was made

at Williamsburg by the troops under Longstreet

and D . H . Hill,who fought the pursuing Northern

force under Hooker and Hancock,General Sumner

being in chief command while a division under

Kearny later came on the field . Battle had been

given a t Williamsburg,so as to check Federal

pursuit an d allow time for Johnston to get themass of his army and its equipment well on th eroad to Richmond . As it was

,the Northerne rs

,

were hotly repulsed,suffering a heavy loss Ofover

men in killed and woun ded,in addition to

some pieces ofartillery captured by the rebels . ”

The battle lasted throughout the d ay of May 5th ,

when the Confedera tes fell back towards the

Chickahominy,at the same time withd rawing the

garrison under Huger,fromNorfolk

,V a . In

Spite Of defeat McClellan continued the advance

upon Richmond,having for his new base the

White House,on the Pamunkey . By this time


he had been relieved of the chief command of the

Northern forces by General Halleck at Washing

ton,and was now solely responsible for the Fed

eral operations in the Peninsula,though in

conducting these he looked for support'

from

McDowell’s division, which was n ew advanced

from the neighborhood of Mana ssa s to Fredericks

burg . Here itwas,however

,detained by instruo

tions from Washington,much to McClellan

’s

annoyance,owing to continued fear Of a Southern

advance upon the Union capital by Jackson’s

alertly-moving command,which was Operating

menacingly in the Valley Of Virginia . It was to

Jackson, at this juncture, that Richmond , now in

real dread Of McClellan ,was saved from assault

and possible occupation by the Army of the

Potomac . To his active,adroit

,and tactical

movements in the Valley,which alarmed Wash

in g ton ,and kept McDowell from joining McClel

lan,the South owed the deliverance Of its capital

seat ; while it gave Johnston the opportunity to

give his attention to the Federal forces now

massing on the Chickahominy .

McClellan’s advance upon Richmond was for a

time balked by difficulties in getting - across the

latter stream (the Chickahominy), the retreating

Con federates having destroyed its bridges in fall



mitting himat length to take the field,while he

appointed him Commander-in —chief .

With Lee’s return to active duty in the field

McClellan’s designs upon the Confederate capital

were signally balked ; while the presence and

superb leadership of the great Southern soldier

were great . gains to the South in the crisis of

invasion . This was presently seen by the vig

orous campaign he n ow entered upon at the headOf th e Northern Army of Virginia, and by its

operations during the critical era Of the Seven

Days’Battles in front Of Richmond . The troops

under him,

‘

o r within call fromRichmond,did

not,all told

,exceed men ; aga inst which

McClellan ,at this time

,had an army double in

number, without reckoning the corps underMcDowell

,Fremont

,an d Banks

,which were

nigh at hand . At this period,Jackson

,once

more,was of great service to Le e and the

Southern cause in continuing his daring oper

a tion s in the Virginia Va lley, where he was n ow

j oined by E well’s division,and with whose co

operation he fell first upon Fremont,whomhe

drove back upon Western Virginia,and then

a ttacked an d routed Banks, who fled across the

Potomac These Northern repulses foiled any

hOpe of McDowell’s joining McClellan ,

and com

THE DRAMA OPENs. 87

pelled the latter to rely upon his own already

large resources . The situation Of the South a t

this time was,moreover

,brightened ; while Le e

and his army,still holding McCle llan in check

on the Chickahominy, was encouraged, by the

brilliant reconnaissance ride Of General Stuart

and his Southern cavalry command round the

whole Of the widely-extended lines ofthe Federal

position,during which Stuart and his men did

much serviceable work in learning Of the strength

and weakness of McClellan’s lines

,as well as in

harassing the outposts of th e enemy .

At this juncture in the South’s affairs,General

Lee had a heavy and responsible duty to face,

having in front Ofhim , within on ly five or six

miles of Richmond,a Northern army

,eleven

divisions strong,with but five divisions

,at most

,

under him,to pit against this unequal force .

D isposing his comm 'and —which consisted of th e

divisions under Huger,Longstreet

,Magruder

,

A . P . Hill, and D . H . Hill —to the best a d van

tage,Lee saw that his best tactics lay in attack

ing on e or other of the enemy’s flanks . The right

flank was the one he chose to Operate aga inst,

the topographical features of the country on

McClellan’s right and rear being favorable to

assault fromthat quarter . Moreover, the ih

g s LIFE OF GENERAL LE E .

formation which Genera l Stuart had gleaned for

him,in his darin g ride round McClellan’s lines

,

confirmed Lee in his decision to attack the enemyon the right . In thus deciding

,he was also in

fluen ced by the brilliant movements Of Ston e

wa ll ” Jackson in the Virginia Va lley,and the

distractions caused McCle llan by these exploits,which brought “ Stonewall ” in rear of the Fed

eral right,and in a position to aid Lee in the

vigorous onslaught he was about to undertake .

Now was launched the famous Seven Days’con

flict (June 26— July which brought conster

na tion to the Federal commander,an d not only

foiled him in his anticipated capture of the“ rebel ” capital

,but caused his entire plans to

miscarry,and a ctually drove him and his in

vading army from the Peninsula . The vigor

an d daring,as well as the brilliance

,Of Lee’s

opera tions,which resulted in this signal d iscom

fitur e Of his boa stful Northern adversary,were

conspicuous throughout the Seven Days’battles

while their success caused renewed despair a t

Washington , and correspondingly elated the

whole South . They,moreover

,infused fresh

ardor into all ranks of the Confederate armies,

and increasingly stiffened the ba ck ofrebellion .

Nor was McClellan’s failure in the Peninsular



with their respective corps,to join Stonewa ll

and aid himin crushing the Northerners in the

Valley, and then, with his main body, including

E well’s division and Lawton and Whiting’s con

tin g en ts, move rapidly to Ashland, thence sweep

down between the Chickahominy and the Pamun

key,where it was hinted Jackson could cut the

enemy’s communications while Lee was to attack

McClellan in front . For a time, McCle llan was in

the dark about this understanding between Lee

a n d Ja ckson,which was arranged more in detail

at a persona l conference between the two Confed

era te leaders on a flyin g v isit to Richmond .

McClellan,moreover

,was purposely misled not

only as to this co-operating movement,but also as

to the strength of the Southern forces to be brought

against him,which he seems to have reckoned at

the prepo sterously extravagant number of

men . The truth is, the Confederate stren gth

under Lee at this time was not over to pit

against which the Union had a fighting force Of

efi ective men .

At last McClellan gained a knowledge of the

movement against his right flank on the north

bank of the Chickahominy,in which

,besides

Jackson’s command,the two Hills, Longstreet,

and Branch,were to take part ; while Lee left

THE DRAMA OPE Ns. 91

Holmes,Magruder, and Huger

,to make a

counter-demonstration upon the Federal fron t .

In beginning to carry out the movement,Jackson

and Branch,guided by Stuart

’s cavalry

,reached

Ashland on June 25,after which the combined

columns pressed on towards COld Harbor. On the

following day,D . H . Hill ra ther unexpectedly

gave battle to Fitz-John Porter at Mechanicsville,

and after a stiff fight he pressed the latter’s com

mand back to Beaver DamCreek and Gaines’Mill .At New Cold Harbor

,the fighting became general

,

Lee having ordered a combined assault in force

against Porter,in which the corps of Jackson

,

E well,Longstreet

,Whiting

,and the two Hills

,

took an active and at times a daring part . For a

time the rebel attack was met chiefly by Porter’s

artillery though,as the assault was pressed

,the

Northern commander continued to fall back,a

movement which,as a whole

,was now decided

upon by McClellan ,who sought to reach the

James River,about twenty-five miles distant

through the intricacies of theWhite Oak Swamp .

The federal position was now on e Of extreme peril,

and much depended upon Porter’s tactics of

defense,so as to allow time for the withdrawal Of

the mass ofMcClellan’s army and prevent Jack

son , a t Lee’s bidding

,from getting in rear ofhim


and cutting OE his retreat . As H ill pressed the

Federals at this juncture,in the face of a furious

fire,he discovered the strength ofPorter’s position

but he nevertheless continued gallantly to assail

them,aided

,at Lee’s instructions

,byLongstreet’s

division,and later by those ofE well andWhiting .

Still later,Hill was cheered by the approach of

the indomitable Jackson’s division,when the

Fed erals fell back from Beaver Dam Creek in con

fusion ; though they saved themselves from fur

ther disaster by the coming on ofnight,as well as

by the nature ofthe region,which made it difficult

for efi ective pursuit in the darkness . The losses

on both sides were heavy from the day’s Opera

tions,and nightfa ll was consequently hailed with

gladness,especially by the No rth ern ers, who fell

back on the Powhite Creek .

Meanwhile,the main Federal army had with

drawn from its base at the White House, on the

Pamunkey,and the line of the York River rail

road,taking with it such of its equipment and

baggage as could be carried off in retreat,and des

troyin g the remainder— a large amount ofFederal

property— besides burning the bridge, on the way

back to the James . At Savage Station and the

neighborhood there were severa l hot brushes with

the retreating Federals,in which many of the



to take shelter in and the Union gunboats in the

James to protect him,McClellan barely saved

his force from the strategy of Major-General

Stuart,who

,with great sagacity

,seized

,and

against stout Federa l opposition pluckily held for

a time, E velin g ton Heights, an eminence overlook

ing V Vestove r tha t commanded the entire position

occupied by the Northern army after its retreat .

In the Seven Days’fighting the losses on each side

exceeded fifteen thousand men,the casualties

naturally falling more heavily on the Southern

side,as the Offensive on e throughout the repulse.

In addition,the Northern ers lost many guns

,as

well as captured men and equipment while they

also burned in their retreat very considerable

military shores,tents

,baggage

,and other camp

appurtenances . ToLee,the successes ofthe period

were not all he had hoped for and h a d brilliantly

sought to achieve ; but he made few mistakes,and had much to felicitate himself upon

,with a

heightened record for coolness,reliance

,and sa

g acity ,and increased reputation for superb skill

in planning,and great force and efi ectiven ess in

executing, his operations .

CHAPTE R VII .

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST POPE IN NORTHERN V IR

GINIA,AND THE SECOND BATTLE OF BULL R UN.

THE failure of McClellan’s operations in the

Virginia Peninsula was naturally disconcerting to

the Federa l Administration at Washington and

led to further alarm over the safety Ofthe capital,

as well as to a call (July 2)for volunteers

for a term of service of three years . The War

Department,a week later

,moreover

,appointed

Major-General Halleck commander-in -chief,and

about the same time g ave the command Of the

Army of Virginia,for the protection Of the Fed

eral capital,to Maj or-General John Pope

,one of

Halleck’s divisional commanders in the West,who

had gained some reputation by the capture, in

February,1 862

,ofIsland NO. 8 , in the Mississippi .

These appointments,as it turned out

,however

,

were mere makeshifts,resorted to in the dilemma

theWashington authorities found themselves in,with such masterly Southern fighters actively in

the field as Lee and Stonewall Jackson . They95


were also made in consequence of the shaking of

Northern confidence in McClellan,who was now

ordered by Halleck to withdraw his a rmy from

he James River and place it under the direction

ofPope, in front Of Washington . This was what

Lee most desired, as i t not only removed the

menace involved in the presence Of Fed

eral troops within striking distance of Rich

mond,but freed the grea t Southern chieftain and

his army to test Pope’s metal in operations north

of the R appah an n ock . The measure of Pope’s

ability was presently n ow to be taken and put to

the test ; already, by his boastful General Order

on assuming the chief command,he had d iscre d

ite d his sagacity as a genera l officer an d gained for

himself the j eers of friend and foe alike . Nor

did his proclama tions in regard to una rmed

citizens and private property,in the section of

Northern Virginia where his command was, man

ifest either ta ct o r humanity . Otherwise,he

acted wisely in collecting together under himthescattered brigades of McDowell

,Fremont, and

Banks,amounting to close upon men, and

advancing them a cross the R appahan n ock, menac

in g ly near to both Gordonsville a n d Charlottes

ville,important intersecting points in Northern

Virginia .



of Cedar Run— Jackson,on the following day

learning that Banks was being heavily

reinforced, recrossed the Rapidan and returned

to Gordonsville . His Obj ect in this was te await

developments in a stronger position,when Pope or

Banks was ready to resume fighting,and also to

enable him the better to keep in touch with

General Lee .

At length,to General Lee’s relief

,who feared

,

when McClellan’s army j oined Pope

,that a con

cen tra ted movement upon Richmond directly

from the North would ensue,McClellan betook

himself from the James,his army being returned

to Washington by sea from Harrison’s Landing,

close to Westover,where his camp for some time

had been . Already Pope had advanced his ba t

teries to the north bank of the Rapidan ; an d

thither,on the south bank, Le e began to remove

his army,with the design ofproceedin g north to

the R appahan n ock to execute a purpose which he

in concert with Jackson and Longstreet,had con

ceive d,ofgetting in rear ofPope’s left flank, an d

with another portion of his army to get round the

Federal right and cut the Northern army’s com

mun ication s with Washington . From August

25th to th e 27th , saw the initia l movements Of this

daring design put in execution,by way Of

CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA . 99

Thoroughfare Gap,the n arrow pass in Bull Run

mountain close to Manassas . To strengthen his

forces for the accomplishment of this clever

piece Of tactics,Lee had ordered up from Rich

mond the divisions under D . H . Hill,Wilkes

,and

McLaws, which, on their arriva l, gaveLee a com

bin ed force of nearly men, to pit against

Pope’s total, of close upon for the latter

had summoned Burnside’s and King’s commands

from Fredericksburg to j oin him . To add to

the Federal hosts,McClellan

’s advan ce corps, to

geth er with those OfPorter, Sumner, and H ein t

zelman,were now pouring in from Fredericks

burg and A lexandria . In spite of his greater

strength,Pope was n evertheless in much bewilder

ment as to the possible quarters from which the

Confederate generals would launch their attacks

upon him while,at the same time

,he was aux

ious to meet successively their commands in ac

tion rather than have to fight a united Southern

army in the field . E specially did he seek to pre

vent the junction OfLee,Longstreet

,and Jackson

,

o r any two ofthem,until he himself had had some

measure ofsuccess,and had tried his luck with

one o r other of them separa tely . He was soon

now to obtain what he desired,and indeed more

than he cared to grapplewith, and with disastrous


results to his reputation and tragic consequences

to his Northern army . While in the midst Of

these anxieties, Jackson’s men were res

o lutely pressing forward to Manassas Junction

while Longstreet took up a position at Orleans,

leaving Lee , meanwhile, to keep wa tch on the

river at Waterloo and send a supporting corps to

Jackson and Longstreet . By August 27th , the

latter had covered the fifteen miles between

Orleans and White Pla ins, thence to his junction

with Stonewall ” at the eastern end ofThorough

fare Gap,seven miles further on . HitherLe e him

self came to overlook the ground and confer with

his veteran genera ls,some ofwhose corps were

n ow grappling with the enemy and fa lling on the

Federal flank . In the region,Jackson, with the

aid of Stuart’s and Trimble’s cavalry con tingent,

had come upon the Federal rear with such sur

prise that they fell upon Pope’s immense army

supplies, and had for once a day’s high carniva l

on the bounties furhish e d by the Northern com

missaria t . To Jackson’s in d ifi e ren tly ga rbed , ill

foot-shod,and poorly-fed men

,opera ting in a

country largely overrun by an enemy,the fa lling

upon the Federal army stores was a t the period a

God-send,though little beyon d the most pressing

n ecessities of the command, with a day’s good an d

aI



mand . During the day,General Lee

,though

unknown to Pope,was a keen and watchful

onlooker of the tactful operations ofhis able and

resourceful lieutenant,his army being drawn up

across the Wa rrenton turnpike,and alongside the

brigades under Longstreet while Pope was

strengthened by the coming OfPorter and Mc

Dowell and their commands from Manassas . The

confl ict was renewed on the morrow (Aug. 30th),by the advance ofPorter’s army, flanked by the

divisions ofKing and Reynolds, on Jackson’s left

center. The delivery of these assaults was vig

orously met by Ja ckson’s “ Ironsides ” under

Starke and Lawton while the Confederate bat

te ries were unerringly directed under the eye Of

Lee and A . P . Hill. Later in the d ay, the play

of these guns , with their enfilad in g fire,wrought

dire havoc among the Federa l masses, follow

ing which came a Splendid charge of Longstreet’s

brigade that broke the Federal lines an d drove

the Unionist troops into a confused stampede .

Nightfa ll saw fugitive masses rushing across the

Bull Run,Pope himself seeking safety in his

headquarters at Centreville . The following d ay

(Sunday , the 31 st), the pursuit of the Federals

was pressed by Lee,when Pope ordered a retreat

to Fa irfax, Jackson’s command taking up the

CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN VIR GINIA. 1 03

pursuit on Monday in a rainstorm so furious as

to render firearms useless, save for the bayonet,wh ich came effectua lly an d fata lly into play .

Thus was Pope driven in dismay from the Vir

ginia borders,an d for the time being the weary

footsore Southern forces had a brief spell of well

earned rest .

CHAPTER VIII.

THE MAR YLAND CAMPAIGN.

THE Federal rout at the second battle ofBull

Run was reported to President Davis by General

Lee , in his usual mod est and restra ined manner,from his temporary resting-place at Chantilly

on the 3rd of September . The effect upon the

North of the entire failure ofthe campaign in

Virginia was extremely depressing,and r eused

much impatient criticism oftheWar Department

and its luckless commanders . A further effect

of the Federal disasters was to revive national

fears for the safety of the capital,besides dread

of invasion by the South of the border States

which had remained loyal to the Union. Lee in

formed President Davis tha t the two days’con

flict at Bull Run cost the enemy a loss of

men in killed and wounded,among the former

being th e Union Genera l Kearny, who was left

dead on the field while the Confederates lost

five colonels killed and Six gen eral Officers wound

ed,amon g the latter being Generals E well an d

1 04


1 06 LIFE OF GENER AL LE E .

command in the direction ofFrederick,Md . On

arriving there (Sept . followed by the brigades

under Jackson, D . H . Hill,and Longstreet

,with

a scouting force under the vigilant Stuart,Lee

issued a proclama tion to the people Of Maryland,

in the nature Of a greeting to a sister State, al

lied to the South by traditional,socia l and politi

cal ties,and assuring them of protection

,an d

,

if they desired it,aid in freeing the State from

“ the condition of a conquered province .” The

proclamation Was discreetly as well as tempera tely

worded but those to whom it was add ressed

seemed loath at present to assert sovereign inde

pen d en ce for their State, and, by throwing in their

lot with the South,bring upon themselves Fed

eral vengeance . Hence Lee did not get the sup

port he expected in the State, and tha t chiefly b e

cause his hoped-for allies were in Southern and

E astern Maryland, between whom and himself

lay a strong force of the Federal army under

McClellan ,who had on ce more been given the

chief Unionist command . The Southern leader

lost no time,however, in vain regret, but pre

sen tly turned his attention to rid the region to the

west of him and the Virginia Va lley ofUnion

troops,and get up from Winchester the much

needed supplies for his army .

THE MAR YLAND CAMPAIGN. 1 07

While McClellan was in search ofLee to bring

him again to battle,the great Southern leader

desired to keep his Old adversary and his freshly

organized army ofnearly men away from

his base of supplies. With this intent, he n ow

withdrew from Frederick,and moved northward

via Boonsboro’towards Hagerstown . But Lee

had another purpose in view inmaking this movement

,which was the daring one ofcapturin g the

Federal garrisons and occupying Martinsburg and

Ha rper’s Ferry . These.

posts,General Ha lleck

had ordered still to be held,in Spite OfMcClellan

’S

suggestion that they should be vacated,while

Maryland was invaded by Lee and his army . To

secure them , cut OII their garrisons’retrea t down

the Potomac,and capture the well-stored arsenal

,

with its munitions Of wa r,of Harper’s Ferry

,

while clearing the Virginia Valley from a ll possi

ble interference with his communications,Lee

entrusted Jackson and E well with the ta sk,giv

ing them the assistance also Of Hill’s division,

with those of McLaws, Anderson, and Wa lker .

The execution of the proj ect was unexpectedly

but gratifyingly successful for on the approach

of Hill’s command the Martinsburg garrison cvac

uate d the place an d withdrew to Harper’s Ferry

while the latter,after a stiff fig ht for the com


manding Federal positions on Maryland and Boli

va r Heights, overlooking the post, and a hot bom

bardmen t , hoisted the white flag ofsurrender to

Jackson and Hill . With the fall Of Harper’s

Ferry (Sept . the Confederates captured

Federal troops,over 70 pieces of artillery

,

stand of arms,besides 200 wagons and a large

amount of army stores . Leaving Hill to receive

the surrender and look a fter the captured treas

ure,Jackson hastened back by forced marches

with his command to Sharpsburg,in answer to

an ” urgent call from Le e,Whose army was sud

d en ly con fronted by that ofMcClellan,the Fed

eral commander having obtained possession of a

confidentia l memorandum of Lee to D . H . Hill,outlinin g the plan Of his proj ected campa ign .

The possession of this communica tion,however

obta ined,was Of great va lue to McClellan

,and

for once the la tter took instant advantage of it,

and urged forwa rd his army to checkmate the

Southern chieftain,who was in ignorance of the

miscarriage of the memorandum of instructions

and ofhis adversary’s knowledge of his designs

and the outlined disposition of his forces .

The appearance of the Federal ma in body so

unexpectedly at Boonsboro’was a t first an em

barrassmen t, n o t to say a perplexity, to Lee , as


1 1 0 LIFE OF GENERAL LE E .

Clellan battle at Sharpsburg,though he had, as

yet,only a mere handful of men (not over

to oppose to the advance column (about

strong) of the Unionist army . The enemy,more

over,was inspirited by their successes and by the

losses (close upon they had inflicted on

the commands Of Hill,Longstreet

,and McLaws

while their own losses were much smaller,though

the Federal General Reno had fallen,and they

had captured many prisoners . But the fighting

in the region ofSouth Mounta in was but the pre

limin aries ofa general engagement,which was

now to be fought in the neighborhood of An tie

tam Creek,in front Of Sharpsburg

,where General

Lee had taken up position .

Here,at Sharpsburg

,on the 1 6th ofSeptember

,

the Federal army came up in strong force,when

McClellan at once formed his lines ofa ttack , with

Porter in the center,Burnside on

!

his left flank,

and Hooker,Franklin

,and Sumner o n his right .

Jackson by this time had arrived with his com

mand,an d was assigned to a position on the Ha

g e rstown road,extending towards the Potomac,

supported on his left rear by Hood an d Stuart,while on his right were the depleted divisions of

Hill,Longstreet

,and Wa lker . On the 1 7th ,

Hooker’s command,supported by Mansfield

THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN. 1 1

strong), which had crossed the Antietam,

n ew advanced, covered' by a furious cannonade,

and sought to g e t possession of the Hagerstown

road . Jackson quickly d ivined the Federal move

ment and its purpose,and endeavored to Oppose

it with his own division,and E well’s

,under Law

ton ,a combined force of but men . Lee’s

entire army was n ow still under but,in

spite Of the great disparity in numbers, the Con

federates once more exhibited their superiority as

a fighting force by repulsing,throughout a long

day’s sanguinary encounter,every attack of the

whole army Of the enemy,extending along its

entire front for fully four m iles .

The chief incidents ofthe battle,perhaps the

most bloody SO far of the war,were the des

perate defense of the Confederate left line,which

brought it a grim harvest of death from the eu

filad in g fire of a Federal battery,com

‘

mandingly

placed,though it was vigorously replied to by the

guns under Stuart and S . D . Lee ; the fallin g

back of Jackson’s command,on the advance of

Sumner,after having heroically repelled both

Hooker’s and Man sfield’s corps, an d exhausted

its ammunition and the murderous fire that had

fa llen o n Hayes and Walker’s brigades from the

overwhelming Federal onset . Luckily for the


Confederates,Lee was able

,at a crisis in the

day’s unequal contest,to strengthen Jackson

with two brigades from Longstreet’s right,and

so save “ Stonewall ” from rout by or surrender

to the fresh forces Sumner had brough t up after

he had practically driven Hooker and Mansfield

from the field . This t imely intervention turned

the scale in the rebel ” favor,and foiled McCle l

lan’s game ofturning Lee’s left . Signal also was

the deliverance during the day from Burnside’s

repeated a ttempts to force a passage across the

Stone Bridge over the Antietam Creek,with the

design ~of capturing Sharpsburg,and so cutting

OffLe e from his communications at Shepherds

town . To defend the Bridge and protect Lee’s

center during the conflict on the Confedera te left,

the Single division of General D . R . Jones,Of

Longstreet’s command, an d the small brigade of

General Toombs (only 400 strong) was a ll tha t

could be spared to keep Burnside’s la rge force in

check . La te in the a fternoon,the la tter at length

forced his way a cross the Creek an d beat back

both Toombs an d Jones,when A . P . Hill’s

men from Harper’s Ferry appeared on the scene,

a n d,by Lee’s orders

,rushed to Jon es’s assistance

,

stemmed the retrea t,and fina lly drove Burnside

back to th e Shelter of the Federa l batteries across


1 14 LIFE OF GENE RAL LEE .

Hill’s command from Harper’s Ferry,and by the

return to their respective corps of severa l thou

sands who had been left behind to recruit their

strength and provide themselves with new out

fits at the period when Lee’s army had entered

Maryland .

With the battle ofSharpsburg,o r Antietam

,as

it is also called,the inva sion of Maryland came

,

however,to a close for though Le e’rema ined in

possession of the well-contested battlefield during

the day Of Sept . 1 8,awaiting a renewa l of the

fighting,McClellan did not venture aga in to

attack him , but spent the d ay in reorganizing his

shattered army and strengthening it by further

reinforcements from Washington . On the night

of the 1 8th , as the Southern army was badly in

need of every necessary want, Lee therefore

deemed it wiser to fall in with his genera ls’

suggestion to withdraw across the Potoma c and

seek rest and refreshment for his wearied and

comfortless forces on the Virginia Shore . The

crossing was efi ecte d near Shepherdstown, every

thing Of value,including the spoils Of Harper’s

Ferry,being withdrawn

,save his unburied dead

a rear force being left to guard the ford over

which the Confedera tes retrea ted and foil anyattempt by the enemy in pursuit . The bulk of

THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN. 1 15

the army then proceeded to Winchester to await

the coming of fresh troops from Richmond,with

the return of those who had been left to recruit

their strength on th e V irginia side of the river,

before Maryland ha d been invaded . On learning

ofthe withdrawal ofthe Southern army,McClellan

despa tched Porter’s corps in pursuit,only to be

stopped at the ford by Pendleton’s artillery and a

small rear-protecting body of infantry . Here,on

the night of the 1 9th ,Porter

,however

,managed

to get his command across the Potomac,aided in

this by the fire ofhis own guns from the Mary

land shore . When this became known to Le e , he

directed a part ofHill’s division to return to the

river and drive Porter’s force across it . This was

so effectively accomplished that masses of Porter’s

men were either captured o r driven into the river

an d drowned— an exploit that SO alarmed McClel

lan tha t no further pursuit of the Confederates

was for the time attempted , and they were thus

left to a Season of restful quiet at Winchester .

