Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 02.djvu/59

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Patriotic Letters of Confederate Leaders.
49


panying reports, and the memory of all will be gratefully and affectionately cherished by the people in whose defence they fell.

The loss of Major-General Pender is severely felt by the army and the country. He served with this army from the beginning of the war and took a distinguished part in all its engagements. Wounded on several occasions, he never left his command in action until he received the injury that resulted in his death. His promise and usefulness as an officer were only equalled by the purity and excellence of his private life.

Brigadier-Generals Armistead, Barksdale, Garnett and Semmes died as they had lived, discharging the highest duty of patriots with devotion that never faltered and courage that shrank from no danger.

I earnestly commend to the attention of the Government those gallant officers and men whose conduct merited the special commendation of their superiors, but whose names I am unable to mention in this report.

The officers of the general staff of the army were unremittingly engaged in the duties of their respective departments. Much depended on their management and exertion. The labors of the Quartermaster, Commissary and Medical Departments were more than usually severe. The Inspectors-General were also laboriously occupied in their attention to the troops, both on the march and in camp, and the officers of engineers showed skill and judgment in expediting the passage of rivers and streams, the swollen condition of which, by almost continuous rains, called for extraordinary exertion. The Chief of Ordnance and his assistants are entitled to praise for the care and watchfulness given to the ordnance trains and ammunition of the army, which in a long march and in many conflicts were always at hand and accessible to the troops. My thanks are due to my personal staff for the constant aid afforded me at all times on the march and in the field, and their willing discharge of every duty.

There were captured at Gettysburg nearly seven thousand prisoners, of whom about fifteen hundred were paroled, and the remainder brought to Virginia. Seven pieces of artillery were also secured.

I forward herewith the reports of the corps, division and other commanders, mentioned in the accompanying schedule, together with maps of the scene of operations, and one showing the routes pursued by the army. Respectfully submitted,

(Signed)
R. E. Lee, General.

Patriotic Letters of Confederate Leaders.

If it is fair to judge a cause by its representative men, then Confederates have no reason to be ashamed of the exponents of their principles.

We give below several letters, which show the high, patriotic