Page:A memoir of the last year of the War of Independence, in the Confederate States of America.djvu/144

140 no one will be more ready than yourself to acquiesce in any measures which the interests of the country may seem to require, regardless of all personal considerations.

Thanking you for the fidelity and energy with which you have always supported my efforts, and for the courage and devotion you have ever manifested in the service of the country,

I am, very respectfully and truly.

Your ob't serv't,

R. E. LEE,

Gen'l."

Since the foregoing narrative was written, I have seen, in a newspaper published in the United States, the following communication:—

" " Camp near Lynchburg, Va., " Feb. 7, 1866.

"C. W. Button, Esq., Editor Lynchburg Virginian.

",— I have received a communication from the War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, relative to a newspaper slip, containing a copy of General Lee's letter to General Early, on removing him from command. The letter is dated Headquarters C. S. Armies, March 30, addressed to Lieut.-Gen. Early, Franklin C. H., Virginia, and is said to be in your possession, it having appeared in your paper. The Secretary of War considers that the original letter properly belongs to the Archive office.

I am directed by Major-General Terry, commanding this Department, to procure said letter, and I therefore call your attention to the matter, and request that you deliver to me the original letter in your possession, in compliance with my instructions.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. E. LATIMER, Brevet Major and Captain 11th U. S. Infantry, Commanding Post."

This demand for General Lee's private letter to me, and the attempt to enforce it by military power, show how wide has been the departure from the original principles of the United States Government, and to what petty and contemptible measures that Government, as at present administered, resorts in domineering over a disarmed and