Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-07-16
GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.
RE COLLECTIONS OF THE FAMOUS
COME psRATE cHlgFTAIN.
Tho Great vIr-inian's struggle when Hos
tiiitiss brought the Issue Before Hin.
"Ds what Honor BIDS"

and bound that would haye shaken must
horsemen out of the saddle. But II onlS
served TO display the riders a1iniraDie
cavalr, sent TO PERFECTION. A simul tansous
murlnur of admiration won't up from tho
old troopers about.
Fitzhugh Lee Is the son OF General n. T..
Lees brother. Captain Sidney Smith Lee
"a captain in the United States navy when
the war began. but who resigned and went
South. Had the war continued titz
Lee, as ne is generally known, would nave
been a Northumberland IN three months,
for he was the most promising OF al the
Young cavalry officers that had their train
ing under Stuart. FiiZ Lee was o lien:
tenant IN his uncle's regiment, the Second
Cavalry, when tn. war began and had dts
tinguished himself in half score OF In
man fights He was nearer to stuart than
any other officer OF the cavalry CORPS ana
had that officer named his own successor
the command would have been gwen to
Fitzhugh Lee
General Lees sons were all in the Con-
federate army. Two of them. q. W. Gus
tbs Lee and William Heury Pitzhugh Lee.
were maJor-generals, while the youngest,
Robert E., who Is more like his father
than any OF the Others IN looks, was In the
artillery.
but IN Bob"
At Antietam, Just after the artillery had
been sharply engaged, the Rockbrld2e
(Va.) Batter was standing waiting orders.
General Lee rode by and stopped mo-
ment. A dlrty-faced driver about IL said TO
him:
General, are you going to put US in
AGAIN."
Think Of such Q question from such a
source TO the general OF On army, espe-
cIally when that generals name was Lee.
Yes, nv boy" the stately officer kindly
answered. " | have to put you in again"
" But what IL your name! Your lace
seems familiar somehow"
II don't wonder you didn't know me.
sir" laughed the lad. Pm 30 dirty. But
I'm Boz
1t was the generals Youngest son whom
he had thought safe at the Virginia Mill
tary Institute. God bless you. my son;
do your duty !" end the general rode on.
FOND OF Ho8srs.
Nothing ever so panied Lee az to leave
the old army. He was on leave early in
1881 and lived Of Arlington. Almost daily
be rode over to Washington. He was
always IN Immaculate riding costume and
rode the best horses that could be bought.
Yes, | am somewhat extrayaRent IN the
matter of horses" said Colonel Lee with
gravity TO a friend, but a horse is the
noblest work of God after humanity. |
do not consider II an extravaganza TO
own the very best horses your means will
permit"
II was n charming spring day. the 9th
of April 10 1861, when Colonel Lee severed
his connection with the United States
army. And here 1t may be said that not
since CHRIST was taken upon the mountain
to be tempted Of Satan has any man been
so tempted as was r. +. Lee. II was
known that General Scott would soon re-
tire. Old Francis y. Blair told q friend
that he went to II. T.. Lee IN person and
told him he could have command of the
United States army within the year 1881.
On one side were the highest honors of
the service he had been bred in. A great
war was coming on. With it might arrive op-
portunitIes for renown and distinction that
were beyond ambitions widest dreams.
On the other side was-what! A future
that was uncertain. and beyond that God
alone could see. But Lee never hesltated
or faltered where he thought be was right.
And 50 on that sunny day. 27th of April. rs
he rode along the way be would ride no more
10 man could see aught in his tirm. Impas-
sivo face that indicated the storm in his
mind and heart. He went TO the War De-
partment. Lleutenant-Colonel Il. ID.
Townsend afterward sdiutant-general,
and Major W. A. Nichols were on duty.
WITH GbNEhAL SCOIIs
81 wish to see General Scott" said
Lee. after exchanging the usual saluta-
lions.
SO one of them summoned him. He re-
NAMED with the venerable Virginian aud
soldier almost two uninterrupted hours.
What valuable contribution TO the his
tory OF the period q full report Of that
conversation would be Finally Lee went
out. very pale and evidently under deep
emotion" says an officer who happened 10
see him as he left the venerable friend he
was never to see more.
OF all the episodes Of war. there Ia mono
fuller of pathos than this. As he walk ed
away Lee felt that be was leaving oil his
hopes behind him. 1t happened that he
met Ben. Hardin Helm, a Confederate
general who died at Chickamauga, az the
threshold of the War Department. Helm
had been cadet at West Point while Lee
was superintendent and stopped to speak
to his old-time commaDdant. Helm, toe,
was agitated. for he was brother-in-lav to
Mr.. Lincoln. who that very day had of
tered him the place of major and paymas-
ter. "rice Longstreet. resigned" All this
Helm told Colonel Lee.
b II cannot help you." said the stately
Virginian. "for within the last hour |
have given up my own career. have left
the United States army. My own mind is
too much disturbed TO advise you. Eut
do what conscience and honor bid"
OF Lee as soldier of the great war. his
tory is full. There was one curious fact
in General Lees selection of his staf after
he succeeded General Joseph l.. Johnston
in the command of the Army OF Northern
Virginia. IL was that his STAFF was mainly
composed of bright young fellows who had
come from the Virginia Military Insti-
tute. and not of West Pointers. Colonel A.
Il. Mason. then General Johns,oa's chief
adjutant-gensra!, went West when Gene
raj Johnston was ordered to command the
Army of the Tennessee. General Lees
stan was Acknowledgement Walter II.
Taylor Inspector (frst), II. Fl. Chiffon:
John Lawrence Corley, West Pointer.
was his chief auartermaster; A. l.. Long,
a West Pointer, military secretary, and
af.erward chief Of artillery of Lees army.
while w. II. Venable and Charles Marshall
were A. ID. C.'s. all with the rank OF colo
mel.
KIND AND COURTEOUS.
Never have seen or known such
man as General Lee" said poor Corlev.
who died by his own hand not long after
the war. II saw HIM every day for hours.
No officer could DO kinder or more courte-
Gus. But h. was hedged about By some
thing-a strong. natural dignity that no
man upon earth ever broke through
Senator John w. Daniel probably best
estimated General Lees character In his
incompatible Grafton at Lexington, Va,
June 49, 1888, when he said i" When the
n