Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-05-09

wilmington On. CO Messenger)
The idea OF Georgian daring TO
charge General Lee with timidity and
General ID. II. Hill with cowardce Is
indeed a very remarkable incident in
mans life. General Lee was a man Of
singular courage and balance. Read
Longs life Of him. and especially that
story of splendid risk and service when
alone at night he advanced into the
enemy's country CMexico In 1876 and
found out the true route for General
Scott to advance. Scott said Lee really
was the hero OF the Mexican war,
and but a captain. AS 10 General ID.
III. Hill. of him 1t might be said as OF
Marshall Ney-"the bravest of the
brave" He was cool In the midst OF
hickest dangers. An officer told us
ong ago one OF the generals said
utation for special bravery above other
men, but at Fredericksburg 1--WE think
It was) he learned better. He said:
General Hill said. Mount your horse
and accompany me- He then started
off. and I'm full view OF the enemy's
batteries rode leisurely down a rail-
road track until he had advanced far
enough TO make the observations he
desired with his glass. We were in fun
view OF the gunners. They threw a few
shots at us that failed of effect. was
not at all comfortable but so far as
could see General Hill was Obvious OF
them and as collected as II there were
not q blue-coat In a hundred miles.
He turned and rode lesurely back, and
/ was glad when it was over" Another
soldier told us I'm that war that he heard
General Hill says one day that at the
opening Of a battle he did not feel as
comfortable as he desired, and that he
would not care for an intimate friend
to watch his features scrutinizingly.
He at least never betrayed. SO scores
OF witnesses said, either anxiety or
nervous tension. He was calm, self
poised, absolutely cool. 7 A lieutenant
in the Enfield Blues toll In the war
how he was helped in the skirmish at
Bethel. He said he was lying down
and watching anxiously the approach
Of the Yankees. He was something
nervous-excited. Colonel Hill, in con-
mand of the First North Carolina, "a
this juncture walked quietly along tn
line of his men, eating cracker an,
cheese as carelessly as IL he were al
home, munching as he meditated. The
lieutenant said he watched anL
thought. Colonel Hill is not afraid. bu;
cool and collected. Let me brace up
| And SO he did.
We all know Lees greatness and
grandeur. A prominent Virginia lawyer
said to u.s. and he had been drawn close
, to General Lee after the war. as he was
| trustee of Washington and Lee Uni
| versity, and had voted to place the IL
| lustrious southerner at the head of that
| college. II have known but very few,
| If any men, who grew in dimensions as
| you came in familiar contact with them.
| Nearly all diminished In stature with
| such association. But Ii was not so with
| General Lee. He grew In greatness as
| you got closer to him and saw the man
| fully revealed" We have often written
| as our own opinion that Lee is the most
! llnightly hero in history-the only Sir
| Galahad of all the worlds Round Table.
He is the very highest embodiment and
| expression OF American manhood-the
| noblest, the greatest, the most lovable
| Of all the great men OF our own land--
| rounder, completer, greater than Wash
| ington. The head OF the British army.
Lord Wolseley, had printed his opinion
| that Lee was a greater soldier than Well
| ington, Colonel Chesney in his day the
highest military authority in Great Bril-
| tain. wrote and published in Black
woods Magazine that the three greatest
soldiers of the Engllsh-speaklng race were
| Marlborough. wellington, Lee, giving
| them in the order of birth.
| A good many years ago, perhaps four
teen or more, we saw published John
| Russell Young's statement of General
| Grants opinion OF General Robert r.
Lee. We were not surprised at the de-
| probation very much, for we had known
| long before that he did not properly ap-
| preciate or understand his great adver-
| sary In 1865, he said, in response to
| direct inquiry Of our own as to how
| General Lee impressed him as a military
| COMMUNICATIVE were his leading quail
! ties and characteristics as q soldier: Il
have no disposition to disparage General
| Lee. He Is q good man, good man.,
repeating the word. He added: This
| greatest quality is his ability to excite
| enthusiasm in his soldiers"
This prepared US somewhat to hear him
| talk as Young reports him. We copy from
| the account in the Philadelphia limos:
Lee was OF a slow, conservative, eau
| tous nature without imagination or
| humor always the same, with grave
| dignity never could see in his
| achievements what justifies his reputa-
| ton. The Illusion that nothing but heavy
| odds beat him will not stand in the
ultimate light of history. / know 1t IS
! not true. Lee was a good deal of
| headquarters general-a desk general
| from what I can hear, and from what
| his officers say. He was almost too old
| for active service-the best service in the
| field. At the time Of the surrender he
was IS or 50. and I was 43. His officers
used to say that he posed himself. that
he was retiring and exclusive, and that