i 
 
 m§m 
 
 mm^i 
 
 1^ 
 
 W'' 
 
 
^^^^^f^ »^-d^^^A.c^, 
 
 Robert E. Lee 
 
 Centennial Celebration of His Birth Held Under the 
 
 Auspices of the University of South Carolina 
 
 on the Nineteenth Day of January, 1907 
 
/ 
 
PRESENT tl) 
 
 MRS, JOVNtS 
 LIKENESS OF 
 
 BV MRS. LEE. 
 THE GENERAL. 
 
ROBERT E. LEE 
 
 Centennial Celebration 
 
 OF 
 
 His Birth 
 
 Held Under the Auspices 
 
 OF THE 
 
 University of South CaroHna 
 
 ON 
 
 the Nineteenth Day of January 
 1907 
 
 Columbia S. C. 
 
 The State Company, PrJDters 
 
 1907 
 

 Gift 
 
 ''■My'07 
 
(Extracts from the Minutes of the Faculty, Oct. 19, 1906.) 
 "Moved, That the centenary of Lee's birth be celebrated by the 
 University, and that Prof. Joynes be requested to deliver before 
 the Faculty, students and citizens of Columbia an address on the 
 life and character of General Lee. Carried." 
 
 (From Minutes, Oct. 30, 1906.) 
 
 "The Committee appointed to recommend a programme for the 
 celebration of the Centennial of the birth of Gen. R. E. Lee by 
 the Faculty and student body of the University made the follow- 
 ing report * * * 
 
 "That Prof. E. S. Joynes has consented to deliver an address on 
 General Lee as a civilian, with special reference to his service as 
 an educator. 
 
 "That Maj. Henry E. Young, Judge Advocate General, one of 
 the survivors of General Lee's staff, be requested to deliver an 
 address on the military career of General Lee." 
 
(From Journal of the House of Representatives, Jan. 9, 1907.) 
 
 On motion of Eepresentative Porter A. McMaster : 
 Be it Resolved, That the use of the Hall of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives be extended to the Faculty of the University of South 
 Carolina on the evening of January 19th inst., for public services 
 commemorative of the centenary of the birth of Gen. Robert E. 
 Lee. 
 
PROGRAMME 
 
 Music by University Glee Club 
 
 Prayer, by the Rev. W. P. Witsell 
 
 Music 
 
 Address, "Lee, the Soldier," 
 
 by Major Henry Edward Young, of General Lee's Staff 
 
 Music 
 
 Address, "Lee, the College President," 
 
 by Dr. Edward S. Joynes, formerly of General Lee's Faculty 
 
 Music 
 
 Presentation of medal offered by Wade Hampton Chapter, 
 U. D. C, to Mr. Eugene Blake for best essay on: "Was 
 Secession a Constitutional Right prior to 1861?" by Professor 
 Yates Snow den 
 
 Music 
 
PRESENTED CHRISTMAS. 1S67. 
 
 WALKER W, I OY N ES ; * 
 
 YEARS OLD. 
 
 BY MRS. LEE 
 HEN FIVE 
 
MAJOR YOUNG'S ADDRESS 
 
 Mr. President, and professors of the University of South Caro- 
 lina : Let me in the first place thank you, and thank you very 
 sincerely for the honor you have conferred on me in giving me 
 the opportunity of doing myself honor by showing my apprecia- 
 tion of and admiration for the great soldier and man — "the 
 greatest of all modern leaders," and "the most perfect man" — 
 under whom I had the honor of serving personally during the 
 late war. It is needless to say how greatly I value and cherish 
 the memory of my almost daily association with him during the 
 later years of the war. 
 
 There are two men with whom in life I have associated inti- 
 mately and who, though very different in some respects, always 
 impressed me as great men — the greatest I have been privileged 
 to associate with. And yet how different their fates. The one 
 sinking slowly from the ken of men and now within a generation 
 nearly forgotten — the other growing greater day by day — a world 
 hero — Mr. James L. Petigru and Gen. Robert E. Lee. Both were 
 absolutely fearless, both absolutely upright, both absolutely truth- 
 ful, both devoted to duty, both exercising during life a wide 
 influence. Both ready to help in distress. To whom the poor and 
 needy and weak never appealed in vain ; both with intellects that 
 placed them in their several spheres far above all their contem- 
 poraries. And yet, before the generation that knew him has 
 passed away, I have been asked in a body of lawyers, when I men- 
 tioned Petigru as the highest type of the lawyer I had ever had 
 the privilege of knowing, who he was, when he lived, and what he 
 had done. He lived and worked and toiled faithfully for that 
 jealous mistress the law, and already his great reputation is seen 
 to have been written on the seashore of time and is rapidly wash- 
 ing away. 
 
 With Lee, on the contrary, the great reputation graven on the 
 monuments more eternal than brass are but graven deeper and 
 deeper by time. And whatever in the future may happen to the 
 
8 
 
 South, whether it produces statesmen again, known to the whole 
 world — without whose name the world's history cannot be written 
 — and who shall join in the building up of this mightiest empire 
 the world has ever known — or be, as at present, the mere fly on the 
 chariot shaft ; its name and history as identified with Lee and his 
 glorious Army of Northern Virginia will be engraved deeply on 
 those same tablets of brass and will not sink to oblivion. But it 
 is time that I turn to the duty you have so kindly assigned to me 
 as one of the staff of General Lee. 
 
 To sketch even the outline of General Lee's military career till 
 his life, begun by Colonel Marshall and yet to be completed, is 
 given to the world, laying open more than what mere oiEcial 
 records can show, will necessarily be unsatisfactory. 
 
 Of course it is easy to sketch his career from West Point, 
 through the Mexican war, to the opening of the great Civil war. 
 The histoiy of those days has been fully written, and no doubt 
 finally written ; but from that time on no full history, sanctioned 
 and approved by him, or those naturally acquainted with his 
 views, as, for instance, Colonel Taylor, perhaps his most intimate 
 staff officer during the war, has been written. That by Colonel 
 Long, his staff officer, fills the void only in jjart— it is so brief. 
 The campaign of West Virginia is not now recognized as the 
 absolute failure it was considered in 1862, and the clamor of the 
 South Carolina papers when the "mud-digger" was given com- 
 mand over the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, etc., against him, 
 and the demand that a brigadier general of this State should 
 have the command, sounds now as the mere madness of the pass- 
 ing hour; fortunately it was then treated as the madness of the 
 ignorant, and was without influence. 
 
 While it is true that the defense of the seacoast of Georgia and 
 South Carolina as planned by General Lee remained substantially 
 unchanged during the four years of the war, and was successfully 
 maintained, yet the most interesting part of Lee's career, and that 
 most known to the world, which, from no mean soldier (Lord 
 Wolseley), has won for him the well-earned praise of being not 
 only the "greatest soldier of his age," but also of "the most perfect 
 man I ever met," dates from his taking command of the Army of 
 Northern Virginia — great praise, certainly, when we recall that 
 the man thus placed above his compeers was the unsuccessful 
 
Lee compared with the unsuccessful Sydney Johnson, Joe John- 
 ston, "Stonewall" Jackson, etc., the successful Grant, Sherman, 
 Sheridan, McPherson, etc., of this country, and the successful von 
 Moltke and Skobeleff, etc., of Europe. Von Moltke, too, we should 
 recall, places General Lee above Wellington. 
 
 Lord Wolseley wrote thus just after Lee's death: Forty years 
 later, in his personal memoirs, when time had matured his judg- 
 ment. Lord Wolseley styles himself; "A close student of war all 
 my (his) life, and especially of this Confederate war, and with a 
 full knowledge of the battles fought during its progress," repeats 
 his judgment that General Lee was "the greatest of all modern 
 leadei's," and compares his campaign of 1862 with that of Napo- 
 leon's of 1796. Speaking of his visit to General Lee, he says : "I 
 have taken no special trouble to remember all he said to me then 
 (1862) and during subsequent conversations, and yet it is still 
 fresh in my recollection. But it is natural that it should be so, for 
 he was the ablest general, and to me seemed the greatest man I 
 ever conversed with ; and yet I have had the privilege of meeting 
 von Moltke and Prince Bismarck, and at least on one occasion had 
 a very long and intensely interesting conversation with the latter. 
 General Lee was one of the few men who ever seriously impressed 
 and awed me with their natural and their inherent gi'eatness. 
 Forty years have come and gone since our meeting, and yet the 
 majesty of his manly bearing, the genial winning grace, the 
 sweetness of his smile and the impressive dignity of his old-fash- 
 ioned style of address, come back to me amongst the most 
 cherished of my recollections. His greatness made me humble, 
 and I never felt my own individual insignificance more keenly 
 than I did in his presence. His was indeed a beautiful character, 
 and of him it might truthfully be written: 'In righteousness he 
 did judge and make war'." 
 
