UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN liin II mil ii mil III III III III 1 nil 467.1 A c= ^-.(n A in u HERN 1 REC Q I LIBIV^RY UNIVEr^SitY OS CALIFORN- ■• SAN DlEc: UWIVERSIiY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO LA JDI I A, CALIFORNIA CEREMONIES CONNECTED WITH THE UNVEILING OF THE STHTUE OF GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, HT LEE CIRCLE, NEW ORLEHNS, LH., FEB. 22. 1884. MA o^ OR ATTON " irr im^i.^iMmirnrf";jf -- -,<>■■' BY HON. CHAS. E. FENNER POEM, By H. F. REQUIER, Esq. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF R. E. LEE MONUMENTAL ASSOCIATION. NEW OKLEAXS: \V. n. Stanslnu-y & Co. Print, 3S Natclioz Street. iSS-f. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA '.AN UIEGO 1822 0268 8732 -H^- §• M LEE- P 'l5 "^z^" IIV II. 1'. KKQflli'K . Rear aloft the isolid columti — Kear it liiijli that men may see How the valiant honor valor — How" the brave remember Lee. Poise him on the lot ty summit Of the white euduriiiji stone, Where his form may linger, teaching In dumb majesty alone. Never braver spirit battled, Never grander soldier shone, Thau this victor — vanquished only When his hosts were overborue. Give him greeting while he rises Ou this monument to-day, A» the wairior who led armies To the enemy's dismay; As the hero thrice encompassed — Thrice outnumbered by the foe — Who with all ihe odds against him, Stili resisted overthrow. He, the leader of the legions- He, the chieftain of the brave — He, the model man and Christian, bleeping where the willows wave - Shall be numbered with the noblest That have ever swayed the world Though his cause be lost forever And his fated Hag be furled. God anoint us in this mojnent Of memorial for the dead— For the once contending armies Now united overhead — For the Blue and Gray together That so bravely fought and fell. When the North and South divided- Faced the tlashing flame of hell. They are looking fiom the Heavens On this hallowed scene to-day. And the pipes of peace are playing To their spiiits gentle sway. While we rear the solid column. Hear it high that men may see How the valiant honor valor- How the brave remember Lee. jik ^ ORATION ^ FOR THE UNVEILING OF THE ROBERT E. LEE MONUMENT, - HY — HON. CHAS, E. FENNER, Ladies and Gentlemen : If I appear before you in the double capacity of President of the E. E. Lee Monumental Association and of orator of the day, it is not of my seeking, but in obedience to the unanimous will of my brother ofl&cers and directors, who have im^josed on me the task of commemorating- the character, the deeds and the cause of Lee, in words, as this monumental tribute Mas designed to commemorate them in perennial bronze and stone. It is now nearly two years since this summons came to me ; and during that time, at such intervals as a somewhat busy life afforded, I have devoted myself to the study of the memorial records of Lee, with growing wonder at the purity of his life, the moral grandeur of his character and the splendor of his achieve- ments. Amazed at the glowing picture, and little disposed to believe in human i>erfection, I have, with the eye of the critic, sought to discover whether eulogy had not distorted truth, and whether, after all, this man was not too great to be so good, or too good to be so great as he is paiuted. Unless it was my honest and considerate belief I would not insult the divine modest}' of the spirit of Lee by proclaimmg as I do that he was "the cunning'st pattern of excelling nature" that was ever warmed by tlie "Promethean heat."' For surely never revealed itself to the human mind a more delightful sub- ject for contemplation than the life and character of Lee. The phenomenal elevation of his soul was y of3ficers, and he has left the following pen picture of him : '' In the middle of the group, topping the tallest by half a head, was, perhaps, the most striking figure we had ever encountered, the figure of a man seemingly about fifty-six or fifty-eight years of age, erect as a poplar, yet lithe and graceful, with broad shoulders well throAvn back, a fine, justly proportioned head posed in unconscious dignity, clear, deep, thoughtful ej'es, and the quiet, dauntless step of one every inch the gentleman and soldier. Had some old English Cathedral crypt or monumental stone in Westminster Abbey been smitten by a magician's wand and made to yield up its knightly tenant restored to his manly vigor, with chivalric soul beaming from every feature, some grand old Crusader or Red Cross warrior, who, believing in a sacred creed and espousing a glorious principle, looked upon mere life as nothing in the com- parison, we thought that thus would he have appeared, unchanged in aught but costume and surroundings. And this superb 8 ORATION. soldier, the glamour of the antique days about him, Avas Kobt. E. Lee." If such Avas the Lee of fifty-six years, what must have been the sph^iidid beauty of liis youth ? Tlie priceless jewel of his soul found fit setting iu this grand physique, marked by a majestic bearing and easy grace and courtesy of gesture and movement, sprung from perfect harmony and symmetry of limb and nuiscle, instinct with that vigorous health, the product of a sound mind iu a sound bod3^ Such was the magnificent youth who graduated from West Point with the honors of his class, and dedicated himself to the service of his country. It was easy to see that "Fate reserved him for a bright manhood." Xot his the task, by the eccentric flight of a soaring ambition, to "pluck bright Honor from the pale-faced moon," or with desperate greed, to "dive into the bot- tom of the deep and drag up drowned Honor by the locks." This great engineer laid out the road of his life along the undeviating line of Duty, prepared to bridge seas and scale mountains 5 to defy foes and to scorn temptations ; to struggle, to fight, to die, if need be, but never to swerve from his chosen path. Honor and Fame were not captives in his train. . Free and bounteous, they ambuscaded his way and crowned him as he passed. Needless to dwell upon the incidents of his life from his grad- uation to the ]\Iexican war. This period of his early manhood was passed in the stndj' of his professioii ; in the cultivation of his mind; in the exercise of every virtue; in the enjoyment of domestic life ; in the rearing of children who, in the fullness of time, were destined to repay his care by lives not unworthy of the x)aternal example. At the opening of the Mexican war he was, perhaps, as per- fectly equi])pcd in tlie science of soldiership as any living man. Although but a captain of engineers and debarred from rapid l)romotion by the rules of the regular service, he achieved a dis- tinction, if not so noisy, deei)er than was gained by any subordi- nate in that war. No- name figured so conspicuously in the reports of the general commanding for brilliant and important services. At its end, while the multitude was sounding the noisier fame of others, the judicious few, who weie familiar Avith the interior of the campaigns, awarded the i)alm of soldiership to the modest officer of engineers, and already fixed on him as ORATION. 