Four Years Under Marse Robert - Paperback

Union prisoner of war Robert Stiles single-handedly organized a system of food distribution for starving inmates during his tenure at Fort Lafayette in 1865. The major of artillery for the Army of Northern Virginia fed between 100 and 150 weary men each day, most of whom were officers of the Confederate armies. After the war, he retired to Bon Air, Virginia, where he formed a literary society called the Chautauqua Circle with a doctor and an engineer. The group felt that their town needed more cultural activity, so they decided to build a memorial library. Mr. Stiles contributed much to ensure its success, and he is now remembered as one of the co-founders of the Hazen Memorial Library in Bon Air. On June 7, 1893, he gave the address at the dedication of the Monument to the Confederate Dead at the University of Virginia. Marse Robert is one of the endearing nicknames by which Gen. Robert E. Lee's men referred to him.