 Nor does Lord Wolseley in these opinions stand alone. His 
 judgment is that of such military writers and critics as Chesney, 
 Lawler, and of the higher press. Northern as well as foreign. 
 
 Says Lord Wolseley again: "I desire to make Iniown to the 
 reader not only the renowned soldier, whom I believe to have been 
 the greatest of his age, but to give some insight into the character 
 of one whom I have always considered the most perfect man I 
 ever met." 
 
lO 
 
 It would, therefore, be a mere vain repetition to repeat praises 
 made by those so competent to judge and whose opinions will 
 weigh. 
 
 It will, therefore, be far more profitable and suitable to this 
 occasion to note an apparent change of opinion which some of 
 the more recent writers seem to take, and the effort to elevate one 
 of Lee's subordinates above him; passing over the omissions, for 
 instance, of General Jackson and giving him the credit due really 
 to General Lee. Is this well founded ? General Jackson has had 
 the good fortune of having his life written by .several devoted 
 friends — two clergymen, members of his staff — more apt to be 
 partisans than cool judges — and Colonel Henderson, even, seems 
 to be guided by Mrs. Jackson. 
 
 General Lee's life has not yet been written by such, except the 
 brief life suggested rather than written by General Long. So the 
 world has General Jackson's side of the case, while the other is 
 wanting. The battles around Richmond wei'e brilliant successes 
 for General Lee, and no one disj^utes that he planned them; yet 
 they were not as comj^lete as they should have been, and would 
 have been, if General Jackson had not delayed at Ashland, and 
 again at A^Tiite Oak Swamp. General Jackson had been sent for 
 by General Lee before he opened the battles, and brought to 
 Richmond from the valley, and fully informed of the campaign 
 planned. The initial move hinged upon Jackson. With his wing 
 of the army he should have passed Ashland and been at Slash 
 Church practically on the 25th of June, 1862, and then attacked 
 McClellan on the flank, but he had not then passed Ashland, and 
 did not attack McClellan till the afternoon of the 26th, thus 
 occasioning the check and useless heavy loss at Beaver Dam ; the 
 enemy retired from the latter place as soon as Jackson reached 
 his flank. So also the next day at ^Vliite Oak Swamp. By his 
 delay there he failed to support the attack of Longstreet and Hill 
 at Frazier's farm, and thus "McClellan only escaped destruction 
 through the non-execution of Lee"s orders." Colonel Henderson 
 and Captain Battine would have us believe that these were errors 
 of General Lee, and not of General Jackson; in Lee's failing to 
 give Jackson precise orders. 
 
II 
 
 General Longstreet thus states the mattei" "When he (Lee) 
 set out on liis first campaign (Chickahominy) with the army, the 
 key of the campaign was intrusted to General Jackson, who named 
 the hour for the opening and failed to meet his own appointment. 
 At the time he appointed, A. P. Hill's, D. H. Hill's, and Long- 
 street's commands were in position waiting (Beaver Dam, etc.). 
 About eight hours after his time was up, he deliberately marched 
 past the engagement and went into camp, a mile or more behind 
 the hot battle. He remained in his camp next morning, and per- 
 mitted the enemy, dislodged of his position of the day before, to 
 march by him to a strong position at Gaines's Mill. Wlien his 
 column reached that position, his leading division (D. H. Hill's) 
 engaged the enemy's right without orders. He called the division 
 off and put his command in position to intercept the enemy's 
 X'etreat towards the Pamunkey, from which he was afterwards 
 called to his part in the general engagement. The next day he had 
 the cavalry and part of his infantry in search of the enemy's next 
 move. At my headquarters were two clever young engineers 
 who were sent to find what the enemy was about; they were the 
 first to report the enemy's retreat towards James River. Orders 
 were given for Jackson to follow on the direct line of retreat, 
 also Magruder and Huger. My command was ordered around 
 through the outskirts of Richmond, by the Darbytown Road, to 
 interpose between McClellan's army and the James River, about 
 twenty miles ; the other troops marching by routes of about nine 
 miles. We were in position on the evening of the 29th June, and 
 stood in front of the enemy all of the 30th, fighting a severe battle 
 in the afternoon. Magruder and Huger got up after night, and 
 Jackson on the morning of the 1st. After the battle of the 1st, 
 Jackson, Magruder and Huger were ordered in direct pursuit 
 along the route of retreat, my command by the longer route of 
 Nance's Store. Jackson's column and mine met on the evening of 
 the 3rd near Westover, the enemy's new position." 
 
 Naturally this may be tinged somewhat by Longstreet's bitter- 
 ness under the criticisms of himself after Gettysburg; still Long- 
 street was not one to misrejjresent facts. 
 
 Again, of this White Oak Swamp delay, Colonel Allan, Jack- 
 son's own chief of ordnance and his devoted friend, says : 
 
12 
 
 "Only the column under Longstreet and Hill did anything, the 
 others accomplished nothing. They did not even prevent rein- 
 forcements from going to the Federal centre. It is impossible to 
 deny that General Lee was very poorly served on the occasion by 
 his subordinates. Holmes was so imposed upon by Porters' 
 demonstration that he was not only paralyzed for the day, but 
 continued inactive during the great struggle at Malvern Hill. 
 * * * Magruder, out of the fight, spent the afternoon in 
 marching and countermarching. * * * Huger's feeble opera- 
 tions were the most disappointing of all. He was nearest to Long- 
 street, and he was almost on the edge of the battlefield, yet he did 
 nothing, * * * nor is it possible to free from blame on this 
 occasion a greater soldier than Holmes or Huger; Jackson, igno- 
 rant of the country, had, in the swamp and Franklin's veterans, 
 substantial causes of delay, but they were not such obstacles as 
 usually held Jackson in check. * * * Jackson's comparative 
 inaction was a matter of surprise at the time, and has never been 
 satisfactorily exjDlained." 
 
 Kemarkable as the admission of Colonel Allan, Jackson's staif 
 officer, that Jackson is really to blame for the failure of a com- 
 plete victory in the battles around Richmond, equally remarkable 
 is the present admission of another of his staff officers (Rev. Mr. 
 Jones), that Chancellorsville is General Lee's work, not Jackson's. 
 Instead of suggesting the flank movement to General Lee's ques- 
 tion, "How can we get at these people?" he replies only, "You 
 know ; show me what to do, and I'll do it." When General Lee 
 had explained the movement, he caught it quick enough and 
 executed it with his usual force and vigor. "Such an executive 
 officer the sun never shone on," said General Lee of him; or, as 
 McClellan is said to have expressed it, "Jackson is the best execu- 
 tive officer of the Confederacy, as Lee is its greatest general." 
 Despite of all the balderdash and exaggerated fine writing of Gen- 
 eral Gordon, Captain Battine has gone too fast and too far ahead, 
 even of Colonel Henderson, in claiming Chancellorsville for 
 General Jackson. The truth is now gradually coming to light. 
 It is becoming clearer and clearer that Chancellorsville was 
 fought, as it was fought, really against Jackson's ideas. He 
 wished to attack Sedgwick — not move on Hooker. Even when in 
 front of Chancellorsville, he thought Hooker would cross the river 
 
13 
 
 and move to support Sedgwick. "General Lee seemed to be the 
 only one who seemed to have the absolute conviction that the 
 real move of the Federal army was the one he was meeting then." 
 Replying to Jackson, finally, "But, general, we must get ready to 
 attack the enemy if we should find him here tomorrow, and you 
 must make all arrangements to move around his right flank." 
 Then, says a bystander, "Jackson's face lighted with a smile, and 
 rising and touching his cap, he said, 'My troops will move at four 
 o'clock.' " 
 
 General Lee's own words are in a letter he wrote in reply to an 
 enquiry by Bledsoe, seeking to give Jackson the credit of Chan- 
 cellorsville, but wise enough to enquire if he was correct: "I have 
 the greatest reluctance to say anything that might be considered 
 as detracting from his (Jackson's) well-deserved fame, for I 
 believe no one was more convinced of his worth or appreciated 
 him more highly than myself; yet your knowledge of military 
 affairs, if you have none of the events themselves, will teach you 
 that this could not have been so. Every movement of an army 
 must be well considered and properly ordered, and every one who 
 knew General Jackson must know that he was too good a soldier 
 to violate this fundamental principle. In the operations around 
 Chancellorsville, I overtook General Jackson, who had been 
 placed in command of the advance as the skirmishers of the 
 approaching armies met, advanced with the troops to the Federal 
 line of defenses, and was on the field until their whole army 
 recrossed the Rappahannock. There is no question as to who was 
 responsible for the operations of the Conferedates, or to whom 
 any failure would have been charged." 
 