How greatly needed was this period of rest maybe realized when we recall that the Southern

army had within the space of three brief months

ma rched fully 300miles,for the most par t bare

footed an d in ta ttered regimentals, with no ade

quate sustenance while it had fought in an d


won a dozen engagements,captured many thou

sand prisoners,besides 150 cannon

,many thou

sand stand of arms, and a large amount ofva luable

army stores and material Of war . It h a d also in

flicted a loss upon the enemy ofnearly men,

a sixth ofwhom had fallen at Antietam while

its own loss 1 11 the la tter was over out of a

total of — the entire strength of the Con

federate army when it withdrew to Winchester .

While qua rtered there,General Lee

,with his

usual thoughtfulness , issued the following Gen

eral Order (dated Headquarters of the Army of

Northern Virginia,Oct . 2

,reviewing the

incidents of the campaign and commending his

army for its valiant achievements“ In reviewing the achievements of the army

during the present campaign, the Commanding

General cannot withhold the expression of his

admira tion of the indomitable courage it has dis

played ih battle, and its cheerful endurance of

privation and hardship on the march .

Since your great victories around Richmond,

you have defeated the enemy a t Cedar Mounta in,expelled him from the R appahan n ock, and after

a conflict of three days,utterly repulsed him on

the Pla ins of Manassas,an d forced him to take

Shelter within the fortifications around his cap



have won for their arms . Much as you have

done,much more remains to be accomplished .

The enemy again threatens us with invasion,an d

to your tried valor and patriotism the country

looks with confidence for deliverance and safety .

Your pa st exploits give assurance that this con

fid en ce is not misplaced .

R . E . LE E , G en era l Comman d in g .

CHAPTER IX .

THE FREDERICKSBURG CAMPAIGN (OCT.

—DE C. ,

AND THE EDICT OF EMANCIPATION.

AFTER issuing the appreciative General Order

to his army, given at the close of the last chapter,General Lee , having received some addi

tion al troops, cast about himto see how he couldbest pursue the struggle and continue success

fully to meet his adversary,the littleNapoleon .

”

One thing was now clear to him,that

,with his

small army, he could not hope again to take the

Offensive ; all he could well do was to keep fur

ther watch on the Federal approaches to Rich

mond,harass the outposts Ofthe enemy, and by

daring ra ids interfere with its communicationswithWashington

,and learn what he could ofMO

Clellan’s future movements . In the two latter

designs,he had in the gallant Stuart and his

cavalry comman d a highly effi cient,as well as

valiant and trusted,aid . On the 8th ofOct .

,Lee

directed Stuart to make a reconnaissance across the

Potomac,with portions ofseveral mounted brig

1 1 9


ades (some 600in number), with four guns . The

crossing was effected aboveWilliamsport,whence

the column moved swiftly through Maryland,

passing by the right ofMcClellan ,and even entered

Pennsylvania as far as Chambersburg. Here,

and en route , Stuart picked up fresh horses for his

troopers,destroyed a considerable amount of

Federal stores and public property,and returned

by McClellan’s left flank, ascertaining his position

and strength,and all within SO brief a time as to

surprise and elude the Northern army he had cir

cled round,besides sending a thrill of fear

,by his

boldness and celerity ofmovement,into the bosoms

Of the authorities at Washington . The results of

the reconn aissancewere,as usual

,Of high va lue to

Lee ; while the dashing ra id roused the Federal

Government to renewed urgency in insisting upon

their tardy,deliberately moving Commander-in

chief making a further demonstration against

Richmond and the Confederate line interposed to

protect it . Towards the close of October found

McClellan once more crossing the Potomac, this

time near Berlin,V a . ,

below Harper’s Ferry,which before this had been reoccupied by a

Northern garrison,followed by a leisurely advance

in the d irection OfWa rrenton and the line of the

Upper R appahann ock . To meet the movement,


1 22 LIFE OF GENE RAL LE E .

and the blufis of the Spottsylvan ia Hills, where

were marshalled Lee’s Legions,

” now recruited

to a total strength of about A couple of

weeks were consumed by the Federa ls in getting

ready their pontoons and bridge-erecting construo

tion to enable them to cross the rive r,which they

contrived to do in large force on the d ay and

night .Of December 1 2th . On the morning of

the 1 3th,the battle began by a vigorous attack

of French’s division against the Confedera te

right,

strong,under Jackson

,a t Hamil

ton’S Crossing

,an onslaught which was fina lly

repulsed while,on the Federa l right

,the forces

under Sumner and Hooker moved out Of Fred

e ricksburg Town a n d attempted to storm the

Confederate position on Marye’s Hill,but had first

to cross the intervening pla in,where the a d van c

ing Northern forces were successively withered by

the e nfilad in g fire ofthe Confedera te artillery an d

sharpshooters . In spite of this destruction, fresh

troops were again an d again brought forwa rd to

the assault,but with the same result— pra ctica l

annihilation— until nightfa ll brought the blood y

conflict to a close . Fortuna tely for his command ,

Burnside wisely desisted in his design of renewing

the battle,and two days later he recrossed the

R appahann ock with his dispirited troops, having

THE FREDERICKSBURG CAMPAIGN. 1 23

snfl ere d a loss ofover in killed,wounded

,

and missing . The Confederate loss in the battle

was close upon but the rejoicings Of the

boys in gray ” were grea t at the victory . After

the horror of Fredericksburg,

” the two armies

Spent the next four (winter) months in quiet on

either Side of the R appahan n ock ,though towards

the middle of January (1 863) the rash Burnside

was d ismissed and the chief command of the

Army of the Potomac was given to Fighting

Joe — General J . E . Hooker .

The year we now enter upon saw the promulgatie n (Jan . 1

,1 863) of the far-seeing an d hu

mane E dict of E mancipation,which marked

the Lincoln Administra tion’s execut ive at this

period,an d put slavery forever under legal and

moral ban in the States and Territories of the

Union . E mancipa tion,it is true

,was resorted to

as a war measure ” in the thick of the deadly

contest between the two sections of the riven

Nation ; but with Lincoln, long before the era of

the decree and the amendment to the Constitution

which abolished Slavery forever from the country,the traffic

,as we have elsewhere observed

,had

a lways been held in abhorrence,and deep in his

mind ha d la in the thought Of abolish ing it or

seeing it abolished . The immediate effect of the


measure,as we know, was to drive the South

well-nigh to the verge of despera tion ; while at

the North it was only partia lly accepted,an d for

a time it a roused even bitter animadversion .

Happily,however

,a change of sentiment came

ere long,when it was seen wha t freedom meant

to the slave,and how telling were the con se

quen ces Ofemancipa tion in the issues Of the wa r .

The act,a lmost entirely

,was Lincoln’s own

,an d

its consummation did surpassing honor to him,

as well as to his Administration,and

,at large

,to

the people who endorsed an d applauded it .

Before resumin g the narration Of the incidents

connected with the opera tions of the two hostile

armies on the R appah an n ock , let us glance for

a little at the opera tions in the West (chiefly

Federa l successes), in the latter ha lf of the past

year . These Western operations,it is true

,had

nothing to do with Genera l Lee , or he with them

but they form part of the great internecine strug

gle of the time,an d

,hence

, Should find some

chronicle,however brief

,of their happenings in

this historical Memoir . In our earlier notice

of the operations in the Mississippi region,we

indicated the motive of Federa l exploita tion o n

the great highway,as one inspired not only by

the purpose ofgetting possession ofthe river an d



not pursue Bragg,but went into camp at Nash

ville,on the Cumberlan d River . E mboldened by

Buell’s failure to follow him , Bragg now set out

for Nashville,advancing northward as far as

Murfreesboro,where he encountered the Federal

forces under Rosecrans on their way south to

Chattanooga . Here,at Stone River

,on the last

day of the year,1 862

,a serious battle was fought

,

as ,bloody in its issue as were those ofShiloh and

Antietam . The engagement opened badly for the

North ern ers,two ofwhose divisions were routed

on the right,by Rosecrans’s tactical neglect

in placing them in a weak position, which threw

the Union army on the defensive . It,however

,

was saved by the brilliant charges Of Sheridan

and Thomas,and the battle ended in a draw

,

”

after men on either side had been put

he rs d e comba t . Two days’later,when Rose

crans advanced upon the Rebs,

” Bragg,a fter a

brief resistance , retired once more upon Chat

tan oog a . Meanwhile, the Southern commanders

Price and Van Dorn,who had been operating

in the region , in the hope of driving Grant down

the Tennessee River,sought to execute their

assigned parts ofthe Confedera te campaign,gave

battle to the Union armies a t Iuka (Sept . an d

at Corinth (Oct . 3 an d In both battles,the

THE FREDERICKSBURG CAMPAIGN . 1 27

Southern forces were repulsed (at Corinth, dis

astrously SO), by the portion of Grant’s army

under Rosecrans,though the fig h tin g s prevented

for a time the sending ofreinforcements to Buell .

The latter,soon after this

,was relieved of his

command,and was replaced by General Rose

crans .

But it is time to return to the region of the

R appahan n ock, where we left the Union and the

Confederate armies in winter quar ters during a

severe and inclement season . SO intensely cold

was it that some of the Federal pickets were

frozen to death at their posts ; while the South

e rn e rs suffered greatly from want Of adequate

provisions an d the warm clothing and comfort

able footwear which the Confederate Commissaryand ! uartermaster-Generals unfeelingly failed to

provide . The morale of “ the rebel army was

nevertheless ma intained,thanks to General Lee’s

constant and unwearied efforts in its beha lf,and

his ready,considerate Sharing in the priva tions

ofhis men . Meanwhile, Burnside was restlessly

anxious to do something to advance his ownmo dest attainments and reputation in the chief North

e rn command . By the 1 9th of January

he had planned to cross the R appahan n ock, in

force, at Bank’s Ford

,some Six miles above Fred


e ricksburg , to assail the Confederate army and

drive it fromthe strong position it held near by,

an d , if possible, cut Off Lee’s communications with

Richmond . The carrying out of this design was

entrusted to the divisions ofHooker and Franklin,

aided by Sigel’s corps,which was left to guard

the Federal camp and its approaches,while

Couch’s corps was to make a feint in another

direction,down the river

,a ll being protected by

strong batteries of Northern artillery . The whole

movement,however

,miscarried

,in consequence

of a series of violent rainstorms coming on just

as the project was about to be launched , which

made havoc of the roads,besides swelling the

river to unusual proportions . The fa ilure Of the

expedition was naturally discon certing to Burn

side,who

,in a fit of rage an d j ea lousy

, sought

to dismiss a number of his genera ls, but this was

promptly negatived a t Washington , when Burn

!Side had no alterna tive left him but to resign,which he at once did

,and was replaced in the chief

command,as we have already indicated, by Gen

eral Hooker.



reg ime . He was furthermore a t a decided dis

advan tage in having now opposed to him a

largely-strengthened and freshly-recruited army,

over strong,in fine fighting condition

,

including a greatly increased cavalry equipment

(Of troopers), and 400 pieces of artillery.

This large force gave the Union command a

numerical superiority over Lee’s entire army of

almost men . Unfortunately for the

North,with all the advantages it had in pos

sessing a force in the field twice the size Of Lee’s,

and all the resources of a mighty na tion behind

it,Hooker’s army was to suffer at Chan cellors

ville a most disastrous and humiliating defeat

while its leader was to prove himsel f as great

a fa ilure as any ofhis many predecessors .

Hooker was early informed tha t Longstreet’s

command had been deta ched from Lee’s strength

and despatched to the James River, an d this fact

made the Union genera l confident Of success, a n deven boastful . He even went so far as to affirmthat “ certain destruction ” awaited Le e

,an d

that “ the Rebel a rmy is now the legitima te

property of the Army Of the Potomac ! ” The

Southern leader,

on the contrary, was more

modest and ta ctful (flippan t he could never be),

as well as more reverential,but hopeful while,

THE CHANCELLORSV ILLE CAMPAIGN. 1 31

as usua l,he took pains personally to see over

every defensive site in the region,and omitted no

precaution to ensure the safety and wellbeing of

his men,and

,if Heaven willed it

,the triumph of

his command . His intuition,coupled with his

experience as a great milita ry tactician,more

over,enabled Lee at once to divine Hooker’s prob

able plan of a ttack,despite the Northern com

mander’s successive feints,in the hope Ofmislead

ing him or throwing him Offthe true scent . Nor,

aside from this,wa s he lacking in the precautions

usually taken by the leader Of an a rmy when

about to go into action,in ava iling himself ofall

tha t can be learned from watchful outpost commanders

,an d

,by utilizing to the full his in telli

gent scouting a n d reconnaissance force . Hence,

when the middle of March came (a month even

before the battle of Chancellorsville occurred),Lee was able to make such disposition Of his

army as sound generalship suggested,and wa s

also in a position to direct h is right arm

General Stuart,the Confederate cava lry wa tch

dog,to look to the crossings of the Upper R ap

pahan n ock, and, with the assistance of Fitzhugh

Lee’s brigade, checkmate th e passage of a Fed

era l column,und er Genera l Averill at Kelly’s

Ford,some 25miles above Fredericksburg . On


this occasion,the watchfulness was rewarded, for

though Averill forced the passage Of the river

an d captured the picket-guard,his cavalry contin

gent was met by that Of FitzhughLee , and, after

a hot engagement Of many hours’dura tion,was

driven back,having suffered a serious loss . The

encounter a t Kelly’s Ford is spoken of as “ the

best cavalry fight in the Wa r,

”an d in it the

first blood was spilled on both Sides in the Chan

cellorsville campaign,the Southerners losing on

their side the ga llant young Pelham,Stuart’s

chief of horse artillery,who was known as the

pride of Alabama for his superb courage and

dash .

Over a month later,or

,more precisely

,on the

closing days of April when the Spring

floods had somewha t aba ted,Hooker’s army began

to cross the R appah an n ock in force,with the

intent of bagging , as it thought, the entire

Army ofNorthern Virginia . The movement was

a menacing on e to Le e,for its design was not only

to turn the Confedera te left flank a n d get in its

rear,by way of the fords on the Upper R appah an

nock, o r ra ther the Rapidan River but to make

a strong demonstration,by way of the United

States Ford,in front Ofthe bend in the R appahan

nock, near the Mine Run Road, thence to take.

up



ments to oppose Stoneman’s operations at G o r

d on sville,an d himself j oined Lee

,on the 30th of

April , after cutting his way through the Federa l

cavalry a n d riding o n by way Of Ford’s Tavern .

Hooker’s army had meantime massed itself a t

Chancellorsville,

strong,and got his

horse in rear Of Lee,threatening the latter’s com

mun ica tion s . On Lee’s right,Sedgwick’s com

mand of ha d,moreover

,crossed the Rap

pahan n ock below Fredericksburg an d menaced the

Confederate right wing . Here,however , E a rly

’s

division ofJackson’s command,with the corps of

Anderson and McLaws, looked a fter Sedgwick ;while they a lso prepared to co-operate against

Hooker,who

,with Sykes

’s,S ickles’

,an d Slocum’s

brigades had taken up a fortified position extend

ing between the Plank Road and the Old Turn

pike Road,surrounded by a dense forest, with a

tangled ma ss of under-growth . At this time .Hooker ha d quite men in the vicinity of

Chancellorsville but both Le e an d Jackson were

now fast concerting a movement to surprise “ the

Feds,

” which wasp resen tly executed by Stone

wa ll,

”with his accustomed vigor an d daring . This

was a movement a cross Hooker’s front to g e t

upon his right flank, and there fa ll on Howa rd’s

1 l th Federa l corps ; while Lee was to mask the

THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN . 1 35

operation by a fierce onslaught on Hooker’s center

and left . Jackson’s furtivemarchwas

,however

discovered by the Union general,Sickles

,as it

filed pa st the Wellford furnace,but before it

could be seen what design “ Stonewall ” had in

making it . The cry was at once mistakenly ra ised

by the Federa l army,that Lee’s entire command

was a ttempting a retrea t towa rds Richmon d .

Taking advantage Of the false inference a n d the

Federa l pursuit Of Jackson,Lee directed Ander

son’s guns to face about and open fire upon

Sickles and prepared an onslaught upon Hooker’s

right ; while the latter’s center went astray in

the wilderness in its effort to pursue Jackson,the

purpose of whose movement the Federal army

had entirely misconceived .

The day before Jackson ma d e his move upon

Hooker’s left (May a spirited dash was made

by Hooker to secure and occupy an elevated plat

eau,held at this time by a weak corps under

the Confedera te general,Anderson

,which com

man d e d the Federal position at Chancellorsville .This ridge Le e was most anxious to retain

,but

it was captured by a portion of Hooker’s army .

Just as it was taken from Anderson’s command,

Jackson a rrived with portions of severa l brigades,

and, seeing the Confederate commander

’s plight


in having to abandon it,he daringly pressed for

wa rd an d retook it ; while Hooker, now aware

tha t Lee’s army was not in retreat,recalled his

force and fell back upon his main position around

Chancellorsville,where he rapidly set to work to

fortify himself. Here,on his right and left

,the

Confederates partly enveloped him while Se d gwick, Offat Fredericksburg, had E arly

’s divisions

to look after him,in front Ofthe city

,an d between

it and the bend of the R appahan n ock at Bank’s

Ford . On May 2n d,Lee now began to maneuver

with a varied play ofattack upon Hooker’s center,

to draw his attention from Jackson’s movement

directed against the Federal left,and especially

upon Howard s 1 1 th corps,which formerly had

been S igel’s . It was six O’clock in the evening

when the first shots were fired on Hooker’s left

flank, an d , two hours later, Jackson had succeeded

in driving the 1 1 th corps back upon the 1 2th,

which formed the center of Hooker’s position .

The incidents of this achievement of Jackson

a re of so thrilling a chara cter,and

,unhappily

,

so ca lamitous in their consequences personally to

the redoubtable “ Stonewa ll,

”as well as to the

Southern cause in general,tha t we are here

tempted to give a fuller record of them from a

contemporary narrative,that Of Mr. James D .



from the cleared ground around Chancellorsville,

which about this time presented a scene Of the

wildest confusion .

“ The panic-stricken soldiers of the 1 1 th corps

rushed back upon their center as Jackson’s infantry

swept down them . As the terror spread,men

,

horses,cannon

,wagons

,and ambulances became

mingled in on e frightful mass, which sped across

the clearing around Chancellorsville with the

force Of a whirlwind — all a iming stra ight for the

R appahan n ock . Officers tried in va in, by threats,entreat ies and blows

,to stay the fugitives .

They were deaf to everything . For a moment it

seemed that the career of Hooker’s army was

ended,but just at this time the Southern advance

was checked by th e accident I have mentioned .

But for this,Jackson would have Slept that night

at Chancellorsville,an d his valuable life would

have been spared to the country .

Hooker was quick to take advantage of the

pause . Opening with every gun he could collect

at the moment,twenty-two in a ll

,upon the woods

held by the Confedera tes,he endeavored to form

his troops to resist the attack . Leading his Old

division forwa rd in person,he became for the

moment once more the impetuous soldier tha t had

won such admiration even from his enemies . He

THE CHANCE LLOR SV ILLE CAMPAIGN . 1 39

posted this division a t the edge ofthe clearing,

directly in Jackson’s front,and awaited a renewal

Of the attack . Fresh artillery was brought up,

and fifty pieces were soon sweeping the woods

with a n iron hail .“ It was ten O’clock

,and the moon had risen

,

lightin g up the woods with a ghostly glimmer

which paled before the fierce gla re of the can

n on a d e . La te as it was,Jackson determined to

renew the attack and get possession Of the road

to the United States Ford . As his troops were

forming for the assault,he became so anxious to

ascertain the exact state ofaffairs in his front,

that he rod e forward to reconnoiter,giving orders

to his men not to fire,unless cavalry approached

from the direction ofthe enemy . He was aecom

pan ie d by two of his stafi ,about ha lf a dozen

couriers,an d two men Of the Signal corps .

“ Unfortunately,although the enemy were

scarcely more than two hundred yards distant,

no pickets had been'

established, and General

Jackson found himself considerably beyond his

lin es,w ith nothing between him and the enemy

H ad this important duty been performe d,the

sa d results of this reconnaissance would have

been avoided .

“AS he finished his inspection

,General Jacl


son directed one ofhis staff to go back and order

General A . P . Hill to advance . As he rode back

to his lines,without giving any warn ing to his

men,who had been ordered to look out for

Federal cava lry,he was fired upon by a brigade

ofhis own troops,and severely wounded

,twice

in the left arm,a n d once in the right han d . His

whole escort,with the exception of two persons

,

were killed,wounded

,o r dismounted .

“ The scene which ensued was agonizing b e

yond description . General Jackson was assisted

from his horse by th e survivors of the fa ta l

volley,almost too weak from loss Of blood to

stand,and tenderly la id in the Shelter Of the trees

by the roadside . A messenger was dispatched

for a surgeon and an ambulance,but before these

arrived General Hill,who ha d a lso been exposed

to the fire,came up

,having succeeded in check

ing it . He was made acquainted with the cal

amity that had befa llen the army, and instructed

to assume the command of the corps . In a few

minutes Genera l Hill repaired to his post,and

shortly a fterwa rd s it was reported that the enemy

were advancing, and were within only on e hun

dred yards of the spot where the wounded Gen

eral lay . An effort was now made to assist him

back to his lines,and

,supported by two Of his



bulan ce and conveyed to Me lzi Chancellor’s house,

where he received surgica l a ttention .

The firing to which General Jackson h a d been

exposed did grea t execution in the Southern ranks,

wounding,among others

,General A . P . Hill, who

was compelled to relinquish the command of the

corps to General Stua rt,who was ca lled away

from his cava lry for this purpose . Nothing fur

ther occurred during the night,which was passed

by both armies in preparing for a renewa l of the

battle the next d ay .

”

Lee was apprised of Jackson’s victory a n d of

the severe wounds he had received at the same

instant, and his comment on both was to the effect

tha t any victory is a dear one that deprives us

of the services of Jackson,even for a Short time .

”

Writing personally to his able an d loved lieuten

ant,the Southern commander-in -ch ief con g ra tu

la tes him on the Skill and energy tha t h ad won

another triumph for the army and their common

country . On the occasion,he feelingly add s that

,

could I have directed events, I should have

chosen,for the good of the country, to have been

disabled in your stead .

” Jackson’s wounds,n u

happily as it turned out,were so grievous tha t his

left a rmha d to be amputated,and the opera tion

,

though borne with his accustomed hardihood,

THE CHANCELLORSV ILLE CAMPAIGN. 1 43

as well as with his wonted Christian resignation,

presently proved fatal,his noble life ending a

week later, on the afternoon ofSunday

,May the

l 0th . News ofJackson’s death brought woe and

lamentation to all ranks Of the Confederate army,but no on e felt the sorrowful tidings more keenly

than did his closest friend and affectionate commander-in -chief

,R . E . Lee , who best kn ew not

only the high military genius of his comradeih -arms

,but his great mora l worth . Sore

,indeed

,

was the blow to him,for he knew there was no

on e that could replace Jackson, as, a las he was

soon ruefully to find on the next great battlefield

of the war— that ofGettysburg .

Aroused to more than his usual combativeness

by wha t had happened to Jackson,Lee was early

as tir o n the morning of May 3rd,with the pur

pose Of renewing the attack on Hooker’s lines

around Chancellorsville . The Federal commander

had succeeded during the night in restoring his

command to some condition oforder and fighting

strength,and thus was able to resist Lee’s furious

attack on himfor some hours but by te n O’clockthe Federa ls once more became restive and uneasy

at the repeated Confederate onslaught,and part

ofthem began to yield and finally to retreat along

the road leading towards the R appahan n ock an d


the United States ford across it . Meanwhile,conflict broke out on another section ofthe field

,

tha t around E a rly’s command in front Of Fred

e ricksburg , which was hemming in Sedgwick’s

Federal divisions in that quarter . Hooker, in his

plight,had instructed his subordinate to attack

and press E arly vigorously and then come to

his assistance at Chancellorsville . This Sed gwick

was able to do,in consequence ofE arly

’s command

having been weakened on the previous day by the

withdrawal from him ofMcLaws’and Anderson’s

corps . E arly was attacked in force on Marye’s

Height,and compelled to fall back

,and Lee

,

hearing of this,ordered Wilcox

,who was at

Bank’s Ford,watching the crossings ofthe Rappa

b annock,to intercept and retard Sedgwick’s a d

vance until he could send McLaws and Anderson

to his assistance . This was done,and the Federal

advance upon Chancellorsville was stayed and in

time repulsed . On the following d ay (May the

battle was renewed and hotly fought all day

finally going aga inst Sedgwick,who saved him

self an d his command by fl ight across the Rappa

b annock over night . On the 5th,the coup ole

g race was now about to be given to the force it

was believed Hooker still h a d behind his defenses

at Chancellorsville ; but when Lee moved to


CHAPTER XI.

THE SECOND INVASION OF THE NORTH,AND THE

BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG (JULY 1 3 ,

TO the South, several Obj ects were to be gained

by the crossing of the Potomac and once moreassuming the Offensive by the Army of Northern

Virginia . Its late successes, in Spite Of shrunken

ranks,wa rranted a new an d aggressive move

ment,which would relieve Northern V irg ima of

the presence of the enemy,always within striking

distance of Richmond while it would enable it

to ease the pressure just then of the Northern

forces upon Confedera te a rms in the West ; and

at the same time Obtain for Lee’s army the

greatly needed supplies for his men and horses,

which it was thought could be gathered pleu

tifully by a Spirited and menacing ra id as far

North as Pennsylvania . The feeling of dej ection

a t the North at the seeming impossibility of fin d

ing a Union general capable of bea ting Le e on

the field favored the proj ected renewed invasion ,especia lly as Hooker’s army was, besides being

1 46

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 1 47

worsted, greatly depleted by recent casualties and

by desertions from its ranks while Lee’s,o n the

other hand, after the period ofrest it had had,

was in fine fettle for a raid a cross the Potomac,

with the prospect before it of unlimited loot in the

North, and the consciousness of striking terror

throughout the region the army was likely to

invade . There was,Of course

,no little risk in

volved in Lee’s transferring hostilities to North

ern regions and there was a t first some d iffi

culty in Obta ining the consent of the Confederate

Government to the proposal,as

,just then

,the

Richmond authorities wanted part ofLee’s army

to aid the contest going on in Tennessee,asw ell

as to a fford succor to Vicksburg,a t the period

being besieged by General Grant . Le e,however

,

as we have seen, was not usually deterred by risks

to be run,and

,as a matter ofsound tactics

,was

given to the striking of decisive blows, when his

judgment suggested them hence, he had his

way,and a t once prepared his army for the North:

ern incursion . La tent in his mind, probably a t

this time,was also the hOpe that, by some further

and signal victory,he might terminate the

struggle,with its direful ta le of blood shed , and

d ictate in the North a trea ty which would end the

War , and give both sections of the country peace,


if not unity . Some such idea in Lee’s mind was

at this period not improbable,especially as he

knew tha t importuna te voices were now being

heard in the North calling for an end to the con

flict,on the basis of sepa ration . Le e was

,more

over, confirmed in his purpose of making a new

foray in the North by the improved strength and

enthusiasm of his army,which was n ow aug

men te d not only by the return ofLongstreet’s command from Suffolk, but also by the return to theranks ofthe recovered wounded who h a d been

on temporary furlough, with other absentees, as

well as by some fresh levies forwarded from the

Confederate capital .

