Evening star., 1924-05-18

Gen. Scott. Gen. Lee was sent into
this region to hold il if possible. Lac.
OF supplies and continuous rains rem
dered his efforts vain. and he was re-
called and put to work upon the
coastal defenses Of the southern states.
With Richmond Threatened by tn
Union forces. Lee was called to that
city and made the communicating
chief OF the armies Of the Con:eG-
eracy, but President Davis declared
this unconstitutional and Lee again
found himself without troops 10 com
mand. He became military adviser to
Mr.. Davis. He. however, mapped out
q plan of campaign that turned Jack
son into the Shenandoah Valley to
keep Washington in d state of panic
while Mcclellan faced Gen. j. f.
Johnston, who lay between him and
Richmond,
on the eve of the battle Of Seven
Pines. Gen. Johnston was shot and
severely wounded. and the command
oevolved upon Gen. q. w. Smith. who
ordered Longstreet to renew the en-
gagcment, but Longstreet delayed and
the whole army was in jeopardy BY
> of that afternoon Gen. Robert r.
Lee had been placed in command of
the army of northern Virginia.
The situation of the Confederate
forces was one OF danger. with Nc
CIellan'S victorious army confiden 1t
of the capture of Richmond. Time
and again Gen Lee through sheer
audacity of plan. wrested the laurels
from the Union forces. He recalled
Jackson from the Shenandoah. and
then fell upon the trenches of the
enemy, whom he forced back to NAL
vern Hill. That night Mcclellan re-
treated to his gunboats, and Rich
mond was saved TO the Confederacy.
Three long, hard fought years were
10 take the toll of hundreds of thou
sands of lives before that city was to
yield TO the northern troops.
Lee had desired Information about
the enemy's communication with his
base of supplies, and Gen. Stuart had.
with 1900 cavalry and a battery of
horse artillery. swung clean around
McClellans army, with a speed and
a success that. greatly disturbed the
north. Stonewall Jackson had swung
and the giant army of Mcclellan had
sought the shelter of its gunboats. 1t
was master that held the reins and
he drove his forces with clear vision
and an unerring divination of the en-
emys designs and strength. His mill
tary genius was at last given scope,
and the Confederate forces grew
courageous and steady under his mas
terly direction.
The Union tried out one general
after another against the matchless
skill of Gen. Lee, but Richmond re-
manned uncaptured and Lees army
unshattered Lees plans more than
once fell into the hands of the Fed
erals and Lee lost in killed or
wounded his greatest generals when
he most needed them, but he saved
his army and his capital, always with
a force not more than half the size of
the enemys His chief plan was. with
a small part of his army, to hold the
center of the foes lines, while he
massed his men on one flank and
crushed that, swinging back then to
destroy the other flank or the center.
X X x
WHEN Stonewall jackson was shot
w by his own men who took him for
the enemy he sent message to Lee
after his left arm had been ampu-
tated. Lee replied that if he had lost
his left arm he Uee) had lost his
right, and Lee always felt that had
Jackson been on the field of Gettys-
burg the outcome would have been
quite different. Longstreet was
good fighter, but he was late in enter
ing upon his duties.
So always with a smaller army
than his opponents, Lee moved on
from battlefield to battlefield, auda-
cious. fearless, exact, even holding
the enemy's front while he smashed
the f1anks, divining almost always the
enemy's plans with accuracy.
Virginia had been raked with heavy
fighting, and Lee determined to carry