The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1870-10-27
Hiseellmsous.
Death of General Robert E. Lee.

wherever JuSGlC5 mas assumed the place OF
prejudice. the name of General Lee is the
synonym for every virtue which mortal
man possesses. As Indicated by DIS
patches at the time General Robert Ed
mund Lee died at Lexington, Va, yester-
day morning at the ripe and honored age
of Go. This event was not altogether un-
expected. A little less than two weeks
ago the announcement was made that
Gen. Lee had suffered a palalvtic stroke.
and that his life was despaired of. But
his physicians announced that paralysis
was not his disease. He rallied again
The shadow which the intelligence of his
misfortune created soon passed away, and
the event was well nigh forgotten. The
labor, the anxiety, the exposure and the
| service of years had broken, however, a
constitution of iron and will almost ir-
| resIstable, and the veteran who had faced
! death so often surrendered yesterday NOR
nlng, and passed from the scenes of life
His disease was pronounced congestion of
the brain.
When one so noted and so we'll known
to all the country is stricken down, there
IS call for more than a passing notice
Gen. Lee was born in the State of Virgin
i'll in 1903, and lineal descendant of the
grand old family of the; Lees of Virgin
ia" whose ancestry date to the birth of
the State, and whose deeds in the Revolu-
tlOn have made them famous in its histo-
| ry. He was the son of Henry Lee, the
friend of Washington In 1929 he was
appointed a cadet at West Point, and in
1929 was received into the U. S. army as
second lieutenant. His promotion. carried
him TO a captaincy in 1888, which posi-
ton he held until the breaking out of the
war IN Mexico, in 1916 which opened a
fine field Tor renown to the young and am
bilious soldier. He went 10 Mexico as
Chief Engineer Of the army under Scott.
At Cerro Gorde his bravery won him a
Majors leaf, and gallant conduct at Con-
teras and Cherubusco made him Lieuten-
ant Colonel. His career in Mexico was
one Of triumph, and no Drawer man mar
! ched with that little army from Vera Cruz
| to the Garlta San CCsmo of the city of the
| Montezumas. He distinguished himself
at Chepultepec, and his services received
recognition IN the shape of a Colonel's
commission. Returning from Mexico, he
held the position of member OF the Board
of Army Engineers until 1852. when he
was appointed to the Superintency of the
Military Academy at West Point. 1t was
here that the rebellion found him. For
him there was no choice Believing in
| the sovereignty of his State, devoted to
her interests, and maintaining that to the
State the citizen owed his first allegiance,
he rendered his resignation in March, 81
| and laid his sword at the feet of Virginia,
then arming for her struggle with the gen
eral government. Thus a descendant of
OF the family which had shed its blood in
building up the Republic of the Western
| World was one of the first 10 rally to the
| defense of a sovereignty which sought to
| annul a contract which it conceived to
/ have been violated. Virginia joyfully
| welcomed her son, and appointed him to
| the command of her armies In the sum-
mer of 1861 he was sent into the noun
| famous district to defend the State against
| the invasion of the army which moved up
on the National Road through West Vir-
| glnla. Owing to insufficient force he was
unable to accomplish much. Returning
to Richmond, he busted himself with or
| ganlzing and equipping the armies of the
Contederacy. In the Spring of 1862, Nc
Clellan.advanced upon the Chickahominy,
and the first struggle for Richmond took
| place. AT the battle of Seven Pines, Gen.
Joe E. Johnston received q wound, and
the command of the army devolved upon
Gen. Lee. Mcclellan had been his class
4A4SAOS anu 4IICluJ dIiu JoSSGIlCI' OuCJ HUI
gone as bosom companions to witness that
wonderful warfare in the Crimea. and learn
! military science at the siege of Sebastopol.
Those Seven days of Richmond" will
never be forgotten, nor need it be told
how Lee routed the army of Mcclellan,
drove it back crushed and bleeding upon
the James, thereby saving the Capital
In August of the same year, still at the
/ head Of the army, drove Pope back upon
Washington. In the winter of 1862 he
! defeated Burnside at Fredericksburg, and
Hooker at Chancellorville in May, 1868.
Twice he endeavored to carry the war
! across the Potomac Once in the simmer
/ of 1862, when he invaded Maryland and
fought the disastrous battle of Antietam,
and once in the summer Of. 1868, when he
penetrated to Pennsylvania, and suffered
crushing defeat at Gettysburg
In May, 1864, came terrible defeats OF
the Wilderness. where Grant found no.
Socaust for his giant armies, and the coun-
try learned what was meant by setting
numerical strength against generalship.-
With his shattered army, carrying the
Confederacy IN his arms, Lee retreated to
the line of the James, and from the 8th of
May, 1861, to the ID of April, 1865, now
! Commander in Chief of the armies of the
Confederacy, devoted his energies to the
defense of Petersburg and Richmond
But military skill, bravery and devotion
! could not hold out against such odds as
were brought against him. His worn out
ragged, half fed army stood by his side
until the Confederacy crumbled and went
to pieces. On the 9th of september he
capItulated, and with that surrender died
forever the hopes of Southern Indepen-
dence.
The close of the war did not find Gen.
Lee suppliant at the feet of the Govern
ment against which he had rebelled, he
simply accepted the situation, and. with
out sacrificing his manhood, he betook
himself to the restoration of his fortunes,
and devoted himself to the building up of
the South. 1t was in this regard that he
showed his sterling worth and won for
himself so many friend in the North. Es-
chewing politics, he entered the inviting
fields Of literature, and on the I'd of Octo
ber was made President of Washington
College at Lexington, Va. Occasionally
his voice went out to the world, but it
was only to give advice and counsel to the
people whom he loved so well. Here, as
well as in the field, he was the true friend
of the South. He was not one of those
who felt at the close of the war there was
nothing to live for, but turning to peace
ful pursuits he saw the College, over which
he was called to preside, grow from a weak
tendril to mighty oak. and second to no
institution of learning in the land. His
plans for the future were manifold Of
these, the Convention which satin our city
last week had proof All this while Gen
Lee kept himself aloof frum the world of
politics, strife and intrigue, and, though
his potent influence was not felt through
out the South, he himself, like the hero of
Childe Harold, was reserved and retired,
"And the soft. quiet hamlet where he dwelt
Was one Of that complexion which seemed made
For one who, having his mortality felt,
Had sought refuge from his hopes decayed."
1t is scarcely possible within the limited
space of a journal, to pronounce such an
eulogium as Gen. Lee deserves at our
hands, nor can we en.er into such details
of his life and career as might be consid-
cred necessary to logically establish his
claims as military chieftain The world
knows of his virtues and private worth,
and the men who have commanded rmies
can bear witness to valor and skill as a
man of arms. He was the great General
OF the rebellion, and compared with him