Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-10

90 TO whom he made one DAY, re-
member, true cavalryman's speech.
The mare had trodden on . nail snd
limped painfully as he mounted, when
the General said sadly:
"Poor Nelly ! Iwish there was some
way you could ride me back to camp"
THE END DRAWING NEAR.
What followed in the hot days Of
March and April is familiar to every
body. WAT is not SO well known,
however, is the terrible condition Of
the little force Of southern cavalrywhich
the ander-in-chief succinctly de-
scribed as " two OF three mounted men
on broken-down horses" the men and
horses nearly without food and only
half equipped. With this inconsidera-
BILE force General Fitzhugh Lee was
called upon to meet the numerous and
well-armed cavalry Of General Sheri-
dan, certainly more than ten
thousand in number and mounted
on fresh and well-fed horses. the
pick of the Virginia stables from the
Valley to Petersburg. 1t was not
time, however, to be calculating odds
or specializing upon results, and Gene
raj Fitz Lee was not the man to do so.
At Five Forks, when the huge Gordon
of General Grant was encircliDg Lee,
the southern cavalry drove General
Sheridan within quarter Of mile Of
Dinwiddie Courthouse, and on the SUBJ
sequent retreat Fitz Lee and his men
were engaged in inccssant fighting day
and night in the desperate attempt to
ward off the swarming cavalry Of Gene
raj Sheridan, commanding the Federal
advance. Those who witnessed these
continuous actions from Jetersyille to
Appomattox Courthouse can testify
what soldierly work was performed by
the southern cavalry. They fought as
bravely in this moment OF despair as
they had ever done in their hours Of
victory, and did so to the last.
THE LAST DESPERATE STRUGGLE.
On the morning Of the 9th Of April,
a little in advance of the village Of Apo
mattox Courthouse, the long four years.
struggle ended. Gordon, with his few
skeleton regiments, was sent forward
TO make last attack on a force which
! heard General Custer declare a little
afterwards amounted to eighty thou
sand men," lie was supported by that
gallant soldier, Colonel Thomas Carter,
of the artillery, and the remnant of
Fitzhugh Lees cavalry, now a mere
handful. Gordon attacked with his
infantry, artillery, and cavalry, and
the astonishing fact is a matter Of
record that the Federal line was driven
back nearly mile. But the end had
come and the last success had no re-
suits. General Lee sent flag agreeing
to surrender, and hostilities ceased.
When General Fitz Lee became aware
Of what was about to take place he
turned to the officers and men around
him and said
II don't wish to be included in the
surrender. Come, let's go. General
Lee no longer requires my poor SER
vices"
This is the record in few words of
General Fitzhugh Lee, the present Gov
ernor Of Virginia, and it may explain in
a measure the " wild enthusiasm with
which he was greeted in his canvass.
All over the State are scattered men Of
his old command who fought with him,
and it is natural that they should form
mounted escorts to greet their old
commander. These honest Yirginians,
farmers now like himself, and who,
like himself, have hitched their war
horses to the pillow, do not require to
be told of Fitz Lees record. 1t seems
that others do-the young generation
growing up and those who uttered the
discOurteous taunt in the late campaign
that the Democratic candidate had
nothing to recommend him but his re-
lationship to General r. E. Lee.