n-chief was an ordinary army blanket, and his fare
was plainer, perhaps, than that of the majority of his officers and
men. This was the result of an utter indifference, in Lee, to personal
convenience or indulgence. Citizens frequently sent him delicacies,
boxes filled with turkeys, hams, wine, cordials, and other things,
peculiarly tempting to one leading the hard life of the soldier, but
these were almost uniformly sent to the sick in some neighboring
hospital. Lee's principle in so acting seems to have been to set the
good example to his officers of not faring better than their men;
but he was undoubtedly indifferent naturally to luxury of all
descriptions. In his habits and feelings he was not the self-indulgent
man of peace, but the thorough soldier, willing to live hard, to sleep
upon the ground, and to disregard all sensual indulgence. In his other
habits he was equally abstinent. He cared nothing for wine, whiskey,
or any stimulant, and never used tobacco in any form. He rarely
relaxed his energies in any thing calculated to amuse him; but, when
not riding along his lines, or among the camps to see in person that
the troops were properly cared for, generally passed his time in close
attention to official duties connected with the well-being of the
army, or in correspondence with the authorities at Richmond. When he
relaxed from this continuous toil, it was to indulge in some quiet and
simple diversion, social converse with ladies in houses at which he
chanced to stop, caresses bestowed upon children, with whom he was
a great favorite, and frequently in informal conversation with his
officers. At "Hayfield" and "Moss Neck," two hospitable houses below
Fredericksburg, he at this time often stopped and spent some time in
the society of the ladies and children there. One of the latter, a
little curly-headed girl, would come up to him always to receive her
accustomed kiss, and one day confided to him, as a personal friend,
her desire to kiss General Jackson, who blushed like a girl when Lee,
with a quiet laugh, told him of the child's wish. On another occasion,
when his small friend came to receive his caress, he said, laughing,
that she would show more taste in selecting a younger gentleman than
himself, and, pointing to a youthful officer in a corner of the room,
added, "There is the handsome Major Pelham!" which caused that modest
young soldier to blush with confusion. The bearing of General Lee
in these hours of