Robert E. Lee: General Order No. 9

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Lee looked to continue the Civil War through 1865. His first mission early in the year was to evade Grant and evacuate Richmond and Petersburg in such a fashion as to render a pursuit difficult. However, his initial effort to achieve this proved a disaster when his attack on Fort Stedman of March 25 was soundly repulsed; a week later, after Grant took the offensive, Lee abandoned Richmond and Petersburg and headed west. Grant then launched a vigorous pursuit, cutting off Lee's efforts to venture into North Carolina and smashing his rear guard. Hungry and ill supplied, Lee's command began to disintegrate, until at last he accepted the inevitable and surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House.

By the next day, the staff officer Charles Marshall had drafted a farewell order, which Lee edited before issuing it to the twenty-five thousand or so men who remained in the ranks. The order states nothing about the cause for which the Confederates had been fighting; Lee suggests that the ultimate outcome was due to their being overwhelmed by superior Union numbers, and he commends the men on their bravery and sacrifice. These themes would help form the basis of what is sometimes called the mythology of the Lost Cause, including the notion that the Confederacy was overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers despite their soldiers' superior fighting ability. Lee concludes, “With an increasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous considerations for myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.”