Lee’s present army was now about

strong,Of which close upon consisted of

cava lry and artillery . The whole force he

divided anew into three corps,of three divisions

each,viz .

,those under Longstreet

,E well (who

succeeded to the command of the late Genera l

Jackson’s corps), an d A . P . Hill while the cava l

ry was commanded,as before

,by Genera l S tuart,

and the artillery (composed Of200 guns) by Gen

era l Pendleton . On June 3r d,a month a fter the

battle Of Chancellorsville,the Northern movement

began by the despa tch of General Long street t o

Culpeper,followed by E well while Hill was for



Hampton,and Robertson

,with their several

brigades,to withstand the onslaught

,which now

developed into almost the proportions of a bat

tle,and lasted throughout the day . Finally

,

the Northerners were repulsed at all points and

compelled to recross the river, leaving in the

Confederate hands,besides their dead on the field

,

about 500 prisoners,with three pieces of artillery

and several regimental colors . In the day’s eu

counter near Brandy Station, said to have been

on e of the stifl est cavalry contests Of the whole

war,Lee’s second son

,Brigadier-General W . H .

F . Le e , was wounded . Of this mishap to amember of his family

,following soon after the

death of a loved daughter, Ann e, Genera l Lee

wrote to his wife two days afterwards (June

1 l th) My supplication s continue to ascend for

you,my children

,and my country . When I last

wrote I did not suppose that Fitzhugh (his son)would SO soon be sent to the rear disabled, and I

hope it will be but for a Short time . I saw himthe night after the battle-“ indeed

,met him on

the field as they were bringing him from the

front . He is young an d healthy,and I trust will

soon be up again . He seemed to be more con

cerned about his brave men an d officers who had

fallen in the battle than about himself . ”

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG . 51

On the following d ay (June l oth), Lee sent

E well northward from Culpeper into the Shen

an d oah Valley, with the design of reachin g Win

chester,then held by Federa l troops under

General Milroy, with a small force occupyingMartinsburg . AtWinchester

,which the Federals

had strongly fortified,E well directed R od es’s divi

sion to move upon Martinsburg, capture the Union

garrison,and dispose ofhis force SO as cut off the

enemy’s retrea t in fa llin g ba ck from Winchester

to the Potomac . E well then prepared to assault

Milroy,having invested the town on the 1 3th

,

and having with him the divisions of Johnson

and E a rly . The next day, the latter, after a

furious cannonade,stormed Milroy’s defenses

,

carried them,and made prisoners of the greater

part Ofthe garrison . The remainder,with Milroy

,

fled from Winchester,during the night

,but the

ma j ority of the Federal command fell into JOhn

son’s hands and were captured,though Milroy

,

with a sma ll followin g, eluding the Southern

lead er, escaped to Harper’s Ferry . Berryville an d

Martinsburg were a lso surprised and their garri

son taken,while the Valley was throughout freed

from the enemy . The Spoils of the two days’

hard-won victories includ ed prisoners cap

ture d,29 pieces Of artillery

,270 wagons and


ambulances taken, and a mass of various stores .

News of the mishap reached Hooker speedily at

Fredericksburg and opened his eyes as to the

character and design of Lee’s Operations in the

North . He therefore gave his army orders to

quit the R appahan n ock an d move in the direction

ofMana ssa s,meantime confining his attention to

the Blue Ridge mountains and the Southern move

ment in that quarter,and taking ca re to keep his

army between the line of the Confederate advance

an d Washington . When Hooker moved north

ward , Hill, in compliance with Lee’s orders

,took

the road to the Shenandoah Valley,thence to

Winchester while E well directed the steps of his

command towards Pennsylvania , Lee following

him at supporting distance . AS the advance

northward was made,Lee bore eastward in the

direction ofWashington,now in a larm over this

new Confederate foray but Hooker by this time

had come north and interposed a barrier between

the capital and the Confederate columns, on the

east side of the Bull Run Range . Le e was thus

ba lked in making any demonstration ag ainst the

Federa l sea t ofgovernment, though his presence

in the region brought on a series of conflicts b e

tween Stuart’s command an d the Union cavalry .

Leaving Stuart to guard the passes of the Blue



land and Pennsylvania,with the design of giving

Lee battle and cutting offhis retrea t southward .

Up to this time,Lee ha d accomplished not a little

in gathering supplies in the enemy’s country,

and in spreading a larm throughout the North

by his invasion Of Pennsylvania . He was,how

ever,greatly handicapped by a lack of cava lry

,

especially for scouting purposes,and in enabling

him to learn of the whereabouts and proj ected

movements of the Federal army . He,n ever th e

less,was aware tha t his rear communica tions

were in serious d anger, and the better to protect

them and strengthen himself for anticipated

atta ck,h e

‘

d irected Longstreet and Hill to move

from Chambersburg to Gettysburg, while he re

called E well from York and Carlisle to the same

rallying point .

The grea t historic battle Of Gettysburg was

fought through its three entire days’course (July

1 — 3,1 863)by detached masses of the two contend

ing a rmies,as they successively came upon the

now renown ed field,on which was at length

g rouped close upon men,about equa lly

divided between the Union and the Confederate

forces . The town lies in the va lley of the Cumberland

,in on e of the southern counties of Penn

sylvania,36 miles southwest of Harrisburg

,the

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 155

State capital . Through the valley run roads lead

ing to the d ifi eren t towns of the adjoining coun

ties,most Of them centering in Gettysburg TO

the west of the town is situate Seminary Rid ge,

three miles in length,on which stands a theolog

ical school while southward is a series ofridg es

and hills, intersected by ravines and gullies .“ The point of these hills farthest west is a lit

tle to the north of the general trend,and

,with

its connectin g ridges,forms a curve o r outward

bend . Joining this curved part is a long line of

hills,which end in two prominences

,and finally

in open country . The extreme western point of

the curve is known as Culp’s H ill

,the two prom

in en ces as Little and Big Round Top, and the

long connecting ridge as Cemetery‘

H ill,the local

burial-ground . Between Little Round Top and

Cemetery Hill,filling a gap in the long line

,is a

ridge,which stands out in the valley, and is

known as Peach Orchard . Near Big Round Top

is Devil’s Den,a sma ll knoll

,an d Rock

'

Creek .

These hills and ridges a re wooded and in some

portions are very steep and rocky .

The closing day ofJune found the Confederate

forces pressing through Ca shtown, on the road

from Chambersburg to Gettysburg, Hill having

sent the divisions of Heth and Pender on in


advance to ascertain Meade’s whereabouts . Stuart

a t this time,to whom the reconna issance duty

would doubtless have been assigned,was Off at

Carlisle,and

,besides having Kilpatrick’s squad

rons to fight,had Mead e’s army

,for most Of his

return march between him and Le e . Longstreet

was still west of the South Mountain at Green

wood,with Pickett guarding the supply trains

at Chambersburg . O f E well’s corps,Johnson’s

division was nea r Longstreet ; the divisions of

Rodes and E arly were in the vicinity of Heid

le rsb e rg , though now on the way from the Sus

quehan n a to Cashtown . E arly in the morning

of the l st of July,Heth and Pender

,of Hill’s

corps,on their approach to Gettysburg

,found

themselves confronted by Buford’s command,

with a strong Federa l contingent,at Willoughby

Run,a force which the Confederates drove back

,

the noise ofthe firing bringing both Hill and

E well on the field,when battle between the

two armies was precipita ted n ear McPherson’s

Ridge, on the Cashtown or Chambersburg road,

just west ofGettysburg . To Buford’s a ssistance,after the opening cava lry Skirmish , came up theFederal First corps under Reynolds

,and the

Second corps under Howard . Reynolds posted

his men a long the Seminary Ridge,from which



the assault,especially as n ew arrivals of Federa l

troops were coming into Gettysburg,including

Hancock’s and Slocum’s corps,which at on ce oc

cupied Gulp’s Hill

,as well as part of the Ceme

tery Ridge . The day’s fighting ended amid Con

federate exultation,and with a conference ofLee

and his generals as to the plan Of attack on the

morrow . The losses of the day on both sides

were heavy .

The ea rly part of the second day’s fighting at

Gettysburg was occupied in placing in advantage

ous positions the contingents Ofboth armies that

had arrived during the night,with a r e d isposi

tion of part Of those that had been engaged on the

previous day . Of the arriva ls on the Union side

were the Second,Third

,Fifth

,and Twelfth corps

,

commanded respectively by Hancock,Sickles

,

Sykes,and Slocum ; while later on in the day

came the Sixth corps,under Sedgwick . On the

Confederate side,Stuart’s cavalry corps had not

yet arrived,n or did he reach the field until the

afternoon of the following d ay . Lon g stree t, h ow

ever,had early j oined Lee

,though portions ofhis

command,those under Hood , Kershaw,

and Mc

Laws, had n ot as yet come up . Le e was anxious

fo r their arrival,and for the coming of Anderson’s

d ivision of Hill’s corps, as he wished Longstreet to

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 159

open the day’s operations with an attack on the

Federal lines along the Emmittsburg road . To

this d esIg n of the Confederate commander-in

chief, Longstreet entered a protest, as the la tter

preferred to attack Meade first on the left . This

lack of acquiescence lost Le e most part ofthe day,when it was Important to attack the enemy before

they had taken up their assigned positions and

strengthened their lines Ofd efense . Longstreet’s

attitude was na tura lly embarrassing to Le e , and

the latter doubtless wished that morning to have

had on the field his Old war-horse,the redoubtable

and eager Jackson,who

,with his unshaken con

fid en ce in his chief and promptitude in obeying

orders,would have readily thrown his command

against the enemy,and more than probably have

disa strously routed them,and SO obviated the third

day’s fighting . As it turned out , the Confederate

chances Of success in the day’s Operations were

lost by Lon gstreet’s reluctance to atta ck as Le e

had d irected and ere long the result proved that

Lee was right,for the Federa l column (the Fifth

Corps), on arriving an d taking up ground , at once

seized Little Round Top, the key of the day’s

position,and occupied it

,reinforced later in the

day,as the struggle around it and for its posses

sion developed .


The conflict ofOpinion between the Confederate

commander-in -chief and his senior genera l on the

field produced for a time an unfortunate dead lock .

It a lso delayed other action designed to have

been Simultaneously taken along other parts Of

the field,in conjunction with Longstreet’s move

ment . Already, the divisions of McLaws and

Hood were waiting to carry out the orders as

signed them ; Hill, opposite the enemy’s center

,

was impatient to attack ; E well was eager to

storm Culp’s Hill while E a rly

,o n the Confeder

ate left,had Since two in the morning been ready

for the word to scale Cemetery Hill from the

direction OfGettysburg . Fina lly , by four O’clock

in the aftern oon, Longstreet, with his men,

got into position in front of and o n the left of

Sickles’command,the Federals being here ar

rayed in strong force behind stone walls an d

partly in the forest an d among heavy boulders,

the position bristling with artillery . Here,Long

street delivered a vigorous attack,forcing the

sa lient a t the peach orchard , an d driving in the

successive regiments an d brigades from the left

toward the right of the Third corps,pushing

them back across the whea t-fie ld , gaining the

Devil’s Den,and threa tening to takeLittle Round

7)Top . Tha t the latter was not captured was ow



encouraging to the Confederates to lead their

heroic chieftain to determine to renew the battle

on the morrow . The losses on both sides had

meanwhile been frightful .

The two d ays’battle, though it had been an

aggressive and partly successful on e to the

Confederates,was by no means decisive . To both

combatants,it had

,moreover

,been a sanguin ary

on e , as the field,littered with dead

,in all d irec

t ions showed . On the Federal right,part ofthe

Union lines had been occupied over night by

Johnson,of E well’s command

,and on the morn

ing Of the 3rd it was d esigned by Lee to make

the position won the ba sis of the new day’s

attack . I n this,Lee was

,however

,checkmated

byMeade, for by daybreak Johnson was heavily

assaulted by the foe,and the position

,a fter pro

tracted fighting, was retaken before Confedera te

reinforcements could be brought up to strengthen

it . The Union lines were then re-formed . After

the morning’s d iscomfiture , Lee at once resolvedto break the enemy’s center

,and with that Obj ect

he first ordered his artillery,consisting Of 1 40guns

on Seminary Ridge,to open fire on the Federa l

lines . This furious cannonade, which la sted for

close upon two hours, was fitfully replied to by

Meade’s 80 cannon posted on Cemetery Hill, for



to advance’ against their assailants,and the

struggle henceforth was on e waged at close

quarters,until the Confedera tes pierced the first

Federal line and threw it back upon the second .

Pickett’s brigades now found themselves far in

advance oftheir supports,an d were met besides by

a hail Of grape-shot at close range,which leveled

hundreds with the dust . The command still did

n ot flinch, however, though hotly opposed by

G ibbon’SFederal defenders . Upon the Union lines

the advance a lmost recklessly threw itself,only to

be mowed down by the Federal fire,though

,at

this crisis,a few ofthe supporting regiments came

up and united with Pickett’s men,and both for a

time made a determined stand— only to be anni

hila ted . At this juncture,the charge

,it was seen

,

was a forlorn hOpe , and what remained Of it had

n o alterna tive but to face about and retreat, or

submit to the shrunk-from choice Of capture. Out

of men who h a d followed Pickett to the

point of contact with the Federal line,but es

caped while fell before the murderous fire

to which they h ad been exposed . Such was the

tragic ending Of a glorious and memorable deed

ofarms, and practically the close of the great

battle ofGettysburg .

Gettysburg,it has Often been sa id

,should have

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG . 1 65

ended the war, together with the surrender of

Vicksburg to Grant on July 4 th,the morrow of

the last day’s fighting between Meade’s and Lee’s

forces on the bloody field of Gettysburg . But

this was hardly to be expected when we consider

the keen-edged temper of the Southern troops and

their confidence in their great leader,n ot to speak

of the losses that had been inflicted,in the three

days’engagement,upon the Army ofthe Potomac

,

and in view of what the Army Of Northern Vir

ginia was yet capable Of accomplishing in the

Campaign of the Wilderness tha t ensued,where

man for man the Confederates grea tly out-fought

the Northerners . The losses on both sides at

Gettysburg were appa lling,and wha t the battle

had cost Meade— in a loss of out of nearly

Of the Northern forces,aga inst a rebel

loss Of out ofa total Of under Lee

Showed the punishment that had been received,a

punishment that restra ined the northern general

in -chief from immediately renewing the fighting .

CHAPTER XII .

LE E RETREATS TO VIR GINIA AND WINTER S BEHIND

THE R APIDAN.

AFTER Gettysburg, a period of inactivity en

sued,SO far as actual strife between the forces of

Le e an d Meade is concerned,the latter hesita ting

to renew the attack upon Lee’s command, o r in

any effective way to frustra te the withdrawal of

the A rmy OfNorthern Virgin ia to the Potomac .

The inactivity is partly expla ined by the wet

season that had come on and made the roads

through the South Mountain range well-nigh

impassable and partly owing to Meade’s caution

in not desiring to come SO soon again to close

quarters with the Confedera te forces,even in their

retrea t to Virgin ia . The lull and the avoidance

ofcontinued fighting enabled the Southern com

mander-in -chief to withdraw his a rmy through

Cashton an d by the Fairfield road , via the Cum

berland Va lley,to the crossings of the Potomac .

High wa ter at the latter river delayed his crossing

for a week, and made Lee anxious for the safety1 66



success that has hitherto crowned your efforts,

was marked by the same heroic spirit that has

commanded the respect of your enemies,the

gratitude ofyour country, and the admiration of

mankind .

“ Once more you are called upon to meet the

enemy,from whom you have won on SO many

fields a name that will never die. Once more

the eyes of your countrymen are turned upon

you,and again do wives and sisters

,fa thers and

mothers,and helpless children lean for defense on

your strong arms and brave hearts . Le t every

soldier remember that on his courage and fidelity

depends all that makes life worth having,the

freedom of his country,the honor of his people

,

and the security Of his home . Let each heart

grow strong in the remembrance of our glorious

past,and in the thought of the inestimable bless

ings for which we contend ; and , invoking the

assistance Of that Heavenly Power which has

so signally blessed our former efforts,let us go

forth in confidence to secure the peace and safety

of our country . Soldiers,your o ld enemy is

before you . Win from him honor worthy of

your right cause,and worthy of your comrades

,

dead on so many illustrious fields .

R . E . LE E,G en era l Comman d in g .

LE E RETREATS TO VIR GINIA. 1 69

The anticipated Federal attack was n o t,how

ever,rea lized, though Meade made a Show of

following Le e by crossing the Potomac and ad

vancin g east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with

the design of pursuing the Confederates,who

by this time,had reached Culpeper

,and from

there ha d taken up a strong defensive position on .

the south bank of the Rapidan River,Lee having

his headquarters a t Oran ge Court House . Meade,

meanwhile,brought up his command to Culpeper

Court House,where he established himself for

the winter,having the Rapidan between him and

Lee . From these several positions tentative

movements were made by both Sides during the

early winter months,but

,if we except a demon

stra tion in the region Of the Mine Run,nothing

Of importance came of them . Here both oppos

ing armies were considerably depleted,by having

to send parts of their respective forces to other

and distant sections of the country,where serious

conflicts were then occurring . Meade’s strength

was reduced by the d espatch from it of a large

portion ofhis army to South Carolina, to take

part in the long siege of Charleston, stubbornly

held by the Confederates ; while another con

tingent was sent to New York city to a ssist in

suppressing the Draft riots,there being at the


time much difficulty in recruiting in the North .

Lee’s force was about the same period reduced

by Pickett’s brig ade being despatched to Peters

burg,where

,in the following summer

,

“ the last

citadel of the Confederacy,” under Beauregard

,

gallantly withstood the assaults of General Grant

and a long further siege until April,1 865

,when

its stout defenders were withdrawn, j ust before

the surrender at Appomattox . Lee’s army was

further depleted by the despatch of Genera l Long

street with two divisions to Genera l Bragg’s as

sistance in holding Tennessee against Rosecrans .

There he took active and memorable part in the

battle Of Chickamauga (September 1 9-20,in which the Federals were routed and driven from

the field,and Rosecrans’army was saved from

annihilation only by the strenuous efi orts and

gallantry of General Thomas . Of Longstreet’s

part in the direful battle,which proved so dis

astrous to the Federals,Le e

,on September 25

,

wrote thus to his Old general,Longstreet

My whole heart and soul have been with you

and your brave corps in your la te battle (of

Chickamauga). It was natural to hear ofLong

street an d Hill (D . H .) charging side by Side,and

pleasing to find the armies of the E ast and West

vying with each other in valor and devotion to



th e Rapidan, his army being badly fed and as

badly clad,many Of them being without shoes

,

and without suitable accommoda tion in the way of

shelter . Much of his cavalry,moreover

,had to

be dispersed,in search of forage for the horses

while the General-in -chief’s wife and daughter,

and others Of his personal family,had to be

depended upon for socks for his barefooted men,

and fo r blankets to cover them in the bitterly

cold nights in camp . TO add to his anxieties at

this time,General Lee had to give paterna l

thought to his second son,W . H . F . Lee

,who in

the summer of 1 863 had been wounded in battle

at Brandy Sta tion,was captured

,and held a close

prisoner ofwar by the Federals . While captive

in the North,his wife and child, moreover, died,

thus adding to Genera l Lee’s solicitude and grief.

At the period when these troubles were upon him,

the Commander-in -chief was himself untiring in

his attentions to the men under him , caring as

far as he could for their material wants and com

fort,his own table being often as indifferently

s upplied as were those Of the lowest rank Of his

command . His ordinary dinner,we are told

,was

a t this trying time nothing more bountiful or

appetizing than a h ead of cabbage boiled in salt

water,with a pone of corn bread— meat being

LE E RETREATS TO VIRGINIA. 173

eaten n o t o ftener than twice a week . His

thoughtfulness at this jun ctureled himto permitmany of his men to go home on furlough for

thirty days,to such at lea st as were able to supply

temporarily an able-bodied substitute-recruit,of

good moral character . To both sides,in the long

continued strife,recruiting was an irksome and

diffi cult business even in the North it was that,in spite of the inducements of large bounties

,

which it could well afior d . To the South , on the

other hand,it had become almost impossible now

to strengthen the Confedera te armies in the field,

though Lee was urgent in his ca ll for more men,

and especially for additions to his cavalry equip

ment,in view Of the opening Of a new season and

the operations which it would bring with it .

With the Spring of 1 864,the Federa l force under

Meade an d Burn sid e'

on th e R appahan n ock reached

a strength Of men while it ha d n ow for

its chief command an d leader General Ulysses S .

Grant,who was given the supreme rank of lieu

tenant-general Of the United States army

Against this large Union force,the Army of

NorthernVirginia,as it prepared fo r a renewa l Of

hostilities,was under men Of all ranks ;

what it lacked in numbers it, however, madegood, under the inspirin g leadership of Lee

,in


é la n and mora le . Include d in the total force of

the Southern troops on the Rapidan was Long

street’s command,now returned from Tennessee

,

thoug h Pickett’s d ivision was still North

Carolin a .



his known resolute character,doggedness

,an d

military capacity of holding on and wearing

down his opponent’s force by mere attrition,was

,

as we have seen,given supreme command Of the

Army of the Potoma c . On his reaching Meade

and reorganizing the latter’s army,Grant’s design

was to cross the Rapidan and move upon the

Confederates at the ea rliest moment,his Objective

point being the “ rebel ” capital,together with

the destruction ofthe Army ofNorthern Virginia .

Besides General Meade,and General Burnside

,

whose separa te command,which had just be en

organized a t Annapolis, was now added to the

strength of the Army Ofthe Potomac,Grant had

at his disposal the services of other g eneral

Officers Of tried ability— Hancock,Warren

,and

Sedgwick,with Sheridan in command of the

Federal cavalry . Other contemporary move

ments included the despa tch ofa column under

Ma j or-General Ben . Butler,to a scend the James

River and cut the Confederate communica tionswith Richmond

,and, if possible, capture Peters

burg . Other simultaneous movements were

those under Genera ls Sigel and Crooks,to operate

in the Ken awha and Shenandoah va lleys , destroy

the Central Railroad and the Virginia an d Ten

h essee R . R .

,and prevent rebel supplies from

THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN. 1 77

reach ing Lee and his army from the region

round Southern Virginia . Unity of action, in

this common scheme for the overthrow of the

South,included the despatch of General W . T .

Sherman (who had been in command of the

Military D ivision of the Mississippi), on his

renowned March through Georgia,where he had

General J . E . John ston and J . B . Hood success

ively to contend a gainst, and where he won the

battles of Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain ,occupied Atlanta

,and then set out on his famous

march to the sea .

”

By this time the two great captains of the

North and South were to manifest their strategi

cal skill an d test the mettle of their respective

commands in the Wilderness labyrinths . The

movement began,on May 4 th by Grant

throwing his right wing across the Rapid an,

where Lee’s a rmyw as on the alert to receive him ,

an d where its chief was eager to d raw him into

the heart of the Wilderness,and there seek to

bring on a general engagement . In this,Lee

succeeded but too well,as Grantwas soon to learn

,

when he found himself enmeshed in Na ture’s

entanglements in the region . Moving his left

wing forward on the road towards Chancellors

Ville,Grant now sought to flank Lee

,and

,by


gaining Gordonsville,to fall upon the Southern

rear . Fo r the incidents of the fighting that

ensued in the Wilderness thickets,we cannot do

better,for the reader’s informa tion

,than draw

upon the intelligent na rra tive furnished in the

Werner Supplement to the E ncyclopaedia Bri

tannica (See V o l. V . ,pp . 551-2, which we have

the Publisher’s kind permission to quote). There,the writer ofthe article on The Wilderness Cam

paig n remarks that

Lee was fully aware of th e advantages of th e Wildernessfor de fensive Ope rat ions , an d re so lved , if po ssible , to br ing ona gene ra l engagement in th e midst ofth e thicke t . Two linesofadvance runnin g ne ar ly d ue east an d we st , an d paralle l toe ach o the r , were open t o Le e , an d a long the se roads , on th e

morning Of th e 5th (ofMay), h e promptly advanced , Ewe ll’sdivision taking th e turnpike (o r nor the r ly) road , while H ill’sdivision advance d a long th e plank-road (th e southe rly thoroug hfar e ). Longstre e t’s division was, dur in g th e first day’sbat tle , le ft a t Gordonsville to cove r Lee’s r e ar , an d did n o t

come up in t ime to take pa rt in th e first Of th e fight in g .

Burnside’s command in th e Nor the rn a rmy was a lso too la tein arr iving to take part in t h e first day’s fightin g , h e havingbe en le ft on th e R appahan n ock to cove r th e rea r of th e Fede ra larmy. When th e Union force s first struck th e Confede ra te s ,th ey suppose d it to b e me r e ly a r ear-gua rd which they h a de ncounte re d , an d that th e army of Le e was in re treat . But

they we re soon convinced tha t they h a d made a mistake ,an d in a few moments the fight ing was Sha rp an d results



each o ther . Th is ended the first day’s fight ing in the Wilderness.

“ Ear ly the next d ay th e fight ing was re sumed , Lee comme n cin g th e attack at about am. In th e me ant ime ,Burnside an d Longstre e t h ad come up to the ir re spect ivearmies , an d the lines ofbattle ofbo th were n ow fully formed .

Grant’s line extended ove r a frontage offive an d a ha lf milesfrom Todd’s tave rn to Ge rman ia Ford , Sedgwick occupyingth e r ight , to th e le ft ofSedgwick , in regular succe ssion , be ingWarren , Burnside , an d Hancock . Le e

’s a rmy was disposed as

it was on th e prece ding d ay , with th e exception tha t it wasn ow in thre e se ctions, Ewe ll be ing on th e le ft , Hill in th ecenter , an d Longstre et on th e right . Lee began his assaultby at tacking Sedgwick , but th e Confederate s were easily re

pulsed , an d Warren an d Hancock made an attack on Hill .For a t ime th e troops of Hill gave way , but at th e cr it ica lmoment Ande rson’s br igade of Hill’s division was thrownforward , an d Longstre e t’s t roops suddenly coming to th e sup

po rt Of Hill’s shattere d line s , th e t ide of batt le was turnedan d Hancock was dr iven back . At th e most cr itica l juncturein th e fight , Gene ral Longstre e t was se r iously wounded byh is own men , an d the loss of t ime occasione d by th e changeof Officers necessary a fter this o ccurrence was fa ta l t o th e

Confede rate succe ss. Be fore Genera l Le e himse lf could r eachth e scene an d re store orde r , th e Fede rals h ad rega ined all

they h a d lost by th e a ttack which Longstre e t h a d made . At

four o’clock , Le e , in person , le d Hill’s an d Longst re et’s men

to an assault aga inst th e enemy , an d for a t ime th e Unionle ft was in extreme danger . But a prompt an d despera techarge made by Colone l Hoffmann , according to Hancock ,was th e turning-po int of th e engag ement , an d saved th e le ftwing from ent ire destruction . To a d d to th e horror of th e

THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN . 1 81

situation , the woods were afire from the burning powder ofthe guns, an d many dead an d wounded we re consumed bythe flame s . Night fa ll did n ot cause th e fight ing to cease , for

just a t sunse t Gene ra l Le e sent forward a heavy co lumn , le d

by Gene ra l Gordon, aga inst th e r ight wing of th e Fede ra l “

army , an d threw it into th e greatest confusion . Fede ra l rein forceme n ts were hurr ie d up , howeve r , an d th e tota l darkne ss of th e night put an e n d to th e fight ing Ofth e se cond d ay ,

in which , it was e st imate d , the Fede rals h ad lost at least fift een thousandmen , an d th e Confedera te s about ten thousand .

