Part 31 (2/2)

When the intelligence reached Richmond, the Legislature pa.s.sed resolutions expressive of the general sorrow, and requesting that the remains of General Lee might be interred in Holywood Cemetery-Mr. Walker, the Governor, expressing in a special message his partic.i.p.ation in the grief of the people of Virginia and the South. The family of General Lee, however, preferred that his remains should rest at the scene of his last labors, and beneath the chapel of Was.h.i.+ngton College they were accordingly interred. The ceremony was imposing, and will long be remembered.

On the morning of the 13th, the body was borne to the college chapel. In front moved a guard of honor, composed of old Confederate soldiers; behind these came the clergy; then the hea.r.s.e; in rear of which was led the dead soldier's favorite war-horse ”Traveller,” his equipments wreathed with c.r.a.pe. The trustees and faculty of the college, the cadets of the Military Inst.i.tute, and a large number of citizens followed-and the procession moved slowly from the northeastern gate of the president's house to the college chapel, above which, draped in mourning, and at half-mast, floated the flag of Virginia-the only one displayed during this or any other portion of the funeral ceremonies.

On the platform of the chapel the body lay in state throughout this and the succeeding day. The coffin was covered with evergreens and flowers, and the face of the dead was uncovered that all might look for the last time on the pale features of the ill.u.s.trious soldier. The body was dressed in a simple suit of black, and the appearance of the face was perfectly natural. Great crowds visited the chapel, pa.s.sing solemnly in front of the coffin-the silence interrupted only by sobs.

Throughout the 14th the body continued to be in state, and to be visited by thousands. On the 15th a great funeral procession preceded the commission of it to its last resting place. At an early hour the crowd began to a.s.semble in the vicinity of the college, which was draped in mourning. This great concourse was composed of men, women, and children, all wearing c.r.a.pe, and the little children seemed as much penetrated by the general distress as the elders. The bells of the churches began to toll; and at ten o'clock the students of the college, and officers and soldiers of the Confederate army-numbering together nearly one thousand persons-formed in front of the chapel. Between the two bodies stood the hea.r.s.e, and the gray horse of the soldier, both draped in mourning.

The procession then began to move, to the strains of martial music. The military escort, together with the staff-officers of General Lee, moved in front; the faculty and students followed behind the hea.r.s.e; and in rear came a committee of the Legislative dignitaries of the Commonwealth, and a great mult.i.tude of citizens from all portions of the State. The procession continued its way toward the Inst.i.tute, where the cadets made the military salute as the hea.r.s.e pa.s.sed in front of them, and the sudden thunder of artillery awoke the echoes from the hills. The cadets then joined the procession, which was more than a mile in length; and, heralded by the fire of artillery every few minutes, it moved back to the college chapel, where the last services were performed.

General Lee had requested, it is said, that no funeral oration should be p.r.o.nounced above his remains, and the Rev. William N. Pendleton simply read the beautiful burial-service of the Episcopal Church. The coffin, still covered with evergreens and flowers, was then lowered to its resting-place beneath the chapel, amid the sobs and tears of the great a.s.sembly; and all that was mortal of the ill.u.s.trious soldier disappeared from the world's eyes.

What thus disappeared was little. What remained was much-the memory of the virtues and the glory of the greatest of Virginians.

APPENDIX.

We here present to the reader a more detailed account of the ceremonies attending the burial of General Lee, and a selection from the countless addresses delivered in various portions of the country when his death was announced. To notice the honors paid to his memory in every city, town, and village of the South, would fill a volume, and be wholly unnecessary. It is equally unnecessary to speak of the great meetings at Richmond, Baltimore, and elsewhere, resulting in the formation of the ”Lee Memorial a.s.sociation” for the erection of a monument to the dead commander.

The addresses here presented are placed on record rather for their biographical interest, than to do honor to the dead. Of him it may justly be said that he needs no record of his virtues and his glory. His ill.u.s.trious memory is fresh to-day, and will be fresh throughout all coming generations, in every heart.

I.

THE FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE.

