The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-11-16

NaHH"t ~ ca 90 ~! gIdI'!l! re-
j,icins pas, dear Mary ~ulout some
communication viii, Jpu. am
thankful for lhc many among the
pas, that | have passed wiiIl you, and
the remembrance Of them fills me
with pleasure. For those on which
we have been separated we must not
repine. If it will make us more re-
signed and better prepared for what is
in store for US, we should rejoice.
Now we must be content with the
many blessings we receive. If we
can only become sensible OF our trans
grcssions, so as to be fully penitent and
forgiven, this heavy punishment un-
der which We labor may with justice
be removed from US and tho whole ma
ton. what gracious cons ANIMATION Of
ell that we have endured i. will be
General Lee was now in charge Of
all the military operation ons Of the
southern confederacy. After this ap-
pointment he writes to bis wife from
Richmond:
have been placed ON duty here to
conduct operations under che direc-
tion Of the president II will give
me great pleasure to do anything I
oan 20 relieve him and serve the coun-
try, but do not see either advantage
or pleasure in my duties. But l will
not complain, but Go my best.
No act in General Lee whole mill
tary career was more typical Of his
sense of justice and imparti ality than
when he allowed his son, X. S. Lee,
(thc compiler Of the preseDt volume)
to enlist as private. Robert was then
q student at the University Of Fir-
ginis. He was wild to get into the
army. On this subject Ge neral Lee
wrote as follows to his wife: II wrote
to Robert that l would not consent to
take boys from their schools and
young men from their col leges and
put them in the ranks at she begin
ming Of war. The war may
last ten years. W'er arc our ranks
to be filled from?"
But in the spring Of 1862 General
Lee allowed his son to enlist. lie
joined the ockbridge arti llery. Of
the circumstance Captain Lee wrote
az follows of his father:
| He was just as sweet and loving to
me then as in Che old days. / had
seen so little of him during the last
six years that I stood somewhat in
awe Of him. soon found, however,
that | had DO cause for such feeling,
He took great pains in getting what
was necessary for me. The baggage Of
a private in confederate battery was
not extensive. How little was needed
my father, even at that time did not
know, for, though he was very careful
in providing me with the lea st amount
he thought necessary, I soon found
by experience that he had given me q
great deal too much. It was character
istic of his consideration for others
and the unselfshness Of his nature,
that at this time, when weighted
down, hAsassed and burden ed BY the
cares incident to bringing the untrain-
ed forces Of the oonfederaoy in;o the
field, and preparing them for strug-
gle the seriousness Of which he knew
better than anyone, he should give his
time and attention to the minute de-
tails Of fitting out his youngest son as
o private soldier. I think it worthy
of note that the son Of the command
ing general enlisting ss private in
his army was not thought 60 be any.
thing remarkable or unusual. Neither
my mother, my family, my friends
nor myself expected any othe course.
and do not suppose that it ever CO.
ourred to my father to think Of giving
me an Office, which he could easily
have done. ! know it never occurred
to me, nor did I ever hear, at that
time or afterwards, from anyone. that
| might have been entitled to better
rank than that Of private because of
my fathers prominence in Virginia
and in the confederacy. With the
good advice to be ohedient TO all au-
thority, to do my duty in everything,
great or small, he bade me good by
and sent me off to the valley of Vir.
ginia, where the command in which
was about to enlist were serving under
"Stonewall'' jackson.
Captain Lee became private in
| his fathers great army. How he met