St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-08-10
Last pav Of the Lost cau.s.


dramatic account of Lees surrender at
AppomaitoN, the reading of which car
ries one hack to heroic and historic
days:
IL remember-and it was recalled to
me tonight in conversation when the
name of General Grant came up in the
;.;.":s" at nnversation-the wonderful
scene that transpired in that little place
in Virginia on the 9th of April, 1865.
Ii was late in the afternoon when it be-
came known that General Lee had sent
for General Grant to surrender to him.
1t was between two and three o'clock
when we met in the little room in the
house where the surrender of Lees army
took place. | know there is a be-
lief that the surrender took place under
an apple tree, where Grant and Lee
met and exchanged a few words.
The surrender took place in the left
hand room of that old-fashioned double
house. The house had a large piazza
which ran along the full length of it.
1t was one of those ordinary Virginia
houses with a passage way running
through the center of it. In that little
room where the meeting took place,
sat two young men-One great-grand-
son of Chief Justice Marshall of the Su-
preme Court, reducing to writing the
terms of the surrender on behalf of
Robert E. Lee the other Il man with
dusky cOuntenance-a great-nephew of
that celebrated chief, Red Jacket-act-
ing under Gen. Grant. The two were
reducing to writing the terms of the
surrender of the Army of Northern Vir-
LA of no
Gathered around the room were several
officers, of whom | was one.
AT some distance apart sat two men /;
one the most remarkable man of his
day and generation. The larger and
older of the two was the most striking
in his appearance. His hair was white
as the driven snow. There was not a
speck upon his coat; not a spot upon
those gauntets that he wore, which
were as bright and fair as a lady's glove.
That was Robert E. Lee. The other
was Ulysses S. Grant, whose appear
ance contrasted strangely with that of
Lee; his boots were nearly covered
with mud one button off his coat
that is, the buttOnhole was not where
it should have been-it had clearly
gone astray and he wore no sword,
while Lee was fully and faultlessly
equipped. The conversation was not
rapid by any means. Everybody felt
the overpOwering influence of the scene.
Every one present felt they were wit
Messing the proceedings between the
two chief actors in one of the most re-
markable transactions of this nineteenth
century. The words that passed be-
traa,, on1 90 Uara faw
General Grant-endeavOrin to apOl-
ogze for not being fully equipped, and
noticing the faultless appearance of
Lee-while the secretaries were busy
said General Lee, | have no sword ;
l have been riding all night And Lee,
with that coldness of manner and all
the pride-almost haughtiness-which,
after all, became him wonderfully well,
never made any reply, but in cold,
formal manner, bowed. And General
Grant, in the endeavor to take away
the awkwardness of the scene, said: Il
don't always wear a sword, because a
sword is a very incOnvenient thing
That was a remarkable thing for him
to say, considering that he was in the
presence of one who was about to sur
render his sword. Lee only bowed
again. Another, trying to relieve the
awkwardness of the occasion, inquired :
General Lee, what became of the white
horse you rode in Mexico? He might
not be dead yet, he was not so old
General Lee bowed coldly and replied
Il left him at the White House on the
Pamunkey river, and | have not seen
him since.' There was one moment
when there was whispered CONVERSE
ton between Grant and Lee which no.
body in the room heard.
The surrender took the form of cor
respondence the letters were all sign
ed in due form by the chief actors, in
the presence of each other. Finally,
when the terms of the surrender had all
been arranged, and the surrender made
Lee arose, cold and proud, and bowed
to every person in the room on our side.
l remember each one of us thought he
had been specially bowed to. And then
he went out and passed down the little
square in front of the house, and be-
strobe that grey horse that carried him
all over Virginia and when he had
gone away we learned what that whis-
pered conversation had been about.
General Grant called his officers about
him and said: You go to the Twenty
fourth, and you to the Fifth and SO
on, naming the corps, 'and ask every
man who has three ratiOns to turn over
two of them. Go to the cOmmissaries
and go to the quartermasters, ETC.,
General Lees army is on the point OF
starvationr And twenty-five thousand
ratiOns were carried to the army OF
Northern Virginia"
Mr.. GARRETT is THE FATHER OF THE
GREAT RIOT.-He has little or nc
knowledge of human nature, and had
experimental upon his operatives Sc
frequently and so successfully that he
had no idea they could make success
full strike. At last they had no alter
native but to strike or die. He never
kept up any relations of reciprocity OIL
sympathy with his men, and yet indulg-
ed the dream, at times, that his mere
monetary seccess would make him
president of the Urited States. People
in this country do not respect money
disassociated with democratic charity
Mr.. Garrett will hardly die with the
fame he expected. He is not popular
in Baltimore with the rich; he is not
known to the poor. A respectable man
in many respects, he forgot his plain
duty to the men he employed. He new.
er sought to improve their condition
though they were very faithful to his
interests. He cut down their pay three
times in the course of few months
and yet increased their work. Like