It is the fashion, it would appear, in some quarters, to deny him this quality.

History will decide.
The merit of Lee was equally conspicuous, and his partial failure in the campaign was due to circumstances over which he had no control.
His plan, as was always the case with him, was deep-laid, and every contingency had been provided for.

He was disappointed in his aim by three causes which he could not foresee.

One was the great diminution of his force, owing to the rapidity of his march, and the incessant fighting; another, the failure in obtaining recruits in Maryland; and a third, the discovery by General McClellan of the "lost dispatch," as it is called, which revealed Lee's whole plan to his adversary.

In consequence of the "finding" of the order of march, McClellan advanced with such rapidity that the laggards of the Southern army on the hills north of Leesburg had no opportunity of joining the main body.