Confederate Officers; later Spanish American War U.S. Army Generals

whitworth

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 18, 2005
Butler, Matthew Calbraith


*Pre-war South Carolina legislator.
*Hampton's Legion: Captain, June 12, 1861; Major, July 21, 1861.
*2nd South Carolina Cavalry: Colonel, August 22, 1862.
*Lost right foot at Brandy Station.
*Major General U.S. Volunteers, 1898 through April 15, 1899, Spanish-American War.

Lee, Fitzhugh


*USMA, 1856. *Wounded fighting Indians on the frontier, May 13, 1859. *Nephew of Samuel Cooper and Robert E. Lee.
*Resigned as 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army, May 21, 1861. *Assistant Adjutant General, July 30, 1861–August 1861.
*Staff of Joseph E. Johnston at First Bull Run. *1st Virginia Cavalry, Lt. Colonel, August 1861, Colonel, March 1862.
*After Wade Hampton ordered to North Carolina in January 1865, Lee commanded rest of Cavalry Corps of Army of Northern Virginia.
*Wounded twice. *U.S. Consul General to Havana, Cuba, 1896–1898.
*Major General of U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War. *Retired as Brigadier General, U.S. Army, 1901.


Rosser, Thomas L


*USMA, resigned two weeks before graduation in 1861 *1st Lieutenant, ACSA, Artillery, March 16, 1861.
*CSA Artillery, Captain, September 17, 1861, Lt. Colonel, June 10, 1862. *Wounded at Mechanicsville. *5th Virginia Cavalry, Colonel, June 24, 1862.
*Wounded at Kelly's Ford. *Wounded five more times. *Command of Laurel Brigade. *In October 1864 assumed command of Early's cavalry.
*Defeated at Woodstock and Cedar Creek. *Two raids into West Virginia, then returned to Siege of Petersburg. *Battle of Five Forks.
*Refused to surrender at Appomattox Court House but was captured and paroled in May 1865.
*On June 10, 1898, appointed brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers for the Spanish-American War. *Mustered out October 31, 1898.


Wheeler, Joseph
"Little Joe", "Fightin' Joe"



rank, nom: October 30, 1862
conf: April 22, 1863
Major General
rank: January 20, 1863
nom: January 23, 1863
conf: February 4, 1864 *USMA, 1859. *Resigned as 2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Army, April 22, 1861. *1st Lieutenant of artillery.
*19th Alabama Infantry: Colonel, September 4, 1861. *Fought at Shiloh.
*Chief of cavalry of the Army of Mississippi, July 13, 1862, and the Army of Tennessee.
*Initial brigade command, September 14, 1862. *Wounded three times.
*In Carolinas Campaign; succeeded by Wade Hampton III as command became increasingly undisciplined.
*U.S. Congressman, 1882–1900. *Major general of U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War.
*Retired as brigadier general in the U.S. Army. *One of two Confederate generals buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
 
Dont know too much about Calbraith,Butler,except that he has that certain dashing confederate look about him.I'll have to start a little more non-fiction reading.
 
I found that movie in the bargin bin at Wally World a couple years ago. It was much better than I expected it to be. Sam Elliot was good too.

This is true I can't remember Sam Elliot ever turning in a substandard performance in whatever character he played. I thought Busey's portrayal of Wheeler was a good one in that I have read about him getting excited in the heat of battle and saying "Look at those yankees run" or "We have the yankees on the run." At any rate such a moment seems very likely for him. When he speaks about not having a horse shot out from under him in decades then saying it is still a thrill seems very "cavalry like" also for an old soldier who has survived unharmed after having his mount shot out from under him. All in all Busey's comments playing Wheeler sound very plausible.

Another scene I liked in that movie was all the former Confederate soldiers who went to the railroad stations to salute the soldiers en route by rail to Tampa to board ships taking them to battle in Cuba. One would think regardless of where those green SA war troops hailed from they would have genuinely appreciated the support and salutes from the old veteran soldiers who had seen the elephant. Surely former ACW veteran federal soldiers would have done something like that in the north when those troop trains passed on their way south. The point of that scene impressed me as a healing moment for north and south.
 