Th e to ta l losses for th e two days we re about twenty thousandan d thirte en thousand , r espect ive ly .

On th e morning OfMay 7th it was apparent that Gen e ra lLee h ad de te rmined to assume th e de fensive an d le t Grantattack him . This Grant at once began by attempt ing a flankmovement , his obje ct ive po int be ing Spo ttsylvan ia CourtHouse , 13 miles away . Th e co lumn of the Fe de ra l advancea long th e Brock road was le d by Wa rre n’s division , an d a fte rconside rable de lay , occasione d by its own cava lry , which Obstruc ted th e road , th e Fede ra l advance reache d a po int twoor thre e miles from the Cour t House . No ser ious fight ing ha dtaken place , an d th e Fede ra l comman de rs we re e late d withthe idea that Lee had probably be en unaware of th e a ttemptmade to turn his flank but they were aga in to b e undece ivedin a terr ible manne r . No soone r h ad th e head ofth e Federa lco lumn arr ive d at the po int indicated above than they we reme t by a t err ific fire an d force d back , e ach successive command , as it came up , shar ing th e same fa te . Th e at tempt toturn Lee’s flank h a d fa iled , an d Grant o rde red his army tostr engthe n its posit ion by entr enchments . All Of this an d

th e followin g d ay was spent in maneuve rs , on both Sides , fo rposit ions , Le e always bar r ing an y southward movement on


the part of Grant by throwin g his men across the line of

march . A t last , on th e l 0th , Grant attacked , an d the batt leof Spo ttsylvan ia Court House took place , afte r which Grantan d Lee began the ir famous movement to reach R ichmond ,th e on e to obta in posse ssion of th e Confede rate capita l , theothe r to de fend it . Le e was succe ssful , a n d whe n Grantarr ived at Hanove r Junct ion , on May 23d , h e foundLe e’s a rmybe tween him an d R ichmond , in a stron g posit ion , a lready eut rench ed . Th e position of Le e

’s a rmy was impregnable .

Grant knew it would b e madness to a tt empt to turn h is posit ion , so afte r a litt le desultory Skirmishing th e same tacticsas be fore we re reso rte d to , Grant withdrawing h is forces onth e 26th an d aga in a t tempt ing to flank Le e . Le e followedGrant’s movements close ly , at every turn inte rposing his armybe twe en th e Federa ls an d th e Confederate capita l . Seve ra lstands we re made bv bo th arm ie s , but on n o occasion was apitched battle fought , unt il th e old battlefie lds ofMcCle llan’s

campaign Of two ye ars be fore we re r eached . He re th e Wilderne ss Campa ign proper ends , as th e bat tle ofCo ld Harborhas be en placed by war -histor ian s in ano the r ca tego ry. Soon

after this bat t le , th e Fede ra l army , having de scr ibed a semicircular path around th e city of R ichmond , was transfe rr e dto th e south bank ofth e Jame s R ive r , an d th e siege ofPe te rs

burg, th e final act Ofth e grea t drama ,

wa s begun .

NO character ist ics ofth eWilde rne ss stand out with greate rprominence than d o th e he ro ism an d de te rminat ion exhibit e dby bo th a rmie s. Neve r be for e h a d Le e’s ability as a tact icianan d strategist h ad greate r demands made upon it , an d neve rbe fore h ad those deman ds me t with a fulle r r e sponse . Animpartia l judge would find it hard to award th e pa lm for

supe r ior ity to e ithe r army. On th e on e hand , th e Fe de ra larmy was at a disadvan tage on account ofth e intr icate na ture



entrenchments on the Ridge and formed a line of

ba ttle read y to be hurled upon Warren and the

advance corps of Grant’s army, at this time

ignorant of their being forestalled by the Con

federates,save

,as it was thought

,by some dis

mounted men of Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry . Gen

eral Wa rren, on arriving at the Ridge and pushing

on his advance to secure the position, was met

with an unexpected and withering Confederate

fire,which threw his command into confusion ;

but,on bringing up the remainder of his corps

,

b e renewed the a ttack , only to be met, however,by a severe repulse . During the night the Con

federa te commands of E arly and E well came

upon the scene,together with General Le e , an d

the position taken up by Wa rren on the previous

d ay was strengthened against the expected re

newed attack on the morrow . The 9th of May

brought the whole ofGrant’s army to the Court

House,when a genera l assault of the Confederate

lines was ordered,Warren

,Sedgwick, Hancock,

and Burnside taking part in the attack . In the

melee that ensued, the Federals lost heavily,though they fought gallantly, delivering during

the d ay n o less than twelv e assaults .

The day ofthe il th was spent by the Federals in

getting ready for an elaborate attack on the

THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN . 1 85

right center of the Southern line, that part of the

Confederate position being deemed by General

Grant the weakest,as it proved . On the follow

ing day,the assault was fiercely launched

,Han

cock massing his men there chiefly aga inst th e

command OfGeneral E dward Johnson Of E well’s

division . After a desperate resistance by the

latter,his command was overpowered

,and the

Confederate defense line was cut in two,while

of John son’s men,including the Genera l

himself,were taken prisoners by Hancock . The

consequence of this was to force Le e to withdraw

to interior lines,after a vain attempt h a d been

made to recapture the position that Johnson had

lost . The enemy were unable,however

,to pene

trate further the Southern position or break Lee’s

lines at other points . It was then that Grant,in

his wonted dogged way,wrote to theWar author

ities at Washington : “ I propose to fight it out

on this line, i f it takes all summer — a threat,

however,which

,as we Shall presently see , was

n o t enforced . From the 1 4th to the 1 8th (of May)desultory fighting went on ; though two deter

m ined assaults Ou the Southern lines were de

livered by the Federals, which Lee was able to

repulse,with heavy losses to the Union troops .

On the 1 9th Lee discern ed Signs Of the Federals


giving up the attempt to carry his position an d of

moving Off,possibly with the design ofmarching

directly upon Richmond . This,however

,was not

Grant’s immediate purpose ; his motive clearly

was to draw Lee from his strong position,which

he found he could not hOpe to take, in spite of his

announced purpose to hold on all summer . ”

Presently Grant’s design,in abandoning the re

gion of the Spo ttsylvan ia Court House, was to

take up a position on the North Anna River,on e

Of the head streams Of the Pamunkey, so as to

get round the Confederate right,but really to

disengage Le e from a position which Grant

had spent twelve days in finding to be unas

sailable .

No sooner was this Federal movement noted by

Lee than he sought to interfere with it . This he

did,

first,by inflicting, through the agency of

E well’s corps, a heavy blow upon the retiring

Federals,which delayed its movements from the

1 9th to the 2l st ofMay, and then by ordering an

advance ofhis own men, by a Shorter route than

that taken by Grant, to the south bank of the

North Anna . This accomplished , h e once more

surprised his ad versary by revea ling the Con

federa t es in mass confronting him. When Grant

reached the river, he at once threw Warren and


1 88 LIFE OF GE NER AL LE E .

operations in the region began on May 31 by a

preliminary conflict between Sheridan’s cavalry

corps and that of Fitzhugh Lee . The army of

the Potomac coming up on the following day,

the Federals proceeded to entrench themselves

temporarily behind some Slight earthworks,from

which, on the 3rd of June, they advanced to t he

a ttack . Lee’s success in prepa ring for the as

sault was instantly apparent in the hot repulse

the Federals met with,the attacking columns

being met with so disastrous a fire that hardly

any life could live before it . So dire was the

Confederate fire that seven colonels ofHancock’s

attacking columns fell mortally wounded . The

battle was no sooner begun than it was ended ;the losses to the Federals resulting from all

casua lties in the engagements Of the l st and 3rd

of June reaching, it is chronicled, close up on

SO in credible seems the havoc in the

Unionist ranks in these two days’fighting,tha t

we d eem it proper to vouch for the figures from

an authorita tive source— that given in A . A . Hum

ph reys’narrative Of “ The Virginia Campaign

Of 1 864 where that writer affirms tha t ao

cording to the report of the Medica l D irector,Surgeon McParlin

,the wounded brought to the

hospitals from the battle of the 3rd ofJune num

THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN. 1 89

bered The dead were at least The

wounded brought to the hospitals from the

battle of the l st ofJune were the killed

were not less than 500. The wounded on the l st

and 3rd of June were,therefore

,an d the

killed not less than 1 600 ; but, adopting the

n umber of killed and missing furnished Gen era l

Badeau from the Adjutant-Genera l’s Office,

killed,

missing (many— most, indeed— of

them , no doubt, killed) we have for the

killed and wounded,and for the tota l ca sualties

,

The Southern losses,it may be added

were,on the other hand, n o t more than

From this it will be seen how severely Grant had

been beaten at Cold Harbor— a beating which he

so far scrupled at the time to admit that he

hesitated for a while to send a fla g of truce to

General Lee,asking permission to rescue his

wounded from the ba ttlefield an d bury his dead .

The battle closed with the Confedera tes in full

possession Of their position and defenses ; while

Grant withdrew his army from the field,and

,

crossing the James, proceeded to lay siege to

Petersburg. Thus ended,practically in fa ilure to

Grant’s designs, the Wilderness Campa ign, wi th

the contests tha t grew out of,or followed upon

it . The ambition which led the Federa l lieu


tenant-genera l so boastfully to engage in it,cost

the North a loss bord ering upon men

Before passing to another chapter,it will

,

perhaps,seem proper here to answer a question

which the readersmay probably have asked himself

,What, meanwhile, had become of Lee’s

inva luable cavalry Officer, General J . E . B .

Stua rt ?” The answer,unhappily

,is a brief on e

,

viz .,tha t he lost his ga llant life in an engagement

on the 1 1 th ofMay near Richmond,when

repelling a raid upon the Confedera te capita l by

Genera l Sheridan,who had been detached upon

tha t mission by General Grant after the opening

battles in the Wilderness . His loss was a severe

on e to the Confederacy, as he ranked foremost

among the Cavalry generals ofthe Civil War . !

On May 20th , Gene ra l Le e , in announcing to h is army th edea th ofMajo r-Gene ral Stuar t , pa id th e fo llowing high tr ibuteto h is memory : Among th e ga llant soldie rswh o have fa llenin th e war , Gene ra l Stuart was second to n one in va lor , inzea l , an d in unflinching devo tion to h is count ry . His achievements form a con spicuous par t of th e histo ry of this army

,

with which h is name a n d se rvices will b e fo reve r associated .

To military capacity ofa high o rde r , a n d to th e noble r v irtuesof th e soldier , h e adde d th e br ighte r graces of a pure life ,guided an d susta ined by th e Chr ist ian’s fa ith an d hope .

H is grate ful countrymen will mourn h is loss an d che r ish hismemo ry . To h is comrade s-ih -a rms h e h as le ft th e proudre co llect ions ofh is deeds an d the inspir ing influence Of his

example .

”



Grant and Lee were being made,the Federal

genera l, Hunter, was engaged in the task Gen

era l Sigel had been occupied with,ofraiding and

burning in the Va lley of the Virginia,destroying

the ra ilroad tracks and bridges,and committing

many outrages in the region,including the de

vastatin g and burning of homesteads . By the

l 6th ofJune,Hunter ha d set himself the task of

attacking the town of Lynchburg, then held by a

Small local force of Confederates, supplemen ted

by the command Of General Breckenridge . News

of this reaching Lee,the latter detached E arly

from his army with men to bring Hunter’s

wild career to a close this had the desired effect,

for on E arly’s reaching Lynchburg, which had

already repulsed the Federa l a ttack,he found

Hunter and his command in full retreat from the

place,passing out of the region through Western

Virginia . All that E arly had for his pains, was

to get upon the rear ofHunter’s retrea ting force,when he captured a number Of prisoners, besides

the prize of thirteen pieces ofartillery .

From the middle of June,1 864

,to April 3rd

,

1 865,Grant’s opera tions before Petersburg con

tin ue d with varying but wearying fortunes . The

Opera tions , the while, ha d little Of the‘

character

Of a siege ; nor, save for the protection Of th e

THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 1 93

Confederate capital,whose fortunes were linked

with those of Petersburg,was it worth Lee’s

while to fritter away the strength and patience

Of his army, for nearly nine months, in front Of

the city . But while the Army of the James re

mained there, there, necessarily, must Lee and

his veterans remain also . Had events gone more

favorably for the South in other sections of the

country,Lee’s detention so long at Petersburg

would not have greatly mattered ; but the turn

of the tide elsewhere,adverse to the Confederacy

,

and the great and increasing preponderance in the

numbers of the Federal armies, wereLee’s,and the

South’s,undoing. All our hero could do was but

to bend his head, as he ever did, to the will of

Heaven,in ordering events otherwise, even to the

blasting OfSouthern hopes .

Shortly after settling down to the protracted

investment ofPe tersburg, Grant ordered elabora te

assaults upon the place,though results were not as

he anticipated nor did they compensate for the

fright ful slaughter they occasioned . All that was

practically gained from them ,or

,at least

,from

those ofthe 15th, 1 6th , an d 17th ofJune,was the

carrying of portions of the Confederate exterior

lines,which did not efi ect any more important

purpose than to add to the area Of the Federal


entrenchments . It is on record that Grant’s losses

in these assaults did not fall much Short of

me n ; while the Confedera te casualties were n o ta third of that number . Up to this time

,when

the siege operations prOpe r are claimed to

have been begun,there h a d been little aecom

plished by the Union army beyond the four day

assaults (June 15 if we exclude the general

raiding in the neighborhood,with the design of

destroying the Weldon ra ilroad,which connects

Petersburg with the Confedera te capital . E ven

in that operation and other general Skirmishing

in the vicinity,success did not a ltogether lie with

the North . This we may see from the two sub

joined reports ofGeneral Lee to the Confederate

Secretary ofWar a t Richmond, under the dates,respectively

,of June 22n d and 29th On

the first Of these da tes,Le e writes

Since Friday last there has been Skirmishing

along the lines in front of BermudaHundreds an d

around Petersburg . The Federal army appears

to be concentrated at these two places, and is

strongly entrenched .

Yesterday,a movement of infantry

,cavalry

and artillery, was made towards the right of our

forces and Petersburg,in the direction of the

Weldon railroad . The enemy -was driven back,



If Grant expected to take Petersburg by a

coup d e main ,he was grievously disappointed ;

his attacks on it in the middle ofJuly,as we have

Shown, were practically fruitless, while they

brought only calamitous loss of life . In the

North , there was at this time (gold in New York

was then over a widespread feeling ofdis

appointment,as well as of Impatience

,at the

manner in which he had conducted the cam

paig n , with its ruthless waste of human life .

The war of invasion was in many Northern

j ournals bluntly spoken Of as a tragic and costly

failure while sympathy was not even withheld

from the brave Lee and his ragged and ill-fed

veterans,who had won their admiration

,and

,in

spite of all their disadvantages, had aecom

plish ed so much . Nor, in military quarters ,did it escape notice that Grant’s heedless and

unfeeling tactics in the fie ld — in marked contrast to those ofthe humane and considerate Lee— were breeding discontent in his army

,and

giving birth to a feeling of hopelessness in the

ranks when ordered out on rash ventures . This

is Specially and pointedly noted‘

in General F . A .

Walker’s Life of General Hancock,” when

referring particularly to the Second corps Of

Grant’s army,

on whose services in critical

THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG . 1 97

undertakings Grant largely relied . The passage

is as follows“ As the corps turned southward fromCold

Harbor to take its part in the second act of the

great campaign of 1 864,the historian” (relates

General Walker)“ is bound to confess that

something of its pristine virtue had departed

under the terrific blows that had been showered

upon it in the series Of fierce encounters

which have been recited . Its casualties had

averaged more than four hundred a day for

the whole period Since it crossed the Rapidan

moreover,the confidence Ofthe troops in their

leaders had been severely shaken . They had

again and aga in been ord ered to attacks which

the very privates in the ranks knew to be hope

less from the start ; they had seen the fatal

policy of assaults all along the line, persisted

in even after the most ghastly failures ; and

they had almost ceased to expect victory wheh

they went into battle . The lamentable story of

Petersburg (the historian-critic adds) cannot be

understood without reference to facts like these .

”

In Sharp contrast to this feeling of despondency

and discontent in Grant’s command was the

hopefulness manifested by all ranks of Lee’s

army,their ready alacrity to undertake any


enterprise their beloved leader asked Of them,

and their fidelity and a ttachment to the person

of their grea t chieftain . To their cause— a lost

on e though it was to b e— they were,moreover

,

and to the last,ever staunchly and en thusiasti

ca lly loya l an d fa ithful . This is well borne

out and attested in a passage occurring at the

close of the chapter,on

‘ The Campa ign in the

Wilderness,

’in Professor H . A . White’s admi

rable Life of Robert E . Lee an d the Southern

Confederacy” (N . Y Putnams,

“ The

Army of Northern Virginia,

” Observes the in

terestin g an d well-informed writer of the biog ra

phy, still reta ined its Old elasticity an d vigor .

Lee’s losses” (in the Wilderness Campa ign)amoun ted to about The Spirit Of the

soldiers was yet buoyant . The Old yell ha d

gathered addition a l fie rcen ess ; the men went

into ba ttle with all their former dash an d

impetuosity . Perhaps not on e in Lee’s heroic

band held a doubt as to the ultimate success of

the Confederacy .

At the beginning ofJuly,when discon tent was

rife in the North a t the protracted an d costly

campa ign Grant was conducting, an d when

Washington was but indifferently protected by

Federa l troops,while highmilitary officers in the



without difficulty,when,moving around Harper’s

Ferry,through the gaps of the South Mounta in

,

he found his path unobstructed till he reached the

Monocacy,where Rickett’s division of the Sixth

corps,and some raw troops that had been col

lected by General LewWa llace,met and held the

Confederates till the other reinforcements that

had been ordered to the capital fromPetersburgcould be brought up . Wallace con tested the line

ofthe Monocacy with obstinacy, but had to retire

finally toward Baltimore . The road was then

open to Washington,and E arly marched to the

outskirts and began against the capital the dem

on stration s (July 1 1 - 1 2)which were designed to

divert the Army of the Potomac from its main

purpose in front ofPetersburg . E arly’s audacity

in thus threatening Washington had caused some

concern to the Officials in the city, but as the move

ment was looked upon by General Grant as a mere

foray,which could have no decisive issue

,the

Administration was not much disturbed till the

Confederates came in close proximity . Then was

repea ted the alarm an d consternation of two

years before,fears for the safety of the capital

being magnified by the confusion and d iscord

existing among the different generals in Wash

ing ton and Baltimore and the imaginary dangers

THE SIEGE OF PETE RSBURG. 201

vanished only with the appearance Of General

Wright, who with the Sixth corps and one divi

sion of the Nineteenth corps,pushed out to attack

E arly as soon as he could get his arriving troops

in hand , but under circumstances that precluded

celerity of movement As a

Confederates escaped with littl

across the Potomac to Leesburg

by some Union cavalry that had been sent out into

London county by Hunter,who

,in the meantime

,

had arrived at Harper’s Ferry by the Baltimore

and Ohio railroad .

From Leesburg E arly retired through Win

chester toward Strasburg,but when the head of

his column reached this place he found that he

was being followed by General Crook with the

combined troops of Hunter and Sigel only,Wright

having returned to Washington under o rd ers to

rejoin Meade at Petersburg.

‘ This reduction of

the pursuing force tempting E arly to resume the

ofi en sive,he attacked Crook at Kernstown

,and

succeeded in administering such a check as to

n ecessita te°this general’s retreat to Martinsburg,

and finally to Harper’s Ferry . Crook’s with

d rawal restored to E arly the line of the Upper

Potomac, SO, recrossing this stream , he advanced

again into Maryland,and sendingMcCauslan d on


to Chambersburg,Pa . , laid that town in ashes

!July leaving non-combatants without

Shelter o r food .

This second irruption Of E arly,a n d his ruth

less destruction Of Chambersburg,led to many

recommendations on the part ofGenera l Grant

looking to a speedy elimina tion of the confusion

then existing among the Un ion forces a long th e

Upper Potomac, but for a time the authorities

at Wa shington would approve none ofhis propo

sition s. Finally the maneuvers of E a rly

and the raid to Chambersburg compelled a par

tial compliance,though Grant had somewha t

circumvented the difficulty already by’

d ecid in g to

appoint a commander fo r the forces in the field

that were to operate against E arly . On the 3 1 st

of July,Genera l Grant selected me as this com

mander. On the evening ofAugust 1,I was

relieved from immediate duty with the Army of

the Potomac,but not from command of the

cava lry as a corps organization . I arrived a t

Washington August 4 , and the next day received

instructions from General Halleck to report to

General Grant at Monocacy Junction,whither

he had gone direct from City Point,in con se

quen ce of a characteristic despatch from the

President indicating his disg ust with the con



save the progress of Federal entrenching,an d

the construction of what is known as Burnside’s

Mine,to be used against the fortifications of the

city, and its gallant defenders within an d with

out its walls . The story of this Mine, it has to

be related,is a tragical on e

,with an a lmost

farcica l cast,for what had taken many weeks’

expenditure of labor and materia l to prepa re

and launch against the foe,recoiled

,and with

most disastrous effect,upon the Federa ls who

had prepared,and upon the sacrificed assaulting

columns that took part in the attack, after the

mine was fired (July 30th). The mine was ex

cavated behind a concealed portion of the Federal

lines,a ravine in rear of Burnside’s command

,

and extended along a tunnel-way, over 500 feet

in length,to a point immediately underneath a

proj ecting angle of the Confedera te defences,

known as E lliott’s Salient,at the time occupied

by 300 of E lliott’s Carolinian corps , together

with a battery of guns . Here,in this ghastly

subterranean passage-way, were deposited some

8000 pounds of blasting powder, which, when the

match was applied to it,was not only to blow

up the 300 Carolinians and the battery on the

angle crest,but to cause such consternation to

the Confedera tes and damage to their fortifi~

THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 205

cations,that it would be easy

,it was thought ,

to assault and carry Petersburg and capture its

doomed defenders .

E xtensive preparations had previously been

made by the Federals for this direful attempt to

capture Petersburg . A monster array ofmortars

and heavy guns were put in position to assist in

the assault while more than half of Gran t’s

large army was drawn up,in addition to the as

saultin g columns, to be precipitated against the

breaches about to be made in the “ rebel ” de

fences,and

,when the crucial moment arrived

,to

be thrown into,seize

,and occupy the city

,the

defenders of which, it was thought, would be so

para lyzed by the firing of the mine as to become

easy Federal prey . The time,moreover

,had been

well chosen for the assault,for at the period Lee

and a large portion ofhis command, by a piece of

strategy on Grant’s part,had been lured across the

James River,some twenty miles from the place

,

to defend an outlying Confederate post against

attack by Sheridan and Hancock, whose ulterior

design was to march upon Richmond . The out

lying post,it was found

,however

,was so strongly

protected that the expedition against it was unable

to effect anyth ing , an d so was recalled Lee and.


his command returning to Petersburg almost

simultaneously .

Meantime,all having been made ready

,the

mine was sprung , the explosion blowing up the

Confederate fort in the air,and with it its 300

garrison,but leaving an immense crater

,over

30 feet deep,1 40 feet in length, and 65 feet in

width,part ly filled with a mass of loose earth

,

impossible fo r the Federal troops to get over on

their way to the assault . Into this chasm,how

ever,the Federa l forlorn hope

,composed ofwhite

and black soldiery,were sent, only to become an

entangled and confused mass,upon whom

,when

the Confederates recovered from their surprise

and ra llied their defending forces,they poured a

fire ofSO destructive a character that no life could

live through it . To add to the confusion in the

cra ter,the supporting Federal columns were also

pushed forward,quickly losing their formation

,

an d huddling all Up inextricably ; while an in

describable panic seized the whole, as they were

mowed down by the merciless Confederate fire.

The place became a veritable charnel-house and

dea th-trap,though the Federals bravely sought

to remedy matters,an d

,in spite Of the confusion

worse confounded,attempted to reach the crest of

the “ rebel ” positions ; but all were driven help



Federal army had recovered from the efiects of

the misdirected Burnside Mine operation,Grant

renewed his raiding attempts in the vicinity of

his extended lines,chiefly with the intent of

destroying the Weldon railroad . His further

design,no doubt

,was to divert his forces from

the tedium Of trench-construction and other

wearying Siege duties in front Of Petersburg.

In these raiding diversions, which were con

ducted,under Grant’s orders

,by two infantry

divisions,commanded by General Hancock

,as

sisted by General Warren’s corps, by Gregg’s

cavalry,and by a battery of Federal guns

,mis

fortune,in the main

,also pursued Northern

operations . TO check these movements,as well

as to protect his ownflanks,Genera l Le e directed

Genera l A . P . Hill , supported by Heth’s and

Mahon e’s commands, Hampton’s cavalry

,and

Pegram’s guns, to move a long the endangered

ra ilway,upon which

,and upon the Danville ra il

road,Lee’s army depended for its supplies from

Richmond,with the des ign

,if possible

,of bring

ing the Federa ls to ba ttle . For some days there

wa s n o other result than sundry Skirmishings ;though by the 1 9th Of August Wa rren’s com

mand was come upon and a heavy loss was caused

him,including the capture of of his men .

THE SIEGE OF PETE RSBURG . 209

The Federals,meanwhile

,strongly entrenched

themselves by the railway,and Hill found it

difficult to oust them or bring them to battle .

Thus was the Weldon road lost to the Confed

crates . This,however

,did not interfere with

Hill’s efforts to dislodge the enemy , and fighting

continued for a time,the Federal losses

,chiefly

falling upon Warren’s corps,amounting by the

21 st of the month to men . By the 24th (of

August)Warren’s command was re-enforced by

the divisions under Hancock,which materially

stren gthened Warren,especially in the neighbor

hood OfReam’s Station on the Weldon raie ad .

Here a severe engagement took place,most disas

trous to Hancock,and disheartening in its effect

upon his spiritless and panic-stricken men . The

attack was made by General A . P . Hill, led by a

charge of Heth’s command,and supported by

Hampton’s cavalry and part Of Pegram’s battery

The extent of the d iscomfiture which ensued istold in General Lee’s report to Richmond

,under

date August 26th (two days a fter the encounter).

