The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1890-06-12
Comments of Northern Press on Gen
r. e. Lee.


Comments of Northern Press on Gen
R. E. Lee.
Philadelphia Press, May 3oth
A quarter of a century has passed since
Robert p. Lee surrendered his army al
Appomattox. and the interval has RAISED
the worlds estimate Of him as a man anC
reduced his relative rank as a soldier.
He remains one of the great captains
of the war. General Scott used no ex
aggeration when in 1857 he wrote of him
as 1.-THE very best soldier | ever saw ir
the field" and under General Scott there
fought III active service every great sold
Ter in the war but one, in attack perhaps
the greatest of them all in attack, Phi
Sheridan. The war closed with Genera
Lees military reputation standing high
er abroad than any American command
err ON either side. He was eclipsed in
popular estimate at the North-sss was
naturally one or two of it's own lead
ers, but even at the North the soberel
critics of the war ranked him rs the first
soldier of the great struggle.
The just allowances of Il generation
no less than the ultimate verdict of his
tory, rate. General Lee in the first rank
among those commanders who have
I
ard unequalled skill in retreat
Doubtless the sober poise of character
which he Inherited from his ancestors
and drew from the life about him unfit
ted him for those desperate casts when
natures more rugged or more fiery pass
on to victory. Beyond any American OF
his day General Lee had the reserve, the
elevation and the serenity which the
world has come, rightly or wrongly, to
associate with an honorable lineage.
large means and the advantages of posi-
ton But he also had-and this is the
solitary blemish which history will record
with regret and posterity will prefer to
forget-the fatal hesitation of many a
noble nature in meeting the tides of pop
uar passion and rebuking acts they little
approve.
But these things are gladly forgotten
in memory OF the lofty soul with which
he faced defeat and endured Disaster
We rejoice that in the just and inevita-
bic failure which attended all his efforts
the Americans whom he commanded
their valOr our common heritage and
their heroism our common glory and on
ly their cause their own--had at their
head Il man pure, noble and of unap-
proachable dignity who, alike in war and
in peace, SO bore himself that he won the
respect of all who opposed him and rem
dered the monument yesterday dedicat-
ed the lasting reminder that even in an
i'll cause his countrynen and ours were
led by man worthy of his ancestry
New York Times, May 30th.
The unwilling of the Lee Monument
was accomplished at Richmond yester-
day under impressive circumstances, and
with an enthusiasm that could have been
foretod from the hold which Virginia. IS
great soldier has SO long had upon the
hearts of the people Of the South This
fine tribute to his memory was projected
Immediately after his death in 1870 but
before it could be consummated another
testimonial was planned and executed,
the marble recumbent statue of Lee by
Valentine, IL Virginia sculptor, placed
above the Generals tomb at Lexington
seven years ago. The larger and more
imposing undertaking was then resum-
ed, the equestrian statue of M. Mercie,
unveiled yesterday. Such a monument
may well stand in the city which, as the
capital alike of his native State and, for
a time, of the i'll starred Confederacy,
the valor and the skill of Lee 50 long and
so ably defended. The men who wore
the blue, however they may differ from
those who wore the gray us to the cause
~
none the less hearty praise for his SUI
perb soldiership. They will remember,
too, the calmness with which he took the
success that the fortune of war so often
brought him, the consistency he showed
in his reverses, and the dignity with
which he accepted final defeat.
1t is rather a pity that there were no
organized bodies of representatives of
the North at the unveilng yesterday of
the monument to Gen. Lee The pres
ence of Southern troops at the funeral
of Gen. Grant was recognized as a trib-
ute as honorable to the men who paid it
as to the memory of the hero to whom it
was paid. A quarter of u century after
the close of the war ought to suffice to
put all it's figures in q historical perspec-
tive. Everybody now recognizes that
Falkland and Hampden were both pa
triots according to their lights. Every
body ought to recognize now that there
is no danger that the issue will arise
again, that the soldiers of the Confeder-
acy may have been as conscientious as
the soldiers of the Union. Lee was the
first of these. While he was no doubt
doing what he believed to be his duty in
going with his State" there is no ques-
tion at all that his conduct throughout
the war and after it was that of Il brave
and honorable man. His memory is.
therefore, q possession of the American
people, and the monument that recalls
it is itself a national possession.