The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-04-09
3 7 WINS
Forty-Four Years
Since AppO1ndtto1

ounce APP0I71QtTOf
BALTIMORE, Nd. Aprfl a.-Today
is the forty-fourth anniversary Of the
surrender at AppomaltUx, Va, by Gen.
eral Robert E. Lee Of The army OF
northern Virginia. In his las! order
to the veterans whom he mad Ici
through years Of varying forum IS Cen.
eraI Lee assured them that they could
go to their homes with the conscious,
ness OF Auy well and faithfully per.
formed. He exhorted them TO accept
the results OF their resort to the arbi.
trament Of arms in good faith and to
devote their energies theuaetortt to
restoring the waste places IN the SOuth
and to developing lis resources. Gem
erat Lee was not & man of many
words. But what he said came from
his heart and was strengthened by a
calm judgment and exalted purpose.
His counsel sank deep into the hearts
of the Southern people. lie was, after
AppomatoX, as well as in the days Of
HIS greatest tliumphs in the field, the
most powerful influence for peace anil
rehabilitation in the South. Charles
Francis Adams, of Boston, an officer
In the Northern army a student OF his
tory. n deep and brood minded thinker.
has in several addresses declared that
the nation owes an almost incaIcula.
BILE debt of gratitude TO- General lee
for his refusal to encourage guerilla
worforo after the South was no LONGER
able to maintain organfzed armies.
The force which General Leo sur.
rendered at APpomttox was only A
tattGred remnant OF The once powerful
army of northern Vlrgfnia-Eiat array
of witch Swinton, tho historian of lie
federal army of tho Potomac. wrote in
terms Of discriminating praise and al.
miration. 1t is said that StOncwalI
Jackson declared OIL one occasion that
Gone'al Lee was the only man he no
ever mot whom he wonId follOw blind.
folded" That spirit appears to have
animated every soldier in the army OF
northern Virginia. The last charge
Lees soldiers made, when surrender
stared them in the face, was as bril-.
liant and valorous as the charges
which made the army of northern Vfr.
ginia famous when victory seemed to
he assured. After having followed
Lee to the last extreme OF loyalty and
courage to the climax at Appomattox,
they followed his counsels faithfully
in the years succeeding the WIZ. The
survivors of n -four years war proved.
to the admiration Of the world and to
their everlasting honor, that thu sold.
Ter who has done his duty faithfully
In war will not shirk his lu;lcs and
responsibilities in The trying timcg fol.
lowing defeat. But 1T should leo raid
that the personnel OF the army of
northern Virginia and OF the other
Southern armies was probably super.
Tor to that Of any other army Of mod.
ern times.
Having demonstrated its prowes5 IN
war, the South has equal cause for
pride in the inncxfble determination
with which it labored to repai: the
havoc wrought by war. Much has been
written Of late years about the "New
South" The men who laid the founda-
tons Of the South's rehabilitaH n az
ter the civil conflict were ihe men
who Tough under It's flag and surrena
cred with Lee and Johnston. In Ger
tain sense we have a New South"
but the energy, the grit and resource
fulness which contributed 30 largely
to Its upbuilding were the attr'b ttcs
OF the Confederate veterans OF tho Old
South. Practically every MAJ IN the
South who was able to shoulder a
musket was a soldier In the Confrder-
ate service. Ashas been grimlY sn!d.
"the cradle and the grave were rob-
bed" to fill the depleted armies of
the South. 1t Is estimated that more
than 100000 were killed in bastl,, died
of wounds or in prison or from disease.
Those who survived set to work, after
the war, in the lace of trighttal odds
and disheartenlng conditions to build
up the South. They are entitled to