The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1897-08-26
RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL R. {. LEE.
HOW HE ENTERTAINED THREE
LITTLE GIRLS.

ence OF tho Great Commandcr-A
Ride on His. Famous "TravcIer" by
One of the Girls.
A Virginia woman contributes an
interesting rcminisccncc of Gen. Robt.
E. Lee TO the New York Evening Post,
as follows:
In the life of General Lee, written
by his nephew, Fitzhuyh Lee, may be
found the following extract from let
ter of General Lee to Mrs. Lee, writ
ten from his headquarters near Peters
burg, Jrnumy 10, 1865 :
"Ycstcrday afternoon three little
girls walked into my room, each with
n 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 Mrs. N, refugee
from Northampton county, who lived
near Eastvillc, not far from old Arling-
ton. The eldest of the girls, whose
age did not exceed eight years, had a
small wheel on which she spun for her
mother, who wovc all tho cloth for her
two brothers--boys of IL and ID years.
l have not had SO pleasant q visit for a
long time. l fortunately was able to
fill their baskets with apples, which
distressed poor Bryan (his stcward),
and begged them to bring me nothing
but kisses, and 20 keep the eggs, corn,
ETC., for thcnselvcs.'
When I read the letter how yividly
the whole scene came up before me
The many intervening years were blot
ted out, and ] was again the tiny four
year old girl seated very much at ease
on the great Generals knee, listening
with deep interest to his conversation
with my oldest sister. The second lit
tie girl, being very shy, subsidized into
seat, and employed herself chewing
her glove. fingers, much to the mortili-
cation of the nurse who accompanied
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 General
Lee had his hcadquaric crs, and the two
houses were only 4 few hundred yards
apart, and very soon after our visit he
called on my mother. lie had COM
plctcly won our little hearts, and VIC
were all cagcrncss to 60 in and sec
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 a,lmunitiOn
from our nurse "to mind our manners"
But when General Lee took me up and !
looking at my hand, asked, "And how |
did these little fingers get burned 2" l |
forgot all previous eXhortations-also |
all lessons in erammar--And promptly |
replied, "Mc and Althca were pulling
roast Eaters out of the fire." General |
Lee seemed much amused, and l pro-
cccdcd further to cnlightcn him as to
various pieces Of mischief to which |
"mc and Althca" had been chief ac-
tors. do not remember how my dis
mayed elders checked my unusual flow
Of confidence. Ordinarily, l was shrink
ingly sensitive and quiet, so that my
outburst of candor was tribute to the
charm Of General Lees manner. The
"Althca" to whom I referred was q
colorcd 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 General Lee,
and if he ever wcaricd of our attentions
we were ncvcl allowed to see it, and
we always kissed him at parting with
the feeling that we had given him Il
great deal OF pleasure. Certainly we
never failed TO enjoy ourselves. We
never felt any awe in his presence, but
always chattcd like magpics about all
our hopes and plans. 1t was during
one of our visits that he gave nc lit
tic tobacco-bag, filling it first with tiny
cakes, and telling mel was a present to
him from "littlc May Mosby, Colonel
Mosby's little daughtcr." 1t lies on
the table before me, quaint little bag,
made of red uniform cloth, with 8, ans
covered with yellow worstcd, and "M"
worked on one side in child's uneven
stitches. had the honor of n ride
once seated before the General on the
historic "Travclcr." The pink chal-
lie frock which wore on that occasion