Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1870-11-08
Leo Memorial Meeting in Kansas City.

of the 2Ist of October. The principal ad-
dress ON the occasion, which we copy below
from the Kansas City Times, was made by
that courteous gentleman and gallant soldier,
Capt. George Baylor, formerly of this county
Ladies and Gentlemen We have met to-
night to pay small tribute of respect to the
memory of our noble chieftain-Lee. feel
myself unable to do justice to the virtues of
so illustrious man. This is an occasion when
the heart is more eloquent than the tongue.
/, You Gil know him WE'LL and his deeds need no
oration. Sprung from an honored line of an.
cesters, he inherited a name that has long
gilded the pages of our nations history
Born and reared on the soil of the Old Do
minion, he, in common with his sons, possessed
that State pride which is the characteristic of
every true Virginian. A soldier by profess
sion, when the first tocsin of war sounded and
the two sections of our country stood arrayed
in hostile attitude, he offered his sword to his
native State, aud was honored as commander
mischief of the Virginia troops. Afterwards,
when his State united her destinies with her
Southern sisters, he was commissioned Cen
eral in the Confederate army, and assigned to
duty in the western part of Virginia. In
1862, when Mcclellan was investing Rich>
mond, aud drawing closer and closer the lines
and when Gen. Johnston was wounded, was
placed in command of the army of Northern
Virginia. Here his .eVentful career COM
menced. Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Cedar
Mountain, Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericks-
burg, Charlottesville, Gettysburg, Spotsyl>
vania, and host of others, eliminating in
the surrender of the little army he had SO
gallantly led, at Appomattox-are the monu-
ments he has left along his line of march to
commemorate his skill and general ship
That he was a great soldier none can deny
Contending at all times with force superior
to his own in numbers, arms and equipment,
well clothed and fed, for three years he bafflea
all their attempts at invasion, and frequently
wrenched victory from their hands; and when
at last he laid down his sword, and stacked his
5000 muskets in the face of more than one
hundred thousand of the foe, the victors threw
their dearly won laurels at his feet Being
soldiers, they could but admire and respect
him. Among his own soldiers he was loved
and revered by all. Such was their venera-
tion for him that none dared, among his fell
lows, to speak i'll of him. In the spring of
'64 on the morning Of the first days fight in
the Wilderness, the army of Grant having
massed during the preceding night in Lees
centre, were throwing our men back and
the rest could come to their rescue. Lee,
seeing the peril of the situation, rushed for
ward aud rallied the men. His appearance
was greeted with enthusiastic shouts, which
caused the advancing lines Of the enemy to
halt The men seeing the danger to which
thier commander was exposed. begged of him
to retire, and when he refused to yield to their
solicitations, two of their number caught mis-
horse by the bride and led him away to
place of safety, While their comrades. ami
mated by his example, gallantly charged the
foe and drove them back into the wilderness.
There was ever a calm serenity about his face,
which denoted courage which victory did
neither animate nor defeat depress. Through
all his campaigns he displayed the fortitude
and courage of a Caesar and the nobility and
generosity of an Alexander. He was not
Pompey, Marlborough, Napoleon. but
Camillus, Scipio, a Cincinnatus, Washing
ton. Yes he was more than these-for these
were great in victory-he was greatest in the
hour of defeat However much the American
mind may differ upen the questions at issue
in the contest, all will agree in assigning him
true soldiers need of praise and spotess
escutcheon.
But his sword is now sheathed-that sword
which SO often led to victory is sheathed for
ever.
ssForth from its scabbard all in vain,
Forth flashed the sword of Lee.
It is shrouded now in its sheath again,
i sleeps the sleep Of our mob, noble siain'
Proudly and peacefully
But had he fallen then, we could only have
admired and respected him as a Christian, hero
and gentleman But the surrender at Apo
mattox and the returning beams of peace
opened to him new field for the exercise of
l. okba
been his peers but VIC must view him now as
the individual man, standing alone in his glo-
ry, with none to divide with him the univer-
sal applause. Here example failed him of
imitation, illustration finds in US no parallel,
and Lee, stands alone the model hero in de-
feat
Hungary swept without crime" but peace
soiled the bright armor of her favored son
Italy mourned her lost liberties, and her war
rior is to day hapless advcnturer, but Vir-
ginia's peerless soldier is her peerless citizen.
Foremost in war battle manfully and heroical-
ly in her cause foremost in defeat, he bore
the burden of her oppression; foremost in
peace, he taught her sons the noble lessons,
that all was not lost, that knowledge is power
that the unconquerable mind could look up
through the ruin and desolation that surround
ed it, and marshal in the fields of literature
and science to fight new battles and gain new
victories. 1 search history for his predeces-
sor, look hopelessly to the future for his
heir.
But it has pleased God to remove him from
his sphere of usefulness. But he is not dead.
The truly great never die. Fathers and
mothers will delight to tell their prattliug
children how he lived, fought aud died, and
the name of Robert E. Lee-the brightest in
the galaxy of heroes of the furled banner
will ever be as familiar as household words,
and his fame as eternal as that conqueror of
ages-time itself He sleeps in the land he
so much loved, beneath the monument which
commentaries his triumphs OF peace, and by
A.. Il - 4