Chapter LXX: Section 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article (2)

"The success of the Federal army in breaking the lines of
Petersburg had rendered the retreat of the Confederate force
imperative. An effort to hold Richmond with every line of
communication with the South broken or in imminent danger
would have been madness. But by abandoning his works and
concentrating his army, which still amounted to about 30,000
men, General Lee might retire to some natural stronghold in
the interior, where the defensible features of the country
would enable him to oppose Grant's formidable host until he
could rally strength to strike an effective blow. This course
was at once decided upon, and early on the morning of the 2d
of April, Lee sent a despatch to the Government authorities at
Richmond informing them of the disastrous situation of affairs
and of the necessity of his evacuating Petersburg that night.
Orders were also sent to the forces north of the James to move
at once and join him, while all the preparations necessary for
the evacuation of Richmond, both as the seat of government and
as a military post, were expeditiously made. There was,
indeed, no time to be lost. … By midnight the evacuation was
completed. … As the troops moved noiselessly onward in the
darkness that just precedes the dawn, a bright light like a
broad flash of lightning illumined the heavens for an instant;
then followed a tremendous explosion. 'The magazine at Fort
Drewry is blown up,' ran in whispers through the ranks, and
again silence reigned. Once more the sky was overspread by a
lurid light, but not so fleeting as before. It was now the
conflagration of Richmond that lighted the night-march of the
soldiers, and many a stout heart was wrung with anguish at the
fate of the city and its defenceless inhabitants. The burning
of public property of little value had given rise to a
destructive fire that laid in ashes nearly one-third of the
devoted city. … The retreat of Lee's army did not long remain
unknown to the Federals. The explosion of the magazine at Fort
Drewry and the conflagration of Richmond apprised them of the
fact, and they lost no time in taking possession of the
abandoned works and entering the defenceless cities. On the
morning of the 3d of April the mayor of Richmond surrendered
the city to the Federal commander in its vicinity, and General
Weitzel took immediate possession. He at once proceeded to
enforce order and took measures to arrest the conflagration,
while with great humanity he endeavored to relieve the
distressed citizens. … As soon as Grant became aware of Lee's
line of retreat he pushed forward his whole available force,
numbering 70,000 or 80,000 men, in order to intercept him on
the line of the Richmond and Danville Railroad. Sheridan's
cavalry formed the van of the pursuing column, and was closely
followed by the artillery and infantry. Lee pressed on as
rapidly as possible to Amelia Court-house, where he had
ordered supplies to be deposited for the use of his troops on
their arrival. … The hope of finding a supply of food at this
point, which had done much to buoy up the spirits of the men,
was destined to be cruelly dispelled. Through an unfortunate
error or misapprehension of orders the provision-train had
been taken on to Richmond without unloading its stores at
Amelia Court-house. … It was a terrible blow alike to the men
and to their general. … The only chance remaining to the Army
of Northern Virginia was to reach the hill-country without
delay. Yet here it was detained by the error of a railroad
official, while the precious minutes and hours moved
remorselessly by. … Yet no murmur came from the lips of the
men to the ear of their commander, and on the evening of that
unfortunate day [April 5th] they resumed their weary march in
silence and composure. Some small amount of food had been
brought in by the foragers, greatly inadequate for the wants
of the soldiers, yet aiding them to somewhat alleviate the
pangs of hunger. A handful of corn was now a feast to the
weary veterans as they trudged onward through the April night.
… Sheridan's cavalry was already upon the flank of the
Confederate army, and the infantry was following with all
speed. … During the forenoon of [the 6th] the pursuing columns
thickened and frequent skirmishes delayed the march. These
delays enabled the Federals to accumulate in such force that
it became necessary for Lee to halt his advance in order to
arrest their attack till his column could close up, and the
trains and such artillery as was not needed for action could
reach a point of safety. This object was accomplished early in
the afternoon. Ewell's, the rearmost corps in the army, closed
upon those in front at a position on Sailor's Creek, a small
tributary of the Appomattox River. … His corps was surrounded
by the pursuing columns and captured with but little
opposition. About the same time the divisions of Anderson,
Pickett, and Bushrod Johnson were almost broken up, about
10,000 men in all being captured. The remainder of the army
continued its retreat during the night of the 6th, and reached
Farmville early on the morning of the 7th, where the troops
obtained two days' rations, the first regular supplies they
had received during the retreat. At Farmville a short halt was
made to allow the men to rest and cook their provisions. The
effective portion of the Army of Northern Virginia did not now
exceed 10,000 men. This great reduction had been caused by the
disaster of the previous day at Sailor's Creek, by desertions
on the retreat, and by an exhaustion which obliged many to
leave the ranks. Those who still remained by their colors were
veterans whose courage never failed, and who were yet ready to
face any odds. The heads of the Federal columns beginning to
appear about eleven o'clock, the Confederates resumed their
retreat." On the afternoon of the 7th, Lee received a note
from Grant calling upon him to surrender, and replied to it,
asking what terms would be offered. Further notes were
exchanged between the two commanders the following day, while
the retreat continued. Lee hoped to reach Appomattox Court
House and secure supplies that were there, which might enable
him to "push on to the Staunton River and maintain himself
behind that stream until a junction could be made with
Johnston." But when, in the afternoon of April 8th, he reached
the neighborhood of Appomattox Court House, "he was met by the
intelligence of the capture of the stores placed for his army
at the station two miles beyond.
{3554}
Notwithstanding this overwhelming news, he determined to make
one more effort to force himself through the Federal toils
that encompassed him." This attempt was made at three o'clock
on the morning of the 9th of April, General Gordon leading the
attack, which failed. Lee then yielded to his fate, and sent a
flag of truce, asking for an interview with Grant to arrange
terms of surrender. "Grant had not yet come up, and while
waiting for his arrival General Lee seated himself upon some
rails which Colonel Talcott of the Engineers had fixed at the
foot of an apple tree for his convenience. This tree was half
a mile distant from the point where the meeting of Lee and
Grant took place, yet wide-spread currency has been given to
the story that the surrender took place under its shade, and
'apple-tree' jewelry has been profusely distributed from the
orchard in which it grew. About 11 o'clock General Lee,
accompanied only by Colonel Marshall of his staff, proceeded
to the village to meet General Grant, who had now arrived. The
meeting between the two renowned generals took place at the
house of a Mr. McLean at Appomattox Court-house, to which
mansion, after exchanging courteous salutations, they repaired
to settle the terms on which the surrender of the Army of
Northern Virginia should be concluded. … The written
instrument of surrender covered the following points:
Duplicate rolls of all the officers and men were to be made,
and the officers to sign paroles for themselves and their men,
all agreeing not to bear arms against the United States unless
regularly exchanged. The arms, artillery, and public property
were to be turned over to an officer appointed to receive
them, the officers retaining their side-arms and private
horses and baggage. In addition to this, General Grant
permitted every man of the Confederate army who claimed to own
a horse or mule to retain it for farming purposes, General Lee
remarking that this would have a happy effect. … After
completion of these measures General Lee remarked that his men
were badly in need of food, that they had been living for
several days on parched corn exclusively, and requested
rations and forage for 25,000 men. These rations were granted
out of the car-loads of Confederate provisions which had been
stopped by the Federal cavalry. … Three days after the
surrender the Army of Northern Virginia had dispersed in every
direction, and three weeks later the veterans of a hundred
battles had changed the musket and the sword for the
implements of husbandry. … Thousands of soldiers were set
adrift on the world without a penny in their pockets to enable
them to reach their homes. Yet none of the scenes of riot that
often follow the disbanding of armies marked their course."

