The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-07-29

q COusfQefdDiH lethuN ah""H ~ a.
the army. aud so maiorgeneral wrote e
Generel lee and empbsticsIIy stated that VI
sucn movement was resolved upon, he FOL
one would not carry man IN bis division
: ont OF the State. And The army portion OF
Virginia was not all that opposed this plan
of Dir. Davis. IL became known 10 GOV.
ernor Letcher, who entered an Indignant
/ protest against II, and declared that 70 aban'
ldon Virginia and the capital OF The Conied.
er1cy would be TO sacrifice the cause abd
| lose all the moral force by which they were
/ held together, as well as TO destroy the Etile
esprit du corps which remained In the
troops. The Virginia Legislature also OPP
posed the movement with such v'gor that
the absurd idea OF the President was never
broached again."
PICKETT, HEIH, MALONE, THE LEES, ANp
LETCHER.
After General Lee, IN June. 1864. assumed
the defensive position TO cover Richmond
and Petersburg, the only Virginia major
generals in bis army were Pickett, Hetb,
and Malone. IL Is not credible that either
Pickett or Heth would have written letter
to General Lee stating that II the army was
withdrawn from the defence Of Richmond
he :" would not carry a man in his division
out OF the Stale" Picketys was the only
Virginia division with the army at that
| time-that Is, OF infantry-and Pickett was
soldier by profession, who would never
have thought OF refusing to obey the orders
OF his Government or bis commanding OH
Ger. Moreover, be had not long before the
occupation Of the lines around Richmond
and Petersburg returned from campaign
| i'm North Carolina, where he had carried bis
| Virginia division without murmur from
man or officer. He.h had in his division put
the remnants OF three Virginia regiments,
which constituted less than bali OF one
OF his four brigades. Heth would have died
before he would have uttered such threat,
and il he had uttered il, and trie1 to enforce
| it when the contingency happened, his dlVi'
sion OF Carolinians, Mississippians, Tennes-
Seeans, and Alabamans would have gone
without him, and the Virginians would nave
followed too. Malone, therefore, was the
only Virginia major. general who could have
uttered the threat, and OF bis five brigades
only one was from Virginia, the rest beng
Georgiaus, Mississlppiaus, Alabamians, and
Floridians. IL be had made any such
threat 10 General Lee the latter would have
been derelict in his duty Il he had not IN
stanty removed him from his position as
division commander and supplied his
place with a truer and better man. 1t
| is not 10 he supposed for a moment
that such a threat came from either w. II. f..
or Fitz. Lee, the only Virginia maior-gene.
rails OF cavalry. The one was the son and
the other the nephew Of General Lee.
Letcber went out OF office as Governor on
the lst Of January, 1864, and could not
therefore have entered an Indignant protest
against any proposition 10 abandon Rich-
mond and Petersburg while Grant was be-
Ieaguering them. Is II pretended that Mr..
Davis contemplated abandoning Virginia
when General Lee held the Federal army at
bay on the banks OF the Rapidan and Rap
pahannock? Malone tells a little too much
on the subject to receive credence at the
hands Of men OF intelligence.
In reference TO Mr.. Davis's statement that
General Lee never contemplated surrender,
| the interviewer reports Malone az saying
"The statement that General Lee never
contemplated surrender Is not true. bad
conference with General Lee in his own
quarters at Appomlttox Immediately after
| The surrender, when, in discussing the lat
ter DAYS OF The COniederacy, he said to me
that some time before, during the winter,
be had urged upon Mr.. Davis the desira-
bIity OF making terms with General Grant.
| He detailed to me some OF the CONVERSE
tions with Mr.. Davis, which | do not now
recall. Davis, he said, would not listen to
the proposition, and insisted that be
must fight TO the last. General Lee told me
| that he explained to Mr.. Davis the stu
alton OF the two armies, the condition
of his transportation, and the inferiority
OF his command in point Of numbers to that
| Of Grant, and that when Grant attacked him
| it would be next to impossible to get away,
and therefore that terms had better be made
without further loss OF life or property.
| Grants cavalry, his artillery horses, and bis
| Transportation were in excellent condition.,
aud only nine miles from his base OF sup
plies. Lees were quite the reverse, and he
had no supplies TO be spoken OF in case OF a
retreat. The talk between General Lee and
myself upon this subject marked Itself
most indeliblY upOn my memory, for be
eyinced so much feeling in reference 10 Mr..
Dayis's refusal to make terms that | said +:
"'I wish you had called a conference OF
your officers after DaYis's refusal
"'What would they have done!' said
Lee.
"sTbey would have taken the matter into
their own hands, said ], 'and authorized
YOU to deal with the matter according to
your own Judgment
"General Lee thought a moment, and
then said, : 1t is too late TO remedy mistakes
now"
GENERAL MALONE AND COLONEL JOHN w.
FAIRFAX.
II seems that Malone and Colonel John W..
Fairfax are the only persons to whom Gen.
era Lee unbOsOmed himself in confidence
at AppomaltoX after the surrender. The
q ~ teka Of in 4
andria Gazette last year In regard to an
alleged interview with General Lee. in
which the latter is represented as being very
c0nfding indeed; but no one who had any
knowledge OF the parties believed one word
OF that statement. There is no good reason
why any more credence should be given to
the statement now Furnished Of General