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The newspapers of the South, and especially of Richmond, were very bitter against General Scott for not siding with Virginia, his native State, in the contest; but General Lee always spoke of his old friend in terms of high respect, while regretting that he did not see it to be his duty to come with his State. Soon after he took command of the Virginia forces a friend called to see him one day accompanied by his five-year old boy, a sprightly little fellow, whom the General soon had dandling on his knee. Soon the father asked Henry: ‘What is General Lee going to do with General Scott?’ The little fellow, who had caught the slang of the times, at once replied: ‘He is going to whip him out of his boots.’ General Lee's voice and manner instantaneously changed, and lifting Henry down he stood him between his knees and looking him full in the face said with great gravity: ‘My dear little boy you should not use such expressions. War is a serious matter and General Scott is a great and good soldier. None of us can tell what the result of this contest will be.’ All through the war he was accustomed to speak of General Scott in the kindest terms, and a short time before his own death I heard him, in a company of gentlemen at Lexington, Va., pay a warm tribute to the memory of his old friend and esteemed commander. General Scott was even more demonstrative in his expressions of admiration and friendship for Lee. His dispatches and official reports from Mexico were filled with the warmest commendations of his favorite engineer officer. Of his services during the siege of Vera Cruz, General Scott wrote: ‘I am compelled to make special mention of Captain R. E. Lee, engineer. This officer greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Vera Cruz.’ In his report of Cerro Gordo he mentions several times the efficient service which Captain Lee performed, and says: ‘This officer was again indefatigable during these operations in reconnoissances, ’
Richmond, VA. 1883.
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