The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-08-01

he had chance Of matching himself wit
really great commander.
s'He died before his opportunity. alway
respected Jackson personally and esteeme
his sincere and manly character. He i'm
pressed me always as a man Of the Crom
we'll stamp, Puritan-much more of tn
New Englander than the Virginia. If an
man believed in the rebellion he did,
LEE AS A COMMANDER.
This led to remark as to the great an
universal fame of Lee-especially in Eu
rope-a reputation which seemed to groN
every day.
81 never ranked Lee as high as som
others of the army said the General
s'that is to say, never had as much ankle
ty when he was in my front as when Jo
Johnston was in 'front.' Lee was goo
man, a fair commander, who had everythin,
in his favor. He was supported by tn
ported by a large party in the North f.; HI
had the support and sympathy of the outsid
world. All this is of an immense advan
tage to general.
Everything he did was right. He wa
treated like demi-god. Our generals hat
hostile press, lukewarm friends, and 6
public opinion outside. The cry was in the
| air than the North only won by brute force
that the generalship and yalor were witt
the South. Lee was of slow, conserva
tive cautious nature, without Imagination OF
humor, always the same, with grave dignity
I never could see in his achievements what
justifies his reputation. The illusion that
nothing but heavy odds beat him will not
stand the ultimate light of history. know
it is not true.
'sThe South and North were more nearly
matched than you would suppose. The
whole population were in the war. The
100000 of negroes were the same as SOL
diers, because they did the work in the
fields which white men would have to do.
I believe the South had as many men under
arms as the North.''
Take the battle of Shiloh. for instance, :"
continued the General; "the correspondents
and papers at the time all said that Shiloh
was surprise; that our men were killed
over their coffee, and so on. There was no
surprise about it, except perhaps to the
newspaper correspondents. We had been
diminishing for two days before we were at
tackled. At night, before Buell's army came
up, was so we'll satisfied with the result
ond en- oarta;p thot T xyo,,l1 boot Reo,,roror1
even without Buell's aid, that went in per-
son to each division commander and ordered
an advance along the line at four in the
morning. Sherman was the hero of Shiloh.
He really commanded two divisions-hs
own and McClerland sand proved himself
to be consuhmate soldier. Nothing could
be finer than his work at Shiloh, and yet
Shiloh was belttled by our Northern people
so that many people took it as a defeat"
THE ATTACK ON FORT DONELsON.
''Suppose Longstreet or Jackson had been
in commando" said your correspondent:
''If Longstreet or Jackson, said the Cen
eral, ''or even if Buckuer had been in COM
mand, would have made a different cam
paign. In the beginning we all did things
more rashly than later, just as Jackson did
in his earlier campaigns. The Mexican war
made the officers of the old regular armies
more or less acquainted, and when we knew
the name of the general opposing we knew
enough about him to make our plans ac-
cordingy. What determined my attack on
Donelson," said the General, "was as much
the knowledge I had gained OF its command
war progressed and each side kept improv-
ing its armies these experiments were not
possible"
PRESIDENT JoHNSoN's RESOLUTION TO
ARREST LEE.
Your correspondent recalled a rumor cur
rent at the time about the intention of john
son to arrest Lee. eyes, said the Gener-
al, ''Mr. johnson had made up his mind TO
arrest Lee and the leading Southern officers.
1t was when he was making speeches saying
Upon Lees arrest he had decided. I pro-
tested again and again. 1t would come up
in Cabinet. and the only Minister who sup
ported my views openly was Seward. al
him as long as he observed it. On one oc-
casion Mr.. johnson spoke Lee and wanted
to know why any military commander had
a right to protect an arch.traitor from the
laws. was angry at this, and spoke earn
estly and plainly to the President. said
that, as General, it was none OF my business
what he or Congress did with General Lee
or his other commanders. He might do as
he pleased about civil rights, confscation of
property, and so on. That did not come in
my province. But a general commanding
troops has certain responsibilities and duties
and power which are supreme.
ssHe must deal with the enemy in front
of him so as to destroy him. His engage
ments are sacred SO far as they lead to the
destruction OF the foe. made certain terms
with Lee. If had told him and his army
that their liberty would be invaded; that
they would be open to arrest, trial, and ex-
ecution iortreason, Lee would have never
surrendered, and we should have lost many
lives in destroying him. Now, my terms Of
surrender were according to military law,
to the instructions OF Mr.. Lincoln and Mr..
Stanton, and so long as Lee was observing
his parole. would never consent to his ar
rest. Mr.. Seward nodded approval.
should have resigned the command OF the
army rather than have carried out any Or
Ger directing me to arrest Lee or any of his
commanders who obeyed the laws. By the
way, one reason why Mosby became such a
| friend of mine was because, as General,
gave him safe conduct to allow him &c
practice law and earn a.living. Our officers
in Virginia used to arrest leading Confeder-
ates whenever they moved out of theil
homes.
.'Mrs. Mosby went to Mr.. johnson and
asked that her husband might be allowed to
card his living. But the President was in a
furious mood. and told her treason must be
made odious, and so on. She came to me
in distress, and gave the order to allow
Mosby to pass and repass freely. had ne
recollection of this until Mosey called it to
my attention. By the way, Mosby deserves
great credit for his sacrifices in the cause OF