Well I will concede to those who are better read than me,when it comes to Wheeler.It didnt ruin the movie for me,and now I want tosee it again.I remember an article in the local paper here ,with pictures of Fitz-HUGE-Lee sitting on the veranda at what is now a Tampa landmark.No,I am not that old.It was an article about that time.I live in the Tampa bay area.
 
Butler, Matthew Calbraith


*Pre-war South Carolina legislator.
*Hampton's Legion: Captain, June 12, 1861; Major, July 21, 1861.
*2nd South Carolina Cavalry: Colonel, August 22, 1862.
*Lost right foot at Brandy Station.
*Major General U.S. Volunteers, 1898 through April 15, 1899, Spanish-American War.

Lee, Fitzhugh


*USMA, 1856. *Wounded fighting Indians on the frontier, May 13, 1859. *Nephew of Samuel Cooper and Robert E. Lee.
*Resigned as 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army, May 21, 1861. *Assistant Adjutant General, July 30, 1861–August 1861.
*Staff of Joseph E. Johnston at First Bull Run. *1st Virginia Cavalry, Lt. Colonel, August 1861, Colonel, March 1862.
*After Wade Hampton ordered to North Carolina in January 1865, Lee commanded rest of Cavalry Corps of Army of Northern Virginia.
*Wounded twice. *U.S. Consul General to Havana, Cuba, 1896–1898.
*Major General of U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War. *Retired as Brigadier General, U.S. Army, 1901.


Rosser, Thomas L


*USMA, resigned two weeks before graduation in 1861 *1st Lieutenant, ACSA, Artillery, March 16, 1861.
*CSA Artillery, Captain, September 17, 1861, Lt. Colonel, June 10, 1862. *Wounded at Mechanicsville. *5th Virginia Cavalry, Colonel, June 24, 1862.
*Wounded at Kelly's Ford. *Wounded five more times. *Command of Laurel Brigade. *In October 1864 assumed command of Early's cavalry.
*Defeated at Woodstock and Cedar Creek. *Two raids into West Virginia, then returned to Siege of Petersburg. *Battle of Five Forks.
*Refused to surrender at Appomattox Court House but was captured and paroled in May 1865.
*On June 10, 1898, appointed brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers for the Spanish-American War. *Mustered out October 31, 1898.


Wheeler, Joseph
"Little Joe", "Fightin' Joe"



rank, nom: October 30, 1862
conf: April 22, 1863
Major General
rank: January 20, 1863
nom: January 23, 1863
conf: February 4, 1864 *USMA, 1859. *Resigned as 2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Army, April 22, 1861. *1st Lieutenant of artillery.
*19th Alabama Infantry: Colonel, September 4, 1861. *Fought at Shiloh.
*Chief of cavalry of the Army of Mississippi, July 13, 1862, and the Army of Tennessee.
*Initial brigade command, September 14, 1862. *Wounded three times.
*In Carolinas Campaign; succeeded by Wade Hampton III as command became increasingly undisciplined.
*U.S. Congressman, 1882–1900. *Major general of U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War.
*Retired as brigadier general in the U.S. Army. *One of two Confederate generals buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Great post. BTW do you know who the other former Confederate General buried at Arlington is?
 
Might be of interest:

Confederate Military History, Vol. 12
THE SOUTH SINCE THE WAR
BY LIEUT.-GEN. STEPHEN D. LEE

[extensive excerpt due to not being related to Spanish-American War]

SUPPLEMENTARY.
The preceding part of this article was completed in 1897. Since that time the great Republic, in the year 1898, has made wonderful strides in history making. It has engaged in a most successful war with Spain, to put an end to the bad government of Spanish rule in Cuba. The people of the United States, on the score of humanity, forced the legislative and executive departments to put an end to the apparently endless bad government and inhumanity, emphasizing the rule of Spain of her colonies in the Western continent. The destruction of the warship Maine, in the harbor of Havana by being blown up; the victory of Admiral Dewey at Manila; the destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet by Commodores Sampson and Schley off Santiago de Cuba, and the capture of Santiago de Cuba by the American army under General Shafter, have been rapidly recurring events, which have thrilled the heart of every patriotic American with pride. These naval and military events, which may be classed almost alone for their brilliancy, when we consider the little loss of life incurred, and the results following in acquisition of territory to the United States, make an historical era hitherto unsurpassed in the history of our country.

