The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-05-20
GENERAL ROBERT y. LEE.
His Acceptance Of the Command OF the COnfed.
crate Army OF Virginia.
(From the Chicago TribuneJ

.
His Acceptance of the Command of the Confed-
crate Army OF Virginia.
From the Chicago Trbune)
''Did L ever tell you," said ex-senator
Homeroy, OF Kansas, to me the other
day, that was present when tho COM
mand of the Confederate army was offer
ed to General Lce?"
ono"
"Wcll, | was; / stood within six feet
of him. Nobody in tho party knew mo
us had just arrived III Washington from
Kansas, and was almost an entire stranger
here. Kansas was admitted, you re-
member, during the last days of Buchan-
ans administration, and Lane and I
were elected to the Senate. We came to
Washington with lot of Kansas fellows
to see what the secessionists were doing,
and were on the cars when we heard that
Fort Sumter had been fired upon.
''But | am going to tell you about
Lee. was keeping diary then, as [
have ever since, and do now. Only the
other day L was reading it over, and it
recalled to me that about the 10th or
18th of April, 1861, committee of
twelve men came mp from the secession
convention, then meeting at Richmond, !
and stopped at the hotel where I was. I
used to circulate ground among them,
trying to find out what they were up to,
and discovered that they had come to
SEQ General, who was over at Arlington.
One afternoon about 4 o'clock they start
ed OIL III carriages, and n friend of mine
and L got III buggy and followed them.
we joined the procession before it got to
Arlington, and acted just rs if we were
Il part of their crowd. When we reached
the old mansion General Lee, who was
evidently not expecting any callers, came
out Ill his drcssinggown and slippers,
and tell you he was as noble looking
a man rs ever | saw He had been sent
for by General Scott, and came from
California, you remember, to use his inhu
ence to prevent Virginia from going out
OF the Union, and while he had not
made any public declaration, people gen
orally understood that he was opposed
to secession, so we watched what was
going on with a great deal of interest
"Ihc chairman presented the dele
gates to the General one by one, and
when they had been introduced he be-
gan speech which I wrote down as
nearly as L could remember it in NV
diary that night. 1t was very nearly in
these words: General Lee, we are au-
thorlZed ny the convention now III scs-
, sion ut Richmond to convey to you IN
expression of the confidence and esteem.
as one of the most esteemed citizens Of
:. Virginia, and to tender You the conf
mand of the troops that have been raised
-, TO protect the old State from the peril
:, which now cOnfonts her. We are en-
couraged by the belief that you, as n
son of Virginia, will respond to her call
and direct the military forces so as TO
prevent the military invasion Of her
sacred soil We know that large bodies
OF troops arc being organized in the
north for coercion of Our people. and
they will be resisted by every patriotic
citizen of the Commonwealth The con-
Ventlon at Richmond is awaiting anxious
ly for our return with your answer. as
your acceptance will give strength and
encouragement to the people,
'Io this Lee responded briefly and
directly. He stood II moment with n
determined expression upon his face, as
If the mind was fully made up, but he
was not certain how to express himself.
My friend and |, from what we had
heard, expected that he would decline
and tell the committee to 20 home and
abandon the secession programme. lie
started out all right in his reply. Gen
tlemcn, said he, Il am opposed to war,
although bred to the profession of arms
am especially opposed to civil war. to
strife between brothers. | regret that
one section Of this country is uraved
against the other
Cup to that" continued Mr.. Pomcrov
~ Thought he was gong to decline, but
ms next words scared me: Il heard the
voice of Virginia, he said, 'of the moth
er that bore me, whose soil is as sacred
as the ashes Of my father buried there.
Hes gone, said to my friend, 'hc's
made up his mind, and his next words
were: u cannot resist the call of the
sovereign State to which ! owe my first
allegiance; but remember, gentlemen, I
shall draw my sword i'll her defense, and
with the prayer that we, in defending
our rights. may not be compelled to shed
the blood of our brcthrcn.'
'Hc then said that he would 20 to
Richmond at once and report in person
to the government.
"fhc next morning everybody knew
that Lee had gone to Richmond, and
within twcnty-fonr hours the newspapers
contained his order upon assuming COM
mand of the Virginia troops"
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