The Washington herald., 1915-02-28
LEES IRON HAND HELD
SOLDIERS TOGETHER.
February "a, 1865.

/ 1
Fifty years ago today the soldiers o.
| the Confederacy were deserving In large
numbers daily. and only the iron will Of
Lee held together the army that was de-
Tending Petersburg against Grant.
Lee had been fighting assertions fol
! more than a year. The bitter winter oi
lss3-6i in his camps behind the Rapidar
had seen the beginning of disintegra
/ ton in the army Of Northern Virginia.
| Through the summer campaign deser'
| tons had fallen off, but with the begin
ming of the operations at Petersburg
they had increased. Early in the fall OF
1854 Grant had reported to Washington
that the Confederates were deserving al
the rate of a regiment a day
This statement was warmly denied IN
I the Southern press. Grant was speak
| ing. however. of the aggregate of deser-
! tons from all the armies in the South
and his statement was within bounds.
Now. the ratio of assertions applied to
| Lees army was much higher than when
Grant had first noted the gradual ten
dency to disintegration in the armies OPP
posing the Union.
Lee Secs the End.
| In the face of this sign Of weakness in
| his forces, Gen. Lee. strong and calm.
did his utmost to retain to the end his
! control over his men. That this end was
not far off he knew well. Since Gettys-
| burg he had in his heart accepted the
fate of the Confederacy as sealed. Yet
he had fought on resolutely. to do his
best to the end for the cause for which
he had given his sword.
Various persons who saw Lee in this
period of gloom and stress have de-
scribed his manner. One of these was
Capt. Raphael Semmes, former COM
mander of the Alabama who, on arriv-
ing home from Europe in January. Wis
tied Gen. Lee at his headquarters at
Petersburg.
II thought the grand old chieftain and
Christian gentleman seemed TO fore
shadow in his conversation-more by
manner than words-the approaching
downfall OF the cause" writes Capt.
Semmes Il had come to him. I told
him. to speak of what had seen of the
people and of the army in my transit
across. the country from Texas, and
TO say to him that unless prompt meas
ures could be devised to put an end to
desertiOns our cause must inevitably be
lost.
He did not seem at all surprised at
the revelations made. He knew all
about the condition of the country, civil
and military. and seemed to feel him
self powerless to prevent the downward
tendency of things.
And he was right 1t was no longer
in the power of any man TO save the
country uhe Confederacy). The body
polite was already dead. The people
themselves had given up the contest
and this being Sthe case. no army could
do more fhan retard the catastrophe for
a few months. Besides. his army was IT.
self melting away. That very night-as
/ learned the next morning at the break
fast table-160 men had deserted in a
body, 1t was useless to attempt to shoot
deserters when decentralization had gone
to this extent
Think Cause Lost.
The official records amply confirm the
accuracy of these statements. On Feb
ruary "a Gen. Lee wrote the Confederate
secretary of war as follows:
Il regret to be obliged to call your at
tention to the alarming number OF de-
sertions that are now occurring in the
army. Since the 18th instant they amount
in two divisions of Hills Corps, and
those OF Wilcox and Heth. to about 400.
There are a good many from other COM
mands.
The assertions are chiefly from North
Carolina regiments, and especially from
those in the western part of the State.
1t seems that the men are influenced
very much by the representations of
their friends at home who appear to
have become very Respondent as to our
success.
They think the cause desperate and
write the soldiers. advising them to take
care of themselves. assuring them that
II they will return home the bands of
deserters so far outnumber the home
guards that they will be in no danger
of arrest. / do not know what can DO
done to prevent the evil. unless some
change can be wrought in the state of
public sentiment - The deserters
generally take their arms with them
The North Carolina deserters struck
for their homes. but numbers of Lees
men gave themselves up to the Federals.
Method of DesertinK.
With two armies confronting each 9TH
or in lines that almost touched, deser-
ton to the enemy was not difficult A
favorte method of accomplishing II Is
described in the "reminiscences of Federal
soldiers.
Although contrary to orders, the SOL
diers had fallen into the habit in the
course of the siege Of meeting In friend
ly intercourse when on picket. On such
occasions they conversed on the state
of the war or exchanged food for to-
bacco
The F'ederals always took care to i'm
press upon the "Johnnies' the hopeless
ness of their cause and to invite them
by inference to come within the Federal
lines.
A Johnnie who had decided to desert
waited for his turn on picket duty to
accomplish his purpose. A clump of
bushes between the lines usually afford
ed the scene for the transfer Of allie
glance. The Federal picket, being pre-
pared in advance. brought out an extra
uniform, which he concealed in the
bushes. The Confederate put on the uni
form, and, leaving his discarded rags be-
hind him, boldly walked into the Federal
lines.
As the winter advanced these precau-
tons became rarer. The deserters gen.
orally chose night for their fight and at
times came over to the Federal lines in
bodies ranging from six to several score. |
The largest number deserving at one
time apparently is that mentioned by
Capt. Semmes. |
SOUTHERN CARGOES LAY
IDLE in BAHAMAS. |