The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-03-28
(concluded.)

first place a great surprise, Tor Grant
had never before given any terms to
an opponent. Now he seemed anxious
to give us everything we could ask for.
We knew our inferiority in force and
our desperate condition too well to
ascribe it to any hesitation to give US
battle again. The generosity of his
terms could only be ascribed to a policy
of Cancellation deliberately entered up
on. OF course we were sore and moru-
fed. so much so that we had not much
to say to any one; but it put every
body in some sort of hope that, after
all. defeat might not mean utter de-
struction. And (to anticipate in my
ma rrative for few days. L particlpat-
ed in a conversation with Senator p. u.
EYashburne. who was with the Federal
army at Appomattox, in which he de-
clared emphatically that President Lin
coins policy would be entirely on the
same line Mr.. Washburne was asked
what Lincoln intended to DO with
the Southern States. He replied very
impressively that he had had a long
confidential talk with Mr.. Lincoln on
the subject since the capture or ken
TlOnd. ana Mnll2 lie WAS tlOl 1t A4O~A -
TO go into Details he would say that
the liberality of Mr. Lincoln's plans
would surprise both the North and the
South, and he ventured the prediction
that within a year Lincoln would be
as popular at the South as at the
North. 1 understood him to imply that
Mr.. Lincoln intended to give money to
the South. probably as compensation
for the slaves.
Grants policy of Cancellation was fol-
lowed by every one in his army, even
to the teamsters along the roads. Sew
eraI old acquaintance hunted me up,
and. while delicately avoiding all dis
para cement of Confederate currency,
limited that as a paroled prisoner
might find Il convenient to have some
variety in my pocket-pook, and that II
would be great personal favor II
would let them lend me some OF the
surplus greenbacks with which they
were burdened. Such offers, too. were
not confined to those who had been
special friends. Afterward, in riding
forty miles through the troops and
trains of the Federal army, 1 met with
not a single word or look which did not
seem inspired with kind feeling and a
disposition to spare us all the mortifica-
ton possible
1 think no one who was not at that
surrender can fully appreciate the ca
lamity wrought to the South by the
assassination of President Lincoln.
For Wilkes Booth slew also the kindly
and generous sentiment which already
inspired the army, and which would
doubtless soon have pervaded the whole
country.
But to return to camp on the night
of the eth The only event of the even
ing was the arrival of some Federal
ratfons. There was no demonstration
over it; but many events have been
honored with salutes and hurrahings
to make men hoarse which never gave
one half the internal satisfaction that
these ratfons did.
1 think the full moral effect of the
surrender was hardly felt until the
next morning, being obscured by the
excitement attendant upon it. The
next day seemed to usher in new
world. We had lived through the war.
There was nobody trying to shoot us,
and nobody for US to shoot at. Our
guns were gonet our country was gone,
our very entity seemed to be destroyed.
We were no longer soldiers, and had no
orders to obey, nothing to do, and no.
where to go.
Looked at merely as a business pro-
ceeding, the simple method of paroling
the Confederate army and taking
charge of its surrendered property was
admirably short and effective. Arms
We're stacked, and guns harnessed up
and drawn out along the roads, and the
Federal officers came and removed
them. Our own captains signed parole
papers for their men, colonies for regi-
mental officers, generals for their staff
and regimentaI commanders. My pa
role read: The bearer E. P. Alexan-
der, Brig. Gen. of Artillery of the Army
of Northern Virginia, a paroled prison
er of war, has permission to go home
and there remain undisturbed until ex-
changed.
And then came the general breaking
up; the partings with Lee, Longstreet,
and the other generals under whom we
had fought; with comrades with whom
We had shared four years of march,
bivouac, and battle; and with the pri-
waite soldiers, whose enduring courage
and devotion no man could know with
out love and admiration. And not
without emotion could we say good
bye even to the guns themselves, and
to the poor brutes that had drawn them
over so many miles of road and upon
so many fields OF battle. The fate of
our artillery horses was pitiable. We
had been out of forage for do not
know how many days, and the horses
were rapidly giving out before the sur
render. The limit of their endurance
now seemed to have been reached, and
when they finally pulled the guns to
the place of surrender several hours
delay occurring in their removal, num-
bers of them lay down and actually
died of starvation harnessed TO their
guns.
1 have omitted a remarkable coinci-
dence which I came upon at Appomat-
tox. and which is worthy of mention.
When I first Joined the Army of
Northern Virginia in 1861. 1 found
connection of my family. Wilmer Nc
Lean living on a fine farm through
which ran Rui1 Run with q nice farm