 The writer of General Jackson's life, to exonerate him from the 
 blame of the failure at Ashland and ^Vliite Oak Swamp to play 
 his allotted part in the battles before Richmond, throws the blame 
 on Lee, as having failed to give Jackson specific orders. I don't 
 suppose that to Longstreet, or Jackson, or Hill, or Stuart, General 
 Lee ever gave iron-clad orders. Wlien Jackson had been informed 
 of the plans of the attack and fully discussed them at Richmond, 
 and knew the time fixed for the movement of the troops, on the 
 left of the enemy, he could not have failed to know that he was 
 to attack at that time, and to cooperate. Yet greater are the mis- 
 rei^resentations which have been made by General Jackson's 
 
H 
 
 admirers as to Chancellorsville. Of a victoi-y, perhaps the 
 greatest won by the Army of Northern Virginia, in the triumph 
 of which Providence, alas, kept him from sharing, everything has 
 been chiimed for him. Fortunately so openly that General Lee 
 was compelled, by their own action, to notice the claim. He 
 does this in his usual modest, self-deprecatory way, viz., in a letter 
 to Mrs. Jackson herself of 25th January, 1866, in reply to one 
 from her, I quote from it : "The opinion of General Jackson in 
 reference to the propriety of attacking the Federal Army under 
 General McClellan at Harrison's Landing is not, I think, cor- 
 rectly stated. Upon my arrival there the day after General 
 Longstreet and himself, I was disappointed that no opportunity 
 for striking General McClellan on the retreat, or in his then 
 position, had occurred ; and went forward with General Jackson 
 alone on foot, and after a careful reconnoissance of the whole 
 line and position, he certainly stated to me at that time the imjiro- 
 priety of attacking. I am misrepresented at the battle of Chan- 
 cellorsville in proposing an attack in front, the first evening of 
 our arrival. On the contrary, I decided against it, and stated to 
 General Jackson we must attack on our left as soon as practicable, 
 and the necessary movement of troops began immediately." If 
 Lee decided against this, Jackson alone could have proposed it. 
 
 This letter of General Lee settles forever, or should settle for- 
 ever, the claim of General Jackson's friends that he was the author 
 of the celebrated flank movement at Chancellorsville, or that he 
 even suggested it. It is absurd enough to claim that in any battle 
 a subordinate should direct it and have the credit for it. He obeys 
 orders, and General Jackson said often he would obey any officer 
 in command cheerfully, but General Lee he would follow blind- 
 fold, and at Chancellorsville, he did obey. But, in fact, Chan- 
 cellorsville was not fought according to Jackson's suggestion at 
 all. AVlien Sedgwick crossed the Rappahannock and formed his 
 line of battle in fi'ont of Fredericksburg, while Hooker crossed the 
 same river some miles above, Jackson urged that Sedgwick should 
 be attacked. General Lee was satisfied that the main attack was 
 to be by Hooker, and that he should attack Hooker, and not wait 
 for his attack. I well remember the occasion, almost every staff 
 officer of Lee had been sent out to observe Sedgwick's move- 
 ments. The two armies were in line opposite each other, but 
 
15 
 
 both apparently absolutely quiet — so quiet that a deer which was 
 caught between the lines was pursued by the .men of both sides. 
 The moment it jjassed a certain imaginary line the men of one side 
 ceased pursuit, and the opposite side took it up, till the deer was 
 finally caught by the Federals, but not even a picket fired a shot. 
 During the friendly contest not a shot was fired even by a picket. 
 General Lee was confined to his bed by the disease which 
 finally troubled him so much, the adhesion of the pleura to the 
 side, and Jackson sat by his bedside discussing the situation. 
 Upon Lee's staff reporting General Jackson's views still differing 
 from his. General Lee got up from his bed and rode to a hill, from 
 which most of the ground could be seen. For about an hour, with 
 his glasses, he closely and silently scrutinized the enemy's lines. 
 Then, turning to General Jackson, he remarked : "Our fight must 
 be at Chancelloi-sville," and by signal ordered General Anderson, 
 then near Chancellorsville with his division, not to bring on a 
 fight, but to hold the enemy without doing this, and ordered 
 McLaws to move to Anderson's aid at once, and ordered General 
 Jackson to move his command before daylight to where Ander- 
 son was, near Chancellorsville, and to take command there till he 
 (Lee) should reach the spot; and ordered his general staff to be 
 ready before daylight to report to General Jackson. We were 
 all ready before day, but General Jackson did not pass our 
 quarters till the sun was well up, and his command followed a 
 little later. General Long states that General Jackson passed 
 headquarters at 9 a. m., but it was earlier, according to my recol- 
 lection. About 9 a. m. General Jackson was upon the battlefield, 
 and was arranging to oj^en the battle with General Anderson's 
 division, before Hill, Colston and Rodes were in line. General 
 Lee, who had quitted his sick bed, learning this, reached the field 
 on a galloji and the attack, by his order, was reduced to a skirmish 
 till Hill and McLaws were in position to join, and then the real 
 attack began, supported by Colston and Rodes in reserve. It is 
 pleasant to mention here an anecdote of a brilliant soldier of the 
 Confederacy, whose life was sacrified for its sake. Jackson's corps 
 was in three lines : First, Hill ; second, Colston, and third, Rodes. 
 Hill being outnumbered and hard pressed called on Colston for 
 support. He replied he had no orders. The gallant, glorious, 
 youthful Alabamian Rodes who, with his men were lying down 
 
i6 
 
 behind him, heard this. He sprang up and called his men, "Hill 
 ■wants help, we'll help him." The men were up in a moment with 
 a Rebel yell, and their charge, with Hill's, drove the enemy back 
 and won the day and the handsome young brigadier his major 
 generalship, for that evening General Lee asked it for him by 
 telegrajjli. Colston was not heard of again in the Army of 
 Northern Virginia after this battle. 
 
 Colonel Henderson, in his life of Stonewall Jackson, evidently 
 writes on papers and memoranda furnished to him by Mrs. Jack- 
 son, and is evidently strongly biased by them; still he prints 
 General Lee's letter to Mrs. Jackson correcting some of the Rev. 
 Dr. Dabney's errors. Unfortunately, however, for the truth of 
 history, the book that Colonel Henderson has written is the most 
 important book on the war in Virginia, and is entirely openly 
 partisan for General Jackson. General Lee's book on the war is 
 not yet before the world. So the matter has gone and now, in the 
 last English book on the subject, by Captain Battine, we find this 
 most positive statement : "The fall of the chief who designed and 
 executed the master stroke in the very hour of victory adds pathos 
 to the story, and apj^ropriately closed his (Jackson's) too brief 
 career of glory. Great as were the moral and material results of 
 the victory, they were bought at all too dear a price, for with the 
 fatal shot which struck down Stonewall Jackson began the series 
 of disastrous events leading to the conquest of the Confederacy." 
 General Jackson, in fact, merely opened the battle of Chancellors- 
 ville. It was won the next day, when he had, imfortunately, been 
 wounded and had been carried away from the field. 
 
 Doubtless it is true what Captain Battine says of General Jack- 
 son; every A. N. Va. man will join him in it most fully: "The 
 possession of such a leader is of {jriceless value to any State in 
 time of war." But the fact that General Jackson's achievements 
 have been written of by his friends, his widow and chaplain 
 apparently inspiring them, has given, I think, an undue color. 
 
 The valley campaign was ordered and conceived by General 
 Johnston. General Johnston told me this himself, and his 
 Memoirs verify it. Jackson executed his orders as only the "best 
 executive officer the sun ever shone on" could execute them it is 
 true. The same, changing the name of Joe Johnston to Lee, is 
 true of his other campaigns, and so, doubtless, when the history of 
 
17 
 
 the Civil War is fully written, General McClellan's opinion will 
 be found the correct one, that "Lee, as a general, was incompar- 
 ably the first of the Confederates, and Jackson, as an executive 
 officer, without an equal among them." 
 
 The judgment of General Early, himself a soldier, and inti- 
 mately acquainted with both Lee and Jackson, and having served 
 throughout the war in the Army of Northern Virginia, will be 
 accepted above that of Captain Battine. 
 
 '"As glorious as was this victory (Chancellorsville) it never- 
 theless shed a gloom over the whole army and country, for in it 
 had fallen the great lieutenant to whom General Lee had always 
 intrusted the execution of his most daring plans, and who had 
 proved himself so worthy of the confidence reposed in him. It is 
 not necessary for me to stop here, to delineate the character and 
 talents of General Jackson. As long as unselfish patriotism, 
 Christian devotion, and purity of character, and deeds of heroism 
 shall command the admiration of men, Stonewall Jackson's name 
 and fame will be reverenced. Of all who mourned his death, none 
 felt more acutely the loss the country and the army has sustained 
 than General Lee. General Jackson had always appreciated and 
 sympathized with the bold conceptions of the commanding gen- 
 eral, and entered upon their execution with the most cheerful 
 alacrity and zeal. General Lee never found it necessary to accom- 
 joany him, to see that his plans were carried out, but could always 
 trust him alone ; and well might he say, when Jackson fell, that he 
 had lost his 'right arm.' '' 
 
 I don't think one need fear much that Captain Battine will 
 change the view of histoiy, which already seems to have j)ut Lee 
 and Jackson in their proper positions — one the natural com- 
 mander, the other his right hand. 
 
