Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 2

by George S. Boutwell

The inquiries related to the state of public sentiment in the South, and especially in Virginia with regard to secession, to the treatment of the negroes, to the public debts of the United States, and of the Confederacy, and to the treatment of Northern soldiers in Southern prisons.

General Lee was then in good health and in personal appearance he commended himself without delay. He was large in frame, compactly built, and he was furnished with all the flesh and muscle that could be useful to a man who was passing the middle period of life. The elasticity of spirits, the vigor of mind and body that are the wealth of a successful man at sixty were wanting in General Lee. His appearance commanded respect and it excited the sympathy even of those who had condemned his abandonment of the Union in 1861.

The examination gave evidence of integrity and of entire freedom from duplicity. Freedom from duplicity was a controlling feature in General Grant's character and in that attribute of greatness Grant and Lee may have been equals.

General Lee was free to disclose his own opinions, but he was cautious in his statements when questioned as to the opinions and purposes of the men and States that had been in the Rebellion. He was careful to say at the beginning of the examination that he had no communication with politicians and that he did not read the papers. What he said of the South assumed that the people were in poverty and were so dejected that they had no plans for the future, nor any hopes of restoration to wealth, happiness and power in the affairs of the country. His testimony as a whole might justify the opinion that there would be no serious resistance to any form of government that might be set up. He favored the governments which President Johnson had organized and he expressed the opinion that they were acceptable to the people generally. A comprehensive statement was this:

"I do not know of a single person who either feels or contemplates any resistance to the government of the United States, or, indeed any opposition to it." He gave this assurance to the committee: "The people entirely acquiesce in the government of the United States and are for co-operating with President Johnson in his policy."

The payment of the public debt had not been a topic of discussion in his presence, but the people were disposed to pay such taxes as were imposed and they were struggling to get money for that purpose.

He was of the opinion that the people made no distinction between the Confederate debt and the debt of the United States—that they were disposed to pay both debts, and would pay both if they had the power. For himself, however, he had no expectation that the indebtedness of the Confederacy would ever be paid.

General Lee manifested a kindly spirit for the freedmen, but he was unwilling to accept them as citizens endowed with the right of suffrage. Of the feeling in Virginia, General Lee said: "Every one with whom I associate expresses kind feelings toward the freedmen. They wish to see them get on in the world, and especially to take up some occupation for a living."

He rejected the suggestion that there was anywhere within the State any combinations having in view, "the disturbance of the peace, or any improper or unlawful acts." He characterized the negroes as "an amiable, social race, who look more to the present than to their future condition."

In answer to the question whether the South would support the government in case of a war with France or England, General Lee was distinctly reserved: "I cannot speak with any certainty on that point. I do not know how far they might be actuated by their feelings. I have nothing whatever to base an opinion upon. So far as I know they contemplate nothing of the kind now. What may happen in the future I cannot say." He then added this remark: "Those people in Virginia with whom I associate express a hope that the country may not be led into war."