, 1879-10-04
THE SURRENDER AT APP0MATTox.
Gen. John u. Gordon on the Catcriftcn
History of th~ Ereat.

present Gen. Lee, Gen. tItzhugh Lee, as
head of the cavalry, and Pendleton, as chief
of the cavalry, ami myself. General Long
street was, / think, too busily engaged TO
attend. Gen. Lee then exhibited TO us the
correspondence he had had with Gen. Grant
that day and asked our opinion of the situa
ton. 1t seemed that surrender was inevi-
| table. The only chances OF escape was that
could cat a way for the army through the
| lines III front of me- Gen Lee asked Inc If
could do this replied. that | did not
| know what forces were IN front of me; that
then he had not-with his heavy masses OF
If Gen Ord had not arrived-as We thought
infantry, | could Ell: through. guaranteed
| that my men would cut way through all
| the cavalry that could be messed III front OF
| them. The council tinalls dissolved with
I the understanding; that the army snould be
surrendered If discovered the next morn
| ing after feeling the enemy's line, that the
infantry had arrived in such force that l
could not cut my way through.
My men were drawn up IN the little
town OF Appomattox that night. | still had
about 1000 men under me, the army had
been divided into two commands and gwen
to Gen. Longstreet and myself Early on
the morning OF the 9th | prepared for the
assault OF the encmy's line and began the
last lighting done in Virginia My men
rushed forward gamely and broke the line of
the enemy, aud captured two pieces OF artii-
| lery | was still unable to tell what l was
| fighting | did not know whether Was
| striking infantry or dIsmOunted cavalry.
only knew that my men were driving them
| back, ana were getting further and further
| through. just then 1 had message from
Gen. Lee, telling NE that flag OF truce Was
Ill existence, leaving 1t to my discretion as
to what course to pursue. My men were
| still pushing their way On l sent at once
| to hear from Gen. Lougstreet, feeling that II
he was marching towards me, We might still
cut through and carry the army forward.
| learned that he was abont two miles oil,
with his men faced Just opposite from mine,
| fighting for his life. | thus saw that the
task was hopeless. The further each OF us
drove the enemy the further We drltted apart
and the more exposed We lett our wagon
trains and artillery, which Was parked be-
tween us. Every time either OF us broke
only opened the gap the wider. | saw
plainly that the federals would soon rush IN
between US, and then there would have been
no army. | therefore determined to send a
flag OF truce | called Major Hunter, OF
| my staff, to me and told him that L wanted
hIm TO carry flag of truce forward. He re-
| piied:
General, | have no flag Of truce
- told him to get one. He replied:
General, We have no ias OF truce III
our command.'
Then SAID | &: Then get your handker
chief, put 1t on stick, and 50 forward.
! -. 1 have no handkerchief, General.
'TAen borrow one, and 20 forward with
it
"H tried, and reported to me that there
was no handkerchief IN my stall.
| "'Then, Major, use your shirt.
! - Iou see, General, that We all have on
! flannel shirts.
AT last, believe, We found man who
! had i white shirt He gaze 1t to Us, ami |
tore off the back and tail anil, rigging this
TO stick, Major Hunter went cut toward
the enemy's lines. 1 Instructed HIM simply
! to say IL Sen. Siieriidh that Gen Lee had
written that 4 iiIg OF truoe had been sent
from his and Grants headquarters, and that
he could act as he thought best on the irfor-
nation. In I. lew moments he came back
with MAJ. ot Sl.erIdaus Staii- Tins
officer said {:
"'Gen. Sheridan requested to present his
compliments to you, and ID demand the
unconditional surrender oi your army
- Major, you Will please nturn my conf
plinents 10 Gen. Sherman, and say that J
will not surrende.
- Bat, General, re VIII alalhilate you.
a. | am perfectly We aware of my situa-
ton. | simply gave Gen. Sherman SONS
information which he may or may not
desire TO act. i shaved Gen. SheridIa.. Gen.
Lees note, and he determined to awa.t
events. He dIsmouuted, and did the same.
Then, for the first time, the men seemed to
understand what it all meant. And then
the poor fellows broke dcwu. The men
cried like children. Worn. starved and
bleeding as they We're. they have rather had
died than have surrendered. At one word
from me they would have hurled themselves
Oh the encmy and have cat their way
guns IN their hands But | could not per-
mt 1t. The great drama had been played to
Its end. But men are seldom permitted to
look upon such scene as the one presented
here That these men should nlye wept at
surrenderlng so unequal tight at being
taken out of this constant carnage and
|
lies that they should have wept at having
their starved and wasted forms lifted ont OF
the jaws of death, and placed once more
| before their hearth stones, was an exhibition
of fortItude and patriotism that might set
an example for all time.
"Ah, sir, every ragged soldier that sur
rendered that day, from the highest to the
lowest, from the old veteran t. the beardless
s Al L..
| of gold in his breast. 1t made my heart
bleed for them, and sent the tears streaming
down my face, as | saw them surrender the
poor, ridGled, bautle-stained flags that they
had followed so often, and that had been
made sacred with the blood OF their COM
rades. The poor fellows would step for
wacd, give up the scanty ras that tney had
held so precious through TO many long and
weary years, and then turn and wrIag his
empty hands tcgc her, and bend their heads
in agony of grief Their sobs and the sobs
of their comrades eoald he heard for yard
around Others would tear the flags from
the staff and hide the precious rag III their
bosoms and hold it there. As Gen. Lee rode
down the lines with me and saw the men
crying, and heard them cheering Uncle
Robert with their simple bui pathetic re-
, marks, he turned to me ana sad, In broken
voice, oh, General, if it had ,nly been my
, lot to have fallen In one OF our battles, to
have given my life to this Cause that We
could not save' told him tiat he should
not feel that way. that he had lone al that
| mortal man could do, and that every man
, and woman In the south woUldieel this and
would make him feel it. No mo! he said,
there will be many who vii blame me.
But, General. l have the consolation Of
+ knowing that my conscience approves what
, have done. and that the army sustains me. ;
= In few hours the army vas scattered,
and the men went back to ther ruined and
dismantled homes, many of hem walking
all the way to Georgia aud Ahaama, all Of
them peIniless, worp.out and wsll-nigh heart
broken. Thus passed away Lees army !;
, thus were its last battles fought; thus was
it surrendered, and thus was th great Amer
lean tragedy closed, let "a al bPe. forever" !"
, THE election in the stkt OF Maine