Mr. SPEAKER: In accordance with a beautiful and impressive custom we put
aside for to-day our legislative duties to pay a tribute of respect to
the memory of Hon. WILLIAM H.F. LEE, of Virginia. In November, 1890, he
was elected to serve as a member of this Congress from the Eighth
district of that State, receiving in that action of his devoted
constituents a merited indorsement of his conduct and services as their
Representative for the two preceding terms. But when the day of our
assembling arrived my colleague was not present to answer to the call of
his name. He had passed over the river and was resting under the shade
of the trees on the other side. He was beloved and honored by all the
people of Virginia, and the announcement of his death, which occurred on
the 15th day of October, 1891, was received everywhere within her
borders with expressions of the deepest sorrow. He was born at
Arlington, on the Virginia heights, opposite this beautiful city, on the
31st day of May, 1837, and at the time of his death was in the
fifty-fifth year of his age.
In 1857, when he was pursuing his studies in the University of Harvard,
in preparation for the active and serious duties of life, he received
from the then President of the United States the appointment of brevet
second lieutenant in the Sixth Infantry. At that time the spirit of
resistance to the authority of the National Government was being
exhibited to such an extent in Utah as to call for measures of
repression. Assassinations and outrages of all kinds were common, and
the officers of the United States were powerless either to prevent or
punish their commission.
When Mr. Buchanan became President the resolution was formed that the
insubordination and conflict of authority existing in that Territory
should cease, and the necessary executive and judicial officers having
been appointed for the enforcement of the laws of the United States and
the preservation of the public peace, it was determined to send a
detachment of the Army to protect them against violence and to assist
them as a posse comitatus, when necessary, in the performance of their
duties. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston became the commander of this
military force, and Lieut. LEE had his first experience of the service
in this expedition. As the occasion does not call for a recital of the
events of that period, I will content myself with the remark that he was
then, as on every occasion in after years, faithful to the obligations
of duty. His term of service in the Army was of short duration, and from
that fact we may infer that he was not enamored with the life of a
soldier in time of peace.
In 1859 he resigned his commission, and soon thereafter was married to
Miss Wickham, the daughter of a family distinguished in the annals of
Virginia. They went to reside at the White House, on the Pamunkey River,
in the county of New Kent. It was at this old historic country home that
the marriage of George Washington with the Widow Custis was celebrated.
It descended to Gen. LEE from his mother, who was the great-granddaughter
of Washington's wife.
Here he devoted himself to the tillage of the soil and became engrossed
with the pursuits of a plain and unostentatious farmer. His condition
and surroundings at this time were such as to invite contentment and
encourage the cultivation of those pure and lofty sentiments for which
he was ever distinguished.
Being in the flower and strength of his young manhood and blessed with
affluence and the love of an accomplished wife, there seemed wanting
nothing to make his home an earthly paradise.
But the course of this peaceful and happy life was not to run thus
smoothly to the end. Dark and threatening clouds of war soon lowered
upon our land, and the political conflicts and antagonisms, which had
grown in intensity and bitterness with the flight of years, ripened into
civil war in 1861. The crisis then arrived when the appeal to arms was
inevitable, and with it the necessity that all men should decide whether
allegiance was first due to the State or General Government. There were
honest differences of opinion on this question, which had existed from
the very foundation of the Republic.
He was connected by blood with a long line of illustrious men, who had
borne a conspicuous part in the events which led to the declaration of
American independence and the establishment of this constitutional
Government. It was Richard Henry Lee who offered in the Continental
Congress, in June, 1776, that stirring resolution which proclaimed to
the world "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be,
free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance
to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and
Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."
It was his own grandfather, known in history as "Light-Horse Harry Lee,"
who, in the long struggle which followed this bold declaration, struck
such sturdy blows for the liberties and rights of his countrymen as
caused him to receive the special commendation of George Washington, of
whom in turn he uttered those memorable words: "First in war, first in
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Bearing a name thus
associated with all the glorious achievements of the past, it was but
natural that he should have felt an ardent attachment to the Union. But
he was a son of Virginia, "where American liberty raised its first voice
and where its youth was nurtured and sustained."
There the doctrine of the sovereignty of the State was accepted as the
true interpretation of the Constitution almost without division of
sentiment. Her people held that allegiance was first due to their State,
and while all deplored the necessity for, few, if any, doubted as to the
right of separation. When in April, 1861, a convention representing her
people passed the ordinance of secession, he felt no hesitation in
adopting his course. He resolved at once to consecrate himself and his
sword to the sacred duty of defending her homes and firesides.
Having raised a company of cavalry, he was made its captain, and was
rapidly promoted from rank to rank until he reached that of
major-general. Soon after his entry into the Confederate service he
became associated with the command of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, and
participated thereafter in nearly all the movements of that fearless and
dashing leader, whom the brave Gen. Sedgwick, of the United States Army,
pronounced "the best cavalry officer ever foaled in North America." On
June 3, 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee, the father of my deceased colleague,
assumed the command of the Army of Northern Virginia three days after
the retiracy of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, caused by a wound received in
the battle of Seven Pines.
