Never Call Retreat - Civil War 03 (62 page)

G
en. Robert
E.
Lee di
smounted from Traveler, return
ing the salute of the me
n lined up in division strength
to either side of the road. He was dressed in his formal uniform, sword at his side. The men saluting him were a mixture of troops from several of his old divisions, mostly Virginian boys.

Out on the front lawn before the old state legislature building of Virginia, now the capitol building of the Confederacy, thousands of civilians had gathered, and an ovation went up at the sight of him walking up the steps.

Many of his old comrades were already waiting for him, Pete Longstreet, A. P. Hill, who seemed, at the moment, to be recovering from the illness that had taken him out of the last campaign, and Judah Benjamin.

Judah stepped forward to shake his hand. "Did he do it?" Judah asked. "You mean the president?" "Yes, of course I mean the president." "Yes, he did. And I think you know what I shall say now." Lee walked into the legislative hall, which was packed to overflowing with members of the Confederate Congress and the Senate. A ripple of applaus
e broke out at the sight of him
and turned into a standing ovation. He said nothing, merely nodding and stepping to one side of the door.

There was one person still missing.

Several minutes passed in silence until again there was cheering outside.

The sergeant at arms came to attention and banged his staff on the floor.

"Honorable members of Congress. The president of the Confederate States of America."

Jefferson Davis walked in, and after a brief applause the room fell silent. The tension was electric as the members of Congress looked from Davis to Lee and back to Davis, wondering what had transpired in thei
r meeting of an hour ago. Not ju
st Richmond, but the entire South was waiting, citizens as far off as Savannah, Mobile, beleaguered Atlanta, standing before telegraph stations.

The Speaker of the House took the podium and called for order and then without flourish or ceremony simply announced, "Gen. Robert E. Lee."

Lee took a deep breath, looked over at Judah, who nodded, and walked up to the podium, turned, and faced his audience.

"President Davis," General Lee began, nodding toward President Jefferson Davis, sitting in the back of the room, "members of the Congress of the Confederacy and members of the president's cabinet, fellow citizens.

"I have come here to report on the military situation of our Confederacy. I speak not as a politician but as a military man. My facts are the facts of war, not the hopes of politics and civilian speeches."

The crowd began to straighten up and watch carefully at these unexpected words and the sober, indeed somber, tone of Lee's words.

He paused for a moment.

"This morning I met with President Davis to discuss those facts. As a serving military officer I am honor bound to obey the orders of the commander in chief."

Again a pause and he lowered his head, then, realizing that what he had to say required him to look Davis straight in. the eye, he stiffened, features grave.

"But this morning I have refused the orders of President Davis and have no recourse but to resign from the service of the Confederacy."

Davis, red-faced, glared at him.

Lee knew the gesture was melodramatic, but Judah and Pete Longstreet had both told him he had to do this symbolic move to reinforce his point. He stepped back a foot from the podium, drew out his sword, and laid it upon the podium.

"I resign from service and shall return to private life."

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then the audience erupted. Some cheered, but there was also cries of "No, never!" and even a few who cried, 'Traitor!"

He waited for the audience to fall silent, obviously not yet done speaking.

"I shall speak to you now, not as a general, but as a private citizen and shall say what I could not say before when I still carried a sword by my side pledged to this government."

The room fell into a tomblike silence.

"This morning I met with President Davis and offered my formal report on the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the signed agreement between myself and General Grant.

"President Davis ordered me to violate the terms of that surrender."

There was a low murmuring in the room. All knew what the issue was, and now they would hear of it directly from Lee.

"The president ordered me to violate the terms of parole and return myself and all my troops to active service. He stated that President Lincoln had violated the rules of war by the ending of the exchange of prisoners and therefore I could break the oath I gave to General Grant.

"I cannot, I will not, accept that. I signed a fair and generous agreement with General Grant with full knowledge of
the terms. To order me to go back on my word is a violation of a code of honor that has guided my entire life.

"I have resigned. I suggest to all my fellow officers who were with me at the surrender to do the same. I shall inform my gallant and honorable men in the ranks, who stand arrayed outside this building, to refuse any order to return to the ranks as well."

'Traitor!"

It was a lone voice, a congressman from South Carolina, and several joined in, but those around the protesters shouted for silence.

"With my refusal and that of my officers and men to violate a sacred oath, given to an honorable foe, the simple fact now confronts you, the civilian government, that we no longer have the military capacity to stop the Union army."

The crowd gasped and men began to fidget in their seats. Some of the hotheads began to say something but realized this was General Lee speaking, and their respect for him stilled their voices.

"General Grant and President Lincoln"—at the very sound of his name the room turned frigid—"have both treated the Army of Northern Virginia with honor and with dignity."

To the restive members of the audience he interjected, "I was there, gent
lemen. I am reporting on facts,
not wishes; events, not fantasies."

He went on. "As I just stated, this morning President Davis ordered me to take the field once again to save our capital. I cannot.

"As a matter of honor I have given my word before God that I would accept parole and understood when I accepted it that I would not be exchanged and therefore am out of the war.

"I gave my word for the entire Army of Northern Virginia serving with me.

"Now let me address the second issue, which is simply that of practicality and reality. I surrendered, and now urge this entire government to surrender, because to not do so
will guarantee the needless killing of thousands of our young men in a situation in which we have no hope of winning against overwhelming Union forces."

"Hell, no!" someone shouted. "We'll fight the damn Yankees to the death."

