He had the faith of the crusader; his letters would make a guide to holiness. He was always a soldier, never impure in thought or act, never profane or obscene. He did not touch the cup, as did Grant, Hooker or Phil Sheridan, and when he lost a fight it was never said of him that the defeat was due to the habit which makes men's heads into muddles. He was never out-generaled by Grant in all the campaign from Rappahannock to James River, never trapped and never caught napping. It usually happened that when the men on our side ordered a march at 5 in the morning they never made more than half the distance between the two armies. Lee had ordered an advance at 4:30.
"I fail to find in the books any such masterful generalship as this hero showed, holding that slim, gray line, half starved, with no prospect of additions, and fighting when his army was too hungry to stand and the rifles were only used as clubs. His courage was sublime. He was as great as Gustavus Adolphus, or Napoleon, or Wellington, or Von Moltke. His cause was not the lost cause so much as is suspected. All that was good in his cause has been grafted into our laws and our constitution. The doctrine of State's rights as now interpreted by the Supreme Court is in exact accordance with his claims on the point. General Lee lost at Gettysburg because the Federal troops had received a new motor of tremendous strength whose power no one knew—General Hancock. He also lost because Meade's men were fighting on Union soil—almost within hearing distance of the prayers of their wives and children for victory. They were at their hearthstones. Men are tigers when wives and families are the inspiration in war.'
"Dr. Andrews blames General Burnside for throwing away the battle of Fredericksburg and General Pope for losing ground because of bombast at the first try for Richmond.
"The summary of his estimate of Lee compared with the Federal generals is that he was as brave, more watchful and doubly skillful, in addition to having his head filled all the time with miseries and disappointments which did not exist on the other side of the line. He concluded by declaring that he was glad the republic is getting into that state of mind where it is beginning to give credit to manhood and valor without regard to section, boundaries or parties."
