Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia) - Delivered in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, - Fifty-Second Congress, First Session by Various
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devastated and laid waste by the ruthless hand of war; and yet almost
his first act on reaching Richmond was to go to Libby Prison, visit the two Federal officers for whom he had been held as hostage, and who, like himself, had been under apprehension of being hung, and shake hands with and congratulate them. Immediately joining his command, he led his division in every engagement from the Rapidan to Appomattox, where, with his father, the greatest soldier of modern times, he surrendered to the inevitable. In a letter written by one of the most brilliant cavalry generals of the late war, in speaking of Gen. W.H.F. LEE, he uses this language: He was a zealous, conscientious, brave, and intelligent soldier, who fully discharged all of his duties. He was one of those safe, sound, judicious officers, and you always felt when you sent instructions to him that they were going to be obeyed promptly and to the letter. What greater tribute could be paid a soldier? Having been married to one of the most accomplished ladies in Virginia, Miss Bolling, of Petersburg (who, with two sons, survives him) he removed in 1874 to Ravensworth, and was the next year elected to the senate of Virginia, where he made an honorable record. He was elected to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses, and served his State with that fidelity which had characterized his every act through life--faithful, conscientious, and painstaking--ever alert to the interests of his constituents and seeking only how he could serve |
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