Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1871-06-26

rJSs9 c l|GSd7H SITiEpI Sr yS<ti at Sc i "rs rr
anu1D, D, ''''' ''-' : ''''
.--.-..--..- .--...----.-...------
wwo I,vnu,rEs or IJisrouy Lon
dan T,l.mr,m ,nnouucrs that. in the House Of
Inrls on Tuesday NIGHT. Earl Granville, in re-
nl,. f., ,n ;un,ir,. Concerning tn, treaty of
W,sL;n~tou said Arril 9, 1863. the day Of
Ir,'s surrender. had been selected us the date
,f thr termination ui the American war but
h, th,uoht claims for losses occurring S,tbSc-
nurnt wnuId be considered. This is one OF the
tir~t mhlir and official declarations perhaps
the very iirst-ryrr made regarding the fixing
nnnr nm :, snrcitic day ~ the one ON which the
,;v; war ended and il Isl little singular, per
han. that this frs: formal announcement
* mad, in Parliament rather than in Con
"r,.;s, and during the settlement Of Il for
uu ,j;snuto which arose out of our civil con
,rnvrrsy But in one rcspcc! roctica Justice is
,Inur since. ,s il was Mr.. Gladstone. the pres
cu premier of Enrland. who declared in Par
l;,mrnt that ...Ictf,rSon Davis had made Il
m,t;nn 50 now il is fitting that the foreign
secretary under Mr.. Gladstone should formally
,nno,ucr in Parliament when and how that
nnlion ended It's career.
Thrrc orc GOOD reasons why the 9th of April.
iSt;,, should go lntn history rs the formal date
Of the end of the war; Such Il selection would
r.. il accord with popular feeling and with
rnnmon sense, At first. it is true, there ap-
,,.rs nu,L il contradict this theory. I'm the
t,. ,l,rr il WAS NOT until the oGth of Anril
thar t,,ncrl ,Johusou's army, larger than
i,rn,r.L Irr's If the time Of narolc. surrender
rJ IT Durham station. 1t was not until the
>th 81 MAY that General Dick TAYLOR armies
ir Alahana aud MisSiSsippi surrendered 10
i,rnrr,l r,nly. rml not until the 9th that
D,yi> w,s c,nit,Ir,,l ;t !rwinsyilc. il Wa, not
mill thr ,rth of Nav that the various trans
Mi<Sissippi forces of Kirby Smith, Price, Ma
~r,drr and Bucknrr were surrendered hy the
I,,icr w oil;rrr f,; .t New Orleans Here. then, we
Lnyr = srrirs Of dates seeming to set = later
,nrn,;n,t;n tn H., war than the 9Th of Arril.
s;nr. ,hrr,. wore still hostil. armies in the field
In, moi ouly were these hostile armies in the
field ,i1,r the 9th of .Aprl, ISGj. but hostile
nnrr,tnus ON both sides. We all remember
the march Of the Sixth corps into southwestern
VIRGINIA. and the CORRESPONDING advance OF
Sherman. There were minor operations around
Mobile: and, willie NIosby. Rosser. .lackson and
White kent their cavalry moving in Virginia,
otlrr LEADERS Of detached forces further west,
such rs EcholS, Duke. Vaughn, jeff. Thomp-
SON RojJv and Irou, also continued GUERILLA
nnrrtnS,
Nevertheless. the surrender ut AppomattoX
Court House marks the close of the war, he
cause it was the drathblow to the contrGcracy.
Though there were othcrSubScpucnt movements
OF troops on both sides it was on all hands lclt
that the aii;,irw;ls practically ended. Wherever
aitcrward there was Skirnishing. it WAS because
the news Of Ice 5 surrender had not reached
the comlatantS and subsequent capitulatlnns
followed that of the army OF northern Virginia,
as effect follows cause. This great event, there
fore. is justly entitled to the place assigned to
il by the high commission rs dating the tcrml-
nation OF the war; and the large number OF
brcyct commissions, for ".alant and mcrltorl
ous services during the war, which date from
April q, 1860. indicate that Congress and the
military authorities long ago took the same
view On the other hand, it will be remember
rd th,t thc fiction ofa continuing state of war
v,, Lnnt nm far several months bv President
Jnbnsnn who ortin" under the war power.
cont n,tionol officers both civil and military.
'r',s ~ .,~nm ] tLc statrs comnosnu thc late contcd
or.o,. ~ ,nl - u;n;I.r t;ct;nn wos thereafter re-,
>.o"tod 80 i,,r rc,,,s l,,. Gonrrcss But this con-
] str,ct;r,. " ::Statr nr w,r wa> oulv designed for
Suesfon 1ussfv"aI of 'ary Esyp; operations. @ m ''
There is another landmark ol the war long
,s h,rinninr which mos, persons arrce to place
q, m ny "'N'S "i'o'' W. y "'' .I,.' ~ r.
i"' l'elG, aS'''''; W. "H'' ''i'''' a. "''u. 20
tact, preliminary operations hao pcch cohduct-
cd IN Charleston hIrbpr Tor some tlmc' by
he'"lT." u" Th ,'r "II r,"' " .nnnU';nn @ ,' ,r
passed by South Carolina ON the 2,'th OF De
lSGI s;miIar orj;n,urrs h,l been raSscd Iy
NJ; ;; Lr;I Ilr tr; ,r;
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