Today is April 9th

[thea_447]

Today, April 9th, is the day on which General Robert E. Lee was compelled to yield to General Grant's army.

I am posting his General Order No. 9 so that we can reflect on the bravery, character and loyalty this great man exhibited during what was probably the lowest point of his life.

GENERAL ORDER NO. 9

After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of North Virginia, has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.

I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard fought battles who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result with no distrust of them; but feeling that valour and devotion could accomplish nothing that would compensate for the loss that would have attended the continuance of the contest, I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.

By the terms of the agreement officers and men can return to their homes and remain there until exchanged.

You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a Merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection.

With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.

R. E. Lee,

General

[sgtcsa]

Thea,
I will add to your statements. Robert E lee was perhaps one the Greatest Americans ever to grace the landscape of this country. As a Virginian, albeit, one who no longer lives there, but the ties are still strong, I shall never forget the nobility that man displayed throughout his illustrious career. If only we today, could exibit just a fraction of what he stood for, this country would be so much the better for it. My home State is one of the few, who still celebrate his birthday, as a holiday. War era Georgia Senator Ben Hill so elequently expressed a lasting tribute to Lee this way: " He possessed every virtue of other great commanders without their vices. He was a foe without hate; a friend without treachery; a victor without oppression, and a victom without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices; a private citizen without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy and man without guile. He was a Ceasar without his ambition; Frederick without his tyranny; Napoleon without his selfishness, and a Washington without his reward. He was obedient to authority as a servant, and loyal in authority as a true king. He was as gentle as a woman in life; modest and pure as a virgin in thought; as watchful as a Roman vital in duty; submissive to law as Socrates, and grand in battle as Achilles!". If ever a man was capable of leading a country, Robert E. Lee, was. On this day, some 140 years ago,
General Lee handed over the remnants of a battered army, to disappear into history, but, never forgotten. The legend lives on, and will continue to do so. The Southern leader, along with all those brave souls who fought under his command, who so freely gave of themselves, their everything, for a cause that they believed in, which was not slavery, shall live forever in our hearts. We will always remember, perhaps with a little sadness, this momentous event in our history. Perhaps, after all is said and done, it was destined to end this way, for out of all this chaos and bloodshed, rose a nation that is second to none. Even though I realize, that though this gigantic struggle, our nation came to be what it is, I still have these twinges of thought, "What would it have really been like, if we had won"? I suppose we can only surmise, but none the less, I still wonder!

SgtCSA

[dawna]

Reverend Dr. Henderson:

“It does not become one of my profession to take any partisan view of the life of such a man, although it was my fortune to follow the same flag which he carried to victory upon so many fields. When it was furled, it was done with such calm magnificence as to win the admiration of his enemies and of the world. Yet I do not stand here to make any reference to that cause which has passed from the theatre of earth’s activity, and taken its place only in history. But I do claim the right, from the stand-point which I occupy, of pointing to a man worthy of the emulation of all who love the true nobility of humanity; a man who was magnanimous to his enemies; who would weep at the calamities of his foes; who, throughout the sanguinary struggle, could preserve in himself the fullest share of human sympathy.

History will challenge the world to produce a single instance in which this great man ever wantonly inflicted a blow, or ever wilfully imposed punishment upon any of his captives, or ever pushed his victory upon an enemy to gain unnecessary results—­a man who, in all his campaigns, showed the same bright example to all the battalions that followed the lead of his sword. And now, since that flag which he carried has been furled, what a magnificent example has been presented to the world! It was said of Washington that he was first in war and first in peace, but, in the latter regard, Robert E. Lee showed more greatness than even the Father of his Country. He was struck down; the sun that had brightened up the horizon of hopes sank in dark eclipse to set in the shadow of disappointment. Calm and magnificent in the repose of conscious strength, he felt that he had lived and struggled for a principle that was dear to him.

Though dead, it only remained for him to be our example to the stricken and suffering people for whom he labored, and to show how magnanimously a brave and true Christian could act even when all he held sacred and dear was shattered by the hand of calamity. And, at the close of his career, he devoted his splendid capacity to the culture of the minds of his country’s youth. He came down from the summit on which he had won the world’s admiration, to the steady, regular duties of the school-room, to take his place in the vestry of a Christian church, and to administer the affairs of a country parish in the interest of Christianity. A man who, by his dignity and simplicity, preserved the constant admiration of his enemies, without even giving offence to his friends, such a man should receive a niche in the Pantheon of Fame."

[ole]

Without a doubt, Bobby Lee was every inch a real gentleman. What impresses me most about him was that he surrendered the army rather than release it to continue guerilla war (which he was urged to do by some of his lieutenants), which could only have resulted in bushwacker fighting and further devastation. He saw that it was done, and he took the high ground in not prolonging the conflict.

Here's to Robert E. Lee. Long may he be remembered and honored!

Ole

[rbenne]

140 years ago indeed. I had the high honor and privilege of being at Sailors Creek, that last great series of battles, on that day.

I am of course referring to the event on actual ground, not the spoiler event at some industrial park.

The feelings were overwhelming. When climbing that last hill at Brices crossroads at the very end of that battle I was overwhelmed both by exhaustion and the fact that I was there, where it happened, on the same date (almost).

Upon cresting the hill I was surrounded by confederate troops, rifles inverted in surrender and in front of me, the monument. A small thing really, simply stating what had happened there.

Over 6,000 men, most of whom had suffered the privations of war for four years died there, died mere hours before the end of the war.

I could not help myself; I dropped to my knees there before the monument and prayed. Prayed for the souls of all who fell there, and throughout the war, but especially those, union and confederate dead, who fell in the last hours.

[dawna]

Rbenne:

Thank you for this...I'm speechless.

Dawna