The two officers shook hands courteously, and engaged in conversation. It was agreed that the Union commander should put his proposition in the form of a letter, to which

Grant imme.

"APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE, VA., April 9, 1865. "GENERAL:-In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to-wit: Rolls of all the 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 other 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 to sign a like parole for the men of their com mands. The arms, artillery, and public property, to be packed, 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 reside.

"U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General." To this memorandum General Lee responded as follows:

“HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

"GENERAL:-I received your letter of this date, containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.

"R. E. LEE, General."

No pen can describe the exultation of the men of both armies. For miles the hills and forests rang with the loud acclamations. Grant at once issued twenty thousand rations to the starving Confederates, and as fast as paroled they were furnished food and transportation to their homes by the government they had sought to destroy.

Johnston was in a hopeless condition in North Carolina. With Sherman and Schofield in his front and the victorious army of Grant in his rear, he could be instantly crushed beneath the Union forces. On April 14 he asked for a cessation of hostilities, preparatory to surrender. General Sherman accepted terms that were rejected by the Government, and Grant proceeded to Raleigh with full power to act in the premises. Arriving on the 24th, he acquainted Sherman with the views of the Government. Sherman at once communicated with Johnston, and the second day after Grant's arrival Johnston surrendered to Sherman on the same terms which were accorded to General Lee by Gen

eral Grant. On the 28th General Grant returned to his headquarters at Washington.

General Kirby Smith, who commanded the Rebel forces west of the Mississippi, surrendered his entire force to Major-General Canby on May 26. Thus the last Rebel band surrendered or dispersed to their homes, and the war was terminated. The number of Confederate prisoners surrendered was 174,223; the number of pris

oners in the hands of the Federal army was Confederate Flag. 98,802. The whole Union force under command of General Grant was 1,000,516.

The Rebel President Davis at the time of the fall of Richmond, fled, with other members of the government, to Danville; thence, accompanied by a small cavalry force, he endeavered to escape to some Southern seaport, and take ship for foreign lands. He was caught at Irwinsville in Georgia, on the morning of May 10.

On the 22d and 23d of May, the Union armies were reviewed at Washington by the President of the United States and his Cabinet and the Lieutenant-General. The splendid pageant was witnessed by the members of the diplomatic corps, and by numbers of citizens from all parts. of the Union, who had assembled to unite in this ovation to the volunteer soldiers of the Republic.

On the 2d of June General Grant took leave of all of the armies which had been so long guided by his genius. This address will be found in the Appendices to this volume.

The Commanding

THE CIVIL WAR had ended. General advised the reduction of the great armies,-a

work which was at once begun, and more fully noted in the succeeding chapter.

We cannot better close this record of General Grant than by quoting from the author of "Grant and his Campaigns," who says:

"Of General Grant's talents and character it is unnecessary to add a single word. Sagacious, brave, skillful, his strongest elemer.t subsidizing all the rest, is that tenacity of purpose, that iron will which was the characteristic of Wellington, and which won the Waterloo of the Great Rebellion.

"Closely connected with this is his moral courage. He dares to do right, without respect of persons or opinions. His reports are full of clear criticisms of his generals. Courteous and kind, he never regards private feelings where great public interests are at stake.

"Joined to these qualities is a modesty which displays itself in an unostentatious demeanor, and in great reticence at all times.

"He is an admirable judge of men. In this he is like the great Emperor. Grant's generals have been judiciously chosen, each for his specific work,-Sherman for Atlanta, Thomas for Nashville, Sheridan for the Shenandoah and Five Forks, Meade for the Army of the Potomac. And when they did well, no spice of envy ever kept him from rejoicing in their success, and awarding them the highest praise."