Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-03-24
THE BATTLE or csarcrltossuttr.


interest of the Southern Historical
Society, arrived in Nashville Thurs
day the 10th, and delivered his cell
ebrated lecture on "The Battle of
Charlottesville" in the Masonic
theatre that night. Below we give
synopsis of the lecture copied
from the American
Gov. Porter then introduced Gen.
Fitzhugh Lee, who was greeted
with every indication ofdelight and
enthusiasm.
GEN. LEES LECTURE.
With a graceful introduction
Gen. Lee announced as his theme
the "Battle of Charlottesville"
and gave first brief statement of
the events Immediately preceding
/ the movements of Mcclellan after
Sharpsburg, until he was relieved
by Burnside; the battle and great
victory of fredericksburg, the re-
lieving of Burnside and the caustic
letter of Mr.. Lincoln relieving Burn
side and placing Fighting Joe
| Hooker in command. He gave a
NlNlu GhGANAA VI Vic kAGdI
cavalry fight at Kellesvilla, where
splendid Confederate victory was
dearly bought In the fall of"the gall
liant Pelham" TO whom he paid a
touching and eloquent tribute.
Sketching the preliminary move
ments which brought on Chancel-
lorsville, and quoting some very
amusing correspondence between
Mr.. Lincoln and his chieftians, the
General showed that on the eve of
that great battle Gen. Hooker had
under him 132,708 fighting men,
and Gen. Lee 53,303 of all arms.
He proceeded to detail the move
ments by which Hooker crossed the
river at Fredericksburg and at the
upper fords, and held under Sedg-
wick an army opposite the town
equal TO Lees whole force, while
with his moving column at Chan
cellorsville he threatened to move
down on the Confederate flank. He
brought out clearly and ably the
splendid strategy of Lee by which
he had his army like wedge be-
tween the divided wings of the
enemy, and boldly assumed the Of
fensive and showed that the grand
flank movement of jackson was
suggested and ordered by Lee him
self. He gave a very life-like and
and vivid sketch Of the last confer
ence held by Lee and Jackson the
night before the great movement,
and of their parting the next morn
ing as Lee stood on the roadside and
saw Jackson's column file by. Gen.
Fitzhugh Lee had that day the inn
portant duty of shielding with his
brave troopers Jackson's men as
they marched across Hooker's front
to strike him in rear OF his right
flank, and he gave a graphic ac-
count of an interview he had with
Jackson, when he conducted him to
an eminence from which he had q
full view of the enemy's position,
and formed rapidly his plan of
hurling his ''foot calvery" on his
flank. His description of Jacksons
attack and its crushing effect upon
Howard's corps, of the fall of jack
son at the fire of men who would
have laid down their lives for him,
of the calling of Stuart to the COM
mand, and how this ''fiower Of chiv-
airy led the charge and carried line
after line of the enemy's works,
singing at the top of his ringing
voice "Old Joe Hooker won't you
come out of the wilderness ?" the
movement against Sedgwick, which
drove him across the river, the fl
nal concentration against Hooker
and his ignominious retreat, under
cover OF slotr"J- -isHt ~S.S-:.. si-e
Rappahannock, were all admirably
4 haVaA Of n nhln
itary critic, and the vividness Of an
eye witness and participant.
The fresh and exceedingly inter-
esting illustrations Of the humor
and sagaclty of Lincoln, as furnish
ed in the extracts from the letters of
the latter to Gen. Hooker, were
given with zest Indicative of the
speakers appreciation of Lincoln's
strong character.
The ViVidness of the narrative is
nowhere more striking than where
he recounts the personal reconnois-
sance in the rear of Gen. Hooker's
lines at Charlottesville, from the
summit of a hill, to which he inn
mediately guided his commanding
general-the great Stonewall Jack
son. The mute eloquence of jack
sons prayer in view of the COM
manding position revealed to him
his ride down the hill to join his
column and his bad horsemanship
and the young subaltern's chagrin
at being forgotten in the subdued
but intense excitement of the COM
mander at the moment, are recited
with charming frankness, and pre-
sent very realistic picture of the
preliminaries to great battle.
His summing up OF the results OF
the campaign, and quiet humor ov-
er Hooker's famous general order
contained some very fine touches.
His closing eulOgy on Stonewall
Jackson was an eloquent tribute
from a gallant and able soldier to
one of the greatest military genius
es of all history. To speak briefly,
the lecture was an able criticism Of
a great campaign, living descript-
ion of interesting movements, and
an eloquent tribute to the skill of
the Southern leaders and the hero
ism of the men who participated in
one of the most thrilling engage
ments of the war.
The lecture was marked by an
Unaffected simplicity Of language
and delivery, the agreeable tones of
the speakers voice and the consci-
enciOus candor of historic record OF
one of the most thrilling strategic
L., nf th.