Here is Lee’s account of the fighting

General A . P . Hill attacked the enemy in his

entrenchments at Ream’s Station yesterday even

ing,and at the second assault carried his entire

line . Cooke’s and McR ae’s North Carolina brig


ades,under General Heth

,and Lane’s North

Carolina brigade ofWilcox’s division,under Gen

eral Connor,with Pegram’s artillery

,composed

the assaulting column . One line ofbreast-works

was carried by the cavalry,under General Hamp

ton,with great gallantry, who contributed greatly

to the success of the day . Seven stands of colors ,two thousand prisoners

,an d nine pieces of artil

lery are in our possession . The loss of the enemy

in killed and wounded is reported to be heavy ;ours relatively sma ll. Our profound gratitude is

due to the Giver ofall victory,and our thanks to

the brave men and Officers engaged .

R . E . LE E , G en era l.

After the action at Reams’Station,little ofmo

ment for a month happened,save minor attacks

o n the extension of Lee’s position north of the

James River. About the middle of September an

expedition was sent out under General Hampton

to attack a Federal post about twenty miles from

Petersburg,and

,with the aid ofthe Confederate

cavalry,to capture a large drove of ca ttle

,de

signed for the uses ofthe Federa l camp, then graz

ing in Prince George county,Va . The Federa l

post was taken by surprise , the works and camp

being captured,with 300 ofa garrison while the

cattle were secured and driven toward s the


CHAPTER XV .

TH E AUTUMN OF 1 864,AND THE WINTER OF 1 864—5.

AS the autumn of 1 864 had now come and the

winter Of 1 864—5 approached,the situation of

afiairs in the Confederacy was extremely grave

and full of omen . Grant,it is true

,had

,so far

,

efi ected little about Petersburg,and Lee and his

army were still in fine fettle . But elsewhere it

was goin g ill with the South,and premonitions

of a lost cause ” were beginning to arise in the

minds offrien ds Of the Confederacy . The winter

months which followed proved still more ominous

of the coming end,the result

,in the main , of

Sherman’s achievements in the West and South ,including the taking of Atlanta

,the success which

attended his famous “ march to the sea,” his

later contests with Johnston and operation s in

the Carolinas,added to Thomas’ triumph over

Hood at Nashville,Farrag ut

’s victory at Mobile

Bay,and Porter’s capture ofFort Fisher, closing

the sea to the South— a succession of disasters

Which boded ill for its cause, an d ruin to it when21 2

THE AUTUMN AND THE WINTER OF 1864-5. 2 1 3

Sheridan defeated E arly near Charlottesville,

won the battle of Five Forks,and captured the

whole of E well’s command . All these losses“ broke the back of rebellion

,

” while it gave j oy

to the North,which by this time had re-elected

Lincoln and sustained his Administration,and

placed increasing forces at Grant’s command

against Lee and his n ew fast-dwindling and

impoverished army at Petersburg .

Despite the depressing aspect ofaffairs through

out the South,the heroic Lee maintained un per

turbed his serene bearing and manner,and re

tain ed even a hopeful feeling in his breast while

he infected his army with a like sense ofsecurity

and hopefulness,and led it ever to manifest its

wonted courage and buoyancy of spirits,with

resignation to its poorly-clad and ill-fed con dition .

One who saw Lee at this critica l era In the affairs

of the South gives us this description Of the

great lead er and his indifference to hardship and

mental depression

His cheeks were ruddy,” writes the observer

and his eye had that clear light which indica tes

the presence of the calm ,self-poised will . But

his hair had grown gray, like his beard and mus s

tache,which were worn Short and well-trimmed .

His dress,as always, was a plain but service


able gray uniform,with no indications Of rank

save the stars on the collar . Cavalry boots

reached nearly to his knees,and he seldom we re

any weapon . A broad brimmed,gray felt hat

rested low upon the forehead ; and the move

ments of this soldierly figure were as firm,meas

ure d , and imposing as ever . It was impossible

to discern in General Lee any eviden ces ofimpaired Strength

,or any trace of the wearing

hardships through which he had passed . He

seemed made of iron,and would rema in in the

saddle all d ay, and then at his desk half the night,without apparently feeling any fatigue .

Before the winter ‘set in in its rigor, Grant once

more sought to deliver a well-prepared attack on

the Confederate right . That flank, which was a

long on e,rested ma inly behind strong entrench

ments at Hatcher’s Run,beyond what is locally

known as the Boydton plank road,close by the

South Side R . R . The a ttacking force,which set

out about the end of October,was a formidable

on e,composed of the bulk of the best fighting

element in Grant’s army— the 5th and 9th corps,

commanded by Warren and Hancock,supported

by Gregg’s cavalry . Lee met this newmovementwith his wonted a lertness and vigor

,a n d there

Was need Of this, for the expeditionary force sent



winter . On the same d ay”

(Oct . 27, as

Prof . H . A . White, in his Memoir Of Le e , rela tes,Longstreet celebra ted his return to the field by

visiting a loss of more than on e thousand upon

Butler’s briga d es,who were attempting to creep

through the White Oak Swamp into the Rich

mond defenses . ”

At this time,Richmond was so uncomfortably

menaced by the proximity of Grant’s army at

Petersburg an d his numerically strong cavalry

contingent,as well as by the readiness with

which Sheridan always manifested his disposition

to respond to Grant’s ca ll to lead expeditionary

forays in the direction ofthe Southerners’capital,

that there was serious thought in the minds of

the Confedera te Government to retire from it,

and,as Le e had suggested

,to remove the machin

ery of administration to Danville . Besides the

menace from these sOurces,there was soon now

to be dreaded the coming of Sherman to j oin

Grant’s Army of the James, for nothing was

deemed more probable than that general, who was

then undertaking his va st destroying marches in

the South,would fall upon Richmond , now weak

in defensive force,an d visit it with the sword and

the torch . That it had not been captured ere this

was due mainly to Lee’s constant solicitude on its

THE AUTUMN AND THE WINTER OF 1864-5. 217

account,and to his ready

,practical interposition

when it was in serious jeopardy from the Federals .

E vacuation,unhappily

,as it afterwards turned

out,came to be ultimately necessary

,and an e n

forced measure Of war at the close of the great

struggle,when the Confederate capital could do

no more for Lee — little really as it had ever been

able to do for him who had done so much for it

and the South .

Just before the affair at Hatcher’s Run,at the

close of October an end had come to

Genera l E arly’s raid in the Valley of the She

n an d oah and the threatening ofWashington,by

the return to camp at Petersburg of that Officer .

That expedition had been sent out by Lee,not

only as a legitimate reprisal foray into the enemy’s

country and to bring near to the North the peril

and harassments Of war,in the vast game else

where played with such vigor and daring over

great parts of th e country ; but also to keep at

home the forces needed for the protection of the

Federal capital,tha t would otherwise be sent on

to the region of the James, to swell the a lready

large army of Grant before Petersburg. To oppose E arly’s northward expedition

,Major-General

Sheridan had been transferred from Grant’s army,

and in August had been given command ofwha t


was known as the Middle Military Division of

the United States,with a special eye upon the

protection of Washington and the warding OR of

Confederate raids into Maryland,which had been

provoked by the devastations caused by Generals

Sigel and Hunter’s operations in the Virginia

Valley .

Jubal E arly had been Offon his expedition Since

the beginning of July,and had created much stir in

the North by his repulse of Hunter at Lynch

burg and ofLewWallace at Monocacy,as well

as by his despatch of a cavalry force into Penn

sylvania,which burned Chambersburg in retal

iation for Federal outrages in Virginia . When

Hunter had resigned his command and Sheridan

was appointed,Lee supplemented E arly’s force

by Kershaw’s division ofLongstreet’s corps and

by Fitzhugh Lee’s division of cava lry,both under

Genera l Anderson,to cooperate with E arly

,who

was then in some j eopardy at Strasburg,and in

need of reenforcements . The combined forces of

Anderson and E arly were united at Winchester,

where they drove the Federals from the place

back upon Harper’s Ferry and the Maryland

Heights . Later on , Anderson , with Kershaw’s

division,was ordered by Lee to Culpeper Court

House while E arly, who was still at Winchester,



offhis continued retreat . On the track ofE arly,

Sheridan advanced as far as Staunton,an d with

drew behind Cedar Creek,to wreck the Virginia

Central railroad, and ruthlessly to ravage and

lay wa ste the Shenandoah Valley . This he did

not only by laying hands on and appropriating

all animal life in the region belonging to the

farmers and settlers in the Valley,but by de

stroying the gra in and forage with which the

barns were at the time filled , and burning a

great numbe r of mills, and a vast quantity of

agricultural implements . This destruction of

everything ofvalue belonging to noncombatants

and the desolating of the entire region were acts,

surely,ofa d espicable and inhuman character,

which on e would not expect to find committed by

an otherwise honored and gallant soldier . No

plea ofacts justified by war can or ought to pardon

such an outrage ; and the remembrance of the

horrid deeds cannot fail to stain the memory

of the man who was guilty of them, even under

superior orders .

While these atrocities were being committed,

E arly’s command was reunited with Kershaw’s

division,which partly made good the general’s

losses,and emboldened him to renew the fig h t

ing at Cedar Creek , where Sheridan’s army was

THE AUTUMN AND THE WINTE R OF 1864-5. 221

posted behind strong entrenchments . The Fed

eral command,for the time being

,was assumed

by General Wright,owing to the temporary ab

sence of Sheridan . Wright’s chief aides were

Generals Ricketts,E mory

,and Crook, who corn

man d e d,respectively

,the U . S . 6th

,8th

,and 1 9th

corps while the cavalry was under Averill,Cus

ter,and Merritt . This was the situation on the

1 8th of October when General E arly stole

quickly over night towards the north fork of the

Shenandoah,which he forced with his command

,

and silently moved at dawn on the 1 9th upon the

Federal camp (Crook’s) at Cedar Creek . Here he

took the enemy by surprise,captured man y hun

dreds of them, (besides seizin g eighteen heavy

guns), and drove the remainder ofthe camp that

escaped,in a panic-stricken mass

,down th e Va lley

Turnpike .

“ To ra lly the men in their bewilder

ment was impossible, observes Mr. W . Swinton,

in his record of the Cedar Creek fight,in his

Campaig ns of the Army of the Potomac,” “ and

Crook’s corps,being thoroughly broken up

,fled in

disorder,leaving many guns in the hands of th e

enemy . As soon as this flank attack was de

veloped , E arly, with his other column, emerged

from behind the hills west of Ced ar Creek,and

,

crossing that stream, struck directly the troops


on the right of Crook . This served to complete

the d isaster,and the whole Union left and center

became a confused mass, aga inst which the Con

federates directed the captured artillery,while

the flanking force swept forward to the main

turnpike . Such was the scene on which the light

ofday dawned . The only force not yet involved

in the enemy’s onset was the Sixth corps,which

by its position was somewhat in rear. With this

Genera l Ricketts quickly executed a change of

front,throwing it forward at right angles to its

former position,and firmly withstood the enemy’s

shock . Its chief service, however, was to cover

the general retreat wh ich Wright now ordered,

as the only practicable means of reuniting his

force .

“ At the first good position between Middle

town and Newtown,Wright was able to rally

and re form the tr00ps,form a compact line

,and

prepare either to resist further attack or himself

assume the ofi en sive . It was at this time, about

ha lf-past ten A .M .

,that General Sheridan arrived

upon the field from Winchester, where he had

slept the previous night . Hearing ‘

(a t day

break,twenty miles away)

’the distant sounds

of ba ttle rolling up from the south,Sheridan

rode post-haste to the front, where, arriving, his


224 LIFE or G ENE R AL LE E .

would have been one of the most brilliant

and decisive of the war .

” But,

” continues the

general in his address,

“ many of you,including

some commissioned officers,yielding to a dis

graceful propensity for plunder,deserted your

colors to appropriate to yourselves the abandoned

property of the enemy,and subsequently those

who had previously remained at their posts,see

ing their ranks thinned by the absence of the plun

d e rers,when the enemy

,late in the afternoon

,

with his shattered columns,made but a feeble

efi or t to retrieve the fortunes of the day,yielded

to a needless panic and fled the field in con fu

sion, thereby converting a Splendid victory into a

d isaster . ”

The Shenan doah Valley having been made a

waste,most of the Confederate troops were either

recalled to Petersburg or transferred,as Brecken

ridge’s division was, to Southwestern Virginia ;while E arly was left a t Staunton, with but the

rema ins of Wharton’s division . In the Spring

of 1 865,notwithstanding his past services

,E arly

was relieved of his command,when at Franklin

Court House,Va .

,so continued was the outcry

against him for the mishap in the Va lley , a n d the

breach of discipline he had been so conspicuously

and disastrously unable to check in the men


that had composed the expedition . In taking the

step ofrelieving E arly of his duties,General Le e ,

in the letter he sent him on the occasion,was

most sympathetic and conciliatory,being careful

not to wound unnecessarily the o ld general’s feel

ings while he thanked himfor'

the fidelity and

courage shown by himin always supporting his(Lee

’s) efforts, and for the devotion he had ever

manifested in the service of the South .

Meanwhile,the North had been putting forth

great efforts to bring the conflict with the

South to a close,and that not only at Petersburg

but e lsewhere,which she was now well able to

do,so vast were her resources of men and

material . At Petersburg, the winter months

had been most trying to Lee and his long-strun g

out , but now greatly thinned, as well as much

famished . army ; while Grant’s forces were at

this time well-fed and cared for,havin g been re

cruite d up to men,nearly three times the

number ofserviceable troops his opponent had at

his command . Le e and his veterans in gray were ,however

,still filled with the o ld invincible spirit

that had long animated them,in spite of their

gaunt and ill-clad condition,and the now dark

prospect of their lovingly espoused and warmly

cherished cause . Pitiful is it to read of Lee’s

226 LIFE OF GENERAL LEE .

appeals to Richmond at this period for the n eces

saries of life for his troops,for the requisites of

shelter and clothing,in an inclement sea son

,for his

men, and even for forage for his horses— appeals

that were indifferen tly heeded by the Commissary

Department at the Southern capital,and as in

differently doled out . Under the circumstances,

need surprise be felt at the desertions that were

now prevalent in the ranks , an d that conscription

resulted in practically n o additions to the strength

of the army while the proposition was now rife

to arm the slaves,though to do so and bring

them to the front would be but to add more

stomachs to be filled or go empty,and

,if the

latter,aggravate ra ther than rel ieve the situa

tion at Petersburg . The necessity of insisting

upon Lee’s rema inin g where he was,for the pro

tection ofRichmond and the defense ofits key-po

sitiou,Petersburg

,seemed cruel

,while the region

was so little able to feed his army,and when there

was urgent need ofhis services in other parts of

the menaced Confederacy,where he might

,and

doubtless would,have turned the sca le in the

fortune of war to greater advantage to himself

and the common cause . Whoever was responsi

ble for this course being adhered to, the blame of

it does n o t attach to General Lee , though he



which ended without practical results. Though

this was the case, it is worth while noting the simple and liberal conditions on which the North was

prepared to make peace with her erring sister

of the South . These were : 1,

“ The restoration

of the national authority throughout all the

States ; 2 , No reced ing by the E xecutive of the

United States on the slavery question from the

position assumed thereon in the late annual Mes

sage to Congress, and in preced ing documents ;and 3

,No cessation of hostilities short of an end

ofthe war and the disbanding of all forces hostile

to the Government . ”With the failure of this conference and the

continued stress of a forlorn situation,together

with the inability ofthe Confedera te Government

and Congress to do anything to improve the out

look,o r even provide for the sustenance of the

army at Petersburg,Lee’s position was a clouded

and hopeless one,though , at the period, as it was

practically admitted by all,he was the only

general left in the field in whom the South had

still confidence, and to whom it might yet assur

in g ly look to accomplish anything . Now, how

ever,it was manifestly too la te for aught to be

done to save the Confederacy, even thoug h our

hero was at this juncture given the titular com


man d of all its armies . To give Lee now the rankof lieutenant-genera l, with supreme command

over all the Southern armies in the field,in d epe n

dent of the control ofPresident Davis, was little

else than a farce, since the Richmond Government

could not relieve or replace him at Petersburg ;and neither did it

,or could it now

,increase o r

even feed h is forces there,so that he might con

tinue the conflict with any semblance or hope

ofsuccess . Though the condition ofaffairs was

n ow such— the Confederacy having become utter

ly shattered and incapable of further effort— Lee

accepted th e profi e re d honor, and, late as it was,he steeled his heart anew to undertake what was

possible under the circumstances . The one object,

at this crisis,he had in v iew,

was,i f practicable

,

to effect a junction with the command of his old

colleague,General J . E . Johnston , who, with his

Army of the Tennessee , had been oppo sing, though

with ill-success,General Sherman in North Caro

lina,and whom he hoped to j oin as he came to

ward Virginia. with his still considerable force .

The doings of General Johnston from the period

when he was assigned to the Department of the

Southwest,through the era of the Federal inva

sion ofGeorgia an d the operations in the Caro

linas, d o not, we are aware, of course, belong to


the story we are here dealing with in connection

with General Lee . But as these operations form

an important part of the story of the Civil War,

and are in themselves replete with interest,we

have deemed it proper to give some brief record

ofthem in these pages,so far

,at least

,as they are

connected with the movements of Johnston,and

his successor Hood,in a ttempting to oppose those

of General Sherman,after the la tter had launched

his attack upon Atlanta . With the early portions

of the story that preced ed the Atlanta campaign

we have a lready dea lt— with tha t part,at least

,

when,after the ra ising of the siege of Chat

tan oog a , and fighting the ba ttle atLookout Moun

tain,the army of Bragg was routed

,and its

commander was replaced by Genera l J . E . John

ston . About the same time , Grant was given com

mand ofall the armies of the Union, and proceeded

to the James River,to take charge with Meade of

the opera tions against Le e an d Beauregard at

Petersburg . Some few months la ter (a t the close

ofJune,

Johnston gave ba ttle to Sherman

an d his lieutenants Thoma s,Sch ofield , and Mc

Pherson at Kenesaw,G a .

,an d won the fight

,

inflicting a considerable loss upon the Federa ls.

In spite of this success,Johnston retired across

the Chattahoochee River and took up a position



but not fortified,his design being not only to

capture the place , but to draw Hood from his

strongly protected works at Atlanta . In this,

Sherman was successful, fo r i t enabled him ,in

Hood’s absence,to take and occupy Atlanta ;

while Hood,with his of an army

,took

up tempora ry quarters at Lovej oy’s Station,on

the Savannah railroad,about 30miles southwest

ofthe city .

Hood’s evacuation of Atlanta,though it gave

his opponent possession of the city,yet enabled

him sharply to harass Sherman’s long-strungout line of communications, reaching from At

lanta back into Tennessee . To protect these,the

Federal commander, still holding on to Atlanta,

sent the bulk of his army north-westward ; but

before doing so he cleared the city of its inhabit

ants,sending them off rather ruthlessly

,as he

designed to make of Atlanta a military post

exclusively,to be h eld by General Thomas and his

command . This act n aturally aroused loud and

angry protests from the city’s magistrates and

the populace,to which

,however, Sherman was

indifferent,though he offered to make exclusion

from the city as little irksome to its people

as was possible under the circumstances . In his

mind at this per iod,Sherman was engrossed


with his contemplated proj ect of a “ march tothe sea ,

” so as to secure a strong base of opera

tions in the east before setting out on his pro

jected invasion of and lengthened expeditionary

raid northward , through Georgia and the

Carolinas,back to Virginia

,there to reach G rant

before Petersburg and fall upon Lee’s army from

the rear . The accomplishment ofthis design of

Sherman , as that of a born raider, took captive

the imagination of the North ; while it wasrendered comparatively easy

,as well as sa fe, by

the paralysis that had now fallen upon the South,

which made the march through the region an

almost wholly unopposed on e . The paralysis

throughout the Confederacy was increased at

this period not only by the breaking up ofth e

interior lines of travel and communication in

the South , as a con sequence of Federal invasion,but by the capture of Mobile by Farragut

,

followed by that of Fort Fisher, and by the cap

ture or destruction of the Confederate cruisers

and blockade-runners at sea,which

,with the

depletion of the Richmond treasury,lopped off

all supplies from abroad,and put an end to hope

of interposition by the neutral Powers of E urope .

In such a conjunction of events adverse to the

South,with the terrible d rain upon her resources


ofmen and material occasioned by the long an d

devastating war,Sherman’s g ay but ruthless

march to the sea,and back through the once

rich and populous States of the now exhausted

Confederacy,was

,as we have said

,a na turally

unopposed one,while it led to further prostra

tion and despondency throughout the South .

The record ofthe incidents in the bold expedition

of Sherman to found a strong base by the

Atlantic,in addition to the possession and occupa

tion ofAtlanta , need not long deta in us . Leav

ing General Thomas,with a force of

behind to defend Atlanta and keep watch upon

General Hood,Sherman set out with 7 men

in the middle of November and reached and

occupied Savannah before Christmas (1 864)Thomas

,meanwhile

,continued a t Atlanta

inactive till he should be strengthened by the

arrival of an expected force under General James

H . Wilson,which

,when received

,raised his total

command to while Hood a t this time h ad

but all told,to pit against Thoma s

,

exclusive of a small contingent of Georgia

militia . It was now Hood’s intention t o move

to the rear of Atlanta and there to tear up the

railway tracks between the la tter city and the

Chattahoochee,and afterwards to move upon



for the Federal army were stored,on which he

probably depended to replenish his commissariat . ”

Upon learning that Hood had crossed the Chat

tahooch ee , Sherman , resumes Mr . Tenney, des

patched General Corse with reenforcements to

Rome,which place he supposed the enemy were

aiming at . During the previous week he h a d

sent General Thomas with troops to Nashville to

look after Forrest . His bridges having mean

while been carried away by a freshet which filled

the Chattahoochee,he was unable to move his

main body until the 4 th,when three pontoons

were laid down,over which the armies of the

Cumberland,the Tennessee

,and the Ohio crossed

,

and took up their march in the direction of Mari

etta,with fifteen days’rations . The 2oth corps

,

General Slocum,was left to garrison Atlanta .

”

Rome,as it turn ed out , however, was n ot the

objective point,which Hood

,o r rather the Con

federate column of Genera l French, was aiming

at,but Allatoona and here French appeared on

the 5th of October and summoned the Federal

commander (General Corse) to surrender . This

was at once refused,for General Sherman, when

the action began, having reached the summit

ofKenesaw Mountain from there signalled his

subordinate to “ ho ld out to the last,” and, that

THE AUTUMN AND TH E WINTER OF 1864-5. 237

he might do so, he promised to send him succor .

Thus assured,the Federal defender of the town re

pulsed the Confederate attack,though a vigorous

cannonade wrecked much of the city and killed a

large number of Federa l artillery and cava lry

horses,besides destroying a considerable portion

of the railway in the immed iate neighborhood .

The Confederates finally withdrew,though not

before they had lost close upon 800 men in the

attack,including prisoners captured by the enemy .

After this,Hood’s command retreated in the di

rection of Dalton, G a . , and on the way northward

continued the destruction of the railroad,and

generally devastating the region . By the 1 4th of

the month,Hood reached Dalton

,but

,finding

Sherman close upon his heels,he withdrew to

Lafayette, thence southwesterly into Alabama,in which State he halted at Gadsden

,on the

Coosa river,where he me t reenforcements under

General Beauregard,who by this time had been

appointed to the chief command of the Confederate

Military D ivision of the West . From Gadsden,

the Confederate double command continued the

retreat as far as Warrington, on the Tennessee

River,General Sherman pursuing the Confed

e ra te columns as far as Gaylesville, where the

Federal commander halted . Whatever might


have been the result of Hood’s movement,Mr .

Ten ney concludes by affirming that “ it entirely

failed to interrupt the Federal communications

to a degree tha t would compel the evacuation of

Atlanta . In the light ofsubsequent events,

”

the historian-critic adds,

“ it would now appear

tha t General Sherman, making only a show of

following his adversary,deliberately lured him

into Northern Alabama,for the purpose ofpursu

ing an interrupted march with his own army

through the heart of Georgia . The ill-advised

plan of General Hood had given h im the very

opportunity which he desired,and he prepared at

once to avail himself of it . ”



see, in Schofield’s defeat of Hood at Fran klin

,and

the wiping out of his command by Thomas at

Nashville ; in North Carolina, in the repulse of

Hard ee’s corps ofJohnston’s command by Sher

man a t Ave rysboro ; in the fa ll of Fort Fisher

and the capture and occupation of Wilmington

and in the victory of Sherman over Johnston at

Bentonville besides the burning,in South Caro

lina,of Columbia

,and the enforced evacuation of

Cha rleston . Of these disasters,we Shall give a

brief running account,to enable the reader to fol

low the military history Of th e closin g months of

the Confederacy,and so prepare him for the col

lapse of the Southern cause in Lee’s defeat by

Sheridan at Five Forks,V a .

,his retreat from

Petersburg,and the final end of the Civil War in

the surrender at Appoma ttox .

After the occupa tion of Atlanta and the fight

at Allatoona,when Sherman saw tha t the Con

federate cause in Georgia and the South was an

empty shell,that General began to realize that

his purpose of founding a Federa l base of sup

plies and action on the seaboard at Savannah was

a sa fe and practica l on e,he at once prepared to

set forth on his now historic march to the se a ,having previously gained Genera l Grant’s con

sent to the undertaking of the project . Divest

OPERATIONS IN THE WINTE R OF 1864-5. 24 1

in g himself, in the m iddle of November of

all military impediments,and disencumbering

his command Ofall sick,disabled

,and weak men

,

as well as of all hangers-ou and stragglers,Sher

man set forth on his expedition with an army of60

,000 efficient and intelligent men

,his Obj ective

point being the port of Savannah,Georgia. At

the outset,the gallant leader had not intimated

to his army the Object Of their march, the General

Orders simply and curtly stating to his command

that “ it is sufficient for you to know that it in

volves a departure from our present base (Atlanta,)and a long

,diffi cult march to a new on e . As the

army was expected to live on the country they were

to pass through,the force was to be burdened by no

supply-train,each brigade furnishing its own com

pany to procure forage and supplies for the gen

eral need . The men were cautioned again st en

tering private dwellings o r committing trespass

while no property was to be destroyed or people

by the way molested,where the troops were n o t

interfered with on the march . The only eucum

b ran ces perm itted were th e necessary ammun ition wagons and ambulances

,and one wagon

fo r food and fodder for each regiment . The

separate columns were to begin their ma rch each

d ay at seven O’clock

,after breakfast

,and were


expected to make fifteen miles progress each d ay .

