The life of Gen.

Preface

This is undoubtedly the "Children's Age." Everything possible is being done by parents and educators to interest and instruct the little ones.

We can find no better way to advance primary education and to impress upon children principles of morality than to place before them, in interesting story, the careers of our great men.

To this end I have written these simple annals of our greatest hero. Our school histories make only brief mention of him; and histories of his life written for grown folks are too difficult for the average child to comprehend. So I trust that this little book will meet the imperative need of the times, and imprint indelibly upon the minds of the rising generation the noble character and wonderful deeds of Robert E. Lee.

In compiling this work, I hav^e consulted General Fitzhugh

Lee's "Life of Lee" and Rev. J. William Jones's "Personal

Reminiscences of General Robert E. Lee."

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

Chapter I. Birth And Youth

RoB-ERT Ed-ward Lee was born at Stratford, West- more- land coun-ty, Vir-gin-i-a, on the 19th of Jan-u-a-ry, 1807.

His fa-ther, Gen-er-al Hen-ry Lee, had been a great chief in Wash-ington's ar-my. They s o m e - 1 i m e s call him *'Light-Horse Har-ry Lee." While with Wash-ing-ton, he was ev-er in front of the foe, and his troop-ers were what they al-ways should be — the eyes and ears of the ar-my.

Af-ter the war he was Gov-ern-or of Vir-gin-i-a, and then a mem-ber of Con-gress. It was he who said in a speech made be-fore Con-eress af-ter the death of Wash-ing-ton, that he was ''First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his coun-trymen." He al-so said,

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

"Vir-gin-I-a is my country ; her will I o-bey, how-ev-er sad the fate to which it may sub-ject me."

His moth-er was Anne Hill Car-ter, who came from one of the best fam-i-lies of Vir-gin-i-a. The long line of Lees may be traced back to Laun-ce-lot Lee, of Loudon, in France, who went with Wil-liam the Con-quer-or up -on his ex-pe-di-tion to Eng-land ; and when Har-old had been slain up-on the blood-y field of Hastings, Laun-ce-lot was given by Wil-liam the Con-quer-or an es-tate in Es-sex. From that time the name of Lee is ev-er an hon-or-a-ble one in the his-to-ry of Eng-land.

In the time of the first Charles, Rich-ard Lee came to the New World and found a home in Vir-gin-i-a. He was a man of good stat-ure, sound sense, and kind heart. From him the noble stock of Vir-gin-i-a Lees be-gan. He was the great -great -grandfa -ther of Rob-ert, who was much like him m man-y ways.

Strat-ford, the house in which Rob-ert was born, is a fine old mansion, built in the shape of the let-ter H, and stands not far from the banks of the Po-to-mac

Robert and His Mother.

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBER T E. LEE.

Riv-er and near the birth-place of Wash-ing-ton. Up-on the roof were sum-mer houses, where the band phiyed, while the young folks walked m the grounds be-low and en-joyed the cool air from the riv-er and the sweet inu-sic of the band.

He had two broth-ers and two sis-ters. His broth-ers were named Charles Car-ter and Sid-ney Smith, and his sis-ters Anne and Mil-dred.

When Rob-ert was but four years of age his fa-ther moved to Al-ex-an-dri-a, a city not ver-y far from the Strat-ford House, where he could send his boys to bet-ter schools. But he was not a-ble to stay with them and bring them up to man -hood. Short -ly af-ter he had moved to Al-ex-an-dri-a, he was hurt in Bal-ti-more by a mob of bad men, and he was nev-er well a-gain.

When Rob-ert was six years old, his fa-ther went to the West In-dies for his health. While there he wrote kind let-ters to his son, Charles Car-ter Lee, and spoke with much love of all. Once he said, "Tell me of Anne. Has she grown tall? Rob-ert was al-ways good." He wished to know, al-so, if

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

his sons rode and shot well, say-ing that a Vir-gln-i-an's sons should be taught to ride, shoot, and tell the truth.

When he had been there five years, and on-ly grew worse, he made up his mind to re-turn home. But he crrtw so ill that he was put a-shore on Cum-ber-land Is-land at the home of a friend. He soon gave up all hope of life. At times his pain was so great that he would drive his ser-vants and ev-er-y one else out of the room. At length an old wo-man, who had been Mrs. Green's best maid, was sent to nurse him. The first thing

Gen-er-al Lee did when she came in-to the room was to hurl his boot at her head. With-out a word, she picked up the boot and threw it back at him. A smile passed over the old chief's face as he saw how brave she was, and from that time to the day of his death none but Mom Sa-rah could wait on him. Two months af-ter the sick sol-dier land-ed he was dead. His bod-y was laid to rest a-mid the ce-dars and flow-ers of the South, and it has nev-er been moved to Vir-gin-i-a.

