时间：2022-10-13 05:15:13
We all remember the eternal words from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address― “... that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was part of the ceremony to designate a piece of the Gettysburg Battlefield as a national cemetery for Union soldiers killed in that desperate fight. In his address, Lincoln, already thinking about reconstructing the war-torn country and healing the wounds of the people from both the South and North, never mentioned the word “enemy.” Nevertheless, the battle at Gettysburg lasted three days from July 1 to July 3, 1863, where some 165,000 Union and Confederate1 troops engaged in the bloodiest battle ever fought on U.S. soil. During the three fateful days, over 53,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were either killed or wounded. But, who were the enemy at Gettysburg that Lincoln didn’t mention? Today let’s chat about the enemy that was not.
The foe against the Union forces at Gettysburg were General Robert E. Lee (1807~1870) and his Army of Northern Virginia2. A graduate of West Point, Lee served in the Mexican-American War3 with distinction4. In 1852, Lee became the superintendent of West Point5. When the Civil War6 broke out, President Lincoln offered Lee the overall command of the Union Army, but Lee declined the offer. He felt that his first duty was to his home state, Virginia ―“With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home.” Lee resigned from the US Army and returned to Virginia; soon he was called to serve in the Confederate Army. In 1862, General Lee was given the command of the Army of Northern Virginia and later the overall command of all Confederate forces. General Lee was the single most fearsome foe to the North in the American Civil War.
General Lee won a series of victories against the North early on in the war. To take the initiative7, General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia invaded the North in the summer of 1863. Short on supply and manpower, Lee was seeking a decisive victory to force the North to come to the negotiating table. On July 1, 1863, confederate solders looking for supplies of shoes clashed with Union troops in the small Pennsylvania town, Gettysburg; the skirmish evolved into a three-day decisive battle in the Civil War. On the third day of the battle, feeling a victory was at hand, General Lee ordered the famous Pickett’s Charge8, where 13,000 confederate soldiers made a frontal assault on strongly defended Union positions, but most of the attackers perished under fierce Union fire. Observing the failed assault, General Lee rode out9 to meet the survivors and told them “it’s all my fault.”
After Gettysburg, General Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia in defending Richmond, Virginia, the Capital of the Confederacy, for another two years before he surrendered to General Ulysses Grant in Appomattox, Pennsylvania, on April 9, 1865.It is often said that the American Civil War was a war fought between brothers, friends, and even loved ones. Indeed, both Lee and Grant were West Point graduates and served in the Mexican-American War. During their meeting, the two generals from the opposing sides talked about the old times and old friends, and the victor showed a lot of consideration for the defeated.
Lee retired from the war and devoted the rest of his life to setting an example of conduct for other thousands of ex-confederates. He openly supported federal policies of reconstructing the country and applied for the citizenship of the United States. Out of the army, Lee was a man without work. An insurance company offered Lee $10,000 a year to use his name, but Lee declined the offer, saying that he could not accept money for work he did not do. In October, 1865, Lee accepted an offer from Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, as its president with a meager annual salary of $1,500―“I have a self-imposed task which I must accomplish. I have led the young men of the South in battle; I have seen many of them die on the field; I shall devote my remaining energies to training young men to do their duty in life.” As president, Lee made efforts to recruit not only students from the South but also from the North and laid down a single most important rule for his students: “We have but one rule, and it is that every student is a gentleman.” Lee died five years later and was buried on the campus of Washington College, now known as Washington and Lee University.
General Lee was admired for his loyalty, sense of honor, and above all his devotion to duty. His statues were erected in many major cities, including one in the Gettysburg Battlefield. Lee’s “Farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia” has been well remembered since the end of the Civil War:
After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.
I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles who have remained steadfast to the last that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them; but feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have attended the continuance of the contest, I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen. By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged10.
You may take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection. With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country11, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration of myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.
To this day, General Lee remains one of the most beloved solders in America.Due to misfiling of his application, Lee was not granted his US citizenship until 1975, more than a hundred years after his death.
I hope today’s chat means something to you.省略 if you have a question or would like to share a thought. Take good care and keep in touch.
（责编：张雯）
[解释]
1. Union = 美国南北战争时的联邦政府，以北方诸州为主。 Confederate = 南部11州联盟，包括 Virginia。
2. Army of Northern Virginia南部联盟的主力军。
3. Mexican-American War墨西哥与美国为争夺Texas的战争。
4. With distinction 表现出色。
5. West Point美国西点军校，位于纽约市北部哈德逊河畔西点镇。
6. The Civil War美国为消灭黑奴制度的南北战争, 1861 - 1865。
7. To take the initiative争取主动权。
8. Pickett’s ChargeGettysburg战役的第三天，南军以George Pickett将军的部队为主力，向北军发动正面进攻。
9. Rode out (Ride out)骑马向前。
10. Exchanged交换战俘。
11. Country 指南方联盟。