Only the railroads were to be destroyed by the

way, such at least as were used for transporting

men and supplies to the various sections of the

Southern army in the North . In the ma rch,

which occupied twenty-seven days to reach Sav

annah,no serious opposition was encountered,

though many attempts weremade to harass thecommand and impede its progress . Supplies

a long the line of march were abundant,so

that the army reached the coast with its men and

horses in the best possible condition . Besides

General Sherman in the chief command,there

were with him,in charge of the two wings ofthe

army,Genera ls Howard and Slocum, the former

commanding the right wing, composed of the

15th and i7th corps, and the latter the left wing,consisting of the 1 4th and 20th corps ; while

General Kilpatrick was in command of the

cavalry . As the expedition came to Milledge

ville,where the Georgia legislature was then in

session,that body passed an Act to levy the pop

ula tion Of the sta te en ma sse ; this, however,had no effect on the fear-stricken people ofth e

town,who fled from it

,with the governor, sta te

officers,and city magistra tes

,on the entrance

into it of the Union general, his aides, and body


244 LIFE OF GENER AL LEE .

his northward march with his army . The return

march,which was a more arduous one than that

of the advance to the coast,owing to the swampy

condition of the country after the season’s heavy

rains, took Sherman designedly by way of the

Carolinas,so that he might more efi ectively

menace General Lee’s communications with the re

gion . With his columns head ed in the direction Of

Columbia,S C , Sherman, on the 17th ofFebruary

,

entered that capita l ofthe Sta tewithout opposition,its small cavalry garrison having abandoned the

place on the approach of the Federa l troops. Before

withdrawing,the Confederates had massed the

city’s treasure ofcotton and set fire to it, the blazing

pile,fan ned by a prevailing high wind, doing much

damage to the city, in spite of the efforts of the

Federals to quench the fire and save public prop

e rty . When the troops succeeded in suppressing

the flames,the onward march was resumed , but

n ot before the city’s arsena ls an d ra ilway plant

were,by Sherman’s orders

,destroyed

,though a ll

“ harmless priva te property ” was respected and

saved from destruction . The menace Of Sher

man’s presence in the State had its effect a t this

period upon the seaport of Charleston, an d led

to its evacuation by the Confederates,after a

OPERATIONS IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5. 245

lengthened siege and heavy bombardment by the

Federals .

For a time after the march n orth-eastward was

resumed,no opposition was met with

,fo r Beau

regard’s cavalry command,then in the State, had

withdrawn to Charlotte,N . C . while the new

force, under J . E . Johnston (who had been reap

pointed to command in the region), had not yet

been reached . Sherman’s course now lay in the

direction of Fayetteville,whence it was his design

to make for the important railroad center ofGolds

boro,N . C . due north from Wilmington . At

Fayetteville,his force was j oined by men

ofThomas’s army under Sch ofield , who had just

taken Wilmington,following up Terry’s capture

of Fort Fisher (Jan . 1 3, which . cost the

South a loss of men in the attack on and

storming of the citadel . On the way to Golds

boro,the Federal raiding columns had some

sharp fighting with Hard ee’s division of Confed

e rate cavalry, which attempted to check Sher

man’s advance,aided by a force of in fan

try ; while Johnston’s army (now about

strong), was Within comparative reach in th e

vicinity ofBen ton sville .

On the 15th of March,Hardee gave Sherman

battle at Averysboro , N . C . on Cape Fear river,


forty miles south of Raleigh . Here Hardee had

entrenched his command,to oppose Sherman and

to allow Johnston time to concentrate his forces,which he was then doing at Smithfield , so as tomake an obstinate stand against the advancing

column of Federa l ra iders . The affair at Averys

boro lasted all day,and was a sanguinary on e

(Sherman losing 600 in killed and wounded) and

at nightfall— the Confederates wi thdrew behind

their interior lines of defense . In the morning,

the Federals found that the enemy had silently

retired from the place,and had fallen back to

Smithfield , all save a few men , who became Sherman’s prisoners . The expedition then pursued

its way towards G old sboro z but at Bentonville,

within seventeen miles from that center,the left

wing Of the army, under General Slocum , en

countered Johnston’s command on the morning

ofthe 1 9 th , Johnston here being tempted to a ttack

a portion ofthe advance expeditionary force before

the bulk ofit reached the spot . Slocum,taken by

surprise, a t first fell back but,rallying

,he made

a stout stand an d Sheltered his force behind hastily

thrown up rifle-pits,Kilpatrick’s cavalry enabling

him effectively to do so . As Johnston fa iled to d is

lodge the Federa ls from their defensive line,and

,

fearing the approach of Sherman’s other columns

,



after a grand review of his army, the latter was

disbanded while he himself was given command

of the Military D ivision of the Mississippi,and

subsequently that of Missouri, with the rank of

lieutenant-g en era l.

CHAPTE R XVII.

THE CLOSE OF THE LONG STRUGGLE .

THE South at this juncture ofafiairs was now

in cwtr emz’s,

’ her chief seaports,as we have seen

,

were either captured or closely blockaded,and

her cotton,the chief commodity Ofexchange with

E urope,could get no outlet While her finan cial

credit was gone,Confederate paper money at the

period being so valueless that it took $500 to pur

chase a pair of army boots . Nor was the situation

in Virginia any less hopeless,for Lee could get no

substantial addition to his now dwindled com

mand, or food or pay for his men ; while a fter

Johnston’s defeat at Bentonville,Sherman was

in the main free to menace Lee’s army from the

South . E mancipation for the slave,moreover

,

had so altered the condition of labor in the South

that this became extremely irksome to the planter

while the recruiting of the negro , and his en rol

ment in Northern regiments,added to the despond

ency, and even despair, now manifesting itself

throughout the Confederacy. The sole reliance249


at this crisis was still in General Lee and his

veterans on the James, and what he was able to

do— little as it could possibly b e — h e,we may be

certain, would surely accomplish . Certain it is

,

that our hero was the on e public man whomthe South un qualifie d ly believed in and trusted

Whose abilities, of a rare and uncommon order,everywhere elicited the highest commendation ;Whose integrity was unimpeachable ; and who,moreover

,— despite the pall ofdarkness that now

hung over the country- continued ever hopeful

and buoyant,as well as devotedly loyal , and

sincerely desirous ofhelping to a favorable issue

the cause which every leal Southerner had in his

inmost heart .

How earnestly Lee strove at this time to dispel

desponden cy and check desertions from the ranks,

as well as to give tone to public sentiment favor

able to the Southern cause, may be seen from the

appended letter wh ich the General , towa rds the

close of February addressed to Governor

Vance of North Carolina . The period is that

when Sherman was conducting his Spirited raid

through the Carolina s, and this was evidently in

Lee’s mind when he wrote, as perhaps the chief

inciting cause of the prevailing despondency .

Here is the letter



mond,and that his defeat n ow would result in

leaving nearly our whole territory open to us ;that this great result can be accomplished if allwill work diligently, and that his successes are far

less valuable in fact than in appearance,— I think

our sorely tried people would be induced to make

on e more effort to bear their sufferings a little

longer,and regain some of the spirit that marked

the first two years of the war .”

Alas this hopeful,inspiriting

,and eminently

patriotic letter was a fruitless o n e,as the South

e rn cause was now fast becoming a lost cause,

”

which the events of the following four or five

weeks were empha tica lly to prove . Yet, mani

festly, it might have been otherwise, had all in

the Confederacy been as earnest and strenuous

in the purpose to make it a successful,rather

than a lost , cause, as was Robert E . Lee ; and

had the Fates been less adverse in environing

him and his veterans on the James,as they were

environed,not only by the numerically superior

forces of Grant,but by the returning to the

latter’s command ofSheridan and his most efficient

cavalry force,and by the approaching from the

south ofSherman’s army,flush with victory

,and

strong in the success that had attended his

march through the heart of the Confederacy .

THE CLOSE OF THE LONG STRUGGLE . 253

In spite of the menacing aspect of affa irs,Le e

,

nevertheless,was full of the hOpe of yet bright

en in g the situation for his section of the country

by, if possible, effectn a union with Genera l

J .E . Johnston’s command in North Carolina,and

there falling upon Sherman and his army on

their way North- thus abandoning Petersburg

and Richmond,While the Confederate Govern

ment , as Le e desired, was to remove‘ from the

Virginia capital to Danville,on the southern

frontier ofthe State,and there reestablish itself

and the Confederate Administrat ion . To the

achieving of the purpose which lay deep in th e

heart and mind Of the heroic leader,Heaven

,we

shall presently see,was not propitious ; though

what was possible for Lee to do, in at least stav

ing off for a while the end, which was soon now

to come,he bravely and untiringly sought to

accomplish .

Meanwhile, Lee’s great adversary

,Grant

, was

alert in his attitude towards the critica l South

ern situation— one which , he tells us in his

was the most anxious

period of his experience during the Rebellion

as he saw that it would result in Lee’s retire

ment from Petersburg, and the abandonment

of Richmond, both of which he properly under

Personal Memoirs,

254 LIFE OF«.G E NE R AL LE E .

took to prevent, o r tactically to checkmate .

With the approach of Spring and the

drying up of the roads along the thirty Odd miles

of the offensive and defensive lines about Peters

burg,each ofthe respective generals in chief com

mand was preparing for decisive action,an account

Of which it now becomes our duty to relate .

On the Southern side,th e month of March ,

which had by this time come,brought matters

to a crisis in evolving plan s for the evacuation

Of Petersburg and its defenses by Lee,and the

withdrawa l of the remains ofhis army (n ow only

about in number) to the mountain regions

of the South . Here,as we have already men

tion ed , he hoped to effect a junction with Jobus

ton,an d thus put himself in a better position to

cope with Gran t and the converging column s

under Sherman,whose combined strength

, a t

this time,would be more than effective

men . Before setting out from Petersburg, Lee ,however

,proj ected an assault on Grant’s center

line,at a vulnerable position on the south side

ofthe Appomattox,protected by the Federal Fort

Stedman . The assault was made by the Second

Confederate corps,under General Gordon,

supported,or intended to be supported , by a

part of Longstreet’s division and other contin



killed and wounded while the Federal loss all

told,was close upon A further Con

federate loss,before the day’s operations were

over,was a portion of Lee’s defense line nea rest

to the enemy . This, in the confusion tha t

followed the repulse fromFort Stedman,had

been snatched from the rebel ” pickets,though

only a fter a stubborn resistance . The counter

attack and advance of the Federa l lines was

done at the b id ding,and with the oversight

,of

G eneral Meade .

Anticipating that the Confederates,after the

failure ofth e a ssault on Fort Stedman,would

abandon their lines at Petersburg an d retire

from the place,Grant took the precaution to

in struct his severa l cava lry commands to care

fully guard all roads by which Le e might seek to

withdraw his a rmy ; while he was himself in

creasin g ly watchful ofevery movement, or Sign

of movement, along the enemy’s far-extended

lines . Beyond this, Grant had formed designs

aga inst the Confedera te right,and that by a

ma ssed movement to his own left in grea t force .

In this he was aided by Sheridan,with his cavalry

division,a fter tha t skilled ra ider’s destroying

march through Centra l Virginia,an d who

,with

his command,had returned to duty a t Petersburg

,


or rather, near by, at Dinwiddie Court-House .

The Federal assault was arranged for the 29th

ofMarch,when General Ord (But ler

’s successor),who had previously been sent out

,with three

divisions of infantry and McKen zie’s cavalry

,to

the extreme left ofGrant’s line,was to cooperate

with Generals Warren and Humphreys,with the

Second and Fifth Union corps,in an advance, by

way of Hatcher’s Run,upon Five Forks . Here

they were instructed to seize the South Side rail

road,over which Lee received his army’s meager

supplies, and also fall upon the Danv ille railroad .

At Five Forks,Sheridan was Simultaneously to

arrive and there take part in falling upon the

Confed erate right .

While these designs were being carried out

against Lee’s right flank,General Wright’s

corps was to make a concerted assault upon the

weakened Confederate center . Much ofthe entire

movement was, however, delayed for severa l d ays

by heavy rains and the consequently bad state Of

the roads,over which it was found extremely dif

ficult to move the Federal artillery it was also

harassed by constant conflicts with the watchful

Confederate cavalry. E specially did Sheridan

suffer from the latter, as well as from the attacks

of the rebel ” unmounted men,by whom

,in

258 LIFE OF GENE R AL LE E .

fact,he was driven from Five Forks back to Din

widdie,where he called upon Grant to send him

assistance . The Federal leader met his request

by despatching Warren and his command to him,

but the latter was so dilatory in his movements

that he was relieved ofhis command ofthe Fifth

corps,and its control was given to G rifi'in . With

Griffin’s assistance,Sheridan now renewed his

assault upon the Confedera tes,chiefly under

P ickett and Bushrod Johnson,at Five Forks

,

where, on April l st , Pickett was outflanke d and

beaten by Sheridan . The situa tion was now a

forlorn on e for Lee,who

,nevertheless

,stoutly

braced himself to cope with the difficulties of the

position,as well as to enhearten his troops

,already

wea ried with the burden of guarding a defense

line thirty miles in length,and tha t

,for the most

part,on ill-fille d stomachs an d amid every d iscom

fort from the raw, wet weather .

When the assault on the Confederate center (in

front ofPetersburg)was developed,the position

of things became desperate, for that portion of

Lee’s attenuated line had been grea tly weakened

to protect his menaced right flank,which

,by this

time,had been torn from its position a n d hurled

back .

” An all-night bombardment of the South

ern entrenchments and the city of Petersburg



TO the right of Gordon,A . P . Hill’s com

mand was in position,and against this part Of the

Southern line the 6th Federa l corps was thrown

in an impetuous charge . Hill’s left was the

weakest part Of the whole position,a s the in

fan try for its defense (McG owan’S brigade) had

been withdrawn on the previous day,a n d the

works were held only by the artillerists,with a

slim picket line in front . The 6th corps drove in

the pickets,and

,sweeping forward

,captured the

works,the batteries

,and artillerymen .

The movements of the 9th and 6th corps were

simultaneous, and the success ofthe latter threat

ened the Confederate army with the most serious

disaster . Wright’s corps had completely broken

the left of Hill’s line,and threatened to push right

through to the river,and cut the Southern force

in two . The danger was increa sed by the attack

Of the corps,which

,as soon as the 6th had carried

Hill’s works,stormed the redoubts on Ha tcher’s

Run, and drove th e small force of Confederates

holding them beyond Sutherland’s Station,

on

the South Side railroad . Then,uniting with

the 6th and 24th corps,it completed the Federal

line,which

,swinging round

,steadily closed in

upon Petersburg .

Fortunately,there were just in rear ofthe


redoubts captured by the 6th corps two strong

enclosed works,covering the ground over which

the enemy must advance to reach the river .

These works were held by only a handful ofmen .

Fort Alexand er was nearer the enemy, and was

garrisoned by a less devoted force than the other .

As soon as th e Federa ls had re-formed their line,

they made a heavy charge forward,and carried

the works with a rush,not

,however

,without a

spirited struggle on the part of the defenders .

There remained now only the other work

Fort Gregg— and this it was necessary to hold to

the last extremity,in order that General Lee

might have time to occupy his new position

around the city . If the fort fell before that was

accomplished,the army was lost . The garrison

Of Fort Gregg consisted of the 4 th Maryland

battery,with two 3-inch rifles and thirty men

,a

body ofdismounted artillery drivers— Virginians

and Louisianians— who had been armed with

muskets,part ofHarris’s Mississippi brigade

,and

some North Carolinians— in all 250 men ; the

whole being under the command of Captain

Chew of the Maryland battery. The critical

situation Of the army was known to this littleband Of heroes

,and they silently resolved to pur

chase the safety of their comrades with their lives .


As soon as Fort Alexan der was captured,

General Ord advanced Gibbon’s division to storm

and carry Fort Gregg,an d break through to the

city . Gibbon’s column approached in fine order

,

and by its strength alone seemed about to envelop

the work . Moving on rapidly it neared the fort,

the Confederates suffering it to come within

less than fifty yards . Then, by a well-directed

volley,they sent the enemy reeling back across

the ground they had passed over . The whole

aflair could be directly seen by both armies,and

the repulse of the Federa ls was greeted by loud

cheers from the Confedera tes in the inner line .

Still no aid could be sent to the brave garrison,

whose only hope was to die in the presence of

the comrades they were trying to save . Both

armies ceased firing a t other points and every eye

was fixed on the fight at Fort Gregg .

“ Rallying his forces, Gibbon made another

despera te attempt to carry the fort,but was

aga in repulsed . A third charge met with the

same fate,an d for a while there sprang up in th e

hearts of the gazers a t the city a wild hope tha t

the fort would be held in spite of the heavy odds

aga inst it . Va in hope ! At seven o’clock the

Federals made a last charge, and this time suc

cee d e d in reaching the ditch . Many clambered to



ness ofthe Federals in his front, and had marched

promptly with Benning’s brigade of Field’s divi

sion,less than 300 strong . He reached the battle

field just as the enemy— a few minutes before ten

O’clock— moved forward again to force an entrance

to the city. Longstreet instantly brought Ben

n in g’s brigade into action, and by his bold and

skillful handling of it checked the enemy’s a d

vance until General Lee could hurry troops

to its assistance,when the line was occupied and

firmly held .

“ The Confederates now occupied a short,but

very strong line,extending immediately around

Petersburg,with the right flank resting on the

river above,and the left on the same stream be

low the city . Against this line the enemy now

made repeated assaults, but they were met and

repulsed at every point . Not only were the Fed

e rals everywhere thrown back in their efforts to

advance,but Heth’s division

,under the immediate

direction ofGeneral A . P . Hill,was ordered to

recover some commanding ground held by the9th Federal corps on the Southern left, near the

river. Hill made his atta ck with great spirit,and

pressed the 9th corps so hard with his little com

mand,that the Federals were forced to bring up

the garrison of the works at City Point to aid

THE CLOSE OF THE LONG STR UGGLE. 265

them in maintaining their ground . The enemy

held their position,and the Southern troops were

withdrawn . Among the killed wasLieut .-General

A . P . Hill . He had passed with high honor

through the whole war up to this period,with but

a slight wound,and fell now a victim to the

chiva lrous daring for which he was always dis

tin‘

g uish e d .

Thus the day closed , with the Confederates in

possession of Petersburg . But it was far from

General Lee’s intention to attempt to hold the

city longer . Such a course would involve the

capture or destruction ofhis army,and all that

remained to him now was to abandon both Rich

mond an d Petersburg, and endeavor to j oin John

ston near Danville . It was no longer possible to re

treat by the south bank ofthe Appomattox,for all

the roads were in possession of the enemy, an d

now the march must be made by the longer

route north Ofthe river. ”

CHAPTE R XVIII .

THE R ETIR EMENT FR OM PETER SBUR G AND R ICH

MOND .

BY this time,when the outer works of Peters

burg were in possession of the Federal forces,and

Grant was preparing for the morrow’s work of

continuing the assault on the city, Lee had com

mun icate d the condition Of affa irs, and his in tention to retire from his lines, to President Davis a t

Richmond,suggesting that the capital should be

immediately evacuated and the seat of Govern

ment transferred to Danville . Though it would

have been fatuous, after the abandonment of

Petersburg, to maintain Confederate control and

authority at Richmond,the announcement of

withdrawa l from it came as a crushing blow to

its citizens,since itmeant abandoning the city to

Northern occupation,and possible destruction or

pillage . What it imme d iatelv meant, they soonsaw with their own eyes

,viz . ,

the blowing up of

the city’s grea t warehouses,full of cotton and

tobacco,to prevent them becoming the spoil of

266



chosen to take in withdrawing in the direction of

Amelia Court House,he pushed forward the

mass of his army (about 7 in pursuit . The

pursuin g force, headed by Sheridan’s cava lry

,and

followed by the Union infantry an d artillery,was

directed to march with all speed to the line of the

Richmond and Danville R . R . north of Burkes

ville,there

,if possible

,to intercept Lee and his

fugitive army . Already, other points ofpossible

escape had been closed to Lee,and this he

,of

course,knew but he thought that

,by rapid

marching,he could reach Amelia Court House

,

and fromthere strike south to Danville,and

,if

practicable , effect his long-planned junction with

Genera l J . E . Johnston . One object , and an impera tive on e

,that now took him to Amelia Court

House,was to procure food for his half-famished

men,for they had eaten nothing since the retreat

began,save some handfuls Of parched corn . Here

the thoughtful leader h a d instructed the Confed

e rate commissary-general to forward a provision

train,for the exig encies ofthe calculated day of

arrival ; but, to the indignation OfGeneral Lee

and the dismay of the troops,i t was found tha t

the train with the supplies had gone on to Rich

mond,without stopping to unload the provisions

a t the Court House, so that it migh t assist in

R ETR EAT FR OM PETER SBUR G AND R ICHMOND . 269

removing the Government property from the Old

to the new,temporary capital a t Danville . The

mishap was a terrible,as it was an irremediable

,

on e,for little local food could be had and such

as could be gathered over a wide area occasioned

an enforced delay , which proved, in part, fatal to

the retreating Confederates .

But,to return for a brief moment to events at

Petersburg,let us relate that, on the morning of

the 3rd of April,when Grant had been apprised

of the Confederate abandonment ofthe place and

had set his army in motion to pursue them,he

ordered General Humphreys,with the Second

Union corps a n d a pontoon train,and Gen eral Ord

,

with the Sixth and Ninth corps,to renew th e

attack on the city . At this juncture,the Federal

skirmishers reported that the Confedera te lines

were deserted,and a column being sent forward

,

and meeting with no opposition,it advanced to

Petersburg and took possession of it . Leaving a

garrison in occupancy,Grant now turned to j oin

his army in its pursuit of Lee , who, as we haveseen

,had reached Amelia Court House

,though

with his forces considerably scattered in search

of food and forage . Just before this,the re

trea ting Confederates had been joined by the

division of General Mahone and the troops that


ha d held the line south of the James,in front Of

Bermuda Hundreds,as

’

well a s by E well’s com

mand,that ha d been withdrawn from the lines

about Richmond . The addition of these,with

their severa l baggage transports and artillery,

increased the unwieldiness of the mass in retreat,as well a s made it more difficult to provide for the

men an d horses that had to be fed an d cared for

on the way . Nor was this a ll tha t Lee a t this

juncture had to contend with,for by this time

(the evening of the 5th ofApril), when the ma rch

from Amelia Court House was resumed , the eu

emy’s cava lry hung closely about his wearied

columns and had to be constantly fought Off ;

while many of the impeding wagons had to be

burned en r oute,and many heavy guns buried

,

which could not be borne a long, SO exhausted were

the horses a n d mules atta ched to them . AS a

na rrator (Francis Lawley) of the harrowing inci

dent Of the retrea t describes“ It is easy to see that the locomomon of an

army in such a plight must have been Slow and

slower. The retrea t was conducted in the follow

ing fashion About midnight the Confed erates

slipped out of their hasty works, which they had

thrown up and held during the previous day,and

fell back until ten or eleven O’clock the next



munition exploding,and shells bursting when

touched by the flames — dense columns of smoke

ascending to heaven from the burning and e x plod

ing vehicles— exhausted men,worn~ out mules and

horses,lying d own side by side— gaunt famine

glaring hopelessly from sunken,lack-luster eyes

dead men,dead horses

,dead mules, everywhere

death,many times welcomed as God’s blessing in

disguise,

—who can wonder if many hearts,tried

in the fiery furnace Of four yea rs’unparalleled

suffering,and never hitherto found wanting

,

should have quailed in presence of starva tion,fatigue

,sleeplessness

,misery— unintermitted for

five or Six days,and culminating in hopeless

ness i”

This narrative of the retreat of the Army Of

Northern Virginia is a pa infully rea listic,but not

overdrawn,on e ; and, in proof of tha t, we need

but mention the fact of the dwindling numbers

ofLee’s forces,a s well as the perils by the way,

in its withdrawal from the la te scenes ofits opera

tions . On the morning of the 6th , Meade having

jomed Sheridan at Je tersville , they togethermoved upon Amelia Court House, with the pur

pose ofgiving Le e battle . The la tter, however,having been brought news ofthe enemy’s design,bran ched off toward Farmville, by way of Dea n

R ETR EAT FR OM PETER SBURG AND R ICHMOND. 273

ton sville , and for the time gave them the slip .

When this happened,Grant instructed Gen eral

Ord to take the direct road to Farmville,and there

block Lee’s onward path while Sheridan swiftly

pursued the Confederate columns on the road they

had taken,and came upon themat Sailor’s Creek

,

a m inor tributary of the Appomattox . On the

way after the fugitives,the Federal general made

repeated onslaughts upon their column s, but was

constantly beaten off. Presently,however

,he

found a weak spot in the retreating line, in

Pickett’s command,which was guarding a por

tion OfLee’s long train an d on this Sheridan fell

with three ofhis divisions,and captured a number

of the Confedera tes,besides taking from them

Sixteen pieces of artillery and destroying 400

wagons .

In his dire extremity,and to enable him to

save the remainder of the column attacked,

Pickett summoned Genera l E well to his assist

ance,who at once came upon the scene with re

enforcements to the number of men . While

E well was coming up,it was unfortunately found

that the rearguard, consisting ofGeneral Gordon’s

corps, had branched off another road, SO as to

evade trouble from Sheridan’s attacks ; and this

e scape ofGordon lessened the chances ofthe com


bin ed forces Of Pickett and E well withstanding

Sheridan successfully . It was also found that,

while E well was preparing for wha t he saw must

be a stiff fight,the enemy had occupied the high

ground about himand cut him off from the r e

main d er of the retrea ting columns . The Situa

tion of the command was,hence

,a desperate one

,

but, despite the fact, E well resolved to give

ba ttle,an d sell his own and his men’s lives dearly .

Meanwhile,heavy reenforcements came forward

for Sheridan,and in the conflict that en sued

Pickett’s division was worsted and put to flight,

leaving E well and his veterans to cope alone with

the enemy . This they gallantly did,an d for a

time so successfully,that the 6th Unionist corps

was driven back before the Sharp Confederate fire .

The broken Federal line was presently,however

,

ra llied and re-formed, when it renewed the attack,and now with such efi ect that E well’s men were

surrounded by overpowering numbers and com

pelle d to throw down their arms and surrender .

When this disaster overtook E well,he had himself

no other recourse than to submit to be made a

prisoner with his command ; while three other

genera l Officers,including CustisLee

,at the same

time fell into the hands Ofthe enemy .

With the dispersion ofPickett’s division an d


CHAPTE R XIX .

GRANT’S PE ACE-OVER TUR ES To LE E,AND THE SUR

R ENDER AT AFFOMATTo x .

THE end of strife,Obviously now , drew very

near ; and Lee , though he did not Shirk further

fighting, in the cause he had so long, earnestly,and bravely borne a conspicuous part

,na tura lly

wished now to steal Off from his environing foes

and reach Appomattox Court House . There he

expected to obtain supplies to enable him to push

on with his little shrunken but faithful band to

the Staunton River,and at tha t point maintain

h imself behind the stream until a junction could

be made with Johnston .

” On the afternoon of

April 8,he

,however

,learned tha t the supplies a t

the Court House had been captured,an d that

the enemy were in strong force about the place .

This was disconcerting news to Lee ; but it did

not cause him to hesitate in his course,which was

to divest himself Of all impedimenta and cut his

way throug h the Federa l lines, and SO escape276

OVERTUR ES OF PEACE AND THE SUR R ENDER . 277

from the entanglement he and his loyal followersfound themselves in .

