The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1870-11-26
Robert u. Lee.
4" English Opinion Of the Great Ameri-
can Soldier.
A JUST TRIBCTE.

From the London Standard. Qct.el
The announcement that Gen. r. lie,
has been struck down by paralysis ant
is not expected to recover will be receiv
ed, even at this crisis, with universal in
terest, and will every where excite -;
sympathy and regret which testify tt
the deep impression made on the worll
at large by his character and achieve
ments. Few are the Generals who hayt
earned, since history began, a create!
military reputation; still fewer are the
men OF similar eminence, civil or mill
tary, whose personal qualities would beal
comparison with his. The bitterest enc.
mics Of his country hardly dared to wills
per word against the character of he,
most distinguished General, while neu.
trails regarded him with an admiration
for his deeds and a respect for his lofty
ana unseltish nature which almost grew
into veneration, and his own country men
learned to look up to him with as much
confidence and esteem as they ever felt
tor " ashington, and with AN affection
which the cold demcanor and austere
temper of Whashington could never in
! sClre. The death of such man, even
at iHoment so exciting as the present,
when all thoughts are absorbed by a
nearer and present conflict, would be
felt as a misfortune by all who still re-
tain any recollection of the interest with
which they watched the Virginia cam
/ paisus, and by thousa nds who have al
most forgotten tho names OF Fredericks-
burg aud Charlottesville, the Wilder
uess and Spottsylvania. BY the South
1t would be recognized as a national ca
lamity-as the loss of man not only
, inexpressibly dear to an unfortunate
people by his intimate association with
/ their fallen hopes and their proudest re-
, collections, but still able to render ser
; vices such as no other man could per-
enhanced tenfold by the source from
which it comes. We hope, even yet, that
life SO honorable and SO useful, so pure
and noble in itself, so valuable to a coun-
try that has much need of men like him,
may be spared and prolonged for further
enjoyment of domestic peace and COM
fort, for further service to his country;
we cannot bear to think that Il career so
siugalariy admirable and SO singularly
unfortunate, should close 80 soon and so
sadly. BY the tens Of thousands who
will feel as we do when they read the
news that now lies before lis may be
measured the impression made upon the
world by the life and the deeds of the
great chief of the Army of Virginia.
Whatever differences of opinion may
exist as to the merits of the Generals
against whom he had to contend, and
especially of the antagonist 10y whom
lie was at last overcome, no one pre-
tending to understand i'm the least either
the general principles of military science
or the particular conditions OF the Amer
lean war, doubts that General Lee gave
better proofs of military genius and SOL
diership than any OF his opponents. He
was outnumbered from first to last; and
all his victories were gained against
greatly superior forces, and with troops
deficient in every necessary of war ex-
cept courage and disci pline. Never per-
}aps was 80 much achieved against odds
so terrible. The Southern soldiers-"that
incompatible Southern infantry" to
which late Northern writer renders
due tribute of respect-were no doubt as
splendid troops as General could de-
sire but the different fortune of the war
in the East and in the West proves that
the Virginia army owed something of its
excellence to it's chief Always oVtuum-
bered, always opposed to foe abun-
dainty supplied with food, transport,
ammunition, clothing, all that was want
ing to his own men, he was always able
to make courage and skill supply the de-
ficiency of strength and Of supplies; and
from the day when he assumed command
after the battle of Seven Pines, where
General Joseph Johnston was disabled,
to the morning of the tinal surrender at
Appomattox Court House, he was almost
invariably victorious in the field. At
Getty shurg only he was defeated in
pitched battle; on the offensive at the
Chickahominy, at Centreville, and at
Charlottesville, ON the defensive at An
tietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness,
and Spottsylvania, he was still successful.
But no SUCCESS could avail him nything
from the moment that General Grant
brought to bear upon the Virginia army
the einexhaustible population of the North,
and, employing Sherman to cut them Oft
from the rest of the Confederacy, set him
self to work to wear them out by the
simple process of exchanging two lives
for one. From that moment the fate of
Richmond and of the South was sealed.
When General Lee commenced the CAM
paign of the Wilderness he had. We be-
fieve, about 5000 men-his adversary
had thrice that number at hand, and
still larger force in reserve. When the
army of Virginia marched out of Rich
mond it still numbered some 5000 men;
after retreat of six days, in the face of
anoverwhelming enemy, with crushing
artillery-a retreat impeded by constant
fighting, and harrassed by countless
hordes of cavalry-6,OOO were given
up by the capitulation of Appomattox
Court House. Brilliant as were General
Lees earlier triumphs, we believe that
he gave higher proofs Of genius in his
last campaign, and that hardly any Of
his victories were so honorable to HIM
self and his army as that six days re-
treat.