Charles Francis Lawley, in the London _Times_.]
They did not "quail," they fell. It was not fear that made them drop
the musket, their only hope of safety; it was weakness. It was an army
of phantoms that staggered on toward Lynchburg--and what had made them
phantoms was hunger.
Let others describe those last two days in full. For myself I can not.
To sum up all in one sentence. The Army of Northern Virginia, which had
for four years snatched victory upon some of the bloodiest
battle-fields of history, fought, reeled, fired its last rounds, and
fell dead from starvation, defying fiercely with its last breath,
gurgling through blood in its throat, the enemy who was hunting it down
to its death.
Call it what you will, reader--there was something in those men that
made them fight to the last.
XXVI.
THE LAST COUNCIL OF WAR OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
On the night of the 8th of April, within a few miles of Appomattox
Court-House, took place the last council of war of the army of Northern
Virginia.
It was in the open air, beside a camp-fire, near which were spread
General Lee's blankets; for throughout the retreat he had used no tent,
sleeping, shelterless like his men, by the bivouac fire.
To this last council of war, none but the corps commanders were
invited.
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