 And perhaps, too, if we seek the opinions of English soldiers, 
 that of Colonel Lawler may be nearer the truth than Captain Bat- 
 tine, viz. : "But, after all, the one name, which in connection with 
 the great American Civil War posteri narratimi atque traditum 
 superstes erit, is the name of Robert Edward Lee"; and Colonel 
 Chesney: "The day will come * * * History will speak with a 
 clear voice * * * and place above all others the name of the great 
 chief of whom we have written (Lee). In strategy, mighty; in 
 battle, terrible; in adversity and in prosperity, a hero indeed; 
 
i8 
 
 with the simple devotion to duty and the rare pui'ity of the ideal 
 Christian knight, he joined all the kingly qualities of a leader of 
 men." 
 
 "There is a true glory and a true honor: The glory of duty 
 done. The honor of integi'ity and principle. "J After Lee's death, 
 an old knapsack which he had used was found with a few bread 
 crumbs and an old slip of dingy paper with these words written 
 on them. This had gone through the war with him — aye, through 
 life. 
 
 And so, despite modern seekers after something new, the Con- 
 federacy can safely leave the memory of its greatest man, whether 
 citizen or soldier "General E. E. Lee, the most stainless of living 
 commanders, and, except in fortune, the greatest." 
 
MARY cusrrs lee; puesen ted by mrs. lf.e to 
 
 MRS. jOViNES. 
 
19 
 
 ADDRESS 
 LEE. THE COLLEGE PRESIDENT 
 
 By Dr. Edward S. Joynes. 
 
 The most glorious object in nature is the sun. Yet in full 
 meridian its brightness dazzles the eye. But sometimes, m the 
 subdued glow of sunset, its magic radiance is revealed m resplen- 
 dent charm of light and color, more beautiful because less 
 dazzling, than the midday brilliance. So it is sometimes, but 
 rarely, in human character. So it was, notably, with him whose 
 statue guards this capitol— South Carolina's noblest hero and 
 exemplar, Hampton— whose work in the evening of his life, as the 
 great Pacificator, outshines even the glory of his military achieve- 
 ments. So it was, most conspicuously, with Robert E. Lee, who in 
 his latest years, in the humble office of a college president, bearing 
 bravely the burden of daily duty, beneath the weight of a disap- 
 pointment which might well have crushed the strongest heart, 
 was yet to illustrate and confirm the finest traits of a character 
 whose perfection and power, on the highest fields of action, had 
 already won the admiration of the world. 
 
 I am to speak of General Lee as a College President only— not 
 at all of his larger life or achievement in military service. In 
 this humbler capacity it was my privilege to serve him and to 
 know him intimately— a privilege— ah, how great!— so great that 
 I did not realize it until it was gone. Yet, ever since, I look back 
 upon it, with increasing estimate, as the golden age of my life— 
 and with ever increasing regret that I could not know him better 
 and serve him better than I did. Such, I know, was the feeling of 
 all of us who were privileged to serve with him— of whom I am 
 now, with one exception, the sole survivor.* Today, all over the 
 
 •The other survivor of the fac'ulty is my class-mate at the University of V.r- 
 einia (1853), Alexander L. Nelson. Professor of Mathemnties for fifty-two years 
 a854.1906)-now retired on the Carnegie Foundation. Others, since d.st.ngmslaed 
 as teachers or otherwise, were then young instructors, hut not members of the 
 faculty The Rev. Dr. J. William Jones, General Lee's biographer and trusted friend, 
 was one of the chaplains of the College. It would be impossible to enumerate the 
 students of that day who have since attained distinction. 
 
20 
 
 South, in many colleges as elsewhere, this Centennial is fitly cele- 
 brated ; for General Lee, as a college president, has ennobled every 
 college in the land, and the memory of his great example will be 
 cherished so long as recurring centennials shall come. 
 
 In what I shall say to you, my friends, I shall speak without 
 ornament or oratory, but simply, and of intimate personal knowl- 
 edge. I shall make large use of material written by myself soon 
 after General Lee's death, when recollection was fresher than 
 now.* Much of documentary evidence, which, though interesting, 
 has already been widely published, I shall omit ; and if, on other 
 somewhat technical points, I seem to go too much into detail, my 
 apology must be that, in my opinion, all authentic facts concern- 
 ing General Lee, as a college president, are of permanent intei'est 
 and importance. 
 
 General Lee accepted the presidency of Washington College, in 
 the first place, from a profound and deliberate sense of duty. The 
 same high principle of action that had characterized his conduct 
 in the gravest crises of public affairs marked his decision here; 
 and here, as ever, duty alone determined his choice.* There was 
 absolutely nothing in this jjosition that could have tempted him. 
 Not only was it uncongenial with all the habits of his past life, 
 and remote from all the associations in which he had formerly 
 taken pleasure, but it was at that time most uninviting in itself. 
 The college to which he was called was broken in fortune and in 
 hope. The war had practically closed its doors. Its buildings had 
 been pillaged and defaced, and its library scattered. It had now 
 neither money nor credit, and it was even doubtful whether it 
 would be shortly reopened at all for the reception of students. 
 The faculty were few in number, disorganized and dispirited. 
 Of the slender endowment that had survived the war hardly any- 
 thing was available, and ready money could not be secured even 
 for the most immediate and pressing wants of the college. Under 
 these circumstances the offer of the presidency to General Lee 
 seemed well-nigh presumptuous; /'and surely it was an offer from 
 which he had nothing to expect, either of fortune or of fame. The 
 
 •In December, 1870, for the University Monthlv (March, 1871). 
 •His letter of acceptance, often printed, strikingly Illustrates this trait of his 
 character, as well as hla modest; and unselfishness. 
 
21 
 
 men, however, who made this election, the trustees of Wasliington 
 College — ever honored be their memory for their noble concep- 
 tion — had not calculated in vain in their estimate of General Lee's 
 character. They felt that this position, however humble it might 
 seem, would afford to him what from their knowledge of the man 
 they were sure would be the most acceptable to him — a sphere 
 of duty in which he could spend his days in the service of his 
 beloved people ; and though the country looked on astonished and 
 incredulous, the result showed that they had not been mistaken.* 
 Suffice it to say here, that it was a deliberate sense of duty to his 
 fellow-countrymen, and a desire to pay back as far as he could, 
 through their sons, the sufferings and sorrows of his own genera- 
 tion in the South, that determined his decision. He had already 
 fully resolved not to leave Virginia under any circumstances ; and 
 this position, humble as it seemed to be, gave him the wished-for 
 ©Importunity of laboring for her people and for the South. There- 
 fore he accepted it. 
 
 The profound sense of duty which marked General Lee's accep- 
 tance of this office characterized also his whole administration of 
 it. He entertained the profoundest convictions on the importance 
 of educational influences, both to individuals and to the country, 
 and the deepest sense of personal responsibility in his own office. 
 He felt that an institution like Washington College owed duty 
 not only to its own students but to the whole country, and that its 
 moral obligations were not only supreme within its own sphere, 
 but were attached to the wider interests of public virtue and of 
 true religion among all the people. Everybody around him felt 
 unconsciously that he was actuated by these principles, and all 
 were impressed by his high conceptions of duty and the singleness 
 of his devotion to it. Nothing else, indeed, could have sustained 
 him so serenely through so many and so constant details of labor 
 and of trial. \Nothing else could have held his thoughts so high or 
 kept his heart so strong in the midst of daily tasks always so 
 severe, often so trivial and discouraging. But he never flagged; 
 and though he fully comprehended the difficulties of his office, 
 and was often wearied with its incessant labors, no word of 
 
 •Details of this event — as of many other facts herein referred to — may be found 
 In Jones' "Personal Reminiscences." 
 
