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Grant; and during May and the early part of 

 June there occurred in the "Wilderness" a 

 series of the fiercest and bloodiest engagements 

 of the war. The Federals lost more men than 

 the Confederates, but they had greater reserves 

 and more abundant supplies. Later, during the 

 protracted siege of Petersburg, this costly war- 

 fare continued, Lee being unable at any time 

 to gain a permanent advantage, not because 

 of inferior generalship, but because of inferior 



ARLINGTON 



The mansion on the heights above the Potomac 

 River, overlooking the city of Washington. It 

 was for many years the home of I-.ee, but was 

 taken by Federal troops during the War of Seces- 

 sion. 



numbers. Finally, abandoning Petersburg and 

 Richmond, Lee retreated, and at Appomattox 

 Court House on April 9, 1865, surrendered to 

 General Grant. Never, throughout the strug- 

 gle, were his dignity and true greatness more 

 evident than in the way he met this final fail- 

 ure of the cause for which he had striven; the 

 generous Grant did all in his power to spare 

 Lee humiliation. 



Attitude of Lee's Soldiers. Never was a 

 commander more devotedly loved by his sol- 

 diers, and never with greater reason; their loy- 

 alty was shown most strikingly in this hardest 

 hour of his life. Says a recent biographer: 



When Lee returned to his own 

 lines, he was received with a shout 

 of welcome, which died into a sad 

 silence when his recent mission 

 was recalled. With head bare and 

 tears flowing down his cheeks, he 

 said, "Soldiers, we have fought 

 through the war together. I have 

 done the best for you I could." 

 The men crowded about him. 

 Many wept ; while hundreds at- 

 tempted to take his hand or touch 

 his person or even his horse 



that famous horse, "Traveler," 

 which had been his companion 

 throughout the war and which he 

 looked upon as a real friend. 



Last Years. For the first time in forty years 

 Lee was then a private citizen, but his services 

 to his country were not over; for his dignified, 

 manly acceptance of the state of affairs did 

 more than all the Federal garrisons to bring 

 the Southern people everywhere to a like point 

 of view. He refused to accept any office in his 

 own state, fearing that his appearance might 

 inflame sectional bitterness, and he did all in 

 his power to spread a kindly feeling toward 

 the North a feeling none too natural at that 

 time because of the character of most of the 

 Northerners then active in the South. 



On August 5, 1865, Lee was offered the presi- 

 dency of Washington College, at Lexington, 

 Va., now Washington and Lee University. 

 After considering the proposition several days, 

 he accepted the offer as he himself declared, to 

 "educate Southern youth into a spirit of loy- 

 alty to the new conditions." He was inaugu- 

 rated October 2, 1865. The institution grew 

 under his guidance, and he was as popular 

 with the students as he had been with his 

 soldiers, no student being tolerated by his fel- 

 lows if he refused obedience to any of the 

 president's requests. 



But his services there were brief, for his 

 health failed, early in 1870, and a visit in the 

 South failed to bring him any lasting relief. 

 He died on October 12, 1870, after a brief ill- 

 ness, his mind dwelling at the last on his mili- 

 tary experiences; for he exclaimed, shortly 

 before the end, "Strike the tent," and then 

 "Tell Hill he must come up." His body was 

 laid in the College Chapel at Lexington, and 

 a Virginia sculptor, Valentine, carved the re- 

 clining statue which marks the spot. Not only 

 in the South, but throughout the- country, his 

 death was felt as a personal loss. In the words 

 of the distinguished English soldier, Lord 

 Wolseley, there is perhaps as true a picture of 

 him as may be found: 



I have met many of the great 

 men of my time, but Lee alone im- 

 pressed me with the feeling that I 

 was in the presence of a man who 

 was cast in a grander mould and 

 made of different and finer metal 

 than all other men. He is stamped 

 upon my memory as a being apart 

 and superior to all others in every 

 way a man with whom none I 

 ever knew and very few of whom 

 I have read were worthy to be 

 classed. E.C.B. 



Consult Fitzhugh Lee's Life of 

 General Lee ; Williamson's Life of 

 Robert E. Lee; A. A. Long's 

 Memoirs of Robert E. Lee; R. A. 

 Brock's General Robert E. Lee; J. 



MONUMENT AT 

 RICHMOND 



