Southern generals, their lives and campaigns

Contents

PAGE

Lieutenant-general Thomas J. Jackson 169

General Joseph E. Johnston 273

Chapter I

Important Position held by General Lee.— A Sketch of his Life more needed in ' Detail.— His Ancestors.— Bishop Meade's Work on Old Virginia Families.— Thomas Lee.— Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee.— General Harry Lee.— Thanks of Congress to General Henry Lee.— His Children.— Kobert Edward Lee.

The subject of this memoir bears so important a part in the great political and national strife now unfortunately waging in our land, and his own personal position in the social and military world has been of so high a standing, that it seems necessary to enter more fully into the particulars of his life than, may be deemed requisite as regards others. In common with several more well-known, and well-tried soldiers of rank, he has thought fit to take sides with his native South against the North in those sad disputes which have led to so much fearful blood and slaughter ; and his past reputation in the army and on the battlefield, has placed him at the head of all the forces, arrayed in hostile attitude against the flag to which he had formerly owned allegiance. Thus he is, and ever will be known, as the most prominent and important personage connected with all the military movements in the South, while boldly and persistently confronting the North. To his military skill and genius, to his calm and clear-thinking mind, his high moral and social status, and the family influence of his name, are undoubtedly due much of the strength of the South, and whatever success may have been achieved. There may be, and indeed there are some others in the Confederate ranks, whose spirit — whose mind and body — also maintain and keep infusing new life within the sometimes flickering elements of opposition in the South, but the name of Lee is in itself of additional weight to what they could bring forward. Of a Vir-

10 SOUTHEBN GENEKAES.

ginian family, whose members for more than two hundred years had been settled in the State, and some of whom had handed down to posterity names indissolubly connected with all that was bright, and glorious, and god-like in the cause of national freedom, besides being inseparably coupled with all to be esteemed in the mind and intellectual qualities of man, the present military Commander-in-chief of the Southern forces is one on whom all eyes turn, with more than ordinary interest, and whose influence is, perhaps, even greater than that of the President of the Confederate States himself. To give, therefore, any thing like a fair and impartial account of his life to the present time, is no slight nor easy task. We have to forget the hostile position he has assumed towards the national power; and, keeping clear of all bias or feeling, save that of a desire to picture the truth wheresoever it be found, bear in mind that we are putting before the world the history of a man, himself distinguished from his youth by his own deeds, but distinguished equally as much by his close relationship to two of the signers of Independence — Richard Henry, and Francis Lightfoot Lee, — to the Ludwells, Corbins, and to that friend and eulogist of Washington, his own father, General Harry Lee. Thus, in this memoir, we must take up the man, as well as the military chief in arms against the Government of the United States, and we must deal with the individual in his actions, and, as far as we can understand them, his motives, as well as the public events that are connected with his name. Nor must we forget that, in judging of the actions of our fellow-men — especially of those holding a prominent position in the public eye — we ought always to take into consideration the circumstances by which they are surrounded, and which have often led them onward, almost irresistibly. Consequently, the various links which bind any man to a course of conduct, frequently, to all appearance, inexplicable, and sometimes reprehensible, should be carefully examined, when placing him before the future in the position wherein he has become most prominent. It is not the passing hour that is to canvass what he does ; but it is the sons and daughters of another day than this sad and painful one, who will have to look at him and speak of him with a calmer and more impartial mind than can possibly now exist. To lead to this, to do what present justice can be done to the individual, as well as to the great military chief, is the object of the following memoir ; and, to begin this aright, we will briefly introduce some account of his family and their ancestors.

In the reign of Charles L, of England, there lived in the county of Shropshire a good old family of the name of Lee. Induced, probably, by the flaming reports connected with the still very young colony of Virginia, then not more than a few years discovered, a member of this family, Richard Lee, went over there in an official appointment under the Governor. He was " a man of good stature, comely visage, enterprising genius, a sound head, vigorous spirit, and generous nature. When he got to Virginia, which at that time was not much cultivated, he was so pleased with the country that he made large settlements there with the servants he carried over."* Afterwards he made several voyages back to England, and on one occasion, possibly considering his return not certain, " he gave all the lands he had taken up and settled at his expense, to those servants he had fixed on them, some of whose descendants are now possessed of considerable estates there."

