Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-30

once that the conditions were maunan-
imous, and would have very good eff
feet upon his army.
He next attempted to gain little
more. The horses of his cavalry, he
said, were the property of the soldiers.
Could these men be permitted to re-
tain their animalsP Grant said the
terms would not allow this. Lee took
the paper again. and glancing over it
said: mo, you are right. The terms
do not allow it" Whereupon Grant
replied: Il believe the war is now
over, and the surrender of this army
will be followed soon by that of all the
others. l know the men, and indeed
the whole south, are impoverished. /
will not change the terms of the sur
render, Gen. Lee, but / will instruct
my officers who receive the paroles to
allow the cavalry and artillery men to
retain their horses and take them home
to work their little farms Lee again
expressed his acknowledgement and
said this kindness would have the best
possible effect.
He then wrote out his letter in these
words:
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN
/ VIRGINIA, April 8, 1865. Lieut. Gen. u, S.
| GRANT, Commanding U. s. A.: General:--
nave received your letter of this date.
/ containing the terms of surrender of the
Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed
i Dy you; as they are substantially the same
as those expressed in your letter of the
otn INST, they are accepted. | will pro-
coed to designate the proper officers to car
ny the ,stipuations into effect. Very re-
! speeuully, your obedent servant
X. e. LEE, General.
While the conditions were being
copied the various union officers were
| presented to Lee. He was collected
and courteous, bowling to each, but
offered none his hand. One. Gen. Seth
Williams, who had served closely with
him in the old army, attempted to re-
vive old memories, but Lee repealed
the advance coldly. He was in no
mood to remember ancient friendships,
or to recall pleasantly his service in the
army OF which he was now prisoner
or under that flag which he had be-
trayed He had, however, another re-
| quest to make. His men were starving;
they had lived, he said, on two ears of
| corn day for several DAYS. Would
Grant supply them with food? There
was train of cars at Lynchburg load
ed with rations which had come from
Danville for his army Would Grant
| allow them to be distributed among the
| prisonersp Grant, however, told him
that this train had been captured the
day before by Sheridan. Thus, at the
moment of his surrender Lee was abso-
lutely dependent for supplies upon his
conqueror. Grant, of course, acquies-
ced in the request and asked how many
rations Lee required. But the con-
tederate general declared that he could
not answer the question. He had no
idea OF his own strength. No return of
the brigades had been made for several
| days. Besides those lost in tie battle
killed, captured, and wounded or left
on the roadside-the men had been de-
serting and struggling by the thou
sands. He could not tell what number
he had left. All his public and private
papers had been DESTROYED to prevent
| their falling into the federal hands.
Grant finally inquired if $4,000 rations
would suffice, and Lee replied he
thought that number would be enough.
Twenty-Five thousand, therefore, was
Lees estimate mt Appotnattox of the
number he surrendercd. Grant turned
to the officer of the commissariat on
his staff and directed him to issue 25,-
600 rations that night To the Army of
| Northern Virginia. Tho order was
obeyed, and before the colfederates
| gave up their arms they were fed by
| their enemies. Lee also requested
Grant to notify Meade of the surrender,
so that no lives might be needIessly
lost on that front, and on account OF
the distance to Meade's headquarters
two union officers were again dis
! patched with confederate escort
through the lines of the Army of
| Northern Virginia, this time carrying
| the news of the surrender OF that army.
CLOSING SCENES.
The formal papers We're now signed.
few more words were exchanged by
the men who had opposed each other
so long, they again shook hands, and
Lee went to the porch. The union
officers followed and salutrd him, and
the military leader OF the rebellion
mounted his horse and rode off TO his
army, he and his soldiers prisoners of
war. As the great confederate entered
| his own lines the men rushed up to
their chief, breaking ranks, and sirug-
Cling to touch his hand. Tears
streamed dowa his cheeks as he said:
"Men, we have fou rht through the
war together ] have done the best
could for You" They raised Il few
broken cheers for the leader they had
followed in so many 4 fierce battle and
arduous march, and the career of the
Army of Northern Virginia was ended
Grant also returned at once to his
headquarters, now pitched almost at
the front of Sheridan's command AS
he approached the union lines the news
had passed before him and the firing of
salutes began, but he sent at once to
stop them. "Thc war is over" he
said, "the confederates are our coun-
trymen again, and the best sign of re-
| joicing after the victory will be to alb
stain from all demonstrations in the
field. But he had not yet reported
the capitulation to the government,
and dismounting at a roadside, he sat
on stone and called for paper and
pencil. An aid-de-camp offered his
order book, and at 4:30 p. NJ. on Sun
day, the 9th of April he announced the
end of the rebellion in these words:
Hon. j.. ~ STANTON, Secretary Of War.
| Washington: G,n. l. surrendered the
1
on terms proposed by myself. The accom-
I panying additional CORRESPONDENCE will
show the conditions fully. u. S. GRANT,
Lieutena st-tieneral.
At his headquarters he remained as
calm as ever, but talked frequently of
the Importance of the event and of its
consequences. He declared that this
was the end of the war, that al, other
confederate armies would quickly
yield there might be euerrillas, or
partisan fighting here and there, but
no great battle or campaign would now
occur; and he announced his intention
OF returning to Washington on the
morrow to direct the disbanding of the
armies His officers were disappointed
at his determination, for they hoped
to see something of tie army they had
contendod with SO long; and those who
were intimate enough suggested that
he should remain at Appomatox at
least day. But the expenses of the
war amounted to at least $4,000, 900 a
day, and it was important so save this
cost to the country. Grant was indif-
ferent 10 the spectacle of his trumphs,
and only anxious to secure their reality
and result. One of the most important
results would be the diminution of this
immense outlay. 1t was ascertained,
however, that the Petersburg and Lynch
burg railway could be put in condition
from point few miles off by noon of
the following day, and, as no time