The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-09
Surrender of Gen. Lee
Retold by City Veteran
Joseph B. Henninger, 88,
Tells of Appomattox II
Years Ago Today.
BY WILLIAM ROHR JR.

The white flag of truce" which
Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered raised
above his exhausted Confederate
troops, ending the Civil War III
years ago today, was the back out
of the only white shirt in the Con-
federate army"
This was revealed by Joseph B.
Henninger, 88-year Civil War
veteran of Indianapolis, one of the
few soldiers yet living who were
with Gen. U. S. Grant when Lee
was brought to bay at the little
village of Appomattox Courthouse
in Virginia.
The surrender made war vet
eran of Mr.. Henninger at the age
Of II. He now is assistant adjutant
general of the Indiana G. A. r.
with an office in the Statehouse.
Battles Leave Scars
Although knocked unconscious by
the explosion of bomb beside him,
nicked in the right shoulder by
sniper's bullet, and given one year
to live by his physician, because he
suffered from tuberculosis, Mr.. Hen
ninger is spry and active today.
Recounting his war experiences,
MIR. Henninger said:
Il knew the Union forces would
win the war after we took Peters
burg. Our gunfire did terrific dam
age to that Virginia town. knocking
down homes in the residential
section.
Soon afterward Lee and his army
evacuated R i C h m on d, with Gen.
Grant in hot pursuit. I was with
Grants army all the while except
for the Richmond engagement and
I was at Appomattox when the flag
of truce was raised above the ram
parts on Sunday morning, April 8,
1866"
Submits to Terms
He said Lee arrived first, shortly
after 2 in the afternoon, wearing
a full-dress uniform of Confederate
gray and handsome jewelled sword
while Grant appeared in a rough
travelling suit. the uniform of pri-
vate over which he wore shoulder
straps of a Acknowledgement. At
$3.50 Gen. Lee signed the terms and
surrendered 1921 men.
1--WE were entrenched at the time, ]"
Mr.. Henninger recalled MANY of
us thought the white flag was
ruSe, and we really didn't expect the
end.
"A horseman dashed into the
Union camp, waving his hat and
shouting, The war is over
1T was like being raised from
describing his own reactions.
Mr.. Henninger enlisted in the
Union Army before he was Is years
old.
With six brothers in the war, I
was pretty much alone at home.
so 1 packed up and Joined the col
ors. too" Mr.. Henninger said. His
home was in Lockhaven, Pa.
Lee was occupying Richmond
with about 10000 men as Grant ad-
vanced upon it with 100000 troops
eager to end the war.
Jefferson Davis, president of the
Confederacy, received news OF the
impending attack as he attended
devotions in st. Pauls Church Sum
day. April 2. That night Davis fled
with his cabinet to North Carolina.
Lee evacuated Richmond the same
night. Grant followed, overtaking
him at Appomattox.
Of the year he spent in the war
the visit of President Lincoln and
the explosion of q 16-pound shot be-
side him stand out in his memory.
The first taste of battle which the
young private experienced occurred
in the Wilderness on the evening
of May 4. 1864.
1.-THE men shouted, swore, and
some of them prayed. Others fired
their guns
Saw President Lincoln
Nineteen of my comrades fell
MORALLY wounded when group of
Confederates fired from ambush, )"
he said.
THE next day in the Battle of the
Wilderness Lee attempted to halt
Grants advance into the South. The
Union army lost 1866 men,"
In March, 1865, Lincoln visited
the Army of the Potomac. Mr.
Henninger saw the President, Sin
tall silk hat that made him two
feet taller than any man there"
1t was in a particularly hot
encounter with the rebels that Hen
ninger had his narrowest escape. AS