Upon this point of Lee’s personal and official dignity it is unnecessary to dwell further, as the quality has long since been conceded by every one acquainted with the character of the individual, in the Old World and the New.  It is the trait, perhaps, the most prominent to the observer, looking back now upon the individual; and it was, doubtless, this august moderation, dignity, and apparent exemption from natural infirmity, which produced the impression upon many persons that Lee was cold and unimpressible.  We shall speak, in future, at greater length of his real character than is necessary in this place; but it may here be said, that the fancy that he was cold and unimpressible was a very great error.  No man had stronger or warmer feelings, or regarded the invasion of the South with greater indignation, than himself.  The sole difference was, that he had his feelings under greater control, and permitted no temptation to overcome his sense of that august dignity and composure becoming in the chief leader of a great people struggling for independent government.

The sentiment of the Southern people toward Lee may be summed up in the statement that they regarded him, in his personal and private character, with an admiration which was becoming unbounded, and reposed in him, as commander of the army, the most implicit confidence.

These expressions are strong, but they do not convey more than the truth.  And this confidence was never withdrawn from him.  It remained as strong in his hours of disaster as in his noontide of success.  A few soured or desponding people might lose heart, indulge in “croaking,” and denounce, under their breath, the commander of the army as responsible for failure when it occurred; but these fainthearted people were in a small minority, and had little encouragement in their muttered criticisms.  The Southern people, from Virginia to the utmost limits of the Gulf States, resolutely persisted in regarding Lee as one of the greatest soldiers of history, and retained their confidence in him unimpaired to the end.

The army had set the example of this implicit reliance upon Lee as the chief leader and military head of the Confederacy.  The brave fighting-men had not taken his reputation on trust, but had seen him win it fairly on some of the hardest-contested fields of history.  The heavy blow at General McClellan on the Chickahominy had first shown the troops that they were under command of a thorough soldier.  The rout of Pope at Manassas had followed in the ensuing month.  At Sharpsburg, with less than forty thousand men, Lee had repulsed the attack of nearly ninety thousand; and at Fredericksburg General Burnside’s great force had been driven back with inconsiderable loss to the Southern army.  These successes, in the eyes of the troops, were the proofs of true leadership, and it did not detract from Lee’s popularity that, on all occasions, he had carefully refrained from unnecessary exposure of the troops, especially at Fredericksburg, where an ambitious commander would have spared no amount of bloodshed to complete his glory by a great victory.  Such was Lee’s repute as army commander in the eyes of men accustomed to close scrutiny of their leaders.  He was regarded as a thorough soldier, at once brave, wise, cool, resolute, and devoted, heart and soul, to the cause.