9 tlic coiiiiiii;' captiiin of America. Tlie man most coiiijx-tciit ol all to jud^e, tlie liero ol" Liiiidy's Lane liimself, did not hesitate to deelare that "Lee was the jj;i'eatest living- soldier of America," and that "if a great battle was to be fought for the liberty or slavery of America, and T were asked my judgment as to tlie ability of a commander, 1 would say with my dying lueatli, 'Let it be liobert E. Lee.' " One of the name of Lee has defined lia])i)iness in the following homely but thoughtful W()rstantial grounds ui>on which their forefathers be- lieved, when they " stood i' the imminent, deadly breach," in de- fense of the States, of which they were citizens, that they were acting in their right, in obedience to lawful authority, and in violation of no rightful allegiance due by them to any earthly l)ower. Standing by the grave of this dead and buried right of seces- sion, we inscribe upon its tomb the solemn '■'■rcqitiescat in paee^^' we admit that the sepulchre wherein it is "inurned" may never "ope his ponderous and marble jaws to cast it \\\i again ;" but fanaticism itself cannot deny us the privilege of asserting that it once "lived and moved and hatl its being," sprung from the womb of the Constitution, begotten of the loins of the Fathers, in its day a leader of hosts as true and valiant as ever struck for the "altars of their country and the temples of their gods." Follow me, therefore, oh fellow-citizens of a reunited country, whether from the North or from the South, while, with reverent ORATION. 13 lieart, in the spirit of iiii[»iiitiiil liistoiy, and in in'ce.ssuiy vindica- tion of the ean.se for which he fought in whose nieiiiory this mon- ument is erected, I seek to trace the origin, thefonndation and tin- history of the right of secession, bearing ever in mind tliat I'siieak not from the standpoint of to-day, but of that eventful moment in the already distant past when Lee was called upon to determine, by the lights then surronnding him, whetlier his allegiance was due to his native State or to the Federal Government, from which she had withdrawn. Down to the days of Hobbes, of Malmesbury, kingship founded its claim to autliority on Divine right. ITobbes origina- ted the doctrine that political authority was derived from the consent of the governed, and based that consent upon the fi(;tion of an "original contract" or implied covenant, which created ''that great Leviathan called the commonwealth of State." The right of secession, even in the form of revolution, had no place, however, in the theory of Hobbes, because h(; lu'hl that this ''original contract" was irrevocable, and thus laid for des- potism a firmer foundation than that which he had destroyed. Locke made a ])rodigions advance. Adopting Tlobbes' theory that political authority was derived from the consent of the governed, he repudiated the doctrine of irrevocability, and held that the power of rulers was merely delegated, and that the people, or the governed, had the right to witlulraw it when used for purposes inconsistent with the common weal, the end which society and government were formed to promote. By thus Recognizing the responsibility of rulers to their subjects for the due execution of their trusts and the right of resistance by the people in case of abuse thereof, he established tlie sacred right of revolution, in the assertion of which the peoi)le of England expelled the Stuarts from the throne, and the American colonies established their independence. On emerging from a revolution in which their rights of self- government had been so strenuously denied, in whicli they Iiad endured such sufferings and perils and liad so narrowly escaped from complete subjugation, it niiglit naturally be expected that in thereafter establishing a general government among them- selves, the colonies would have been careful in guarding the nature and terras of their consent thereto and in leaving open a safe and peaceful uu)de of retiring therefrom, whenever, in their 14 OKATION. jiuliiiiieut, it should t'litlaniier their riglits or cease to promote their welfare. Their exi)erieuce had taught them the danger, difficulty ami possilde iiiadequaey of the mere right of revo- lution. Accordingly, we find that iu the Federal Governments, which they instituted, both iu the articles of confederation aud in the constitution of 1781), they assiduously guarded and restricted the consent upon which alone the authority' of these governments rested, and, ''to make assurance double sure," distinctly pro- vided that all powers, not expressly delegated, were reserved to the States. The (pu'stion of the right of secession had its birth prior to the foi'mation of the present Constitution of the United States. It arose under the prior articles of confederation. Those ar- ticles, let it never be forgotten, contained an express provision that the Fuion of the States created thereby should be "per- petual." In view of this clause, it was vehemently contended that, without the consent of all, no i)ortiou of the States had the right to withdraw from a Union which all of them had solemnly covenanted with each other should last forever. These objections Avere overborne by the Convention of 1787, and the Constitution of the United States had its origin in the assertion of the right of the States to secede from the confedera- tion previously existiug; for the going into eflect of that consti- tution was, by its terms, made to depend, not upon the assent of all the States, but upon the assent of nine onl}', each one of them acting separately and independently. Did not this action concede that the right to withdraw from a Federal Union \\ as a right that inhered in the States prior to the establisliment of the present Constitution? And if in the latter instrument we can tind no surrender of that right, how can it be denied that it was reserved to the States ? ISTay, more; how does it happen that the clause in the articles of confederation, which had declared the Union thereby formed to be "perpetual," aud which had been the foundation of the arguments against the right of secession therefrom, was omit- ted froni the Constitution? "Can such things be, And oveiconif us like a suuinier's cloud, Witliout our si)ecial wonder?" ORATION. 