_A. L. Long,
Memoirs of Robert E. Lee,
chapter 21._

"General Grant's behavior at Appomattox was marked by a desire
to spare the feelings of his great opponent. There was no
theatrical display; his troops were not paraded with bands
playing and banners flying, before whose lines the
Confederates must march and stack arms. He did not demand
Lee's sword, as is customary, but actually apologized to him
for not having his own, saying it had been left behind in the
wagon; promptly stopped salutes from being fired to mark the
event, and the terms granted were liberal and generous. 'No
man could have behaved better than General Grant did under the
circumstances,' said Lee to a friend in Richmond. 'He did not
touch my sword; the usual custom is for the sword to be
received when tendered, and then handed back, but he did not
touch mine,' Neither did the Union chief enter the Southern
lines to show himself or to parade his victory, or go to
Richmond or Petersburg to exult over a fallen people, but
mounted his horse and with his staff started for Washington.
Washington, at Yorktown, was not as considerate and thoughtful
of the feelings of Cornwallis or his men. Charges were now
withdrawn from the guns, flags furled, and the Army of the
Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia turned their backs
upon each other for the first time In four long, bloody
years,"

_F. Lee,
General Lee,
chapter 15._

ALSO IN:
_U. S. Grant,
Personal Memoirs,
chapter 65-67._

_H. Porter,
The Surrender at Appomattox Court House
(Battles and Leaders, volume 4)._

_A. Badeau,
Military History of Ulysses S. Grant,
chapter 33-34 (volume 3)._

_J. W. Keifer,
The Battle of Sailor's Creek
(Sketches of War History,
Ohio Commandery L. L. of the United States, volume 3)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (April: Virginia).
President Lincoln at Richmond.
The assembling and dispersing of "the gentlemen who have
acted as the Legislature of Virginia."
Virtual Proclamations of the end of the war.

