The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-20
REcoLLEoTIoNs OF r.. e. LEE.
How He Entertained Three Little
GirIs-ChiIdren Under Fire.

In the life of Gen. Lee, written by MS
nephew, Fitzhugh Lee, may be found the
following extract from a letter of Gen.
Lee to Mrs. Lee, written from his head
quarters near Petersburg. jan 10. 1866:
yesterday afternoon three little girls
walked into my room, each with a small
basket. The eldest carried some fresh
eggs laid by her own hens; the second,
some pickles made by her mother; the
third, some popcorn which had grown in
her garden. They were the daughters
of a Mrs NJ. refugee from Northampton
county, who lived near Eastville. not
far from old Arlington. The eldest Of the
girls, whose age did not exceed eight
years, had a small wheel on which she
spun for her mother. who wove all the
cloth for her two brothers-boys of IL and
II years. l have not had so pleasant a
visit for a long time. l fortunately was
able to fill their baskets with apples,
which distressed poor Bryan (hs steward,
and l begged them TO bring me nothing
but kisses, and to keep the eggs, corn, etc,
for themselves. "
When l read the letter how wildly the
whole scene came up before me! The
many intervening years were blotted out,
and / was again the tiny 4-year-old girl
StdAEh very nlutll at ease OH lli6 BttdA SNii-
erals knee, listening with deep interest to
his conversation with my Oldest sister.
The second little girl, being very shy, sub
sided into a seat and employed herself
chewing her glove-fingers much to the
modification of the nurse who accompa-
MED us, and who was deeply impressed
with the Importance of the occasion.
Our farm was divided only by a fence
from the Turnbull farm, where Gen. Lee
had his headquarters, and the two houses
were only a few hundred yards apart, and
very soon after our visit he called on
my mother. He had completely won our
little hearts, and we were all eagerness
to go in and see him, and after time of
waiting which seemed very long TO us,
and much washing of faces and curling of
hair, we were sent In, with the admoni-
ton from our nurse ITO mind our man
ners." But when Gen. Lee took me up
and, looking at my hand, asked And
how did these little fingers get burned?"
1 forgot all previous exhortations-also all
lessons in grammar-and promptly replied,
me and Althea were pulling roast 'taters
out of the fire." Gen. Lee seemed much
amused, and / proceeded further to en-
tighten him as to various pieces of mis-
chief TO which me and Althea" had been
chief actors. / do not remember how my
dismayed elders checked my unusual flow
of confidence. Ordinarily, j was shrink
ingly sensitive and quiet, so that my out
burst of candor was a tribute to the
charm Of Gen. Lees manner. The AL
thea" to whom | referred was colored
child of my own age, and my constant
companion and dearly loved playmate.
During those last months of the war we
saw a great deal of Gen. Lee, and IL he
ever wearied of our attentions we were
never allowed to see 1t, and we always
kissed him at parting with the feeling
that we had given him great deal Of
pleasure. Certainly we never failed to en-
joy ourselves. We never felt any awe in
his presence but always chatted like
magpies about all our hopes and plans.
1t was during one of our visits that he
gave me a little tobacco-bag, filling 1t with
tiny cakes, and telling me 1t was pres
ent to him from little May Mosby, Col.
Mosby's little daughter" 1t lies on the
table before me, a quaint little bag, made
of the red uniform cloth, with seams COW
cred with yellow worsted, and M" work.
ed on one side In child'e uneven stitches.
I had the honor of a ride once seated
before the general on the historic "Trav-
eller" The pink challie frock which
wore on that occasion was afterwards re-
garded as a sacred garment, only to be
worn on the highest OF high days.
Times were growing harder every day,
and economies becoming more rigid My
mother sent Gen. Lee bowl of soup one
day, and in his message of thanks he told
her that never was dish more timely; l
had three generals to dine with me to-day,
and only baked beans to set before them"
We lived surrounded by the sights and
sounds of war, and we children drilled as
soldiers and made miniature fortificatlons.
Every day the end was drawing nearer,
though at the last 1t came suddenly, and
found us quite unprepared. Had we fore
seen, much could have been saved; but no
one thought of personal danger or of our
being forced to leave the house. A jar of
silver and family miniatures was buried
in a Wood-shed and a box OF china and
glass was concealed beneath the roof of
the porch, because 1t was thought possible
that these things might attract the atten-
ton of raiders After the battle, when
stragglers, searching for hidden treasure,
sounded every foot of land around our
house and outbuildlngs the jar escaped,
owing to Gen. Custer having used the shed
for a stable.
on that memorial I'd Of April Mr.. Turn
bull came down about sunrise with in
telligence that "Gen. Lee had gone 10 the
'front.' and there would be heavy fighting"
Later my father walked over to headquar-
ters, and while there Gen. A. p. Hill rode
up and engaged in earnest converse ton
with Gen. Lee. Then ne rode off, and in
less than an hour we heard he had been
killed. There has always seemed peculiar
pathos about HIPS death, he had braved
so many dangers successfully only to fall
a victim at the close. My father had never
seen the general in his full uniform before,
but that day he was fully equipped, with
sash and sword. They shook hands, and
father asked:
General, do you think the reinforce
meats will be here from Richmond in time
to restore the llnes|
mo, sir"
"Then you will have to give us up?"
eyes, sir" and he added: Give my
kind regards to Mrs. ~ and the little
girls"
There was a strange atmosphere about
that Sunday. The usual Sabbath routine
was observed-the table laid for the dinner
we were not destined to eat, and we little
ones looked on with interest as the cook
placed the plump fowl on the dairy shelf
ready for cooking when the proper time
arrived. But beneath the surface calm a
quivering dread was concealed. The In
| ner Notifications were only about half a
mile from our house, and as morning adj
| vanced the firing grew louder and near
err and II became apparent that we would
probably need some safe place of retreat.
| After a hasty discussion, the potato cell
\