, 1890-06-05

I FlC ~ W. 0 ~ ~ 80
Only One Northern Man who Got - POr
ton of the Famous Relic.
"A recent article in The Atlanta Con
stitution said all the published sthte
ments that mero persons in tn,
north had relics from the Appomatto1
apple tree were absolutely false. Il
stated, upon the authority of Confed
crate generals who were present at the
surrender of Gen. Lee, that only one
man connected with the Union force
had ever obtained any portion of that
tree and that he had only a portion Of
the root or trunk. 1t explained that
the whole tree had been cut TO pieces
by members of the Confederate army
before the Union forces came upon the
ground, and that the master of trans.
p~ortation of the Union army who, at
Gen. Lees request, supplied the Con
federate army with rations, was only
able to secure the last remaining por,
eight hours after he appeared before
any other member of the Union forces
had access to the field. The article also
added that the sole possessor Of a piece
Of this historical tree north Of Mason
and Dixon's line was Col. Bates, now
Of Philadelphia.
The writer OF The Inquirer ascertain
ed that the person referred to was
George II. Bates, at present proprietor
Of the Oriental hotel in this city, who
was at the time of the surrender of
Lees army master of transportation Of
the army Of the Potomac. Mr.. Bates,
when questioned upon the subject
gave his statement of the matter as fol-
lows:
Yes, sir. The statement is correct,
and | am the man referred TO. When
| have heard and read accounts of per
sons having canes and other articles
made from hat famous tree | have
been amused, because l know hat l am
the only man north of Mason and Dix
on's line who ever obtained a relic
from that tree. This is what occurred
on that memorable April day when
Lee surrendered. / was master Of
transportation in the Army of the Po-
tomac. Immediately upon Gen.
Grants return after his meeting with
Gen. Lee, who had surrendered, in
compliance with Gen. Lees request to
have food sent to his starving troops,
/ received orders to prepare a train of
wagons with rations and TO take them
beyond our lines under the flag Of
truce into the enemy's lines and report
to Gen. Lee.
"a speedily gathered nineteen wag-
on loaded train of rations passed
through our lines and passed along
the road near the famous tree under
which Lee had waited for Gen. Grant.
l inquired for the Confederate gener-
ais headquarters and finally l found
it, where with Gen. Lee and his staff
officers a brief time was spent pleasant
ly. Then | asked some Confederates
standing around to unload the wagons,
but they refused, whereupon l ordered
my subordinates to dismount and un-
load, which they did grudgingly.
well, about half past 4 or 8 p. IN.
we started with the empty wagons
back to our lines. On the way Isaw
Confederate soldiers hacking away at
the stump of the tree which a few
hours previously had sheltered Gen.
Lee from the suns rays. In reply tC
my inquiry the relic seekers said they
wanted souvenirs to keep of the tire,
under which their general had SUI
rendered. Then there was nothin
left but the root. | Immediately too
II jack knife and cut out piece, whic
| have preserved to the present time
and another piece which | handed I
my carpenter, who carved out a rim
with a heart ON it, which / have ais
kept. l was given a pass by Gen. Lee
adjutant general to go in and out o
tho lines at will. l havea also preserve,
that. Here it is" The document wa
thon shown TO the writer, signed b,
Gen. Lee and coun:ersigned, bearing
date April 0, 1868.
Mr.. Bates continued his story b,
saying that on his next visit to tn
cnemy's lines not the slightest vestig,
Of any portion of that tree, branch o
root remained, and with the exception
of Gen. Grant and his two staff off
GERS, Gen. Rawlings and Col. Leete
no Union officers or soldiers passed tn
lines until forty-eight hours later, Il
therefore feels convinced that IN
statement made by the southern joui
nal is correct, that only Confederate
with the exception Of himself, Obtain
ed any portion of that historical tree.
There We're other apple trees at
distance, but still in the vicinity {
the place OF surrender, which Ii
Union relic hhnters speedily laid III
der tribute.
Mr.. Bates showed the writer IL
pieces he obtained-the root, which
three by six in dimensions, and II
ring with the heart craven on it,
PHILADELPHIA Inquirer.