The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1877-07-21
Lees Surrender-A Dramatic Account
by an Eyewitness of the Clos
ing Scenes Of the War of
the Rebellion.

ing Scenes Of the War of
the Rebellion.
From General IL. sharpe's Decoration Day Address |
remember-and it was recalled to me
tonight in conversation. when the name
of General Grant came up in the course
of conversational wonderful scene
that transpired in that little place in
Virginia, on the 9th of April, 1865. 1t
was late in the afternoon when it became
known that General Lee had sent for
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 belief that
the surrender took place under an apple
tree, where Grant and Lee met and ex-
changed 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 passage
way running through the center of it.
In that little room where the meeting
took place sat two young men-one n
great-grandson of Chief Justice Marsha Il
of the Supreme Court, reducing to writ
ing the terms of the surrender on behalf
of Robert E. Lee; the other man with
dusky countenance-a great-nephew of
that celebrated chief, Red Jacket-act-
ing under General Grant They two
were reducing to writing the terms of the
surrender of the Army of Northern
Virginia to the Army of the Potomac.
Gathered round 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 appear
ance. His hair was white as the driven
snow. There was not a speck upon his
coat; not spot upon those gauntlets
that he wore, which were as bright and
as fair as a lady's glove. That was
Robert f.. Lee. The other was Ulysses
;. Grant, whose appearance contrasted
strangely with that of Lee his boots were
nearly covered with mud one button of
his coat-that is, the button-hole was
not where it should have been, it had
clearly gone astray, and he wore no
sword, while Lee was faultlessly and
fully equipped. The conversation was
not rapid by any means. Everybody
felt the overpowing influence of the
scene. Everybody present felt they were
witnessing the proceedings between the
two chief actors in one of the most remark
able transactions of the nineteeth century.
The words that passed between Grant
and Lee were few. General Grant,
endeavoring to apologize for not being
fully equipped, and noticing the fault
less appearance of Lee, while the secre-
taries were busy, said: General Lee,
| have no sword; | have been riding all
night" And Lee, with that GOODNESS of
manner and all the pride, almost
haughtiness, which, afterall, 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; 81 don't always wear 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
surrender his sword Lee only bowed
again. Another, trying to relieve the
awkwardness of the occasion, inquired I:
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 re-
piled; ~ left him at the White House
on the Pamunkey River, and have not
seen him since" There was one moment
when there was whispered conversation
between Grant and Lee which nobody in
the room heard.
The surrender took the form of
correspondence; the letters were all signed
in due form by the chief actors, in the
presence ofeach other. Finally, when the
terms of the surrender had all been ar
ranged, and the surrender made, Lee
arose, cold and proud, and bowed to every
person in the room on our side. | re-
member each one of us thought he had
been specially bowed to. And then he
wentout and passed down the little square
in front of the house, and bestrode that
gray horse that had carried him all over
Virginia; and when he had gone away,
we learned what that whispered CONVEX
sation 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 quarter
masters" etc. General Lees army is
on the point of starvationl' And
twenty-five thousand rations were carried
to the army of Northern Virginia.