One of the most remarkable results of this war has been the display of national patriotism and unity among the citizens of this great country--North, South, East and West. All sectional lines have apparently been blotted out forever; all bad blood, if any still lingered either North or South, as a result of the great civil strife from 1861 to 1865, has disappeared and no longer exists. The President of the United States, upon the declaration of war by Congress, called for 200,000 volunteer troops to defend the honor of the flag, and to carry out the wishes of Congress in making war against Spain. These troops were apportioned among the several States in the Union in accordance with their population, and the call met with a prompt response from the citizenship of every State. In no part of the republic was the response more patriotic, more earnest, or more enthusiastic than in the ex-Confederate States which had been engaged in the war against the Union. About one-third of the volunteers called for by the President were furnished by the Southern States. The officers and enlisted men of these volunteer organizations were composed of ex-Confeder-ate soldiers, their sons and their grandsons. Their conduct in the service of the United States was equally as honorable, as patriotic, and as enthusiastic as that of the troops from any other section of the Union. In camp, and while being hardened to service, they endured hardships and sacrifices with a spirit that showed they were worthy descendants of the men who, from 1861 to 1865, gave such evidence of manhood and heroism, in combating against superior numbers and resources.

In the preceding pages of this article, it was stated, that at the close of the war in 1865, the people of the South yielded to the inevitable with honesty and integrity of purpose; that in June, 1865, a little over two months after the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia, there was not an armed Confederate soldier to be found anywhere; that the people of the South were ready, and showed their willingness to accept any results which the Federal government deemed necessary to impose upon them; that they gave most hearty support to the policies of Presidents Lincoln and Johnson, in inaugurating and putting into effect what was termed the "presidential reconstruction;" that they endured with great patience and calm judgment, the dark days of congressional reconstruction, and while protesting against what seemed to them undue harshness in the legislation of Congress, they bode their time, till the corrupt negro governments established during the reconstruction period, virtually fell of their own weight and impracticability; that so soon as the white people of the South again came into possession of their State governments, their prosperity began to dawn; that they devoted their time and energies to the preservation of that local self-government, rescued from ignorance and corruption, but not considered finally established; that they began to repeal all bad laws, and to work for the restoration of their waste places resulting from four years of dreadful war and twelve years of bad negro government, and that during all this period the people of the South conscientiously tried to perform their full duty as citizens of the United States. Their delicate surroundings under the peculiar circumstances, did not admit of undue demonstration of national feeling, but whenever an opportunity was offered them, they gave unmistakable signs of that love of country and true patriotism which was their heritage from revolutionary forefathers.

President Cleveland was the first great official who trusted the people of the South frankly, and gave typical Southerners cabinet positions, appointing them also on the supreme bench and as embassadors to foreign courts and to other federal appointments. His administration evoked intense satisfaction among the citizens of the South, as it enabled them to show the sincerity of their avowed good feeling toward the restored Union. The death of General Grant, in 1885, who had always been generous to the Confederates in war; the dedication of Chickamauga park, and of the Confederate monument in the city of Chicago to the Confederate dead, brought forth displays of patriotism toward the general government on the part of the people of the South. Her senators and representatives in Congress, during the great riot in Chicago, also brought to the surface their patriotic love of the Union.

But it remained for the year 1898 and the war between Spain and the United States to cause this national feeling, this love of country, to burst into a flame that left no doubt as to the national patriotism of the people of the ex-Confederate States.