"President Lincoln had been at City Point and vicinity for
several days before the fall of Richmond, in constant
communication with the General-in-chief, at the front,
receiving dispatches from him and transmitting them instantly
to the Secretary of War, whence they were diffused over the
country, by the telegraph. On the day after Richmond was
evacuated, he went up to that city in Admiral Porter's
flag-ship, the Malvern, Captain Ralph Chandler, with the
Sangamon, several tugs, and 30 small boats, with about 300
men, had already cleared the channel of the river of
torpedoes, and made the navigation comparatively safe. When
near Rocketts, the President and the Admiral left the Malvern,
and proceeded to the city in the commander's gig. With its
crew, armed with carbines, they landed and walked to Weitzel's
quarters, in the late residence of Davis, cheered on the way
by the huzzas and grateful ejaculations of a vast concourse of
emancipated slaves, who had been told that the tall man was
their Liberator. They crowded around him so thickly, in their
eagerness to see him, and to grasp his hand, that a the of
soldiers were needed to clear the way, After a brief rest at
Weitzel's, the President rode rapidly through the principal
streets of Richmond, in an open carriage, and, at near sunset,
departed for City Point. Two days afterward, the President
went to Richmond again, accompanied by his wife, the
Vice-President, and several Senators, when he was called upon
by leading Confederates, several of them members of the rebel
Virginia Legislature, whose chief business was to endeavor to
arrange a compromise whereby the equivalent for submission
should be the security to the Virginia insurgents, as far as
possible, of their political power and worldly possessions.
{3555}
The President was assured by Judge Campbell a member of the
Confederate 'Government' (who, for two years, had been
satisfied, he said, that success was impossible), that the
so-called Virginia Legislature, if allowed to reassemble, with
the Governor, would work for the reconstruction of the Union,
their first step being the withdrawal of the Virginia troops
from the field, on condition that the confiscation of property
in Virginia should not be allowed. Anxious to end the war
without further bloodshed, if possible, and satisfied that the
withdrawal of the Virginia troops—in other words, nearly all
of Lee's army—would accomplish it, he left with General
Weitzel, on his departure from Richmond [April 6], authority
to allow 'the gentlemen who have acted as the Legislature of
Virginia, in support of the rebellion, to assemble at Richmond
and take measures to withdraw the Virginia troops and other
support from resistance to the General Government.' A
safeguard was given. The fugitives returned, with the
Governor, but instead of performing in good faith what had
been promised in their name, they began legislating generally,
as if they were the legal representatives of the people of
Virginia. So soon as notice of this perfidy was given to the
President after his return to Washington, he directed Weitzel
to revoke the safeguard, and allow 'the gentlemen who had
acted as the Legislature of Virginia' to return to private
life. The surrender of Lee had, meanwhile, made the
contemplated action unnecessary. The President was blamed by
the loyal people for allowing these men to assemble with
acknowledged powers; and the Confederates abused him for
dissolving the assembly. The President returned to Washington
City on the day of Lee's surrender, where he was the recipient
of a multitude of congratulations because of the dawn of
peace. On the 11th he issued proclamations, one declaring the
closing, until further notice, of certain ports in the
Southern States, whereof the blockade had been raised by their
capture, respectively; and the other, demanding, henceforth,
for our vessels in foreign ports, on penalty of retaliation,
those privileges and immunities which had hitherto been denied
them on the plea of according equal belligerent rights to the
Republic and its internal enemies. … On the following day an
order was issued from the War Department, which had been
approved by General Grant, putting an end to all drafting and
recruiting for the National army, and the purchase of
munitions of war and supplies; and declaring that the number
of general and staff officers would be speedily reduced, and
all military restrictions on trade and commerce be removed
forthwith. This virtual proclamation of the end of the war
went over the land on the anniversary of the evacuation of
Fort Sumter [April 14], while General Anderson was replacing
the old flag over the ruins of that fortress."

_B. J. Lossing,
Field Book of the Civil War,
volume 3, chapter 21._

ALSO IN:
_H. J. Raymond,
Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln,
chapter 20._

_C. C. Coffin,
Late Scenes in Richmond
(Atlantic Monthly, June, 1865)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (April 14th).
The Assassination of President Lincoln.

