MEN OF FAITH

Having been a student of the Civil War for over 50 years, I found the piece about Union chaplains [“Figures: Men of Faith,” Vol. 8, No. 2] super interesting. However, you failed to caption the image of a chaplain standing among a group of soldiers, which serves as the article’s backdrop. Taken before the Battle of Bull Run, the photo shows the men of the 69th New York State Militia and their regimental chaplain, Father Thomas Mooney. Every time I see the photo, I wonder which of those young boys is my underage great-grandfather, who enlisted with his big brother in the 69th. Also in the photo, standing next to Father Mooney, is the regiment’s commander, Colonel Michael Corcoran; nearby (though obscured by the article’s text) is Captain Thomas Francis Meagher, who would rise to the rank of general and command the famed Irish Brigade.

Steve Reilly
Lost Mountain, Georgia

LEE’S DECISION

Allen Guelzo deserves much credit for his attempt, in his article in the Summer 2018 issue of The Civil War Monitor [“The Decision,” Vol. 8, No. 2], to establish coherency from an episode that is arguably the most confounding of Robert E. Lee’s life. However, there are too many lingering uncertainties that prevent a wholly credible story from hanging together.

Alan Nolan, in Lee Considered (1991), makes a convincing argument that Lee knew exactly what was afoot when he boarded the train to Richmond with Judge John Robertson on April 22, 1861. In fact, it might have been the worst kept secret in Virginia. The fact that Governor John Letcher dispatched Robertson 72 hours after the state’s ordinance of secession was passed leaves little doubt that Lee’s name was in wide circulation in the corridors of official Richmond. Even the Alexandria Gazette, in its April 20 edition, declared Lee the only man fit to command Virginia’s military forces.

Also, a clarification: Cassius Lee did indeed express the hope that Lee’s appointment would put him in a position to help bring about a peaceful settlement between North and South. But it was a Dr. James May of the Theological Seminary of Virginia who, in this regard, placed Lee as potentially in a league apart from Napoleon and Wellington. Ironically, Lee’s April 30 letter to his wife, in which he wrote that there was “no prospect” of a truce, clearly demonstrates he did not share this sentiment.

Whether one wishes to call Lee’s actions in the spring of 1861 indecisive, wily, or even deceitful, few would deny that, four Aprils later, when confronted with the choice of surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia or possibly initiating a quasi-guerilla war, he acted decisively in the best interests of America. That, to paraphrase Robert Frost, made all the difference. And that is why Lee is properly revered in the annals of American history.

Craig F. Montesano
Arlington, Virginia

* * *

The caption for the full-page image of Robert E. Lee used on page 33 of Allen Guelzo’s article “The Decision” claims that the image is of “a younger Lee” who “dons his U.S. Army uniform in the 1840s.” However, this description is entirely mistaken about the history behind this photograph, which, in fact, was over 10 years in the making.

This image of Lee first appeared as a newspaper engraving in the August 24, 1861, issue of Harper’s Weekly. It was copied from an 1850 image of the man in civilian dress. In the original picture, a dark-haired, mustached Lee wears a dark double-breasted frock coat unbuttoned enough to reveal his cravat, white shirt, and vest. He appears to be holding a book in his left hand. It’s one of three prewar images of Lee known to exist.

By the summer of 1861, after Lee had made his decision to side with the Confederacy but months before he took command of what became the Army of Northern Virginia, he had made enough of a name for himself that the northern public demanded to know what he looked like. Using the 1850 image, Harper’s printed a copy of the photo but dressed Lee in a “Confederate” uniform, which was dark in color (not gray). His book was turned into a shako-styled hat marked “VA” for Virginia on the front. The “photoshopped” image was entirely an artist’s conception. Apparently, little to nothing was known by the northern press about what Confederate uniforms actually looked like at that time (similar uniforms would also be drawn onto existing pictures of other Confederate generals).

Bryan Cheeseboro

Via email

GETTYSBURG

I generally despise these compendium issues, but your Gettysburg issue is superb. It’s especially spot-on in terms of the content about the Confederate retreat and the Union pursuit after the battle.

George F. Franks III
Via Facebook

Ed. Thanks, George, for the kind words! Folks who would like to purchase a copy of their own can do so at civilwarmonitor.com/gettysburg.