The idea ofsurrender,which had been favored

at the camp-fire council with his general Officers,

was naturally repugnant to Lee ; and , while a

chance of escape remained,equa lly opposed was

he to the notion of disbandment,wh ich would

expose his men to almost certain Capture,as well

as disappointment and misery in their search for

food . The responsibility of continuing actively

in the field was,of course

,a cutely felt by the

g allant leader an d he keenly sympathized with

the discomforts and sufferings of his troops,

though he would not,as yet

,bring himself to

resort to o r justify surrender, with honor. To

accept the latter,when it was proposed by his

corps-commanders in council,instan tly aroused

the martial spirit of the heroic general,and

elicited the retort Surrender ! I have'

too many

g ood fighting men fo r tha t .” At this cr 1s1s

,his

anxieties were great,but chiefly for the leal and

true men under him,as well as for the women

and children of the South,of whose fate

,in the

emergencies of the time and their issues,he ha d

constant and patriotic thought . Fits of sadness

could not fa il to come upon him,just then

,as we

se e in his remark, when evidently thinking of


exposing himself as a soldier to death on the field

ofbattle . How easily I could get rid Of this,

he said,and be at rest I have only to ride

along the line and all will be over . But it is our

duty to live

On the morning ofApril 7th , the Confederates

resumed the ir march from High Bridge,where

we had left them in bivouac,towards Farmville

,

with the design of rea ching Appomattox Court

House thence,if practicable

,to push on to Lynch

burg . On withdrawing from High Bridge,an

attempt was made to fire the bridges at the place,

so as to impede the enemy’s crossing in pursuit .In this

,however

,the Confedera tes were

,in part

,

thwarted by the coming up ofthe Second Federal

corps . The latter dashed forward and saved the

bridges from entire destruction,while at the same

time it fell upon the “ rebel ” rearguard an d the

remains Of its wagon tra in, which were speedily

taken though General Gordon here turned upon

the enemy and drove them off,capturing about

200 prisoners . For the rema inder of the day,the

retreat was unmolested,save for periodic dashes

ofthe Federal cava lry and la te in the afternoon

brought Lee’s wea ried command to a strong de

fensive position north of Farmville, coverin g the

main road to Lynchburg . Here a halt was or



further efiusion of blood by asking ofyou the sur

render Of that portion of the Confedera te States

army known as the Army ofNorthern Virginia.

U . S . GR ANT,Limb -G en era l. ”

General Lee at once replied to this Federal

missive as follows

April 7, 1 865.

GENER AL

I have your note of this da te . Though not

entertaining the opinion you express on the hope

lessness Of further resistance on the part of th e

Army of Northern Virginia,I reciproca te your

desire to avoid useless effusion of blood , and

therefore,before consid ering your proposition

,

ask the terms you will offer on condition of its

surrender .R . E . LE E

,G en era l.

LIEUT. GENERAL U. S . GR ANT.

”

When the la tter communication reached Grant’s

hands,the night ha d been far spent, while the

Confederates were well on their way to Appomattox Court House

,heading fo r Lynchburg . On

the morning of the 8th (April), Genera l Grant at

once,however, replied to it; and in the following

terms


April 8,1 865.

GENER AL

Your note oflast evening, in reply tomine ofthe same date

,asking the condition on which I

will accept the surrender ofthe Army ofNorthern

Virginia,is just received . In reply

,I would say

that p eace being my great desire, there is but on e

condition I would insist upon, namely : tha t 'th e

men and Officers surrendered shall be disqualifiedfor taking up arms again against the Govern

ment of the United States until properly ex

chan ged . I willmeet you, o r will designate Officers to meet any Officers you may n ame for the

same purpose,at any point agreeable to you

,for

the purpose ofarranging definitely the terms upon

which the surrender of the Army of Northern

Virginia will be received .

U . S . GRANT, Lieut -G’en era l.

G ENERAL R . E . LE E .

”

To this,General Lee made the followin g re

spouse

April 8 , 1 865.

GENER AL

I received,at a late hour

,your note of tod ay .

In mine of yesterday, I did n o t intend to propose

the surrender Of the Army ofNorthern Virg inia,


but to ask the terms of your proposition . To be

frank,I do not think the emergency has arisen to

ca ll for the surrender of this army ; but, as the

restoration of peace Should be the sole obj ect of

all,I desired to know whether your proposals

would lead to that end . I can not,therefore

,

meet you with a view to surrender the Army of

Northern Virginia but,as far as your proposal

may affect the Confederate forces under my command, and tend to the restoration of peace

,I

should be pleased to meet you at ten A .M . to mor

row, on the old stage-road to Richmond, between

the picket lines Ofthe two armies .

R . E . LE E, G en era l.

LIEUT.-GENERAL U . S . GR ANT.

”

On the following day, General Grant sent the

Confederate leader the subjoin ed reply

APR IL 9,1 865.

GENERAL

Your note of yesterday is received . I have

no authority to treat on the subject ofpeace the

meeting proposed for 1 0 A . M . to-day could lead

to no good . I will state, however, Genera l, that

I am equally anxious for peacewith yourself, and

thewhole North entertains the same feeling. The



and was then engaged in capturing a train o r two

of cars,filled with food and supplies for Con fe d e

rate consumption from Lynchburg. With the

great raider’s cavalry force had also come up

General Ord’s infantry division,and both barred

the further advance of Lee’s wearied an d now

feeble army,and what remained of the Con fe d e~

rate wagon transport .

At this new menace,when there was little will

or ability among the men to confront it with

vigor,the Confederates must have been appalled

but n ot so was their brave leader, who, with

characteristic will-power an d decision,ordered that

a passage-way be cut on the morrow through all

Obstacles, and this perilous task was entrusted

to General Gordon .

On the morning’s dawn (the memorable 9th of

April), Gordon made ready his cutting-out force,and

,after a brief reconnaissance, led a smart at

tack upon the Federals,whom he at first drove

back,but was in turn compelled to recoil from the

superior force broug ht up to d efend the place and

hem in the Confederate army. Finding that he

could not force a passage-way,or even hold his

ground with safety,Gordon sent word back to

General Lee of the straits he was in,and a d vis

ing him ofhis having been effectively checkmated


by the enemy . Apprised of the situation,an d

seeing no way out of it except a t the sacrifice of

much life, which he was n ow unwilling to make,the Confederate commander-in -chief concluded

that the time had at last come to surrender . He

therefore hastened forward a flag of truce to

General Sheridan,seeking a suspension ofhostili

ties with a view to surrender,and at the same

time penned and despatched the following com

mun ication to General Grant

APR IL 9 1 865.

GENERAL

I received your note this morning on the

picket line,whither I had come to meet you and

ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in

your proposition of yesterday with reference to

the surrender of this army .

I now request a rr interview in accordance with

the Offer contained in your letter of yesterday for

that purpose .

Very respectfully,

“ Your obedient servant“ R . E . LE E

,G en era l.

TO LIEUT-GENER AL GR ANT,

Comma n d in g the A rmies of the Un ited Sta tes .


The interview sought'

by‘

General Lee was

promised by‘

th e Federal General , a s soon as he

should be apprised Of the desired place of meeting .

Notice of this was forthwith despatched to Gen

eral Grant,and the n ow historic meeting took

place b e tween th e two commanders, in the village

at Appomattox Court House,at the house of

Wilmer McLean . Here,after the formal greet

ing of the two Genera ls and their respective staffs,

the agreement ofsurrenderwas d rawn up,signed

,

and witnessed while the terms ofsurrender were

drafted and signed by the Federa l Commander,

and formally a ccepted, under seal, by the Con

federate General, as the subjoined document will

show

APPOMATTo x COURT HOUSE,VA .

April 9,1 865.

GENERAL

In accordance with the substance ofmy letter

to you ofthe 8th Instant,I propose to receive the

surrender Of the Army ofNorthern Virginia on

the following terms,to wit : Rolls of all the Of

ficers an d men to be made in duplicate,on e copy

to be given to an officer designa ted by me,and

the other to be reta ined by such officer or officers

as youmay designate . The officers to give their



individual paroles not to take up arms against

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

packed and stacked,and turned over to the offi

cers appointed by me to receive them . This will

not embrace the side arms of the officers,or

their private horses or baggage . This done,each

Officer and man will be allowed to return to his

home,not to be disturbed by United Sta tes au

tho rity SO long as they observe their paroles and

the laws in force where they may reside .

U . S . GR ANT, Lieut . -G en era l.

GENERAL R . E . LE E .

”

A formal letter,drafted and Signed by General

Lee,was at the interview delivered to G eneral

Grant,accepting the generous terms ofsurrender

and the conditions stipula ted to be Observed while,

on the following d ay, Commissioners representing

both causes met,d rafted

,an d signed the appen d

ed Agreement giving efi ect to the surrender .

The names and ranks of the Commissioners on

each side,it will be observed

,are appended a t the

foot Of the Agreement, the details of which are

as follows

288 LIFE OF GENER ALLE E .

APPOMATTo x COUR T HOUSE, APR IL 10, 1 865.

A g r eemen t en ter ed in to this d ay in r eg a rd to

the Sur r en d er of the Army ofNor ther n Vir

g in ia to the Un ited Sta tes Authorities

l st . The troops shall march by brigades and

detachments to the designated point,stack their

arms,deposit their flags, sabers, pistols, etc .

an d then march to their homes un der charge of

their officers,superintended by their respective

division and corps commanders,offi cers retaining

their Side-arms and the authorized number of

private horses .

2n d . All public horses and public property of

all kinds to be turned over to staff Officers to be

designated by the United Sta tes authorities .“3rd . Such transporta tion as may be agreed

upon as necessary for the transportation of the

private baggage ofofficers will be allowed to ac

company the officers,to be turned over at the end

of the trip to th e nearest United States ! uarter

master,receipts being taken for the same .

“4 th . Couriers and mounted men of the ar

tillery an d cava lry,whose horses are their own

private property,will be allowed to retain them .

5th . The surrender of the Army of NorthernVirgin ia shall be construed to include all the forces



close upon Throughout the proceedings

connected with the surrender,there was nothing

,

in tone or manner,on the part of the victors, to

wound the n atura l sensitiveness of the Confeder

a tes ; while no spirit of exultation was mani

fested,o r aught shown save the utmost kin d li

ness,compassion

,and sympathy. This

,added to

the considerate and politic conditions upon which

e ach individual member of the Southern army

was paroled and permitted to return to his home,

relieved surrender of all pang, and the remem

brance of a lost cause,

” if it then or afterwards

intruded itself, of a sense Of disappointment and

sorrow . To Le e,personally

,the worst

,if we

may say it, was ye t to come, in taking leave

of his grim but loved veterans, and in bidding

e ach of the now shrunken but heroic band fare

well .

Profound was the feeling with which the little

army saw their beloved leader ride back to

his headquarters after the surrender ha d been

practically effected . Sobs and tea rs were the

signs of their emotion,as a ll rea lized that the end

had finally come,and the last fight for Southern

independence had taken place . As his men clus

tered around their great Capta in, seeking to

grasp and give a loving pressure to the hand of


their long-time chieftain, upwelling tears in the

hero’s eyes spoke the agony ofhis soul

,an d

,in

trembling tones,he simply said to them Men,

we have fought th rough the war together and

I have done the best I could for you . My heart

is too full to say more I” On the morrow,how

ever,he took a more formal leave of his little

faithful band , and in the following graciously

expressed and noble,pathetic words

HEAD! UAR TER S ARMY OF NOR THE RN VIR GINIA,

April 1 0,1 865.

AFTER four years of arduous service,marked

by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army

ofNorthern Virginia h as been compelled to yieldto overwhelming numbers and resources .

I need not tell the survivors ofso many hard

fought ba ttles,who have remained steadfast to

the la st, that I have consented to this result from

no distrust of them ; but, feeling that valor and

d evotion 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 ofthose whose past

services have endeared them to their country

men .

By the terms of agreement,officers andmen


can return to their homes and remain there until

exchanged .

You will take with you the satisfaction that

proceeds fromthe consciousness ofduty faithfullyperformed an d I earnestly pray that a merci ful

God will extend to you His blessing and proteo

t ion .

“ With an unceasing admiration of your con

stan cy and devotion to your country, and a grate

ful remembrance ofyour kind and generous con

sideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate

farewell .

R . E . LE E , G en era l.

But on e more act in the drama ofcapitulation

has to be related, viz .

,the summoning

,on April 1 2 ,

for the last time, of the several divisions of the

Army of Northern Virginia,to a public place

near the Appomattox Court House,where the

different commands stacked their arms, packed

the artillery, deposited their accoutrements,and

,

with a salute,parted with their field and regi

mental colors . The surrender was received for

General Grant (who, with a fine consideration

for the feelings Of’

the men of the late army,re

mained at his headquarters) by Major-Genera l

Gibbon . Those who had effected their escape


LIFE 01? GENERAL LE E .

General Grant returned with his staff to Wash

in g ton ,where followed the hideous tragedy of

the assassination,on the 1 4th of April

,of Presi

dent Lin coln,a s he was Sitting with his family

in a box at the theater in the capita l . The

lamented President died on the following day .

The assassin was a demented Southern sympa

thizer,John Wilkes Booth

,who belonged to an

actor’s family,and had become fanatically op

posed to the good and wise Lincoln and to the

Union Administration and party . E scaping from

Wa shington a fter his vile deed,which struck hor

ror in all breasts,and moved even the South to

sympathy,Booth was hunted down by a party of

soldiers n ear Fredericksburg, and, refusing to

surrender,he was shot in a barn where he had

sought refuge .

The striking down of the great E mancipator,

ever prone to kindliness , as he was, and possessinga mind and heart always influenced by humane

and just mot ives,was a heavy blow to the whole

country ; and especially just then , when he was

about to grapple with the serious problem ofR e

construction . In a sense,as the present writer

has elsewhere sa id,Lincoln’s ca lamitous end

came as a not un fittin g sequel to, and a dmon ition again st

,civil war ; and though it deprived


the n ation '

ofhis wise counsels in the grea t work

that lay before it,his dea th and the manner Of

it were factors of value in hushing all criti

cismOf the man an d his career,while raising

grateful peans to his memory . In unity well

might the two sections of the country,now

again become on e,pay ceaseless honor to him

who had had much to do , through the long and

appalling conflict,in bringing about the happy

issue of Union,and who

,in memorable words

,

in his immortal Second Inaugural,after be

moaning the scourge ofwar,and yet foreseeing

its close, ha d admonished the Nation to have“ malice toward none,

” and with charity for

all,with firmness in the right

,as God gives us

to see the right,” besought them to finish the

work they were in,to bind up the Nation’s

wounds,to care for him who shall have borne

the ba ttle,and for his widow and his orphans

,

to d o all which may achieve and cherish a just

and lasting peace among ourselves and with all

na tions .’

In closing our narrative ofthe chief incidents of

the war,as they connect themselves with General

Lee,and passing to follow the latter to the close

of his illustrious career,it remains but to add

,

that a general amnesty was proclaimed by the


n ew Union President (Andrew Johnson), on the

29th ofMay,the last of the Confederate generals

having surrendered during the month ; while Pres

ident Davis of the now collapsed Confederacy,

then a fugitive in Georgia,was captured on May

1 0th at Irwin sville , G a . , and imprisoned for a

time in Fortress Monroe,but later on was liber

ated on parole .

Soon after the close of the conflict the North

disbanded its large armies,over having

been mustered out by the month of November,1 865. TheWar for the Union

,

” rema rks an his

torian authority (E dward Channing, in his His

tory of the United States ”)“ cost the n ation

,

North and South,the lives of nearly a million

men about Northern soldiers were killed

on the field of battle,o r were fatally wounded

and died in hospita ls ; more succumbed

to disease while on the a rmy rolls . To these

figures must be added those who died from

accident,disappeared permanently

,or died in

Southern prisons,or in consequence ofdisease o r

wounds contracted while in the service ; the total

Of those who perished from all these causes is not

far from half a million ; about as many more

Southerners perished from Similar causes . Hun

dreds of thousands more contracted disorders or


CHAPTE R XX .

GENERAL LE E INSTALLED AS PR ESIDENT OF WASH“

INGTON COLLEGE , LE! INGTON, VA .

GENERAL LE E lived for over five years after

the close Of the war and though by a section in

Congress he was the obj ect,as was the South

and its late President also, of suspicion an d

partizan dislike,he remained uniformly loyal to

the n ew order of things, as well as unflinching

in his patriotic purpose to restore the nation to

unity and quiet,orderly government . Recon

struction, for a time, made Slow progress,for

President Johnson’s ability to smooth ma tters and

heal the sores of the nation were not such as

would doubtless have been his great predecessor’s ,

h ad he lived ; while many, like Davis an d even

Le e,who had participated in rebellion , were ex

cluded from the measure ofamnesty an d pardon

that h a d been proclaimed . In Lee’s case, he was

even indicted for treason,at the instiga tion

ofa Federal judge ; though his Old antagonist-in

arms,General Gran t

,whom he lived to see fill

298

LE E PR ESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE . 299

the Presidential chair,pleaded the sacredness of

the Southern Commander’s military parole,and

legal proceedings were consequently dropped .

His personal attitude during these trying years

was most patient and retiring, as well as consist

ently dutiful,as a letter to his son

,General Fitz

hugh Lee,emphatically attests : “ As to the

indictments,

” writes the Gen eral,I hope you,

at least,may not be prosecuted . I see no more

reason for it than for prosecuting a ll who ever

engaged in the war . I think,however, we may

expect procrastination in measures ofrelief, de

nunciatory threats,etc . but we must be patient

and let them take their course .

”

When Lee , at the close of the war, returned to

his family at Richmond,he found the city not

only in much confusion,but largely destroyed

and,as h is ancestral home there of Arlington

had in his absence been appropriated to public

purposes,and was now occupied by Federal officials

and army officers,his desire for quiet an d privacy

led to his r e-establishing himself and his family

in a country house on the James River in Pow‘

hatan county . Hither came to him the an

n oun cemen t that the Board Of Trustees hadelected him to the presidb n cy of Washington

College,Lexington, Va . , a compliment which, as


it was alike unsought and unexpected,he greatly

appreciated . The Offer,while a politic on e on the

part of the Trustees,and intended as an honor

to the g allant old soldier, as well as a tribute

to his learning and high character,General Le e

hesitated,however to accept

,and that for two

reasons . These were,first

, .wha t he deemed his

inability,at his advanced years

,to undergo the

labor of conducting classes in regular courses of

instruction— though he might be equal to under

take the general administration a n d supervision

of the in stitution ; and, second, the fact that he

was still,politically

,under the ban ofthe United

States Government,as an un amn estied man ;

a n d,hence

,did he accept the post

,might draw

hostility upon the College to its injury,as well as

animadversion from certain partizan quarters .

These scruples an d Objections were,however

,and

wisely,wa ived by the Board ; and the close of

September,1 865

,found him on his way to Lex ~

in g ton , to be inaugurated as President of the

College .

The installation of“

the soldier-president took

place October 2n d and though at General Lee’s

request it was quiet and simple in its exercises,

there was a roomful ofprominent people present,

including the students,faculty

,and trustees

,to


302 LIFE OF GENER ALLE E .

seen many of them fa ll under my standard . I

shall devote my life n ow to training young men to

do their duty in life . ”

At this time , there was much talk in Virginia

and elsewhere in the South ofa wholesale immi

g ration to Mexico, in which Lee’s coOpera tion

was sought : but the General, though admitting

the possibility that a movement ofthe kind might

conduce to prosperity,discountenanced the pro

ject , d e emIn g it better, as he said, that Southerners should remain at home an d mold

,as well as

share in,the fortunes of their respective S tates .

In public oflice,even that of the governorship

ofhis own State,which was offered him ea rly in

1 867, Lee could no t be Induced to serve, preferring

a quiet,u

‘

nostentatious life and the enj oyment of

privacy and home comforts . He was,however,

thoroughly alive to and interested in public afi airs,and in his letters to friends he shows and gives

expression to his thoughtful views on many importan

’

t questions of the time . In on e of these

letters,written in frank terms to a correspondent

an d sympa thizer,he obviously cannot resist

giving expression to his alarm at the dangers tha t

then threa tened the na tion and its republican in

stitution s, as well as his regret at the many exist

ing signs of aggression on the rights of his own

LE E PR ESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE . 303

section Of the country . In the following extract

from a letter written to a friend abroad at theclose of 1 866

,we see what were his views on the

traditional question Of State Rights and the

aggressions Of an overpowerful and autocrati

cally-inclined General Government

While I have considered the preservation of

the constitutiona l power Of the General Govern

ment to be the founda tion Of our peace and safety

a t home and abroad, I yet believe that the main

ten an ce ofthe rights and authority reserved to

the States,and to the people

,n ot only essential to

the adjustment and balance of the genera l system,

but the safe-guard of the continuance of a free

government . I consider it as the chief source of

stability to our political system wherea s the con

solidation ofthe States into on e vast republic, sure

to be aggressive abroad and despotic a t home,will

be the certain precursor of that ruin which has

overwhelmed all those that have preceded it .

On the important matter of self-government,

and the attitude of the South on the once-distra ct

ing topic of slavery and the tendency Of recent

laws to place the political power, sectiona lly, in

the hands of the negro race, General Lee felt

strongly,as we see from the following expression

ofhis views, in reply to a request for such from


General Rosecrans and other public men . Writing from White Sulphur Springs, W. Va .

,in the

summer months Of 1 868, Le e observes

Whatever opinions may have prevailed in the

past with regard to African slavery o r the right

Of a State to secede from the Union,we believe

we express the almost unanimous judgment of

the Southern people when we declare that they

consider that these questions were decided by the

war,and that it is their intention

,in good faith

,

to abide by that decision . At the close of the

war,the Southern people laid down their arms

and sought to resume their former rela tions to

the Government of the United States . Through

their Sta te conventions they abolished Slavery an d

annulled their ordinances of secession and they

returned to their peaceful pursuits with a sincere

purpose to fulfill all their duties under the Consti

tution of the United Sta tes, which they ha d sworn

to support . If their action in these pa rticulars

ha d been met in a spirit Of frankness a n d cordial

ity,we believe that, ere this, o ld irrita tions would

have passed away,and the wounds inflicted by the

We are indebted for this pape r , se tt ing fo rth Gene ra lLee

’s views , to Pro f . H A .White’s biography ofLe e , in t heHe roe s Ofth e Nat ions se r ies , published by Me ssrs. G . Put

nam’s Sons, in 1902.



stir up the passions of the negroes,the relations

of the two races would soon adjust themselves on

a basis of mutual kin dness and advantage .

It is true tha t the people of the South, in com

mon with a large majority of the people ofthe

North and West,are

,for obvious reasons

,in fle x i

bly opposed to any system oflaws tha t would place

the political power of the country in the hands of

the n egro race . But this opposition springs from

no feeling ofenmity,b ut from a deep-seated con

viction tha t , at present, the negroes have neither

the intelligence nor the other qualifications which

are necessary to make them sa fe depositaries Of

political power . They would inevitably become

the victims of demagogues who , for selfish pur

poses,would mislead them

,to the serious injury

of the public .

The great want of the South is peace . The

people earnestly desire tranquillity an d a r estora

tion ofthe Union . They depreca te disorder a n d ex

citemen t a s the most serious obstacle to their prospe rity . They ask a restoration of their rights

under the Constitution . They desire relief fromoppressive misrule . Above a ll

,they would appeal

to their countrymen for the reestablishment , in

the Southern Sta tes,Of tha t which has justly been

regarded , as the birthright Of every American,

LE E PR ESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE. 307

the right ofself-government . E stablish these on

a firm ba sis,and we can safely promise

, on behalf

of the Southern people,that they will fa ithfully

obey the Constitution a n d laws of the United

States,treat the negro popula tion with kindness

and humanity,and fulfill every duty incumbent

on peaceful citizens, loyal to the Constitution Of

their country .

”

This deliverance of Lee on the political and

Socia l condition of the South is,as will be seen

,

calm and temperate,as was his testimony

,given

at Washington, early in 1 866,when summoned

thither to be interrogated by the Congressional

Committee on Reconstruction . His views in re

gard to the latter were those Ofa sane,thought

ful and loyal citizen,sincerely anxious fo r peace

and harmony in the South, as well as fo r the re

sumption of cordial relations between the two

sections of the n ow common country . But,as we

have said,Le e was averse to taking part in the pub

lic discussions of the time,and was most guarded

in everything that escaped him, that might be

construed as a criticism upon the Administration

at Washing ton,and its policy in restoring peace

and order in the late seceding States and in r e

movin g the disabilities under which many of its

chief citizens still lay . Contention,public or pri


vate,was never his habit

,and he ever eschewed the

discussion ofall controverted questions that might

tempt him to engage in it . Besides,he was now

giving almost his whole thought to his academic

duties in College,actuated by a deep sense of his

responsibility as President,and his desire to bring

the institution to the highest possible sta te of

efficiency . In this laudable work he was signally

successful, especia lly when we consider from what

a low ebb in its affairs he had built up the in stitu

tion,which

,when he took hold of it

,was utterly

broken in fortune and without resources and

equipment,while the war had practically closed

its doors . Lee’s absorbing interest in his duties

throughout the five years his sadly Shortened life

enabled himto give to the administration of the

College’s affairs,is thus appreciatively vouched for

by his nephew and military biographer,Genera l

Fitzhugh Lee (See Life ofGeneral Lee,

” in the

Great Commanders’series).“ Year by year,

”

states the narrator,“ the conception ofhis (Pre

sid en t Lee’s) duty grew stronger, and year by

year,as its instrument

,the College grew dearer.

He was no fig urehead , kept in position for the

attraction of his name his energy,zeal, and

administrative ability surmounted all difficulties .

His g rea t labors were directed to makingWa shing


310 LIFE OF G ENER AL LE E .

coming to the College of many studious youth

who had served under him in the war and whose

education had been interrupted by the four years

Of unhappy conflict . His influence was great upon

these,as well as upon all in the classes

,and that

not only intellectually,but morally

,for he ever

regarded religious training as an Important

feature in the functions of the College,as well as

the training that would make men worthy and

useful citizens and high-minded , honorable gentle

men,after his own exemplary an d characteristic

type . Socially,his influence also was great

,as

we see in the offers that were repeatedly made to

him of influentia l and often highly-remunera ted

positions,which

,however

,he invariably refused

,

so that he might give his undivided time an d

attention to the educational and administrative

affairs of the College .

CHAPTE R XXI .

EVENING SHADOWS,AND DEATH .

AS the years passed over h im,General Lee

,un

happily,found himself in indifferent hea lth

,in

consequence Of the return of an Old ailment to

which his long and arduous military life had ex

posed him,and now left him often a great sufi ere r .

This was an aggravated form of rheumatism,

which threatened the V itals and gave him almost

constant pain in his chest . E arly in the year of

1 870, the General’s distress from this affliction in

creased,and at length became so great that he

was reluctantly n ecessitated to rest from his

labors and undertake a trip to Georgia and other

parts of the South . In this expedition in search

of health,he was accompanied by his most duti

ful and ever-watchful daught er, Agnes, who ,with her mother

,a lso an invalid, were at this

time very solicitous about him . While in the

South, Lee’s general hea lth improved

,and he

seemed to be benefited by the change of scene

a n d air,so that he returned tohis college duties

31 1


in the autumn session though,to the close obser

ver,his appearance Showed traces of the onwa rd

progress ofdisease . His step, at this time, we ar e

told, began to lose its elasticity while the Shoul

ders began to droop and the ruddy glow d isap

peare d from his fa ce . There were signs soon a lso

of cerebral exhaustion and congestion ofthe bra in,

which showed tha t the end was now not far OE .

