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. . . Longstreet continued, stating that these personal calamities heaped, as they were, upon pressing military considerations began to weigh mightily upon Lee. “I could see fissures opening in his usually stoic composure.’ He said that no one outside of Lee’s immediate staff (and not all of them) perceived Lee’s condition; not his subordinate commanders and most certainly no one in his army. To them Lee remained the man of steel, the ultimate commander, the one man all could place their faith upon and never be forsaken or disappointed. ‘But I knew. I was aware of the pressures building in Lee and saw them working upon him. I never during my life felt more compassion for any man as I did for Lee during that period.’ . . .
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