15 "NVt- miyht pause here, and ask, in all candor, whether, if tlie Southern States erred iu believing and asserting the right of secession, the fault does not rest on the shoulders of those who framed the Constitution 1 Unless there is something in the essential nature of the govern- ment establislied by the Constitution, or in the eharax^ter of the parties who established it, or in the nature and mode of the con- sent upon which it rests, which is inconsistent with the right of secession in the States, it is difficult to conceive how such right could be disputed. The doctrine that the Constitution was a cojupact, voluntarily entered into between sovereign and independent States, purely federal in its character, and diliering from the former articles of confederation, not as to the nature of the consent upon which it was founded nor as to the character of the parties thereto, but only as to the kind and extent of the powers granted to the gen- eral government and the mode of their execution, may be said to have passed substantially unchallenged for considerably more than a quarter of a century after its adoption. That doctrine blazes forth in every step taken in the formation and adoption of the Constitution; in Mr. Madison's resolution adopted by the Virginia Legislature appointing commissioners to meet such com- missioners as may be ai^pointed by the other States, to take into consideration trade and commercial regulations ; in the address of the convention of those commissioners, subsequently held at Annapolis, which recommended a "general meeting of the States, in a future convention," with powers extending "to other objects than those of commerce;" in the consequent commissioning of delegates by the several States to the convention of 1787, with instructions to join "in devising and discussing all such altera- tions and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union f in the organization of that convention, under which every State, large or small, had an equal and independent unit vote; in the submission of the instrument for ratification to a convention of the people of each separate State, which, thus acting indepen- dently and alone, gave its own consent to the proposed compact; in the letter of the convention recommending its ratifiitation, which expressly described the government proposed therein as "the Federal government of these States;" and finally, in the mode 10 ORATION. of i»roiiiulgatit)ii directed, which provided that ''as soon as the conventions of nine States shall have ratified this Constitution," a day should be fixed on wliich "electors should be ajjpointed by the several States which sliall have ratified the same." The sanu* doctrine likewise appears in the ordinances of ratifi- cation of several of the States, in the debates of the convention itself and in those of the various State conventions — denied only by the opponents of the Constitution, always at!irnied by its friends. It is repeatedly and explicitly proclaimed in the Federalist. It appears in the writings and utterances of all the fathers of the Constitution, of Hamilton as well as of Madison, of TS^ashing- ton, Franklin, Gerry, Wilson, Morris, of those who favored as well as those who feared a strong- government. It is emphati- cally announced not only in the extreme Kentucky resolutions, but in the famous Virginia resolutions of 1798, the first from the pen of Jefferson, the last from that of Madison, the latter of which declared that they viewed " the powers of the Federal Government as resulting from the compact to which the States were parties." These resolutions formed thereafter the corner stone of the great States Eights party, wliich repeatedly swept the country and whicli elected Jefferson, Madison, ]\Ionroe and Jackson to the Presidency. Even the Supreme Court of the United States had declared tliat the Constitution was a compact to which the States were parties. The first purely Juridical work on the Constitution was pul)- lislied in 182.5 by Wdliam Rawle, an eminent jurist of Phila- delphia, who. writing" as a jurist and not as a politician, did not hesitate to declare that '' the Union was an association of Ee- publics," that the Constitution was a compact between the Statesj that ''it d<'])ends on the State itself whether it continues a mem- ber of the Union," that "the States may withdraw from the Union, and that "the secession of a State from the Union de- l)ends on the will of the jjeople."" At a later period, De Tocqueville, who in his great work on Democracy in America, brought to the study of our institutions a i)atient iind impartial spirit, reached the same conclusions, and declared that "the Union was formed by the voluntary agree- ment of the States, and, in uniting together, they have not for- ORATION. 