Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-06-25
STATUE OF GENERAL
STEPHEN D. LEE
Unveiled at Vicksbure
June fifth.
WAS RECEIVED BY GEN. GRANT
ON PART OF II &


close of the United Confederate Vet
eran reunion at Memphis, many of the
old soldiers and other notables assem-
bled at Vicksburg, Miss, to attend the
unveiling of statue of the late General
Stephen Dill Lee. who was commander
in-chief of the Confederate organization
at the time of his death.
1t was in the siege of Vicksburg that
General Lee won his spurs as a dash
ing and intrepid commander, and the
last years of his life were devoted to
the perfection of the great national
military park there. General Lee died
at Vicksburg May %, 1908. and il is
peculiarly fitting that the South's me-
mortal statue to him should be erected
on the spot which he loved so well.
Another monument will be placed at
the grave in Columbus where the old
commander sleeps in everlasting rest.
GEN. PRED GRANT PAYS TRIBUTE.
North, south, east and west sent
celebrities to do honor to the memory
Of the chivalrous. soldier of Dixie.
Major-General Frederick Dent Grant,
Of the Department of the Lakes, was
delegated at his own request by the
secretary of war to rec csive the statue
on the part of the United States.
The parade, headed by Gen. Grant
and an escort of the u S. cavalry,
proceeded 70 the national park, where
Henry Watterson called the assembly
to order. His voice rang out clearly. as
he briefly outlined the purpose of the
meeting. He said, ia part:
Those of US who survive the dread
ordeal of the civil war are old men now,
md each annual roll call brings yet!
fewer of US together. Presently there
will remain among the living not one
who fought On either side. Happy
those who have been spared to look
Upon a land never again to be wet by
fraternal blood and a people reunited
forever sn hsssd and heart: for. impassi-
BILE as the line of fire seemed, we were
one people then and we are one people
now. the war of sections a mutual and
blessed heritage"
PRESIDENT GRANTS SENTIMENTS.
Gen. Grant said in part:
lin the shadow of this beautiful
statue, built 10 the memory of this
knightly and chivalric soldier. am glad
to recall the earnest wish cherished by
my own dead father, Gen. Ulysses S.
Grant. for peace and harmony among
the American people. This wish was
shown in the terms granted here at
Vicksburg, and also on April 8, 1865,
when, at Appomattox. upon reading
that the sidearms, horses and private
property of his officers and enlisted
men could be retained by them, Gen.
Robert E. Lee said to Gen. Grant.
These terms will have, indeed, a most
happy effect upon my army and upon
the whole South
After a demonstration which marked
! Gen. Grants concluding words. the
Vicksburg school children sang Amer
lea" Then George r. Peck, of Chicago,
spoke feeingly of the splendid affection
l that bound North and South.
THE statue.
The statue is of life size and repre-
sents General Lee in a moment of tri-
J umph after one of his victories in a
skirmish about Vicksburg. He was
then in.the full development of young
! manhood and the pose is both noble
and heroic. The statue cost $ll, ,OO0
It is a tribute of affection from num-
ber of admirers, north and south, among
them his only son. Blewitt Lee, Captain
William I. Rigsby, chairman Of the
Vicksburg National Military Park COM
mission and Union soldier, and hun
dreds of veterans of the south, who
followed the late general in battle, and
others who admired him. Rigsby,
although northern so. ..ier, born in
iowa, was associated with General Lee
when the latter was himself chairman
Of the park commission. In constant
association he grew to-love the modest
southerner whose declining years were
devoted to cementing the ties of