Chapter III: Part 3

Gen. Lee’s appreciation of the work of the women of Baltimore is well expressed in a letter dated May 3, 1866, and published in the “Personal Reminiscences of Gen. Robert E. Lee,” by Dr. J. W. Jones. After acknowledging the receipt of a gown presented to him by the ladies of the Northeastern branch, tables 40 and 42, at the late fair held in Baltimore, he says:

“I beg that you will express to them my grateful thanks for this
mark of kindness, which I shall value most highly in remembrance of
their munificent bounty bestowed on thousands of destitute women and
children by the ‘Association for the Relief of Southern Sufferers,’
the fruits of which shall live long after those who have received it
have mouldered into dust.”

In an earlier letter, dated December 15, 1865, he says:

“I am fully aware of the many and repeated acts of sympathy and
relief bestowed by the generous citizens of Baltimore upon the
people of the South, acts which will always be remembered, _but
which can never be repaid, and which will forever stand as monuments
of their Christian charity and kindness_. I know, too, that by their
munificence they have brought loss and suffering on themselves, for
which I trust God will reward them.”

Bear with me yet a moment. The subject on which your association desired I should speak to-night is beyond the measure of mortal tongue or pen. Who will undertake to describe adequately the exploits of our men in the war, and what was their mighty accomplishment in comparison with the infinite emprise of our women! The men, the soldiers, were the strong right arm, the mighty body of the Southern Confederacy, as with spirit undaunted they trod, with bleeding feet, the way of the Southern Cross. But as the men were the body, so the women were the soul. The men may forget the uniform they wore—it is faded and moth-eaten to-day. But the soul, the spirit in our women incarnate, cannot die. It is unchangeable, indestructible and, under God’s providence, for our vindication and justification, shall live always—forever!

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors. 2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's Our Women in the War, by Francis Warrington Dawson