17 feit<^d their iiatioiiality. * * If oiie of the States choo.se to withdraw from tlie couii)a(.'t, it woukl be dilliciilt to disprove its right of doiug so." I must halt here in the eimineratioii of the plain historical facts and overwhelming authorities upon which rested the great doctrine that the Constitution of the United States was purely a federal compact between sovereign and independent States, de- riving its force and authority from the free and individual con- sent of the several States in their separate political capacities. In these essential respects it did not differ from the articles of confederation, but only, as before stated, in the extent and mode of execution of the powers granted to the general government. The entire argument against the right of secession rested on a denial of this doctrine. That denial was never made by any respectable authority until, during the nullification and agitation of 1831-3, Webster and Story stepped into the lists as chamjjions of an indisso- luble Union. These were great men and great lawyers. They saw, and in- deed a reference to their works will show, that they admitted that, if the doctrine above stated w^ere correct, the right of se- cession could not be successfully disputed. Thej" therefore took bold ground against it. They denied that the Constitution was a compact at all. They denied that, even if a comi)act, it was one to which the States were the parties. They asserted that the government created thereby was a Na- tional, and not a Federal Government. They asserted that the Constitution was ordained and established by the consent, not of the States, but of "the whole people of the United States in the aggregate," and could only be undone by like consent. In ^iew of the historical record which I have faintly sketched, and which might have been indefinitely extended, the mind is stupefied at the utter impotence of human language as a vehicle of thought, when it encounters such opposite interpretations of a written instrument, and discovers that after the lapse of forty years, time sufficient to have consigned to their tombs nearly every one of those who had aided in its confection, a construction should be advanced diametrically oi)posed to what they had declared, in every form, to be their veritable meaning. Of course, it would not be possible for me, within the limits of 18 OEATIOX. this addresSj.to state all the areoi)les of the several States, uot named only because unknown, which should thereafter become parties, and, by consenting- to the proposed Union, become thereby United States. Gouverueur Morris, of Pennsylvania, was chairman of the committee on style which reported this al- teration in the i^reamble, and he informs us in one of his letters, that the Constitution, in its final shape, was "written by the fin- gers which write this letter." He, therefore, wrote the words, "We, the people of the United States," in the i^reamble, and should have known better than any other what was their true import. He was one of the most pronounced advocates of a strong- government. The record shows that he had actually moved the reference of the Constitution for ratification to "one general convention chosen and authorized by the people, to con- sider, to amend and establish the same," but that his motion had not even received a second. AVhat becomes, then, of the argu- ment based on this expression of the preamble, when we find that Gouverueur Morris, its author, Avith his well known desire to establish a Xational government, himself declares iu his writ- ings, that "the Consitution was a- compact, not between individu- als, but between political societies, the peoi>le, not of America, but of the United States, each (State) enjoying sovereign power, and, of course, equal rights." Time and the occasion admonish me that 1 must arrest here the discussion of this interesting historical question. 1 have, of course, barely indicated the faint outlines of the grand argument 20 ORATION. sustainiiio: tlie riglit of secession. Those who desire to go deep- er may consult those great storehouses of facts and principles, theVorks of Calhoun, Bledsoe, Stephens, Sage, and our immortal leader, Jetterson Davis. It is not for me dogmatically to proclaim that we were right and that the supporters of the Union were wrong. I sliall have a4,'compIislied a duty, and shall, as I believe, have rendered a service to the whole Union, if what I have said shall contribute to confirm the Southern people in the veneration and respect justly due to tlie cause for which their fathers fought, and, at the same time, to moderate the vehemence with Avhich many of the Northern people have denounced that cause as mere wicked and unreasoning treason. The war may have established that the Constitution no longer bhids the States by a mere love tie, but by a Gordian knot, which only the sword can sever ; yet all patriots will admit that the safest guarantee of its permanence must lie in the mutual respect and forbearance from insult of all sections of the people toward each other. Far be it from me to impugn the motives of those who ad- vocated and enforced the indissolubility of the Union. In union the States had achieved their independence. In union, at a later time, during the infancy of the Eepublic, they had defied again the power of the mightiest nation of the earth, and had vindicated their capacity to protect and defend the rights which they had so dearly won. In union they had sub- dued the savage, leveled jnimeval forests, subjected vast wilder- nesses to the sway of peaceful pox)ulations and happy hus- bandry, borne the ensign of the Eepublic to the capital of a foreign foe, extended their frontiers till they embraced a continent and swelled their population to a strength which might defy the world in arms. In union the sails of their com- merce whitened every sea, wealth poured in affluent streams into their laps, education flourished, science and art took root and grew apace, and those ancient foes, religion and toleration, lib- erty and law, public order and individual freedom, locked hands and worked together to magnify and glorify the grandest, hap- piest and freest people that ever flourished "in the tides of time." The contemplation of this exhilarating spectacle naturally tightened the bands of the Union and infiamed the minds of the ORATION. 21 people with a deep i)atriotisin, which teiulcd iiKtre and more to centre ronnd the Federal Government. When, in IS.v), wliih' the still being- nnrolled, npon a comparatively trilling occasion, behind the absurd spectre of Nullification appeared the gigantic figure of the Right of Secessicm, i)anoplied though it was from head to foot in the armor of the Constitution, it struck terror to the souls of the lovers of the Union, and shook even the firm ])oise of the aged jMadison. It threatened at a touch and uj^on inadequate cause to crumble into ruin the grand fabric which had been builded with such pain and had risen to such majestic height. It conjured up before the quick imagination of Mr. Webster that terrible vision of a Union quenched in blood, of " States discordant, dissevered, belligerent," of strength frittered away by division, of liberty imperilled by the conflicts of her de- votees, of the high hopes of humanity blasted by the