22 
 
 despondency fell from his lips. He felt that he was doing his 
 duty. "I have," he said, as reported by the Hon. Mr. Hilliard,* 
 "a self-imposed task which I cannot forsake"'; and in this spirit 
 he met all the details of his daily labors, cheerfully to the lastj/ 
 Again and again, during his life at Lexington, were temjiting 
 offers urged upon him — offers of large income, with comparative 
 ease and more active and congenial employment; but though he 
 fullj' appreciated these considerations and was not indifferent to 
 the attractions presented by such offers, he turned from them all 
 with the same rejDly. He had chosen his post of duty and he clung 
 to it. Year by year the conception of his duty seemed to grow 
 stronger with him ; and year by j'ear the college, as its instrument 
 and representative, grew dearer to him. And as gradually the 
 fruits of his labors began to be manifest, and the moral and intel- 
 lectual results of his influence apj) roved themselves even to his own 
 modest self-estimate, his heart grew only warmer, and his zeal 
 more zealous, in his work. 
 
 His sense of jjersonal duty was also expanded into a warm solic- 
 itude for all who were associated with him. To the faculty he was 
 an elder brother, beloved and revered, and full of all tender sym- 
 pathj\* To the students he was a father in carefulness, in encour- 
 agement, in reproof. Their welfare and their conduct and 
 character as gentlemen were his chief concern ; and this solicitude 
 was not limited to their collegiate years, but followed them 
 abroad into life, i He thought it to be the office of a college not 
 merely to educate the intellect, but to make Christian men. The 
 moral and religious character of the students was more precious 
 in his ej'es even than their intellectual progress, and was made the 
 special object of his constant personal solicitude. In his annual 
 reports to the trustees, which were models of clear and dignified 
 composition, he always dwelt with peculiar emphasis upon these 
 interests; and nothing in the college gratified him more than its 
 marked moral and religious improvement during his adminis- 
 tration. To the Eev. Dr. ^ATiite he said, as affectingly narrated 
 soon after his death by that venerable minister: "I shall be dis- 
 
 •See Jones' "Personal Reminiscences of Gen. R. E. Lee," p. 146. 
 
 •General Lee's treatment of his faculty was not only courteous, but kind and 
 affectionate. My wife reminds me that once, when I was detained at home by sicli- 
 ness. General Lee came every day. through a deep Lexington snow, and climbed the 
 high stairs, to Inquire about me and to comfort her. 
 
23 
 
 appointed, sir — I shall fail in the leading object that brought me 
 here — unless these young men all become consistent Christians." 
 Other exjji-essions, bearing eloquent witness to the same truth, 
 might be quoted ; but none could be more eloquent than the steady 
 tenor of his own life, quietly yet constantly devoted to the highest 
 ends of duty and of religion.* 
 
 Such were the principles which actuated General Lee as presi- 
 dent of Washington College, and their effects showed themselves 
 in all the details of his administration. In the discipline of the 
 college his moral influence was supreme. A disciplinarian in the 
 ordinary sense of the term, as it is often most unworthily applied, 
 he was not. He was no seeker-out of small offences, no stickler for 
 formal regulations.! I'^ his construction of college rules, and in 
 his dealings with actions generally, he was most liberal ; but in 
 his estimate of motives, and in the requirements of principle and 
 honor, he was exacting to the last degree. Youthful indiscretion 
 found in him the most lenient of judges; but falsehood or mean- 
 ness had no toleration with him. He looked rather to the prin- 
 ciples of good conduct than to mere outward acts. He was most 
 scrupulous in exacting a proper obedience to lawful authority; 
 but he was always the last to condemn, and the most just to 
 hear the truth, even in behalf of the worst offenders. Hence 
 in the use of college punishments he was cautious, forbearing, 
 and lenient; but he was not the less firm in his demands and 
 prompt, when need was, in his measures. His reproof was stern, 
 yet kind, and often melting in its tenderness; and his appeals, 
 always addressed to the noblest motives, were irresistible. The 
 hardiest offenders were alike awed by his presence, and moved 
 
 ' *Great as was the need of the College for academic buildings, yet the first 
 building erected, under General Lee's direction, was a chapel for worship — the same 
 under which his remains lie burled — and he never failed there to attend morning 
 prayers or public worship. (Gen. Lee's views on religious training are fully set 
 forth by my colleague, Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrlck, in Dr. Jones' "Personal Reminiscences 
 of General Lee.") 
 
 tThe "honor principle" — which is the pride of Southern colleges — never had a 
 stronger advocate or a better illustration than General Lee. He did not approve of 
 military regulations in college. I have heard him say that military discipline was, 
 unfortunately, necessary in military education, but was, in his opinion, a most 
 unsuitable training for civil life. A still more remarliable expression is recorded 
 by Professor Humphreys, in the memorial number of the Wake Forest Student: 
 "He warned me" (Prof. H. was then an instructor in the (College) "against inflex- 
 ible rules adopted beforehand, and suddenly startled me by saying; 'The great mis- 
 take of my life was taking a military education.* " 
 
24 
 
 often to tears by his words; and there was no student who did 
 not dread a reproof from General Lee more than every other 
 punishment. In all his official actions, and, indeed, in all his inter- 
 course with the students, he looked to the elevation of the tone of 
 principle and opinion among themselves, as the vital source of 
 good conduct, rather than to the simple repression of vice. His 
 discipline was moral rather than punitive. Hence there were few 
 cases of dismission or other severe punishment during his admin- 
 istration, and hence, also, the need for such punishments became 
 ever less and less. 
 
 The influence of this policy, aided especially by the mighty 
 influence of his personal character, was all-powerful. The eleva- 
 tion of tone and the improvement in conduct were steady and 
 rajsid. Immediately after the war the young men of the South 
 were wild and unrestrained, and acts of disorder were frequent; 
 in the latter years of his administration hardly a single case of 
 serious discipline occurred. I doubt, indeed, whether at any other 
 college in the world so many young men could have been found 
 as free from misconduct, or marked by as high a tone of feeling 
 and opinion, as were the students of Washington College during 
 these latter years of General Lee's life. The students felt this and 
 were proud of it; and they were proud of themselves and of 
 their college as representatives of the character and influence 
 of Lee. 
 
 Yet not the less was he rigidly exacting of duty and scrupu- 
 lously attentive to details. By a system of reports, weekly and 
 monthly — almost military in their exactness — which he required 
 of each professor, he made himself acquainted with the standing 
 and progress of every student in every one of his classes* These 
 reports he studied carefully and was quick to detect shortcomings. 
 He took care, also, to make himself acquainted with each student 
 personally, to know his studies, his boarding-house, his associa- 
 tions, disposition and habits; and though he never obtruded this 
 knowledge, the students knew that he possessed it and that his 
 interest followed them everywhere. Nor was it a moral influence 
 
 •An Illustration of this careful attention is related by one of my colleagues : 
 On one occasion the delinquency of a student was mentioned In faculty meeting. 
 
 "Mr. ," said General Lee, "I do not know him" — and seemed mortified at the 
 
 omission. On Inquiry It was found that the student had recently entered during 
 the absence of General Lee — who at once proceeded to make his acquaintance. 
 
25 
 
 alone that he exerted in the college. He was equally careful of its 
 intellectual interests. Though not personally engaged in teaching, 
 he watched the progress of every class, attended all the examina- 
 tions and frequently the recitations, and strove constantly to 
 stimulate both professors and students to the highest attain- 
 ments.! The whole college, in a word, felt his influence as an 
 ever-present motive, and his character was quietly yet irresistibly 
 impressed upon it, not only in the general working of all its 
 departments, but in all the details of each. 
 
 Of this influence General Lee, modest as he was, was perfectly 
 aware and, like a prudent ruler, he husbanded it with a wise 
 economy. He preferred to confine his direct interposition to 
 purely personal acts; and rarely, and then only on critical occa- 
 sions, did he step forward to present himself before the whole 
 body of students in the full dignity of his presidential office. On 
 these occasions, which were always rare and in his later years 
 hardly ever occurred, he would quietly post an address to the 
 students, in which, appealing only to the highest piinciples of 
 conduct, he sought to dissuade them from threatened evil. These 
 addresses, which the boys designated as his ^'■General Orders,'''' 
 were always of immediate efficacy, and no student would have 
 been tolerated by his fellow-students who would have dared to 
 disregard such an appeal from General Lee.* 
 
 tGeneral Lee never failed to attend every examination, dividing the time among 
 the several classes. Every week he devoted an hour or more to attending recita- 
 tions. He came when least expected, and his presence was a stimulus to both stu- 
 dents and professors — such as I have never since experienced. He would remain 
 10 or 15 minutes and then pass to another class. His bow, as he entered and left 
 the room, was an impressive lesson in courtesy — that gracious courtesy which now 
 seems to me to have almost departed from the new generation. 
 
 •One of these addresses — on an occasion of threatened peril, when a company 
 of Federal soldiers was encamped at Lexington, ready to take advantage of any 
 disorder — is here appended. The original, copied for Gen. Lee by Mrs. Joynes and 
 by him presented to her, now hangs in my study. 
 
 Washington College, 26 Nov., 1866. 
 