The writer of this article--an ex-Confederate soldier--although he was always loyal to the Stars and Stripes from the moment he laid down his arms as a soldier of the Confederacy and took the oath of allegiance to the restored Union; although he had conscientiously performed his duty as a citizen under that oath of allegiance, and although he was ready at any time to defend the Stars and Stripes had it become necessary, as a duty--still, when he heard of the great victory of Admiral Dewey at Manila, his heart leaped with joy and pride because he was a citizen of the United States. There was no longer a doubt as to his possessing real and true love for his reunited country. While he would not positively say that this was the feeling of every ex-Confederate soldier, he believes that this patriotic emotion which found expression from his own heart, found also a response in the heart of almost every ex-Confederate.

The tour of the President of the United States, Mr. McKinley, through the South, and his speeches of patriotism and good-will everywhere, evoked unbounded enthusiasm and patriotism in every portion of the South. Although he is the representative of the great Republican party, the party toward which the people of the South felt unkindly, because of the ordeal of reconstruction, still, in their display of patriotism they have forgotten everything in the past that stood in the way of a complete obliteration of sectional lines and bad blood.

It should be a source of intense satisfaction to the people of the South, and also of the North, that there can no longer be any doubt of the unity of the people of the United States. It is certainly a most remarkable event in history, that the people of this country should be so reunited after the terrible civil war through which this country passed thirty-five years ago, and that, too, while so many of the participants of that mighty and heroic struggle are still living. From this time henceforth, no unpleasant accusations should be made in references to that great struggle. When the President of the United States, representing a great party known as the war party in the civil war, and speaking publicly in a Southern city could express the sentiment that the North should assist the South in caring for the graves of the Confederate soldiers, and the expression of that sentiment, touching every Southern heart, drew forth patriotic response which showed the Southern love for a common country, surely we are again a reunited people, and Southern loyalty can no longer be questioned.

It is also a source of great pride to the people of the South, that, although her volunteer soldiers did not have an opportunity to display their gallantry on the field of battle, yet among the heroes of the short war with Spain none are more conspicuous than Southern men who had an opportunity to manifest their soldierly qualities. The President of the United States, in making his appointments in the volunteer army organization for the war, gave some appointments to Southern men who had been ex-Confederate soldiers. This action on his part gave much satisfaction to the people of the South, and it is with pride that they can point to these soldiers and sailors as having well performed the duties devolving upon them wherever opportunity permitted.

Gen. Joseph Wheeler, who had been a lieutenant-general in the Confederate army, was appointed a major-general in the volunteer army of the United States. His enthusiasm, his patriotism, his good generalship, his good common sense in every emergency, stamped him as one of the noted heroes of the war, and his popularity at the North is not surpassed even in his own native South. His coolness at Santiago at the moment when everything looked dark, possibly was the turning point to success on that field. He remembered that in the mighty struggle of 1861-65, when two American armies met in deadly conflict, generally both sides were paralyzed for a time; and after he carried the San Juan hills near Santiago, when for a time things looked blue, he recalled how it was in the great civil war, and said, "If we are so badly hurt, you may rest assured that the Spaniards are worse hurt, and we must hold our lines and not yield an inch." His services in the field were not surpassed by his good sense and administrative talent in caring for the sick soldiers of the Union at Montauk Point.

We are proud of Fitzhugh Lee, another appointment as major-general of President McKinley. Amid all the fault finding (whether true or false), regarding the administrative direction in the care of our troops, he alone has not been criticised on account of the care and management of the soldiers under his charge. He was ever ready to obey the orders of the President, and go to Cuba or wherever, as a soldier, he could have been sent. He, too, has won the admiration of the people of the United States everywhere.


Maj.-Gen. M. C. Butler was, like Lee and Wheeler, a distinguished Confederate soldier who performed his part well, not only in camp with the soldiers intrusted to his care, but as a statesman and a member of the evacuation commission at Havana. These three ex-Confeder-ate generals have enjoyed the confidence of the President possibly as much as any other of the numerous appointments made in the volunteer army by him. Among the brigadier-generals of volunteers appointed from the South, were W. C. Oates of Alabama, H. K. Douglas of Maryland, T. L. Rosser of Virginia, and W. W. Gordon of Georgia, all noted Confederate officers who won distinction in the Confederate army.

