Tuesday, January 28, 2014

General Robert E. Lee to James A. Seddon, September 9, 1863

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
September 9, 1863.
HON. JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.

SIR: The letter of Governor Vance of North Carolina of August 20, with regard to the causes of dissatisfaction among the North Carolina troops in this army, with your indorsement, has been received. I regret exceedingly the jealousies, heart-burnings, and other evil consequences resulting from the crude misstatements of newspaper correspondents, who have necessarily a very limited acquaintance with the facts about which they write, and who magnify the deeds of troops from their own States at the expense of others. But I can see no remedy for this. Men seem to prefer sowing discord to inculcating harmony. In the reports of the officers justice is done to the brave soldiers of North Carolina, whose heroism and devotion have rendered illustrious the name of the State on every battlefield on which the Army of Northern Virginia has been engaged. . . .

I believe it would be better to have no correspondents of the press with the army. . . .

I need not say that I will with pleasure aid Governor Vance in removing every reasonable cause of complaint on the part of men who have fought so gallantly and done so much for the cause of our country; and I hope that he will also do all in his power to cultivate a spirit of harmony, and to bring to punishment the disaffected who use these causes of discontent to further their treasonable designs.

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE,
General.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 293-4

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