Walter Taylor, Lee’s Adjutant, observed a collapsing Confederacy. In a letter he wrote to his beloved Bettie 150 years ago today, Colonel Taylor objected to Confederate leaders blaming the people for why the war could not go on. After all, the elite was supposed to mold public opinion (and, in my opinion, presumably had molded public opinion to kick-off secession and the war). Once again the young aide longed for a strong, vital leader (a young Napoleon?) who could lead the nation against the Yankees.
Edge Hill
Sunday
5 March ’65
[Colonel Taylor misses his girlfriend. … Colonel Taylor really misses his girlfriend, but General Lee wants him to stay at headquarters]
You know I am blessed with a sanguine temperament. I do not, can not will not yet despond, but I am annoyed, oh! so provoked, so thoroughly disgusted, to see the rapid, radical change in the tone of public sentiment in which (hold your ear close) our leaders participate. Do you observe how openly people now talk of Terms – Peace – Reconstruction? I hear it, and you know the circle of my acquaintance over here is very limited. Oh this disposition or readiness to lick the hand that dealt the blow is revolting to me. Bettie, our eminent men – or what shall I call them? They are not Leaders, even those in high office will tell us that the people are tired, that they are not supported by the people, that public sentiment has undergone a change &c, & hence their desire to to avoid useless shedding of blood and secure peace. The idiots! The imbeciles! They forget that they are responsible for the tone of public sentiment to a far greater extent than are the people who look up to them. Oh! if Heaven would but vouchsafe to us a man fitted to relieve our poor country in this her hour of trial! On who cd [sic] produce system from the sad chaos that now reigns, organize determined resistance where now we have naught but confusion & an apparent absence of any decided plans; one of will and iron nerve who could guide the people and who would dare to fight the Yankees to the last. I do not think our military situation hopeless by any means, and am astonished at the sudden caving in of the majority of those in high positions. I cannot write fully on this subject for there is much I might tell you, which I dare not put on paper; but one thing I confess, matters are far worse than I have ever known them or expected to see them. Unless this struggle is brought to a successful termination, how can a man be reconciled to accept the terms which would be forced upon us? Must we choose the life of a guerrilla or become an exile from home & country? But I will hope. As my trust is not in man but in God, I will not despair. We are sadly deficient, Bettie, in good, brave men capable of leading but I hope God will take care of us and provide a remedy in time. I cannot accept the belief that the cause is lost, that 4 precious years have been worse than wasted and that our whole future is blighted. You may wonder at the causes that have excited my fears; at some future time I will communicate them in person. …
[more personal matters; a Brigadier General wanted him to lead one of his cavalry regiments; “Poor old Early” has had an unfortunate time “and finds himself at last without any army at all”; he’s overwhelmed with telegrams from all over Confederacy][1]
- [1]Tower, R. Lockwood with John S. Belmont, eds.Lee’s Adjutant: The Wartime Letters of Colonel Walter Herron Taylor, 1862-1865. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. Print. page 230-231.↩