At this time Rob-ert was on-ly e-lev-en years old. If he was a good boy, it was his moth-er who kept him so, for he nev-er knew a fa-ther's care. His moth-er once said to a friend, " How can I spare Rob-ert! He is both a son and a dauohter to me."

A-bout that time the girls and oth-er boys were a-way from home, and she had no one but Rob-ert to care for her. He took the keys and "kept house " for her when she was sick, and al-so saw to all of her out-door work. He would run home from school to ride out with her, so that she might en-joy the fresh air and sunshine. When she would com-plain of the cold or draughts, he would pull out a great jack-knife and stuff the cracks with paper, for the coach was an old one.

So he grew up by her side, a good and no-ble boy. At first he went to school to a Mr. Lear-y, who was ev-er his firm friend. Then he went to the school of Mr. Ben-jamin H. Hal-lo-well, who al-vvays spoke of him as a fine young man.

Rob-ert was fond o\ hunt-ing, and would some-times fol-low the hounds all day. In this way he rained that g^reat strenorth which was nev-er known to fail him in af-ter life.

The old home, in Al-

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

ex-an-dri-a, where his moth-er had hved, was al-ways a sa-cred place to him. Years af-ter, one of his friends saw him look-inor sad-lv o-ver the fence of the gar-den where he used to play. " I am look-ing," he said, " to see if the old snow-ball trees are still here. I should be sor-ry to miss them."

When he was eigh-teen years old, he went to West Point to learn to be a sol-dier. He was there four years, and m that tmie nev-er oot a bad mark or de-mer-it. H i s clothes al-ways looked neat and clean, and his gun bright. In short, he kept the rules of the school and stud-ied so well that he came out sec-ond in his class. When he came home from West Point, he found his moth-er's old coachman, Nat, ver-y ill. He took him at once to the South and nursed him with great care. But the spring-time saw the good old slave laid in the o-rave by the hand of his kind young mas-ter. Not ver-y long af-ter, his dear mother grew quite ill. He sat by her bed-side day and night, and gave her all her food and med-i-cine with his own hand. But his great care and love could not save her. He was soon be-reft of her

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

to whom he used to say to ' Ma-ry, the moth-er he ''owed ev-er-y-thing."

of Wash-ing-ton ' ; but it

Some one has said, owes scarce-ly less to

" Much has been writ-ten

'Anne, the moth-er of of what the world owes

Lee.

Ex'-pe-di'-tion, a voy-age; a trip, with an aim in view.

Stat'-ure, height.

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

Chapter II. A Young Engineer

In 1829, when twen-ty-two years old, Rob-ert en-tered the En-gin-eer Corps of the U-ni-ted States, and thus be-came Lieu-ten-ant Lee.

It is the du-ty of these en-gin-eers in time of peace, to plan forts, to change the course of rivers which make sandbanks at wrong places, and to do oth-er work of the same kind. Lieu-ten-ant Lee was sent at once to Hamp-ton Roads, in Vir-gin-i-a, to build strong works, not dream-ing that in af-ter years it would be his fate to try to pull them down.

Lieu-ten-ant Lee was mar-ried on the 30th of June, 1831, to Ma-ry Cus-tis, who was the greatgrand-daugh-ter of Mrs. Wash-ing-ton, and the on-ly child of George Parke Cus-tis, the a-dopted son of Wash-ing-ton. She lived at a fine old place on the Vir-gin-i-a bank of the Po-to-mac Riv-er, called Ar-lington. At this time Lieu-ten-ant Lee was ver-y

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

hand-some i n face and tall and e-rect in figure.

Two years af-ter his mar-riage he was sent to the cit-y of Wash-ing-ton. This change was pleas-ant to him, for he was then near the home of his wife.

In 1835, he was sent to St. Louis to find means to keep the great Mis-sissip-pi River in its own bed. It was a hard task, but he at last forced the migh-ty riv-er in-to the the chan-nel he wished. While at work, some men, who did not know what great thmgs he could do, tried to drive his workmen a-way, and e-ven brought up can-non. Lee did not mind them, but went on with his work, and soon had the great riv-er to flow in the right place.

