end.

The army had set the example of this implicit reliance upon Lee as
the chief leader and military head of the Confederacy. The brave
fighting-men had not taken his reputation on trust, but had seen him
win it fairly on some of the hardest-contested fields of history. The
heavy blow at General McClellan on the Chickahominy had first shown
the troops that they were under command of a thorough soldier. The
rout of Pope at Manassas had followed in the ensuing month. At
Sharpsburg, with less than forty thousand men, Lee had repulsed the
attack of nearly ninety thousand; and at Fredericksburg General
Burnside's great force had been driven back with inconsiderable loss
to the Southern army. These successes, in the eyes of the troops,
were the proofs of true leadership, and it did not detract from Lee's
popularity that, on all occasions, he had carefully refrained from
unnecessary exposure of the troops, especially at Fredericksburg,
where an ambitious commander would have spared no amount of bloodshed
to complete his glory by a great victory. Such was Lee's repute as
army commander in the eyes of men accustomed to close scrutiny of
their leaders. He was regarded as a thorough soldier, at once brave,
wise, cool, resolute, and devoted, heart and soul, to the cause.

Personally, the commander-in-chief was also, by this time, extremely
popular. He did not mingle with the troops to any great extent, nor
often relax the air of dignity, somewhat tinged with reserve, which
was natural with him. This reserve, however, never amounted to
stiffness or "official" coolness. On the contrary, Lee was markedly
free from the chill demeanor of the martinet, and had become greatly
endeared to the men by the unmistakable evidences which he had given
them of his honesty, sincerity, and kindly feeling for them. It
cannot, indeed, be said that he sustained the same relation toward the
troops as General Jackson. For the latter illustrious soldier, the men
had a species of familiar affection, the result, in a great degree, of
the informal and often eccentric demeanor of the individual. There
was little or nothing in Jackson to indicate that he was an officer
holding important command. He was without reserve, and exhibited none
of that formal courtesy which characterized Lee. His manners, on the
contrary, were quite informal, familiar, and conciliated in return a
familiar regard. We repeat the word _familiar_ as conveying precisely
the idea inten