The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-01-12

There have been many cf1dc1smS OF some
Of his military movements and Of his quail
ties as a military chieftain, but 1t may now
be accepted that the name Of Robert E Leo
is crystallized in the history Of the country
and of the world as one Of the few great
commanders of his century. His character
| may be summed up in a single sentence,
| defining him as an accomplished soldier
and q Christian gentleman. for he filled
| every measure of both great attributes.
Like all great commanders of his century.
with probably the single exception OF Ma
poleon, there were limitations upon his ca
| liabilities. Napoleon was equal to any con-
dition of war, aggressive or defensive, or
strategically defensive and tactically es-
gressiye, but in that supreme quality he
stands alone. All Of the great commanders
of that period were noted for their ag-
gressiye or for their defensive qualities.
Grant was pre-eminently distinguished as
an aggressive warrior; Mcclellan was pre-
eminently distinguished as q defensive war
rior. Grant always fought when ne snouio
nave fought, and sometimes wnen no
| should not have fought. Mcclellan gave the
most sublime illustration Of his great quail
tiles as a defensive General in the Seven
pays' battles, but he never assumed the
aggressive in a single great action. except
ing at Antietam, and then he should have
fought one day earlier. when one-th1rd or
Lees army was engaged at Harpers FERRY
Never Defeated in Defensive
Battle When Properly Supported.
General Lee may be classed as among the
| great defensive Generals Of his time. he
! was never defeated in any OF his many pat
ties fought on the defensive until his army
was disintegrated and weakened by oeath
and desertion and lack Of supplies. when
Grant broke his lines at Petersburg and
| forced his retreat for the final climax at
Appomattox. He was much the typo OF
Mcclellan as a commander, differing only
in his frequent unexpected attacks upon
the Union forces. While strategfcally de-
fensiye he was always a dangerous soldier
in his tac.ically aggressive movements He
will be accepted in history as not only the
greatest of the Confederate commanders,
but as the one military chieftain who
could have filled the military necessities
of the Confederacy.
In but one battle Of the war were his linn
itations exhibited, and that was at Gettys-
burg. 1t was the first campaign in which
he was compelled to be both s~trategically
and tactically aggressive. and his great OPP
portunity was lost the first day Of the bat
tie, when he failed to dislodge the shattered
Union forces from Cemetery Hill and tak
possession of Round Top and Cups Hill.
That failure enabled the Union Army to
concentrate in the strongest defensive pc
sition to be found anywhere between Will
Transport and Washington. on a short and
almost i~mpregnable line. while Lees line Of
battle was thrice as long.
Criticism in Regard to Pickett's
Famous Gettysburg Charge.
1t has always been a surprise to those
who closely studied the character of Cen
eral Lee that he insisted upon Pickett's
bloody and disastrous charge. even against
the earnest protest of Longstreet. l do
not assume to say what Lee should have
done at Gettysburg after his failure to take
possession practically of both positions on
the evening of the first day. He has been
severely criticised by some of his own
Southern friends. especially by General
Longstreet. by whom some personal re-
sentiment is clearly exhibited; but it is now
an accepted historic fact that the Gettys-
burg campaign was a b!under. and that the
failure of Lee to take possession of the
whole field on the first day led to the de-
cisive battle of the war, in which the fate
of the Confederacy was irrevocably sealed.
1t is easy to ~criticise a commander after
a battle has been fought and all the oppor-
t~unities known to the critics, many of
which were not known to the commanders
at the time. and there was nothing in the
Gettysburg campaign. disastrous as it was,
that dimmed the luster of Lees greatness
as a military chieftain, or that impaired in
any degree the confidence of the Confed-
crate Government and the Southern people.
He was as much their idol when. with his
defeated and broken legions, he recrossed
into Virginia as he was when he marched
with the greatest army the Confederacy
ever knew to a defeat that was decisive Of
the fratrfcidal conflict.
First Palpable Error Doubtless
Dictated by Apprehension.
What he did at Gettysburg July 3 may be
regarded as the wisest action that could
be taken, and his palpable error on the
first day was doubtless dictated by the an
prehension that the full force Of the Union