From St. Louis he was sent to New York, to plan and build new forts to pro-tect that great cit-y. He was now a cap-tain of en-gin-eers and was soon to try the hor-rors of war.

In 1846, a war broke out be-tween the U-ni-ted States and Mex-i-co. " En-gin-eers are of as much use to an ar-my as sails to ships." They have to make roads and bridges, to plant big guns and draw maps, and guide

Captain Lee Rescues the Drummer Boy.

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

Soon af-ter this brave deed, Cap-tain Lee was sent to join Gen-er-al Scott in the south of Mex-i-co. He was put to work at Ver-a Cruz (Va-ra-kroos,) a large town on the coast. There was a high wall, with strong forts a-round Vera Cruz. Gen-er-al Scott wished to take this cit-y from the Mex-i-cans. So Cap-tain Lee had to plant big guns, and build forts; and to do this he worked night and day. As they were short of men, he was told to take some sail-ors from a man-ofwar to help with the work. These men be-gan to com-plain loud-ly.

"They did not en-list to dig dirt, and they did not want to work un-der a land-Iul)-ber any-how." Their cap-tain said to Lee, "The boys don't want any dirt to hide be-hind; they want to get on the ^oJ>, where they can have a fair fight." Lee quietly showed his or-ders, and told the old "salt" he meant to car-ry them out, and pushed on the work 'mid curses both loud and deep. Just as the work was done, the Mex-i-cans be-gan to fire their guns at that point, and these brave sons of the sea were glad e-nough to hide be-hind the "bank of dirt." Not lono- af-ter their cap-tain met Captain Lee and said, '' I sup-pose the dirt did save some of my boys. But I knew that we would have no use for dirt-banks on ship-board, that there what we want is a clear deck and an o-pen sea. And the fact is, Cap-tain, I don't like this land fight-ing any-way; tl ' aint clean!'

Ver-a Cruz was taken by Gen-er-al Scott in two weeks' time. Then the men went on over hills and vales, till they came to the strong fort on Cerro Gor-do. Cap -tain Lee then found a way to lead the A-mer-i-cans to the rear of the Mex-icans, who soon broke and fled.

While this bat-tie was rag-ing. Cap-tain Lee heard the cries of a lit-tle girl, and found by the side of a hut a Mex-i-can drum-mer boy. His arm had been bad-ly hurt and a large Mex-i-can, who had been shot, had fal-len on him. Cap-tain Lee stopped, had the big Mex-i-can thrown off of the boy, and the lit-tle fel-low moved to a place of safe-ty. His lit-tle sis-ter stood by. Her large black eyes were stream-ing with tears, her hands were crossed upon her breast, and her hair in one long plait reached

THE LIFE OF GEM. ROBERT E. LEE.

her waist. Her feet and arms were bare. She was very thank-ful to Cap-tain Lee for sav-uig her broth-er.

In a let-ter to his son from this place, he says : " I thought of } oil, my dear Cus-tis, on the 18th in the bat-tie, and won-dered, when the mus-ket balls and grape were vvhist-ling over my head, where I could put }'ou, if with me, to be safe. I was tru-ly thank-ful you were at school, I hope, learn-ino- to be orood and wise. You have no i-dea what a hor-ri-ble sioht a bat-tle-field is."

From Cef-ro Gof-do, they went on fight-ing bat-ties un-til they came to the large and rich cit-y of Mex-i-co.

On this march, Captain Lee was al-ways at the front to guide the men. Once, when one part of Gen-er-al Scott's ar-my had lost its way, Gen-er-al Scott sent sev-en en-gin-eers to guide it in-to the right road. They had to cross a huge, rouoh bed of la-va and rock. Six of them went back to camp, say-ing that they could not get across ; but Cap-tain Lee pressed on, a-lone and on foot, and brought the men out in safe-ty. Gen-er-al Scott once said that it was the great-est feat done by

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

any one 7nan dur-ing the war.

There were man-y battles fought, but at last the cit-y of Mex-i-co was taken by Gen-er-al Scott. In af-ter years, this great man was heard to say that his great suc-cess in Mex-i-co was large-ly due to the skill and val-or of Rob-ert E. Lee, and that he was the best sol-dier that he ev-er saw in the field.