Lieut. Richmond Pearson Hobson, of the navy (an Alabamian), is probably the hero of the war, by virtue of sinking the Merrimac in the channel leading to the harbor of Santiago de Cuba amid the shot and shell of Spanish heavy guns. Lieut. A. S. Rowan, of the United States army (a Virginian), is another Southern hero in the short war; while North Carolina has added to the above Worth Bagley and South Carolina Lieut. Victor Blue. There were many other heroes who deserve mention. The officers of the army and navy of the United States have never failed to do their whole duty wherever duty called them, but in this brief war with Spain, so far as individuals are concerned, the Southerners mentioned, have received enthusiastic appreciation from the whole people of the United States.

It should not be thought strange that the people of the South would burn with patriotic ardor against a foreign foe. While giving full credit to the South for her patriotism in the recent war with Spain, it is with pride that she can point to her past history in every instance where national honor and national statesmanship were needed to defend the flag of the Union, or be aggressive for its advancement. Leaving out her record of the great civil war, she points back to the spirit of the Southern colonial people, as broad and liberal, active in the general defense against the Indians and in the French wars. The first battle of the revolutionary war was fought on Southern soil, and the signal for resistance came from the South. The most critical and pressing struggle of the revolutionary war was carried on in the South and in the face of continual disaster. The devastations of that war were nearly all on her soil. A Southern colony furnished most of the soldiers in the army of the American revolution, and a Southern State finds a place in her soil for the bones of more revolutionary soldiers than any other State. A Southern State was the first to organize an independent State government. The union of the thirteen revolting colonies, under the articles of confederation, was only made possible by the self-sacrifice of Virginia, who, to allay the fears of the smaller commonwealths, gave up her large northwestern territory to common ownership. The federal convention that gave us that greatest of all documents ever drawn by the hand of man, was presided over by a Southern member. And finally, when the ship of state was launched, with singular unanimity a Southern hand was called to the helm. With the exception of Alaska, no acquisition of territory had been made except through the effort of Southern statesmen, and generally in opposition to those of the North. It was Jefferson, who, by the purchase of Louisiana, extended the domain of the United States to the Rocky mountains, notwithstanding the violent threats of secession which came from the Northeast. Oregon, Florida, California and Texas--purchases and annexations --extended her domain to the Pacific, when Southern men occupied the presidential chair. In every war the national honor has been practically upheld by the South. In the cause of the national government in 1812, New England responded with the Hartford convention, looking to the dismemberment of the Union. Impartial history will show that our "Southern ancestors were not drones in the hives and mere participants in the blessings which other sections have conferred," but on all occasions they did their duty like manly men and were leaders in all that "has largely made the United States, governed her, administered justice from her judicial tribunal, commanded her armies, created her greatness." It should not be forgotten that the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, at the close of the revolutionary war, had over two-thirds of the territory acquired by the United States from Great Britain by the treaty of Paris, and gave it up to the general government. The South, standing by its patriotic record, and tendering all its resources to the government, cordially bids our reunited country God-speed.

--------------
General S. D. Lee's References:

BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
I have freely consulted and used facts and data collated in the following books, pamphlets, etc.:
Noted Men of the Solid South; or, Reconstruction and its Results. --Hilary A. Herbert.
Mayes' Life of L. Q. C. Lamar.
Avery's History of Georgia.
The Last Quarter Century of the United States.--Andrews. Woodrow Wilson's Works.
Facts About the South.--R. H. Edmunds (1894 and 1895).
The Industrial Condition of the South before 1860. "The Chau-tauquan," February, 1896.--R. H. Edmunds.
The Industrial Condition of the South after 1860. "The Chautau-quan," March, 1896.--R. H. Edmunds.
Proceedings of the Trustees, Peabody Educational Fund, Thirty-fifth Meeting.--Dr. J. L. M. Curry.
The South's Redemption--From Poverty to Prosperity.--R. H. Edmunds, 1892.
Unparalleled Industrial Progress.--R. H. Edmunds, 1892. "The Tradesman," Chattanooga, 1896, 1897.
The United States Census, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890.
What the South is Doing for Education, and What Education is Doing for the South.--Dr. W. T. Harris.
Address of J. R. Preston, State Superintendent Education, Mississippi.
Data furnished by Gen. Clement A. Evans--"Education," January, 1896.
Some Present Aspects of Education in the South.--Rev. A. D. Mayo. "Progress," Nos. 11 and 12.
---------------------
M. E. Wolf
 
