Details
LEE, ROBERT E., General, C.S.A. Letter signed ("R.E. Lee Genl."), with three small text corrections by Lee, his General Orders No. 85, "Head Quarters, Army of N. Va.," 13 August 1863. 1¼ page. Fine condition.
"THE DEFENDERS OF A JUST CAUSE SHOULD BE PURE": A DEFEATED ARMY'S PENANCE, AFTER GETTYSBURG
Davis and Lee jointly proclaim a day of penance and prayer, a month after the bitter defeat at Gettysburg and the fall of the citadel of Vicksburg. "The President of the Confederate States [Jefferson Davis] has in the name of the people, appointed the 21st day of August as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer. A strict observance of the day is enjoined upon all officers and soldiers of the army. All military duties, except such as are absolutely necessary, will be suspended. The Commanding officers of Brigades and Regiments are requested to cause Divine Services...to be performed....
"Soldiers! We have sinned against Almighty God. We have forgotten His signal mercies, and have cultivated a revengeful, haughty and boastful spirit. We have not remembered that the defenders of a just cause should be pure in His eyes. That our lives are in His hand, and we have relied too much on our own arms for the achievement of our independence.
"God is our only refuge and our strength. Let us confess our many sins and beseech Him to give us a higher Courage, a purer patriotism and more determined will. That He will convert the hearts of our enemies, that He will hasten the time when war with its sorrows and sufferings shall cease, and that he will give us a name and place among the nations of the Earth...."
Provenance:
Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang Foundation (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 4 December 1981, lot 1197, misdating the document 23 March 1863; prior to Gettysburg).
"THE DEFENDERS OF A JUST CAUSE SHOULD BE PURE": A DEFEATED ARMY'S PENANCE, AFTER GETTYSBURG
Davis and Lee jointly proclaim a day of penance and prayer, a month after the bitter defeat at Gettysburg and the fall of the citadel of Vicksburg. "The President of the Confederate States [Jefferson Davis] has in the name of the people, appointed the 21st day of August as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer. A strict observance of the day is enjoined upon all officers and soldiers of the army. All military duties, except such as are absolutely necessary, will be suspended. The Commanding officers of Brigades and Regiments are requested to cause Divine Services...to be performed....
"Soldiers! We have sinned against Almighty God. We have forgotten His signal mercies, and have cultivated a revengeful, haughty and boastful spirit. We have not remembered that the defenders of a just cause should be pure in His eyes. That our lives are in His hand, and we have relied too much on our own arms for the achievement of our independence.
"God is our only refuge and our strength. Let us confess our many sins and beseech Him to give us a higher Courage, a purer patriotism and more determined will. That He will convert the hearts of our enemies, that He will hasten the time when war with its sorrows and sufferings shall cease, and that he will give us a name and place among the nations of the Earth...."
Provenance:
Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang Foundation (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 4 December 1981, lot 1197, misdating the document 23 March 1863; prior to Gettysburg).
Provenance