The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-08-27
Lees Nobility

Lees Nobility.
some time ago. in contrasting General
Lee with military heroes of the fight-tc-
tye-last-ditch variety. we said that he
had always seemed to us grnnder at Ap-
pcmattoN than upon a my Q ccasion Y ot
y his triumphs. That he knew that 4 he1
Il could prolong the war; he knew that his
Il n. en- would stand by him until the last
n one had fallen; he knew that he could
3 By Petreating INTO the mountains keep up
desutory fighting for al y long time to
come and so annoy and distress the
& enemy indefinitely. But that egsaw that
further struggle was useless; that the
Z time for honorable surrender had come,
4 and he was unwilling for his own mil
itary fame to sacrifice another drop %
blood nselessly..
Z Our esteemed contemporary, the,
Petersburg Index-Appeal takes us up on.
THE statement that General Lee could
1 have retreated into the mountains and
kept up dcshltory warfare We We're were
there says our contemporary and We
l<now that his estimate of the possible
itles Of either reaching the mountains
jcl prolonging the struggle has no foun-
dalton in reason or in fact. \"
Our statement was undoubtedly tool
broad and was in a measure misleading
and We thank our contemporary for It's
reminder. President Davis in his book
points out that 1t was General Lees
purpose, as is well known, to march to
Danvlle. but that he was Intercepted
4 by Grant. and being prevented from car
rying out his original purpose, he d-
\ l.ected his march - toward Lynchburg.
Ion the evening Of the sth," continues
Mr.. Davis. General Lee decided that he
would advance the next morning bel
You'd AppomattoxS Courthouse, and, III
Z tho force reported to be there shoult
prove to be only Sheridan's cavalry, to
Il disperse there and continue the marcn
toward Lynchburg; but If infantry should
be found In large force, the attempt to.
break through. II was not to be made,
and the correspondetice which General
II Grant had initiated on the previous day
should be opened by n flag, with propo-
sitions for an interview to arrange the
terms OF capitulat1on. Gordon, whose
corps formed the rear guard from PEI
stersburg, and who had fought daily for
the protection of the trains, had now
been transferred to the front. On the
next morning before daylight Lee sent
Col. Wenable to Gordon to learn his,
f opinion as to the chances Of "a success
full attack to which Gordon replied.
My old corps is reduced to FRAGILE,
and unless am supported by Long
street heavily do not think we can
40 anything more When Col. Venable
returned with this answer to General Lee
he said: Then there Is nothing left me
but to go and see General Grant ="
General Gordon in his book confirms
this report. adding that T'the utmost
that could be hoped for was that VIC
and Tennessee with remnant Of the
army and ultimately join General John
ston." OF course 1t would not have been
possible under the circumstances for
General Lee 10 march his entire army
r
lc the mountains OF Virginia But it is
4 the opinion OF one Of tho most Intelligent
4 followers OF General Lee, now living In
this city. that II he had disbandcd his
army and told his men TO scatter and
reunite. as many of them as should be
able. at some designated point in the
mountains, thousands of them would have
found their way to the place Of rendez-
vous, and once in the mountains they
could have carried on guerrilla war
fare indefinitely
E That. Of course, Is a matter OF con.
lecture and need not be discussed. Tho
main question under discussion in the
original article was General Lees no.
4 b:lity as a men and the triumph of thu
mans nobility over the soldiers amb'-
b lion. General Lee was not the man ia
engage In guerrilla warfare when the
CAUSE for which he was fighting was lost
/ when the time for surrender had come.
He had tbs manly courage and The
Righteousness 10 Quit fighting when fur,
Their struggle was useless and could onls
result in the unnecessary sacrifice o,
human life. Our Petersburg contempt
rary concurs entirely in this View whei
~ says OF General Lees attitude al An
pomattox;
..I1s did not deliver ri.at onellast ash