In the midst of all this fight-ing, his boys were ev-er in his thoughts. This is a part of what he wrote to his son Cus-tis on Christ-mas-Eve, 1846:

'T hope good San-ta Claus will fill my Rob's stock-ing to-night; that Mil-dred's, Ag-nes's and An-na's may break down with good things. I do not know what he may have for you and Mary, but if he leaves you one-half of what I wish, you will want for noth-ing. I think if I had one of you on each side of me, rid-ing on po-nies, I would be quite hap-py."

Not long af-ter, he wrote to his boys thus:

" The po-nies here cost from ten to fif-ty dol-lars. I have three hor-ses, but Cre-ole is my pet. She is a gold-en dun col-or, and takes me o-ver all the ditches I have yet met with."

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

When the war was at last end-ed, in 1848, Captain Lee went home for a short rest, af-ter which he was sent to West Point, as the Su-per-H'i-ten-dent of the A-cad-e-my from whose walls he had gone forth twen-ty years before. His du-ty was to watch o-ver the stud-ies and train-ing of the boys who would one day be of-fi-cers m the Ar-my.

Corps (kore), a bod-y of troops.

Of'-fi-cer, one who has charge of sol-diers.

La'-va, melt-ed mat-ter flow-ing from a vol-ca-no.

Feat, a great deed.

Lieu-ten'-ant (lu-ten'-ant), an of-fi-cer next be-low a cap-tain.

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

Chapter III. A Cavalry Officer

Af-ter be- in or three years at West Point, Cap-tain Lee was sent to Tex-as as Lieu-ten-ant- Col-o-nel (kur'-nel) of the Sec-oncl Reg-i-nient of Cav-al-ry. Cav-al-rymen are sol-diers who fight on horse -back and who car-ry sa-bers, and pis-tols, and short guns, called car-bines.

Col-o-nel Lee did not wish to leave the t^n-gineer Corps, as he had be-come ver-y fond of the work, and had won a high rank in it; but, as he had been pro- mot -ed to a high-er place, he thought it best to take it. When at West Point, he had been a fine horse-man. He was still fond of horses and liked to see them fed and well ta-ken care of. Though now fortysix years of age, he still had a firm seat in the saddle and rode well. His reir-i-nient was sent to the new State of Tex-as, where his du-ty was to watch the In-di-ans and keep them from kill-ing the whites.

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

I have no doubt that Col-o-nel Lee en-joyed rid-ing o-ver the vast plains of Tex-as, but Hfe in the forts was not ver-y pleas-ant to such a man as Lee. The forts were in the midst of drear-y plains, and there were only a few men at each post. The scout-ing par-ties were led by lieu-ten-ants, and the high-er of-fi-cers would re-main at the forts to see that all went right. Such a lone-ly life did not suit our he-ro, but he made the best of it. Near his first post. Camp Coop-er, was an In-di-an Re-serve, where the In-di-ans would come to be fed by the Gov-ern-ment.

When it was cold and food was scarce, they would come in; but when the grass grew in the spring and the game was fat, they would go off and be-come wild and sav-age e-nough to kill those who had been kind to them.

Ca-tum-seh, a Co-man-che chief, was at the Re-serve when Lee was at Camp Coop-er. Lee thought it would be better to vis-it him and tell him that he would trust him as a friend so long as he be-haved ; but if he did not be-have he would take him for a foe. Ca-tum-seh was not much pleased with Lee's speech, but gave an ug-ly grunt

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

and said that, as he had nx wives, he was a '' big In-di-an." Lee had better '' get more wives before he talked." This vis-it did not do much eood. Ca-tum-seh was no doubt tak-ing the meas-ure of Lee's scalp, while Lee was dis-pleased with the sly and filth-y sav-age.

The Co-man-che \r\- di-ans were then the fiercest tribe in that re-gion. They ate raw meat, slept on the ground, and were ereat thieves and murder-ers. They were fine horse-men, and moved swift-ly from place to place on their po-nies.

In June, 1856, Lee was sent with four com-panies of his reg-i-ment on an ex-pe-di-tion against the Co-man-ches, but they could not be found. The wi-ly sav-a-ges had fled to their des-ert re-treats, where foot of pale face had nev-er trod.

From Camp Coop-er he writes to Mrs. Lee :

^' My Fourth -of- July was spent af-ter a march of thir-ty miles in one ol the branch-es of the Bra'- zos, under my blank-et, which rest-ed on four sticks driv-en in the ground, as a sun-shade. The sun was fi-er-y hot, the air like a fur-nace, and the wa-ter salt ; still my love for my coun-try

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

was as great, my faith in her fu-ture as true, as they would have been un-der bet-ter cir-cum-stan-ces."

