The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-11-11
GENERAL RoBERr EDMOND LEE.
lCONCLUDED.l

zion, still assembled there, voted LIE
the appointment of Major-General, il
command of all the military forces il
Virginia. There had been great anxi
ETY. and speculation as to what woul,
be his choice in the war the newspa
pers had variously reported his position
a value and interest had been given t
his, above all other early military
names of the war; it was known tina
General Scott had endorsed him as hi
ablest lieutenant; and when at last i
was made certain that he had aban
doned the Federal service, and thrown
his great name and abilities into tn,
scale of Virginia, the joy in Richmond
was extreme. There had been a hop,
that General Scott himself would hav.
espoused the cause of his native State
Virginia; but when he declared differ
entity, the people of Virginia were more
than consoled in the loss of q valitudi
marian general, by the gain of Lee, who
was popularity reported to have inspir
ed the whole campaign in Mexico, t6
be superior in mind to his aged chief
to have been designated as his early
successor in command Of the armies o
! the United States, and to have the adj.
vantage of ripe years and vigorous bo-
dy. When, on the 22d April, the name
of Robert L. Lee was thus communi.
Gated by Governor Letcher to the Con.
vention as nominee for Commander.
| in-Chief of the Virginia forces, there
{ was an eager and affirmative response
The confirmation was unanimous, and
without a moments hesitation. 1t
was made with a heartiness that attest
I ed the cordial and unbounded conf
dence of Virginia in the man to whom,
| more than all others, she now intrusted
her destinies.
The next day a grand ceremony was
appointed in the main hall of the Cap
itOl. 1t was announced that Major
General Lee, with distinguished COM
pany, would be personally introduced
to the Convention, and might he ex.
pected to make remarkable speech on
the occasion. The hall was crowded
with an eager audience; all the menu
bers of the Convention stood, as a mark
of respect. On the right of the presid-
ing officer were Governor Letcher and
Mr.. Stephens, the Vice President of the
Confederacy, and on the left the MEM
bers of the "Advisory Council" of NIr-
ginia, while General Lee, in the imme-
diate company Of the committee ap-
pointed to receive him, advanced to the
center of the main aisle. Every spec
tator admired the IersOnal appearance
of the man; his dignified figure, his air
of seIf-poised strength, and features in
which shone the steady animation of a
consciousness of power, purpose and
10 i'm, fln full ,,,I
DIV flush of ripe years and vigorous
health. His figure was tall, its COLI
stituents well knit together; his head,
well shaped and squarcly built, gave
indications of powerful intellect; a
face not yet intcrlined by age, still re-
markable for its personal beauty, was
lighted up by eyes black in the shade,
but brown in the full light, clear, be-
nignant, but with a deep recess of light,
a curtained fire i'm them that blazed in
moments of excitement; a counter
ance, the natural expression of which
was gentle and benevolent, yet struck
the beholdcr as masking an iron will.
His manners were at once grave and
kindly; without gayety or abandon,
he was also without the affectatiOn of
dignity. Such was the man whose
stately figure, i'm the Capitol at Rich
mond, brought to min the old race of
Virginians, and who was thereafter to
win the reputation, not only as the first
commander, but also as the first gentle
man of the South, the most perfect and
beautiful motiel of manhood i'm the
war.
Ofthe scene Nice-President Stephens
has preserved a picture, which we
transfer entire: "The incidents attend
ing the firt acquaintance with this dis
tinguished parsonage are not without
historic interest in themselves, but it is
not so much with that view, as for the
purpose of illustrating the character of
the man, 1 give them. They very full
ly exhibited to me, at the time, the dis
tinguishing qualities of the heart as
well as of the head of the man who had
already won a very honorable distinc
ton in the country, and whose justly
merited fame now extends to the limits
of the civilized world. AS an officer i'm
the United States army, he had gained
a high reputation in the Mexican war.
At the time of the secession of Virgin
in, his native State, and of which he
was citizen, he was in command of
the Second United States Cavalry reg
iment, stationed in Texas. He was,
however, then temporarily in Wash
ingtOn City, and considering his ulti-
mate allegiance due to his state, after
she had resumed the full exercise of her
sovereign powers, he had promptly,
though not without deep regret at the
causes which impelled him to it, re-
signed his commission and cast his
fortunes with those of the people of his
own State. He accompanied his resig-
nation with a letter to General Scott,
which is a model of its kind and fully
characteristic of the man. He was
specially devoted to the Commander
in-Chief of the Army of the United
States, and believe il is generally con-
Ccdcd that the feelings of personal at
tachmcnt were reciprocal between the
chief and his subaltern.
My becoming acquainted with him
occurred in this way: The Legislature
Of Girginia, i'm view of the great dan
gers threatening from the position of
Mr.. Mr.. Lincoln, had provided by law
for raising ten or twenty thousand men
TO defend the State, with the rank of
major-general. The Governor had ap-
pointed him TO this position, and TIE
Convention had, with great unanimity
ratified the appointment the day ON
which had reached Richmond. The
ceremony of General Lees installation
to this high and responsible office was
20 take place in the Convention the day
after. This came off according to the
programme, in a very imposing form
General Lee was escorted into the
hall of tie House of Representatives, in
which the members of the Convention
were assembled, where l was also by
invation, and, upon being presented to
that body, Mr.. John Janney, the Pre-
sident, rose and addressed him in
speech of some length, which produced
a profound sensation. Twill read such
parts of il as are pertinent to present
purposes. These are as follows:
Major-General Lee, in the name to
the people of your native State here re-
presented, bid you Il cordial and heart
felt welcome to this hall, in which we
may almost yet hear the echo of the
voices of the statesmen, the soldiers
and sailors of by-gone days, who have
borne your name, and whose blood now
flows in your veins.
1--WE met in the month of February
last, charged with the solemn duty of
protecting the rights, the honor and
the interests of the people of this COM
monwealth. We differed for time as
to the best means for accomplishing
that object; but there never was, at
any moment, shade of difference
among us as to the great object itself.
"When the necessity became appa-
rent of having a leader forour forces all
hearts and eyes, by the impulse of am