"From the very beginning of his Presidency, Mr. Lincoln had
been constantly subject to the threats of his enemies and the
warnings of his friends. … Although he freely discussed with
the officials about him the possibilities of danger, he always
considered them remote, as is the habit of men
constitutionally brave, and positively refused to torment
himself with precautions for his own safety. He would sum the
matter up by saying that both friends and strangers must have
daily access to him in all manner of ways and places; his life
was therefore in reach of anyone, sane or mad, who was ready
to murder and be hanged for it; that he could not possibly
guard against all danger unless he were to shut himself up in
an iron box, in which condition he could scarcely perform the
duties of a President; by the hand of a murderer he could die
only once; to go continually in fear would be to die over and
over. He therefore went in and out before the people, always
unarmed, generally unattended. … Four years of threats and
boastings, of alarms that were unfounded, and of plots that
came to nothing thus passed away; but precisely at the time
when the triumph of the nation over the long insurrection
seemed assured, and a feeling of peace and security was
diffused over the country, one of the conspiracies, not
seemingly more important than the many abortive ones, ripened
in the sudden heat of hatred and despair. A little band of
malignant secessionists, consisting of John Wilkes Booth, an
actor, of a family of famous players, Lewis Powell, alias
Payne, a disbanded rebel soldier from Florida, George
Atzerodt, formerly a coach maker, but more recently a spy and
blockade runner of the Potomac, David E. Herold, a young
druggist's clerk, Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlin,
Maryland secessionists and Confederate soldiers, and John H.
Surratt, had their ordinary rendezvous at the house of Mrs.
Mary E. Surratt, the widowed mother of the last named,
formerly a woman of some property in Maryland, but reduced by
reverses to keeping a small boarding-house in Washington.
Booth was the leader of the little coterie. He was a young man
of twenty-six. … He was a fanatical secessionist; had assisted
at the capture and execution of John Brown, and had imbibed at
Richmond and other Southern cities where he had played, a
furious spirit of partisanship against Lincoln and the Union
party. After the reelection of Mr. Lincoln, which rang the
knell of the insurrection, Booth, like many of the
secessionists North and South, was stung to the quick by
disappointment. He visited Canada, consorted with the rebel
emissaries there, and at last—whether or not at their
instigation cannot certainly be said—conceived a scheme to
capture the President and take him to Richmond. He spent a
great part of the autumn and winter inducing a small number of
loose fish of secession sympathies to join him in this
fantastic enterprise. … There are indications in the evidence
given on the trial of the conspirators that they suffered some
great disappointment in their schemes in the latter part of
March, and a letter from Arnold to Booth, dated March 27,
showed that some of them had grown timid of the consequences
of their contemplated enterprise and were ready to give it up.
He advised Booth, before going further, 'to go and see how it
will be taken in R---d.' But timid as they might be by nature,
the whole group was so completely under the ascendency of
Booth that they did not dare disobey him when in his presence;
and after the surrender of Lee, in an access of malice and rage
which was akin to madness, he called them together and
assigned each his part in the new crime, the purpose of which
had arisen suddenly in his mind out of the ruins of the
abandoned abduction scheme.
{3556}
This plan was as brief and simple as it was horrible. Powell,
alias Payne, the stalwart, brutal, simple-minded boy from
Florida, was to murder Seward; Atzerodt, the comic villain of
the drama, was assigned to remove Andrew Johnson; Booth
reserved for himself the most difficult and most conspicuous
role of the tragedy; it was Herold's duty to attend him as a
page and aid in his escape. Minor parts were assigned to stage
carpenters and other hangers-on, who probably did not
understand what it all meant. Herold, Atzerodt, and Surratt
had previously deposited at a tavern at Surrattsville,
Maryland, owned by Mrs. Surratt, but kept by a man named
Lloyd, a quantity of ropes, carbines, ammunition, and whisky,
which were to be used in the abduction scheme. On the 11th of
April Mrs. Surratt, being at the tavern, told Lloyd to have
the shooting irons in readiness, and on Friday, the 14th,
again visited the place and told him they would probably be
called for that night. The preparations for the final blow
were made with feverish haste; it was only about noon of the
14th that Booth learned the President was to go to Ford's
Theater that night. It has always been a matter of surprise in
Europe that he should have been at a place of amusement on
Good Friday; but the day was not kept sacred in America,
except by the members of certain churches. It was not,
throughout the country, a day of religious observance. The
President was fond of the theater; it was one of his few means
of recreation. It was natural enough that, on this day of
profound national thanksgiving, he should take advantage of a
few hours' relaxation to see a comedy. Besides, the town was
thronged with soldiers and officers, all eager to see him; it
was represented to him that appearing occasionally in public
would gratify many people whom he could not otherwise meet. …
From the moment Booth ascertained the President's intention to
attend the theater in the evening his every action was alert
and energetic. He and his confederates, Herold, Surratt and
Atzerodt, were seen on horseback in every part of the city. He
had a hurried conference with Mrs. Surratt before she started
for Lloyd's tavern. … Booth was perfectly at home in Ford's
Theater, where he was greatly liked by all the employees,
without other reason than the sufficient one of his youth and
good looks. Either by himself or with the aid of his friends
he arranged his whole plan of attack and escape during the
afternoon. He counted upon address and audacity to gain access
to the small passage behind the President's box; once there,
he guarded against interference by an arrangement of a wooden
bar to be fastened by a simple mortice in the angle of the
wall and the door by which he entered, so that the door could
not be opened from without. He even provided for the
contingency of not gaining entrance to the box by boring a
hole in its door, through which he might either observe the
occupants or take aim and shoot. He hired at a livery stable a
small, fleet horse, which he showed with pride during the day
to barkeepers and loafers among his friends. The moon rose
that night at ten o'clock A few minutes before that hour he
called one of the underlings of the theater to the back door
and left him there holding his horse. He then went to a saloon
near by, took a drink of brandy, and, entering the theater,
passed rapidly through the crowd in rear of the dress circle
and made his way to the passage leading to the President's
box. He showed a card to a servant in attendance and was
allowed to pass in. He entered noiselessly, and, turning,
fastened the door with the bar he had previously made ready,
without disturbing any of the occupants of the box, between
whom and himself there yet remained the slight partition and
the door through which he had bored the hole. … Holding a
pistol in one hand and a knife in the other, he opened the box
door, put the pistol to the President's head, and fired;
dropping the weapon, he took the knife in his right hand, and
when Major Rathbone sprang to seize him he struck savagely at
him. Major Rathbone received the blow on his left arm,
suffering a wide and deep wound. Booth, rushing forward, then
placed his left hand on the railing of the box and vaulted
lightly over to the stage. It was a high leap, but nothing to
such a trained athlete. … He would have got safely away but
for his spur catching in the folds of the Union flag with
which the front of the box was draped. He fell on the stage,
the torn flag trailing on his spur, but instantly rose as if
he had received no hurt, though in fact the fall had broken
his leg; he turned to the audience, brandishing his dripping
knife, and shouting the State motto of Virginia, 'Sic Semper
Tyrannis,' and fled rapidly across the stage and out of sight.
Major Rathbone had shouted, 'Stop him!' The cry went out, 'He
has shot the President.' From the audience, at first stupid
with surprise, and afterwards wild with excitement and horror,
two or three men jumped upon the stage in pursuit of the
flying assassin; but he ran through the familiar passages,
leaped upon his horse, which was in waiting in the alley
behind, rewarded with a kick and a curse the call-boy who had
held him, and rode rapidly away in the light of the just risen
moon. The President scarcely moved; his head drooped forward
slightly, his eyes closed. … It was afterward ascertained that
a large derringer bullet had entered the back of the head on
the left side, and, passing through the brain, had lodged just
behind the left eye. By direction of Rathbone and Crawford,
the President was carried to a house across the street and
laid upon a bed in a small room at the rear of the hall, on
the ground floor. … The President had been shot a few minutes
past ten. The wound would have brought instant death to most
men, but his vital tenacity was extraordinary. … At twenty-two
minutes after seven he died. Stanton broke the silence by
saying, 'Now he belongs to the ages.'" At the same hour in
which the President was murdered, an attempt was made by one
of Booth's fellow conspirators to kill the Secretary of State.
Mr. Seward had been thrown from his carriage a few days before
and was prostrated by the serious injuries received.
Pretending to bring a prescription from his physician, the
assassin, Payne, made his way into the sick-room of the
Secretary and stabbed him three times, but not fatally, in the
neck and cheek. Two sons, Frederick and Augustus Seward, were
seriously wounded in defending their father, and a
soldier-nurse who was present struggled bravely with the
assassin, though weaponless, and was stabbed repeatedly.
{3557}
Payne escaped for the time, but was caught a few days later.
Booth made his way to Port Tobacco, and thence across the
Potomac, into Virginia, assisted and concealed by numerous
sympathizers. He eluded his pursuers until the 25th of April,
when he was hunted down by a party of soldiers, while sleeping
in a barn, below Fredericksburg, and, refusing to surrender,
was shot. "The surviving conspirators, with the exception of
John H. Surratt, were tried by a military commission sitting
in Washington in the months of May and June. … Mrs. Surratt,
Payne, Herold, and Atzerodt were hanged on the 7th of July;
Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlin were imprisoned for life at the
Tortugas, though the term was afterwards shortened; and
Spangler, the scene shifter at the theater, was sentenced to
six years in jail. John H. Surratt escaped to Canada," and
thence to England. "He wandered over Europe, enlisted in the
Papal Zouaves, deserted and fled to Egypt, where he was
detected and brought back to Washington in 1867. His trial
lasted two months and ended in a disagreement of the jury."