Finally, however, he again visited the colony, bringing with him more followers, for whom a certain portion of land was granted him under the title of "Head Eights." He now settled definitely in that part of Virginia called the " Northern Neck, " and situated between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers. Here, for a long time, he remained, acting as secretary to Sir Wm. Berkeley, the Governor, during that por- • tion of English history which beheld the master genius of a powerful mind, in the person of Cromwell, triumphing over the injustice and tyranny of the unhappy Charles, and finally, when death took away the great Protector, saw the reinstatement of monarchy in the form of a dissolute and extravagant, thoughtless, young man. Lee, however, was faithful to his trust, and the loyal sentiments of his early days. With the Governor, he contrived to keep the colony firm in its allegiance, and made it so respected by opponents that a treaty was ratified in England, under Cromwell's hand, ranking it as an independent State ; and on the Restoration, having on its

12 SOUTHERN GENEEALS.

arms the motto, En dat Virginia quintam,, changed since the Union of England and Scotland, to En dat Virginia quartam.

Thus, even at the very commencement of the history of Virginia, we see the name of Lee identified with some of its most important affairs, and, in a measure, forming part and parcel of the land.

Eichard Lee had two sons, John and Richard. The first was educated at Oxford, and was so clever and learned, that he could have been promoted to high dignities in the Church, had not his father determined that all his children should settle in Virginia. Accordingly, John returned there, and died before the old man.

Richard Lee, the father, died and was buried in the land of his love and adoption, leaving behind him a numerous progeny, and thus, afterwards, endearing the soil to every member of the family name.

Richard Lee, the son, was even more learned, if possible, than his brother John. He "spent almost his whole life in study, and usually wrote his notes in Greek, Hebrew, or Latin —many of which are now in Virginia. He was of the Council, and also in other offices of honor and profit. " His wife was a Miss Corbin, of England, and by her he had five sons and one daughter. His death occurred in Virginia, about the year 1690*

Of the children of this Richard Lee, the daughter married a Mr. William Fitzhugh, of Eagle's Nest, King George county, Virginia, — son of the first William Fitzhugh ; and from this union, a son — William Fitzhugh, of Chatham — was born. Of the sons of the second Richard Lee, his eldest born, also a Richard, went to England as a Virginia merchant, in partnership with his maternal uncle, Thomas Corbin. After a time he married a rich heiress, Miss Silk, and by her had one son, George, and two daughters, who, on their father's death, went to Virginia and married and intermarried, respectively, into the families of Womley, Fairfax, Corbin, and Turberville. The next son, Philip, went into Maryland, where his descendants are numerously and honorably found to the present day. The third Bon died a bachelor. The fourth was a Thomas, who married a Miss Hannah Ludwell, of whose family a word must be said.

TheLudwells, according to Bishop Meade,* were an old ana honorable family, allied by marriage to the famous Lord Francis Cottington, mentioned in Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. Two brothers, John and Philip, held high office here in the time of Charles II., the first in the Virginia Council, the second as Governor of Carolina, until, joining his brother, he married the widow of Sir William Berkeley, by whom he had a daughter (afterwards united to Colonel Parke, Governor of the Leeward Islands in the West Indies), and one son, Philip. The Ludwells had now acquired a considerable estate in Virginia, and this son, Philip, married a Miss Harrison, who bore him two daughters and a boy. One of the daughters married a Colonel Grymes of Virginia : the other, Thomas Lee. As for the son, he ultimately married into the Grymes family, and went to England for his health, where he died without male issue, thereby leaving the name extinct. Three daughters were, however, born to him, and these were considered heiresses of some wealth.

