army had entertained the opinion that the
North was in the wrong and that the South was in the right, it could be
claimed, fairly, that that officer might forswear his obligations to
the old Government and accept service in the Confederacy.

Moral obliquity is not to be assumed in the case of General Lee. His
pecuniary and professional interests must have invited him to remain
in the army. General Scott, a Virginian, was at the head of the army,
and General Scott was his friend. His promotion was certain, and
important commands were probable. His large estates in the vicinity of
the city of Washington were exposed to the ravages of war if not to
confiscation. These sacrifices, some certain, and others probable were
present when he left Washington and entered into the service of the
Confederacy under the superior authority of the State of Virginia in
disregard of his own opinion, and in disregard, not to say violation,
of his oath as a soldier who had sworn to support the Constitution of
the United States. General Lee was unable to say whether he had
taken an oath to support the Confederate States. He could not recall
the fact of taking the oath, but he said he should have taken the oath
if it had been tendered to him.

The full report of the testimony of General Lee should appear in any
complete biography of the man. It reveals his character, explains the
leading influences to which he was subjected, and it sheds light upon
the state of public opinion in the South at the end of the contest in
arms.

General Scott and General George H. Thomas were Virginians, but they
acted in defiance of the State-Rights doctrines of the South. In
April, 1861, General Scott gave me an account of the efforts that had
been made to induce him to follow the fortunes of Virginia, and he
spoke with a voice of emotion of his veneration for the flag, and of
his attachment to the Union.

GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS

Of the soldiers of the Northern army in the war of the Rebellion,
General George H. Thomas takes rank next after the first three--Grant,
Sherman and Sheridan. When Grant became President and Sherman was
general of the army the President was unwilling to appear to neglect
either Sheridan or Thomas. With high appreciation of Thomas as a
soldier, the President gave higher rank to Sheridan. He said to me
that he placed Sheridan above every other officer of the war. He gave
Sheridan credit for two supreme qualities--great