GENERAL ORDERS, No. 76.
HDQRS. ARMY OF NORTHERN
VIRGINIA,
July 11, 1863.
After long and trying marches, endured with the fortitude
that has ever characterized the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, you
have penetrated the country of our enemies, and recalled to the defense of
their own soil those who were engaged in the invasion of ours.
You have fought a fierce and sanguinary battle, which, if
not attended with the success that has hitherto crowned your efforts, was
marked by the same heroic spirit that has commanded the respect of your
enemies, the gratitude of your country, and the admiration of mankind.
Once more you are called upon to meet the army from which
you have won on so many fields a name that will never die.
Once more the eyes of your countrymen are turned upon you,
and again do wives and sisters, fathers, mothers, and helpless children lean
for defense on your strong arms and brave hearts.
Let every soldier remember that on his courage and fidelity
depends all that makes life worth having – the freedom of his country, the
honor of his people, and the security of his home. Let each heart grow strong
in the remembrance of our glorious past, and in the thought of the inestimable
blessings for which we contend, and, invoking the assistance of that Divine
Power which has so signally blessed our former efforts, let us go forth in
confidence to secure the peace and safety of our country.
Soldiers! your old enemy is before you! Win from him honors
worthy of your righteous cause – worthy of your comrades dead on so many
illustrious fields.
R. E. LEE,
General.
SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
27, Part 2 (Serial No. 44), p. 301; John William Jones, Life and
Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 253.
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