Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-02-07


this patient, long.sufferinp man
His faith in God was as aboundino
as when in July of 1862 he forced
mcclellan to retrace his steps down
the PENINSULA. The capital of the
oohtederacy was thus relieved from
threatened Investment, and the
oVerrated" leader of the West
virginia campaign became the
nero of the hour. OF this event
Lee wrote to Mrs. Lee these simple.
modest lines: 81 am filled with
gratitude to our Heavenly Father
Tor all the mercies He has extended
TO us. Our success has not been as
great or as complete as VIC cov,a
nave desired; but God knows wha,
is best for u.s."
HIS WILL BE DONE.
After the SANCTUARY contest at
Antietam and the consequent failure
OF the first Maryland invasion, Cen
eral Lee received intelligence of the
death OF his youngest daughter and
most favorite child. To Mrs. Lee
he wrote: "But God in this, as in
all things, has mingled mercy with
the blow in selecting the one best
prepared to leave US. May YOU be
aole TO join me in saying, His will
be done.n
The successful resistance of
Burnside's attack at Fredericksburg
stimulated the belief in the South
that Lee would lead his cause to a
certain and victorious end. Ex-
pressions of confidence in his ability
were widespread. Lee learned of it.
and against it entered this mild pro.
test to Mrs. Lee: 81 tremble for
my country when I hear of the con-
fidence expressed in me. know
too well my weakness, and that our
only hope is in God" When the
shattered remnant Of Pickett's mag
niticent division returned to their
lines after having made the grand
est charge" Of history across the
field of Gettysburg, Lee, "with
that wonderful magnanimity which
he so fully possessed, took all the re-
sponsihility on his own broad should
ers. 1t is all my fault he ey.
claimed" While waiting on the
banks of the Potomac after the bat
tie OF Gettysburg for the raging wa:
ters to subside, Lee learned of the
capture by the Union forces of his
son, General w. II. F. I.1.. With
that same sublime resignation with
which he had accepted the sterner
DEGREES of fate, he asked Mrs. Lee to
bear this additional affiiction with
fortitude, and not repine at the will
Cf God. Ii will eventuate in some
good we know not of now."
HIS ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY.
Anxious as he was to place the Po-
tomac between his army and that Of
Meade, he waited patiently for low
water. "Had not the river unex-
pectedly risen," he wrote, call
would have been we'll with us but
God in his all.wise providence willed
otherwise"
AS the retreat toward Richmond
progressed the condition of the army
day by day became more despairing.
Food, clothing and forage became
scarce, and the men grew weak and
sick from exposure and hard service.
"twin disaster" at Gettysburg, the
cause of Southern arms, which had
already reached flood-tide, now "be-
gun to ebb from the mountains Of
Pennsylvania until lost in the hills
of AppomattOX." Lee was seized
with the conviction that he was re-
sponsible for some of the disasters
which had befallen his cause, and
rendered his resignation rs chief of
the Army of Northern Virginia.
He begged President Davis to ap-
his stead. ~ know" he wrote,
"that he will have as gallant and
brave an army as ever existed to
second his efforts, and it would be
the happiest day of my life to see at
its head worthy leader-one that
would accomplish more than l can
perform, and all that have wished"
While Grant was beginning to
draw his formidable forces around
and about the shattered remnant of
Lees army at Richmond and Peters
burg in the summer and autumn of
1864, Notwithstanding the Fremont
tions he had already had of the be-
ginning OF the end, Lee was not only
hopeful, but even cheerful. On the
anniversary of his marriage he wrote
to his wife, then confirmed invalid a:
Do you recoilect how happy a aay
thirty-three years ago to-day was ?
God has been very merciful and kind
to US, and how thankless and sinful
l have been ?"
AS the rigors of winter came on
the thoughts of the leader turned to
his ragged, ili-fed and poorly-housed
soldiers. Mrs. Lee and friends,
/" with large hearts and small MEANS"
worked day and night making socks
for the blistered and st.bitten feet
OF her husbands men. AS their con.
tributiOns were from time to time re-
ceived, General Lee would often in
person distribute the warm foot wear
to the most needy. In acknowledg
ing the receipt of consignment OF
socks he once wrote: we have
thousands of barefootod men, thou
sands with fragments of shoes, ant
all without overcOats, blankets ol
warm clothing. Tell the girls t
, send all they can. wish they coulC
make some shoes, too"
THE SURRENDER.
Even after the preliminary CORES
pondence had passed between Gran
and Lee at AppOmattox, Lee hat
been $50 earnest in trying to extri
cate his troops and carry them South
that he had failed to recognize tht
hopelessness of further resistance, o.
the emergency that called for the sur