Existing comment:
When the Confederates surged into the clearing around the Chancellor House, Lee followed them, certain that victory was now his. Amidst the scene of carnage, Confederates who saw Lee cheered. The moment would become part of Confederate lore.
"The first soldiers with their faces blackened with the smoke of battle, the wounded crawling with feeble limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with a common impulse. One long, unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of those who lay helpless on the earth blended with the strong voices of those who still fought, rose high above the roar of battle, and hailed the presence of the victorious chief. He sat in the full realization of all that soldiers dream of -- triumph; and as I looked upon him in the complete fruition of the success with his genius, courage, and confidence in his army had won, I thought that it must have been from such a scene that men in ancient days rose to the dignity of gods..."
-- Maj. Charles Marshall, Aide-de-Camp to Gen. R.E. Lee |