The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-10-13


Lee was forced to retreat aad on the 10Th
succeeded in recrossing into Virginia. He was
not pursued and quietly moved down the valley,
and again occupied his old line of the Kappa
hammock. Here he succeeded in repulsng the
attacks of General Burnside at Fredericksburg
in December, 1862, and of General Hooker at
Charlottesville, In May, 1885, and by these
successes was confirmed In his belief that the
Rappahannock was the most formidable line for
the defense of Richmond, an opinion which did
not find favor with Beauregard and other Rebel
leaders.
His offensive campaigns had thus far all been
signal failures but, iDspirited by the successes
achieved by him while acting on the defensive,
he was prompted to again assume the offensive.
In June, 1863 he started on the famous invasion
of Pennsylvania, inaugurating the movement
with considerable success at Winchester in
the capture of the garrison. He Immediately
pushed northward and entered Pennsylvania,
encounterinS the advance of General
Meade's army at Gettysburg, July 1.
This days battle served only to bring the two
armies face to face, and at sunrise the I'd of
July, Lee began, with some doubt aud hesita-
ton, his third offensive battle 1t ended, as all
our readers know, in his defeat and retreat.
This he effected with much skill, moving rapidly
down the valley of the Shenandoah, and again
taking up his defensive position on the favorite
line of the Rappahannock. Here he remained
quiet during the winter, preparing for the
spring campaign.
| In the spring of 1864, General Grant, fresh
| from the victorious fields of the West, assumed
the chief command of the Union army, giving
his direct personal supervision to that branch
of it which Lee had hitherto he'd at bay in Vir-
| ginia. On the 5th of May began
! the remarkable series of battles which
resulted in driving Lee back from the Kappa
hammock to the defenses of Richmond. The
movements of Lee were energetic and masterly
and were characterized by almost as much stub
| bornness as marked those of his antagonist.
The battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania
| Court House, and Cold Harbor followed in
| quick succession, and in June the siege of
| Petersburg and Richmond commenced. Into
its intricate details we have neither time nor
space to enter, and they are, moreover, stu
fresh in the minds of the people. Lee was
placed in the absolute chief command of the
Rebel army, and placed beyond the pale of
Jeff. Davis meddlesome interference. But it
was too late. The autumn and early winter
were successfully devoted by Grant to severing
the railway communications of the Rebels, and
finally the Southside Railroad, the only COM
! munication which still remained intact,
was threatened. On April g 1865, this line was
thoroughly broken, after the victory of Five
Forks, and on the following day Richmond and
Petersburg, now become untenable, were evacu-
ated. The retreating Rebel army was closely
followed up, and on the 9th of April its de-
moralized fragments we're surrendered at Apo
mattox. The career of the famous Army of
Virginia was at last at an end, and it only re-
mained for Sherman to complete his grand
march to the sea to bring down the unstable
fabric of the Confederacy
The war at an end General Lee retired to
private life, and for more than five years main
tanned a reserved and unostentatious secusion
which was in keeping with his predominant
family characteristic and eminently to his credit.
In August, 1865, he accepted the Presidency of
Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia,
whittier he soon retired, and continued to
strive earnestly to build up its
shattered fortunes. In this effort he met with
a well-deserved success, and, apart from the
almost universal sympathy of the Southern
people which he enjoyed on account of the part
taken by him in the Rebellion, his death will
be serious loss to the cause of the peaceful
pursuit to which he had devoted the remainder
of his lite and his unquestionable abili-
ties. For q year or two past he had
been in failing health On the 2Sth of Septem
{ ber he was seized with a fainting fit, by which
ne was CoupleIciy ProstIateu loI Solue uay5
But he gradually mended, and until within q
day or two his ultimate recovery was confidently
anticipated
General Lee was about five feet eight inches
in height, and well-proportioned and compact In
frame. His wel-built and squarely- shaped head
was indicative of the energy of his character
, His eyes were keen and dark, his nose finely
formed, his mouth expressive OF
frmness, and his entire countenanct
betokened gentle and benevolen
disposition. The heavy growth of short grey
hair which covered his head, mouth, and CHR
lent him venerable appearance, and to thil
his manners gave additional grace. In his de
pertinent he was unostentatious, almost severely
SO. OF his character as man and soldier W,
speak at length elsewhere. He is dead-th,
greatest of the Confederate chieftains, in truth
, | one of the greatest generals of the age, and hi
death has thrown the whole Southern section
of the country into profound and unaffected
4 grief. This is but natural, and no man woul(
: have ii otherwise.
, Gilbert Dean.
Gilbert Dean, noted New York lawyer an(
4 Judge, died yesterday morning at Poughkeepsie
He was a native of Dutchess county and
graduate of Yale College. He was twice elected
, to Congress by the Democrats, once in 1855
! from the Eighth district, and again in 1852 from
4 the same district, then remembered the Twelfth
In July, 1854, he was appointed a Justice of thu
I Supreme Court by Governor Seymour. At th
: next election he was defeated by Judge Emott
. and he then moved to New York city, and be
came a member of a law firm. He was counse
! for Mrs Cunningham in the DR.. Burdell case il
4 1857 and succeeded in securing her acquittal