St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1910-10-01
GENRE. LEE AS SEEN FROM
THE RANKS.

1t was Fitzgerald, the witty Irish
mar Of the Alexandria Company of
the End Louisiana Infantry, A. N. ",
who told the story of the old lady
living far from the operations of the
armies who wanted to know Of him
If he knew "Lias Sneed of Jackson's
Company in Lees Army" and he re-
lated it to illustrate the potent fact,
as every old soldier knew it, that
you were expected by the home folks
to know every other soldier in your
army, and if you failed to remember
those inquired about your own char
acter as a real soldier was immeasur-
ably hurt, for "Lias" was there, and
you not having seen him, and having
not the honor of his acquaintance,
was proof positive that you were a
skulker or something worse.
OF course, a soldier knew his own
immediate comrades and those Of his
former and %ante-bellum friends, as
sociates or acquaintance whom he
might meet. Beyond his own COM
pany, however, the knowledge of the
men Of the regiment, their names,
and the who was who" of them in
dividualIy, was limited. indeed. Es-
pecially was this true in the earlier
years Of the war, when the regi-
ments were large. Towards the end,
when commands were reduced to
fragments, and were doggedly fight
ing to the end, we became more COM
~panionable, and as close as brothers.
Even in these piping times Of
peace" it is generally supposed we
knew or saw daily our chief com
manding officers, and more especially
those who now enjoy a celebrity
world wide and which time can never
dim.
Not 50, however.
Would it occur to you that per-
haps the story related Of the peasant
woman of France, who, when the
"Great Conquerer" sought the shelter
of her hut, told him she had never
heard of Napoleon, then the Emperor
and then in the noon-tide of his
glory, was more than fiction, and is
quite probable when the possibility is
explained that there soldiers who bad
fought battles under his eye, but
who had never seen him?
This is more than reasonable to
me, for il was a long time before |
saw General Lee-so long that /
thought he would never come my
way, and that I'd be killed or the war
would end before | would see my be-
loved commander. When | did look
on him for the first time, he was in
the State House Grounds in Rich
mond, alone but the observed of all
observers as he walked unostenta-
tiously and quietly from the Capitol.
"Stonewaa" Jackson ! saw but once,
General Longstreet, to whose corps
elonged, | saw much of, the most
startling when brought by me in a
litter covered with blood at the
Wilderness battle, May 6, 1864.
But, ii is Of the General command
ing that | would more directly speak,
of the impression he made upon me,
an humble musketeer in Hoods I'M
mortal Texas Brigade, for there were
many illustrious minor general Of
f%cers--there was but one R. E. Leei
The glimpse (as it were) Of an officer
dashing at half or full speed along a
line Of Army March" gives a soldier
no opportunity to get what he calls
a "lopk" at his commander, and if
asked if he had seer him on such an
occasion as this he would most prob
ably qualify his answer. In my own
instance, these opportunities were
themselves quite rare, and | can call
to mind no important incident con-
nected with them which would re-
viye in memory the particular time
Or place.
General Alexander, Chief Of Artil-
lery Of Longstreets Corps, tells US in
his charming, historic story, The
Memoirs Of a Confederate" that
Colonel Long. General Lees Aid and
Secretary, told him of Gen. Lees feel
ings as he stood in the review Of his
soldiers, and the relating Of the incl
dent will not be amiss.
On Longstreet's return from the
Chicamauga and Knoxville. Tenn,
campaigns, with the two divisions,