wrong let him do better."

Virginia was not slow in recognizing that she had within her borders
the soldiers whom the chief general of the United States described
as the greatest military genius in America, and within three days
of his resignation from the old army, Lee was tendered the command
of all the Virginia troops. Convinced that the brunt of the heavy
fighting would fall on his native state, to whose defense he had
dedicated his sword, he accepted the offer and thus there came to
the aid of the Confederacy one of the few really great commanders
that the world has ever seen.





Chapter XII




Opening Moves


It was to no very agreeable task that Lee was assigned at the
outset of his command. The forces of the Confederacy were even
less prepared to take the field than those of the United States,
and for three months Lee was hard at work organizing and equipping
the army for effective service. This important but dull duty
prevented him from taking any active part in the first great battle