Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/98

 92 Southern Historical Society Papers.

And what shall be said of that little band of immortal heroes, the Don Quixote of armies, who, with unfaltering devotion and unflinch- ing courage, stood by Lee during the long months of this renowned siege? For four years they had fought, and it might have been supposed that they were weary of strife. Hunger often gnawed at their vitals, and famine sometimes stared them in the face. With tattered garments, and often shoeless feet, they shivered in the freez- ing winter winds. Disasters everywhere to the Confederate cause robbed them of the soldier's solace, the hope and confidence of ulti- mate triumph. Turning from their own cheerless lot to their distant homes, the tidings they received from wives and children and aged parents told of burning roof-trees, of flight before invading armies, of want, desolation and despair.

And yet they fought on; defied ill-omened augury; dared fate to do her worst; and with a sublime confidence and matchless devotion such as, I dare to say, no other cause and no other commander ever inspired, they stood by Lee to the very last.

And when the end came, when Gordon had " fought his corps to a frazzle," and when in fierce combat every other corps had been torn into shreds ; when a mere remnant was left surrounded on every side by foes in such overpowering numbers that further resistance would have been a wanton sacrifice' of precious lives; and when, at last, Lee submitted to the inevitable and yielded his sword to the victor, these grim warriors gathered round him, seeming more affected by his humiliation than by their own calamity, and with tearful eyes and kissing the very hem of his garments, gave him their affectionate adieux, and sadly turned to the new lives which opened before them.

Success is not always the test of soldiership.

Hannibal ended his career as a soldier in the overwhelming defeat of Zama, and died a fugitive in a foreign land.

Charless XH of Sweden, that meteor of war, defeated at Pultowa, sought safety in exile, and on returning to his native land, met death in a vain attempt to restore his fallen fortunes.

Napoleon died, a prisoner and an exile, after his complete over throw on the field of Waterloo, where he encountered odds less than those which were opposed to Lee in any battle which he ever fought.

Considering the importance of his operations, the large forces engaged, the immense superiority of his adversaries in numbers and resources, the skiflful commanders whom he successfully vanquished, the number of his victories, the brilliancy and successful audacity of his strategy and tactical manoeuvres, and the magnificent tenacity