Part 5 (1/2)

LEE--Show General Starke in.

(_Enter GEN. STARKE. He salutes._)

LEE--(_Saluting._) Good morning, General, what can I do for you.

STARKE--Nothing for me sir, but a good deal for yourself.

LEE--This is no time to think of private benefits.

STARKE--But General your reputation is suffering, the press is denouncing you, your own State is losing confidence in you, and the army needs a victory to add to its enthusiasm.

LEE--I cannot afford to sacrifice five or six hundred of my people to silence public clamor. When it is time to strike, we will strike with a will.

STARKE--I wish those Northerners were all dead.

LEE--How can you say so?

Now I wish they were all at home attending to their own business, and leaving us to do the same. They also are my countrymen. General, there is a good old book which says, ”Love your enemies.” What a cruel thing is war; to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness G.o.d has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors and to devastate the fair face of the beautiful world.

STARKE--But think of our men who have laid down their lives so bravely.

LEE--The loss of our gallant officers and men throughout the army causes me to weep tears of blood and to wish that I might never hear the sound of a gun again.

STARKE--I am sorry to have worried you General, you are right, good day!

(_Salutes and exit. Enter MAJOR W. H. FITZHUGH LEE._)

W. H. F. LEE--Father!

LEE--Fitzhugh, how good it is to see you. You don't know how much I have missed you and your mother and your brothers and sisters.

W. H. F. LEE--Won't it be wonderful when the war will be over and we can all be together again.

LEE--G.o.d grant that it may be so!

W. H. F. LEE--I can't stay any longer, Father. I just came in to see you a moment before starting. I must be about my duty.

LEE--I know that wherever you may be placed, you will do your duty. That is all the pleasure, all the comfort, all the glory we can enjoy in this world.

Duty is the sublimest word in the language. There is a true glory and a true honor, the glory of duty done, the honor of integrity of principles.

(_They salute._)

SCENE II

_Battlefield, the Southern Lines. Sh.e.l.ls falling all around._

Characters

General Lee General Gordon General Gracie General Stuart Northern Prisoners Soldiers