The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-01-04
Tho South'B Great Soldier.
Atlanta Constitution

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length and breadth of this country
as bold, original and independent
thinker. His recent victory over the
trustees of Brown university in the
fight which was made upon HIM be-
cause of his zeolous championship of
3imetallism constitutes one of tho
most signal .triumphs. which free
thought has achieved during the
present generation.
This reference to DR.. Andrews is
made for the purpose of calling at.
tention to the estimate which he
places upon the military genius Of
General Robert l.. Lee. In COM
menting upon the leading figures Of
the late war between the states DIR.
Andrews, in a public address deliv-
cred in Chicago on last Monday, de-
clared that General Lee was not
only tho greatest soldier which the
war produced, but that, in many
phases of his military genius, no was
the greatest soldier Of modern times.
AS DIR. Andrews served in the union
army, this candid expression of
opinion in regard to the military
skill and prowess of the South's
great soldier cannot fail to awaken
deep interest in both sections.
Speaking first of the religious side
Of General Lees character, DR.. An
drews declared that he had the faith
of the crusader, and that his letters
in themselves constituted a guide to
holiness. He furthermore observed
that profane language never passed
through General Lees lips, and that
the habit of imbibing strong drink,
80 common to soldiers, was some
thing in which he never indulged.
Proceeding from this point DR.. An
drews said:
81 fail to find in tho books any
such masterful generalship as this
horo showed, holding that slim, gray
line, half starved, with no prospect
of additions, and fighting when his
army was too hungry to stand and
the rifles were only useful as clubs.
His courage was sublime. He was
as great as Gustavus Adolphus, or
Napoleon, or Wellington, or Won
Moltke. His cause was not the lost
cause so much as is suspected. All
that was good in hisicause has been
grated into our laws and our consti-
tuition. The doctrine of states'
rights as now interpreted by the su-
preme court is in exact accordance
with his claims on the point. Cen
eral Lee lost at Gettysburg because
the federal troops had received a new
motor of tremendous strength, whose
power no one knew-Gen. Hancock.
He also lost because Meade's mon
were fighting on union soii-almost
within hearing distance Of the pray
ers of their wives and children for
victory. They were at their hearth.
stones. Men are tigers when wives
and families are tho inspiration in
war"
Before closing his tribute to the
south's great soldier DR.. Andrews
declared that the final overthrow OF
the confederacy was not due to the
! fact that General Lee was outgener-
aled, but rather to the fact that over,
whelming numbers on the union side,
coupled with tho hardships and prl,
vations which the southern army
was compelled to suffer, made the
success of tho confederacy impossi
BILE. With tho decades which have
elapsed since the late war betweon
the states much of the bitterness Of
feeling engendered by that conflict
has passed away; and while the
south can now, without the least
prejudice, contemplate the superb
qualities Of Grant and Sheridan and
Hancock, it is also true that the gen
erous and candid north can fully ap
preciate the heroic virtues of Jack
son, Beauregard and Lee.