Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1856-11-20
Revolutionary Men and Reminis-
cenceS. =

| A correspondent of the Petersburgh Ex-
Tress, writing from smear Leetown, Jeffer.
son county, Virginia." sends that paper an
interesting letter, about Revolutionary men
| "reminiscences, from which we make the
| following extract:
In the immediate vicinity of the spot
from which address you these lines, are
! the iapidated ;and antique residences of
three distinguished Major-Generals Of the
American Revolution. Within radius OF
one mile and half lived, long and weary
years, Charles Lee, the sinister hero of
Monmouth; Horatio Gates, the loser of the
battle of Camden and the Southern cam
paign; and Adam Stephen, the early friend
of Washington. In this little village on
whose golden forests | am gazing-under
the shadows of the great woods here-re-
mote from camps and the flashing world
these three warriors rusted out the remand :
er of their lives in inglorious srepose, their
| swords in moth-eaten scabbaros, no more to
be drawn. Here, if I mistake not, two of
them died, and soon even these lingering
memorials of them will crumble and disap-
pear, as their figures ere fading from the
general mind!
Lees house is hundred PAGES from the
little assem- 5Iage of houses called by his
name, and is all obIong building of stone,
with chimneys at each end and midway
low with rude porch, depending, as it
were, above the rough door, and with few
Oh houses. Gates lived somewhat further
from the town, in plain, undecorated build
ing; and Ste ephen occupied mans ion pro-
baby built by the earliest pioneers of the
valley. in which everything is small and con-
fined but the fire. place. But that is neither
small or confined. II is grdrd-enormous!
Around it how many good companions must
have gathered in the i'd cal day, and what
sounds of revelrv shook the rafters over
head! You may read of Adam Stephen in
Sparks edition of the Writings of Wash
ington; and there you will find that among
the hardy gentlemen who stood shoulder to
shoulder nth the young chief at Winchest-
er. when the Indians ravaged the valley
hundred yeas ago, was Lieutenant Stephen.
A large landed proprietor here. abuuts, he
doubtless rese nted the trespass Of the In
dians upon his grounds, stretching towards
the foot of the great North Mountain-at
least, we know that he did good service
He was afterwards an effective officer OF the
Revolutionary struggle, but left the army
about the period of the battle Of Princeton,
disgusted at something or other--and so
came home, and lived and died.
Of Gates and Lee, more is known; the
story of the woful quarrel Of the latter with
Washington at Monmouth, you may read in
full in tae recently rubiished third volume
of Irving's great work. 1t is probable that
history will tinall; show that Lee was not
so much in the wrong as the world supposes.
That he made a blunder in ordering Lis
forces to retreat and that this retreat very
nearly turned all the plans sof Washington,
and lost us the battle--this is certain. But
it was not probably an error OF Judgment
not want o. courage. In Leutz's great
picture, he sits his horse sullenly before the
Chiet, whose hot anger fomes out--out-all
that he did and said afterwards was sullen
TOO, unfortunately. High words-indgnant
CORE ponience--Wash ashington cold and
haughtv-Lee raging; then court martial
--suspen ion tor year--and Lee, IN utter
disgust, threw up his commission, and came
hither "to noe tobacco--that being the best
school for General he sd d, with sneer
at Washington. And here in this ,or and
obscure dwelling. as have said, rusted out
the sharp spirit of Lee. and fell into dust
oblivion. With few neighbors-no friends;
surrounded by hounds and horses, and max
ing the G ase his only occupation, nearly;
thus lived the General and died. One day,
long afterwards, says tradition of the
neighborhooi, Washington sent his old ad-
versary note, saying that he would call on
certain morning and see him-ihat he
hoped a II past contention and bitterness had
been forgotten-he was coming to see him
as an old comrade in arms--as friend.
On the day fixed for the visit. Lee sent
away all his servants--p;accd upon the lock-
ed front door paper with ''No meat cooked
here to-day" written thereon-and then !o-
10 Ged his servants, leaving Washington to
|
the passing year the eccentric soliier grew
more morose and repeling. The ground
| floor of his house was divided by chalk lines
merely, forming thus four cornPartments.-
In the first he kept his ,Oks--in the Sec
ond was his bed-his saddles and hunting
gear in the third; the FORTH was used Tor a
! kitchen. He could thus sit in one spot, he
said with grim humor, and overlook his
entire household. Tired of his dogs and
his silent misanthropy at last he commenced
his "Queries, PoIit cal and Mlitary"--au
attack OIL Washington. But the world de-
clined listening to him, and then, tired o.
lie, the cynical spirit of Charles Lee fec
to other realms. His last words were
"Stand by me, my brave grenadiers!" and ''st
he ended.
) A word now of the third day Of my triat
of warriors. Horatio Gates came to tht
l old house yonder after Camden. 1t was tn,
8 Gutes who had taken Burgoyne, and whose
, popularity at one time overshadowed Wash
I ington's. But now, ala s! now fallen! Th
t breath of an indignant public opinion ha
8 blasted him; and his laurels were all scare
p and withered. He had lost the battle o
r Camden-and been deposed from the com
0 mand of the army of the South, to max
way for Greene--over his head lowered
r heavy cloud of public execration almost
n and Congress, it was sald, had prepared it
e thunderbolt to strike him. But the bol
:. never fell The sad soldiers sorrow wa
+ respected. They left him to die in peac