 The faculty desires to call the attention of the students to the disturbances 
 which occurred in the streets of Lexington on the nights of Friday and Saturday 
 last. They believe that none can contemplate them with pleasure, or can find any 
 reasonable grounds for their justification. These acts are said to have been com- 
 mitted by students of the college with the apparent object of disturbing the peace 
 and quiet of a town whose inhabitants have opened their doors for their reception 
 and accommodation, and who are always ready to administer to their comfort and 
 pleasure. 
 
 It requires but little consideration to see the error of conduct which could only 
 have proceeded from thoughtlessness and a want of reflection. The faculty there- 
 fore appeal to the honour and self-respect of the students to prevent any similar 
 
26 
 
 General Lee was also most laborious in the duties of his office 
 as a college president. He gave himself wholly to his work. His 
 occupation was constant, almost incessant. He went to his office 
 daily at eight o'clock, and rarely returned home until one or two. 
 During tliis time he was almost incessantly engaged in college 
 matters, giving his personal attention to the minutest details, and 
 always ready to receive visitors on college business. His office was 
 always open to students or professors, all whose interests received 
 his ready consideration. His corresjoondence meanwhile was very 
 heavy, yet no letter that called for an answer was ever neglected. 
 It was stated by the editor of a Virginia paper that to a circular 
 letter of general educational interest, addressed by him to a large 
 number of college presidents. General Lee was the only one that 
 replied ; yet he was the greatest and perhaps the busiest of them 
 all. In addition to the formal reports, which he always revised 
 and signed himself, his correspondence with the parents and 
 guardians of students was intimate and explicit, on every occasion 
 that required such corresi^ondence. Many of these letters are 
 models of beautiful composition and noble sentiment.* 
 
 These varied duties grew upon him year after year with the 
 expanding interests of the college ; and year after year he seemed 
 to become more devoted to them. Again and again did the 
 trustees and faculty seek to lessen his labors; but his carefulness 
 of duty and natural love of work seemed to render it impossible. 
 Equally, he declined donations ofi'ered exj^ressly to raise his 
 salary ; for the college, he said, needed money more than he did. 
 The writer has heard the remark made that General Lee gave 
 himself to the duties of President of Washington College as 
 though he had never known any other duties or any other ambi- 
 tion ; and this was true. He himself wrote to an old and famous 
 comrade in arms, "I am charmed with the duties of civil life." 
 
 occurrence, trusting that their sense of what is due to themselves, their parents 
 and the institution to which they belong, will be more effectual in teaching them 
 what is right and manly than anything they can say. 
 
 There is one consideration connected with these disorderly proceedings which 
 the faculty wish to bring to your particular notice : the example of your conduct, 
 and the advantage taken of it by others, to commit outrages for which you have 
 to bear the blame. They therefore exhort you to adopt the only course capable of 
 shielding you from such charges : the effectual prevention of all such occurrences 
 in future. R. E. LEE, Pres. W. C. 
 
 •Some of these may be found among General Lee's published letters. 
 
27 
 
 It can be truly said that he was wholly absorbed in his work, his 
 noble conceiDtion of which made it great, and worthy even of him. 
 But General Lee was not only earnest and laborious, he was also 
 able, as a college president. He was perfectly master of the situ- 
 ation, and thoroughly wise and skillful in all its duties, of 
 organization and of policy as well as of detail. To this let the 
 results of his administration bear testimony. He found the college 
 practically bankrupt, disorganized, deserted; he left it strong, 
 progressive, and crowded with students. It was not merely num- 
 bers that he brought to it, for these his great fame alone would 
 have attracted; he gave it organization, imity, energy, and prac- 
 tical success. In entering upon his presidency he seemed at once 
 fully to comj^rehend the wants of the college, and its history 
 during the next five years was but the development of his plans 
 and the reflection of his wise energy. And these i^lans were not 
 fragmentary, nor was this energy merely an industrious zeal. He 
 had from the beginning a distinct policy which he had fully 
 conceived and to which he steadily adhered, so that all his par- 
 ticular measures of progress were but consistent steps in its 
 development. His object was nothing less than to establish and 
 perfect an institution which should meet the highest needs of 
 education in every department. At once, and without waiting for 
 the means to be provided in advance, he proceeded to develop this 
 purpose. Under his advice new chairs were created, and pro- 
 fessors called to fill them ; so that before the end of the first year 
 the faculty was doubled in numbers. Later, additional chairs were 
 created, and finally a complete system of departments was estab- 
 lished and brought into full operation. To these departments, 
 each one of which was complete in itself and under the individual 
 control of its own professor, was given a comjjact and unique 
 organization into a system of complete courses, with corres- 
 ponding diplomas and degrees; which, while securing the perfect 
 distinctness and responsibility of each department, gave perfect 
 unity to them all. These courses were so adapted and mutually 
 arranged as to avoid alike the errors of the purely elective system 
 on the one hand and of the close curriculum on the other, and to 
 secure, by a happy compromise, the best advantages of both. So 
 admirably was this plan conceived and administered that, 
 heterogeneous as were the students especially in the earlier years. 
 
28 
 
 each one found at once his proper place, and nearly all were kept 
 in the line of complete and systematic study. 
 
 Under this organization, and especially under the inspiration of 
 General Lee's central influence, the utmost harmony and the 
 utmost energy pervaded all the departments of the college. The 
 highest powers of both pi'ofessors and students were called forth, 
 under the fullest responsibility. The standards of scholarship 
 were rapidly advanced; and soon the graduates of Washington 
 College were the acknowledged equals of those from the best 
 institutions elsewhere, and were eagerly sought after for the 
 highest positions as teachers in the best schools. These results, 
 which even in the few years of his administration had become 
 universally acknowledged throughout the South, were due directly 
 and immediately, more than to all other causes, to the personal 
 ability and influence of General Lee, as president of the college. 
 
 General Lee's plans for the development of Washington College 
 were not simply progressive; they were distinct and definite. 
 He aimed to make the college represent at once the wants and 
 the genius of the country. He fully realized the needs of the 
 present age, and he desired to adapt the education of the people 
 to their condition and their destiny. He was the ardent advocate 
 of complete classical and literary culture* Under his influence 
 the classical and literary departments of the college were fully 
 sustained. Yet he recognized the fact that material well-being 
 is a condition of all high civilization, and therefore he sought to 
 provide the means for the development of science and for its 
 practical applications. He thought, indeed, that the best antidote 
 to the materialistic tendencies of a purely scientific training was to 
 be found in the liberalizing influences of literary culture, and that 
 scientific and professional schools could best be taught when sur- 
 rounded by the associations of a literary institution. He believed 
 fully in the university idea and not in separate technical schools ; 
 but that, as hereafter they must live together, so young men of 
 diff'erent pursuits should be educated together, and that their 
 mutual influence would be mutually beneficial in college as in 
 later life. He sought, therefore, to establish this mutual connec- 
 tion, and to consolidate all the departments of literaiy, scientific 
 
 •He was often heard to regret that he had not more fully completed his flas- 
 sical education before going to West Point. 
 
29 
 
 and professional education under a common organization. Hence, 
 at an early day, he called into existence the departments of 
 Applied Mathematics and Engineering, of Modern Languages, 
 and of Law, as part of the collegiate organization; and, later, he 
 submitted to the trustees a plan for the complete development of 
 the scientific and professional departments of the college, which 
 will ever remain as an example of his enlarged wisdom, and which 
 anticipated, by many years, the actual attainments of any school 
 in this country.* In addition to all the other reasons for mourn- 
 ing the death of General Lee, it is to be deeply I'egretti'd that he 
 did not live to complete his great designs.* Had he done so, he 
 
 •In the Washington College catalogue for 1868-69 (as part of General Lee's 
 report to the Board of Trustees) may be found the outline of a School of Com- 
 merce, which now. after nearly forty years. Washington and Lee University (see its 
 last Summer Bulletin! has just been able to realize. A like course was included 
 (I regret to say. unsuccessfully) in the recommendations of our own University to 
 the present Legislature. So did General Lee anticipate the future, and so do his 
 works live after him. 
 
 I have elsewhere related how, in my first official Interview with him, he 
 emphasized the teaching of Spanish, remarking (prophetically) that our relations 
 with Spanish-speaking countries were destined soon to become closer. 
 
 Properly to estimate the value of (general Lee's work, as a college president, 
 and especially of the plana left unfullilled by his death, we must consider the 
 condition of American colleges, generally, in the sixties, and not the more advanced 
 conditions of the present day. And, for a just estimate of his labors, it must be 
 remembered that in those days there were no telephones and no typewriters ; and, 
 so far as I can recall. General Lee never had any private secretary. 
 