The plans of the Federal commander for the capture of the capital of the
Southern Confederacy had been well chosen. His army, according to his
own report, numbered 156,000, of whom 115,000 were ready for duty as
fighting men. All the vast resources of his Government were being
employed to enable him to prosecute his campaign with efficiency and
vigor. His troops had been furnished with artillery and small arms of
the most approved description and best pattern. They had abundance of
ammunition of the finest quality and ample supplies of food and
clothing. Gen. McDowell, then at Fredericksburg with 40,000 men, and
Gens. Banks and Frémont in the valley of Virginia, were expected to
coöperate in the movement. A line of fire was slowly but steadily being
drawn around Richmond. These plans, as I have said, had been well
conceived and were being executed with great precision and skill.
To oppose this formidable advance there were less than 100,000 fighting
men in Virginia, and they were greatly inferior to the enemy in both
equipments and supplies. Gen. Johnston, penetrating the designs of his
adversary, commenced operations to prevent their accomplishment. The
bloody and stubbornly contested battle of Seven Pines was fought in part
execution of his plans. When Gen. Robert E. Lee succeeded to the
command it was apparent that some decisive blow must be struck to save
the Southern capital from a state of siege. Surveying the whole field
with a keen and practiced eye, he saw that the left wing of the Union
army, which had been thrown across the Chickahominy and advanced to
within four or five miles of Richmond, occupied a strong and almost
impregnable position. An attack upon the center promised no better
results.
Under these circumstances he turned his attention to the right wing,
and, in order to obtain the fullest and most accurate information
concerning McClellan's position and defenses on that portion of his
line, ordered Gen. Stuart to make a reconnoissance in the direction of
Old Church and Cold Harbor. With 1,500 picked men that pink of Southern
chivalry immediately undertook the execution of the orders of the
commanding general. This daring exploit was popularly known as "Stuart's
ride around McClellan." It is a fact that he did pass entirely around
the Union army, and, building a bridge across the Chickahominy,
reëntered the Confederate lines in safety. In this perilous expedition
he was assisted by his bravest and best officers, among whom were Gens.
WILLIAM H.F. LEE, and his cousin, the dashing Fitz Lee.
More was accomplished than had been anticipated, and it was ascertained
that the right and rear of McClellan were unprotected by works of any
strength. In consequence of the information thus obtained the decision
was formed to make the attack in that direction, and on the 26th of
June, 1862, began that series of splendid battles which culminated in
the retreat of McClellan's army to Harrisons Landing, on the James
River, and the deliverance of Richmond from danger. On the 9th of June,
1863, there occurred near Brandy Station, in the county of Culpeper,
Va., one of the most extensive and stubborn cavalry fights of the whole
war. Two divisions of Federal cavalry, commanded by Gens. Buford and
Gregg, and supported by two brigades of "picked infantry," fell upon
Stuart with such suddenness and fierceness that the attack was almost
crowned with victory. Nothing saved him from defeat, if not from greater
calamity, but his own coolness and that of his lieutenants, coupled with
the indomitable pluck and intrepidity of his troopers.
In this engagement that brave Georgian Gen. Young, formerly a member of
this House, by a splendid charge with sabers, without carbine or pistol,
repulsed a dangerous and gallant assault on the rear, while Gen. WILLIAM
H.F. LEE, with equal courage and dash, protected the left of the
Confederate position. In this encounter Gen. LEE received a severe
wound, which necessitated his retirement from the field. He was carried
to Hickory Hill, in Hanover County, the home of Gen. Wickham, a near
relative of his wife, and here he was captured and placed in solitary
confinement in Fort Monroe as a hostage, certain officers of the United
States being then held under sentence of death in Libby Prison in
retaliation for the execution of certain Confederate officers in the
West.
Gen. Custis Lee, being then a young unmarried man, on the staff of the
Confederate President, met, under special flag of truce, representatives
of the Government at Washington, and begged to be permitted to take the
place of Gen. WILLIAM H.F. LEE, giving as a reason for the proposed
exchange his desire to save from punishment the innocent wife and
children of his wounded brother. The offer was declined, and he was told
that the burdens of war must fall where chance or fortune placed them.
In this incident we have a beautiful and touching illustration of the
strength and warmth of brotherly love and of the knightly bearing of the
Lees of Virginia. While thus detained as a prisoner of war, racked with
physical suffering and those mental tortures which a sensitive and
high-strung man must feel under such circumstances, there came the sad
tidings of the death of his loved wife and two children; and thus was
added another, the most poignant of all the griefs with which he had
been afflicted. His old Virginia home, associated with so many sacred
memories, had been reduced to ashes, and now there remained of the once
happy family which formerly occupied it only the captive father. This
weight of woe would seem too much for human endurance, but he bore it
with the fortitude of a Christian soldier. He was exchanged in the
spring of 1864, and returning to his division, led it in all the
engagements, from the Rapidan to the Appomattox, where the curtain fell
upon the stirring and bloody scenes in which he had been such an active
participant.
