G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
THIS volume has been written throughout from original sources. A complete bibliography of the historical material would scarcely be possible within the limits of a preface.
The statements concerning the English ancestry of General Robert E. Lee are based upon researches made by members of the Lee family, and set forth in various recent publications. The story of colonial and Revolutionary days has been found in a mass of material extending from the writings of John Smith, founder of Virginia, to the editorial labours of Justin Winsor, librarian of the Harvard University. The Journals of Congress and of various State legislatures, Force's American Archives, the publications of various State historical societies, the Johns Hopkins University Studies, the letters and works of Washington, Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Mason, Franklin, Hamilton, and John Adams have been used. I desire to add a word of special thanks for the aid derived from the valuable publications of the Virginia Historical Society, and from the Quarterly Magazine issued by the William and Mary College. The debates in the Federal Convention, in the State Conventions that adopted the Constitution, and speeches in Congress extend the list.
The subsequent social and political history of our country, down to the year 1870, has been drawn chiefly from the speeches delivered in Congress, from party platforms, and from the biographies and letters of American statesmen. I must acknowledge my indebtedness for much collateral material set forth in the series, American Commonwealths, and in the series, American Statesmen, and in the general and special works of Story, Curtis, Schouler, McMaster, Henry Adams, Roosevelt, John Fiske, Von Hoist, Rhodes, Benton, Blaine, Cox, Greeley, A. H. Stephens, and Jefferson Davis.
With reference to slavery, I may say that I have read nearly all the literature, from Uncle Tom's Cabin and Wilson's Slave Power to the most recent biography of William Lloyd Garrison.
In the discussion of the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia, the basis of my work has been the Official Records of the war. In addition to these reports, a large mass of testimony from participants and eye-witnesses is contained in the Southern Historical Society Papers and in the four volumes entitled Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (Century Company). The Campaigns of the Civil War (Scribners) contain excellent special studies by Federal officers. I have consulted the voluminous work of the Comte de Paris and also the biographies of Lincoln, Davis, Seward, J. E. Johnston, Stuart, Jackson, Hancock, and other Federal and Confederate leaders; likewise the Memoirs of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, and military histories of different Federal corps d'armée. Of special importance among these are the various biographies of General Robert E. Lee.
I desire to express my great appreciation of the courtesy of General G. W. Custis Lee, President of the Washington and Lee University for valuable items of information, and also for permission to use the letters and papers of his illustrious father.
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Major Jed Hotchkiss, of Staunton, Virginia, of the Engineer Company, Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, a member of the personal staff of both Jackson and Lee. Major Hotchkiss is now engaged in the work of collecting from veterans of the war their personal testimony concerning important events in the campaigns. This information he has generously placed at my disposal, and has also rendered assistance in reading the proof-sheets. I desire also to make acknowledgment of assistance rendered by my father-in-law, Judge Beverley Randolph Wellford, Jr., of Richmond, Virginia, formerly connected with the War Department of the Southern Confederacy. Judge Wellford has furnished valuable suggestions and historical facts, and has also assisted in the work of examining the proof-sheets. I regret that I cannot here mention a host of other friends, veterans of the war, who have given me the benefit of their personal testimony as eye-witnesses.
The account herein given concerning the campaign in the Wilderness is, for the most part, a paper which I had the honour to read before the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts.
HENRY ALEXANDER WHITE.
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY,
August 23, 1897.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH—FAMILY (1642–1807)
CHAPTER II.
EDUCATION—MARRIAGE—EARLY SERVICE IN THE ARMY (1811–1846)
CHAPTER III.
THE MEXICAN WAR—WEST POINT—SERVICE ON THE FRONTIER (1846–1859)
CHAPTER IV.
SECESSION AND SLAVERY (1860)
CHAPTER V.
JOHN BROWN—THE CRISIS OF 1861—LEE'S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES (1859–1861)
CHAPTER VI.
IN COMMAND OF THE FORCES OF VIRGINIA—THE CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA—CONSTRUCTION OF ATLANTIC COAST DEFENCES (1861–1862)
CHAPTER VII.
THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN—LEE IN COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA—THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES IN DEFENCE OF RICHMOND (1862)
CHAPTER VIII.
