The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-04

E EEALD. TUESDAY, OCT The general not recognizing his Sen1 enr you?''
 Captain Lee says that one ma habif mi, characteristic of his father was ms .,t1,. ,.s, Of attending Co all business proinpssist .l.s.'t He was never idle n he says, and what ne had to do he performed with ea'' precision"
 Great Capacity for Business
 The long series of letters to ms VI ,.s. and family rarely more than lew "or o,,i,, elapsing without one, evidence nos S ty General Lees capacity for pusli,a asli,- ris the direction of his private aiLa at.,t b,,s devoutly religious mind, but 4ae., tha nor that here and there prlsl'e--1 prls'.-so,,sa generally sad and tender eorresp0inNus i,, In the winter of 1S62-6S, when ne his Camp Fredericksburg he 9Io 4IoeI,a, is daughter Agras. general Hooker IS obliged to do something. ao nv N1. n,., what it will be. He iA playing the Sli, .,, nese game. trying what frightening wiil do. He rms out his guns, starts HIS wagons and troops up and down 1ne itse1 ~ and creates an excitement generaily. ou, men look on in wonder, give eheei anu all subsides.'' N1r.
 A fortnight later in letter to M Nrs. Tea dasaas,,i,o the cold and discomforts of his army, he says l owe MI Hooker no thanks for keeping me here. After Charlottesville, when Jackson ie,i, he wrote Mrs. Lee: Any victory Wouio be dear at such price. know not now to replace him. Gods will be done. l trust He will raise up some one III iiis place." ,.,..
 In nearly all of his private ietteis uu ing this period mention IS hlaue OA hardships and sufferings o1 ms men .iiei' lack of shoes, clothing ana piah es. "One can see from these lettels the author how deeply re felt Tor the sufferinps of his soldiers and how hls plans were hindered by inadequate sup plies of food and clothing. l heard hlm constantly allude to his troubles; lnoeeo, they seemed never absent from his mlnd. In the winter of 1S63-64 Mrs. Lee ana her daughters removed to Richmond ana from Camp Pappahanock ho wrote Mfs' Lee: q fear my daughters nave not taken to the spinning wheel and loom as 1 have recommended shall not be able to recommend them to the brave soldiers for wives.'
 Comment1 on Ball.
 In the spring of 1884 titzhugh Lee brigade to which the author. who had won a commission and staff appointment was then attached, lay in camp near Charlottesville and the officers gave a ball. An invitation was sent General Lee who thus commented on 1t in letter This is a bad time for such things. We have too grave subjects on hand to en- gage in such trivial amusenents. l would rather his officers should entertain them selves in fattening their horses, heal ing their men and recruiting their regi ments. There are too many Lees on tho committee. l like all to be present at bat ties, but can excuse them at balls"
 Those letters written in the spring oi 1864 reveal how clearly General Lee fore saw the storm that was soon to burst upon him. He wrote urgently for sup plies and in his private letters he pre-. dicted Grants move toward Richmond.
 Last Year of War.
 Captain Lee does not go with detai into the operations of the closing veal of the war The military phase is subor dinated to the personal, but the letters his personal recollections and incident: all make an intimate picture of the Con federate commander in that trying time The surrender itself is lightly touched upon. The author first saw his father af ter Appomattox at Richmond, where tn, general had joined his family "As wei as I can recall my father at this time, he says, The appeared to be very wei physically though he looked older, gray CT, more quiet and reserved. He seemed very tired, and was always glad to tall of any other subject than that of th' war or anything pertaining thereto"
 General Lees life for the next few months was quiet and uneventful. In Jun, he went to "Derwent," a little four-roon house in Cumberland county, which wa. placed at his disposal by Mrs. Elizabetf Randolph Cooke There he awaited tn, decision of the Federal authorities in tho indictment found against him, Davis anC others which never came to trial. In tho meantime offers of homes houses, lands and money poured in upon him, all oi which he declined. In August he accepted the presidency of Washington college, now Washington and Lee university.
 A pleasant picture is given of the busy days that followed in establishing his new home. Says Captain Lee My father ap peared bright and even gay" Captali Lee says that it was his fathers strong desire to write history of his campaigns He went so far as to begin to gather data, but his failing strength and tn, magnitude of the task deterred him. Gen eral Lees correspondence during thi' period was very extended, and his let ters to friends. old comrades in arms anc public men all express his solicitude fol the south and reflect his desire that pa tience be shown under all conditions an, all controversies be avoided.
 Letter to Correspondents.
 The following letter is typical of his re plies to inquiring correspondents:
 ". I believe it to be the duty O every one to unite in the restoration o the country and the re-establishment o peace and harmony. These consideration governed me in the counsels l gave tt others, and induced me on the 18th 0 June to make application to be include, in the terms of the amnesty proclama tion -
 The author had by this time settled down upon his farm and he gives many letters from his father full of advice or agricultural and financial matters, all o which show his thorough grasp of af fairs. The correspondence covering the closing year of General Lees life is large ly of family character, though it em. braced many letters to strangers, either on public questions or in acknowledge ment of courtesies. He received very flat tering business offers, all of which he declined preferring the quietness and pleasures of his college duties.
 Among these offers was the proffer ol position as the head of proposed commercial organization in New York tc finance southern enterprises and develop the south.