CHAPTER XXXII.

THE APPOMATTOX CAMPAIGN AND LEE'S SURRENDER. N Sunday, April 2, 1865, the day following the defeat of Pickett at Five Forks, the day of the breaking of the Petersburg lines and the death of A. P. Hill, General Lee sent the following dispatch to Gen. J. C. Breckinridge, the Confederate secretary of war: I see no prospect of doing more than holding our position here till night. I am not certain that I can do that. If I can I shall withdraw to-night north of the Appomattox, and, if possible, it will be better to withdraw the whole line to-night from James river. The brigades on Hatcher's run are cut off from us; the enemy have broken through our lines and intercepted between us and them, and there is no bridge over which they can cross the Appomattox this side of Goode's or Beaver's, which are not very far from the Danville railroad. Our only chance, then, of concentrating our forces is to do so near the Danville railway, which I shall endeavor to do at once. I advise that all preparation be made for leaving Richmond to-night. I will advise you later, according to circumstances.

This dispatch was received in Richmond at 10:40 of the morning of Sunday, April 2, 1865, and was at once sent to President Davis, who was at that time attending service at St. Paul's church, not far from the war department. He at once left the church and preparations were begun for the immediate evacuation of Richmond; and late in the day the officials of the Confederate States government took a train for Danville, and those of the State of Virginia started toward Lynchburg.

On the afternoon of the 2d, at 4:55, a dispatch from General Lee read:, "I think the Danville road will be safe until to-morrow;" but at 7 p. m. he communicated:

It is absolutely necessary that we should abandon our position to-night or run the risk of being cut off in the morning. I have given all the orders to officers on both sides of the river, and have taken every precaution that I can to make the movement successful. It will be a difficult operation, but I hope not impracticable. Please give all orders that you find necessary in and about Richmond. The troops will be directed to Amelia Court House.

On the 5th of April the most of Lee's army reached Amelia Court House, where, he had been officially informed, he would find a food supply for his army. Of this he subsequently wrote: "Not finding the supplies

ordered to be placed at Amelia Court House, nearly twenty-four hours were lost in endeavoring to collect in the country subsistence for the men and horses. The delay was fatal and could not be retrieved." That day General Grant, accompanied by the Second and Sixth corps, reached the Richmond & Danville road at Jetersville, beyond Amelia Court House, and placed a superior force across Lee's advance. It is more than probable that if Lee could have rationed his army at Amelia Court House, he would have pushed his way through Sheridan's opposition and marched to Danville. The same night the

Ninth corps, following along the Southside railroad, reached Nottoway Court House, within a short march of Burkeville Junction of the Richmond & Danville road. It was evident, and doubtless well known by Lee, that the entire Federal army could now be concentrated, in a few hours, to oppose his march toward Danville and a junction with Johnston. Under these circumstances, on the night of the 5th, Lee left Amelia Court House and marched northward and westward, seeking to reach Farmville, on the way to Lynchburg as his objective, hoping to thus place his army west of Grant and in a position to draw supplies from the depot at Lynchburg.

On the 6th, Sheridan's cavalry, accompanied by the Sixth corps, interposed between the breaks in Lee's marching columns at the passage of Sailor's creek, not far from where that stream enters the Appomattox. Lee's strong arm, the artillery, which had always rendered most efficient service whenever called on, was not at hand in this emergency, and the Federal Second corps fell upon the rear guard of the Confederate Second corps under Gordon, and captured nearly 8,000 of Lee's men, together with Generals Ewell, Kershaw, Hunton, Corse, DuBose and G. W. Custis Lee. Many of those captured were the men that Ewell had brought, from the immediate defenses of Richmond, to Lee at Amelia Court House, following the highway along the Richmond & Danville railroad.

Reaching Farmville on the 6th, Lee found bread and meat for his men, whose principal subsistence since leaving Petersburg had been parched corn. On the 7th, four miles beyond Farmville, Lee formed line of battle in opposition to Crook's cavalry and the Federal Second corps and repulsed their attack.

