The daily Wabash express. (Terre-Haute, Ind.) 1857-1867, 1864-08-26

An interesting compari-on of Grant
and Lee as commanders appears IN the
Now York Tiucs, from the pen of lfoft $
sor Mahan, of West Pom. of whom 10th
were pupils. We quote the me { impor-
tant part of the article:
General Lee i now advancing IN his
fftv-nfth year. lIc was graduated nj tho
Military Academy in 1929, in histwenty-
fourth year, and although second on the
roll of merit i'm his class, he made no mark
i'm il, nor did he leave any tradition of
ability behind him like Mason. he VIZ
graduated at the head of The ella $, and
Buckingham, who was lower down. a
an officer Of engineers, he ha lc. nothing
that can bc point 30 as denoting other
than mere ordinary ability. Noonc ever
thought of quoting him as pa authority IN
his corps, rs they would Tot"n, Thayer,
Dcla1cld, Barnard and other.
Soon after the Mexican wa, General
Leo was sent as Superintendent tothe Nil
itary Academy, in which caps ritv he sciv-
cd for about threc yeas. Ills aaminisira-
tion Of tho institution was rcspcc' able and
nothing more. Iic r. 'igncd his position
in the academy, and his commission rs an
engineer officer, i'm 1888, io accept that OF
Lieutenant Colon,l of one of IN, new cav
airy regiments organized by jefferson Dss-
vs, theu Secretary Of War. Plac' i IN
command oltrCops for th. irst time ,lu-
ring his military career. his essay WIS gen
orally spoken of as failure, shown in The
want Of the soldicrly quahties for com
mand Subsequently 10 this be spent the
most Of his time at Arlington, on pro-
a A.. "A.
SION of Virginia found him and carried
him into its vortex.
We now come 10 General Lee new ca
reer, upon which his present claims 70 the
characteristics of military genius rest. =
His chief work here was tue least complex
OF military problems--thato of defending a
| territory exceedingly difficult topcnetrate,
offering q number of strong defensiblepa
| sitions, asssilable only AT the risks of gxesi
los 10 the asssilant in front. and suff
ing TO the greater risk Of "A flank mov'
! ment in his attempts IL turn them. Hav-
ing had years Of time 10 prepare the . d.
fens,ve points, with minute knowl 1ge
Of every inch Of ground, having comma
nications 10 the rear, ample and unob
structed, and population deadly hostile
IT, the invading force, "A General m,'s., in
deed, have been below mediocliiy who
would not have conducted his defensive
campaigns rs respectfully as General ] -
has done. He has besn sal fed with an
almsst passive resistance. and when h~ b.
assumed the offensive il hal always been
with an esr.r look to the rear At the
seoond battle of Buil Run no able tepcr.
al would have let 20 80 s.ilv his grs . On
the demoralizel tr..ope of Pop Sun
quently at Aniietam, with an cxhaHst
and almost demoralizal srmy 10 con,end
| with. able General, with the a1vAnta-
grs that Isce had nlrcsdv sccrrcd wOr Il
have failes % have sirao.. homo ifls ~lch
| a momentons si Ike within his reach. In
the periloas condition Of Burnside at Z /.
erickshurg. il T, quircl but ordina NJ
| iary xii q have driven bis army Iff , ihs
| kaprahanncck. Hooker a9d Sedru .cl
ove'i moro - this want of a & n mi iiaTy
| appreciation of the moment in Lee fhan
e. the lighting qualiies of their i'aops -
Finally, at osItystu-s,. .er n h~ndsoms
first Success With his ircops concrnfrai
| a'1d well in hand would an able Cencra
hayc bccn satiefict - gct himself osst -
the scrapc and withdraw when L. di.
With saca prospects a second time befcr'
ham For bis present position End rcpa
tation Genera Lee i int.ehts l. n no su5a' :
dgrec, - hss fa-nily connocisocf and
ikst scrylccahlc talent which i the tonc
4 strength of men of me 1iocritr depoE
mcn'~ AmiabIc, thoroughly moral, ans
u his s1-ci-l rclaficls ol strict integrity
ne always Challenges rcspec., bsst viii
lhese, &c Is lacking N those qualities Of /