 ♦The successive catalogues of Washington College. 1866-70, exhibit an inter- 
 esting chapter in the history of education, which, it is hoped, Washington and Lee 
 University will some day make public ; for they show, in a striking way, the 
 progressiveness and the elevation of (General Lee's ideas, beyond anything then 
 realized, or even conceived, in American colleges. Having already established (in 
 the first year) the departments of Applied Mathematics, of Civil Engineering, of 
 Modern I^anguages and English, and of Law : and, in the second year, of History 
 and English Literature, of Natural History and Geology, of Applied Chemistry and 
 a Students' Business School, General Lee, in the next year (1868-09) recommended 
 an extension of the scientific and practical courses, including : A Course of Agri- 
 culture ; a Course of Commerce; a Course of Mechanical Engineering: a Course of 
 Mining Engineering, and a Course of Chemistry Applied to the Arts. 
 
 In recommending these courses, which are fully set forth in his report to the 
 trustees, and which anticipate the best work of the best schools of the present day, 
 General Lee wrote : 
 
 "The great object of the whole plan Is to provide the facilities required by the 
 large class of our young men, who, looking to an early entrance into the practical 
 pursuits of life, need a more direct training to this end than the usual literary 
 courses. The proposed departments will also derive great advantage from the 
 literary Schools of the College, whose influence in the cultivation and enlargement 
 of the mind is felt beyond their immediate limits." 
 
 The fulfillment of these far-sighted plans was Interrupted by his death (October 
 1870). The money, cheerfully subscribed for his sake all over the South, was no 
 longer available. 
 
30 
 
 would probably have left behind him an institution of learning 
 which would have been a not less illustrious tribute to his fame 
 than his most brilliant military achievements. As it is, he has 
 left a university, which, dowered with his memory and his name, 
 and inspired with his ideals, will always remain his noblest monu- 
 ment. There today his memory has been celebrated, and his 
 praises spoken by a distinguished citizen of Massachusetts, who, 
 once a Union soldier, is now proud to claim the name and fame 
 of Lee as the property and the glory of the nation. 
 
 Outside of these more official statements there is much that I 
 might say of General Lee in his more personal and private rela- 
 tions. Yet such detail might be wearisome, and, besides, much of 
 what I would say might be unsuitable for public utterance. But 
 no one who ever enjoyed the privilege of intercourse with General 
 Lee can forget that splendid and captivating personality. He was 
 the handsomest man I have ever seen. Besides the utmost perfec- 
 tion of form and feature he had a mingled sweetness and dignity 
 of expression — an unconscious grace and majesty of appearance — 
 "the like of which," says General Lord Wolseley," I have never 
 seen in other men." His familiar conversation was kind and 
 gracious, and often lightened by the play of genial humor. He 
 enjoyed a joke and could tell one with a keen zest — but never was 
 there any approach to unseemly levity, and no man could have 
 dared to take liberties with General Lee. In his home, where I 
 often met him in his family circle, he was most loving and lovable 
 ■ — and especially his demeanor to Mrs. Lee, who for some years 
 had been disabled by rheumatism, was marked by a visible and 
 touching tenderness. Of this dear and gracious lady, who to my 
 wife and children showed the mingled love of friend and mother. 
 
 One other paragraph, from the Catalogue of 18G7-68. I think worthy of record 
 here : 
 
 "The discipline has been placed upon that basis on which it is believed 
 experience has shown it can be most safely trusted — upon the honour and self- 
 respect of the students themselves. The entire government, and the intercourse 
 of the faculty with the students, are adapted to the encouragement of these 
 principles. The cultivation of a high tone of truthfulness and honour, and of 
 a just and lofty public opinion among the students as a body, is believed to 
 furnish a better safeguard for the discipline of the College, as well as a better 
 assurance for the development of manly character, than any repressive or puni- 
 tive regulations that could be adopted. Strict attention to duty is nevertheless 
 required of all." 
 
31 
 
 and whose memorials are among the dearest possessions of our 
 household, I may not speak here, except to say, that she was 
 worthy to be the wife of General Lee and the mother of his 
 children. Of his devotion to her, and of his affectionate and 
 beautiful family life, the richest proofs are given in his published 
 letters — the most intimate of which exhibit, most unconsciously, 
 the finest traits of his character. To all women he always showed 
 the most chivalrous and delicate courtesy. Of children he was 
 affectionately fond, and to them he was irresistibly attractive. 
 They were often seen gathered around him on the campus, or in 
 his quiet walks. 
 
 In what is called "society" General Lee mingled but little — he 
 had neither time nor inclination. But he was never forgetful of 
 the "small, sweet courtesies of life." A stranger visiting Lexing- 
 ton, a father or mother visiting a son at college, was sure of a 
 call from General Lee, and with scrupulous courtesy he repaid the 
 social attentions that he received. At his table he presided with 
 his accustomed sweet and gentle dignity, and shared fully in 
 social, often playful conversation. On special occasions he offered 
 rare wines — I remember once some that had been bottled by his 
 father. Of such he partook sparingly, but never — so far as I 
 know — of any other intoxicating drink. He was fond of riding — 
 almost every afternoon, when he had time; and General Lee on 
 Traveller, booted and gauntleted — in winter with his military 
 cloak — and accompanied, as he often was, by his favorite friend, 
 Professor White — like himself a superb horseman — was the finest 
 sight on which the eye could rest. How often — ah, how often ! I 
 have watched that splendid spectacle ! 
 
 In business matters, private or official. General Lee was accurate 
 and methodical, and his annual reports were models of clear and 
 comprehensive statement. In correspondence he was careful and 
 scrupulously punctual. On this subject I can speak with knowl- 
 edge, for it often fell to my lot to help him — as we were all ready 
 to do — in answering his many letters. In private conversation he 
 was quiet and genial. He never spoke — at least not in my hearing 
 — of the war or of politics, except with the utmost reserve. Here 
 his recollections were, doubtless, too painful. I never heard from 
 his lips a word either of bitterness or of apology, nor any criticism 
 of others. It is known, I believe, that he had intended to write the 
 
32 
 
 history of his army, but that he desisted, because he thought this 
 could not be done "without causing too much pain." Thus, for 
 the sake of others, he forebore what would have been his own 
 supreme vindication. So tender, so self-denying, was this great 
 heart. 
 
 As I look back now, through the haze of forty years, I can 
 hardly realize, as I could not then, that this man, so quiet and so 
 human — so simple in conduct and costume — so kind and friendly 
 — so diligent in business — so social and cheerful — so unassuming 
 and unpretending, as he shared or cheered our daily labors — was 
 the same that had commanded great armies — had swayed the 
 tide of battle — ^had borne the hopes and sorrows of a great people, 
 and alike in victory and in defeat had given to his countrymen 
 and to the world the last and highest ideal of the heroic com- 
 mander. And yet — wonderful as it was and is — it was he; and 
 after all, he was as great — as unequaled — on that college campus 
 as on any battlefield — the same everywhere and always. "He 
 was," says General Lord Wolseley, who knew him when at the 
 head of his army, "the most perfect man I have ever met." and 
 seemed "cast in a grander mould and made of finer metal than all 
 other men." It is but small praise that I, who knew him in a 
 narrower and more intimate sphere, should echo the same senti- 
 ment.* 
 
 It has been already said that to the individual professors Gen- 
 eral Lee was always kind and accessible. In official relations he 
 bore his authority modesth', yet always effectively. From each 
 professor he required stated reports of his department, which he 
 then transmitted to the trustees, with his own endorsement or 
 comment, along with his own report. And after submitting his 
 report, he always retired to his office to await the pleasure of the 
 Board, in order not to embarrass their action by his presence. 
 
 •Since this was written I have, for the first time, read in The Outlook, Nov. 26, 
 1904, a most sympathetic and appreciative paper by Professor Edwin Mims, of 
 Trinity College, N. C, entitled "Five Years of Robert E. Lee's Life," from which 
 I regret that it is now too late to quote. This paper was written in review of 
 "Recollections and Letters of General Lee," by (his son) Capt. Robert R. Lee — 
 which volume, along with the "Personal Reminiscences." by the devoted chaplain, 
 Dr. J. William Jones — offers the richest material for the study of Lee's life and 
 character. 
 
 I venture to hope that Trinity College, in its celebration of this Centennial, 
 will reprint Professor Mims's paper entire. 
 