LEE'S ADVANCE INTO NORTHERN VIRGINIA—SECOND MANASSAS (1862)
CHAPTER IX.
THE CAMPAIGN IN MARYLAND—THE CAPTURE OF HARPER'S FERRY—SHARPSBURG (1862)
CHAPTER X.
THE CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG (1862)
CHAPTER XI.
THE CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE (1863)
CHAPTER XII.
THE CAMPAIGNS OF GETTYSBURG AND MINE RUN (1863)
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CAMPAIGN IN THE WILDERNESS (1864)
CHAPTER XIV.
PETERSBURG AND APPOMATTOX (1864–1865)
CHAPTER XV.
LEE AS PRESIDENT OF THE WASHINGTON COLLEGE (1865–1870)
INDEX
[Omitted]
ILLUSTRATIONS.
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE Frontispiece
From a photograph taken in May, 1865.
STRATFORD HOUSE, BIRTHPLACE OF ROBERT E. LEE
GENERAL HENRY LEE (“LIGHT-HORSE HARRY”)
ROBERT E. LEE AS SECOND LIEUTENANT OF ENGINEERS
The earliest portrait.
ARMS OF LEE OF COTON HALL, COUNTY SALOP, ENGLAND
ROUTE MAP OF SCOTT'S MARCH FROM VERA CRUZ TO MEXICO
Reproduced, with permission, from “Grant's Life in the West
and his Mississippi Campaign,” by Col. John W. Emerson, published
in the Midland Monthly.
CAPTAIN ROBERT E. LEE AS CAPTAIN OF ENGINEERS IN THE U.S. ARMY
From a photograph taken in 1852, when Lee became Superintendent of West Point.
ARLINGTON IN 1860
WASHINGTON MONUMENT AND THE CAPITOL, RICHMOND, VA.
JEFFERSON DAVIS, PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY
GENERAL JOSEPH E.JOHNSTON
MAP OF THE CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA IN 1861
MARY RANDOLPH CUSTIS, GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF MARTHA DANDRIDGE (CUSTIS) WASHINGTON, AND WIFE OF ROBERT E. LEE
MAP OF THE ENVIRONS OF RICHMOND
Based on the U.S. War Records map.
MAP OF THE MILITARY SITUATION IN VIRGINIA IN THE SPRING OF 1862
MAP OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF COLD HARBOR
MAP OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF MALVERN HILL
MAJOR-GENERAL J. E. B. STUART
MAP OF THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS
Based on the U.S. War Records map.
MAP OF THE CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA IN 1862
MAP SHOWING THE RELATIVE POSITION OF FORCES, MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 14, 1862
Based on the U.S. War Records map.
MAP OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF SHARPSBURG
GEORGE WASHINGTON CUSTIS LEE, ELDEST SON OF GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE
FAC-SIMILE FIELD ORDER FROM LEE TO JACKSON ON BATTLE-FIELD OF FREDERICKSBURG
MAP OF THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG
MAP OF THE FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC NEAR CHANCELLORSVILLE AND FREDERICKSBURG, BETWEEN APRIL 27 AND MAY 7, 1863
SKETCH MAP OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF CHANCELLORSVILLE, SHOWING THE POSITION OF THE TWO ARMIES, MAY 3[0], 1863
GENERAL THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON (“STONEWALL” Jackson)
GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN MAP
MAP OF GETTYSBURG, SHOWING RELATIVE POSITION OF FORCES, JULY 2, 1863
MAP OF GETTYSBURG, SHOWING RELATIVE POSITION OF FORCES, JULY 3, 1863
ROBERT E. LEE, JR., YOUNGEST SON OF GENERAL R. E. LEE
GENERAL W. H. F. LEE, SECOND SON OF ROBERT E. LEE
MAP OF THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS, VIRGINIA, MAY 5–6, 1864
MAP OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT-HOUSE, MAY 8–18, 1864
MAP OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF NORTH ANNA, VIRGINIA, MAY 23–26, 1864
MAP OF THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF RICHMOND
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY
ROBERT E. LEE, AS PRESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE, VIRGINIA
MONUMENT TO GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE RICHMOND, VA.