From Farmville, Lee had turned northward to the old Richmond and Lynchburg stage road, on the north side of the Appomattox river, and on the 8th he was striving, by that circuitous way, to again get beyond Grant's advance and reach Lynchburg, which was now his objective point. Sheridan's cavalry, accompanied by Gibbon with the Twenty-fourth infantry corps, following the more direct and shorter road, secured possession of the Lynchburg road at Appomattox station in the afternoon of the 8th, and effectually blocked Lee's further progress toward Lynchburg.

On the morning of the 7th, from Farmville, Grant, as he says, "feeling now that General Lee's chance of escape was utterly hopeless," sent the following letter to General Lee:

GEN. R. E. LEE:

General: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the army of Northern Virginia. U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.

Early on the morning of the 8th, while still at Farmville, Grant received the following reply, dated the 7th:

LIEUT. GEN. U. S. GRANT:

General: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender. R. E. LEE, General.

To this Grant immediately sent the following reply:

GEN. R. E. LEE:

General: Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same date, asking the condition on which I will accept the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply I would say that, peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, namely, that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against the government of the United States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia will be received. U. S. GRANT.

The Federal pursuit was resumed at the same time, Meade following Lee north of the Appomattox, while Sheridan, with the Twenty-fourth and Fifth corps, pushed

forward by the direct road to Appomattox station, where the stage road to Lynchburg, the one Lee was following, reaches and crosses the Southside railroad. Lee turned upon Meade with frequent contention, during the 8th, holding him back by his rear guard. Late in the afternoon Sheridan reached Appomattox station, drove away Lee's advance guard and "captured twenty-five pieces of artillery, a hospital train, and four trains of cars loaded with supplies for Lee's army," writes Grant in his report. About midnight of that day, April 8th, Grant, who accompanied Meade in following after Lee, received the following note from the latter:

LIEUT.-GEN. U. S. GRANT:

General: I received at a late hour your note of today. In mine of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think that the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army, but as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the army of Northern Virginia, but as far as your proposal may affect the Confederate States forces under my command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 a. m. to-morrow, on the old stage road to Richmond, between the picket lines of the two armies. R. E. LEE, General.

On the morning of the 9th of April, when Lee found that Grant's infantry had possession of the road he was following toward Lynchburg, he said, with suppressed emotion: "There is nothing left but to go to General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths." Then, after a thoughtful pause, he added: "How easily I could get rid of this and be at rest. I have only to ride along the line and all will be over. But it is our duty to live. What will become of the women and children of the South, if we are not here to protect them?" At about this time he received, in reply to his of the 8th, the following note, of the 9th, from General Grant:

GEN. R. E. LEE:

General: Your note of yesterday is received. As I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace the meeting proposed for 10 a. m. to-day could lead to no good. I will state, however, General, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole North entertain the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Sincerely hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself,

U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.

On the morning of Sunday, April 9th, just as Lee's advance was making a desperate charge in endeavoring to break through Sheridan's cavalry at Appomattox station, the Fifth and Twenty-fourth corps of Federal infantry advanced and drove back the Confederate charge. At about that time a white flag was sent, from the Confederate lines, "requesting a suspension of hostilities, pending negotiations for a surrender." Lee at this juncture, accepting the inevitable, addressed the following note to Grant:

LIEUT.-GEN. U. S. GRANT:

General: I received your note of this morning on the picket line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army. I now ask an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose.

R. E. LEE, General.

After dispatching this reluctantly written note, General Lee exchanged his war-worn uniform for a new one that he had in his baggage, and rode to Appomattox Court House, where arrangements had been made for the solicited interview between General Grant and himself, at the house of a Mr. McLean, who had removed to this remote place from the battlefield of Manassas, in which he was living in July, 1861, only to have in his new house, four years later, the closing scene of the bloody drama of the great civil war.

The two great commanders soon met, and after a brief but courteous interview, the terms of surrender were agreed to and formulated in the following correspondence: Appomattox Court House, Va., April 9, 1865.

GEN. R. E. LEE:

General: In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate; the officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside. U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.