ambi- tions, dissensions and conflicting interests of jarring sovereign- ties. In my humble judgment Mr. "Webster's was the grand- est civic intellect that America has produced. The most prodi- gious achievement of his eloquence and genius was the success with which he darkened and, to the minds of nmny, actually obliterated the clear historical record which I have heretofore exhibited, confuted the very authors of the Constitution as to the meaning and etfect of their own language, and may be said substantially to have created and imposed upon the American people a new and different Constitution from that under which they had lived for so considerable a period. Yet we must forgive unich to the motives and inspirations upon which he acted. Ah, well had it been if all the followers of Mr. Webster had been inspired by his own deep respect for the guaranties and limitations of the Constitution. Time and inclination alike restrain me from any particular notice of the direct causes which provoked the actual assertion of the right of secession. Suffice it to say that events occurred and conflicts arose which rendered impossible the continuance of a voluntary union. The predestined strife was not to be averted. Passion usnri)ed the 2.; ORATION. seat of reason. Dissension swelled into defiance, eliiding- grew into fierce recrimination, constant (quarrel ripened into liate. In vain did those who clung to the Constitntion seek "upon the heat and tlanie of this distemper to sprinkle cool patience." Fourteen Xorthern States, in their so-termed '' personal liberty bills," openly nullified the Constitution in that very clause which had been the ccuidition .resents this singular chiim to the considerate judgment of its adversaries, that we, who fought for it, have done and will do Avhat in us lies to gild their triumph by making the restored Union so prolific in benefits to all coming genera- tions that our ])osterity, while respecting the principles and con- victions for which we fought, may rejoice in our defeat. The Constitntion yet lives, an imperishable nn)nument to the Avisdom of those who franu*d it, capable, if preserved in its integ- rity, of accom])lishing all their beneficent })nrposes, and consecrat- ing forever the co-ordinated rights of individual liberty, local ORATION. 23 selfjuoveniineiit and union for "tlic coniniou defense and general welfare." Turn we now to the caiiipaijiiis of our hero. Lee's caiiipaij^'iis were the poetry of soldiership, so grand and simple in their con- ception, so masterly in tlicir execution, so daring in their at- tempts, so astounding in their results, tliat the simplest intelli- genee may eoiiipicliend and the dullest admire them. They are not to be regarded as made u]) of merely detached and independent marches and battles springing from the hapha- zard order of events, but are, from first to last, tlie development of a uniform and consistent plan of operations, based on the pro- foundest science of strategy, and having in view the accomplish- ment of a specific purpose. That purpose may be announced at once to have been the defense of Eichmoud. Richnu)nd was not merely important as being the capital of the Confederacj', but also as being- the grand centre of depots, arsenals and military manufactures necessary to the support of an army operating north of it, and as the only point having railroad connections with the South sufficient for transportation of necessary supplies. The position of the Federal capital on the banks of the Poto- mac, and the exposure of the Southern border of the United States along- the line of Maryland and Pennsylvania, made it of transcendent importance that the countrv intervening- between liichmond and Washington should be made and kept, as far as possible, the theatre of the war. The retirement of the Con- federate forces from Kentucky, Tennessee and ^lissouri, thus practically relieving the Southern border of the United States from menace in that direction, had removed a great source of alarm to them, anst, for the (litiiculties of its defense wouhl have been insuperable; because it would have involved the i)rotection of long lines of railroad, without w liich the army could not be sustained, and in view of the enormous forces Avliich could have been concentrated by the enemy, this would have been imiiossible. Yet conceive the difficulty of avoiding such a siege, when you reflect that by the undisputed i)ossession of the fJanics and York rivers, and with the aid of their powerful flotillas of transport ships and gunboats, the enemy was able, at any time, without the l)ossil)ility of oi)i)osition by us, to land an army within a day's march of our capital, and to support it there by deep water lines of supply, which we could neither destroy nor interrupt. Ko invading army ever had such advantages as the ^vTortheru Army of the Potomac. The greatest difficulty of successful in- vasion, the protection of its lines of communication with its base of supplies and reinforcements, was i)ractically eliminated from the problem ; for not only were the water routes of the James and the York open almost to the gates of Richmond, but even when it finally uujved from the direction of Culpeper Court House, its path lay across successive lines of communication, so that, in the words of a ifliilosophic commentator on the campaigns, "it abandoned one, only to find another and a safer at the end of every march." At Culpeper Court-House, the Orange and Al- exandria Eailroad was its line. When it abandoned that, its halts at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court-House oj)ened up a new line via Acquia Creek. As it advanced to the Annas, the Jiappahannock at Port Royal furnished another efficient water line. When it reached the Pamunkey, the York river and Chesa])eake Bay gave it one still more efficient; and finally, when its last march brought it to the James, that great river formed a perfectly safe avenue to Washington. When these facts are considered, in connection with the enorm- ous disparity of numbers and resources now denu)nstrated be- yond the possibility of question by the historical records of the two armies, Lee's successfnl h E. Johnston, his successor in command. Gen. ir. W. Smith, had retired the army to its encamp- ments near Richmond, and there it was when, on June 2, 1802, Lee assumed command. Its, elective strength, using round