"As soon after the war as mail communications were opened," writes the gentleman of high character from whom we derive this incident, "General David Hunter wrote to General Lee, begging that he would answer him frankly on two points:"
'I. His (Hunter's) campaign in 1864 was undertaken on information received by General Halleck that General Lee was about to detach forty thousand picked troops to send to Georgia. Did not his (Hunter's) move prevent this?
'II. When he found it necessary to retreat from Lynchburg, did he not take the most feasible route?'
General Lee wrote a very courteous reply, in which he said:
'I. General Halleck was misinformed. I had no troops to spare, and forty thousand would have taken nearly my whole army.
'II. I am not advised as to the motives which induced you to adopt your line of retreat, and am not, perhaps, competent to judge of the question; but I certainly expected you to retreat by way of the Shenandoah Valley.'
"General Hunter," adds our correspondent, "never published this letter, but I heard General Lee tell of it one day with evident pleasure."
Lee's opinion of the military abilities of both Generals Hunter and Sheridan was indeed far from flattering. He regarded those two commanders—especially General Sheridan—as enjoying reputations solely conferred upon them by the exhaustion of the resources of the Confederacy, and not warranted by any military efficiency in themselves.