The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1907-02-01
LEE AS A FIGHTER.
John S. Wise Reviews His Record as
an Aggressive Commander.

| y l D
read with deep appreciation YOUR .
editorial in the issue Of today on Gen. .
Lee No, only the American pe0Dle. .
hut All lovers Of charity and magma
rnini+v Will orajse YOU for this broad
ard natrforic EXPRESSION. The time Is
surely here when we NAV DO Justice
70 the character ana motives Of ne
7-.., m borh sides Until the isSua
was settled neither side was demon
.-rared right And after i wa. ScrrI-
ed no matter how rengc-iug men
must admit that the conscientious
mon ON both sides We're nor in The
wrong, if the word retains It's an
cient meaning of Intentional Gerr.ic-
.tion. once more. ! thank YOU for the
sD.rjr Of vorr editorial. It is tina, of
the old soldier.
+ Yon are guilty If a strange over
siaht however. in reviewing the mill
farv record of Gen. Ice. You speak
Of Malvern Hill and gettysburg as
his only AGGRESSIVE battles. The sec
Iond hattie of Manassas was the bold
lost in conceutioD and most aagres-
Isiva in execution Of all the battles
fouphr nv Ice In fact. II wa. the
only barrIo souab- hv him in which
his victory VA. 81 cOmplatc that he
IsIanr unon the battlefield from which
I+ha onamv had been driven. The
madness, with which he divided his
army and laid himself open to the
defeat OF his forces in detail has
been characterized by his critics ~
and only defended by his admirers
AZ justified by his knowledge Of his
adversary.
Have you not confOundrd Lee with
Johnston in speaking OF me former
as Fabian in his methods? i l. true,
thai Lee. by superiority OF numbers
'onposDJ 10 him. by the necessity Of
husbanding his resources. and by the
knowledge that great defeat could
not be repaired. was always hampered
agains, any desperate ventures. Then.
TOO. the federal strategy against
Richmond was so constant and so
threatening that for the most part
his attitude was necessarily defensive.
Rut was he Fabian in his temDera-
menr? He was always Parthian. as
YOU say. His deadiest blows We're
whom he had tempted his adversary
10 mink him vulnerable.
prt Iao.s aopresstveness was re-
,o-,,oh,o ua srccaadad Johnston
u.ho, tob,o,op uada his FIRST stand
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