On the day after this interview he issued an earnest general order, enjoining the observance of the Sabbath by officers and men, urging them to attend public worship in their camps, and forbidding the performance on Sunday of all official duties save those necessary to the subsistence or safety of the army.  He always attended public worship, if it were in his power to do so, and often the earnestness of the preacher would “make his eye kindle and his face glow.”  He frequently attended the meetings of his chaplains, took a warm interest in the proceedings, and uniformly exhibited, declares one who could speak from personal knowledge, an ardent desire for the promotion of religion in the army.  He did not fail, on many occasions, to show his men that he was a sincere Christian.  When General Meade came over to Mine Run, and the Southern army marched to meet him, Lee was riding along his line of battle in the woods, when he came upon a party of soldiers holding a prayer-meeting on the eve of battle.  Such a spectacle was not unusual in the army then and afterward—­the rough fighters were often men of profound piety—­and on this occasion the sight before him seems to have excited deep emotion in Lee.  He stopped, dismounted—­the staff-officers accompanying him did the same—­and Lee uncovered his head, and stood in an attitude of profound respect and attention, while the earnest prayer proceeded, in the midst of the thunder of artillery and the explosion of the enemy’s shells.[1]

[Footnote 1:  These details are given on the authority of the Rev. J. William Jones, of Lexington, Va.]

[Illustration:  Lee at the Soldiers’ Prayer Meeting.]

Other incidents indicating the simple and earnest piety of Lee will be presented in the course of this narrative.  The fame of the soldier has in some degree thrown into the background the less-imposing trait of personal piety in the individual.  No delineation of Lee, however, would be complete without a full statement of his religious principles and feelings.  As the commander-in-chief of the Army of Northern Virginia, he won that august renown which encircles his name with a halo of military glory, both in America and Europe.  His battles and victories are known to all men.  It is not known to all that the illustrious soldier whose fortune it was to overthrow, one after another, the best soldiers of the Federal army, was a simple, humble, and devoted Christian, whose eyes filled with tears when he was informed that his chaplains prayed for him; and who said, “I am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and need all the prayers you can offer for me.”

PART VI.

CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG

I.

ADVANCE OF GENERAL HOOKER.

Lee remained throughout the winter at his headquarters in the woods south of Fredericksburg, watching the Northern army, which continued to occupy the country north of the city, with the Potomac River as their base of supplies.