The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-05-19
GENERAL ROBERT T.. LEE
His Acceptance of the Command of the Conred-
crate Army Of Virginia.
(From the Chicago Tribune

His Acceptance Of the Command nf the Conred-
crate Army of Virginia.
(From the Chicago Tribune
'Did ] ever tell YOU" said ex-senator
PomerOy, of Kansas, to me the other
day, that j was present when the COM
mnnd of the Confederate army was offer
ed to General Lcc?"
"No."
"Well, L was; ] stood within six feet
OF him. Nobody in the party knew me
as 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 /
were elected to the Senate. We came to
Washington with a 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 1
have ever since, and do now. Only the
other day ] was reading it over, and it
recalled to me that about the 10th or
18th of April, 1861, committee of
twelve men came up from the secession
convention, then meeting at Richmond,
and stopped at tic hotel where | was. |
used to circulate around among them,
trying to find out what they were up to,
and discovered that they had come to
see General, who was over at Arlington.
One afternoon about 4 o'clock they start
ed OIL III carriages, and n friend of mine
ana got III buggy and followed them.
We joined the procession before it got to
Arlington, and acted just as 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 III his dressng-gOwn and slippers,
and tell You he was as noble looking
a man as ever saw. He had been sent
Tor by General Scott, and came from
California, You remember, to use his influ-
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 | wrote down AS
nearly rs | could remember it in my
DIARY that night. 1t was very nearly in
these words: General Lee, we are au-
thorzcd by the convention now in scs-
sion at Richmond to convey to YOU an
expression Of the confidence and esteem.
as one of the most esteemed citizens of
Virginia, and TO tender Won the com
mand OF the troops that have been raised
to protect the old State from the peril
which now confronts her. We are en-
conraged by the belief that YOU, as n
son OF Virginia, will respond to her call
and direct the military forces so us 10
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
vcntion at Richmond is awaiting anxious
~ for our return with your n " as
your acceptance will give strcngJh and
encouragement to the people
'To this Lee responded briefly and
directly He stood moment with a
determined expression upon his face, as
II the mind was fully made up, but he
was not certain how to cypress himself
My friend and ], from what we had
heard, expected that he would decline
and tell the committee to go home and
abandon the secession programme. He
started ont all right i'll his reply. Gen
tlcmen, 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 arraycd
against the other.
Cup to that, continued Mr.. Pomeroy,
81 thought he was gong to decline, but
his next words scared me: q heard the
voice of Virginia. he said, 'of the moth
cr that bore me, whose soil is rs sacred
as the ashes of my father buried there.
Hes gone, | said to my friend, hes
made up his mind, and his next words
We're: Il cannot resist the call of the
sovereign State to which l owe my first
allegiance; but remember, gentlemen, I
shall draw my sword in her defense, and
with the prayer that we, in defending
our rights may not be compelled to shed
the blood of our brethren.
''Hc then said that he would 90 to
Richmond at once and report in person
to the government.
"Thc next morning everybody knew
that Lee had gone to Richmond, and
within twenty-four hours the newspapers
contained his order upon assuming com
mand of the Virginia troops"
Artificial Teeth n Prehistoric Product
DIR. Van Marter, of Rome, has pub
liShcd an interesting account of the evi-