_J. G. Nicolay and J. Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
volume 10. chapters 14-15._

ALSO IN:
_H. J. Raymond,
Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln,
chapter 21._

_J. G. Holland,
Life of Lincoln,
chapter 30._

_B. P. Poore,
Reminiscences,
volume 2, chapter 15._

_B. Pittman,
Report of the Trial of the Conspirators.
Trial of John H. Surratt._

_T. M. Harris,
Assassination of Lincoln: a History._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (April 15th).
Succession of Andrew Johnson, Vice President, to the Presidency.

"On the day after the assassination, Mr. Johnson, having been
apprised of the event, took the oath of office, at his rooms,
in the presence of the Cabinet, and of several members of
Congress, and was thus quietly inducted into the high position
so summarily vacated by the martyred President. In the few
remarks made on the occasion, as to 'an indication of any
policy which may be pursued,' he said it 'must be left for
development as the administration progresses'; and his own
past course in connection with the Rebellion 'must be regarded
as a guaranty for the future.' To several delegations which
waited upon him he was, however, more explicit. … 'I know it
is easy, gentlemen [he said to a delegation from New
Hampshire], for any one who is so disposed to acquire a
reputation for clemency and mercy. But the public good
imperatively requires a just discrimination in the exercise of
these qualities. … The American people must be taught to know
and understand that treason is a crime. … It must not be
regarded as a mere difference of political opinion. It must
not be excused as an unsuccessful rebellion, to be overlooked
and forgiven.' … It is not surprising, therefore, with
utterances like these, in such seeming harmony with his
antecedents as a Southern Unionist,—antecedents which had
secured his nomination and election to the
Vice-Presidency,—that many were disposed to regard his
advancement to the Presidency at that particular juncture as
but another evidence of Providential favor, if not of Divine
interposition, by which the nation was to be saved from what
many feared might prove Mr. Lincoln's ill-timed leniency and
misplaced confidence. … Such gratulations, however, were of
short continuance. Whatever the cause or design, the new
President soon revealed the change that had taken place and
the purpose to adopt and pursue a policy the exact reverse of
what, with such prompt and unequivocal words, he had
indicated."

_H. Wilson,
Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America,
volume 3, chapter 43._

"Johnson was inaugurated at 11 o'clock on the morning of the
15th, and was at once surrounded by radical and conservative
politicians, who were alike anxious about the situation. I
spent most of the afternoon in a political caucus, held for
the purpose of considering the necessity for a new Cabinet and
a line of policy less conciliatory than that of Mr. Lincoln;
and while everybody was shocked at his murder, the feeling was
nearly universal that the accession of Johnson to the
Presidency would prove a godsend to the country. Aside from
Mr. Lincoln's known policy of tenderness to the Rebels, which
now so jarred upon the feelings of the hour, his well-known
views on the subject of reconstruction were as distasteful as
possible to radical Republicans. … On the following day, in
pursuance of a previous engagement, the Committee on the
Conduct of the War met the President at his quarters in the
Treasury Department. He received us with decided cordiality,
and Mr. Wade said to him: 'Johnson we have faith in you. By
the gods, there will be no trouble now in running the
government!'"

_G. W. Julian,
Political Recollections,
chapter 11._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (April 26th).
General Johnston's surrender.

