themselves but were handicapped by thenmalignant campaign of the Radical Republicansnto paint all white Southernersnas monsters of evil. Under these circumstances,nthe noble bearing and virtuousnlife of Robert E. Lee became critically importantnas a Southern figure. Lee’snmodest postwar position in education—nitself a cornerstone of civic virtue—fit thenneed of the South with remarkable aptness.nThe campaigns of Virginia, whichnput him close to Washington and madenhim accessible to the journalists of thenNorth, had made Lee’s name far betternknown in the North than that of othernSouthern commanders in other areas.nTo this day the average Americannthinks of the Civil War in terms of Gettysburgnand Appomattox, and hardlyngives a thought to the occupation of NewnOrleans, the destruction of Atlanta ornthe activities of the other generals of thenConfederacy in other theaters of the war.nPopular critiques of Lee’s generalship arenvirtually nonexistent. Dr. Connelly isnone of the few to point out that Lee wasnoften rash and that he lost a great manynmen in a number of remarkably recklessnoffensives. That his marriage was difficultnis hardly a secret, though Lee wasnloyal to his vows and uncomplaining. Hisnwife was persistently unpleasant, and hisnsons lacked their father’s abilities. Lee’snattitude toward his daughters wasnsmothering, and they died spinsters. Leenwas in financial trouble nearly all his life,nand never really overcame these problems.nHe never owned a home of hisnown, and it was his sorrow that he lost thenestates his wife inherited when he chosento defend Virginia. His was a troublednlife, though it had its rewards. In essence,nRobert E. Lee was a Virginian. Hendefended his state, his family and hisnestate. He did not speak ardently in thisndefense until after the war had broughtnhis blood up—but it was very hot blood.nOne of the most important aspects ofnLee’s life has never been emphasized;nLee was not confirmed in the EpiscopalnChurch until he was forty-six years old.nTo me, this indicates a genuine conversion.nSomewhere along the line of hisnS6inChronicles of Culturenhard, frustrated life in the army, Leendiscovered his faith. The significance ofnthis is not often realized by unreUgiousnmodern scholars: it seems reasonable tonme to assume that from this point on Leenturned the results of all events over tonGod. That alone enabled him to surviventhe terrible experience of Appomattoxnand its aftermath. To say that such anman, with all his troubles, passions,nproblems and difficult mastery of selfnwas a saint is to drop the entire subject ofnRobett E. Lee to a lower level of understanding.nTo imply that he was virtuousnby nature and not by discipline is tonThe Obsolete Anguish &nNew Southern DancesnWillie Morris: Terrains of the Heartnand Other Essays on Home; YoknapatawphanPress; Oxford, Mississippi.nReynolds Price: The Source of Light;nAtheneum; New York.nLee Smith: Cakewalk; G.P. Putnam’snSons; New York.nBeverly Lowry: Daddy’s Girl; Viking;nNew York.nby James J. Thompson, Jr.nIn April of 1922 the first issue of ThenFugitive, a magazine of poetry, appearednin Nashville, Tennessee. This undertakingnhad been conceived by two VanderbiltnUniversity English professors, JohnnCrowe Ransom and Donald Davidson;nan arrogantly precocious smdent namednAllen Tate; and the other members of angroup of professors, students and townsmennwho met weekly to read and discussntheir poetry. Vanderbilt and Nashvillentook little note of the new magazine:nhow were they to know they were wit-nDr. Thompson is former associate editorno/Chronicles of Culture.nnnunderrate the size, scope and significancenof Lee’s victory over the circumstancesnof his life.nMr. Flood appears to have aimed atncreating a national hero out of Lee, whichnis an unnecessary undertaking. He wasncertainly an illustrious general, but thenfact remains that he was defeated innthe field by Ulysses S. Grant. There is nonreason why Grant should be regardednwith a patronizing contempt and thengeneral he defeated elevated to nationalnstature. Lee is a Virginian hero andna legend in the Lost Cause. Let him sonremain. Dnnessing the birth of modern Southern literature?nThe efflorescence that began innNashville in April of 1922 would makenthe American South a byword in the annalsnof 20th-century literature. Thennames associated with this floweringnform a litany that fiature generations ofnaspiring writers would recite as theyndozed off over their own unfinishednmanuscripts: Ransom, Davidson, Tate,nWarren, Wolfe, Caldwell, Lytic, Poner,nGordon, Welty, Williams, McCuUers,nO’Connor. In a class by himself standsnFaulkner, one of the few Americannnovelists worthy to enter the ring withnthe geniuses of the European novel. Thenmost backward region of America, annarea known primarily for its dashing soldiers,ngarmlous politicians, rumbustiousnpreachers and alluring women, becamenfor a time the literary capital of thenUnited States. The results of what hasnbeen called the “Southern renaissance”nare clear, but the causes have kept scholarsnbusy with research and speculation.nWhy this time and place? Can onenanswer this anymore than one can explainnwhy Elizabethan England producednShakespeare, Marlowe and Jonson?nIn the South’s case, perhaps it hadn