His nephew-biographer,Fitzhugh Le e

,gives us

the incidents that befell the grea t soldier, premon

itory of the approaching end .

“ A noble life,”

he tells us, was drawing to a close . The morn

ing ofSeptember 28,1 870

,found him faithfully

performing the duties of his office th e afternoon,engaged with his brother members of the vestryofGrace E piscopal Church (a t Lexington) in

work congenia l to the true Christian ,and the

autumn evening shadows fell upon a couch over

which the heavenly angels were bending . The

important question ofrebuilding the church and

increasing his faithful friend and pastor’s com

pen sation had interested himso deeply at thevestry meeting, that the cold church and the out

side stormwere forgotten, and it was only aftera protracted session of over three hours, as he

proceeded to his house,a short distance OE , that

weariness and weakness overtook him, and his



taken leave of earth . He never smiled,and

rarely attempted to speak, except in his dreams,an d then, she says, he wandered to those dread

ful battlefields .’ ‘You must get out and ride

your faithful gray,’the doctor Said . He Shook

his head and looked upwa rd an d once when his

daughter Agnes urged him to takeme d icme , helooked at her and said

,It is no use .

’ Human

love was powerful, human aid powerless . Hope

a n d Despair were twin watchers by his bed-side .

At first,as his disease seemed to yield to trea t

ment,Hope brightened

,but soon Despair a lone

kept watch . During the afternoon and night of

October l 0th shadowy cloud s ofapproaching dis

solution began to ga ther,a creeping lethargy cap

tured the faculties, and the massive grandeur of

form and face began to contract . During the

succeeding d ay he rapidly grew worse ; his

thoughts wandered to the fields where he had

so Often led his gray battalions to victory ; an d

like the greatest of his capta ins,Stonewall Jack

son,whose expiring Utterance told ‘A . P . Hill

to prepare for a ction,

’he too,in dea th’s delirium,

said,

‘ Tell Hill h e must come up ‘ For the

last forty-eight hours he seemed quite insensible

ofour presence,’Mrs . Lee sta tes ;

‘ he brea thed

more heavily,and at last gently sank to rest

EVENING SHADOWS, AND DEATH . 3 15

with on e deep-drawn Sigh,and

,Oh

,what a

glorious rest was in store for him

Death occurred on the morning of the 1 2th of

October,1 870, when the great Southern leader had

reached his sixty-fourth year . Two days later,

the College chapel received all that was mortal

Of the deceased warrior,and on the 15th the

casket enclosing his remains was,after a brief

but impressive service,lowered into a vault in

rear of the College chapel,where

,later on

,his

wife and daughter Agnes also found buria l .

Tolling bells,

” relates the sympathetic biog

raphe r , from whose work we have already made

quotation, first proclaimed the sad intelligence

(of the d eath of the warrior) to the citizens of

Lexington, electric wires flashed it to the world .

Throughout the South business was suspended,

schools were closed,societies and associations of

all sorts assembled,where eulogistic speeches

were made,and resolutions passed laudatory of

General Lee’s life,and lamenting his death . In

those adopted by the faculty of the College it

was declared that ‘ his executive ability, his en

larg e d views of liberal culture, his e x traord i

na ry powers in the government of men,his won.

d erful influence over the minds of the young,

and his steady an d earnest devotion to duty,


made the College spring,as if by the touch Of

magic, from its depression after the war to its

present firm condition of permanent and wide

spread usefulness’; that it was a deep sa tisfac

tion to receive his remains beneath the chapel h e

had built ;’and tha t the ‘memory Of his noble

life will rema in as an abiding Inspira tion to the

young of the country as they ga ther’ at the last

scene ofhis labors,to emulate his virtues and to

follow his great example .

’

E qually sincere and hearty were other laudatorycomments on the man and his career expressed by

prominent people and influentia l public bodies

throughout the South . At a Lee Memorial meet

ing,held at Richmond on Nov 3rd , on e Of Lee

’s

Old colleagues in the war,Major-General G or

don,thus admiringly spoke of the hero Of no

man whom it has ever been my fortune tomeet canit be so truthfully said as of Lee

,that

,grand as

might be your conception of the man before, he

rose in incomparable majesty on more familiar

acquaintance . This can be affirmed of few men

who have ever lived or died, and ot no othermanwhom it has been my fortune to approach . Like

Niagara,the more you gazed

,the more its gran

deur grew upon you,the more itsmajesty expand

ed and filled your Spirit with a full satisfaction,


EVENING SHADOWS, AND DEATH . 317

that left a perfect delight without the slightest feel

ing of oppression . Grandly majestic and dignified

in his d eportment, he was as genia l as the sun

light ofMay, and not a ray of that cordial socia l

intercourse but brought warmth to the heart,as

it brought light to the understanding .

” At the

same meeting,the ex-President ofthe Confederate

States,the Hon . Jefferson Davis, remarked that

“ this day we unite our words of sorrow with

those of the good and great throughout Christen

d om,for General Lee’s fame has gone fa r over the

water ; and, when the monument we shall build

to hismemory sha ll have crumbled into dust, hisvirtues will still live— a high model for the imita

tion ofgenerations yet unborn Another promin en t figure and fellow actor in the war

,Lee’s close

friend,General J . E . Johnston, wrote thus to the

lamenting widow,three days after her great loss

MY DEAR MADAM

A lthough you are receiving the strongest

proofs that a whole people are sharing in your

great sorrow,I venture to write, not merely to say

how I, General Lee’s earliest and most devoted

friend,lament his death

,and how sadly the event

will visit my memory while I stay on ea rth, but,still more

,to assure you ofmy deep sympathy in


this greatest bereavement a human being can

kn ow,and ofmy fervent prayers to our merciful

G o d tha t He may grant His help to you and your

children .

Most sincerely and truly your friend

J . E . JOHNSTON.

”

Commenting on Lee’s military reputation,

General Fitzhugh Le e truly and admiringly Oh

serves,that In strategy

,it is certainLee stands

in the front rank of the great warriors Of the

world . He was a greater soldier than Sir Henry

Havelock,and equa lly devout as a Christian .

He had the swift intuition to discern the purpose

ofhis opponent,a n d the power ofrapid combina

tion to Oppose to it prompt resistance . The

world places Lee by the side of its greatest cap

tains,because

,surrounded on all sides by con flict

ing anxieties,interests

,and the gravity ofissues

involved,he only surrendered his bat tle-stained

,

bullet-rid dled banners after demonstrating tha t

a ll had been done tha t mortal could accomplish .

The profession Of the soldier has been honored by

his renown,the cause of education by his virtues,

religion by his piety .

’

One more comment we must permit ourselves

and that on the subject of th e grea t soldier’s per



The calm dignity with whichLee met adversity,

here referred to by Colonel Denison,has been

the subj ect Of many approving remarks,and

,

with his quiet reticence in submitting fina lly to

the inevitable, won for him Northern sympa thy

as well as elicited Southern pride . In his long,

brilliant,but unequal struggle

,when in command

of the Army ofNorthern Virginia,he was never

known to repine or manifest the slightest resent

ment or bitterness . Such even was his command

oftemper tha t as has often been said,he was never

seen angry, and rarely had a disapproving o r con

d emn a tory word to say ofany one . In this respect,

his self-restraint wa s as remarkable as was his

self-possession and uniform modera tion . In short,

rarely in the anna ls Of wa r is there a nobler

record to be met with Ofan army leader who com

bin e d in his person the highest qualities of a sol

dier-hero and a Christian . Nothing in his r e

splendent career dims the luster of his character

in the latter respect,o r qualifies the ex ample he

ever se t before him of a humble and trustful

soldier ofJesus Christ . As a constant an d con

sistent follower ofhis divine Master,Genera l Lee’s

example ha d a b en eficen t influence upon all who

came in contact with him while his trustfulness

in a Guiding Power marked the man in all his

EVENING SHADOWS, AND DEATH . 321

dealings,an d in every difficulty or emergency he

h a d to confront . Very beautiful in this aspect

was his life,while most winning was his bearing

and manner,and grandly inspiring his influence

and example.

THE E ND .


2 A. L. BURT’S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE .

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Frank Fowler, the Cash Boy. By HORATIOALGER , JR .

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A Debt ofHon or . The Story ofG erald Lan e’s Success

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t

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Ben Bruce. Scen es in the Life of a Bowery Newsboy.By HORATIO ALG ER, JR. 1 2mo , cloth , illustra te d , priceBen B ruce was a brave , manly. gene rous b oy . Th e story of his e lIorts,

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The Castaways ; or , On the Florida R eefs. By JAME SO'rrs. 12mo , cloth , illustra ted , pr iceThis t a le smacks of th e salt se a . From t he moment that the Sea

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A. L. RUR'r’s BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE . 3

BOOKS FOR BOYS .

Wrecked on Spid er Islan d ; or, HOWNed R og ers Foundth e Treasure . By JAME S OTIS. 12mo , cloth , illustrate d , priceNe d R oge rs, a

“ down-e ast ” plucky lad ships as cabin b oy t o e a rna live lihood . Ne d is marooned on Spide r I sland, an d while t he re d is

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The Search for the Silver City : A Tale ofAdventure inYuca tan . By JAME S OTI S. 12mo , cloth , illustrate d , priceTwo lads, Teddy Wright and Ne a l Eme ry , embark on the ste am

ya cht Day Dre am for a cruise t o . th e t ropics . The yacht is de st royedby fire , a n d t hen t h e boa t is cast upon t h e coa st of Yuca tan . Theyhear of t h e wonde rful Silve r City , of th e Chan Santa Cruz Indians ,an d with th e he lp of a fa ithful Indian a lly ca rry off a numbe r of th e

g o lden images from t h e t emple s. Pursued with re lent le ss vigor a t lastt he ir e scape is e ifect e d in a n a stonishing manne r . Th e story is so

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A R unaway Brig ; or, An Acciden tal Cruise . ByJAME S O'r rs. 12mo , cloth , illustrated , pr iceThis is a se a ta le , an d the reade r can look out upon the w ide shimme ring sea as it flashe s ba ck t h e sunlight , a n d imagine h imse lf afloat wit hHarry Vandyne , Wa lt e r Morse , Jim Libby a n d tha t o ld she ll-ba ck , BobB ra ce , on th e brig Bonita . Th e boys d iscove r a myst e rious documentwhich enable s them t o find a buried t re a sure . They a re st randed on

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The Treasure Fin d ers : A Boy’s Adventures in

Nicaragua . By JAMES OTIS. 12mo , cloth , illustrated , pr iceR oy an d De an Co loney, with t he ir guide Tongla , leave the ir fathe r’s

indigo plantat ion t o vis it t h e wonde rful ruins of an ancient city. Th eboys e age rly e xplo re t h e t emple s of an e xt inct race an d d iscove r t hre egolden image s cunningly hidden away. They e scape with th e gre a t e stdifficulty . Event ua lly t hey re ach safe ty with t he ir golde n prizes. We

doubt if the re e ve r was wr it ten a more e n te rtainrn g story than “ TheTre asure Finde rs .

”

Jack, th e Hunchback. A Story ofthe Coast ofMaine.

By JAMES 0 1 1 8 . Pr iceThis is t h e story of a lit t le hunchback who l ived on Cape E lizabeth ,

on th e coast of Ma ine . H is t rials an d succe sses a re most inte re st ing.From first t o last no t hing stays the int e re st of th e na rra t ive . I t be ars us

ii

t

lon g as on a st ream whose current va r ie s in d ire ct ion, but neve r loses8 force .

With Wash in g ton at Monmouth : A Story Of ThreePh ila d e lph ia Boys. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo , ornamen ta l cloth , o livinee dges, illustrate d , priceThre e Philade lphia lads assist the Ame rican Spie s an d make regular

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For sa le by a ll boo kse lle rs , o r sentgost paid on re ce i

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publishe r , A . L. BUR T, 52-58 Duane tree t , New Yor

A . L. BURT’S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE .

BOOKS FOR BOYS.

With “

Lafayette at Yorktown : A Story of HOW TWOBoys Joined the Continenta l Army. By JAME S OTIS. 12mo , ornamenta lclo th , o livine e dges, illustra ted , priceTwo lads from Po rtmouth , N . H . , a t tempt to enlist in the Colonia l

A rmy, an d a re g iven employment as spie s . The re is n o lack of e x cit ingincidents which t h e youthful re ade r crave s, but it is hea lthful e xcit ement brimming with fact s which e ve ry b oy should b e familia r with ,a n d while t h e re ade r is following th e adventure s of B e n Jaffrays a n dNe d Allen he is acquiring a fund of h isto rica l lore which will rema inin his memo ry long a fte r that which he h as memorized from t extbooks has been forg ot t en .’At the Sieg e Of Havana. Being the E x periences ofThree Boys Servin g un de r Israe l Putnamin 1762. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo ,ornamenta l clo th , o livine e d ges, illustra ted , pr ice“ At th e Siege Of Havana ” dea ls with that port ion of th e island’s

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Th e principa l chara cte rs a re Dar ius Lunt , the la d who , represented as

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The Defen se of Fort Henry. A Story ofWheelin gCreek in 1777. B JAMES OTIS. 12mo , orn amen ta l cloth , o livine ed ges,illustrated , priceNowhe re in th e h istory of our country can b e found more he ro ic or

thr illing incident s t han in th e story of t hose brave men an d womenwh o founded t h e se t t lement of Whe e ling in t h e Colony of V irginia . Th ere cital of wha t Elizabe t h ! ane d id is in it se lf a s he roic a sto ry a s can

b e imagined . Th e wondrous brave ry d isplayed by Major McCullochan d his ga llant comrade s, t he suffe r ings Of t h e colonists an d the ir sacrificeof blood an d life , st ir t he blood of Old as we ll as young re ade rs.

The Capture ofthe Laug hin g Mary. A Story ofThreeNew York Boys in 1776. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo , ornamenta l cloth , o livinee d g es, pr ice“ During t h e Brit ish occupancy of New York , at th e outbre ak of the

R evo lut ion , a Yanke e lad he ars of the plot to t ake Gene ra l Washington’spe rson , an d ca lls in two companions to a ssist t h e pa t r iot cause . Theyd o some astonishing things , an d , incident a lly , lay t h e way fo r a n

Ame rican navy lat e r , by th e explo it which give s its name t o t h e

wo rk . Mr . Ot is’ books a re t oo we ll known to require a ny pa rt icula rcommenda t ion t o th e young. ” — Evening Post .With Warren at Bunker Hill. A Story ofthe Sieg e ofBoston . By JAMES OTIS. 12mo , ornametnal cloth , o livine e d g es, ill ust rate d , price“ This is a t ale of the s iege Of Boston. wh ich opens on the d ay a fte r

the doings a t Le xing t on an d Concord , with a de scr ipt ion of home lifein Boston , int roduce s th e re ade r t o t h e B r it ish camp a t Charle stown ,shows G en . Wa rren a t home , describe s wha t a b oy thoug ht of t h e

ba t tle of Bunke r Hill. an d closes wit h th e ra ising of t h e siege . The

t hre e he roe s , Ge orge Wentwor th , Ben Sca rle t t a n d an Old ropemake r ,in cur th e e nmity of a young Tory , who cause s them many adventurest h e boys will like to re ad . ” — De tr oit Free Press.Fo r sale by all bookse lle rs. or sent postpa id on re ce ipt of price by the

publ ishe r , A. L. BUR T, 52-58 Duane Street , New York.


6 A . L. BURT’S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE .

BOOKS FOR BOYS.

Corporal Lig e’s R ecruit . A Story ofCrown Poin t an d

Ticonderog a . By JAMES OTIS. 12nio , cloth , illustra te d. price“In

‘Co rpora l Lige’s R e cruit ,’Mr . Ot is t e lls t he amusing sto ry Of an

old soldie r , proud of h is re cord , wh o h a d se rved th e k ing in ’58 . an d wh ot ake s t h e lad , I saa c R ice , as h is

‘pe rsonal re cruit .

’The lad a cquits

h imse lf supe rbly . Co l . E than A llen ‘in t h e name of G od an d th e con

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” — Boston Globe .

Morg an , th e Jersey Spy. A Story Ofthe Sieg e ofYorktown in 1781 . By JAMES OTIS. 12mo , cloth , illustrated , pr ice“ The two lads who a re ut ilized by th e a uthor t o emphasize the de ta ils

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dange rous o ccupat ion . In th e guise of fishe rmen t h e lads visit Yo rkt own , are suspe ct ed of be ing Spie s, an d put unde r a rre st . Mo rgan r iskshis life t o save t hem . The fina l e scape , t h e thr illing encount e r with a

squad of re d coat s , when they a re expo sed e qually t o t he bulle t s offr iends an d foe s , t old in a mast e r ly fa shion , ma ke s Of this volume one

of the most ent e rta ining books of t he ye a r .

” — I nte r-Ocean.The Youn g Scout : The Story Of a West Poin t Lieutenant . By E DWARD S. E LLIS. 12mo , clo th , illustra te d , priceThe crafty Apa che chie f Ge ronimo but a few years ag o was themost t e rrible scourge of t h e southwe st borde r . The author has woven,in a t ale of t hr illing int e re st , a ll t h e incident s of Ge ronimo’s last ra id.The he ro is Lieut enant Jame s De cke r , a re cent gradua t e of We st Po int .Ambit ious to dist inguish himse lf t h e young man take s many a de spe rat echance aga inst th e e nemy an d on more t han on e occas ion na rrowlye scapes with h is life . In our op inion Mr. Ellis is t h e best wr ite r ofIndian storie s n ow be fore t he public.Ad rift in the Wild s : The Adven tures Of TWO Shipwrecke d Boys. By E DWARD S. E LLIS. 12mo , cloth , illustrate d , pr iceElwood Brandon an d Howa rd Lawrence a re e n route for San Fran

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come s separa t ed from h is pa rty an d is captured by host ile Indians ,but is afte rwa rds re scued. This is a ve ry e nt e rta ining narra t ive ofSouthe rn Ca lifornia .

A Youn g Hero ; or, Fightin g to Win . By E DWARD S.

E LLI S. 12mo , cloth , illustrated , pr iceTh is story t e lls h ow a va luable solid silve r service was stolen from

t h e M isse s Pe rkinpin e , two ve ry Old an d Simple minded ladie s . FredShe ldon , t h e he ro of this story. unde rt akes to discove r th e t hie ve s an dhave them a r re sted . Afte r much t ime spent in de t e ct ive work, h e

succe eds in discove r ing t h e silve r pla t e an d winning th e reward. Thes to ry is t old in Mr . Ellis’ most fascinat ing style . Eve ry boy will b eglad t o read this de light ful book.Lost in the R ockies. A Story of Adven ture in theR ocky Mounta ins. By E DWARD S. E LLIS. izmo , cloth , illustrated , price $ 1 .Incident succeeds incident , an d adventure is piled upon adventure ,

an d a t t h e e n d t h e reade r , b e h e b oy or man , will have e xpe riencedbre a thle ss enjoyment in t his romant ic story de scribing many advent ures int h e R ockie s an d among t h e Indians .

For sa le by all bookse lle rs , or sent postpa id on re ce ipt of price by the

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A. L. BURT’S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 71

BOOKS FOR BOYS.

A Jaun t Throug h Java : The Story of a Journ ey toth e Sa cred Moun ta in . By E DWARD S. E LLIS. 12mo , cloth , illustrated ,pr iceTh e inte re st of this story is found in the thr illing adventures of

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The Boy Patriot. A Story OfJack, the Youn g Frien d

ofWashin gton . By E DWARD S. E LLI S. 12mo , cloth , o livin e edg es , illustra te d , pr ice“ The re a re advent ure s of a ll k inds for the he ro an d h is friends , whosepluck an d ingenuity in e xt rica ting themse lve s from awkwa rd fixe s a re

a lways equa l t o t he occasion . I t is an e xce llent story full of hone st ,manly , pa t r io t ic effort s on th e part of the he ro . A ve ry vivid de scr ipt ion0

121

21t h e

;ba t t le of Trenton is a lso found in this sto ry . ”— Journa l of

uca Ion .

A Yankee Lad’s Pluck. HOW Bert Larkin Saved hisFath er

’s R an ch in Porto R ico . By WM. P. CH IPMAN . 12mo , clo th , illus

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i;zva think. prove one Of th e most popular boys’ books t his season.”

aze e .

A Brave Defense . A Story of the Massacre at Fort

glriggvold in 1781 . ByWILLIAM P. CH IPMAN . 12mo , clo th , illustrated , price

Pe rhaps n o more gallant fight aga inst fe arful Odds took place dur ingthe R evolut iona ry Wa r than t ha t a t Fort Gr iswo ld , Gro ton He ight s, Conn. ,in 1 78 1 . The boys a re re a l boys wh o we re actua lly on t he must e r rolls,e ithe r a t Fort Trumbull on t h e New London side , o r of Fort Griswo ld on

t he Groton side of t he Thame s . Th e youthful reade r wh o fo llows HalseySanford an d Levi Da rt an d TomMa lle son , an d the ir e qually brave comrade s, t hrough the ir thrilling adventure s will b e le arning some thing moret han histor ica l fact s ; they will b e imbibing le ssons of fide lity , of brave ry,o

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f

roism, an d of manliness, which must prove se rvice able in t h e a rena0 e .

The Youn g Minuteman . A Story Of the Capture ofG en era l Prescott in 1777. ByWILLIAM P. CH IPMAN. 12mo , cloth , illustrated ,pr ice

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This story is based upon actual event s wh ich occurred during th e B rit ishoccupat ion of the wa t e rs of Na rraganse t t Bay . Da r ius Wale an d WilliamNorthrop be long to “

t h e co a st pa t ro l . ” Th e story is a st rong on e , de a lingonly with a ctua l events . The re is , howe ve r , n o la ck of t hr illing adventure ,an d e ve ry lad who is fo rt unate e nough t o obta in t h e bo ok will find n otonly tha t h is histo rica l knowledge is increased, but tha t h is own pa t riot isman d love Of count ry a re dee pened .For the Temple : A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem.

By G . A . HENTY. With illustra tions by S. J . SOLOMON. i2mo , cloth , Olivinee d ge s, pr ice

“ Mr . Henty’s graphic prose picture of the hope le ss Jewish resistancet o R oman sway adds ano the r le af t o h is re co rd of t h e famous wa rs oft h e world . The book is on e of Mr . Henty’s cleve re st enfo r ts.

” — G raphic.For sale by all bookselle rs , o r sent postpa id on re ce i

pt Of price by the

publisher, A. L. BUR T, 52-58 Duane Street , New Yo:

01

8 A. L. BURT’S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE .

BOOKS FOR BOYS .

R oy Gilbert’s Search : A Tale Ofthe G reat Lakes. By,

WM. P . CH IPMAN . 12mo , clo th , illustra te d , pr iceA de e p myst e ry hangs ove r th e pa rentage of R oy G ilbe rt . H e arrangeswith two schoolma t e s t o make a t our of t he Gre a t Lakes on a ste amlaunch . Th e thre e boys visit many po int s of int e re st on t h e lake s.

A ft e rwa rds t he lads re scue a n e lde rly gent leman an d a lady from a s inking ya cht . La t e r on t h e boys na rrowly e scape with t he ir live s . Th ehe ro is a manly, se lf-re liant b oy , whose adventure s will b e followedwith int e re st .The Slate Picker: The Story Of a Boy

’s Life in the

Coa l Mines. By HARRY PR E NTIOE . 12mo , clo th , illustra te d , priceThis is a story of a boy’s life in t h e coal mine s of Pennsylvania .

Ben Bur ton , t h e he ro , h a d a ha rd road to t rave l , but by gr it an d ene rgyh e advanced st ep by st ep unt il h e found h imse lf ca lled upon t o fill t heposit ion of chie f engine e r of th e Kohinoor Coa l Company. This is aboo k of ext reme int e re st t o eve ry boy re ade r .

The Boy Cruisers ; or,Pad d lin g in Florid a. By ST.

G EORG E R ATHBOR NE . 12mo , cloth , illustra te d , priceAndrew George an d R owland Ca rte r st a rt on a canoe t rip a long th eGulf coast , from K ey We st t o Tampa , Flo rida . The ir first adve nture

is with a pa ir of rasca ls wh o st e a l the ir boa t s. Ne xt they run intoa gale in the Gulf . A ft e r t ha t they have a live ly t ime with a lli~ga t ors an d Andrew ge t s int o t rouble with a band of Seminole Indians.

M r . R a thborn e knows just h ow t o inte re st t he boys , an d lads who a rein se a rch of a rare t re a t will d o we ll t o re ad t his e nt e rta ining story.

Captured by ! ulus : A Story of Trappin g in Africa.

By HARRY PRENTICE . 12mo , clo th , illustrated , priceThis story de ta ils th e adventure s of two lads, Dick Elswo rth an d BobHarvey , in t he wilds of South A fr ica . By st ra ta g em t h e ! ulus captureDick a n d Bob an d take t hem t o the ir pr in cipa l kraal o r village . Thelads e scape de ath by d ig “ ing t he ir way out of t h e prison but by night .They a re pursued , but th e ! ulus fina lly give up pursuit . Mr . Prent icet e lls exa ct ly h ow wild-be a st co lle ct ors se cure spe cimens on the ir na t ivestamping grounds , an d these de scr ipt ions ma ke ve ry ent e rta ining re a ding .Tomthe R ead y ; or, Up fromthe Lowest. By R ANDOLPH HILL. 12mc, clo th , illustrated , priceThis is a dramat ic na rra t ive of th e una ided r ise of a fearle ss, ambi

t ious b oy from t h e lowe st round of fortune’s ladde r t o we a lth an d t he

gove rnorship of h is na t ive St a t e . TomSe acomb begins l ife with a pur

pose , an d e ventua lly ove rcome s those who oppose him . H ow h e manage st o Win th e ba t t le is t o ld by M r . Hill in a mast e rful way that thrill st h e reade r an d ho lds h is a t te nt ion a n d sympa thy t o th e en d .

Captain Kid d’s Gold : The True Story of an Ad ven

turon s Sa ilor Boy . By JAMES FRANKLIN F iTTs. 1211 10 , clo th , illustrate d,priceThe re is some thing fascinat ing t o th e ave rage youth in the very idea

of bur ied t re a sure . A vision a r ise s be fore h is eye s of swa rthy Portug ue se an d Spanish ra sca ls , with bla ck be a rds an d gle aming eye s . The rewe re many famous se a rove rs , but none more ce lebra t ed than Capt . K idd.Paul Jone s Ga rry inhe rit s a document which loca t e s a conside rablet re a sure bur ied by two of K idd’s cr ew . Th e he ro of this book is a n

ambit ious , pe rseve r ing lad , of salt-wa t e r New Eng land ance st ry, an d his

efforts t o re a ch t h e island a n d se cure t h e money form on e of th e mosta bsorbing t a le s fo r our you th t ha t h as come from t h e pre ss.

Fo r sale by all bookse lle rs , or sent postpa id on re ce ipt of price by t hepublishe r , A . L. BUR T, 52-58 Duane Stree t , New York .

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Documents

€¦ · PR EFACE . THOUGH more than a generation has now elapsed since General Robert E . Lee passed from the scenes of his illustrious deeds, public interest in the great soldier