Our War with Spain for Cuba's FreedomWhite, Trumbull
History
Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom
White, Trumbull
Cuba -- History; Spain -- Foreign relations -- United States; Spanish-American War, 1898; United States -- Foreign relations -- Spain
COMPOSURE IN BATTLE.
General Lee possessed remarkable composure in battle. He never got
the least rattled under the most trying conditions, except at
Saylor's Creek, on the retreat from Petersburg; he never betrayed
anxiety, and, though often under a rattling fire, no one ever saw
him dodge. This cannot be said of many of the bravest men.
Sometimes a bullet will unexpectedly whizz close to one's head,
and the impulse to dodge is almost irresistible, though it never
did anybody any good.
One of the officers with him said once that the only time he had
been moved by the enemy's fire was at the battle of Winchester. He
and General Early met under an apple tree near the summit of a
hill and in a very exposed place. There was no firing at the time,
but while the two generals, still on their horses, were intently
examining a map, one shot was fired. It fell short and they paid
no attention to it. But lo! another came, struck the apple tree
just above their heads, and as the apples rained down on them they
concluded the map could be better examined in a less exposed
position--a conclusion in which all others agreed with remarkable
unanimity. And nobody stopped to get any apples.
General Lee is a superb horseman. He rode a splendid mare named
Nellie. She had the form, the strength, the nimbleness of limb,
the tapering neck, the alert poise of the head, the bright and
intelligent eyes that made her a model worthy to bear any master.
She was all grace and beauty. When the confederate columns were
broken in the same battle and the rout began, for it was little
less, General Lee was at a very exposed point. The fire of thirty
pieces of artillery was directed against it. The air was full of
exploding shells; horses were plunging about on three legs,
neighing piteously for a place of refuge; others were disemboweled
by the furious shot; others were loose, running to and fro,
bewildered by the terrible havoc, while the mutilated bodies of
men could be seen on every hand; numbers who were crippled were
hobbling away, and all seemed doomed to death. It was here that
the beautiful Nellie was gored by one fragment of shell and her
master's leg torn by another.
He was noted for his geniality and jollity. He loved humor and
fun, and got all there was to be had in those trying times. But
his cheerfulness failed at Appomattox. There he cried.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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