. Gen. Robert Edward Lee; soldier, citizen, and Christian patriot. rks was a use-less sacrifice. It was a peculiarity of the men in both armies thatthey never knew when they were beaten. Tem- -•-^^^=;=Sfe. porary reverses were ac- ,- ^ ^*^- cepted as the commonexperience of war. Ifthe Southerners had beenother than Americans Ithink it would have beendifficult, if not impossible,to have compelled themto do any more fightingafter the fall of Rich-mond. But, with trueAmerican grit, theyfought as they retreated,hoping for something toturn up that would re-trieve their misfortunesand give them one
. Gen. Robert Edward Lee; soldier, citizen, and Christian patriot. rks was a use-less sacrifice. It was a peculiarity of the men in both armies thatthey never knew when they were beaten. Tem- -•-^^^=;=Sfe. porary reverses were ac- ,- ^ ^*^- cepted as the commonexperience of war. Ifthe Southerners had beenother than Americans Ithink it would have beendifficult, if not impossible,to have compelled themto do any more fightingafter the fall of Rich-mond. But, with trueAmerican grit, theyfought as they retreated,hoping for something toturn up that would re-trieve their misfortunesand give them one morechance for the Confed-eracy. The spirit whichanimated them is shownin a letter picked up by anegro and turned over toGeneral Sheridan—a notedated April 5 th, and writ-ten by Colonel W. , in which he says : Our army is ruined, I fear. . My trust is still in the justiceof our cause. The principal events which followed have been sooften recited that it is mere repetition to give them here. But myown personal experiences may not be 3i6 GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE, Because of the imminent danger to the train I had been sentback to bring it to a place of safety. Following close in the rearof the advancing army, we crossed the railroad at SutherlandsStation and pushed on to Jettersville, where a brief halt had beenmade in anticipation of an attack by the Confederates, and rifle-pitswere thrown up. Here General Grant bad made his headquarters. With characteristic improvidence our cavalry had consumedtheir three daysrations in one day; and as the wretched conditionof the roads had prevented our bringing up the reserve supplies,the troops were very hungry. The cavalr3^ train was also muchimpeded by the extensive trains of the infantry, and I found itnecessary to appeal to General Grant, through his genial and ableChief Quartermaster, General Ingalls, with whom I had a previousacquaintance. We found the great commander at the door of histent, his uniform coat
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