The change of weather in Texas is some-times very great.

In an-oth-er let-ter, he tells his wife a-bout a cold wind or north-er. ''I came here in a cold north-er, and though I pitched my tent in the most sheltered place I could find, I found this morn-ing, when get -ting up, my buck-et of wa-ter, which was close by my bed, so hard fro-zen that I had to break the ice be-fore I could pour the wa-ter in-to the ba-sin."

While Col-o-nel Lee rode with his troop-ers from fort to fort, a dread-ful dis-ease broke out amongthem. Man-y died, but Col-o-nel Lee did not catch the dis-ease, though he lived a-mong his men and ran great risks. In these sad times, his thoughts were ev-er with his dear ones at home.

In a let-ter dat-ed Camp Coop-er, June 9, 1857, he tells a-bout the sick-ness of the troop-ers :

'' The great heat has made much sick-ness among the men. The chil-dren, too, have suf-fered. A bright lit-tle boy died from it a few days since. He was the on-ly child, and his pa-

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

rents were much grieved at his loss * * *. For the first time in my hfe, I read the ser-vice of our Church o-ver the grave to a laree num-ber of solcliers." A few days after, he a-gain read the ser-vice o-ver a lit-tle boy who had died with the dis-ease.

In a long let-ter from Fort Brown, Tex-as, Decem-ber, 1856, he says :

'* I thought of you and wished to be with you." He wrote a-gain : "Though absent, my heart will be in the midst of you ; I can do noth-ing but love and pray for you all. My dai-ly walks are a-lone, up and down the banks of the river, and my chief pleas-ure comes from my own thoughts, and from the sioht of the flow-ers and an-i-mals I meet with here."

In the midst of this wild, lone-ly life he was ev-er true to his faith m Christ, which he had professed af-ter the Mex-ican war.

There was at Ar-lington a large yel-low cat, called Tom Ti-ta. All the fam-i-ly were fond of him, and Col-o-nel Lee amono- the rest. This led him to write home about the cats he saw in his trav-els. He told once of a cat called by his mis-tress Jim Nooks.

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He was a great pet, but at last cliecl from eat-ing too much. He had cof-fee and cream for breakfast, pound cake for lunch, tur-tle and oys-ters for clm-ner, but-tered toast and Mex-i-can rats, taken raw, for supper. He was ver-y hand-some, but his " beau-ty could not save hnn." The kmd-ness of his mis-tress was his ru-in.

A-gain he told his little girl a-bout a cat which was dressed up. He had two holes bored in each ear, and in each wore bows of pink and blue rib-bon. He was snowwhite and wore a gold chain on his neck. His tail and feet were tipped with black, and his eyes, of green, were tru-ly catlike^.

In the sum-mer of 1857, he was made Col-o-nel (kur'-nel) of his reg-iment. The next fall his fa-ther-in-law, Mr. Cus-tis, died, and Col-o-nel Lee went home for a short time. Mr. Cus-tis left Ar-ling-ton and the rest of his land to Mrs. Lee, and he also willed that at the end of five vears all of his slaves should be set free. He had cho-sen Col-o-nel Lee to see that his will was car-ried out.

Col-o-nel Lee stayed as long as he could with his lone-ly wife, and then went back to his post in

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

Tex-as. It must have been far from ea-sy for him to go back to the wild, hard hfe on the plams. There were then no rail-roads. The U-ni-ted States mail was car-ried on mules, by armed soldiers who rode in a gallop from place to place. Of-ten they were slain by the In-di-ans, who would scalp them and leave their bod-ies to be found by the troop-ers as they chased the sav-ages back to their re-treats. Two years more were spent in Tex-as, when, in Oc-tober, 1859, we find hmi a-gain at home, and tak-ing part in a great trage-dy.

A man, named John Brown, made a plan to set free the ne-o^ro slaves who were then in the South, and to kill all the whites. This plot did not suc-ceed, and John Brown and his men took ref-uge in the Round House at Har-per's Fer-ry. Col-o-nel Lee, who was then at home on a fur-lough, was or-dered to take a band of soldiers and cap-ture these bold men. He went at once to Har-per's Fer-ry and quick-ly took them pris-on-ers. They were then tried and hung for trea-son.

