The National tribune., 1910-09-15
THE LEE STATUE.
4 Plea for 1t by a Good Comradc


Editor National Tribune In common with
other of our civil war ex-soldicrs find very
! much Of interest IN The National Tribune.
and have been especially interested in your
issue of the, 11th ult., in which you give the
dihering views of Judge Collins and of Past
CommandeE-in-Chief Ell Torrance, both of
whom are weli-kn0wH and highly-respected
comrades I'm this city and State. Both Of
these have held positions OF trust and honn-
in thc National 4Ehcampments. Both of
! them are tdmp1li6fi; il the Minnesota Com.
| mandery df the Loyal Legion and both also
active in the G. A II. work OF this city aud
n,atti i,, tt igeE mold differing opinions respect
statue of Gen. Robert e. Lee in the Na
tional Hall in Washington. clothed in his
.,o ,onieheIlte uniform, Both Of these gen
tleneh are soldiers. Commanding respect both
In their military life and Iuter as citizcns
IN cixil iife, and tae opinions of both re-
/ to serious and respectful consideration
IhHse articles In your issue of the Iith
Git. relate to q subject which divides quite
Sharply the opinions of the old soldiers II
IS quite probable as has been Indicated Inv
the action Of some Posts that the ma iority
OF the veteran soldiers may upon first con-
SideTatloI ana without careful Thought Lar-
lnoniZe with the views expressed by. InI.,n
| Collins However this may be, / am very
strongly persuaded that such expression by
cur Posts nld by comrades il ON tEr
whole ungenerous and iinpnlitc SO far as II
| implies any prejudice against the reception
| Of the statue Of Gen. Lee clad as 1t is In
| the :Onfedcrite uniform.
During the time that I have been think
| Ing of the articles Of the gentlemen uomrd
! l have also been rereading the pprSor'ri
| memoirs Of Gen. 4. s. Grant and I note his
| modest utterances on pages JJ3 to Jji writ
! ten during the closing days of his life
which express so well the thought that WIS
| in his mind. that ii seems to me that n
| should lead us TO most generous conclusions
| The three ling paragraphs of the Cen
erals closing remarks are MS follows
| Il feel thnt we are on the eve Of n new
era. when there Is to lie great harmony be
| tween the Federal and Confederate I can
not stay 20 be living witness to the cor
IN me TINT 1t Is to be so. - The universally
| kind feeling expressed for me at time
when 1t was supposed that each day would
prove my last seemed to me the beginning
| Of the answer TO Let us have peace
''The expressions of these kindly feelings
were not restricted to n section of tEc
| They cam" from individual citizens of all
! nationalities: from all denomina tions-the
! Protestant. he Catholic and fhe Jew-nnd
/ from the various societies of the Iand-scI
entlfc. educational. religious or otherwise
Politics did not enter into the matter Mt all
Il am not cgotist enough to suppose all
| WaS tho object OF 1t. But tho war between
| the States was Il very bloody aud very
costly war. One side or the other had 70
| yield principles they deemed dearer than
| life before II could u" brought to an end I
commanded the whole of the mighty host
eHraced on the victorious side I was. no
| matter whether descrvediv go or not Il ren-
| resentative of that side IF the controversy
Tr is n significant and arLtifyins fact that
confederatcs should have Joined heartily in
| this spontaneous move / ho,.a th, aooI
| ferFDS inaugurated may conIinne 10 the
| end -
!! can readily recall NY own Impressions.
| which had been gained ry my thru" yea.s
! Amy service. ana Irh w~,r emt.b:islztI
rs | lay Inside the 'Eloody hng.r'' at Spot
svivanin from III. morning Of May T.. 1864.
| to the morning of the 18th. among the Con-
| fedcrates after being put ''hors de comhat"
| during the early morning in charge over
the Confederate works. The COnfedcrates
made a rally at that particular point and
came In with some considerable force so
that we wounded Federals. who were per.
force prisoners had quite close acquant-
ance wtafthcm during the "a hours that
remained on the field First noticed the
unmistasai,le evidences of intense patriotic
feeling which made, the cause OF the Con
| fedrrates as sacred in their thought MS we
| Federals gould held: the of the Union
In our own. Next; their uniform courtesy
TO me weqt even, TO the extent of personal
| Kindness AS ] lay wounded and helpless
famong tiitm, anti this was uniform and
without 1iny reluctance or hint of unwilling
| service - -
Lee standing In the place assigned by his
state to bin in the Statuary Hall in the
Mationai .l, Gap1to, 1T ado aMii be e, perpetual me
| ture good faith OF his State and the South
in general, in their devotion to our com
mon flag and to iLe perpetulty OF the inds-
soluble union Of the. States. There are
many evidences now of the genuineness and
depth of feeling Of. sincere regard between
the men who fought in the armies of the
South ayd thosei Who met them on many
bloody fields and finally won in the great
conflict. The world will never forget tho
dramatic spectacle of the meeting of Grant
and Lee at AppomattoX. where the one de-
manded surrender of the conquered with
such generous conditions attached as won
the respect OF those who were defeated. but
who spared all needless humiliation
The sooner that the soldiers Of the North
can with unanimous consent range them
selves beside Gen. Grant in a most gener-
Gus and magnanmOus consideration of our
former foes. who have honored themselves
and honored our common flag ever since
that fatal day at Appomattox the sooner
will perish all bitter memories of strife in
which many died that the Nation might
live. and we should have learned before a
half century has passed that it is far hard
er for the conquered to forgive us of the
North than for those who have won to for
give those who have had to submit to the
humiliation of defeat.-Elwood s. Corser
Lieutenant. 93d n. Y, Alex. Hayss Brigade,
Birneys Division. HancOcks Corps, Minno-
ntfe linn