San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1883-08-02
GRANT AND LEE.
-. Hero Of ippomatiox Interrupts Bank Bust.
ness with His "Reminiscences.

ness win HIS heminiscences.
A gentleman in this neighborhood,
IA If the directors of the United
States national Bank of New York,
y which General Grant is also a di.
ssctor. has told of most interesting
'nseting of the board of directors q
hort time ago. The narrator of the
incident had been reading Sheridan
syticle of Lees surrender in the North
American Repiep, and when General
Grant entered, after all the members
# the board had assembled, he men
toned to him what he had been read
mo and asked him if he had any OBJ
lection to gratifying those present by
b;s personal "reminiscences of that
momentous occasion. For once Gen
sral Grant was in the humor to talk
and talked well for over an hour on
ali branches of the subject, giving a
clear, concise history of the days pre-
ceding the surrender and all events
connected with it. The narrator says
all present were thrilled by the recital
and the bank books were closed by
the vice-president of the bank, who
declared the meeting adjourned to
listen to this chapter of his
tory. General Grant himself showed
much emotion at times. In speaking
Of the meeting of himself and Gen
eral Lee when the latter came to az
range with him the terms of surren-
der, he said that they shook hands as
old comrades in the army, and first
talked over West Point experiences
and those of their army life at the
same stations elsewhere in matter
of-course way,as if they had met again
under ordinary circumstances. Then,
when General Lee said to him, Gen
eral Grant, we come here, each repre-
senting our own country, to treat with
each other" "Not so," firmly said
General Grant, I'VE do not represent
two countries, but one." He said that
more than once. When General Lee
used the same form of expression he
interrupted him, insisting that but
one nation was represented by both of
them. His whole idea, as understood
by his auditors, was to convey to
General Lee the impression that it
was not two foreign nations that had
warred against each other, but a pa
ternal government which, having suf-
fciently chastised naughty child,
was willing to forgive and receive the
child again as a child on conciliatory
terms.
General Grant said he sat down at
the table in the memorable McClean's
farm house, and wrote out the terms of
the surrender, and when General Lee
saw them, and he General Grant,
said to him: "Let your officers and
men keep their horses; we do not
want them, and they will need them,
for it will soon be time for them to
begin their farming; l want all of
you to take your horses home with
you" General Lees eyes filled with
tears, and he said more than once, as
he read the terms of the surrender,
"This will have a splendid effect at
the SOUTH"
General Grant further said to him:
Now this war should be all over.
You, with your influence at the south,
should see to it that not another gun
is fired, not another life lost. After
this a life lost in any fight should be
murder, and you can prevent it. !"
General Lee answered: "WeD, [ will
speak to Mr.. Davis about it," General
Grant, in telling the story, added, If
that had been Joe Johnston instead,
of Lee, he would never have said that.
He would himself have assumed the
responsibility that the war should be
over on his side,as I did on mine, but
Lee did not like to take the response
bility of making that pledge to stop
the fighting at once until he had con-
suited with Davis. "-Eschange.