We now return to Thomas Lee, who, by his marriage, had allied to his family name that of the Ludwells and the Grymes.

Thomas Lee was a man of great parts and industry. He speedily learned the languages, without any assistance but his own genius, and became a tolerable adept in Greek and Latin ; but, being a younger brother, with many children and a small paternal estate, he felt the necessity of perseverance to acquire that fortune which would properly establish them in life. This he attained to some considerable extent, and, moreover, was appointed to the Council, of which he became president, — holding the position for many years, until his death.f He was one of the first of the leading men of the colony who turned their attention to our western wilds, and he employed an engineer of note to explore them, especially about the Ohio river. But he had the keen foresight to tell of the future disseverance of the American colonies from England, and even while President of the Council, said to a friend that such must

inevitably be the case, and that " the seat of government would be located near the Little Falls of the Potomac river,'' where he afterwards took up large tracts of land, which until lately were in possession of his descendants. His principal homestead, however, was at Stratford, where he had built a mansion, still standing in 1S60, and considered "one of the most remarkable buildings in this country."* It appears that his original dwelling had been burned by a serious fire, and, so great was the esteem in which he was held, that Government and merchants alike, and it is said even Queen Caroline, contributed towards the erection of another suitable mansion for him. Mr. Lossing, in his valuable "Field Book of the Revolution," says : " There is no structure in our country to compare with it. The walls of the first story are two and a half feet thick, and of the second story two feet, composed of brick imported from England. It originally contained about 100 rooms. Besides the main building, there are four offices, one at each corner, containing fifteen rooms. The stables are capable of accommodating 100 horses. Its cost was about $80,000."

Thomas Lee died in the year 1750, leaving six sons and two daughters, all well provided for in point of fortune. Of these children but a hasty notice can here be given, though they belong to a day when men and women were the sires and mothers of a people thenceforth a great nation in themselves. But we have no need to say much. Their names dwell in the history of their country's independence, and to that we refer for those details our space and our purpose here forbid us to give.

Philip Ludwell Lee, the eldest born, succeeded his father, Thomas, at Stratford. He married a Miss Steptoe, and had two daughters, Matilda, who married her second cousin, the famous General Henry Lee of the Revolution (father of the subject of our present memoir), and Flora, who married her first cousin, Mr. Ludwell Lee, son of Richard Henry.

The second son of Mr. Thomas Lee was Thomas Ludwell Lee, and he married a Miss Aylett.

The third son was the Richard Henry just mentioned, who

* Lossing, ii., 217.

was born on the 21st January, 1732, and died on the 19th' June, 1794. Educated, as was then customary, in England, it would have been supposed that his sentiments were any thing but favorable to Republican ideas; but when, after various appointments, and after frequently uttering strong opinions as to the necessity for a severance from the mother country, he became a member of the first Continental Congress, his was the first voice to move a resolution on the 7th June, 1776, "That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

When this resolution was made public a son of his was at school in England, and one day a gentleman, standing by, asked his tutor, "What boy is this?" The professor replied, " He is the son of Richard Henry Lee, of America." The gentleman put his hand upon the boy's head, and said, " We shall yet see your father's head upon Tower Hill." The boy, however, promptly answered, " You may have it when you can get it." That boy was the late Ludwell Lee, Esq , of Virginia.*

Richard Henry Lee was married, first to Miss Aylett, by whom he had four children, Thomas, Ludwell, Mary, and Hannah ; and secondly, to a Miss Pinkard, who bore him three daughters, Harriet, Sally, and Anne. These children married into the families of Alexander, Washington, Turbeville, Maffit, and their cousins, the Lee's.

The fourth son of Thomas Lee was Francis Lightfoot Lee, born October 14th, 1734; died, April, 1797. Like his brother, he was one of the signers of Independence, and his name also lives to posterity as a true patriot and good man. He married a Miss Rebecca Tayloe, daughter of Colonel John Tayloe, of Richmond county.

