NEAR CARTERSVILLE,
VIRGINIA, 7th September, 1865.
CAPT. JOSIAH TATNALL, Savannah, Ga.
SIR: I have received your letter of the 23d ult., and in
reply will state the course I have pursued under circumstances similar to your
own, and will leave you to judge of its propriety. Like yourself I have since
the cessation of hostilities advised all with whom I have conversed on the
subject who come within the terms of the President's proclamation to take the
oath of allegiance and accept in good faith the amnesty offered. But I have
gone farther and have recommended to those who were excluded from their
benefits to make application under the proviso of the proclamation of the 29th
of May to be embraced in its provisions. Both classes in order to be restored
to their former rights and privileges were required to perform a certain act,
and I do not see that an acknowledgment of fault is expressed in one more than
the other. The war being at an end, the Southern States having laid down their
arms and the questions at issue between them and the Northern States having
been decided, I believe it to be the duty of every one to unite in the
restoration of the country and the reestablishment of peace and harmony. These
considerations governed me in the counsels I gave to others and induced me on
the 13th of June to make application to be included in the terms of the amnesty
proclamation. I have not received an answer and cannot inform you what has been
the decision of the President. But whatever that may be, I do not see how the
course I have recommended and practiced can prove detrimental to the former
President of the Confederate States. It appears to me that the allayment of
passion, the dissipation of prejudice, and the restoration of reason will alone
enable the people of the country to acquire a true knowledge and form a correct
judgment of the events of the past four years. It will I think be admitted that
Mr. Davis has done nothing more than all citizens of the Southern States, and
should not be held accountable for acts performed by them in the exercise of
what had been considered by them an unquestionable right. I have too exalted an
opinion of the American people to believe that they will consent to injustice;
and it is only necessary in my opinion that truth should be known for the
rights of every one to be secured. I know of no surer way of eliciting the
truth than by burying contention with the war. I enclose a copy of my letter
to President Johnson and feel assured that however imperfectly I may have
given you my views on the subject of your letter your own high sense of honor
and right will lead you to a satisfactory conclusion as to the proper course to
be pursued in your own case. With great respect and esteem,
I am, your most
obedient servant,
R. E. LEE
SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of
Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 387-8
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