The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-04-12
COLUMBIA, A. NNEssEE; APR1Lqa pfsya 3

enemy with whom he had to do. n
3 felt that, Charlottesville, like .Fred
l eriesburg, would produce little effee
I upon the North, and that "anothe
Union army,p magnifieently armet
: in every respect, would again tax,
: the field before many weeks hat
e passed. Heart-sick at the flow O
8 blood by which he was surrounded
2 his road lay over ground where thu
hottest fighting had. taken place
: and dttendri by the recent wounds OF
Stonewlll Jackson, from which, how.
ever, upon the morning in question
he did not anticipate fatal result
General lee said, in wearinees and
anguish, "AilI want of then1a' 1.-THE
Federals) "to do. is to leave us what
we are, plain Virginian farmers.''
There never was man who had in
him so little of the .'spolitician," as
his own cOuntrymen understand that
term. ~ think" said Mr.. Carlisle,
the well.known lawyer of Washing
ton, man of high character, who
had known Lee long and intimately,
"that he was freer than any man
ever knew from the taiAt-of any pas
sion or party prejudice" He stood
apart from the intrigues, schemes,
and guile of cities and their denizens,
as though unconscious of their ex-
istence, but with quiet scorn deep
seated in his heart. He was fine
judge of character; and his diagnosis
of men and women was too keen and
accurate for linn TO blind his eyes to
the little pettinesses, self-scekings,
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 saoropre
by anything seeming to convey re-
! prOach. But, after all, the most win
ming of bis traits was the affection
and confidence which, without any
! seeming Consciousness, and without
an effort, he inspired in little chill
dren. Often, in the course of the great
Civil War, he would approach a Vir-
ginia farmhouse inhabited by a
family Of whom he knew nothing.
AdOred as 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
b."
scend from his horse and sit down
for few minutes upon the porch, ac-
cepting, perhaps, a glass of water,
and pOssibl y q square inch or two of
cOrn-bread, but never taking any
thing more. 1t might have been
imagined that the gravity and seri-
BUSINESS of his demeanor would have
possessed little attraction for young
children. But before many minutes
were passed, it was invariably re-
marked that one or two children
would he crowding round his knees,
and, finger in mouth, looking up into
his kind honest face. He was gener-
ally surrounded by younger, more
demonstrative, and more talkative
officers. But his empire over the
hearts of the young, though, like
all his other great qualities, uncOn-
sciously manifested, was irresistible.
If it may be said without irreverence,
it was impossible at such moments to
forget the effectiOn with which the
Master, whom General Lee loved to
serve, suffered little children" to
draw near into His presence, and
saw in them an image of that child |
like faith which is the shortest and |
surest path to the kingdom of heaven. |
One other advantage was gained |
by General Lee from the country life |.
and simple, tastes of his hQyhOOd. |
He carried with him into the field |
"superh physical health and
strength ito quote Mr.. Cookies
words-"which remained unshaken
10y all the hardships of war;" The
ln. 1,n hi
tory of the great Civil War in Amer |
lea can be fairly and impartially |
written. 1t may reasonably be doubt- |.
ed whe, her such history can ever be J
written by any one who took part in,
or was an eyewitness of it, upon
either side. 1t is true that some of
the greatest military histories of the
wOrid-thOse for instance, of Thucy-
dides, Xenophon, Sir William Napier,
and General FOy-have been written
by men who themselves fought in |
the wars which they have so ably |
delineated; but, with the exception
of the matchless masterpieces of the
two Greek historians, narratives of |
wars by soldiers who fought in them
are never free-altOgether free-from
partisan bias. Traces of it are recOg-
nisable in many passages of Sir Will
liam Napier; they are of constant
recurrence in the pages of his French |
antitype, General Foy. But when
ever Tie story of the American Civil
War is truly and exhaustively told,
it will become abundantly apparent,
if its chronicler does his duty, that |
seldom if ever in modern history has,
there been struggle, firstly, upon so
large scale; secondly, which was
so long maintained; and thirdly, in |
which the disprOportiOn of the COM
batants was so great. l''
One of England's greatest soldiers,
Sir Charles James Napier, eXclaims,
"How much more depends upon the
chief than upon the numbers of an
army! Alexander invaded Persia |
with only 10000 foo. and aG60 horse
Hannioal entered Italy with 10000
foot and 6oOO horse, having lost 81, coo
men in crossing the Alps. What did
he attempt with this small army?
The conquest of Italy from the RO-
mans, who, with their allies, could |
bring into the field 100000 men in
arms; and he maintained the war
there for fifteen years" Without |
maintaining that General Lee, who
was neither an Alexander nor q Ham
nibal, had such odds against him as
these two great, captains OF ancient
history, we doubt whether any gem
eral OF modern history ever sustained
for four years-a far longer time now
adays than HannibaPs fifteen years |
in the remote pasta war of which,
wbiIa diSpOSjpp of ScantV resources |
himself, he had against b I'M so enOr-
nous an aggregate OF men, horses,
ships, and supplies. 1t is an under
rather than over estimate OF the re- |
spective strength of the two sections
to state that, during the first two
years the odds, all told, were ten to |
one, during the last two twenty to
one, against the Conf fsderates. y
-The courage of the rank and file of |
the rebel army is refreshing to con-
template in these days, which have |
seen a European war between two |
nations equal in numbers and re-
sources triumphantly closed in seven |
months, and stained by the three un-
precedented capitulatiOns' of Sedan,
Metz, and Paris. Rut, after all, the
one name which, in connection with
tue great American Civil Mar, pos |
teris narydt,tna drteQe trddftun super
stes erin is the name Of Robert E. Lee.
1t is not likely that any biographer
or historian will ever portray him as
he seemed to those who served by his
side and knew him best. 1t is as
inpcssibIe to describe as to prove
negative and the negations of Gem
Y IL. nfn