The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-18

poraps guard in the next convention"
They were talking by the spring where
afterward some of the wounded in
Early's raid were, treated. and on the
spot where a soldier was killed by a
shell from Fort Stevens The wa
tiers of tribulation' was nearer than
President Pierce woud believe.
Breckenridge became a general in
the Confederate army and saw war at
it's worst. When one of the last des-
perate efforts to relieve Richmond was
made. Early's raid on Washington, he
was second in command, and, coming
back to the old Silver Spring house.
made 1t his headquarters, the very IL
brary where he had been so strongly
urged to take firm stand against the
repeal which brought on the war. He
repaid the hospitality he received
there by placing guard over the
house, which protected 1t from loot
ers, and escaped the burning that de-
| stroyed <Montgomery's house on the
adjacent hill.
Her Husband Fleet Commander.
Through the war her husband, Ad-
miral Lee, was feet commander. at
sea or on the rivers of the West, and
her brother, General Frank p. Blair,
! Jr., was in heavy fighting, command
| ing finally the Seventeenth Army
| Corps of Sherman's army.
Some time previous to General Lees
| surrender. Mr.. Blair, at President Lin
coins request, went to Richmond and
arranged for the peace congress Mrs.
Lee treasured for years Nc Lincoln g
notes. in the Presidents hand, begin
ming Father Blair" and asking him
to come to the White House IN the eff
fort for peace.
There was difference of opinion be-
3 tNrynn rafR 80 =
the Blairs from the first and Mont
gomery Blair was ultimately driven
from Lincoln's Cabinet NBefore the
war Mr.. Stanton rather assented to Sc
cession, Mrs. Lee said, and used the
expression. Let the rebellious sisters
(States) go in peace" but when war
actually came on, he changed not only
to activity. but to bitterness and drove
his old associates, such as w. w. Cor
coran and Bayard Taylor. out of Wash
fngton. Stanton's frequent arrest of
citizens of Montgomery county. who
were taking no part in the war. kept
the Blairs constantly going to Mr..
Lincoln to get their neighbors and
friends out of the old Capital jail. Mrs.
Lee said this was carried so far that
boy of fifteen years was arrested
near Silver Spring because he whistled
Dixie on his way to get the cows.
1 Lees anu DatEHcS NChBnDOfBs
| Mrs Lee and the Davises were
friendly before the war. having cot
| tages near each other at Oakland, Nd
| Mrs Lee could never understand the
political attitude of the ADVISES. She
thought they were ambitious of I'm
tied monarchy in the South.
AS to Mrs. Calhoun, she Inherited
General Jackson's opinion, which, she
said. was to this effect: "Mr. Calhoun
| has great intellect but no man can
really be great without heart. and
| Calhoun lacked heart" AS Mrs. Lee
| looked at things, Davis and Calhoun
| in the South. and William Lloyd Gar
rison and Harriet Beecher Stowe in
the North, were the sort of people who
/ brought on the civil war, and she
| looked upon Uncle Toms Cabin" as
a false book. not true in either its
descriptions or its immediate purpose
1t was not until the Presidential
election of 1875 that the effort to re-
store the South to its place in the I'm
ion was successful, and meanwhile
Mrs. Lees brother, General Blair. had
run for the Vice Presidency on tine
Democratic ticket with Mr.. Seymour
Mrs. Lees sympathy was strong for
every effort TO recreate the Union.
She saw three marked social peri
DDS in washington First, the Demo
| Gratis looked down upon py the WINK 81
who were the social leaders when she
came to the city. Second, the Republi-
can and Free Soil Party. with Its
small beginning and society ur-
der the Buchanan administration
very scornfuI of the new party,
lastly. the long dominance OF
Republican administrations \nce the
war. with the Cleveland admin
istration making little social Change
Very few women have had 50
| broad a political experience, ana II
| is doubtful II any other American wo'
| man has been conversant win politi-
III leaders and movements for so lone
| a period.