Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1898-01-24
ROBERT e. LEE.

the Union army, has stirred up the
Grand Army by the following elo-
quent tribute to the memory Of Cen
eral Robert E. Lee:
3He Nee) had the faith OF tile
crusader; his letters would make a
guide to holiness. He was always q
soldier-never impure in thought or
act, never profane or obscene. He did
not touch the Gun, as did Grant,
Hooker or T nil Sheridan, and when
he lost fight it was never said of
him that the defeat was due to hab-
It which makes mems heads into
muddles. He was never outgeneraled
by Grant in all the campaign from the
Rappahannock to James river, never
trapped and never caught mapping. I
fail to find in the books any such
masterful generalship as this hero
showed, holding that slim, gray line,
half starved, with no prospect or ad
ditlons, and fighting when his army
was too hungry to stand and the rifles
we're only useful as clubs. His cour-
age 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
supposed. All that was good in his
cause has been grated into our laws
and our constitution.
1.-THE doctrine OF states rights, as
now interpreted by the supreme
court, is in exact accordance with his
claims on the point. Gen. Lee lost
at Gettysburg because the federal
troops had received new motor of
tremendous strength, whose power
no ono knew Gen. Hancocs. He
also lost because Mead's men were
fighting on union soil-almost within
hearing distance Of the prayers of
their wives and children for victory.
They were at their hearthstones. Men
are tigers when wives and families
are the inspiration in war.
at was lot until the federal army
stood almost at the very doors of
Richmond that Gen. Lee was sent to
the front. Heretofore he had been
but half kindly regarded, but when
he took command of that ill disciplin-
ed, ill-armed and ragged army he was
hailed savior. He outwitted Nc
Clellan, whipped two armies much
larger than his own, stopped the ad-
vance on Richmond, drove back the
union army, saved Richmond and was
famous in day. The world has
never seen such generalship, and the
world was astounded at it.
"Lee successfully defeated out
generated and routed the best gem
erals that Washington could send
against him, and it was not until the
immortal Grant, with the finest army
of veterans that the world has ever
seen, took the field against him that
Lees marvellous accomplishments
received a check. Even against
Grant, Lee fought as probably no
other general ever fought, and against
odds that would have driven Napo.
leon to despair.
at was great d,ath struggle
when Grant faced Lee, and Lee then
knew that his was hopeless struggle
He kept that thin, gray line Of ragged
hungry men, growing thinner and
hungrier each day, together. Hit
courage, his wonderful presence and
strong personality kept that little
band of tattered and emacisted mer
in battle array, and fought to the
last ditch, surrendering only when he
realized that it would be murder tc
keep up the struggle.
aGen. Lees cause is not lost. AL
that is good Of it remains, all that wa
bad has been wiped out. Our coun
try is better and grander today be
cause the relations Of several states Il
the union have been intelligently de
fined, and perhaps we owe at leas
that much to Gen. Robert e. Lee ant
the cause he tonight for