Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-19

spif-coptrol. tuus IL tWice occuFIeu III ''o
os,n,aign against Grant that tho men
sc'Sad his bridal to restrain him from his
,'urnose 10 lead them in charge.
III was always careful not to wound the
sors;h;Iities OF any one. and sometimes
y,;tb an exterior Jest or compliment would
80 What II properly appreciated, was in
s,ruction for the bciter performance of
some duty; for example. VI he thought
General officer was not visiting his com
mand as early and as often as was desirable
he might admire his horse and sugges, that
The animal would be improved by more ex-
ercse.
Ue wa. not Of the grave. formal nature
,b.t he seemed to some who only know
him when sad realities cast dark shadows
men b,,n. but even then the humor natu-
raj 70 him would occasionally break out
For instance. General Lee called at my
office for a ride to the defence OF Rich
mond. then under construction. lie was
mounted on q stallion when some KIND
friend had recently sent MN. rs mount
cd my horse his was rsst:ve and Kicked at
mine. We rode on quietly together, though
Lee was vatchful to keep his horse IN
order. Passing by On encampment we saw
near tent two stations tiet at a safe dis:
lance from one another. here" SAID
he zig a man worse of than am When
aqked to explain, he said Don't you see.
be has two stalllonsi have but one"
His habits had always been rlGidly tenn
perate, and his fare IN camp was OF me
SIMPLEST. [ remember on one battlefield
ri1ino uast where he and his staff were
taking their luncheon. He invited mo to
share IL. and when | dismounted for the
pnrpose il proved TO have consisted
onlr of bacon and cOrnbread. The
bacon had all been eaten, and there were
only some crusts Of coru-bread left, winch,
however. having been saturated with tho
bacon gravy. were in those hard tunes aito-
cethcr acceptable, as General Lee was as
sured in order TO silence his regrets.
While he was on duty IN South Carolina
and Georgia Lees Youngest son. Robert,
then mere boy, left school and came down
TO Richmond. announcing bis purpose 10
90 into the army. His older brother, Gus
It's. was member of my staff. and after a
conference we agreed that It was useless 10
send the boy back TO school, and that he
probably would not wat IN Richmond Tor
the return of his father; so we selected
battery which had been organized IN Elcht
mond and sent Robert to JON IT. General
Lee told me that al the battle Of Sharps-
burg this battery suffered 90 much that 1t
had TO he withdrawn for repairs and some
fresh horses but, as he had no troops even
TO form a reserve, as soon as the battery
could be made useful 1t was ordered for
ward. He SAID that rs it passed HIM a boy
mounted rs a driver Of one of the guns
much stained with powder. said: Are You
going to put Us in ,ain. General: After
replying to hun IN the affirmative ne WaI
struck by the voice of the boy and asked
him Whose son are youf 7" 10 which ne
answered. Il am Robbie" whercupon his
father sad: God bless you. my son. you
must go in"
When General Lee was in camp near
Richmond his friends frequently sent HIM
something TO improve ls mess-table. n
LADY noted for the very good Tread she
male had frequently favored him with
some. One day, ~ We were riding through
the street, she was standing III ner front
door and bowed to Us. The salutation was,
of course, returned. After we bad passed
he asked me WHO she was tod MIN she
was the lady whO sent him such good
bread. II, was very sorry he had not
known il, but to 90 back would prove that
he had OF recognized bor as lie should
have done. His habitull avoidance Of any
seeming harshness. which caused nm
sometimes, Instead Of giving command,
to make q suggestion. was probably de-
feet. believe thai he had IN this manner
indicated that supplies wereto be deposited
for II at Amelia Courthouse, but the tes-
timonv of General Breckenridge. Secretary
~ 7. u
General, and Lewis llOrvie, president OF
the Richmond and Danv.lle railroad. con-
clusvelv proves that no such requ 81
ton was made upon either OF the
persons who should have received 1T;
and. further. that thcTn were supplies
both az Danville and Richmond winch
could have been sent to Amelia Court
House if informal on had been received
that they were wanted there.
Much / as been written ID regard TO the
failure to occupy the Round Top at Gettvs-
burg earlr in the mOrniag of the second
DAVIS battle. 10 which failure the best ludS-
ment attributes our want Of entire success
in that battle. Whether this was due to
the order not being sufficiently positive or
not, will leave to the historians who are
discussing that important event. have
81 d that Lees natural temper was com
batiye, and to this may be ascriDed his
attack on the third day at Gettysburg,
when the opportunity had not been seZed
which his genius saw was the gate 10 VIC
tory. IL was this last attack 10 which l
have thought he referred whom lie sad Il
was all his fault. thereby sparing Others
from whatever blame was duo for what
had previously occurred.
After the close OF the war. while | was
in prison and Lee was on parole we were
both indicted on a charge OF treason; but,
in hot hustle 10 get IN their work. the in
dictment wa drawn with the fatal omls-
sion o. an overt act. General Grant inter-
pOsed in the case IF General Lee. oil the
ground that he had taken his parole and
that he wa, therefore. not subject TO ar
rest. Another grand Jury was summoned
and bill was presented against me alone
and amended by inserting specification, or
overt acts. General Lee was summoned
AZ witness before that grand jury. the
object being 10 prove by him that | was
responsible for certain things done by him
during the WAY. | was IN Richmond, having
been released By virtue Of the writ OF
hHJeas corpus. General Lee met me
very soon after having given his
testimony before the Grand jury, and told
me that 10 the inquiry whether ne lad not.
in the specified cases. acted under nv or
dcrs. he SAID that he had always consulted
me when he had the opportunity, both on
the field and elsewhere: that after sous
SION. if not before, we had always agreed,
and therefore he had done with my consent
and approval only what he might have
done if me had not con -ulted me, ana that
he accepted the full responsibility for his
acts tie said he rad endeavOred TO pre-
sent the matter as distinctly as he could,
and looked up to see what effect he was
producing upon the grand jury. lmmedl-
atelv before him sat big bleck negro, whose
head had fallen back on the rail of the bench
he sat on: his mouth was vide oDen, and
he was last asleep. General Lee pleasantly
added that, if he he'd had any vanity as an
orator, IL would have received rude
check.
Tho evident purpose was to offer to Lee
n chance to escape by transferring 10 me
the responsibility for overt acts. Not only
TO rrpel the suggestion. but unequ,vOcall Y
TO avOw his ind yidual responsible tv, with
all that, under existing circumstances, was
implied in this, was the highest reach OF
moral courage and gentlemaDly pride
Those circumstances were exceptionally
perllous to him. lie had been indicted fol-
treason: the United States President had
vlndictively threatened to make treason
odous the dregs OF society had been
thrown TO the surface; judicial seats vert
held by political Adventures the United
States Judge of the Virginia district has
answered to committee OF Con.
eress that he could pack Jury
SO as to convict Davis or Leland il
was under such surroundings that be me,
the grand jury and testified as stated
above Arbitrary power might perverl
Justice and trample on right, but could moi
turn the knightly Lee from the path OF
honor and truth.
Descended nom long line of illustriou:
warriors and statesmen. Robert Edward
Lee adde new glory TO the name be bore
and, whether measured by martial or al
intellectual standard, viii compare favor
ellv with those whose renutatlOn il de