The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-06

States not to disturb any Of the
people by reason of The late war so
Tong as they live in peace and quiet.
abstain from acts of armed hostility.
and obey the laws in existence at the
place or their residence.
seventh In general terms, the
war to cease, q general amnesty. so
far as the Executive Of the UnRad
states a command. on condition Of
the d~isbandment Of n Confederate
the presumption OF peaceful pursuits
by the officers and men hitherto com
posing said armies.
If the abov' terms had been accept
ed every seeding State would at once
have been restored to It's rightful place
IN the Union (Which was supposed to
he the purpose IN waging war against
the South), n there would have been
no excuse for the harsh reconstruct
ton acts passed by Congress in March,
1867.
General Sherman is justly con-
demned and his name is odious to the
people OF the South on account OF his
cruelty n acts OF vandalism perpe-
trated in his march from Atlanta
through Georgia and South Carolina
to Raleigh, but there is an old saying,
Give the devil his Dues and it is
simple justice to say that after there
was no further armed resistance he
oHered most generous terms. His Of
fetal correspondence shows that after
Johnston's surrender, he had kindly
feelings towards the South and lac
no sympathy with the reconstruction
measures Of Congress. In a letter from
him to General Grant, dated May %,
1865, he said:
4 am not a politician, never voted
but once in my life, and never read a
political PLATFORM. If spared. / never
will read a political platform or hold
any office whatever
On the 27th Of April, 1865 the day
after Johnston's surrender, le ordered
ten days rationS to be issued to the
COnfederates and in a letter Of that
date to General Johnston was the fol-
lowing sentences:
Now that the war is over I am as
ton as heretofore to heal the wounds
made by the past war, and / think my
feeling is shared by the whole army.
| also think a similar feeling actuates
the mass Of your army"
In answer to that letter General
Johnston. or h 2Sth of April wrote
a letter to General Sherman from
which we copy the following:
Il very gladly accept your very gen.
erous offer of food for the troops here.
The disposition you express to heal
the wounds made by the past war has
been evident to me IN all our inter-
views"
In a letter from Sherman to Chief
Justice Chase, dated May 6, 1865, he
aid
Il ar not vet prepared to receive
the negro on terms OF political equal
ity for the reasons that j. will arouse
passions and ~prejudices at the North,
which superadded to the auses yet
dormant in the South. might rekind1e
the war whose fires are now dying out.
I, who have felt the past war as bit
terfy and keenly as any man, could
confess myself afraid Of a new war,
and a neW war is bound to result
from the action you suggest of giving
to the enfranchised negroes so large a
share in the delicate ask of putting
the Southern States in practical work.
ing relations with the general gov
ernment."
After the cabinet at Washington
had rejected the terms Of surrender
first ofered by Sherman to Johnston.
the infamous Edwin NJ. Stanton, Sec
rotary of War. ordered Generals
Meade, Sheridan and Wright, who
were then in Virginia, to disregard the
truce or armistice made by Sherman
and Johnston and to push forward
regardless Of Sherman's orders. Sher-
suit to him (thus ordering 9TH
er generals to break his truce
with ~Johnston), and he very
properly declared that If such
an attempt was made his sense of hon.
or would compel him to use his army
in protecting Johnston's army and
preserving the truce. So indignant
was Sherman with Stanton that at the
grand review of Sherman's army at
Washington, when Stanton offered to
shake hands with Sherman in the
presence Of the President he declined
and passed him to shake hands with
others.
1t was most fortunate for North
Carolina especially that part west of
Raleigh, that Johnston
when he did, for in a few more days
Shermans army would have marched
through this section and devastation
would have ensued. Sherman had al