The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-08-19
The News Of Lee,2
General Dukc, H. liug,ls, Bfso,s

turnpike sDy Tue s0iQleIA1
were talking about some ordinary jihi
to which I had called his attention.
then Lieutenant Clay galloped up
asked where he could find tho GEN =
General Echols indicated bis press|
and Clay approached aud silently hal
him dispatch. General Echols :op3
and read it. I instantly perceived
it contained momentous and disassi
news. His face became interselyd
and then grew deadly pale.
requested me to follow him out ..
throng. I did 80, and when we:We|
few PAGES away he read me The dfsp
which was from General Lomax, an|
these words: General Lee snrre1d
this morning at or near App0m;
Courthouse. l am trying with my
division and the remnants of Fitz
and Rosser's division to arrange to-
a junction with you. !. q
Although prepared o:hear Of dis3
I had not expected anything 10 drq :
as this, and the announcement am
stunned me. I can never forle the ie
ing of utter dismay and despair M
which I heard it, or the imp
produced upon the troops When theinl
nation reached them. "a
General Echols had not iI,tende
Immediately divulge it. Afier q 6f]
conference we agreed that the ne}
should be concealed, if possibse; from
men until the next day, md lccmmupisI
ed that night only to the brigade nr5
imental commanders. We hoped th&I
some plan might be devised which M01Ia
enable US to hold the troops t0geth4k
until ne could learn what policy would
be pursued by Mr.. Davis, and dSwhetheli y
would be our duty to endeayor To- 0JQi
General Johnston. But 10 copcesls s1h2
a fact when even one man war. .aWsfe
it was impossible. Before NeA
cluded our brief conversation,
from the hum and stir in the :
dark:browed crowds pearest.ns, fh6TTeS
less oscillation of the long column sssi
whisper few along it, the excitemei
which soon grew almost 10 tlnnlt S5h}
the terrible tiding had gotten abtoai
That night no man slept. Strangely
the declaration may now sonlld, tket
was not one of the six or seven .hopssnd
then gathered at ChristianbuYg lRho had
entertained the slightest thought ths
such an event could happen ami dolb
less that feeling pervadedS the rank
the Confederacy.
We knew that Richmond hal fallen
We knew that the heroic army which lad
so long defended Richmond gwas So
retreat. We knew that it would be pom
adic, that its operations could md longer
be conducted upon the method MhIsa
support regular warfare, and that esef3s
thing necessary to maintain IFS efficiency
was lost. We could hazard no cotjecttfS
as to what would be done; yet, tkiat tiie
army of Northern Virginia with Lee at
its head would ever surrender had never
entered our minds. Therefore, thsl inde-
scribable CONSERVATION and amagemenf
which spread like q confagration through
the ranks, when the thing was told; can
scarcely be imagined by one who has not
had q similar experience. 4--.s IS. S.
For four years the people Of The
Southern States had lived under a; ;.sepa.
rate government of their own, aHiI -
looked upon themselves as cons
distinct nationality. 6D
The very fact that To-
been years of struggle, dangei3
fee only the more intensified thell
rations for political separation and and
pendent governmental existence.
What at first may have been with Oh
mass of the population mere prejudice
as some have claimed, or ATHEIST BUT az
ideal love of the freedom which, init
widest sense, means, the right of the
people of every sovereign community ia
control without interference or restriction
taeir own affairs, had grown into5fan
ardent wish for the maintenance of he
Confederacy and q devotion to their
Southern land which was limitlis@:
Previous attachment to their native stsil,
all the ideas and traditions they had be:,n
reared to believe and cherish, all that
contributes. to makeup what is wise ard
good, as we'll as what, in excess, may Die
wrong in patriotism, Was connected lid
their minds with the contest in which
they were engaged and the effort thssF
were making. They were almost readaI
to behave that,a future hope and liEl
itself depended upon success.
To all who read this-save those whs
shared the sentiment-it may seem Inc
credible that the Southern people anE
soldiery can have really felt the blow sF;
keenly, I will ask such skeptics to imag
inc the impression that would be pros
duced upon them by the conviction thai
this country had been suddenly subjugats
ed by some foreign power, and was about
to be overrun and permanently occupied
by its armies and governed by its agents.
The South expected in defeat to be re.
duced to just such condition. General
Lee and his army had been so Unidentified
in our minds with the Confederate ca6Se
that to lose them was like taking the
heart from the body.
During all that night officers and men
were congregated in groups and crowds
discussing the news and it was curious to
observe how the training and discipline
of veteran soldiers were manifested even
amid all this keen feeling and wild .ex.
citement. There. was not one act of
violence, not q harsh or insulting word
spoken the officers were treated with
the same respect which they had previ.
ously received, and although many OF
the infantrymen, who lived in that part
of Virginia went off that night without
leave and returned to their homes, none
who remained wereinsubordinate or failed
to obey orders with alacrity.
Great fires, larger and more numerous
than ordinary camp.fres, were lightened
and kept burning. Every group had its
orators, who succeeding each other spoke
continuously. The men rushed from
one crowd to another, hundreds some.
times collecting about peculiarly fervid
speaker. Every conceivable suggestion
was offered. Some advocated q guerrilla
warfare; some proposed marching TO- the
trans. Mississippi, and thence to Mexico.
The more practically and reasonable, oi
course. proposed that an effort to join
General Johnston should Immediately be
made. Many, doubtless, thought of
surrender, but I do not remember to have
heard it mentioned.
Tao Upper Side.
We speak of the nighttime of sorrow.