The fifth son was William, who settled in London, and became Sheriff and Alderman there, though effectively serving the American cause until war was declared, but ever after wards remaining true to it in private.

* Lossing's Americans,, p. 187.

The sixth son was Arthur Lee, who, " as a scholar, a writer, a philosopher, a politician and diplomatist, was unsurpassed by none, and equalled by few of his contemporaries. The services rendered by him to his country as her minister, at foreign courts, were most valuable."*

In the preceding brief extract of family history we have omitted to the last, mention of one branch, viz., Henry Lee, brother of Thomas, and fifth son of the second Richard Lee. This Henry Lee married a Miss Bland, and had several children, amongst whom was also a Henry (the third son), who was united to a Miss Grymes. From this marriage came five sons and three daughters. The eldest was called Henry, born January 29th, 1756, whose military career during the Revolution, and whose patriotism, as well as his personal friendship for Washington, are too well known to need dwelling upon here. The following synopsis of his history, however, as given by Mr. Lossing, may be interesting.

Henry Lee was first educated by a private tutor, under his father's roof, and then sent to Princeton College, where, under the guidance of Dr. Witherspoon, he completed his studies, and graduated in 1774. Two years afterwards, Patrick Henry nominated him to the command of a cavalry company, raised in his native State, for Continental service, under the general command of Colonel Bland. In 1777, Lee's corps was placed under Washington's immediate control, and soon acquired a high character for discipline and bravery. Lee was speedily promoted, and, with his legion, performed many daring exploits. In July, 1779, he captured a British fort at Paulus Hook, for which Congress gave him thanks and a gold medal. In November, 1780, Lee was promoted to Lieutenant-colonel, and early in 1781 joined the army under Greene in the Carolinas. Here he performed efficient service for several months, the services of his legion being of vast importance, and himself ever in the front of success, as well as of danger.

About the beginning of the year 1782 Lee returned to Virginia from the battle of Eutaw Springs, and married Matilda, daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee, of Stratford. He resided there with his father-in-law, and, in 1786, was elected to a seat in Congress. In 1791 he was made Governor of Virginia, and in 1794 was appointed by Washington to command the troops sent to quell what was called the Whiskey Insurrection, in Western Pennsylvania. In 1799 he was a member of the Federal Congress, and was chosen by that body to pronounce a funeral oration on the death of Washington, in the House of Representatives. At the time, Lee was temporarily absent, and the oration was delivered by his friend, Judge Marshall. But in it were the well-remembered words, referring to Washington, " Pie was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." In 1801 he retired to private life, but was subject to great annoyance from embarrassed circumstances.

His first wife having died, he again married, and this time to Anne, daughter of Charles Carter, of Shirley, by whom he had, in 1806, Robert Edward Lee, the subject of the present memoir, who was born at the family seat of Stratford, in the same chamber where Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee first saw the light.

In 1809 General Harry Lee wrote his Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department, and in 1814 he was severely wounded in an attempt to quell a disturbance at Baltimore. From this he never recovered. In 1817 he went to the West Indies for his health, but found no sensible relief. On his return, the following spring, he stopped to visit Mrs. Shaw, a daughter of General Greene, on the coast of Georgia, and there he expired on the 25th of March, 181S, at the age of 62 years.

The character of General Henry Lee, and indeed that of other members of his family name, not excepting the two signers of Independence, has been blackened by the venom of calumny ; but time, through a close analysis of contemporaneous facts, evef" establishes something of truth, and thus clears the fame of really great men. Such is the case with regard to the Lee family, and the impartial testimony of candid men gives to them a high meed of praise for their unswerving patriotism and fidelity to their native land. This is necessary to be understood ; and, also, that in any comments upon the name of Lee, General Charles Lee, of the Revolutionary army, be not brought in with those of whom we here speak. He was, wholly and absolutely, another person, and of another family, therefore his actions — good and bad — must not be confounded with those of the Lees of Virginia. Of

