The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-14

1 claimed, Shot! You can't afford to shoot the men who fight for cursine i those who ran away. Shot! l wish you would shoot me. If you don't some d. Yankee probably will within the i next twenty-four hours.
 Growing more serious, General Lee inquired what he thought of the situa- tion
 'Situation?' said the bold old man. There is no situation! Nothing re- mains, General Lee, but to put your poor men on your poor mules and send them home in time for spring plough ing. This army is hopelessly whipped, and is fast becoming demoralized. These men have already endured more than I believed flesh and blood could stand, and I say to you, sir, emphati~ cally, that to prolong the struggle is murder, and the blood of every man who is killed from this time forth is on your head, General Lee
 "This last expression seemed to cause General Lee great pain. With a ges- ture of remonstrance, and even of inn patience, he protested: Oh, General, do not talk so wildly. My burdens are heavy enough. What would the coun- try think of me if I did what you sug gest?'
 NO COUNTRY SAVE COMMANDER.
 Country be d----!' was the quick reply. There is no country. There has been no country, General, for a year or more. You are the country of these men. They have fought for you. They have shivered through long winter for you. Without pay or clothes, or care of any sort, their devo- tion to you and faith in you have been the only things which have held this army together If you demand the sac rifice, there are still left thousands of us who will die for you. You know the game is desperate beyond redemption, or government, or people, will gainsay your decision. That is why l repeat that the blood of any man killed here after is upon your head.
 General Lee stood for some time at an open window, looking out at the throng now surging upon the roads and in the fields, and made no response"
 It will be remembered that John Sar- gent Wise was individually present at this conversation, a youth of nineteen. I have as little respect as any one well can have for the recollection of thirty years since as basis of history New ertheess, it would seem quite out of the question that youth of only nine teen could have been present at such a scene as Is here described, and that the words which then passed and the incidents which occurred should not have been indelibly imprinted upon his memory. I am disposed, therefore, to consider this reliable historical materi- al. Meanwhile it so chances that l am able to supplement it by similar. as yet unpublished, testimony from another quarter Some years ago I was closely associated with General E. P. Alexan- der, who had been chief of artillery in Longstreet's famous. corps, and who, in April, 1865, was,i if my recollection is correct chief of artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was General Alexander who, In 1863 fought with General Hunt of the Army of the Po- tomac, the famous artillery duel which preceded, on July 3, the memorable charge of Pickett's division at Gettys- burg. In the course of many conver- sations with General Alexander, whose memory, singularly accurate as well as tenacious, was also supported by mem oranda taken at the time, he more than once gave me an account, of which I retain the freshest possible re- collection, of an interview which fol- lowed close upon that with General Wise at Lees headquarters General Wise evidently saw Lee at an early hour of April 9.sThat same morning General Alexander had occasion to re- port to Lee. He knew that the Army of Virginia was in a desperate situa- ton. Moreover, as he well knew, the Timber chests were running low; his arm of the service was in no condition to go into another engagement. Yet the idea of an abandonment of the cause had never occurred to him as among the probabilities. All night he had lain awake thinking as to what was next to be done. Finally he had come to the conclusion that there was but one course to pursue. The Army of Virginia, while nominally capitula- ting, must in reality disperse, and those composing it should be instructed, whether individually or as part of de- tachments, to get to his own state in the most direct way and shortest pos- eible time, and report to the governor thereof with view to further and continuous resistance.
 PARALLEL WITH SOUTH AFRICA.
 Thus, exactly what is now taking place in South Africa was to take place in the Confectionery. General Alexan- der told me that as he passed his bat teries on his way to headquarters tbe men called out to him in cheery tones that there were still some rounds re- maining in the caissons, and that they were ready to renew the fight. Riding rapidly to his destination General AL exander found Lee seated on the trunk of a fallen tree before a dying camp fire He was dressed in uniform. Full of the idea which dominated his mind. Alexander said that he sprang from his horse and, advancing to Lee, knelt down beside him, leaning against the log on which he was seated, and proceeded almost at once to propound his plan, for it seemed to him the only plan worthy of consideration. AS he IOnlSiTpr steadily