The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-01-01
The Last Council Board in the
Southern Confederacy.
AWKWARD a. POLLARD.

EDWARD a. POLLARD
II has been generally written and con
.;iorod that the Southern Coniederacy
s' ' 10 a very uninteresting manner
l%,t there was no dramatic catastrophe
s s IS is generally supposed to terminate
t t1 GREAT games of war and empire. 1t is
wv. W, there was no final scene of arms conf
w" with the space and action of the
m ,D, great and multitudinous battle to
Wa and illuminate the end of an empire
. .hat more than half million bagonets had
snos horne on their crest Of steel. 1t was
y oha aat conclusion, the termination almost
@ s interest or dignity of a great con.
t n the inspiration and vitality CT which,
. ~ ona side, had been spent long before
III fbe final stroke of arms revealed the emp
t sav of the structure and brought it to
Va ' INST. The conclusion, indeed, is the
NO curious part of the history of the late
, war AT q single affair on the Petersburg
I T@ that took place in the hours Of a
. snrinr morning, the casualties Of which
, sore counted by hundreds, the Whole
o,yuc,pre of the Southern Confederacy
raee awsy-the great decorous pillar OF
fT;,cinia, wreathed with victories, fell, and
,be5 the broad and grant military sections,
one by one: the department of the Caro-
inns and Georgia, commanded by John
ston the Southwestern States commanded
by TAYLOR, the Trans Mississippi, COM
handed By Smith, these last almost with
ont a trial of arms, or q single incident oil
real and determined conflict. A mighty
ompire passed away as the baseless fabric
IA dream. The gates of Richmond, in
the approaches to which more than half d
million Of men had struggled, in sight OF
which battles of bloodiest volume had been
fought, until the very ground about it had
been kneaded with human flesh, at last
we're open to the enemy, without even a
sentinel to challenge the insolent invaders
Forty Massachusetts, cayalrymen, without
let or hindrance, rode into its streets, and
planted their guidons on the Capitol. 1t
was as the end of that empire which the
historian Gib5on has described as quickly
and grandy founded by Rienzi, "the last
ofthe Roman Tfibunes which assembled
and increased 10 the astonisbed gaze OIL
mankind until the vain inflated Tribune
brandished his sword to the four parts Of
the world, exclaiming, "this, too, is mlne;;'
but which, at last, enervated by misgov
erpment and debauched by party, persisted
miserab'y as in night. AT the head o.
one hundred and fifty soldiers, the Count
Of Mnorbino introduced himself into
Rome; barricaded the quarter OF the Co
Iona and found the enterprise as easy as
it had seemed impossible. From the first
alarm the bell of the Capitol necessarily
toiled j; but instead of repairing to TIE
well-known sound, the people were silent
and inactive; and the pusillanlmous Rlen
ri, deploring their insratitude with sigh;
aud tears, abdicated the government ant
palace of the republic"
The fall Of Richmond was the fatal even
of the Confederacy. The black banne
which the smoke from its coDfagratlon Sc
in the sky signaled from the Potomac t.
the Mississippi the end Of the war, tn
despair and submission OF the South. L
was under that sign that the army OF zen
Lee commenced its toilsome retreat, ant
the train of officials set out to find SOM
theater Of the war beyond Virginia, som'
remnant of a government, the annihllatloi
Of which they had not yet fully realized
We have said that in these last paihia
days Of the Confederacy there was but lit
tie Of dramatic scene TO heighten and adorr
the last act Of the tragedy. No grand ca
catastrophe mounted the stage. A latter
ed and travel-stained army moved through
the woods and on blind roads, with strag
Cling, distressed trains, its march dotted
with dead and famished soldiers, until
broken down by toll and hunger, it quetl,
surrendered, and, with mere instrumen
Of writing, laid down its arms at Appomat
tox Court House. Richmond had BEEF
deserted without conference there hat
been no final scene at the council board
no high debate, no official speech or inspi
ration that could properly mark the grea
historical interest Of the event. 1t was {
vulgar tumult in which the Confederate
Capital had been abandoned. Tame ant
unworthy were the last days of an empire
whose prowess had once challenged the
admiration of the world, whose arms hat
twice penetrated the enemy's territory
whose. two hundred cannon had beloved
Cor peace on the heights of Gettysburg
whose camp fires had more than once beer
lighted in the very foreground of Wash
ington.
But in this poverty Of scenery and Incl
dent in which the Southern Confederacy
persisted, there was yet one remarkable in
teryiew or council which has heretofore
been lost to the current and popular histo
RES ofthe war a scene which, though ia.
king place on small and obscure theater
vailed from public knowledge, is of intense
dramatic interest, and is likely yet to fur
nish the last illumiued page to some artist
ie historian Of the war, who, like Macau-
lay, shall produce the very images Of the
past along with the record of events. 1t
was the last interview, the last conference
oIJefsrson Davis and his officers. 1t took
place in little town in South Carolina
twas known only to the few men who
assembled there with their fugitive chief
yet was properly the scene of the wars
great drama. 1t lad dignity that had
not yet appeared in the final chapter of
misfortune, and it is memorable alike for
ITS artistic effects and its historical impor-
tance.
lac ex-President of the Confederacy
mad issued at Danville, Virginia, an inge-
nors and sanguiHe proclamation, which
possibly might have aroused his country
men to further efforts in the war, had not
Tue etfusion beer checked by the news Of
Oeneral Lees surrender. This event ap.
peased to determine the last hopes of the
ssoahern people, to convince them that
Af,aef prosecution of the war was useless,
aua even criminal in fruitless consump-
aen o. human life Not SO with MIR. Da-
~, tie was remarkable for sanguine
temperament, he had that disposition, at
vaSs lmperlous and weak, which, demand
h ~ 'nst all things must be as it wishes,
sSYieses them so; aud what the world
s srUu ". the swollen boasts of desperate
S ;Ri falling leader were really the sincere
AUS OF a proud man who never, in
wy, laty realized the extremity Of his
cause until ." tba l,o, al. to.ol IL, ,n,,tv -,