AS one by one withdraw the lofty actors
From that great play on history’s stage eternal,
That lurid, partial act of war and peace—of old and new contending,
Fought out through wrath, fears, dark dismays, and many a long suspense;
All past—and since, in countless graves receding, mellowing
Victor and vanquished—Lincoln’s and Lee’s—now thou with them,
Man of the mighty day—and equal to the day!
Thou from the prairies?—and tangled and many veined and hard has been thy part,
To admiration has it been enacted!
Walt Whitman.
The humblest soldier who carried a musket is entitled to as much credit for the results of the war as those who were in command.
U. S. Grant.
ROBERT E. LEE
A GALLANT foeman in the fight,
A brother when the fight was o’er,
The hand that led the host with might
The blessed torch of learning bore.
No shriek of shells nor roll of drums,
No challenge fierce, resounding far,
When reconciling wisdom comes
To heal the cruel wounds of war.