On the 11th of April, at Smithfield, North Carolina, General
Sherman had news of the surrender of Lee. Entering Raleigh on
the 13th, he received, next day, a communication from the
Confederate General Johnston proposing a truce "to permit the
civil authorities to enter into the needful arrangements to
terminate the existing war." In reply he invited a conference
with Johnston, which occurred on the 17th—the day on which
news of the assassination of President Lincoln was received.
"Sherman said frankly that he could not recognize the
Confederate civil authority as having any existence, and could
neither receive nor transmit to Washington any proposition
coming from them. He expressed his ardent desire for an end to
devastation, and offered Johnston the same terms offered by
Grant to Lee. Johnston replied that he would not be justified
in such a capitulation, but suggested that they might arrange
the terms of a permanent peace. The suggestion pleased General
Sherman; the prospect of ending the war without the shedding
of another drop of blood was so tempting to him that he did
not sufficiently consider the limits of his authority in the
matter." The result was that, on the 18th, Sherman and
Johnston signed a memorandum of agreement which provided for
the disbanding of all the Confederate armies, the recognition
of the State governments of the several States lately forming
the rebel Confederacy, the complete restoration of their old
status in the Union, and complete amnesty to all concerned in
the rebellion. This was forwarded to Washington, and, of
course, it was disapproved, but with an unnecessary
publication of sharp censure of General Sherman, and with
expressions that seemed to imply distrust of the loyalty of
his motives. General Grant was ordered to proceed to General
Sherman's headquarters and to direct further operations.
{3558}
He executed this mission with great delicacy, and his presence
with Sherman was hardly known. The latter held a second
conference with Johnston on the 26th, and there General
Johnston made the surrender of his army on the same terms that
had been granted to Lee.

_J. G. Nicolay and J. Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
volume 10, chapter 12._

ALSO IN:
_W. T. Sherman,
Memoirs,
chapter 23 (volume 2)._

_J. W. Draper,
History of the American Civil War,
chapter 92 (volume 3)._

_J. E. Johnston,
Narrative of Military Operations,
chapter 12._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (April-May).
The end of the Rebellion.
Fall of Mobile.
Stoneman's Raid.
Wilson's Raid.
Capture of Jefferson Davis.
The final surrenders.

After the surrender of Johnson, "there were still a few
expeditions out in the South that could not be communicated
with, and had to be left to act according to the judgment of
their respective commanders. … The three expeditions which I
had tried so hard to get off from the commands of Thomas and
Canby did finally get off: one under Canby himself, against
Mobile, late in March; that under Stoneman from East Tennessee
on the 20th; and the one under Wilson, starting from Eastport,
Mississippi, on the 22d of March. They were all eminently
successful, but without any good result. Indeed much valuable
property was destroyed and many lives lost at a time when we
would have liked to spare them. … Stoneman entered North
Carolina and then pushed north to strike the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad. He got upon that road, destroyed its
bridges at different places and rendered the road useless to
the enemy up to within a few miles of Lynchburg. His approach
caused the evacuation of that city about the time we were at
Appomattox, and was the cause of a commotion we heard of
there. He then pushed south, and was operating in the rear of
Johnston's army about the time the negotiations were going on
between Sherman and Johnston for the latter's surrender. In
this raid Stoneman captured and destroyed a large amount of
stores, while 14 guns and nearly 2,000 prisoners were the
trophies of his success. Canby appeared before Mobile on the
27th of March. The city of Mobile was protected by two forts,
besides other intrenchments—Spanish Fort, on the east side of
the bay, and Fort Blakely, north of the city. These forts were
invested. On the night of the 8th of April, the National
troops having carried the enemy's works at one point, Spanish
Fort was evacuated; and on the 9th, the very day of Lee's
surrender, Blakely was carried by assault, with a considerable
loss to us. On the 11th the city was evacuated. … Wilson moved
out [from Eastport, Mississippi] with full 12,000 men, well
equipped and well armed. He was an energetic officer and
accomplished his work rapidly. Forrest was in his front, but
with neither his old-time army nor his old-time prestige. … He
had a few thousand regular cavalry left, but not enough to
even retard materially the progress of Wilson's cavalry. Selma
fell on the 2d of April. … Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and West
Point fell in quick succession. These were all important
points to the enemy by reason of their railroad connections,
as depots of supplies, and because of their manufactories of
war material. … Macon surrendered on the 21st of April. Here
news was received of the negotiations for the surrender of
Johnston's army. Wilson belonged to the military division
commanded by Sherman, and of course was bound by his terms.
This stopped all fighting. General Richard Taylor had now
become the senior Confederate officer still at liberty east of
the Mississippi River, and on the 4th of May he surrendered
everything within the limits of this extensive command.
General E. Kirby Smith surrendered the trans-Mississippi
department on the 26th of May, leaving no other Confederate
army at liberty to continue the war. Wilson's raid resulted in
the capture of the fugitive president of the defunct
confederacy before he got out of the country. This occurred at
Irwinville, Georgia, on the 11th of May. For myself, and I
believe Mr. Lincoln shared the feeling, I would have been very
glad to have seen Mr. Davis succeed in escaping, but for one
reason: I feared that, if not captured, he might get into the
trans-Mississippi region and there set up a more contracted
confederacy. … Much was said at the time about the garb Mr.
Davis was wearing when he was captured. [Mr. Davis, in his own
narrative, and Captain G. W. Lawton, of the 4th Michigan
Cavalry, which made the capture, agree in stating that the
fugitive chief of the Confederacy wore when taken a lady's
'waterproof,' with a shawl over his head and shoulders. Mr.
Davis says that he picked up his wife's waterproof in mistake
for his own when he ran from the tent in which he was
surprised, while camping, and that his wife threw the shawl
over him. Captain Lawton asserts that he carried a tin-pail,
that he affected to be bent with age, and that when he stepped
out Mrs. Davis asked the soldiers at the tent entrance to let
her 'old mother' go to the run for water.] I cannot settle
this question from personal knowledge of the facts; but I have
been under the belief, from information given to me by General
Wilson shortly after the event, that when Mr. Davis learned
that he was surrounded by our cavalry he was in his tent
dressed in a gentleman's dressing gown. Naturally enough, Mr.
Davis wanted to escape, and would not reflect much how this
should be accomplished provided it might be done successfully.
… Every one supposed he would be tried for treason if
captured, and that he would be executed. Had he succeeded in
making his escape in any disguise it would have been adjudged
a good thing afterwards by his admirers."

