The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-11-03
ROBERT Z. LEE
From the Round Table
Robert F Lee Is deadf

ANAAA INT AAAsAAAA At-a'HF-
Robert +. Lee is deadl
He was West Pointer, an Engin-
eer, a Regular, an aristocrat by birth
a connection, by marriage, Of Wash
ington, and an F. F.V. Consequent
ly should he not be regarded as inn
maculate beyond criticism:
The reader must not deem the re-
view OF a past life the offspring Of
Northern prejudice. for the same pen
has accorded the first place in arms to
Albert Sidney Johnston, Joseph +.
Johnston, StonewaH Jackson the
second Stonewall jackson, the fiery
Malone, "whOse little body was all
heart" to Gordon and other rebel
Generals; but for Lee and Lieutenant
General Bishop Polk, he always felt
they were not the men they were
held TO be.
The darkest cloud which will rest
upon the memory of Robert T. Lee,
in the judgment Of pOsterity, is the
fact that with Belle Isle in sight of
his residence and almost within hear
ing Of the groans Of our prisoners, he
never inJerfeFed to alleviate their suf-
ferings. And even conceding that
he was pOWerless to aid them, there
is no evidence that he protested
against the systematic torture of our
captive people. He should have pro-
tested before Heaven and the world.
A friend related that he used TO walk
TO the bluff overlooking Belle Isle,
ana contemplate a scene whose her
rOrs were alone surpassed by some Of
those in Dante's 'InfernO." Had Lee
been the magnanimOus Lee ofrOman-
tic history he would have changed all
this, or the world would have rung
with his protest.
Let US now examine his record. If
Thomas and Reno, likewise Virgini-
ans, were true men-ThOmas the
grandest individual figure in the
country, and Reno the patriot martyr
Of South MOuntain-Lee was an arch
traitor.
Considering his position, surround
ings and influence, it is dOubtful-if
he had remained firm-whether Nir-
ginia would have seeded.
Residing in the magnificentdomain
inherited from the wife of Washing
ton, and looking out daily and hour
ly upon the capital of his country, es-
tablished by Washington, and named
after him, Lee carried with him into
the ranks of the rebellion all the halo
derived from race, residence and re-
nOwn.
What is more, he had for many
years sat at the feet of Scott, and his
detection acquired weight from the
inspiration received from this gener-
ally considered Gamaliel Of the Amer
ican army.
As to his record in Mexico, concede
it to have been superlatively brilliant
was it more so than hundreds of 9TH
ers? Was it more than a just repay
ment Of the debt he owed to his cOun-
try for his education and the honOrs
accorded to him by that country?
A vigilant investigation of Lees
career-accOrding to a suggestion of a
Christian soldier who played his part
in the war-might perhaps demon
strate that what seems TO have been
granted to ability by Jefferson Davis,
Secretary Of War, was the prepay
ment for services to be rendered to
Jefferson Davis, the head of a rebel
cOnfederacy.
This General suggested that there
are some curious features connected
with the appointments made by Da-
Wis, simultaneous with his selection
of Lee.
But let all this pass as surmise,
The question to be considered here is,
was Lee a great General in the true
sense of the word, or was he militia
ry phantasm
Surrounded by such Lieutenants as
he possessed, and followed by such
troops as they led, could he have ap-
peared less than he showed?
His first campaign was against
ROsecrans. He accomplished nothing.
Defeated by the subordinate Reynolds
he was Outgeneraled by the superior
ROsecrans; and all his plans, magnifi-
cent on paper, went up in smoke. He
lost West Virginia to the rebellion, 4
loss it could i'll afford.
Pitted against Mcclellan the loyal
North has reason for congratulating
itself that the disabling of Joseph Z.
johnson gave Lee the TebelcOmmand
on the Peninsula.
What did he achieve? Had McClel-
Ian been otherwise than Mcclellan,
Glendale and Malvern Hill would
have given us Richmond. Lees
strategy here had nothing of the
practical in it.
In the campaign of August, 1852, all
the glory inures to StOnewall Jackson.
Pope, betrayed, was q victim whose
immOlation only required moderate
ability on the part of his adversary
Nevertheless Pope saved Washington.
The Maryland campaign for the
same year was one tissue of blunders
on thepart of Lee. Had he been Op-
posed by RosecTans, Thomas, Sheri-
dan, Sherman or Grant, he would
have been annihilated.
Fredericksburg first was a mere re- |
pulse which military critics will not
cOncede a victory. Whatever Lee
won was given to him. But not by
Burnside.
At Charlottesville Hooker out
generated him to such a degree that
NapOleon's remark about the Austri- |
ans at Lissa will apply TO him teXtu-
ally. For Hooker to get the best of
him as he did, demonstrated that Lee
must have been asleep.
Had there been no StOnewall jack
son there, the historian would have
had to apply to Lee .he cruel sarcasm /
of Swinton on Pope: exit Lee"
His Gettysburg campaign was an
other tissue of blunders. The North !
has reason to agree with PleasantOn,
that Stonewall Jackson n'sremoval was
a "PrOvidential interference" Lee,
had he been the Lee of ideality and /
romance, could have gone where he
listed. The North was open to him,
and the Susquehanna no barrier to /
him. He owed his escape after his
defeat at Gettysburg to the same
causes which saved him at Freder-
icksburg and at Charlottesville.
His fall campaign of 1868 was such |
that be ought to have been annihilat- |
ed through his own faulty maneuvres. |
His best campaign was his last; that |
is, if he deserves any credit for it.
Every circumstances, except superior |
numbers, was in his favor, anu four /
years experience ought to have |
taught him to avail HIMSELF of circum- |
He had success in his grasp |
on the evening of the 9th of May, 1854, /
and he could not see il. He had oft |
en- been as blind before.
Lee was not the General popular /
opinion declared him.
Had he been, the COnfederacy
would now be a reality, or the war a
permanence.
He is gone, and if a NoTtherner can |
raise his voice in his defense, then |
Thomas, Reno, and Buford lived and !
died in vain.
WASHINGTON, October 30.-Gener-
al Cox, in leaving Office, thinks it his
duty to yield to the general demand !