The morning of the obsequies of General Lee broke bright and cheerful over the sorrowful town of Lexington. Toward noon the sun poured down with all the genial warmth of Indian summer, and after mid-day it was hot, though not uncomfortably so. The same solemnity of yesterday reigned supreme, with the difference, that people came thronging into town, making a mournful scene of bustle. The gloomy faces, the comparative silence, the badges and emblems of mourning that everywhere met the eye, and the noiseless, strict decorum which was observed, told how universal and deep were the love and veneration of the people for the ill.u.s.trious dead. Every one uniformly and religiously wore the emblematic c.r.a.pe, even to the women and children, who were crowding to the college chapel with wreaths of flowers fringed with mourning. All sorrowfully and religiously paid their last tributes of respect and affection to the great dead, and none there were who did not feel a just pride in the sad offices.

AT THE COLLEGE GROUNDS.

Immediately in front of the chapel the scene was peculiarly sad. All around the buildings were gloomily draped in mourning, and the students strolled listlessly over the grounds, awaiting the formation of the funeral procession. Ladies thronged about the chapel with tearful eyes, children wept outright, every face wore a saddened expression, while the solemn tolling of the church-bells rendered the scene still more one of grandeur and gloom. The bells of the churches joined in the mournful requiem.

THE FUNERAL PROCESSION.

At ten o'clock precisely, in accordance with the programme agreed upon, the students, numbering four hundred, formed in front and to the right of the chapel. To the left an escort of honor, numbering some three hundred ex-officers and soldiers, was formed, at the head of which, near the southwestern entrance to the grounds, was the Inst.i.tute band. Between these two bodies-the soldiers and students-stood the hea.r.s.e and the gray war-steed of the dead hero, both draped in mourning. The marshals of the procession, twenty-one in number, wore spotless white sashes, tied at the waist and shoulders with c.r.a.pe, and carrying batons also enveloped in the same emblematic material.

Shortly after ten, at a signal from the chief marshal, the solemn cortege moved off to the music of a mournful dirge. General Bradley Johnson headed the escort of officers and soldiers, with Colonel Charles T. Venable and Colonel Walters H. Taylor, both former a.s.sistant adjutant-generals on the staff of the lamented dead. The physicians of General Lee and the Faculty of the college fell in immediately behind the hea.r.s.e, the students following. Slowly and solemnly the procession moved from the college grounds down Was.h.i.+ngton Street to Jefferson, up Jefferson Street to Franklin Hall, thence to Main Street, where they were joined by a committee of the Legislature, dignitaries of the State, and the citizens generally. Moving still onward, this grand funeral pageant, which had now a.s.sumed gigantic proportions, extending nearly a mile in length, soon reached the northeastern extremity of the town, when it took the road to the Virginia Military Inst.i.tute.

AT THE MILITARY INSt.i.tUTE.

Here the scene was highly impressive and imposing. In front of the Inst.i.tute the battalion of cadets, three hundred in number, were drawn up in line, wearing their full gray uniform, with badges of mourning, and having on all their equipments and side-arms, but without their muskets. Spectators thronged the entire line of the procession, gazing sadly as it wended its way, and the sites around the Inst.i.tute were crowded. As the cortege entered the Inst.i.tute grounds a salute of artillery thundered its arrival, and reverberated it far across the distant hills and valleys of Virginia, awakening echoes which have been hushed since Lee manfully gave up the struggle of the ”lost cause” at Appomattox. Winding along the indicated route toward the grounds of Was.h.i.+ngton College, the procession slowly moved past the Inst.i.tute, and when the war-horse and hea.r.s.e of the dead chieftain came in front of the battalion of cadets, they uncovered their heads as a salute of reverence and respect, which was promptly followed by the spectators. When this was concluded, the visitors and Faculty of the Inst.i.tute joined the procession, and the battalion of cadets filed into the line in order, and with the greatest precision.

ORDER OF THE PROCESSION.

The following was the order of the procession when it was completed:

Music.

Escort of Honor, consisting of Officers and Soldiers of the Confederate Army.

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