I have led the young men of the South in battle; I have seen many of them fall under my standard. I shall devote my life now to training young men to do their duty in life. ROBERT E. LEE _General Lee accepts the Presidency of Washington College, 1865_ August Twenty-Fifth BALM After the sun, the shade, Beatitude of shadow, Dim aisles for memory made,-- And Thought; After the sun, the shade. After the heat, the dew, The tender touch of twilight; The unfolding of the few Calm Stars; After the heat, the dew. VIRGINIA WOODWARD CLOUD August Twenty-Sixth I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies--from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and beat him when found, whose policy has been attack and not defense. I presume that I have been called here to pursue the same system.... It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily.... Meanwhile, I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases, which I am sorry to find much in vogue amongst you. I hear constantly of taking strong positions and holding them--of lines of retreat and of bases of supplies. Let us discard such ideas.... Let us study the probable line of our opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves. GEN. JOHN POPE, U. S. A. (_Before Campaign in Virginia_) August Twenty-Seventh Although a youth of only twenty-six years, he achieved, by his consummate tact and extraordinary abilities, what the powerful influence of Franklin failed to effect. ELKANAH WATSON (New York) I knew him well, and he had not a fault that I could discover, unless it were an intrepidity bordering on rashness. GEORGE WASHINGTON _John Laurens dies, 1782_ August Twenty-Eighth STONEWALL JACKSON'S MEN HELP THEMSELVES TO POPE'S SUPPLIES, 1862 Weak and haggard from their diet of green corn and apples, one can well imagine with what surprise their eyes opened upon the contents of the sutler's stores, containing an amount and variety of property such as they had never conceived. Then came a storming charge of men rushing in a tumultuous mob over each other's heads, under each other's feet, anywhere, everywhere to satisfy a craving stronger than a yearning for fame. There were no laggards in that charge.... Men ragged and famished clutched tenaciously at whatever came in their way, and whether of clothing or food, of luxury or necessity. A long yellow-haired, bare-footed son of the South claimed as prizes a tooth-brush, a box of candles, a barrel of coffee. From piles of new clothing the Southerners arrayed themselves in the blue uniforms of the Federals. The naked were clad, the barefooted were shod, and the sick provided with luxuries to which they had long been strangers. GEORGE H. GORDON, U. S. A. August Twenty-Ninth