le, feeling words, he expressed his
delight, we forgot the great warrior, and only remembered that we were
communing with an humble, earnest Christian." When he was informed
that the chaplains prayed for him, tears started to his eyes, and he
replied: "I sincerely thank you for that, and I can only say that I
am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and that I need all the
prayers you can offer for me."

On the day after this interview he issued an earnest general order,
enjoining the observance of the Sabbath by officers and men, urging
them to attend public worship in their camps, and forbidding the
performance on Sunday of all official duties save those necessary
to the subsistence or safety of the army. He always attended public
worship, if it were in his power to do so, and often the earnestness
of the preacher would "make his eye kindle and his face glow." He
frequently attended the meetings of his chaplains, took a warm
interest in the proceedings, and uniformly exhibited, declares one
who could speak from personal knowledge, an ardent desire for the
promotion of religion in the army. He did not fail, on many occasions,
to show his men that he was a sincere Christian. When General Meade
came over to Mine Run, and the Southern army marched to meet him, Lee
was riding along his line of battle in the woods, when he came upon a
party of soldiers holding a prayer-meeting on the eve of battle. Such
a spectacle was not unusual in the army then and afterward--the rough
fighters were often men of profound piety--and on this occasion
the sight before him seems to have excited deep emotion in Lee. He
stopped, dismounted--the staff-officers accompanying him did the
same--and Lee uncovered his head, and stood in an attitude of profound
respect and attention, while the earnest prayer proceeded, in the
midst of the thunder of artillery and the explosion of the enemy's
shells.[1]

[Footnote 1: These details are given on the authority of the Rev. J.
William Jones, of Lexington, Va.]

[Illustration: Lee at the Soldiers' Prayer Meeting.]

Other incidents indicating the simple and earnest piety of Lee will be
presented in the course of this narrative. The fame of the soldier has
in some degree thrown into the background the less-imposing trait of
personal piety in the individual. No delineation of Lee, however,
would be complete without a full statement of his religious principles
and feelings. As the commander-in-chief of t