Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-01-13

different from the army Of tho United
states tsun maintaining, by implication.
that we were too countrles): that In their
army the cavalrymcn and artil1erymen
owned their own horses: and he asked III
ho vas "a understand that the men who
so owned their horses we're to be permitted
TO retain them | told hin that as the
terms were written they would not; that
only the officers were permitted TO take
tAc!r private property. lie then. after
reading over the terms q second time.
remarked that that was clear.
IL then said TO him that l thought this
would be about the last battle OF the
wav-I sincerely hoped so: and ] said
further, l took IL hat most OF the men in
tie ranks were small farmers. The whole
country had been so raidcd by the two
armies that II was doubtful whether they
would be able to put In n crop to carry
themselves and their families through
the next winter without the aid OF the
horses they were then riding. The United
States did not want them. and | would.
therefore, instruct the officers left
behind to receive the paroles OF his troops
to let every man Of the Confederate army
who claimed to own n horse or mule take
the animal to. his home. Lee remarked
again that this would have a happy effect.
INTO EFFECT.
"He then sat down and wrote out the
following letter:
"HDQ'TRS ARMY NORTHERN VA.
".Aprll Q. 1865.
"'General.-I received your letter OF
this date containing the terms OF the
surrender OF the Army OF Northern Nir-
gin'a as proposed b. you. As they are
substantially the same as those expressed
in your letter OF the 9Th Instant. they are
accepted. ! will proceed to designate the
proper officers to carry the stlpulations
into effect. II. T.. LEE. General.
"Lieutenant-General L. S. Grant
"While duplicates Of the two letters
were being made the Union generals
present were severa!ly presented to Cen
eral Lee.
PUREST ROMANCE.
"The much-talkcd-of surrender OF Lees
sword and my handing It back. this and
much more that has been said about it
IS the purest romance. The word sword
or side-arms was not mentioned by either
ot us until l wrote Il In the terms. There
was no premediiaiion, and 1t did not
occur 10 me unit! the moment ! wrote
il down. IL i had happened to omit 1t
and General Lee had called my atten-
ton TO 1t, I should have put it in the
terms precisely as | acceded to the pro-
vision about the soldiers returning their
horses.
RATIONS.
General Lee, after all was completed
and before taking his leave. remarked
that his army was in a very bad con-
dition for want of food. and that they
were without forage: that his men had
been living for some days on parchel
corn exclusively. and that he would have
TO ask me for ratiOns and for forage. |
told him Certainly and asked for how
many men he wanted ~rltion9. His
answer was. about twenty-five thou
sand: and l authorized him to send his
own commissary and quartermaster to
AppOmattOX Station. tvs or three miles
away. where he could nave. out Of the
trains we had stopped. all the provisions
wanted. AS for forage. We lad ourselves
depended almost entirely upon the cOun-
try for that.
PAROLING.
Generals Gihhon, Griffin, and Merritt
were designated by me to carry into effect
the paroling Of Lees troops before they
shouid start for their homes. General Lee
leaving Generals Lones.reet. Gordon, and
d v al'l4 ~ III IA III
order to facilitate the work. Lee and |
then separated as cordially as we had
met. he returning to his own lines. and
all went into bivoIac for the night at APP
poInattoX.
when news Of the surrender first
reached our lines, our men commenced
firing a salute Of "a hundred guns I'm honor
Of the victory. l AT once sent word, how
ever. to nave it stopped. The Confede-
rates were now our prisoners. and We did
not wish 10 eXult over their downfall.
Il determined u return 10 Washington
at once. Before leaving. however, !
thought l would like to see General Lee
again. so next morning | rode out be-
yond our lines. towards his headquarters.
preceded by a buyer and a sta1-oflcer.
carrying a white flag. Lee soon mounted
his horse, seeing who it was. and met
Inc.
ANOTHER TALK.
W. had there between the lines. sitting
on horseback, r. very pleasant converse
ton OF over half an hour, in TIE curse
OF which Lee said to me that the South
was a big country, and that We might
have 10 march over IL three or four
times before the war entirely ended.
but that We would now be able to do it,
as they could no longer resist us. He e%-
pressed it as his earnest hope, how
ever, that We would not be called upon
to cause more loss ana sacrifice Of life:
but he could not fortell the result.
Il then suggested TO General Lee that
there was not q man in the Confcderacy
whose influence with the soldiery and the
while people was as great as his. and
that If he would now advise the slrrtn-
DER Of all the armies, ] had no doubt
his advice would be followed with
otarrfs. kn. 90 e1i1 thar hn could
not do that without consulting the Presi-
dent first. | knew there was no use TO
urge him to 90 anything against his
idea OF what was right.
TO SEE ARMY FRIENDS.
II was accompanied by my staff and
other officers, some Of whom seemed to
have a great desire to so inside the Con-
federate lines. They finally asked per-
mission Of Lee to DO so for the purpose
Of seeing some OF their Old army friends,
and the permission was granted. They
went over, had "a Very pleasant time with
their old friends. and brought some OF
them back with them when they returned.
"When Lee and l separated he went
back to his lines and | returned to the
house Of NJ. Mclean. Here the officers
Of both armies came in great numbers
and seemed To enjoy the meeting as much
as tnoC-n thtS Hd' ptrl il''''' 'F"
rated Tor a long time while fighting bat
ties under the game flag. For the time
being IL looXed very much as If all
ughts OF the war had escaped their
minds. After an hour pleasantly passed
I'm this way | set out on horseback, ac-
companicd by my staff and a small
escort. for Rurkeville Junction, up 20
which point the railroad had by this
time been repaired"
When Lee finally surrendered at Apo
mattex there were. says General Grant
only % 1856 officers and men LETT 10 DC
paroled. and many OF these were without
arms.
Defence of the state Banks.
-rba belief has been inStilled into tne