Order from Gen. Lee to his army.
--The following order has been addressed by Gen. Lee to the Army of Northern Virginia:General Orders, No. 83. The President of the Confederate States has, in the name of the people, appointed the 21st day of August as a day of fasting, and humiliation and prayer. A strict observance of the day is enjoined upon the officers and soldiers of this army. All military duties, except such as are absolutely necessary, will be suspended. The commanding officers of brigades and regiments are requested to cause Divine services, suitable to the occasion, to be performed in their respective commands. Soldiers! we have sinned against Almightily 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 hands"--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 will 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.
R. E. Lee, General.