num- bers, (as 1 shall continue to do) ws\g Jifty-six thousand men. Mc(31cllan, an able connnander, who, in the first year of the war, adopted that route to Kiclnnond, tlie return to which after many disasters, at last led to its capture, at that moment lay, pos- sibly within sight of the spires, certainly within sound of the bells of the ch niches of Richmond, with a i)resent effective force oi one hundred and fire thousand. ."McDowell, ^yith forty thousand men, the tlower of the Federal Army, Avas en route to reinforce McClellan, while strong- forces under Baidcs and Fremont were operating- in the Valley. Jackson, with a force never exceeding sixt^jen tlnmsand, was still engaged in that wonderful series of operations in the Valley wliich resulted in the successive defeats of Banks, Fremont and Shields, and in the utter paralysis of the movement of McDowell to reinforce McClellan. It was still evi- dent, however, that this i)ara]ysis Avas but temporary, and that with renewed concentration of the vast though shattered forces ot the enemy, Jackson, with his little army reduced by forced maridiing and constant fighting, would have no alternative but to retire to the defenses of Kichmoml, which Avould be reduced to a state of siege by the coml)ined and overwhelming Federal armies. Nothing- less than the geinus of Lee could have relieved such a situation. To await tlie tardy attack of McClellan, while the movement for the annihilation or forced retreat of Jackson and the reinforcement by McDowell Avas resumed, would be fatal. 26 ORATION. With additional troops already received, and by calling Jack- son to him, Lee would have a force of eif/hfy thousand men with which to engage the one hioulred and fire thousand of ^NlcClel- lan. ^^'hile the latter (leneral was clamoring for reinforcements and maturing his iilans of assault, Lee determiued to order Jack- son to his supi)ort, and with the bulk of his army to march rapidly out of his lines, cross the ChicUahominy, gain McClclhurs right and there assault him on his tlaiik. The brilliant audacity of this plan maybe appreciated when you renuMuber that in its execution he left but twenty-five thou- sand men between the arjiiy of McClellan and Kiclmioncl, and exposed his ona^u rear without a man intervening between it and the large force of ^McDowell. Its profound strategic wisdom is <, demonstrated by the result of the glorious seven days' battle which followed, at the end of which we find the grand army of McClellan, its dream of tri- umi)hal entry into the Confederate capital vanished, cowering, shattered and demoralized, at Harrison's Landing, on the James, under the protection of the powerful gunboats^ which alone saved it from destruction. It is a cold, historic fact that after deducting losses of the bat- tles and stragglers, Lee with slvty-tico thousand men pursued Mc- Clellan with ///^/^'^// /Ao?<.svn/^/ to the banks of the James ; yet so had the handling of the Confederate force multiplied its num- bers in the imagination of McClellan, that his dispatches in- fornuHl his Government tliat he had been overwhelmed by an enemy not less than two humlrcd thousand strong! Iiichmond was relieved and for the moment safe; but the situ- ation was full of i>eril. The army of ^IcClellan, resting in its impregnable ])osition within a day's march of Richmond, reorganized and strength- ened with reinforcements; would, if left undisturbtMl, soon be in ]>osition to lesume oftensi\'e o]»erations. ^le;inwhile the Federal forces in the olhi'r dire<'tion had l»ccn ])lac('d under a new com- mander, Maj. (Jen. Jolin Pope, who, at the head of 4.).0()(> men, was organizing a bold cam]>aign to operate against l\ichmond in connection witii Mcdellaii. Lee determined that the easiest way to remove IMcClellau from the James would be to threat<'n the inferior force of Pope, upon which t lie protection of Washington depended. Accordingly, ORATION. 27 he (lispatclicd .Tjicksou with tirrlrc tJiou.sdiid iiicii in rlic (liroction of G()r(h)iis\ illc to tlneatcii IN)])('. Tliis left liiiii with only Jifty-cUiht ili<>)ison the unsuspecting camps of the enemy, de- ployed his forces for assault and hurled them upon the astonished foe. This took place in the afternoon, and before night had sus- pended operations Hooker's discomfiture was assured. The ad- vantage was promptly and vigorously pushed on the next morn- ing ; in the course of which Lee and Stuart (who liad succeeded to the command of the wounded Jackson), again touched elbows, swept Hooker's army out of its works at Chancellorsville and sent it reeling and broken back upon the Itappahaiinock. Hooker thus disposed of, now for Sedgwick. Early had, by his gallant resistance, gained precious time and given serious occu])ation to Sedgwick, 1)ut the immensely superior numbers of the latter had at last forced Earl}^ back and were advancing up- on Lee's rear towards Chancellorsville. Lee now gathered up ORATION. 31 the uiost iivailiible of his victuiioii.s forces ;md riishiiij^' to the rc- mforceinent of Early, speedily couveited Sedgwick's advance in- to a swift retreat; which wouhl havc^ resulted in his eai)tiire had not the friendly cover of iii«iht cliecked pursuit aiid enabled hiin to cross the Rappahannock. So ended the operations of Chancellorsville, at the close of which Gen. Hooker found liis army, demoralized by defeat and winikened by tr(Mnendous losses, in those very camps opposite Fredericksburg, from which they had so recently set out to imagined victorj' over an infe- rior foe. Chancellorsville ! brightest and saddest of Confederate tri- umphs. Brightest, because the military history of the future must ever point to it as the most consx)icuous example of the . power of consummate genius in a commander, by audacious wis- dom of conception, celerity of movement, and knowing how and when to venture on risks which, by the very sublimity of their rashness, escape anticipation or discovery, and thereby become jirudent and safe, to accomplish the apparently impossible and to snatch victory from overwhelming odds. Saddest, because in its tangled thicket;* and in the shades of that night whicli fell upon the most brilliant achievement of the war, the immortal Jackson, busy in organizing the sure victory of the morrow, rode upon that death, which leaves the world yet in doubt as to whether tlie fatal bullet that caused it did