The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-02-15
Wade Hampton on General r. E. Lees Mill
tary Career.

Wade Hampton on General r. E. Lees Mill
tary Career.
| In Wade Hampton's address before the $50
ciety of Confederate Soldiers and Sailors" de-
livered in Baltimore, begins one of the finest
delineations of Lee, the Soldier, which we have
ever, seen. The whole address is a noble tri-
butte from great soldier to loved and hon.
ored Chief and we regret that we have space
for only the following extract:
J.. In order to form correct estimate of his
career, we should compare Lee in his character
and achievements as q soldier, with the great
Captains Of other days. The late war between
the States, though placed millions OF men IN
the field, gave but one soldier on either side
who could bear for moment the perilous CONF
parison with Lee,--the predecessorin in command
of the Army of Northern Virginia,-and as he;
fortunately for the South, still lives, itwould
scarcely be agreeable to him to compare him
with his illustrious countryman. 1t is true that
Lee surrendered his sword and the skeleton of
his army to the last and most successful of the
Federal Commanders, but thereis one criteri-
be easily tested This test, simply as it is sure,
consists in considering the resources of each,
and then estimating the results accomplished
by each. jgpt,c..:r... - =, :..i aaoTs - i
What did Lee effect with the Army of North
ern Virginia? -l..-.. ,.." t.,
In the three years he commanded that army;
he inflicted q loss on the enemy of not less, and
perhaps more, than three hundred thousand
men, besides taking guns and small arms al
most beyond computation. In his last cam
paign, with force at no time exceeding forty
five thousand, and ofteh far less than that num-
ber, he destroyed one hundred and twenty
thousand of the enemy, and he held for nine
months, week line against an army quadru-
pie his own These are, in brief, the actual,
palpable, enduring results of his generalship.I
What did; Grant effect during those same
eleven months of carnage embraced in the last
campaign, to prove his generalship !? He be-
gan his movements with upwards of one hun
dred and forty thousand men, and he was able,
on account of his great resources, to keep. his
army up to this number at least, to the close.
In the first month of the campaign his loss was
SO heavy, that had his dead and wounded been
placed touching each other they would literally
have formed one long, continuous, CORY line,
from the Wilderness to Cold Harborl They at
least, had fought it out on that line.- In the
whole campaign he lost not less than; one hum
dred and twenty thousand men, and he finally,
by mere weight of nnmbers-7for his general
ship could never have accomplished this lover
whelmed his antagonist, Butin order to bring
this. question down to narrower limits, let US;
suppose that the relative numbers and posi-
tions of the opposing armies had been reversed,i
and that Grant with thirty-fye thousand men,
had occupied line forty miles long, while Lee
confronted him with one hundred and forty
thousand Southern troops; can any imaglna-
ton, however wild, stretch 30 far as to conceive
that be could have held, that line for nine
months The proposition is too absurd Tor se-
riions consideration. He would not hayoi held
it for one month, not for one day, no, not for
one hour We must look then to the great
soldiers of the past, to find fit subjects for the
Comparison We wish to make. An English au-
thor-the same from whom the glowing tribute
to jackson, already quoted, was taken-cal!s
Lee "the General who stands second to. Wei
lington among the great soldiers OF English
blood of the present century; and who, II you
enlarge the field and take the world into COM
petition, will acknowledge no superior besides
Wellington and Napoleon alone" Recognize
ing the Justice of his criticism, as far as Napo-
leon, who stands alone in the art of war, is con-
cerned, it may be questioned in the case of
Wellington. Coming as it does from an Eng
lish soldier we should receive it as the highest
compliment an Englishman could pay to Lee,
and ! am far, from wishing to detract from the
merits Of the hero of Waterloo. But taking,
him, in the words just quoted, as the great sol
der Of English blood Of the present century
We OF, the South claim that our, great soldier
:. IF we turn turn from Wellington to Marlborough,
the other and greater soldier of English blood,
we shall find his, achievements surpassed also
by those of Lee. Between 1704and 1909, Marl-
borough won his four great victories of Blen-
helm Families, Oudenarde- and Malplaquuet..
His numbers on each field were about equal to
those of his enemy. The smallest force he had
engaged in any of these battles was hfty-two9
thousand men, and the loss he inflicted in al
of them in killed and wounded, did not exceed
thirty-fiye thousand men. Thus we soc that in
comparing the great soldier of the South with
the greatest Captains, 70 whom England, justly
proud of her martial fame, has given birth, he
was not only their peer but their superior.
1tr,r An, nh M TN E6IypGFNcIES -Tfa n per-