Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-09-20
THE LAST YEARS OF
GENERAL LEE.

| [Dr. Henry NJ. Field in the N. Y Evangelist.
''1he last hope of the Confederacy was
dead when Stonewall Jackson was laid in
his grave at Lexington p So said the
Major after he had taken the greater part
| of day in detailing to me, to my intense
| interest, the marvellous career of that
great soldier. But not so reasoned all those
who had fought by Jackson's side. Not so
Jackson himself for when. on hearing of
his wound, Lee wrote to him, "Could l
have directed events, Ishould have chosen,
for the good of the country, to have been
! disabled in your stead" he answered,
| ''No, no ! Better lose twenty Jacksons than
! one Lee!' And now, though jackson was
dead, Lee still lived, and hope lived with
him; victory was still possible; and in that
faith, and under that leadership, the Con-
federates fought on for two years more
Jackson died on the 10th of May, 1868;
but Lee did not surrender till the 9th of
April, 1869 How we'll they fought is
matter of history. They fought as they
could not have fought, had they not been
| led by a great Commander. Some, know,
his campaigns To such [ have only to say
| that it is a very poor compliment to 0atr
leaders and our armies, to question the
ability of one who, with less than half the
numbeFs,* kept back for two years the
tremendous forces of the North that were
pressing in on every side. Whatever others
may say of General Lee, the great soldiers
who fought against him, fully concede his
ksplendid military genius.
But 1t IS not the purpose OF this Letter to
| speak OF his military career. That belongs
to history. The world knows it by heart
But there is a chapter in that life which
the world does not know so we'll. which
ought to be told, to the greater honor of
the illustrious dead.
The war was over. The Northern armies
had returned victorious, while the veterans
of the South, defeated but not diShOnOred
took their way back to their desOlate
homes. The army disbanded and dispers-
ed, what should its leader do? His old
ancestral home, standing on that noble
height which looks down on the Potomac,
and across to the dome of the Capitol, was
in the hands of those against whom he had
been fighting for four years, and had even
! been turned into a national cemetery, in
which slept thousands of the Union dead
whose very ghosts might rise up against
his return. But if he was an exile from
his own home, there were thousands of
across the sea, where his fame had gone
before him, and would have made him a
welcome guest in princely halls. But such
a flight from his country for so he would
have regarded it) was impossible to one of
his chiyalrous spirit. He had cast in his
ioI WIFI MS peopi6; tiieJ lihu DelleVeu III
him and followed him, as they thought, to
certain triumph; he would not desert them
in the day of their adversely.
| OF course, had he been willing to listen
to them, he could have received any num-
Der of business" proposals. Rich money
ed corporations would have been glad to
ssretain" him at any price as President OF
fit OF his great name. One, it is said, Of
Tered him $50, 900 year But he was not
to be allured by such temptations. The
very fact that they were coupled with Of
ferS OF money, was reason enough why he
should reject them all, as he did without
moments hesitation. Nor could he be
lured by any military proposals. Maxi
imillian offered to place him at the head
OF his army if he would 60 to Mexico,
thinking that his genius might save the
fortunes of the falling empire. But he
would not accept any exile, however
splendid. His answer was "I love the
mountains of Virginia still" His work
After his active life he could not sink
down into idleness. With his military
career ended, he must find a new career in
civil life. Besides, he had a proud spirit
of independence, which would not permit
him to live on the bounty of the rich at
home, OF the titled abroad. He would
''work for a living" like the poorest of his
soldiers.
At length came proposal that seemed
most alien to his former pursuits that the
Commander Of the Southern Armies should
become the President of a College And yet
this change from a military to an academic
career, was nOts violent as it might seem.
He had been for three years Superintendent
of the Military Academy at West Point,
where he was associated with young men.
He had been himself a student there, and
| been through all the stages of scholarly
discipline. Besides, the position Of the
College to which he was invited, in Lexing-
ton, Virginia, was attractive to him. 1t was
remote from cities, among the mountains,
and yet within the limits of that "Old
Dominion" which he looked upon as his
mother.
When it was known that he had accepted
the position, his coming was looked for
with great eagerness by the people of Lex
ington; but he did not fix the time, as he
wished to avoid any public demonstration.
But 1t had been arranged that aohen he came,
he should spend a few DAYS in the hos
pitable dwelling in which I was so for
tunate as to be guest. While thus in eX-
pectancy, the Professor was one day taking
a walk, when he saw riding up the street a
figure that he Instantly recognized as the
same that had been SO often seen at the
head of the army; and to make the picture
perfect, he was mounted on his old war
horse-a magnificent iron-gray called
| Traveller "-that had so often borne his
| master through the smoke of battle. He
wore no military uniform, nor sign of rank,
but light Summer dress, while a broad
Panama bat shaded face that no one
could mistake. Advancing towards him,
the Professor told of the arrangements for
his entertainment till he could be estab-
| lisbed in house for himself, and led the
way to his home.
Naturally my friend S family were at first
somewhat awed by the.presence of their il
lustriops guest, Bnt this was soon dissipat-
ed by his simple and unaffected manner
5 What 'broke the ice" most completely
: was his manner with the children. He was
always very fond Of the little people, and
as soon as they appeared, ''Uncle Robert,
f as he was atfectionately called in the army
had them in his ara.s aud on his knees,
till they soon felt perfectly at home with
him: They .'captured'' him at once, and
l he ''captured' them, and in this captured
r their parents also From that moment all
constraint disappeared; though nothing
could ever take from the profound respect
and tender veneration with which they
| looked up to general Lee"
This was in September, 1865, and on the
I'd of October, altar Solemn prayer by the
venerable DR.: White, he took tie oath Of
. office, as required by the lays Of the Col
lega, and thus became its President. Ma
turallg his itame drew great numbers OF
$ students, not only frsn Virginia, but from
. all parts of the South, who We're sager tt
;: ''serve" under such a leader, and the mum
l Der OF undergraduates rosefrom hundred