The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-11-16
Atlanta Constitution.
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one of the early letters to one of his
sons in which he says
| cannot go to bed. my dear sou,
Without writing you few lines, to
thank you for your letter, which gave
me great pleasure. You and
Custis must take great care Of your
kind mother and dear sisters when
your father is dead. To do that you
must learn to be good. BE true, Kind
and generous. and pray earnestly to
God to enable you to keep Els com
mandments "and walk in the same all
the days Of your life l hope to come
on soon to see that little baby you
have got to show me. You mus. give
her kiss for me, and one to all the
children, to your mother and grand
mother.
On April 20, 1861, General Lee
resigned his commission In the United
States army. In letter to his sister,
he says:
With all my devotion to the union
and the feeling of loyalty and duty Of
an American citizen, | have not been
able to make up my mind to raise my
hand against my relatives, my chill
dren, my home. | have, therefore,
resigned my commission in the army
and save in defense of my native
state, with the sincere hope that my
poor services may never be needed,
hope [ may never be called on to
draw my sword. know you will
blame me; but you must think as
kindly of me "a you can, and believe
that have endeavored TO do what
thought was right.
That he did not expect to fight is
shown by the following extract from
letter to his wife: II do not know
what my position will be. I should
like to retire to private life if | could
be with you and the children, but if
| can be Of any service to the State or
her cause, [ must continue"
But Virginia had joined the column
of her southern sisters and Lee was
placed in command Of her State troops.
There came victory at the first battle
Of: Bull Run. Of the great battle he
writes to his wife:
That, indeed, was a glorious
victory and has lightened the pressure
upon our front amazingly. DO not
grieve for the brave dead. Sorrow for
those they left behind-fFiends, rela-
tives and families. The former are at
rest. The latter must suffer. The
battle will be repeated there in greater
force. hope God will again smile on
us and strengthen our hearts and
arms. I wished to partake in the
former struggle, and am mortified at
my absence, but the president thought
it more important should be here.
could not have done as we'll as has
been done, But GOULD have helped,
and taken part in the struggle for my
home and neighborhood. So the work
is done I care not by whom it is done.
[ leave tomorrow for the northwest
army. l wished to go before, as wrote
you, and was all prepared, but the in
dications were 60 evident of the com
ing battle and in the uncertainty of
she result, the president forbade my
departure. Now it 10 necessary and he
consents. I cannot say for how long,
but will write you. n Give love to
all and for yourself accept the con-
stant prayers of truly yours,
II. +. Lee.
General Lee was always considerate.
His wife sent him number of pairs
of socks, but he gave ten pairs to one
of his negro servants.
At this time some of the southern
newspapers were criticising Lee. To
his wife he writos:
am sorry, as you say, that the
movements Of tho armies cannot keen
pace with the expectations of the
editors of papers. l know they can
regulate meters satisfactorily to
themselves on paper. I wish they
could do so in the field. No one
wishes them more success than I do
and would be happy to see them have
full swing. I hope something will be
done to please them. Give much love
to the children and everybody, and
believe me, always yours,
Il. +. Lee.
The deep religious feeling of Gen.
Lee is always manifest. On Sunday,
December 8, 1851. he writes to his
daughter:
My Precious Annie-I have taken
the only quiet time I have been able