REMINISCENCES OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

CHAPTER I.

THE SOLDIER.

GENERAL LEE was in the highest, truest sense of the term, A SOLDIER; and, while a detailed narrative of his military achievements is not proposed, our portraiture would be incomplete without a chapter on his character and career in his chosen profession.

With ample materials at hand, I prefer that the picture should be drawn by abler pens than my own, and shall, therefore, freely cull from what has been said by some of the ablest military critics of this and other countries.

And I am fortunate in being able to present the estimate of Lee's generalship given by Lieutenant-General J. A. Early, in his address before Washington and Lee University, January 19, 1872, on the occasion of the second anniversary celebration of General Lee's birthday.

Omitting only a few of the opening and concluding paragraphs, I give in full this splendid tribute of an able soldier to the chieftain whom he followed so faithfully during the war, and whose memory and fame it seems his proudest ambition to perpetuate:

"The commencement of hostilities in Charleston harbor, the proclamation of Lincoln, calling for troops to make an

unconstitutional war on the seceded States, and the consequent secession of Virginia, found General Lee a colonel in the United States Army, with a character and reputation which would have insured him the highest military honors within the gift of the United States Government. In fact, it has been said that. the command of the army intended for the invasion of the South was tendered him. However, rejecting all overtures made to him, as soon as he learned the action of his native State, in a dignified manner, and without parade or show, he tendered his resignation, with the determination to share the fate of his State, his friends, and kindred. The then Governor at once, with the unanimous consent of the Convention of Virginia, tendered him the command of all the forces of the State. This he accepted, and promptly repaired to Richmond, to enter upon the discharge of his duties, knowing that this act must be attended with a very heavy pecuniary loss to himself on account of the locality of his estates. Those who witnessed his appearance before the convention, saw his manly bearing, and heard the few grave, dignified, and impressive words with which he consecrated himself and his sword to the cause of his native State, can never forget that scene. All felt at once that we had a leader worthy of the State and the cause.

"As a member of the military committee of the convention, and afterward as a subordinate under him, I was in a condition to witness and know the active energy and utter abnegation of all personal considerations with which he devoted himself to the work of organizing and equipping the Virginia troops for the field. While he bore no active part in the first military operations of the war, yet I can safely say that, but for the capacity and energy displayed by General Lee in organizing and equipping troops to be sent to the front, our army would not have been in a condition to gain the first victory at Manassas. I do not, however, intend, by this statement, to detract from the merit of others. The Confederate Government, then recently removed to Rich

mond, did well its part in bringing troops from the South; and I take pleasure in bearing testimony to the fidelity and ability with which the then Governor of Virginia coöperated with General Lee in his efforts to furnish men as well as the munitions of war.

"His first appearance in the field, as a commander, was in Western Virginia, after the reverses in that quarter. The expectations formed in regard to his operations there were not realized, and, though he met with no disaster or defeat to his troops, the campaign was regarded as a failure. The public never thought of inquiring into the causes of that failure, and it is not to be denied that an impression prevailed among those who did not know him well, that General Lee was not suited to be a commander in an active campaign. There were some editors who, while safely intrenched behind the impregnable columns of their newspapers, proved themselves to be as fierce in war as they had been wise in peace, and no bad representatives of the snarling Thersites, and these hurled their criticisms and taunts, with no sparing hand, at the head of the unsuccessful commander. It would be profitless, now, to inquire into the causes of the failures in Western Virginia. It is sufficient to say that they were not attributable to the want of capacity or energy in the commanding general.

"He was, subsequently, sent to the Southern seaboard, for the purpose of supervising the measures for its defense, and he proved himself a most accomplished engineer, and rendered most valuable services in connection with the seaboard defenses in that quarter.

"In March, 1862, he was called to Richmond, and charged with the conduct of military operations in the armies of the Confederacy, under the direction of the President. Just before that time, the evacuation of Manassas took place; and, subsequently, the transfer of the bulk of the opposing armies in Virginia to the Peninsula, the evacuation of Yorktown and the line of Warwick River, the battle of Williamsburg,

and the transfer of the seat of war to the Chickahominy, in the vicinity of Richmond, occurred.

"On the 31st of May and 1st of June, the battle of Seven Pines was fought, and General Johnston was so severely wounded as to be disabled for duty in the field for some time. Fortunately, the eminent and patriotic statesman who was at the head of the Government well knew the merits of General Lee, and at once assigned him to the vacant command; and then, in fact, began that career to which I invite your attention.

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"When General Lee assumed command of the army, which before that time had borne the name of the 'Army of the Potomac,' but was soon rechristened by the name of the Army of Northern Virginia,' he found the Confederate capital beleaguered by an army of over one hundred thousand men, with a very large train of field and siege guns, while his own force was very little more than half that of the enemy. Nevertheless, he conceived the idea of relieving the capital of the threatening presence of the besieging army, by one of those bold strategic movements of which only great minds are capable. General Jackson, by his rapid movements and brilliant operations in the Valley, had prevented the march of a column of about forty thousand men, under McDowell, from Fredericksburg on Richmond, to unite with the besieging army; and a part of McDowell's force, and Fremont's army from Northwestern Virginia, had been sent to the Valley, for the purpose of crushing Jackson. It was very apparent that Jackson's force, then consisting of his own command proper, Johnson's command from Alleghany Mountain, and Ewell's division, could not long withstand the heavy forces concentrating against it; and that, when it was overwhelmed, the enemy's troops operating in the Valley and covering Washington would be at liberty to move on Richmond; while the detachment, from the army defending that city, of a force large enough to enable Jackson to contend successfully, in a protracted campaign, with the forces accu

mulating against him., would probably insure the fall of the Confederate capital. Preparations were, therefore, made to attack the besieging army, with the forces covering Richmond and in the Valley, by a combined movement. Some reënforcements were brought from the South, and three brigades were sent to the Valley, for the purpose of deceiving the enemy, and facilitating the withdrawal of General Jackson. Fortunately, that able and energetic commander had been enabled to prevent the junction of Fremont's army with the troops sent from McDowell's command, and, taking advantage of their separation and the swollen condition of the water-courses, had defeated both forces in succession, and so bewildered their commanders by the rapidity of his movements, that they retreated down the Valley, under the apprehension that Washington was in danger. Leaving all of his cavalry but one regiment to watch the enemy and mask his own movement, General Jackson, on the 17th of June, commenced his march toward the enemy's lines near Richmond, in compliance with the plan and orders of General Lee; and on the 26th of June, less than four weeks after General Lee had been assigned to the command of the army, his attacking columns swung around McClellan's right flank, and fell like an avalanche on the besieging army. Next day, Jackson was up, and then ensued that succession of brilliant engagements which so much accelerated McClellan's famous 'change of base,' and sent his shattered army to Harrison's Landing, under cover of the gunboats on the James.

"To give you some idea of the boldness and daring of this movement, and the impression it made on the enemy, I will call your attention to some facts and figures.

"In his report, dated in August, 1863, and printed in 1864, McClellan gives the strength of the troops under his command at Washington, on the Potomac, and within reach on the 1st of March, 1862, as

"Present for duty, one hundred and ninety-three thou sand one hundred and forty-two'