Just here, I must tell you that the slaves were blacks, or ne-groes, who had been first brought to this coun-try fi'om Af-ri-ca, in 1619, by the Dutch, and sold to the Vir-gin-i-a plant-ers. At first, the plant-ers bought them out of pit-y, as they were treat-ed bad-ly by the Dutch. But af-ter a tniie they found that they worked well in the corn and to-bac-co fields, and that they made mon-ey for then' mas-ters.

M a n - y men at the North were sea-go-ing men, and they soon found out that, by sail-ing o-ver the o-cean to Af-ri-ca and catch-ing the blacks, they could sell them at a great prof-it to th em-selves. i his tlicy did, and men both at the North and South bought them, though, even then, there were some peo-ple at the South who thouoht it wrong to buy and sell hu-man be-inos.

In the State of Geor-gi-a it was for a time against the law to hold ne-gro slaves.

Af-ter a time, it was found that the cli-mate at the North was too cold for the ne-gro to thrive. It did not pay the men at the North to keep them, and so they were sold to the south-ern plant-ers.

In the South, the cli-mate was hot, like that of

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their na-tive Af-ri-ca, so they did well in that sunny land.

In 1808, it was made un-law-ful to brmg an-y more slaves from Af-ri-ca to the U-ni-ted States. The peo-ple at the South were Q^lad that the trade in slaves was stopped, but the North-ern traders were of course sor-ry that they could make no more mon-ey in that way.

When the ne-groes were first brought from Af-ri-ca, they were hea-then sav-a-ges ; but, af-ter a few years, they learned the speech and cus-toms of the whites; and, more than all, the wor-ship of the true God. In think-ing of this, we have to ad-mit that sla-ver-y must have been per-mit-ted by the Lord in or-der to bring a hea-then peo-ple out of dark-ness in-to the light of the G OS -pel. There were now four millions of ne-groes in the South. There was great love be-tween the blacks and their mas-ters, as we have seen when John Brown tried to get the for-mer to rise up and slay the whites. For years, there had been a feel-ino^ in the North that it was wrong to own slaves, and some of the peo-ple be-gan to hate the South and to try to crush

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it. The South felt that they owned the slaves under the law, or Con-stitu-tion of the U-ni-ted States, and that they ought to be let a-lone They al-so claimed that the slaves, as a class, were bet-ter treat-ed than any oth-er work-mg peo-ple in the world. They more-o-ver said that the South-ern States had a per-fect right to go out of the Un-ion if they wished, and set up a gov-ern-ment for them-selves. This the North de-niecl ; and thus they quar-relled a-bout the rights of States, and sla-ver-y, and oth-er things, un-til they be-gan to think of war.

In a short time af-ter the John Brown Raid, Col-o-nel Lee was back at his post in Tex-as, but he was much troub-led at the state of his dear country. He loved the Un-ion and had lived near-ly all his life in its ser-vice ; but he knew that Vir-eini-a was in the right, and that he could not fi^ht against his na-tive State.

So, when the war came, he left the U-ni-ted States Ar-my to fight for Vir-gin-i-a and the South.

He was of-fered the chief com-mand of the U-ni-ted States Ar-my if he would re-main true to the Un-ion. He knew that if he went south he

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States of A-mer-i-ca," and Mr. Jef-fer-son Da-vis was made Pres-i-dent of them, and Rich-mond, in Vir-gin-i-a, was the cap-i-tal cit-y.

Sa'-bers, swords with broad blades.

Fur-lough (fur'-lo), a leave of ab-sence.

Trea'-son (tre'zon), the act of be-ing false to one's coun-try.

Pro-mo'-ted, raised to a high-er rank.

Reg'-i-ment, a bod-y of troops un-der a col-o-nel.

Trag'-e-dy, an ac-tion in which the life of a per-son is tak-en.

THE LIFE OF GEN. ROBERT E. LEE.

Chapter IV. A Confederate General

In this lit-tle book I can-not tell all that hap-pened dur-ing the Civ-il War, but on-ly as much as will re-late to our hero, Gen-er-al Lee.

There were now two o^ov-ern-ments— one at the North ; the other at the South. Mr. A-bra-ham Lin-coln was Pres-i-dent of the North, or Fed-er-als, while Mr. Jef-fer-son Da-vis was the Pres-ident of the South, or Con-fed-er-ates. The first thought of the North was to de-fend Wash-ing-ton, their cap-i-tal cit-y ; while the South was just as bus-y tak-ing care of Rich-mond, and get-ting arms and troops read-y for war.