The glasses were emptied and a shout of applause rang from every banqueter save one. The General had not yet touched his glass.
Without rising, Johnston lifted his eyes and said in grave tones:
"Mr. Yancey, the man you describe is now in the field—his name is Robert E. Lee. I drink to his health."
Yancey's quick wit answered in a flash:
"I can only reply to you, sir, as the Speaker of the House of Burgesses did to General Washington—'Your modesty is only equaled by your valor!'"
Johnston's tribute to Lee was genuine, and yet nursing his grudge against the President with malignant intensity he left for the west, encouraging his friends to fight the Chieftain of the Confederacy with tooth and nail and that to the last ditch.