them, Bishop Meade says : " I have been intimately acquainted with some most excellent specimens of true piety among them — too man\\to be specified and dwelt upon. If tradition and history, and published documents, are to be relied on, the patriotic, laborious, self-sacrificing, and eloquent Richard Henry Lee of the Revolution must have deeply sympathized with Washington and Peyton, Randolph and Pendleton, and Nicholas and Henry, in their religious character and sentiments. . . . When the question about paying debts in depreciated currency came on, Mr. Lee evinced his high and honorable sense of morality in the earnest and eloquent opposition made to it, He declared that nothing so deeply distressed him as a proposition which he regarded as a violation of honesty and good faith among men, and said that it would have been better to have remained the honest slaves of Britain than dishonest freemen !"

" Of the descendants of so great and good a man," continues the bishop, "I cannot refrain from adding, that many of them are characterized by exemplary piety;' and that he has left a numerous posterity of children, grand-children and greatgrand-children, who walk in the fear of the Lord, while they still belong to, and love the Church of their ancestors."

But, confining ourselves to the immediate parentage of the present General Lee, we find also abundant testimony in favor of excellence and worth inherent amongst them. The gold medal presented by Congress with a vote of thanks to "Legion Harry, " had, on one side, a bust of the hero with the words Henrico Lee Legionis Equit : tk^fecto Comitia Americana, and on the reverse, as translated, "^Notwithstanding rivers and intrenchments, he with a small band conquered the foe. by warlike skill and prowess, and firmly bound by his* humanity those who had been conquered by his arms. In memory of the conflict at Paulus Hook, 19th of August, 1770. '•"

Again, we read elsewhere, that General Greene in writing of him, said: "He had been under obligations to Lee which he

* Lossing, il, 623.

could never cancel, " and, as to bis military services, lie added in a letter to Lee, " I believe that few officers eitber in Europe or America are held in so high a position of admiration as you are. Everybody knows I have the highest opinion of you as an officer, and you know I love you as a friend. No man in the progress of the campaign bad equal merit with yourself."*

The " love and thanks, " expressed in a letter to Lee, from "Washington, in 1789, exhibit the affection which bis qualities bad inspired in the bosom of bis chief, and in Virginia he is still known by the name of " Legion Harry. " His remains reposed near those of his warm friend, General Greene. " His relentless creditors could rob him of his personal liberty, but could not chain bis noble mind, nor rob him of a well-earned fame to the glorious title of an honest man."

General Lee, by bis first wife, had a son, Henry, and a daughter, Lucy. The son (the late Major Henry Lee) wrote and published a work called "The Campaign of 1781," etc., vindicating his father from certain attacks made upon him. By his second wife, he had the following children : Charles Carter Lee, Robert Edward Zee,-f Smith Lee, Ann, and Mildred.

* Judson's Sages and Heroes of Amer. Rev.

\ The Pedigree of the Lee Family. — The Virginia Chronicle publishes the pedigree of the family of General Lee. It is from an old manuscript which has been shown to the editor. The Chronicle says :

"This venerable manuscript, which bears the date 1750, was received by Mr. Mead (who is a gentleman of intelligence and character) from his mother, Mrs. Mead (widow of the Rev. Zachariah Mead, formerly of Richmond). Mrs. Mead received it from her father, who received it from his father, General Hull. It consists of several large sheets, and is written partly in Latin and partly in 'English. Accompanying the pedigree are some mutilated deeds, which, although much injured, exhibit the descending rights and titles to several lands. These deeds are in Latin, and written on the old stamped paper of England, and, to the antiquarian, are a rare object of curiosity and interest.

" The genealogy of the Lees of Virginia, from 1G66,— just where this pedigree breaks off, — is well known, and may be found in Bishop Meade's well-known work on the Old Churches and Families of Virginia.

