A timely prayer

"Headquarters, Army Northern Virginia, August 13, 1863.

"The President of the Confederate States has, in the name of the people,
appointed August 21st as a day of fasting, 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 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 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 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."