The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-08-24
RECOLLECTONS OF GENERAL R, E, LEE,
HOW HE ENTERTAINED THREE
LITTLE GIRLS.

llIILh GllSDS.
Children We're Not Awcd by the Pres
ence OF the Great Commander--A
Ride on His. Famous Traveller by
One OF tho Girls.
A Virginia woman contributes an
interesting rcminisccncc of Gen. Robt.
e. Lee to the Now York Evening Post,
as follows
In the life of General Lee. written
by his nephew, Fitzhugh Lee, may be
found the following extract from a let
ter of General Lee to Mrs. Lee, writ
ten from his headquarters near Peters
burg, January 10, 1865:
"Ycsterday afternoon three little
girls walked into my room, each with
a small basket. The eldest carried
some fresh eggs, laid by her own lens !;
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. N, a refugee
from Northampton county, who lived
near Eastvillc, not far from old Airing.
ton. The eldest of the girls, whose
age did not exceed eight years, had ::
small wheel on which she spun for her
mother, who vow all the cloth for her
two bro~thers-boys of II and IA years.
l have not had so pleasant a visit for d
long time. | 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 themselves"
When 1 read the letter how wildly
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 gill, being very shy, subsidized into
n seat, and employed herself chewing
her g~love.fingcrs, much to the mortif-
cation of the nurse who accompanied
us, and who vas 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 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 COM
pletcly won our little hearts, and we
were all cagcrncss to go in and see
him, and after a time of waiting which
seemed very long to us, and much
washing of faces and curling OF hair,
we were sem in, with the almunition
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 ?" l
forgot all previous eXhortations-also
all lessons in grammar-and promptly
replied, "Me and Althea were pulling
roast Eaters out of the fire." General
Lee seemed much amused, and | pro-
ceeded further to cnlightcn him as to
various pieces of mischief to which
"me and Althca" had been chief ac-
tors. l do not remember how my dis
mayed elders checked my unusual flow
OF confidence. Ordinarily, | was shrink
ingly sensitive and quiet, so that my
outburst of cnndOr was a tribute to the
charm of General Lees manner. The
"Althea" to whom / referred was a
colored child of my own ayc, and my
constant companion and dearly loved
playmate.
During thoso last months of the war
we saw a great deal of General Lee,
and if he ever wcaricd of our attentions
we were never allowed to see it, and
we always kissed him at parting with
the feeling that we had given him II
great deal OF pleasure. Certainly we
never failed TO enjoy 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 give me a lit
tie tobacco-bag, filling it first with tiny
cakes and telling melt was q present to
him from "little May Mosby, Colonel
Mosby's little daughter" 1t lies on
the table before me, a quaint little bag,
mado of red uniform cloth, with s, ans
covered with yellow worstcd, and an"
worked on one side in a child's uneven
stitches. 1 had the honor of a ride
once seated before the General on the
historic "Traveler." The pink chal-
lie frock which l wore on that occasion
was afterwards regarded as q sacred
garment, only to be worn on the high
est of high days.
Times we're growing harder every
day, and economics becoming more
rigid. my mother sent General Lee a
bowpof soup one day, and in his mes
: sage of thanks he told her that ''never
was dish more timely F; / had three gen
erals to dine with me to- day, and only
baked beans to set before them"
We lived surrounded by tho sights
and sounds of war, and we children
drilled as soldiers and made miniature
Notifications. Every day the end was
awning nearer, though at the last it
me suddenly, and found us quite un-
epared. Had we foreseen, much
{pld hrye been saved but no one
ought Of personal danger, or Of our