" The manuscript commences abruptly with the name of Hugo de Lega, or de Le, without date. The first name with date is that of Johes de Lee, Miles, to whom Hugo de Hinton gave the land, as by the old chart. Opposite this name is the date 1333. The father of Johes de Lee was Thomas de la Lee. The simple name of Lee occurs first as Ricardus Lee of Langly, about the yeai 1500. The first name of Robert is Robertus de la Lee, son of Johes de la Lee ; he married Margarita, daughter and heir of Thomas Astly of Nordly, about

In October, 1860, a petition was signed by the cavalry and infantry companies, and other military officers encamped near Richmond, to be presented to the next Legislature, "for the removal to Virginia of the remains of General Harry Lee, from his burial-place in Georgia, upon the lands once owned by his companion in arms, General Greene." The locality of the encampment has since been called Camp Lee, " after the illustrious hero, Harry Lee."

1400. The first name written in English is Thomas Lee of Cotton, in King's Nordley, in the Parish of Alvely, who was the son of Johannes Lee.

" There are several coats of arms on the manuscript. That of Ricardus Lee, of the direct line, is as follows : A shield with a crescent of a squirrel sejant, eating a nut or flower ; a lion rampant gardant in sinister chief ; a star in precise middle chief; dexter chief, a blood-red field with embattled bars of blue and yellow. The dexter base, a black cross on white field, with a lion's head, crowned, in one corner. The middle precise base is a chevron of white, on a red field, a white bar, the fesse point on a green field. The sinister base the same as the dexter chief.

" The Lancelet arms are a shield with crescent squirrel — dexter chief, red field,, with blue and yellow embattled bars. Sinister chief, a star on blue field. Dexter base same as sinister chief, and sinister base same as dexter chief. There are no middle divisions on this shield. The prevailing white indicates royalty ; the star, grandeur ; the lion, courage ; the red, war ; the cross, religion, and, with the crowned Hon, denotes the Church of England.

" The pedigree was extracted from the London Tower, and is certified by Charles Townley, York, and John Pomfret, Rouge Croix, August 1st, 1750. ***** "Henry Lee, the son of the first wife, was a major in the war of 1812, and wrote the Strictures on the Writings of Jefferson, also a Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Sidney Smith Lee was a commodore in the old United States Navy, and is now Chief of the Bureau of Orders and Detail, Navy Department, in Richmond. He commanded at Drury's Bluff for a long time. Robert Edmund Lee is at Petersburg — the General Lee of this day.

" He married Miss Custis of Arlington, in Alexandria County, the daughter and heiress of George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of General Washington, who married Mrs. Custis, his mother.

" General Lee has three sons — Brigadier-general G. W. Custis Lee, aid-de-camp to the President (he passed No. 1 at West Point) ; Major General W. H. F. Lee, commanding a division of cavalry in the army of Northern Virginia, and Robert Edmund Lee, who entered the army at the instance of his father as a private in the Rockbridge artillery. He is now on the staff of General Fitzhugh Lee. Besides these children, General Lee had four daughters, — Mary, Anne, Agnes, and Mildred, — all of them unmarried, and one of whom (Anne) has died during the war. General W. H. F. Lee married a Miss Wick man, who died a year or two since.

" General Fitzhugh Lee, of the cavalry, is the son of Commodore Lee."

Chapter II

Ancestry not to be lightly esteemed. — The parents of great men entitled to praise for the early promptings of youth.— They are not to be forgotten in the fame of the son.— Youth of Robert E. Lee.— Enters West Point as a Cadet.— Graduates, and is appointed a Lieutenant of Engineers.— Marries into the Custis family.— Made Captain, and appointed member of Board of Visitors to Military Academy. — Attached to Army of Mexico. — General Scott's high opinion of him. — Extracts from Scott's Autobiography. — Captain Lee's services in Mexico. — His companions in arms.— Wounded at Chapultepec. — Promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct. — Appointed Superintendent at West Point. — Made Lieutenant-colonel of Cavalry. — Employed in the Border wars against the Indians. — Returns to Washington. — Sent by Government to quell the John Brown Raid. — Successfully accomplishes this, and returns to Washington.