Friday, May 16, 2014

Robert E. Lee to Josiah Tatnall, September 7, 1865

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

No comments: