Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-01-06
For the Wilmington Journal.


1t Is not infrequent that the claims ol
our great Confederate Captain 10 being
classed among the great Generals of the
world, is disputed by Americans, and they,
too, of Southern birth i have heard ex-
officers OF the Southern army seriously
question whether General Lee third
rate soldier. and insist that h" was inferior
in military genius to "S:OneWall !" Jack
son and Joseph T.. Johnston. | confess
that [ have ever sympatbized aih such a
dici"na, Lor have l been able. after reading
carefully tLo campaigns of those lllust' lous
soldIt Is, TO understand upon what gionads
such an opinion j. based. ] have been long
convinced that a jus, and thorough com
rars5Oa OF she amPal8us III which each Of
these off rcIs display ed their highest ability
for command, would res1lt in establishing &
the reputation of Lee as pre- eminent l
wIite This il no diep, 5 ton TO uudeTate The
grt ut deeds Of Jackson and Johnston, but
t. insist that in ihe exhibition OF miitry
geniu', Lee was moe ttar their equal.
The etrongest thing about the matter is
that some i5cuthtr4 critics cOiucide with
Yankee estimates cf Lees character II
General, They di8parage our greatest
leader by denying hlm those attributes Of
genius that have been promptly and uni
formly recognized in Europe. and especi-
ally III military circles.
Immediately after the war, friend OF
the writer, a gentleman of education and
observation, who spent nearly two years IN
Epgla nd, whilst the fight was progressing,
t0l that General TrQa had innnrnSSe6
Englishmen of intelligence more than any
OF our officers. That he was right in this
expression of opinion, is established con-
clnsively by the concurrent and universal
praise bestowed upon General Lee when
his death was announced, by many of the
leading papers Of Great Britain. A short
time before We were called upon to mourn
the death of our noblest citizen,
he had been declared the greatest OF all
living soldiers by distinguished English
military critic, in an article in which the
reputation of the leading soldiers of Eu-
rope was discussed. Colonel Freemantle,
of the Coldstream (English) Guards, in a
letter to the London Times, pronounces
Lee the greatest soldier whom America
has produced" and says that there is but
zone blot on his reputation as great
commander" The Poll Mall Gdzeue-the
English daily that evinces tie highest cul-
EuI0-GAES ClOSSS d bE1DuLS ~ Ills
memory "When political animosity has
calmed down, and when Americans can
look back on those years of war with feel
ings unbiased by party strife, then will
General Lees character be appreciated by
all his countrymen as it now is by part,
and his name will be honored as that of
one of the noblest soldiers who has ever
drawn sword, In cause which he be-
lieved just, and at the sacrifice of all per-
sonal considerations has fought manfully
q losing battle It speaks of him in
man who now hes dead in Virginia"
These are but specimens of the univer-
sal Judgment OF intelligent men living be
yond the United States. 1t is only here
at home that an adverse opinion prevails
among those who have claims to be called
educated. That the Southern people do
not generally hold the opinion herein con-
demned is quite true. Many of our fore
most soldiers regard General Lee as our
the ablest publication of the Continent.
The Southern ReUiew, published in Balti-
more, and edited by that accomplished
scholar and thinker, DR.. Albert Jaylon
Bledsoe, has on moro than one occasion
given forth "no uncertain sound" upon
the merits of General Lee 1 have before
me the January number for 1869. from
which l propose to take an extract. In
an able and original discussion Of the bat
tie of Waterloo, a passage occurs that is
worth considering, because of its we'll
weighed statements and figures. There Is
every reason to believe the writer correct
in the comparison instituted between the
Duke of Wellington, who Is claimed by
the greatest of living poets to be great
in war, foremost Captain Of his time"
and our own immortal Confede-
rate leader, who has been
borne but recently to his burial, followed
by the tears of o gallant and sorely be-
reaved people, and by the benedictions OF
a world. Speaking of Wellington's cam
paigns, the reviewer says:
''As compared with those of General
Lee, they seem, including even Waterloo,
absolutely rnsignifccmt. General Lee. with
a force not SO large as the Anglo Portu-
gaese regular army which Wellington had
under him when he encountered Massena
in 1SO9-not hdtf SO large as his whole
force il the Portuguese militia be taken
into the account-in the space of twenty
eight days, in three battles, killed and
wounded more men than Wellington ever
killed and wounded during his whole
career, from Asssge lin India) to Waterloo,
lin Belgium) beth inclusive. In one of
these battles Lee killed and wounded more
men by 9, 900 than the French army lost.
including prisoners, in the whole campaign
of Waterloo, and the pursuit TO the gates
of Paris In the same battle he killed and
wounded more men than Wellington,
Blucher and Napoleon, all three together.
lost in killed and wounded in the battle of
Waterloo. by 5000 men. In the second
of these battles he killed and wounded the
same number that both the opposing
armies lost in the battle of Waterloo; aud
in the third he killed and wounded more
by Z, 900 than the French alone lost in tho
hattie of Waterloo. In the three battles
together, Lee killed and wounded more men
bv at least 80 ,00O. than the Allies and French
lost in the whole campaign, including pris-
oners. The force with which Lee opera
ted never amounted, ct any time, TO Co.,
600 men; the force VIII which Wellington
and Butcher acted vas, even according TO