_U. S. Grant,
Personal Memoirs,
chapter 69 (volume 2)._

"Davis was taken, via Savannah and the ocean, to Fortress
Monroe; where he was long closely and rigorously imprisoned,
while his family were returned by water to Savannah and there
set at liberty. Secretary Reagan—the only person of
consequence captured with Davis—was taken to Boston, and
confined, with Vice-President Stephens (captured about this
time also in Georgia), in Fort Warren; but each was liberated
on parole a few months thereafter."

_H. Greeley,
The American Conflict,
volume 2, chapter 35._

ALSO IN:
_Major-General Wilson,
How Jefferson Davis was overtaken._

_J. H. Reagan,
Flight and Capture of Jefferson Davis
(in Annals of the War by leading Participants)._

_G. W. Lawton,
"Running at the Heads"
(Atlantic Monthly, September, 1865)._

_J. Davis,
Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,
chapter 54 (volume 2)._

_C. C. Andrews,
History of the Campaign of Mobile._

{3559}

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (May).
Feeling of surrendered Confederate officers.

After the surrender of Johnston, General Jacob D. Cox was put
in command of the military district within which the surrender
occurred, and had charge of the arrangements made for paroling
and disbanding the Confederate forces. In a paper prepared for
the Ohio Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion
of the United States, General Cox has given an interesting
report of conversations which he had in that connection with
General Johnston and General Hardee. Talking with General
Hardee of the war, the latter was asked "what had been his own
expectation as to the result, and when had he himself
recognized the hopelessness of the contest. 'I confess,' said
he, laughing, 'that I was one of the hot Southerners who
shared the notion that one man of the South could whip three
Yankees; but the first year of the war pretty effectually
knocked that nonsense out of us, and, to tell the truth, ever
since that time we military men have generally seen that it
was only a question how long it would take to wear our army
out and destroy it. We have seen that there was no real hope
of success, except by some extraordinary accident of fortune,
and we have also seen that the politicians would never give up
till the army was gone. So we have fought with the knowledge
that we were to be sacrificed with the result we see to-day,
and none of us could tell who would live to see it. We have
continued to do our best, however, and have meant to fight as
if we were sure of success.' … Johnston was very warm in his
recognition of the soldierly qualities and the wonderful
energy and persistence of our army and the ability of Sherman.
Referring to his own plans, he said he had hoped to have had
time enough to have collected a larger force to oppose
Sherman, and to give it a more complete and efficient
organization. The Confederate government had reckoned upon the
almost impassable character of the rivers and swamps to give a
respite till spring—at least they hoped for this. 'Indeed,'
said he, with a smile, 'Hardee here,' giving a friendly nod of
his head toward his subordinate, 'reported the Salkehatchie
Swamps as absolutely impassable; but when I heard that Sherman
had not only started, but was marching through those very
swamps at the rate of thirteen miles a day, making corduroy
road every foot of the way, I made up my mind there had been
no such army since the days of Julius Cæsar.' Hardee
laughingly admitted his mistaken report from Charleston, but
justified it by saying that all precedent was against such a
march, and that he would still have believed it impossible if
he had not seen it done."

_J. D. Cox,
The Surrender of Johnston's Army
(Sketches of War History, Ohio Commandery,
Loyal Legion, United States,
volume 2, page 249-256)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (May).
Statistics of the Civil War.

"In a statistical exhibit of deaths in the Union army,
compiled (1885), under the direction of Adjutant-General Drum,
by Joseph W. Kirkley, the causes of death are given as
follows:
Killed in action, 4,142 officers, 62,916 men;
died of wounds received in action, 2,223 officers, 40,789 men,
of which number 99 officers and 1,973 men were prisoners of war;
died of disease, 2,795 officers and 221,791 men, of which
83 officers and 24,783 men were prisoners;
accidental deaths (except drowned), 142 officers and 3,972 men,
of which 2 officers and 5 men were prisoners;
drowned, 106 officers and 4,838 men,
of which 1 officer and 6 men were prisoners;
murdered, 37 officers and 483 men;
killed after capture, 14 officers and 90 men;
committed suicide, 26 officers and 365 men;
executed by United States military authorities, 267 men;
executed by the enemy, 4 officers and 60 men;
died from sunstroke, 5 officers and 308 men, of which 20
men were prisoners;
other known causes, 62 officers and 1,972 men,
of which 7 officers and 312 men were prisoners;
causes not stated, 28 officers and 12,093 men,
of which 9 officers and 2,030 men were prisoners.
Total 9,584 officers, and 349,944 men,
of which 219 officers and 29,279 men were prisoners.
Grand aggregate, 359,528;
aggregate deaths among prisoners, 29,498.

Since 1885 the Adjutant-General has received evidence of the
death in Southern prisons of 694 men not previously accounted
for, which increases the number of deaths among prisoners to
30,192, and makes a grand aggregate of 360,222." Total number
of men furnished to the United States Army and Navy during the
War from the several States and Territories, 2,778,304; of
which number, 2,494,592 were white troops, 101,207 were
sailors and marines, and 178,975 were colored troops. "The
work of mustering out volunteers began April 29th and up to
August 7th 640,806 troops had been discharged; on September
14th the number had reached 741,107, and on November 15th
800,963. On November 22d, 1865, the Secretary of War reported
that Confederate troops surrendered and were released on
parole" to the number of 174,223. Official returns show the
whole number of men enrolled (present and absent) in the
active armies of the Confederacy, as follows:

January 1, 1862, 318,011;
January 1, 1863, 465,584;
January 1, 1864, 472,781;
January 1, 1865, 439,675.

