Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-08-20
Robert Z. Lee on the War.

An anonymous chaplain of the fifteenth
corps. army of the Tennessee, gives the
Cincinnati Commercial, very interesting
report Of an interview he had with the
late General Robert f. Lee, when Sher-
mans army, then on its march to Wash
ington, stopped for a few. days in Rich
mond, from which we take few extracts.
Lincoln's assassination having occurred
but few days before, Lee referred to it
and said THE death of that eminent
citizen has filled me with horror. If there
were blemishes in his character, his life
exhibited some splendid and rare virtues.
lie was one of the most extraordinary
men that ever lived in our country. His
heart was grand and large. lie was
constitutionally pensive. Had he been
spared. the south would be treated with
honorable propriety and with a gallant
generosity; good will and friendliness
would haYe marked his treatment of the
the people of the SOUTH" The general
denounced Booth as ''cowardly rnffian, :"
and declared that 'phe soldiers of the
southern army and the people regard the
murder of Lincoln as a crime against
our Christian civilization and our common
humanity" Lee, like Longstreet, went
into the war of the rebellion unwillinply.
He remarked:
| was opposed to the war at the onset.
| wept when heard of the bombardment
of Fort Sumter! | sought retirement so
that might not hear or see any of the
political leaders, the great end and aim of
whose craftsmanship was to preepitate
the havoc that subsequently swept their
fields and cities. But when Virginia, nv
native state, seeded. there was only one
course for me to pursue. namely, to fol-
low her fortunes. Had it not been for the
politicians, Davis, Toombs, Yancey and
others, the war would never have begun.
OF General Grant, Lee spoke in the
highest and most friendly terms, ascribing
to him the possession of the noblest
attributes of American manhood, and of
all the requirements and talents for the
organization of armies. Said General
Lee:
l wish to do simple justice to General
Grant, when l say that his treatment of
the army of southern Virginia is without
parallel in the history Of the civilized
world. When my poor soldiers, with
iamished faces, had neither food nor raj
ment, it was then that General Grant
issued the humane order that forty thou
sand rations should be furnished to the
impoverished troops. And that was not all
OF his magnanimity. was giving direc.
tions to one of my staff officers, when
making out the list Of things to be surren-
dered, to include the horses. At that
moment, General Grant, who seemed to
be paying no attention to what was trans
piring, quickly said: mo, no, General
Lee, not horse-not one-keep them all
Your people will need them for the spring
cropsr'
In answer to an inquiry whom he con-
sidered the greatest of the Federal gener-
ais, he replied: "Indeed sir, have no
hesitation in saying General Grant. Both
as a gentleman and an organizer of victo-
rious war, General Grant hath excelled
all your most noted soldiers. He has
exhibited more true courage, more real
greatness OF mind,more consummate pru-
dence from the outset, and more heroic
bravery than any one on your side"
The causes of the failure of the confed-
eracy were thus set forth in the interview
by General Lee:
The most conspicuous reason was the
superiority in men and in resources of the
north. The United States had all the
advantages-a land Of boundless wealth.
cities secure from the horrors of civil war,
and a constant stream of emigrants to fill
up the depleted ranks Of your armies.
The numbers against us were enormous.
The population of the south was never
more than 100000 With five to one
against them, the southerners performed
a mighty work, and made gigantic step
toward their independence.
Another cause lay in the vanity of MANY
of our people. The first battles of the
war being favorable to us, the south was
wild with confidence, and the whole coun-
try was thrown into Il ferment of excite
ment. 1t was doubtful, indeed, whether
one in a thousand of our people supposed
for Il moment that there was any doubt of
an immediate and Il successful termina-
ton of the struggle. The public meetings
were in every case too enthusiastic. The
people were carried away by reclamation.
The cheering proved to be our folly. This
excess of confidence lost us New Orleans
and many other cities.
A much more serious difficulty arose
from the mistaken view of the southern
cause by the philanthropists of the old
world. They were led to believe that we
were fighting for the perpetuity of slavery,
and that the establishment of the confed.
eracy would be the reopening of the
African slave trade. This opinion shook
the faith of great and good men in the
south. The conscript law was another
effective check TO our success. Instead of
being benefit it wos curse-a badge of
disgrace. The rich were favored; false
hood and assimilation were its natural
results, suspicion and mistrust arose where
confidence and reliance should have hap
PLY prevailed. The attitude preserved bby
Mr.. Davis and other leaders in opposition
to the arming of negroes, policy which
| have always believed TO be expedient.
proved most disastrous. The widespread
poverty of the country. accompanied by
the just conviction that all further efforts
were hopeless, these and other forces
worked to one final result, the failure of
the confedcracy.
The political situation in Canada is un-
very much disturbed. A CORE