The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-02-25
Robert Lees Visltto Arlington
HIS OLD HOME NOW A GRAVEYARD
WHAT SORT OF A MAN HE is.
FromIthe Cincinnati Commercial.

1
Washington, Feb. 6
OF all the prominent men engaged
in the late war on the Confederate
side, Lee is the most disagreeahle
cold-blooded; selfish and unsympa
thetic he neither wins our love, mol
challenges our admiration. That he
was successful as a soldier, is owing
more to the fact that he had an army
that was an army, than any superior
qualities as General. 1t was the
policy of the Confederaoy to fight
hard and fast Our vast resources
made us stronger through delay,
while the poverty of the South made
a rapid war necessity. The only
hope of the leaders lay in whipping
lis while the Confederacy had the
strength; yet this man, slow, me
thodical, and stupid, not only failed
to realize this great fact, but convinc.
ed himself to the contrary. Not
only this, but he failed to see and
take advantage of the many oppor-
tunities that the stupidity Of our Off
GERS opened to him. Stonewall Jack
son, for example, drove Gen. Banks
down the Shenandoah Valley into
Harper's Ferry. He ought to have
continued the chase into Washington
city. Mcclellan had drained the
Capitol of its troops, and there was
nothing to meet Stonewall but the
open arms Of these blessed citizens
again. Lee should have followed
Pope into Washington after. the Sec
ond Bull Run, aud not Lave given
Mcclellan time to rcorganize the
shattered and demoralized army.
The fact of his being a Lee, of
Virginia, weighed him down. He
labored during the war as he labors
now, under the belief that he was
somebody, from the accident of his
birth. A man to be anything under
such circumstances, in this part of
Gods creation, must be great man.
Lee is far from great, in any sense of
the term. Even admitting his supc-
riority as military man, he falls far
short of the standard set up by his
admirers.
Understanding the man, with all
his littlencss of family pride, it must
have been hard for him to have given
up his old ancestral home, with its
wide acres, and its pleasant view OF
the broad Potomac sweeping by, and
yet belonging to it, like world wide
fame Of Washington, that seems its
attribute and charm, and the capital
of his country, that appeared to look
upon and approve of its claim to
aristocracy. That the fallen chief,
tain yet turns longingly to his old
home, we have the best of proof.
One dreary, foggy morning, late
last autumn, a gentleman, unattend-
ed, rode up and dismounted near the
house. He was man of military
appearance, although in civilian dress
save the army cloak he carried, and
tie spurs that ratified at his heels
His face furrowed with care, and his
hair and beard white as snow, indi.
Gated more age than his form, which
was erect, and his movements, that
were remarkably firm and active,
although measured and digniiicd.
Visitors to this place are SO fire.
quent that his appearance attracted
no attention. lie walked through .
drcary hall, and looked in on the
wide, vacant rooms, and passing to
the front stood for some time gazing
out over the beautiful panorama, with
its one great feature, the new dome
of the old capitol snrmounted by 9
bronze statue Of Liberty, armed, and
with her back to him, gazing seaward
From this he passed to the garden
and looking over the line OF officers
graves that bound its sides, saw tht
dying flowers, and wilted borders
| and leaf.strewn walks, and continu.
ing after a slight pause, he stopped
on the edge of the fields, where tht
sixteen thousand Union soldiers Ii,
buried in lines, as if they had lait
down after review, to be inferred
in their places. Some negroes wer'
at work here, raking up the fallel
leaves, and one old man stopped sud
denly and stared a the visitor as /
struck with astonishment. He con
tinued to gaze in this way until th'
stranger, walking slowly regained hi
horse and rode away, when he drop
ped his rake and said to his compan
ions:
sShua as dc Lord, men, dat wa
ole NASSAU Lee"
One hastens to imagine the tho't
and feelings that must have agitatet
this fallen chief as he stood thus, lik
Marius amid the ruins OF Carthage
on the one spot of all others, to real
ize the TACT of the Lost Cause, an,
its evcntful history About hin
were the scenes of his youth --th
scenery that gave peaceful joys o
his domestic life. They were noarl,
all the same, and yet between thel
and now came the fierce war, tn
huge campaigns and hundred battles
loud with the roar of mouthing can
mons, and rafting musketry, ant
stained into history by the blood o
| thousands; the smoke of burning
houses, the devastation of wild
States, and the doselation of house
holds. and all in vain. He stoo
there, old before his time, the ma
1 tionality so fierce struggled for III
recognized; the great Confodcracy
dream, his home graveyard, ar
the Capitol he sought to destro
grown to twice the size, with th
bronze goddess: gazing calmly to th
East.
And all this is SO near one can a
most fancy he hears the sudden roa
Of retrcating artillery, that fought {
itfcll back, literally dying oRt in til
last ditch.
One can imagine this. and put sol
under the ribs Of death, for, i'll q
human probability. this cola.blooae
man was looking TO see what stat
Of preservation his Old roperty
, in, with view Of reclairning it son
. day, when u more friendly part
, comes to power.
had long talk with the .
man who claimed 70 recognize &c
! Lee
i, Well, / said, ,arn't yoa sorr
after all, yon havn'nt The old time
! with the Lee family back agaih2"
"No sab" he responded; "can' I S;
I;osah I'se Very eumfftnhla. u