We have fought this fight as long, and as well as we know how. We have been defeated. For us as a Christian people, there is now but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation.

He soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander winning numerous battles against far superior Union armies. Union General Ulysses S. Grant's campaigns bore down on the Confederacy in 1864 and 1865 and despite inflicting heavy casualties Lee was unable to turn the war's tide.