Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 18.djvu/170

 170 Southern Historical Society Papers.

weakened his loyalty for the cause to which he had pledged his life and honor. This trait of his character shines out with conspicuous brightness and beauty in the closing days of the bitter and bloody struggle. The grand army of Lee was reduced to the last extremity. It had at last worn itself away by continuous victories. That of the Tennessee, snatched from the hands of Johnston at the very moment of giving its decisive blow, had been broken, beaten, and butchered at Franklin after sustaining against overwhelming numbers one of the bloodiest conflicts in the annals of war. So fierce was the con- flict that the soldiers snapped their bayonets in each other's faces. The resources of the Confederacy were exhausted. Its armies were almost naked and starving. The spirit of the people was broken, and further resistance seemed madness. Defeat and disaster were certain. Gloom rested like a pall over the whole South. Under these dis- tressing circumstances Johnston was recalled by Lee to the command of the army from which he had been arbitrarily removed. It would have been natural for him to have refused.

HE THREW ASIDE PRIDE.

But, throwing aside his wounded pride, he responded at once to the call of duty and devotion. Gathering the broken and scattered fragments of his once compact but now dispirited and depleted army, he infused into it once more his own indomitable will and energy, and hurled it again upon the strong and arrogant column of Sherman. The audacity, the fierceness, and the success of his attack at Benton- ville is not surpassed by the heroes of Thermopylae nor the patriotic defenders of Lyons. Not until the heroic Lee had succumbed to overwhelming numbers and resources, not until the Confederate Administration was without organization or habitation, not until further resistance on his part would have been the murder of his brave followers, did he surrender the men who followed him with ardor and who would have died at his bidding.

MODESTY AS A CITIZEN.

" His courage as a soldier was only excelled by his modesty as a citizen. Great corporations sought him for his administrative ability, and the people of Virginia as an acknowledgement of his merit sent him to represent them in the Congress of the United States. He discharged with modesty and fidelity every public and private trust committed to his keeping. There is not a stain upon his honored name.