Evening star., 1944-08-16

Mr.. Kennedy's general" was 4
Civil War private who received his
courtesy promotion in later life. The
incident of his gracious acceptance
Of Lees surrender was, Of course, q
bit of day dreaming on the old gen.
tleman's part
To the Editor Of The Star:
George Kennedy's story OF the gen
erar and Jubal Early in The Sunday
Star is fine, except for the unjustified
slur on Gen. Grant. Mr.. Kennedy
says of his general: "He was under
the apple tree at Appomattox now ac-
cepting Lees sword of surrender, per-
sonally and courteously, not like Grant,
who sent a subordinate out to take
It," The facts are: % Gen. Lee did
not surrender under an apple tree; (2)
he did not surrender his sword to any
one; 90 he did not surrender to q
subordinate and (D he was treated with
the greatest courtesy by Gen. Grant.
Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant
in person, In the house OF Wilmer
Mclean at Appomattox. Prior to the
meeting of the two generals at the
house they had exchanged several notes,
which were borne by subordinates on
each side. AS Gen. Fitzhugh Lee,
nephew of Gen. Lee and his cavalry
commander, says, "Col. Babcock, the
bearer Of Gen. Grants last note, found
Gen. Lee near Appomattox Courthouse,
lying under an apple tree upon blanket
spread on some rails, from which cir
cumstance the widespread report origi-
mated that the surrender took place
under an apple tree" General Lee"
D. Appleton g. Co., New York, 1901, page
393)
When Gen. Lee arrived at the Nc
and Gen. Grant, who a few minutes
afterward came there to meet him,
did not touch 1t. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee
says page 398: Gen. Grants be-
havior at Appomattox was marked by
desire to spare the feelings of his
great opponent. There was no theatre
cal display; his troops were not paraded
with bands playing and banners flying.
before whose lines the Confederates
must march and stack arms He did
not demand Lees sword, as Is custom
ary, but actually apologized to him for
not having his own, saying it had been
left behind in the wagon; promptly
stopped salutes from being fired to
mark the event, and the terms granted
were liberal and generous. No man
could have behaved better than Gen.
Grant did under the circumstances said
Lee to friend in Richmond. He did
not touch my sword; the usual custom
Is for the sword to be received when
rendered, and then handed back, but
he did not touch mine Neither, did
the Union chief enter the Southern
lines to show himself or to parade his
victory, or 60 to Richmond or Peters,
burg to eXult over a fallen people, but
mounted his horse and with his staff
started for Washington. Washington,
at Yorktown, was not as considerate
and thoughtful of the feelings of Corn
wallis or his men" ROGER ROBB.
To the Editor OF The Star:
The article in The Sunday Star by
George Kennedy entitled, The General
Ends His Feud with the Earlys" was
interesting until the final paragraph
which stated about the subject of the
article, He was under the apple tree
at Appomattox now accepting Lees
sword Of surrender, personally and cour-
teously, not like Grant, who sent q
subordinate out to take it."
Where did Mr.. Kennedy get such an
idea of the surrender? The author of
such a bedtime story should read at
least one history book!
For the N-plus-10th time let it be
stated that neither Gen. Lee nor any of
his men surrendered a sword nor any
side arms. I summon Claude Mahoney,
local radio commentator, to substantiate
this statement. After he made similar
faux pas about April 9 last he was called
down by his early-morning listeners.
Be 1t further stated that Gen. Lee
proposed the terms of surrender ana
those terms were accepted by Gen.
Grant, who was glad to stop the blood
shed and who knew that Lee would
never consider an unconditional sur
render. REBEL.
Soundproof Home Possible
To the Editor of The Star:
I was interested in E. w. AS letter
complaining Of radio noises, but he
should cheer up. 1t isn't necessary that
he hear his neighbors radio, nor even
his neighbor; 1t only happens because
the building code doesn't yet require
soundproofing in residential buildings,
although for health reasons it should.
His dream home" can be so sound
proofed that he still can have a radio.
In this field, in my experience, New
York and Washington are far behind
London, where apartment buildings
with any pretension to being modern
are planned and detailed to reduce air
borne and impact noises to minimum.
I know of one fairly new apartment
building here in Washington in which
every step taken by the tenant above
is distinctly heard, the lower tenant
often being awakened by them during
the night.
The home I dream of in the future
also will be soundproofed
HARRY BARRETT.
How About Ex.Fuehrer?
To the Editor Of The Star:
In The Star of August II there was
letter to the editor headed Those
German Articles" and signed by Fred
A R1och