Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-12-02
THE GREAT CONFEDERATE
IJ CAPTAIN.
Personal "Reminiscences and Anec-
dotes of Geta. II. e. Lee.
Written for the Cincinnati Commercial By sn ex-
Z ..- COnfederate Chaplain


dotes OF GEN. II. e. Lee.
Written for the Cincinnati Commercial by an ex-
Confederate Chaplain.
After the battle of Malvern Hill had
ceased and Mcclellan had left the ground
of his gallant defence for Harrison's Land
ing, one of the Confederate division COM
manders, who had not been fortu-
nate in his management of the attack,
. and was not aware that Mcclellan had
gone, galloped up to Gen. Lee, and
exclaimed with considerable vehemence:
eff you will permit me, sir, will charge
that hill with my whole force and carry
it at the point of the bayonet." 'ENo
doubt you could now succeed was the
quiet reply, ssbut / have one serious OBJ
lection to your making the attack at this
time" 'sMay ask what that objection
is2" was the eager question of the ardent
soldier, who saw honor and glory before
him in the present opportunity. 81 am
afraid, sir" rejoined the Commander-in>
Chief, with mischievous twinkle of the
eye which all around enjoyed greatly,
'sthat you would hurt my little friend,
Capt. -. The enemy left about an
hour ago, and the captain is over there
with accommodating party"
While in winter quarters at Petersburg,
party of officers were one night busily
engaged in discussing, at the same time,
a mathematical problem and the contents
of stone jug which was garnished by
two tin cups. 10 the midst of this Gen.
Lee came in to make some inquiry. He
nat hn inf ion he q
solution of the problem, and went out
the officers expressing to each other the
hope tina: the General had not noticed the
| jug and cups. The next day one of the
officers. in the presence of the Others, was
relating to Gen. Lee strange dream he
had the night before. The Gen.
eral listened with apparent interest
to the narrative, and quietly rejoined:
''Fhas is not at all remarkable. When
young gentlemen discuss at mid
night mathematical problems, the I'M
known quantities of which are stone
jug and two tin cups, they may expect to
have strange dreamsn One day at Peters
burg Gen. Lee, who never suffered day
to pass without visiting some part of his
lines, rode by the quarters of one of his
Major Generals and requested him to ride
with him to inspect the lines. As they
were going he asked Gen. - if certain
work, which he had ordered to be pushed,
was completed. He replied, with some
hesitation, that it was, and Gen. Lee then
proposed that they should go and
see it. Arriving st the spot, it was
| found that little or no progress had been
made on the work since they were
there week before, and Gen. - was
profuse in his apologies, saying that he
had not seen the work since they were
there before, but that he had ordered it to
be completed at once, and that Maj. -
| had informed him that it bad already
been completed Gen. Lee said nothing
then, except to remark quietly: 'We
must give our attention to the lines. But
riding on little further he began to com
pliment Gen. - on the splendid charger
he rode. 'EYes, SIR" said Gen. -,
che is a splendid animal, and l prize
him the more highly because he belongs
to my wife, and is her favorlte riding
horse. ga magnificent horse" re
| Joined Gen. Lee, Shut l should not
think him safe for Mrs. - to ride. He
is entirely too spirited for lady, and
would urge you by all means to take some
of the mettle out of him before you suf-
fer Mrs. - to ride him again. And by
the way, General, I would suggest to you
that these rough paths along these trench
es would be very admirable ground over
which 10 tsme him" The face of the
| gallant soldier turned crimson, he felt
most keenly the rebuke, and never after
ward reported the condition of his lines
upon information received from Major
- or any enc else. His spirited charger
felt the effect of this hint from head
quarters.
One of the professors in the college
was one day making g very earnest speech
at q meeting of the faculty on the best
means of securing a full attendance of the
| students at the chapel service. It 50
| happened that this excellent gentleman
| (as well as some other members of the
! faculty. was not in the habit of attending
chapel himself When he had finished
his speech, President Lee quietly said /:
Zone of the best ways that l know of to
induce the students to attend chapel is to
| be sure that we attend ourselves" And
! accordingly his seat was never vacant
unless he was kept away by absence from
home or sickness.
The General used to enjoy very much
a quiet joke at the expense of some over
confident student. The writer heard him
one day introduce a new student to one
of the professors by saying, with quiet
smile:
This young gentleman is going to
graduate in one session"
''No, General" replied the youth,
'Eyou misunderstood me; did not say
that l would graduate in one, but in two
sessions"
"Ah, he has concluded to postpone it
for a session. Well, sir, wish you the
full realization of your hopes but l
must tell you that you will have no time
to play"
On the 9th of May, 1864, at a most
critical iuncture for the Confederate
arms, Gen. Lee met Gregg's Texas brig
ade going into the battle of the Wilder
ness. They greeted him with most en-
thusiastic cheers as they hurried on to
the front but were soon Mortified to find
that their beloved Commander in Chief
was going with them intOthe thickest of
the fight The men begun to shout,
''Gen. Lee to the rear Gen. Lee to the
rear ~ A ragged veteran stepped from
the ranks and seized his reins, and at
last the whole brigade halted and ex-
claimed with one voice, "We will not
advance unless Gen. Lee goes back; but
if he will not expose himself we will
drive back the enemy" Thus appealed
to, Gen. Lee halted and gazed after these
brave Texans as they nobly redeemed
their promise though at fearful cost.
On the 10th of May, when the Confede-
rate line was broken at Spottsylvanis
Courthouse, Gen. Lee again offered to
| lead the charge, this time placing him
self in front of Gordon's division of Vir-
| ginisns and Georgians, aud just by the
colors of the 49th Virginia regiment. He
uttered no wOrd--he was not the man
for theatrical displays-but quietly took
off his hat, as the regiment was forming,
with the evident purpose of leading the
charge. A murmur ran down the line,
and just then the gallant Gordon spurred
his horse to his side, seized the rein of
his horse, and exclaimed, with deep
anxiety, "Gen. Lee, this is no place FIJI
you; do go to the rear These are Vir-
| ginians and Georgians, sir-men who
have never failed. And they will not
now. Will you, men9 Is it necessary
for Gen. Lee to lead this charge q"
Loud cries of 'sNo! no Gen. Lee
to the rear Gen. Lee to the rear We
always try TO do what Gen. Gordon tells
US. And we will drive them hack if Gen.
Lee will only go to the rear" burst from
the ranks. The Generals horse was led
to the rear. Forward charge and re-
member your promise to Gen. Lee, +"
rung out in Gordon's well-known voice,
and those gallant fellows swept every
thing before them and re-estsblshed the