Lee's features reddened and he stared at the senator who had challenged him.

"Whose death? I have seen tens of thousands die. In war, always it is the old men such as we who create it, but it is the young who must do the dying."

"How dare you, sir," came the reply.

"I dare because I must," Lee retorted. "There is no Confederate army capable of defending Richmond. We lost our artillery and our ammunition trains north of the Potomac. There is no possibility of stopping General Grant and his forces. President Lincoln offered us an armistice of thirty days. Seven of those days have now passed, and I tell you this without embellishment. On October 3, if we do not surrender, Grant will cross the Rappahannock in force, and Sherman will resume his attack on Atlanta
...
and devastation will follow.

"Grant will lay waste the state of Virginia and then move across the Carolinas until he meets with General Sherman. Between them they will burn every barn, lay waste every field, and tear up every town, destroy every mill, every mile of railroad track, and they will leave utter ruin in their wake. Those who wish to wage war in these circumstances will find themselves fleeing across a wilderness of destruction.

"So far this war has been fought with a certain degree of civility. The patience of our opponents is at an end. If we defy the truth that is before us now, we shall reap a terrible whirlwind that will scar our nation for generations to come.

"And hundreds of thousands more will die "

As he described the apocalyptic scene there was silence.

"As a man of honor and a man of military training I cannot support or condone such a future for my state.

"You gentlemen are politicians. You have every right to reach a different conclusion than a military man. However, neither I nor any member of the Army of Northern Virginia who is loyal to our good name, to our honor, and to my given word will break that word.

"Gentlemen, I beg of you, as a simple citizen, setting aside my former military position, the war is over, the cause is ended. Let us save our families, our young men, and our land from inevitable devastation. Let us end with honor that which we began with honor. I can do no less."

He paused and lowered his head.

"I urge you this day to accept and honor the terms offered by President Abraham Lincoln, terms carried back from Maryland by Secretary Judah Benjamin. At this very moment copies of those terms are being printed up and distributed not just here in Richmond but across the South."

He looked at Judah who nodded and motioned to several boys who had come in carrying bundles of paper, word-for-word reprints of the letter from Lincoln, given to Judah by Elihu Washburne.

Lee waited for several minutes as the papers were distributed.

'This is a violation of confidentiality between myself and the secretary of state."

It was President Davis, who throughout Lee's speech had remained silent.

Lee looked over at the Speaker of the House, who came to his feet.

'The chair still recognizes the general," he paused. "Mr. Robert E. Lee, Mr. President. He still has the floor."

Davis, fuming, turned and walked out of the room.

Senators and congressmen snatched up copies of the letter, some sat down, reading in silence, a few crumpled the papers up and threw them to the floor, several stormed out of the room after President Davis, one of them turning and shouting that all who remained and listened were cowards.

But the vast majority stayed, read, and looked up at Lee.

"The terms are just, fair, and liberal," Lee said as he resumed. "Rarely in the annals of history has such an offer been made to end an internal rebellion, with the victor extending his hand in a gesture of peace and reconciliation. It is an offer imbued with Christian charity, and I pray that you accept it."

He paused, again scanning the room, looking at each of the men gazing up at him. The features of many had softened, more than a few were in tears, some sat woodenly, in shock, as the reality of what they confronted was put before them.

"I believe I have said enough," Lee said. "I suggest, gentlemen, that when I yield the floor, you recognize Mr. Judah Benjamin, who sat by my side during the surrender negotiations and will discuss the details. I know what he will say, and I urge you to listen to him.

"But before I leave, I ask but this. Look out the windows of this building. Gathered outside are the men who were once the proud Army of Northern Virginia. They have fought with honor across two years and won great victories and have now suffered a final defeat. But for each one who stands there, how many are vacant from the ranks? How many of our sons, our comrades, our friends are perhaps gathered here only in spirit."

He felt as if his voice was about to break. He took a deep breath and went on.

"Jackson, who fell at Chancellorsville, so many who rest in unmarked graves, so many who will never return home. Some might now say that we must shed more blood, otherwise their sacrifice would be in vain."

Lee shook his head.

'Thus it is always said across history, and yet never have we heard the dead themselves speak, telling us what they would want. Would they want more blood poured upon their graves as atonement? I think not. I believe, instead, it would be their voices that would be the loudest, urging us not to waste the blood of one more young man for a cause that is now lost. Let the dead who fought for this cause rest in honored peace. Let the living who survived
..."

And now his voice did come close to breaking.

"Let the living go home to the waiting embraces of their loved ones. Let them go home with heads high, knowing they are men of honor, whose former foes wish now to extend the hand of friendship and peace.

"My friends, across two years we have prayed to God for guidance and victory. Our opponents have done the same. There is a terrible irony in that, for both sides to pray to the same Prince of Peace for the destruction of the other. The prayers of neither side have been answered fully. Yet, is it not evident that the will of God is revealed? For whatever reason, he has judged against us. We have prayed to him with humility, as men of honor, and that honor is intact.

"I believe firmly, that to continue the struggle now is to turn against God's will, and in so doing, we shall face a terrible judgment."

He lowered his head in the silent room.

"Gentlemen, may the blessing of the Almighty be upon you and guide you this day. I shall now return to private life. Good day."

He stepped down from the podium and with head high walked out of the room. As he started to leave, Pete Longstreet came forward, followed by other officers, and without comment or fanfare, they drew their swords, laid them at the foot of the lectern, and followed their general out of the room.