33 
 
 In the weekly meetings of the faculty General Lee exerted 
 rather an influence which seemed unconscious both to himself and 
 to us, than any visible authority. Faculty meetings are apt to be 
 wordy, and sometimes a little excited; but General Lee never 
 showed impatience, and his quiet presence calmed every rising 
 storm. Enough occurred, sometimes, to show that he had both a 
 quick and a strong temper, but never for a moment did he lose 
 self-control or forget either dignity or courtesy. He exerted him- 
 self to minimize his own authority, and to leave to each professor 
 the full sense of independence and responsibility. He never 
 made a speech ; rarely, indeed, spoke from his chair or attempted 
 by any expression of opinion to influence a pending vote. 
 It need not be added, however, that when General Lee's views 
 were known, they were always decisive, and no really important 
 measure was ever introduced without consultation with him. 
 Besides its exceptionally great ability, his was the best organized 
 and most eiScient faculty I have ever served with. Its important 
 work was done (as in Congress) by standing committees, and 
 General Lee was always consulted in every case of importance or 
 difficulty. Thus — though the initiative often came from another 
 source — he was really identified with every important measure. 
 
 I have said that General Lee rarely spoke in faculty meetings, 
 but his influence was not the less felt. I have already stated how 
 strongly he advocated and enforced the principle of honor in 
 dealing with students, and his aversion to minute regulations. 
 And occasionally he gave utterance to thoughts which I have 
 always remembered and now deem worthy of record. On one 
 occasion a professor cited a certain regulation, to which another 
 replied that it was a dead letter. "Then," said General Lee, "let it 
 be at once repealed. A 'dead letter' inspires disrespect for the 
 whole body of laws; but as long as it stands, it should be 
 enforced." On another occasion a jjrofessor appealed to prece- 
 dent, and added: "We must not respect persons." "I always 
 respect persons," replied General Lee, "and care little for pre- 
 cedent." Again he said: "We must never make a rule that we 
 cannot enforce"; and again, counseling a professor: "Never raise 
 an issue which you are not prepared to maintain at all hazards"; 
 and "Make no needless rules." 
 
 As to his views of discipline, enough perhaps has been said 
 
34 
 
 already. I may state, however, with reference to an important 
 and often recurring question, that General Lee held idleness to be 
 not a negative but a positive vice. "A young man," he said, "is 
 always doing something — if not good, then harm to himself and 
 others" — so that merely jDei'sistent idleness was, with him, suffi- 
 cient cause for dismissal. Another interesting fact was this : In 
 the old college, students had lived in dormitories. Now, General 
 Lee advised all younger students to board and lodge in private 
 families — reserving the dormitories as a special privilege for older 
 students — because, he said, they offered special opportunities of 
 license, while younger boys needed the restraining influences of 
 family life. This view was amply vindicated by results, while 
 thus also the town and the college were drawn into closer fellow- 
 ship and sympathy. There was no "town and gown" in Lexington. 
 
 One incident, personal to myself, is worth relating, for it teaches 
 still, as it taught me, a valuable lesson. I often assisted General 
 Lee in his correspondence — as we all sought to help him when 
 we could. Once he gave me an important letter, which he asked 
 me to answer "with care." I did my best. When I returned it, 
 he read it carefully — then took up his pencil, and said: "Pro- 
 fessor, this is very good, but it will be better if we strike out a few 
 adjectives and adverbs" — then, handing it back, he said: "Now, 
 if you will kindly copy it." I found that he had struck out every 
 useless word, leaving the letter, of course, better than it was 
 before. This incident I never forgot; — as a teacher of English 
 I have quoted it again and again to my classes, and I recognize 
 it now as the best lesson in composition I have ever received. In 
 this connection I may remark that General Lee's own writings, 
 whether official or private, are models of clear and correct form. 
 He was a master of style, in both thought and expression. 
 
 Of his dealings with students, by which he won their love as 
 well as their reverence, many interesting anecdotes are related — I 
 mention only one or two, which came imder my personal knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 I have said that by weekly reports he kept in close touch with 
 all the classes. Especially no single unexcused absence was ever 
 overlooked.* The delinquent was at once summoned to General 
 
 •I take the liberty of adding here that, in this respect, General Lee's discipline 
 was a model. His puctuality made it at once strict and easy. By thus meeting 
 neglect and disorder on the threshold, he prevented their continuance ; and hence 
 there were but few cases of prolonged misconduct to be desit with by him or by 
 the faculty. 
 
35 
 
 Lee's office — always a most dreaded ordeal — and his reception 
 varied from "grave to gay" according to circumstances. I give 
 an instance of each : A young fellow whose general record was 
 none too good, was summoned to answer for absence. He stated 
 his excuse, and then, hesitatingly, he added another and another. 
 
 "Stop, Mr. ," said General Lee, "one good reason should be 
 
 sufficient," with an emphasis on the word good that spoke volumes. 
 Another, an excellent student, now a distinguished lawyer in 
 Tennesessee, was once beguiled into an unexcused absence. The 
 dreaded summons came. With his heart in his boots he entered 
 General Lee's office. The General met him smiling: "Mr. M., I 
 am glad to see you are better." "But, General, I have not been 
 sick." "Then I am glad to see you had better news from home." 
 "But, General, I have had no bad news." "Ah," said the General, 
 "I took it for granted that nothing less than sickness or dis- 
 tressing news from home could have kept you from your duty." 
 Mr. M. told me, in relating this incident, that he then felt as if 
 he wished the earth to open and swallow him. To a lazy fellow, 
 he once said: "How is your mother? I am sure you must be 
 devoted to her ; you are so careful of the health of her son" ; and 
 to another, who was in rebellion against authority: "You cannot 
 be a true man, until you learn to obey." 
 
 Of General Lee's religious character I do not feel myself worthy 
 to speak. That he was deeply, sincerely religious, with a perfect, 
 trusting faith in God and in Christ — that by this he was guided 
 and upborne in every act and every trial — that this he sought, 
 unobstrusively yet earnestly to impress upon his family, his com- 
 munity, his college — as he had done upon his army — this is 
 manifest from all the course of his life, as from his writings. His 
 last afternoon was spent in a vestry meeting — at which I also 
 was present — in the attempt to relieve his beloved rector (for- 
 merly his trusted companion in arms) ; and his last conscious act 
 was, on that same evening, to attempt to ask a blessing upon the 
 evening meal — when God called him, and he sank, unconscious, in 
 his chair. Of the following days of anxious sorrow, of the shock 
 of his death, and of the grief with which we laid him in his coffin 
 and followed him to his grave, I have no heart to speak. There 
 he rests, beneath the chapel which he himself built, to the glory of 
 God — his tomb fitly crowned with that recumbent statue by 
 Valentine, symbol of the Eternal Best. 
 
36 
 
 Such, most imperfectly sketched, was General Lee, as a college 
 president. And surely this part of his life deserves to be remem- 
 bered and commemorated by those who hold his memory dear. In 
 it he exhibited all those great qualities of character which had 
 made his name already so illustrious; while, in addition, he sus- 
 tained trials and sorrows without which the highest perfections of 
 that character could never have been so signally displayed. This 
 life at Washington College, so devoted, so earnest, so laborious, 
 so full of far-reaching plans and of wise and successful effort, was 
 begun under the weight of a disappointment which might have 
 broken any ordinary strength, and was maintained, in the midst 
 of private and public misfortune, with a serene patience and a 
 mingled firmness and sweetness of temper, which give additional 
 brilliancy even to the glory of his former fame. It was his high 
 privilege to meet alike the temptations and perils of the highest 
 stations before the eyes of the world, and the cares and labors of 
 the most responsible duties of private life under the most trying 
 circumstances, and to exhibit, in all alike, the qualities of a great 
 and consistent character, founded in the noblest endowments, and 
 sustained by the loftiest principles of virtue and religion. It is a 
 privilege henceforth for the teachers of our country that their 
 profession, in its humble yet arduous labors, its great and its petty 
 cares, has been illustrated by the devotion of such a man. It is an 
 honor for all our colleges that one of them is henceforth identified 
 with the memory of his name and of his work. It is a boon for us 
 all; an honor to the country, which in its whole length and 
 breadth will soon be proud to claim his fame ; an honor to human 
 nature itself, that this great character, so often and so severely 
 tried, has thus proved itself consistent, serene and grand, alike in 
 peace and in war, in the humblest as well as the highest offices. 
 The "Lost Cause," indeed ! No cause is wholly lost, to a people 
 or to mankind, that produces such men, and leaves such memories, 
 as Wade Hampton and Robert E. Lee. 
 
 Young gentlemen of the University: Would you follow Lee? 
 No more, on the embattled field, can he lead you, as he led your 
 fathers, to glorious victory- ; but in spirit and in eternal fame he 
 still lives — the Christian soldier, the self-sacrificing patriot, the 
 college president, the South's noblest gentleman — to remind you, 
 by example as by precept, that "Duty is the sublimest word in thtj 
 language." 
 
liEXERAL LEE AND TRAVELLER. BV MILEV, 
 LEXINGTON. THE SCENE IS ROCK- 
 
 BRIOGE BATHS. VIRCI X lA. 
 
Vi 
 
 LBJa'IO 
 
k> 
 
 ti 
 
 013 700 859 2 
 
 I