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol. XXXV. Richmond, Va., January-December. 1907
Fitzhugh Lee.
An Address Delivered on Fitzhugh Lee Day at the Jamestown Exposition.
By Major ROBERT W. HUNTER.
From the Times-Dispatch, January 5, 1908.
On account of the insistent demand from people in the North, South, and abroad, The Times-Dispatch prints in full the speech delivered by Major R. W. Hunter at the Jamestown Exposition on General Fitzhugh Lee upon the occasion of the day set apart to honor the first president of the exposition. The address was received with the greatest enthusiasm by those who had the privilege of listening to it, competent critics have declared that nothing that has so far been written about General Lee approaches the masterly paper presented, as follows:

Gentlemen of the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition,
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
In an address at a memorial meeting when General Fitz Lee died, I said: "He fell with his harness on, overtaxed by the strenuous work he had done to make the coming Jamestown celebration a grand success.
[extensive excerpt-not related to Spanish-American War]
Passing over minor matters we come now to the time, in the career of Fitz Lee, when the eyes of the world were focused upon him.

He was appointed consul-general at Havana by President Cleveland. Yellow fever was prevailing there, and the prospect uninviting. Some of his friends and family were apprehensive, and to satisfy them he called a council of those closest to him. When it met it was known at once that his mind was already made up. With that quick apprehension--the genius of far discernment, characteristic alike of prophet, poet and great soldier--he had mentally reconnoitered the situation, and saw the exposed flank of a rare opportunity. We wished him Godspeed, and drank with him 'a stirrup-cup.'

So clear had he been in his great office. With such consummate tact, wisdom and firmness had he discharged the delicate, diplomatic functions devolved upon him, in the then highly inflamed state of the Spanish mind, that President McKinley, recognizing the eternal fitness of things, and the unanimous sentiment of the country, kept him at the post of duty, which also at that time, when treachery and conspiracy not only did their dark deeds in the nighttime, but brazenly stalked abroad at noonday, was emphatically the post of danger.

As he stood there, calm and resolute, mens equa in arduis, "as far from rashness as from fear," with the fate of nations in his hand for the time, and the world's gaze upon him, he was indeed "a sight for gods and men." Gloriously did he rise to the height of the great argument, and meet the full demands of the crisis.

I never felt so glad and so proud in all my life that "the right man was in the right place," to uphold the country's highest ideals and most sacred traditions, and that that man was a Virginian and Confederate soldier.

At length a point was reached when forbearance ceased to be a virtue. Treaty obligations were scornfully violated, and our country's honor was at stake. The circumstances were these: Consul-General Lee called on Governor-General Weyler to ask the release of an American citizen, who had been thrown into jail on some trivial charge. Lee was courteous, and then, as always, the gentleman. Weyler was the braggart, arrogant, contemptuous in tone and manner, and said to Lee: "You must understand, sir, that Cuba is now under martial law, and my word is the supreme law of the land." The lion-heart of Lee was aroused by his insolence, and looking him straight in the eyes, said: "I want you to understand, sir, that, martial law or no martial law, the rights of American citizens must be and shall be respected, and I demand the immediate release of this
American citizen, whom you have no right to hold."

Lee immediately returned to his office, put his demand in writing, cabled the situation to Washington, and asked for a war vessel to enforce it, if necessary. Our State Department cabled him to know "why he had changed his policy." Lee replied: "I have made no change of policy.

