The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-05-05


the exception Of the first move
toward Charlottesville, every
other one was a violation of the
principle of warfare that should
have insured a crushing defeat.
Lee wa, successful through a Sc
rics of accidents. the failure Of
any one of which would have
proved fatal.
II is not the intention of the
writer in noticing the above
errors 10 reflect on the capacity
OF the renowned Confederate mil
itary chiettain, but merely for
thr pa pose of presenting to the
public the stern fact that no man
( has cvcraS yet seen the light OF
day. who did not at some time
conmi; a serious error, thereby
cudaugcliug his chances of sue
cess. uo matter what his occupa-
tiou or pursuit.
his CONDUCT Al GETTYSBURG.
1t was during the campaign OF
Gettysburg that The noble char
. ectrr o0 Robert +. Lee was tested
to lis fullest capacity. Ncycrdid
a military cHettaiu behave better
. in such trying circumstances than
did Lee ON thc third day of that
American Waterloo He was
truly sublime in disaster.
An English Colonel who wit
MESSED tbc fight, says: Il ioined
General Lee. who had. in the
meanwhile. come To the front on
hearing of the disaster General
Lee was perfectly sublime. He
was engaged in rallying and EN-,
couragiug the broken troops, and
was riding about little in front
OF the wood quite alone. the whole
of his staff being engaged in a
similar manner further to the
rear. His face. which is always
cheerful anG placid, did not show
signs of the slightest diSappoint-
ment, care or annoyance. and he
was addressing a few words of
encouragement to every soldier
lie met, such as, 'All this will
come right in the end: we will
talk it over afterwards; but in
the meantime all good men must
rally. We want all good and true
men Just now etc. He spoke to
the wounded men that passed
him. and the slightly wounded he
eXhorted TO bind up their hurts
and take up musket' in this
emergency. Very few failed to
answer his appeal, and | saw
many of the badly wounded men
take off their hats and cheer him"
In speaking Of the same scene,
concerning the repulSe of the
Confederate forces on the after
noon of the third day, Gen, J. ID.
lmboden gives the following
graphic description:
Few camp fires enlivened the
scene. 1t was a warm summers
night, and the weary soldiers
We're lying in groups OH the lux
uriant grass of the meadow we
occupied, discussing the events of
the day or watching that their
horses did not straggle off while
browsing around. About II
o'clock an orderly approached
and delivered a message from
Gen. Lee. that he wished to see
me Immediately. | mounted at
once, accompanied by Lieuten-
ant McPhall, one of my staff,
and guided by the courier, rode
about two miles toward GettyS-
burg, where half a dozen small
tents on the roadside were point
ed out as Gen. Lees headquarters
for the night. He was not there,
+ but | was informed that | would
find him with Gen. a. II. Hill, a
/ half mile further on. On reach.
ing the place indicated, a flicker
ing, solitary candle, visible
through the open front of com
mon tent, showed where Gems.
. Lee and Hill were seated on camp
stools, with a county map spread
upon their knees, and engaged in
/ low and earnest conversation.
They ceased speaking as ap,
/ preached, and after ordinary sal
utationS Gen. Lee directed me to
90 to his headquarters and wait
for him. He did return until
one o'clock, when he came riding
along at a slow walk and evident.
ly wrapped in profound thought.
''There was not even sentinel
on duty, and no one of his staff
was about. The moon was high
in the heavens, shedding a food
of soft, silvery light, almost as
light as day, upon the scene.
When he approached and saw us,
he spoke, refined up his horse, and
esSayed to dismount."
"The effort to do so betrayed so
much physical exhaustion that
stepped forward to assist him,
but before | reached him he had
alighted. He threw his arm
across his saddle to rest himself,
and fixing his eyes upon the
ground leaned in silence upon