Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1865-04-12
Terms OF Gen: Lee,s surrender.

a Ut "
The opinion prevails in many quar-
sers that Gen. Grant, in fixing the terms
upon which he was willing TO accept the
surrender Of the rebel Army of North.
ern Virginia, has, in effect, taken the
amnesty power out 6f the hands Of the
President, and conferred pardon upon
Ial[the officers and men composing that
army. To sustain this opinion, the
closing sentencs Of Gen. Gtapt's letter
to Gen. Lee 10 quoted, as follows: ''This
done, each officer and man will be al
lowed TO return to their homes, not to
be disturbed by the United States au-
shOrities 80 long ,as they observe their
parole and the lalps in force, sohers they
reside This sentence, by itself, does
bear the construction given it by many
and among others the Dispatch. Bat
when viewed in the light Of the preced.
ing correspondence, it win be readily
seen that Gen. Grant meant nothing
more than indicated in his previous let.
ters. Let us examine that correspond,
enee onthe 9TH of April, Gen. Grant
writes Gen, Lee, that farther resistance
on his (Lee's) part is hopeless placing
the responsibility for any further, effnsion
Of bleod upon his shoulders, and asking
the surrender Of the Army Of .Northern
ID q ~ 20
Virginia. Gen. Lee replied by asking
Gen. Grants conditions of surrender.
In hrs letter of next day, 4priE Sh,
Gen. Grant says he insists upon one
condition only, viz; that the men sur
rendered shall be disqualified for taking
up arms again against The United States
until properly exchanged" THERE'S no
intimation of amnesty or pardon here.
All that is demanded is that the rebels
shall regard themselves as prisoners Of
war until exchanged. In honor they
are as much prisoners Of war as If con-
fined in Camps Douglas or Morton. e
Gen. Lee replies to these terms by
coyly declaring that he does not think
the emergency has arisen for the sur
render Of his army, but, cas- the rssto
ration ofpeaee should be the sole objecs
of all, = he is anxious to know whether
Grants proposals would tend to that
end" He, therefore, proposed per.
aonal interview, designating the place
Gen. Grant promptly disabuses the rebe
commanders mind, by emphatically del
claring, in his next letter, that he has
no authority to treat on the subject o
peace, and that q personal interview
based on presumption that he had
such power could not lead to any good
He expresses the opinion however, tha
the terms upon which peace can be had
are well understood. "By the South
laying down their arms, they viii hasten
that most desirable event, save thou.
sands Of human lives and hundreds of
millions of property not yet destroyed" I"
These are precisely the terms laid down
by President Lincoln on several differ
ent occasions, and, as Gen. Grant init
mates, cannot well be misunderstood. K
1t may be well to state that while this
correspondence was progressing, both
armies were in matchmaking forced
marches. Before il was concluded,
Gen. Ord, by extraordinary effort, had
planted his corps between Gen. Lee s
army and its only avenue of escape
Lynchburg.5 This seems TO have satis-
fed Gen. Lee that an ''emergsncy had
arisen calling for the surrender of his
army" and accordingly he asks Gen.
Grant TO state definitely what terms
were embraced in his proposition of the
Sth, with reference to the surrender of the
Army ofiNorthern Virginia. In reply to
this letter, Gen. Grant specifically sets
forth the terms, closing with the para
graph which seems to carry so much
comfort to the many rebel sympathizers,
and is quoted With such eommendation
by the Dispatch. In replying to this
letter Of Gen. Grants, Gen. Lee says of
the terms of surrender: As they are
substantially the same as those expressed
in your letter Of the STA inst, they =7Tt,
accepted. - This sentence shows thal
Gen. Lee regards himself aud his army
as prisoners of war until properly ex,
changed; and that they are to conduct
themselves, so far as their Intercourse
with each other and our Government il
concerned, as though they were held
under guard. s.5Iaag
We derive no pleasure in blasting
hopes, butt is a duty we oweto our Demo
cratic friends not to allow them to be
deceived by illusory hopes. The dream
l-of restoration to Office and power, by the
omnipotency of slavery, warmed into
new life, as they would have us believe,
By Grants pledge that all the rebels
composing Gen. Lees army shall be nm
disturbed, so long as they obserre TIC
lascs in force Thers tAss reside, is bu.
dream-yague, unmearing and withou,
the shadow of reality. is'1asa 1saI
| Suppose we eonclude that Gran,
meant that they should be undisturbed
in their rights and privileges so long
as they observed the laws in force shest
they may reside What laws are in
force there2 First and FOREMOST We
have the President proclamation, which
like the laws of the Medes and Persians
ehangeth not. This law IA in force