The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-10-31

scared way up above me-he dominated
me completely. | rose from beside him;
silently mounted my horse, rode BACK
to my command and waited for the or
der to surrender. ~,
'"Then and there Lee decided lts
course for the Confederacy. And l
take il there is not one solitary man
in the United States today, North or
South. who does not feel that he de-
cided right. !.
"The army Of northern Virginia, 1t
will he remembered laid down It's arms
at Appomattox on the 9th of April.
What Johnst on might do was still open
to question, hut Lees act decided his.
There is a vivid description, in Pol
lard's book, / think, of an interview
which Immediately after Lees surren-
der took place between Jefferson Davis
and Johnston at the headquarters of
the latter. The two had met to con-
slider the situation. Davis, stubborn in
temper and bent on policy of con-
tinuous irregular resistance, developed
his plan with much earnestness. john
ston mutely listened to him. Finally
the ex-president of the confederacy
lapsed into silence. Johnston then said
Mr.. President, do you wish my opin-
ion?" Davis intimated that he was
l0tTG LOT TIE iPpSt VI IVNSiNAh5 -
Thereupon Johnston brought the con-
versation to a close with these preg-
nant words Mr. President, the South
feels that It is whipped, and is tired of
the war"
We all know what followed. / have
in my possession a copy of the Index,
the weekly journal published in Lon
don during the civil war. the official
organ of the confederate agents in
| Europe, it was intended for the better
enlightenment of foreign opinion, more
especially the English press. The sur
render of Lee was commented upon
editorially in the issue of that paper
for April 27 1.-The war is far from con-
eluded," 1t declared. "A strenuous re-
sstance and not surrender was the I'M
alterable determination of the confed-
crate authorities - and If the worst
comes to the worst there is the trans
Mississippi department, where the
remnant of (Johnston's) army can find
shelter, and new and safe starting
point" On the 18th of May following
the surrender of Johnston's army was
announced on the same terms as that
of Lee. But in summing up the situa-
ton, the index still found 1.-THE elements
of a successful or at least a protracted
resistance" On the 25th of May 1t had
an article entitled Southern resistance
in Texas" in which 1t announced that
"Such a war will be fierce, ferocious
and of long duration" In a word, such
an expiring struggle as we are today
witnessing in South Africa In It's is
sue of June / the Index commented on
1.-THE capture of President Davis" and
then. and not until then, forestalling
the trans Mississippi surrender OF kir-
by Smith, brought to it by the follow
ing mail It raised the wailing cry,
"Fuit Ilium - The South has
fallen"
Indeed, recalling the circumstances
Of that time, It is fairly appalling to
consider what in 1865 must have oc-
Cured, had Robert e. Lee then been
Of the same turn Of mind as was JEFF
ferson Davis. or as implacable and UNI
Yielding in disposition as Kruger or
Botha have more recently proved. The
national government had in arms
million men, Injured to the hardships
and accustomed to the brutalities of
war; Lincoln had been freshly assas-
sinated the temper of the North was
thoroughly aroused. while its patience
was exhausted An irregular warfare
would inevitably have resulted, war
fare without quarter. The confederacy
would have been reduced to a smolder-
ing wilderness,-to what South Africa
today is In such a death grapple the
North, both in morale and in means,
would have suffered only less than the
South. From both sections that fate
was averted.
at is not my purpose to enter into
any criticism of the course of events
in South Africa, or of the policy there
on either side pursued. 1t will be for
the future to decide whether the pro-
longed, irregular resistance we are
witnessing is justifiable, or, IL justifia-
BILE, whether 1t is wise. Neither Of
these questions do propose to discuss.
My purpose simply is to call attention.
in view of what is now taking place
elsewhere, to the narrow escape we
ourselves, SO years ago, had from a
similar awful catastrophe. And again
say that, as we look today upon Kru-
ger and Botha and DeWet, and the
situation existing in the Transvaal and
the Orange Free State, / doubt If one
single man in the United States, North
or South,-whether ne participated in
the Civil War, or was born since that
war ended, would fail to acknowledge
an infinite debt of gratitude to the con-
federate leader. who, on the 9Th Of
April. 1865. decided as he did decide,
that the United states, whether con-
federate or Union, was a Christian COM
munity, and that his duty was to ac-
tGpl Aht lNblpAAnibAANg NAASh AAN AettN
of war had imposed upon him.-to de-
eide in favor of a new national life,
even if slowly and painfully to be built
up by his own people under conditions
arbitrarily and by force imposed on
them
I'm one Of the confederate accounts
of the great war is to be found the fol-
lowing description Of Lees return to
his Richmond home Immediately after
he had, at Appomatox, sealed the fate
of the confederacy. With it 1 will con-
clude this paper. On the afternoon Of
the previous day the first of those pa
rolled from the surrendered army Of
northern Virginia had struggled back
to Richmond The writer thus goes
on; Next morning a small group OF
horsemen appeared on the further side
of the pontoons. By some strange in
tuition, IL was known that Gen. Lee
was among them, and crowd collect