Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-07-29
GENERAL LEE.
His Feelings Toward the Northern
Army and People.


: Correspondence OF the Courier-JournaIl
: Tt has occurred to your correspondent
e that, in these days when an honest e
. fort is being made to bring about bel
: Ter state of feeling between the latel
= beiligerent sections, and when this e
e fort isbeing opposed by ultra men bot
I North and South, it might be a word i
q season 70 give a detailed account of tn
feelings Of General Lee toward the gov
ernment and the people against whom
1 for four long years, be fought so hero
ically.
Ex-Secretary WelIes has done mucl
toward sOftening the bitterness of tn
Southern people, by showing the kindly
feelings which Mr.. Lincoln cherished
toward them. May not a candid state
ment of Lees entire want of bitterness
toward the North tend to allay bad feel
: ing ON both sides2
/, The terms yankees abolition
ists," Puritan fanatics,u avandals, ,
etc, by which some of the newspapel
press and people of the South were ac
custOmed to designate the invaders O
their soil, lnever escaped his pure lips
and in his great heart no malice or ma.
lignity dwelt. The bitterest terms he
was ever known to employ toward the
enemy were those he used when he SAID
one day to his son Robert, who was
b7avely working at a gun (as private
in the ROckbridge Artillery: 'rThat Is
right, my son; drive those people back !'
He used, sometimes, to speak Of the
enemy as General Meade's people, y
General Grants peOple,n or "Our
! friends across the river" and neither
his official papers nor his private cor
4 respOndence ever contained harsher ex-
pressiOns.
1t was well known throughout the
COnfedel ate army that General Lee did
everything In his power to soften the as
| perities and lessen the horrors of war;
that he always treated his prisoners
with kindness and made them as COM
| Portable as his scant resources would al
low; and that 10 his potent influence
was due the failure of the Confederate
government TO carry into effect its
threatened retaliation" ...-
After the war his spirit of forbearRnce
toward the government and people of
the North seemed to have deepened and
grown in strength along with that beau
ufHl Christian character which shone
out SO brightly during these last years of
his life.
On one occasion In Lexington a GER
tain distinguished orator made an ad-
dress in which he used some very harsh
expressions concerning the Northern
people. After the address was over Gen
eral Lee came to your correspondent
and said: " L saw you taking notes dur
ing the address. If you propose to pub
lish a report of it, / suggest that YOU
leave out all those bitter expressions.
They win do US no good, and are, l
think, undignified and unbecoming"
To a lady who brought her son to
Washington College, and expressed a
wish that be should be taught " to hate
Yankees, he replied: 4" No such lessons
shall be taught here, madam, and you
ought not TO raise your son with any
such feelings. We must now regard the
United States as our common country,
obey its laws, and seek to forget as soon
as possible the bitter memories Of the
war" Your urcorrespOndent one day saw
him standing at his gate talking very
pleasantly with an Misunderstanding man,
who walked of very much delighted
just as we came up.
That is one of our old soldiers, sir,
IL hELNocAlOMb EdlAA AuEL-
eral Lee.
"Ah! General, to what regiment did
he belOng?" we asked, taking il for
granted that it was some old Confederate
who had come to pay his respects to his
loved chief.
a. do not know 20 what regiment he
belonged, was the reply, "he fought on
fhe other side, bttt tCe must not think oil
that nOlU.u
The next day we met the old soldier
an Irishman-gloriously drunk 1--WE are
sorry to say, and spoke to him about I
his interview with General Lee. Pat at !,
once went into raptures, exclaiming, |
He is the greatest man that ever lived, /
and as kind as he is great. He not only |
had a pleasant word for an old soldier |
who fought against him, but he gave me |
live dollars to help me on my way"
General Lee declined all invitations |
10 attend meetings which had any con-
nectiOh with the war, and carried out |
-he terms Of his parole with the most
'crupulOus eXactness, and eXerted a
Iuiet but most potent influence in get
ing his old soldiers and the people of
.he South generally to "accept the situ-
ltiOn," and earnestly seek after "the
.hings which make for peace.u
lnthis same spirit he refused to attend
he "tieitysburg Identification meet
ng, and wrote noble letter, i'm which
le said: al think it wisest not to keep
'Pen the sores Of war; but to follow the
example Of those nations who endeav-
'red 10 obliterate the marks of civil
trife and To commit 10 Oblivion the feel
ngs it engeDdered.r
King William of Prussia has been
ustly eulOgized because he refused to al
ow the anniversary of Sadowa TO be
celebrated, that he "might not wound
be feelings of any German peOple.n
But 1t seems 10 us that even nObler is
he example Of this leader of a "lost
ause,n who suppressed all natural re-
against what he deemed sue
essful wrong, and taught his people to
forget the bitter memories of the war"
nd to commit to Oblivion the feelings
engendered." 1t were well for the J
ountTy IL more Of this spirit prevailed }
9th North and South.
But while General Lee refused TO at !
end political meetings, he was always a !
eeply-interested spectator of what was !
ding on in the political werld, and was ]
nown to be conservative in all of his {
Jews.
He warmly favored the movement of !
ne famous committee Of nine" which :
suited in the withdrawal of the DEM [
cratic candidate for Governor of Nir- 5
mia, the fusion Of Conservatives and I
liberal Republicans, and the election of a
ilbert c. Walker over II. H. Wells, the I
rant candidate. J.
We cannot doubt that, if General Lee .
as now alive, he would favor the pres !
1t Liberal Republican movement, and c
lat his potent influence would be felt !
favor Of Greeley and Brown. !
A mild and gentle editor thus Halter $