not, at the same time, deal the death-wound of the Confederacy. If Lee was the Jove of the war, Stonewall Jackson w^as his thunderbolt. For the execution of the hazardous plans of Lee, just such a lieutenant was indis- pensable — one in whose lexicon there was "no such word as fail," for whom the impossible did not exist, and who, in com- bined manoeuvres depending for success upon sei)arate and con- sentaneous movements, ever assumed that one which was most difficult and made it the most certain of execution. Never his the task of giving good, bad or indifferent reasons for the non- execution of any order confided to him, or for not executing it in the manner, or Avithin the time contemplated. Alas ! we now ap- proach the critical and disastrous campaign of Gettysburg, the whole history of which, on the Confederate side, is made up of controversies as to why this, that, or the other order of the com- mander w as not executed, or executed too late, or executed im- perfectly, and at every turn of which we involuntarily exclaim, oL' • ORATION. '• Where, oli where was Ja<;ksou theu ? Cue bhist iipou his bugle horn were worth a thousand men ! '' The motives for the advance into Pennsylvania were similar to those already indicated as prompting the movement into Mary- land of the previous year. The campaign was attended with misfortune from the start. The miscarriage of Stuart's cavalry deprived Gen. Lee of its co- operation and left him in a strange and hostile country without its necessary aid in feeling his way and keeping him apijrized of his surroundings. This precii)itated the unexpected clash at Gettysburg, which took place without premeditation on either side. I shall not enter into the details of this tremendous battle, be- cause I cannot do so without involving myself in the controvers- ies already suggested. The failure to press the advantage gained in the first day's fighting, as ordered by Lee, and thus to gain the historic heights of Gettysburg ; the delay to deliver the assault ordered for the early morning of the second day until four o'clock in the evening, thus allowing the enemy to increase his forces, strengthen his position and to occupy the eminence of Eound Top ; the disjoint- ed character of the assault when made, in which the advantage gained by our right wing was lost because the delay of the left wing in advancing,left the former without necessary support; the like miscarriage and failure of the general assault ordered for the following morning, in which the advance of our left wing was paralyzed because not responded to by the sinudtaneous movement of the right; and the final tremendous blunder, by which the immortal charge of Pickett's and Heth's divisions, launched across half a mile of open plain swept by an over- whelming fire of artillery, against fortified heights occupied by vastly superior numbers, and culminating in their actual capture and the planting of standards upon the guns of the enemy, was robbed of its results by the lack of support — these errors blasted the fair hopes of a victory which might have changed the result of the war. I leave to history the task of adjudging the blame for these errors. I content myself with declaring, as the result of my study of the evidence, that Lee was not in fault. The electric cord which bound the great Lieutenants of Lee to each other. • ORATION. 33 and to their coiiimaiKlor, aud wliicli on so many other liekls made them invincible and crowned them with imi)erishable huirels, seems, on that day, to have spe'. not possess. And ef one who faithfully wore the armor of Christ, and wh(t fashioned his life as nearly after that of the God-^fan as human imperfection would l^errait. The moralist nmy recognize in it a tribute to a friend of humanity to whom pride and self-seeking were unknown, and whose unconscious nobility of conduct answers to the descrii)- tion of a virtuous man given by the imperial philosopher, Marcus Antoninus : "He does good acts as if not even knowing what lie has done, and is like a vine wliicli has produced grapes and seeks for nothing more after it has produced its proper fruit. Such a man, when he has done a good act, does not call for others to come and see, but goes on to another act, as a vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season." The social philosoi)her will see in it a tribute to the highest type of gentleman, in birth, in manners, in accomplishments, in appearance, in feeling, in habit. The lover of the heroic will find here honor i^aid to a cliivalry and courage which place Lee l)y the side of Bayard and of Sid- ney, "from spur to plume a star of tournament." It is fitting that monuments should he erected to such a man. The imagination might, alas ! too easily, picture a crisis in the future of the Republic, when virtue might have lost her seat in the hearts of the people, when the degrading greed of money- getting might have undermined the nobler aspirations of their souls, when luxury and effeminacy might have emasculated the rugged courage and endurance upon which the safety of States dei^ends, when corruption might thrive and liberty might languish, when pelf might stand above patriotism, self above country, ^lammon before (jod, and when the patriot might read on ever}' hand the sure passage : "111 fares tlie laml, to ])astening ills a proy, Where wealth accuiuiilates and lueii decay!" 40 OEATION. Ill siicli an hour — quam Dii arertife — let some inspired orator, alive to tlie peril of liis country, siiiniuou the people to gather round this monunient, and, pointing to that noble figure, let him recount his story, and if aught can arouse a noble shame and awaken dormant virtue, that may do it. The day is not distant when all citizens of this great Kepub- lic will unite in claiming Lee as their own, and rising from the study of his heroic life and deeds, will cast away the prejudices of forgotten strife and exclaim : "We know him now; all narrow jealousies Are silent, and we see bim as lie moved— How modest, kiudl}', ali-accomplished, wise, "With what sublime repression of liiniself — AVeariug the wliite flower of a blameless life." But, proudest, tenderest thought of all, the people of this bright Southland say, through this monument, to all the world : "Such was he ; his work is done, But while the races of mankind endure, Let his great example stand, Colossal, seen of every