The result, at least, of the year's fighting, had been extremely
encouraging to the South, and after the battle of Fredericksburg no
attempts were made to prosecute hostilities during the remainder
of the year. The scheme of crossing above Fredericksburg proved a
_fiasco_, beginning and ending in a day. Thereafter all movements
ceased, and the two armies awaited the return of spring for further
operations.

XIII.

LEE IN DECEMBER, 1862.

Before passing to the great campaigns of the spring and summer of
1863, we propose to say a few words of General Lee, in his private and
personal character, and to attempt to indicate the position which
he occupied at this time in the eyes of the army and the country.
Unknown, save by reputation, when he assumed command of the forces in
June, 1862, he had now, by the winter of the same year, become one of
the best-known personages in the South. Neither the troops nor the
people had perhaps penetrated the full character of Lee; and they seem
to have attributed to him more reserve and less warmth and impulse
than he possessed; but it was impossible for a human being, occupying
so prominent a station before the general eye, to hide, in any
material degree, his main great characteristics, and these had
conciliated for Lee an exalted and wellnigh universal public regard.
He was felt by all to be an individual of great dignity, sincerity,
and earnestness, in the performance of duty. Destitute plainly of that
vulgar ambition which seeks personal aggrandizement rather than the
general good, and dedicated as plainly, heart and soul, to the cause
for which he fought, he had won, even from those who had denounced
him for the supposed hesitation in his course in April, 1861, and had
afterward criticised his military operations, the repute of a truly
great man, as well as of a commander of the first ability. It was felt
by all classes that the dignity of the Southern cause was adequately
represented in the person and character of the commander of her most
important army. While others, as brave and patriotic, no doubt, but of
different temperament, had permitted themselves to become violent and
embittered in their private and public utterances in reference to the
North, Lee had remained calm, moderate, and dignified, under every
provocation. His reports were without rhodomontade or exaggeration,
and his tone uniformly modest, composed, and uninflated. After his
most decisive successes, hi