The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-04-19

had just been fought. General Hook
er, ut the head Of what he had Just
called "the finest army on the planet"
had r%etrcated, in confusion aud dis
comiiture, across the Rapidan. If
ever there was u moment when hui
man vanity would have been pardon
able and natural, General Lee might
have betrayed 1t upon the morning of
the day which followed Hooker's re-
treat. With little more than 10000
men, the great Confederate captain
had defeated and utterly routed u
host Of mt least 100000 Fcderals. /
Nevertheless, even ut this intoXica-
ting moment, not a particle of self
eXaltation or conscious triumph was
discoverable in his conversation.
Cognisant Of the enormous superior
ity of the resources welded by the
enemy with whom he had to do, he
felt that Charlottesville, like Fred.
ericsburg, would produce little effect
upon the North, and that another
Union army" magnihcently armed
in every respect, would again take
the field before many weeks had
passed. Heart-sick at the flow of
blood by which he was surrounded-l
his road lay over ground where the
hottest fighting had taken place
and dHendri by the recent wounds Of
Stonewall Jackson, from which, how
ever, upon the morning in question,
he did not anticipate Il fatal result,
General Lee said, in wcarinces and
anguish, "All ! want Of them" (thc
Federals) "to do is to leave us what
we are, plain Nirginian farmers"
There never was a man who bad in
him so little of the ''rolitician,' as
his own countrymcn understand that
term. ~ think" said Mr.. Carlisle,
the welI.known lawyer Of Washing
ton, Il man of high character, who
had known Lee long and intimately,
"that he was freer than amy man |
ever knew from the faint OF any pas
sion or party prejudice" He stood
apart from the intrigues, schemes,
and guile of cities and their d%enizens,
AS though unconscious Of their eX-
istencc, but with quiet scorn deep
seated in his heart. He was a line
Judge of character; and his diagnosis
of men and women was too keen and
accurate for him to blind his eyes to
the little p~ettinesses, se~lI-scekinss,
and intrigues which daily came across
him. But although he perceived,
and quietly put them aside, he never
betrayed his consciousness of their
existence, or wounded amour prOprc
10y anything seeming to convey Il re-
prOacll. But, after all, the most WIN
ming OF. bis traits was the affection
and confidence Which, without amy
seeming consciousness, and without
an effort, he inspired in little chill
dren. Often, inthe course of the great
Civil War, he would approach a Viz
ginia farmhouse inhabited by Il
family of whom he knew nothing.
Adored rs he was throughout the
length and breadth of the Old Do
minion, the fame of his approach
| preceded him wherever he went. In
response to the cordial welcome al
ways extended to him, he would de-
| scend from his horse and sit down
for a few minutes upon the porch, ac-
| cepting, perhaps, Il glass OF water,
and possibly II square inch or two OF
corn-brcad, but never taking any
thing more. II might have been
imagined that the gravity and serl-
business of his demean0r would have
possessed little attraction for young
| children. But before many MINUTES
were passed, it was invariably re-
marked tliat one or two children
would be cl0WLiug round his knees,
and, finger III mouth, looking up into
his kind honest face. lie was gencr'
ally surrounded by younger, more
demonstrativc, and more talkativt
officers. But his empire over the
hearts of the young, though, like
all his other great qualities, uncon-
sciOusIy manifested, was irresistible.
lfit may be said without irrevcrencc,
it was impossible at such moments to
forget the cfitcti0n with which the
Master, whom General Lee loved to
| serve, "suilercd little childrcn' to
draw near into His presence, and
| saw in them an image Of that child
like faith which is the shortest and
surcst path to the kingdom of heaven.
One other advantage was gained
by General Lee from the country life
| and simple tastes Of his b0yhoOd,
Tie carried with him into the field
a "supcrb physical health and
strength To quote Mr.. Cookies
word,--"which remained mistaken
by all the hardships of war; The
time has not yet come when the his
tory of The great Civil War in Amer
lea can he fairly and lmpartialIy
written. 1T may reasonably he doubt
ed whe,her such history can eCcI' be
written by any II who took part i'll,
or was an eyewitness of it, upon
| either side. 1t is true that some OF
the greatest military histories of the
wOrId-thOse Tor instance, OF lhucy-
didcs, Nenoph0n, Sir William Napier,
| and General l'oy-hayc been written
by men who themselves fought in
the wars which they have 80 ably
delincated but, with the exception
of the matchlesS masterpieces OF the
two Greek historians, narratives of
wars 10y soldiers who fought in them
are never trec-alt0gethcr tree-lrom
partisan bias. Traces Of it are recog-
nisablc in many passages of Sir VIII
liam Napier; they are of constant
recurrence in the pages Of his French
antique, General Foy. But when
ever Tie story of the American Civil
War is truly and eXhauotively told,
it will become abundantly apparent,
if its chroniclcr does his duty, that
seldom if ever in modern history has
there been a struggle, firstly, upon so
large IL scale; secondly, which was
50 long maintained; and thirdly, in
which the disproportion of the COM
batantS was so great.
Concluded next week.
FAILURE OF NATIONAL BANKS
An eminent linanCier of this city
has kindly placed at our disposal Il