land, And keep the soldier tirm, the statesman pure. Till in all lands and through all human story, The path of Duty be the way to glory !" HISTORICAL SKETCH • OK THE — R, E, LEE MONUME The E. E. Lee Mouuinental Association of Xew Orleans, had its origin in tliat grand ontbnrst of tribntary grief at the death of Lee, wliich, while it covered his tomb with the votive offerings of the good and wise of all civilized nations, pro*8trated the peo- ple of the Southern States of this Union in ijeculi'ir and unut- terable w^oe. The Association Avas organized November 16th, 187(), with the following officers and directors : Wm. M. PEEKIXS, Presidext. G. T. BEAUEEGAED, - - - 1st Vice Presedext. A. W. BOSWOETH, - - - - 2d Vice President. Wm. S. pike, - Treasurer. Thos. J. BECK, Eecording Sec'ty. JAMES STEAWBEIDGE, - - - - Corres. Sec'ty. Directors. Hugh McCloskey, A. M. Fortier, Chas. E. Fenner, Wm. B. Schmidt, Wm. H. Dameron, W. K Mercer, M. O. H. Norton, It is unnecessary to say wliy the enterprise languished. It was in those dark days when jioverty sat by ever}' honest hearth- stone in New Orleans, and Avhen the scanty remnant left by the Henrj' Eenshaw, Edward Barnett, George Joiuis, Abram Thomas, Lloyd E. Coleman, Ed. A. Palfrey, Arch. Mitchell, E. S. Morse, Samuel Boyd, S. H. Kennedy, Newton Eichards, Jas. Jackson, E. A. Tvler, Ed. Bignev. 42 HISTORICAL SKETCH. gTeedy tax-gatherer \vas too sorely needed for the necessities of the living- to be spared for building- monuments, even to the most illustrious dead. In the course of years, it came to be remembered that the small fund which had been accumulated by the first efforts of the founders of the association, was lying- idle in bank, and a meet- ing- of the directors was called on February 18th, 187G, for the purpose of determining* whether the association should not be dissolved, and its funds returned to the donors or distributed to charitable associations. A call of the roll at that meeting revealed the fact that, in the years which had passed, the i^resident, the treasurer, the secre- tary and eleven (11) of the original directors had died. A re-organization was then effected constituting the following officers and directors: Chas. E. Fenner, President ; G. T. Beaure- gard, 1st Vice President 5 M. Musson, 2d Vice President; S. H. Kennedy, Treasurer, W. I. Hodgson, Recording Secretary ; W. M. Owen, Corresponding Secretary. Directors — W. B. Schmidt, Geo. Jonas, Lloyd E. Coleman, R. S. Morse, E. A. Tyler, Jas. Buckner, Thos. A. Adams, Sam'l Choppin, S. H. Snowden, W. T. Vaudry, Henry Eenshaw, E. A. Palfrey, Sam'l Boyd, Arch. Mitchell, W. C. Black, B. A. Pope, Jas. T. Day, I. L. Lyons, J. J. Mellon, E. D. WiUett. The times were scarcely more propitious than they had been before, but when the Directors stood face to face with the propo- sition to al)andon the work, their patriotic imjudses refused to accept it, and inspired them with the determination, at all haz- ards, to complete it. It was then resolved, with the means which could be immedi- ately commanded, to begin the monument, as the best means of assuring- its comi)letion. Of the numerous designs submitted, that of our distinguished home-architect, Mr. John Roy, was selected, not only because of its artistic merit and beauty, but also because its plan was such that its construction could proceed just as far and as fast as our means would permit. And so was built the monument wliicli exists to-day. The difficult and exj)ensive foundation, the massive mound of earth, tlie granite pyramid, and the shapely marble column, were all constructed under a contract with Mr. Roy, which provided HISTORICAL SKKTCII, 43 that his ^^ol■k should piognvss just as fust as our uu'uus would allow, stopping when the treasury was euipty and proceeding' wlu^n it was replenished. Slow and tedious was its progress, olteu halting, whih' fresli api^eals could be made to the liberality of the people of New Or- leans. They were always answered, and, surely though slowly, stone was piled upon stone, until, Avlieu the cap stone was set upon thelotty i)illar, the whole was paid for. Then came the task of i)roviding the means for the colossal bronze statue which now crowns the work. The means of the Association did not allow the privilege of calling to its aid the reigning kings of the artist world. Fortune threw in our way, a young sculptor, Alexander C. Doyle, of New York, who had already given some evidence of the mettle that was in him, and who had such contideuce in his own ca- pacity, that he was willing to execute a plaster model of the exact size of the proposed statue, anton, the 22d of February, 1884, as an appropriate occasion for the ceremonies of unveiling. (ireat preparations had been made for the event. An immense platform had been erected for the accommodation of subscribers to the association and other invited guests, and ui>on which the ceremonies were to take place, while in front, and upon the slop- ing sides of the mound at the base of the monument, seats were provided for thousands. The day broke threatening and cloudy, but notwithstanding its stormy aspect, there was such an assemblage of the people as has never been seen in the Southern States. The seats were filled with ladies, Avhile the circle and even the streets approach- ing it were crowded by the multitude eager to do honor to the memory of Lee. Amongst the many distinguished i>ersons in attendance were the President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis, his daughters, and Misses Mary and Mildred Lee, daughters of the great soldier and patriot, in whose honor the monument was erected. The associations of the armies of aSTorthern Virginia and Tennessee, the militia of the State, and a large delegation from the Grand Army of the Republic honored the occasion by their presence. Just as the ceremonies were about to begin, the storm, which had been gathering, burst in torrents of rain which lasted for hours, dispersing the immense audience and rendering it impossil)le to proceed. In the midst of it, however, and while the salvos of Heaven's Artillery almost drowned the salute with which, in despite of the storm, the event was greeted by the famous Washington Artillery, the monument was unveiled by a private soldier of Lee's army, who, at the suggestion of Miss Lee, in herself declining tlie honor, had been selected to perform this