"Very few, if any, of the local land forces, and none of the
naval are included in the tabular exhibit. If we take the
472,000 men in service at the beginning of 1864, and add
thereto at least 250,000 deaths occurring prior to that date,
it gives over 700,000. The discharges for disability and other
causes and the desertions would probably increase the number
(inclusive of the militia and naval forces) to over 1,000,000.
Northern writers have assumed that the Confederate losses
equalled the Union losses; no data exist for a reasonably
accurate estimate."

_Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,
volume 4, pages 767-768._

"In the four years of their service the armies of the Union,
counting every form of conflict, great and small, had been in
2,265 engagements with the Confederate troops. From the time
when active hostilities began until the last gun of the war
was fired, a fight of some kind—a raid, a skirmish, or a
pitched battle—occurred at some point on our widely extended
front nearly eleven times per week upon an average. Counting
only those engagements in which the Union loss in killed,
wounded, and missing exceeded 100, the total number was
330,—averaging one every four and a half days. From the
northernmost point of contact to the southernmost, the
distance by any practicable line of communication was more
than 2,000 miles. From East to West the extremes were 1,500
miles apart.
{3560}
During the first year of hostilities—one of preparation on
both sides—the battles were … 35 in number, of which the most
serious was the Union defeat at Bull Run. In 1862 the war had
greatly 'increased in magnitude and intensity, as is shown by
the 84 engagements between the armies. The net result of the
year's operations was highly favorable to the Rebellion. In
1863 the battles were 110 in number—among them some of the
most significant and important victories for the Union. In
1864 there were 73 engagements, and in the winter and early
spring of 1865 there were 28. In fact, 1864-65 was one
continuous campaign. … Not only in life but in treasure the
cost of the war was enormous. In addition to the large
revenues of the Government which had been currently absorbed,
the public debt at the close of the struggle was
$2,808,549,437.55. The incidental losses were innumerable in
kind, incalculable in amount. Mention is made here only of the
actual expenditure of money—estimated by the standard of gold.
The outlay was indeed principally made in paper, but the faith
of the United States was given for redemption in coin—a faith
which has never been tarnished, and which in this instance has
been signally vindicated by the steady determination of the
people. Never, in the same space of time, has there been a
National expenditure so great. … For the three years of the
rebellion, after the first year, our War Department alone
expended $603,314,411.82. $690,391,048.66, and $1,030,690,400
respectively. … At the outbreak of hostilities the Government
discovered that it had no Navy at command. The Secretary, Mr.
Welles, found upon entering his office but a single ship in a
Northern port fitted to engage in aggressive operations. … By
the end of the year 1863 the Government had 600 vessels of war
which were increased to 700 before the rebellion was subdued.
Of the total number at least 75 were ironclad."

_J. G. Blaine,
Twenty Years of Congress,
volume 2, chapter 2,
and volume 1, chapter 25._

"Eleven Confederate cruisers figured in the 'Alabama claims'
settlement between the United States and Great Britain. They
were the Alabama, Shenandoah, Florida, Tallahassee, Georgia,
Chickamauga, Nashville, Retribution, Sumter, Sallie and
Boston. The actual losses inflicted by the Alabama
($6,547,609) were only about $60,000 greater than those
charged to the Shenandoah. The sum total of the claims filed
against the eleven cruisers for ships and cargoes was
$17,900,633, all but about $4,000,000 being caused by the
Alabama and Shenandoah. … In the 'Case of the United States' …
it is stated that while in 1860 two-thirds of the commerce of
New York was carried on in American bottoms, in 1863
three-fourths was carried on in foreign bottoms. The transfer
of American vessels to the British flag to avoid capture is
stated thus:
In 1861, vessels 126, tonnage 71,673;
in 1862, vessels 135, tonnage 64,578;
in 1863, vessels 348, tonnage 252,579;
in 1864, vessels 106, tonnage 92,052.

… The cruisers built or purchased in England for the
Confederate navy, were the Florida, Alabama, Shenandoah and
Rappahannock. The latter never made a cruise, and the others
were procured for the government by James D. Bulloch, naval
agent. … He also had constructed in France the armored ram
Stonewall."

_J. T. Scharf,
History of the Confederate States Navy,
chapter 26._

See ALABAMA CLAIMS.

"The greatest of all the lessons afforded to humanity by the
Titanic struggle in which the American Republic saved its life
is the manner in which its armies were levied, and, when the
occasion for their employment was over, were dismissed. Though
there were periods when recruiting was slow and expensive, yet
there were others, when some crying necessity for troops was
apparent, that showed almost incredible speed and efficiency
in the supply of men. Mr. Stanton, in his report for 1865,
says: 'After the disasters on the Peninsula in 1862, over
80,000 troops were enlisted, organized, armed, equipped, and
sent into the field in less than a month. Sixty thousand
troops have repeatedly gone to the field within four weeks;
and 90,000 infantry were sent to the armies from the five
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin within
twenty days.'"

_J. G. Nicolay and J. Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
volume 10, chapter 17._

See also, PRISONS AND PRISON-PENS, CONFEDERATE.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865 (May-July).
President Johnson's measures of Reconstruction
in the Insurrectionary States.