As a soldier he was always calm, cool, and self-possessed. Those who
have had experience in the ranks know that the bravest and best soldiers
will falter and hesitate when they are without confidence in the
ability, judgment, and foresight of their leader. The soldiers who were
ranged under the standard of Lee, believing that their noble commander
was equal to all emergencies, followed him with unwavering trust, and
their survivors testify to the affection in which a spirit so gentle and
yet so brave was held.
No higher eulogy can be pronounced upon any man than to say of him that
which can be truly alleged of Gen. LEE, that he was an honored and
trusted leader in that splendid Army of Northern Virginia, which only
failed where success was impossible. They challenged the respect and
admiration of the world, and of their great captain it has been said
that "a country which has given birth to men like him and those who
followed him may look the chivalry of Europe in the face without shame,
for the fatherlands of Sidney and Bayard never produced a nobler
soldier, gentleman, and Christian than Robert E. Lee."
These meager details of our civil war have not been given with the
purpose of reviving unpleasant memories or of perpetuating sectional
animosities. They have been related because they constitute an important
part of the story of the life of him whom we mourn.
On both sides were displayed the highest qualities of the military
leader, and illustrated as never before the pluck, endurance, and dash
of the American soldier. They were Americans all, and, without
distinction of sections, we can claim part of the honor of their
achievements and partake in the pride of their great names. We have
furnished to the world the indubitable proof that these States united
are invincible. When, at Appomattox, our arms were stacked and banners
furled we returned to our homes with no divided allegiance.
We believe that in the safety of the Union is the safety of the States.
And we rejoice that "the gorgeous ensign of the Republic is still full
high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original luster,
not a stripe polluted or erased, not a single star obscured, bearing for
its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is all this worth?'
Nor those other words of delusion and folly, 'Liberty first and Union
afterwards,' but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living
light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and
over the land and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other
sentiment, dear to every true American heart, 'Liberty and Union, now
and forever, one and inseparable.'"
But while entertaining these sentiments, we can not, we will not, forget
our glorious dead. The brave men against whom we fought neither expect
nor desire such unnatural conduct. Whether the cause for which they died
was just or not it would be idle to discuss. It is enough for us to know
that--
They were slain for us,
And their blood flowed out in a rain for us--
Red, rich, and pure, on the plain for us;
And years may go,
But our tears shall flow
O'er the dead who have died in vain for us.
After the cessation of hostilities Gen. LEE resumed the occupations of a
farmer on the old plantation which he had left in 1861. The implements
of warfare were exchanged for those of the husbandman, and following the
plow on the furrows he commenced the work of repairing the losses he had
sustained. In 1868 he married Miss Mary Tabb Bolling, the daughter of
Col. George W. Bolling, of Petersburg, and they continued their residence
at the White House until 1874, when they removed to Ravensworth, in the
county of Fairfax, where he died.
He was an able and faithful Representative, and always devoted to the
interests of his constituents. As a fitting eulogy to his worth it may
be truly said that it was his disposition to follow the line of duty to
the end. The conscientious performance of every trust confided to him
was the watchword of his life. In his conduct as a legislator he was
never ruled by faction or interest, but the promotion of the public good
was the motive of all his actions. While exhibiting none of the showy
and sparkling qualities of the orator, he was distinguished for the
possession of good judgment and strong practical common sense. He was a
man of calm and even temperament, and was seldom, if ever, controlled by
prejudices or swayed by passion. Those who were associated with him here
remember his dignified and courteous bearing. No words of bitterness or
reproach ever escaped his lips, and he never forgot what was due to
others as well as to himself.
I never heard him speak an unkind word of another, and while reserved,
and to a certain extent formal, in his demeanor, he was a man of
infinite sweetness of disposition:
And thus he bore without abuse,
The grand old name of gentleman.
Both in his public and private life he furnished an example worthy of
the emulation of all who love the true nobility of humanity. We will
draw aside the curtain only for a passing glance at the domestic circle,
of which his beautiful and lovely wife was at once the pride and the
ornament. Surrounded by this devoted helpmeet and two manly sons, there
was not a happier home in old Virginia. Warmed by the love of his big
and generous heart, it was the abode of contentment and peace. The dread
messenger was never more unwelcome than when he entered the portals of
Ravensworth and made vacant forever the chair of the husband and the
father.
We can say nothing to assuage the poignant grief of the widow and
children, but our hearts are filled with the fervent prayer that
Heaven's choicest blessings may be showered upon them.