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Lee's faith influenced every aspect of his life. Here, the prayerful General embellishes a decree
from Confederate President Jefferson Davis with a sincere prayer
for righteousness amongst the Confederate ranks.
Soldiers! We have sinned against Almighty God. We have forgotten his signal mercies, and
have cultivated a revengeful, haughty, and boastful spirit. We have not remembered that the
defenders of a just cause should be pure in his eyes; that "our times are in his hand"-and we have
relied too much on our own arms for the achievement of our independence. God is our only
refuge and our strength. Let us humble ourselves before him. Let us confess our many sins, and
beseech him to give us a higher courage, a purer patriotism and more determined will: that he ill
convert the hearts of our enemies: that he will hasten the time when war, with its sorrows and
sufferings, shall cease, and that he will give us a name and place among the nations of the
earth.