"I am simply demanding that the rights of American citizens shall be respected. If you approve of my course, send me a war vessel. If you do not, accept my resignation, which goes by to-day's mail."

Weyler reconsidered, released the prisoner, and Lee cabled that the vessel was not needed.

Some time afterward the department informed him that the Maine would be ordered to make a friendly visit to Havana. Lee remonstrated his common sense convincing him that the visit of a war vessel to Havana, in its then excited state, would probably be disastrous. Unfortunately, the war vessel had sailed, and was beyond the reach of recall. You know the result. What was left of the Maine, after it was blown up, lies undisturbed in the harbor of Havana, but still remains a vivid memory. I recall this matter because of the erroneous, popular belief at the time, and to some extent since, that the Maine was sent at the request of General Lee.

The war soon came on, and General Fitz Lee returned to headquarters at Washington, where, upon arrival, he received the most genuinely spontaneous and heartfelt ovation ever accorded, I believe, to an American citizen by the rather blaze residents of our capital city.

He had fairly won the hearts of the country, and from that time became its most popular citizen, and so remained until death cut short his brilliant career, to which, I firmly believe, fresh laurels would have been added if he had been spared to gather them.

So manfully and triumphantly had he maintained the rights and interests of American citizens on foreign soil, as the representative of the United States, that all prejudice against him as a Confederate had vanished. And if a primary election could have been held, or there had been an initiative and referendum, Fitz Lee would have been chosen the commanding general for the Spanish War. As it was, he was made major-general of volunteers, and commanded the 7th Corps, which was made up of regiments from North and South, and East and West, and Blue and Gray (our friend, William Jennings Bryan at the head of one of them)--all of whom, "in mutual, well-beseeming ranks, marched proudly all one way to the music of the Union, under the old flag, and Fitz Lee, whose fame as a fighter surpassed that of any other general in the army.

Applications poured in upon him from all parts of the country for places upon his staff. One of them, I have heard, came from the then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, who thought General Fitz would certainly be where the fighting would be fiercest and most glory would be won.

President McKinley had promised General Fitz it Havana was attacked he should lead the forces, but the politicians feared if such a chance was given him that the presidency would follow in the wake of the glory he would gain as the hero of the war, and he was side-tracked in Florida.

Shafter was chosen for the chief command because it was thought perhaps he would probably be even less formidable in peace than in war.

The scene shifted to Santiago, which became the chief seat of war. Mr. Roosevelt, we remark in passing, with that quick penetration for which he is so noted, foresaw the plans of the politicians, and sought glory with the Rough Riders from the ranches of the West. If these same politicians had known all (esse et posse) that there was in that young man, they would have switched him off long before he ever reached the famous hill of San Juan.

As it was, he only got there, as a smart paragrapher told us at the time, by swimming his horse from Key West to Cuba, with his sword in his mouth.

What followed you all know. What remains to be administered (de bonis non) of the spoils of that Spanish War is known only to Him, who understandest man's thoughts afar off.

I fear I am too fond of episode for an occasion like this, where compression is so essential for even a passing glance at the rich and varied materials which our dear friend's life so amply furnish.

My idea is that General Fitz Lee, by reason of his brilliant reputation as a soldier, both at home and abroad; his eclat as the representative of the United States in Cuba, when the hearts of the people went out to him with enthusiastic admiration and warmest approval; his widespread popularity, coextensive with the bounds of the country; his extraordinary personal magnetism, which drew all hearts to him; and the fact, perhaps the most important of all, that through his agency and the epoch-making events in our recent history with which he was so closely connected, and was so large a part, the relations between the sections became more cordial, and the people more united by the bonds of mutual respect and friendship than they had been for more than half a century.

These were the considerations and factors which made him "the man of the hour" for Jamestown. His bugle-call would have been heard along the mountain sides, through the valleys, across the vast plains, along the rivers and by the sounding sea. It would have been "as the shout of Achilles from the ramparts."

[extensive excerpt-not related to the Spanish-American War]
--------------
M. E. Wolf
 
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