GENERAL LEE AND COLONEL MARSHALL LEAVING MCLEAN’S HOUSE AFTER THE SURRENDER.
From a sketch made at the time.
were coming and going, so that I was unable to write without interruption until about 10 o’clock, when General Lee, finding that the order had not been prepared, directed me to get into his ambulance, which stood near his tent, and placed an orderly to prevent any one from approaching me.
“ I sat in the ambulance until 1 had written the order, the first draft of which (in pencil) contained an entire paragraph that was omitted by General Lee’s direction. He made one or two verbal changes, and I then made a copy of the order as corrected, and gave it to one of the clerks in the adjutant-general’s office to write in ink. I took the copy, when made by the clerk, to the general, who signed it, and other copies were then made fox-transmission to the corps commanders and the staff of the army. All these copies were signed by the general, and a good many persons sent other copies which they had made or procured, and obtained his signature. In this way many copies of the order had the general’s name signed as if they were originals, some of which I have seen.”
Note —The text of the order as issued was as follows:
“ Headquaeteks, Army of Northern Virginia, April 10th, 1865. After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them, but, feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have attended the continuation of the contest, I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.
“ By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes, and remain there until exchanged. Vim will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray tha t a merciful God will extend to you his blessing■ and protection.
“ With an increasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generoxis consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell. B. E. Lee, General.”
commanders lifted their hats and said good-by. Lee rode back to his camp to take a final farewell of his army, and Grant returned to McLean’s house, where he seated himself on the porch until it was time to take his final departure. During the conference Ingalls, Sheridan, and Williams had askedpermission to visit the enemy’s lines and renew their acquaintance with some old friends, classmates, and f ormereomrades in arms who were serving in Lee’s army. They now returned, bringing with them Cadmus M. Wilcox, who had been General Grant’s groomsman when he was married;
Longstreet, who had also been at his wedding; Heth, who had been a subaltern with him in Mexico, besides Gordon, Pickett, and a number of others. They all stepped up to pay their respects to General Grant, who received them very cordially and talked with them until it was time to leave. The hour of noon had now arrived, and General Grant, after shaking hands with all present who were not to accompany him, mounted his horse, and started with his staff for Washington without having entered the enemy’s lines. Lee set out for Kiehmond, and it was felt by all that peace had at last dawned upon the land. The charges were now withdrawn from the guns, the camp-fires were left to smolder in their ashes, the flags were tenderly furled,—those historic banners, battle-stained, bullet-riddled, many of them but remnants of their former selves, with scarcely enough left of them on which to imprint the names of the battles they had seen,—and the Army of the Union and the Army of Northern Virginia turned their backs upon each other for the first time in four long, bloody years.
GENERAL LEE’S FAREWELL ADDRESS TO HIS ARMY.
is taken from a letter written by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Marshall, of General Lee’s staff, to General Bradley T. Johnson, dated Sep. 27th, 1887: “General Lee’s order to the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House was written the day after the meeting at McLean’s house, at which the terms of the surrender were agreed upon. That night the general sat with several of us at a lire in front of his tent, and after some conversation about the army, and the events of the day, in which his feelings toward his men were strongly expressed, he told me to prepare an order to the troops. “ The next day it was raining, and many persons
his hat. The officers present gave a similar salute, and then grouped themselves around the two chieftains in a semicircle, but withdrew out of ear-shot. General Grant repeated to us that evening the substance of the conversation, which was as follows : Grant began by expressing a hope that the war would soon be over, and Lee replied by stating that he had for some time been anxious to stop the further effusion of -blood, and he trusted that everything would now be done to rest ore harmony and conciliate the people of the South. He said the emancipation of the negroes would be no hindrance to the restoring of relations between the two sections of the country, as it would probably not be the desire of the majority of the Southern people to restore slavery then, even if the question were left open to them. He eould not tell what the other armies would do or what course Mr. Davis would now take, but he believed it would be best for their other armies to follow his example, as nothing could be gained by further resistance in the field. Finding that he entertained these sentiments, General Grant told him that no one’s influence in the South was so great as his, and suggested to him that he should advise the surrender of the remaining armies and thus exert his influence in favor of immediate peace. Lee said he could not take such a course without consulting President Davis first. Grant then proposed to Lee that he should do so, and urged the hastening of a result which was admitted to be inevitable. Lee, however, was averse to stepping beyond his duties as a soldier, and said the authorities would doubtless soon arrive at the same conclusion without his interference. There was a statement put forth that Grant asked Lee to see Mr. Lincoln and talk with him as to the terms of reconstruction, but this was erroneous. I asked General Grant about it when he was on his deathbed, and his recollection was distinct that he had made no such suggestion. I am of opinion that the mistake arose from hearing that Lee had been requested to go and see the “ President ” regarding peace, and thinking that this expression referred to Mr. Lincoln, whereas it referred to Mr. Davis. After the conversation had lasted a little more than half an hour, and Lee had requested that such instructions be given to the officers left in charge to carry out the details of the surrender, that there might be no misunderstanding as to the form of paroles, the manner of turning over the property, ete., the conference ended. The two
EOBEET E. LEE.
From a photograph taken before the war.
That evening I made full notes of the occurrences which took place during the surrender, and from these the above account has been written.
There were present at McLean’s house, besides Sheridan, Ord, Merritt, Custer, and the officers of Grant’s staff, a number of other officers and one or two citizens who entered the room at different times during the interview.
About 9 o’clock on the morning of the 10th General Grant with his staff rode out toward the enemy’s lines, but it was found upon attempting tojxass through that the force of habit is hard to overcome, and that the practice which had so long been inculcated in Lee’s army of keeping Grant out of his lines was not to be overturned in a day, and he was politely requested at the picket-lines to wait till a message eould he sent to headquarters asking for instructions. As soon as Lee heard that his distinguished opponent was approaching, he was prompt to correct the misunderstanding at the picket-line, and rode out at a gallop to receive him. They met on a knoll that overlooked the lines of the two armies, and saluted respectfully, by each raising
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