The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-02-08

I
hopeless-every man killed under such
,cnms:ances being, ~ We thought
rattle murdered than nartyrcd. Ny
impression being in tho main OF tho
s,me general east, ] agreed to see
| Gen, raj Longstrect ii,st, as next in
command to General Ice. This ac-
cordingly was cone. General Long
street met the suggestion at first with
This accustomed impcrt"rbablc resolu-
tior, oljsclin ', toto, TO anJthought Of
disseminating the cJn,cst, and I'D ling
that he believed his corps, or what
rcmained Of it., could "still whip"
as he Expressed it, "threc times their
number of Yankees" Admiring his
spirit, | readily acquiesccd, but sug.
gested the inquiry whether they could
withstand thirty times their number
as they would have to do ? He, in
the sequel, fully agreed that General
Lac ought to be communicated with,
and begged him to 60 in person
and express his own sense ofthc situa.
ton, If for no other reason, to relieve
the noblo heart Of the commander of
the sense of solitsrincss in his mighty
responsibility The veteran Licuten-
ant General, howcver, excused himself
on the ccore of his being slow Of
speech, and requested me 70 represent
him, with the rest, in submitting the
statement Of all this to General Ice.
Lgladly make this statement to the
hcnor Of General Lnngstree though
differing with that officer, as to his lc.
cent course, wide as the poles.
General Lee was lying on the
ground, No other heard the convcr-
,ati,n between him and myself. lie
received my com nsunication, with the
reply, Gracious heavens, trus. it
has not come to that ~ And added,
"Ganer,l, ne have yot too many bold
men to think Of layiug down our arms.
The enemy do hot fight with spirit
like our boys still do. Besides, if I
we're to say word to the Federal
comn andcr, be would regard it as
such a confession of wc,knts<, as to
make it the occasion of demanding
unconditional surrender, prnpu-
sal to wli:h / will never listen.
I have resolved to die first,
and that if it comes, Il at wc shall
force through, or all fail in our
Places tell Sou, fGohds, General
Ice was the bolhe.t man IN all ,hA,
heroic bard. The General went on
"General, this isno new question vi h
me. | have never heliev We could
against the gig,n,ic rombin n,tiou for
our subjngation, make G cd, in the
long arun; Our Independence, unle.
foreign powers should directly or in
directly, assist US. Th;sI wA$ sure
it was their interest aud duty to do,
and | hoped they would 70 regard i.
But such considerations really made
with me no difference We hat, |!
was aatisifed,' Gacrci rri.,oi fl"s 10
maintain sid tights to Jer.'d, Tor
which we were in duty lonrd - DO
sur best, even il VIC rcri,l, H. The en-
deavor ~ These were. rs nc i, ~
can recall them, the exact woIds ot
General Lee; on that mot c,,tiual or-
casion. You see in them he soul Of
the man what his conscience dictated
and his Judgment decided, where
his heart was.
TIE SURRENDER.
Another illustrative incident, chow
ing the man, occurred few hours be-
fore the surrender. Eng g,d under his
Instruction.: the ceening bc'o'e, u mite
or two beyond Appoma,tox G. H., in
cxtricating an trtillery command, Of
which one Of my associates had charge
and there exposed to capture, I was
recalled BY message from himself 1t
Vas I. A. NJ, Sunday. 9Th April, be-
fore, through the darkness and danger,
| succeeded in tindlug the General.
His greeting, "good morning, Gene
rail-" and his fresh neatncss of dress,
as for some imposing ceremony, sur
prised me. General Longstrect was
with him. After few words az to
the condition of things in front, where
7 ad been, 1 expressed my aurpri c
Both as to the advance of the night
and at hi. full dress, and ventured to
ask what it meant 7 Hi, reply vas,
"1 am to be General Grants prisoner,
and intend to make my best appear
ahce."
8 i'll it was not definitely settled.
There Was uncertainty whether his
| terms in rcapone to General Grant )
initial overture would be accorded,
and If not, thore was yet solemn work
to be done.
The General, therefore, kindly urg-
cd me to get some rest, and at the
dawn "be governed by circumstan
Co.'S"
Those circumstances at daylight
we're, active fighting along all our line.
At no time during the war did the
boys in GRAY" more gallantly acquit
themselves and with more Of dashing
alacrity than on that memo able morn
lug driving the enemy bcforcthem at
all points and actually capturing tbcir
artillery at tho very last moment.