(#11) 'We Walked In Softly... Very Much As People Enter A Sick-Chamber When They Expect To Find The Patient Dangerously Ill'
Grant and Lee met to discuss terms in the McLean home. After speaking alone, Grant's officers entered the room.
General Horace Porter described how it felt to walk into the small room: "We entered, and found General Grant sitting at a marble-topped table in the center of the room, and Lee sitting beside a small oval table near the front window, in the corner opposite to the door by which we entered, and facing General Grant."
Not wanting to disturb the peace negotiation, Porter related, "We walked in softly and ranged ourselves quietly about the sides of the room, very much as people enter a sick-chamber when they expect to find the patient dangerously ill."
(#7) 'This Last Charge Of The War Was Made By The Footsore And Starving Men Of My Command With A Spirit Worthy The Best Days Of Lee's Army'
Gordon led the final charge of the Confederate Army on April 9, 1865. "I take especial pride in recording the fact that this last charge of the war was made by the footsore and starving men of my command with a spirit worthy the best days of Lee's army," Gordon wrote.
His men captured two pieces of Union artillery. According to Gordon, "The brave boys in tattered gray cheered as their battle-flags waved in triumph on that last morning."
Yet Union troops advanced, threatening to surround Lee's position and capture him.
(#13) 'Lee Raised His Hat Respectfully, And Rode Off To Break The Sad News To The Brave Fellows Whom He Had So Long Commanded'
Lee signed the surrender agreement and shook hands with Grant. Then Lee walked to the front steps of the McLean home.
"The general stood on the lowest step and gazed sadly in the direction of the valley beyond where his army lay - now an army of prisoners," Porter recalled. "He smote his hands together a number of times in an absent sort of way; seemed not to see the group of Union officers in the yard who rose respectfully at his approach, and appeared unconscious of everything about him."
Union soldiers marked the solemn moment. According to Porter:
All appreciated the sadness that overwhelmed him, and he had the personal sympathy of every one who beheld him at this supreme moment of trial... General Grant now stepped down from the porch, and, moving toward him, saluted him by raising his hat. He was followed in this act of courtesy by all our officers present; Lee raised his hat respectfully, and rode off to break the sad news to the brave fellows whom he had so long commanded.
(#12) 'It Would Be An Unnecessary Humiliation To Require Officers To Surrender Their Swords'
Grant and Lee spoke about the terms of surrender. After a moment, Grant sat down to write them out.
"He wrote very rapidly," Porter recalled. He added:
Then he looked toward Lee, and his eyes seemed to be resting on the handsome sword that hung at that officer's side. He said afterward that this set him to thinking that it would be an unnecessary humiliation to require officers to surrender their swords, and a great hardship to deprive them of their personal baggage and horses.
After a short pause, Grant added a line to the surrender terms: "This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage."
Lee reviewed the terms and wrote a letter agreeing to them.
(#8) 'A Sharp Engagement Ensued, But Lee Quickly Set Up A White Flag'
Fresh Union troops had marched through the night to corner Lee's army. Grant reported that the tactical move left Lee with few choices: "Our [division] had pushed forward so rapidly that by the time the enemy got up they found Griffin's corps and the Army of the James confronting them."
Grant added, "A sharp engagement ensued, but Lee quickly set up a white flag."
(#3) 'A Flag Of Truce Appeared Under Torchlight In Front Of Mahone’s Line Bearing A Note To General Lee'
After debating his officer's proposal, Lee was still determined to fight on.
Lee's rival, Union General Ulysses S. Grant, had spoken with a captured Confederate general the night before. "[General] Ewell had said that when we had got across the James River he knew their cause was lost, and it was the duty of their authorities to make the best terms they could while they still had a right to claim concessions."
As the Confederate officers tried to convince their commander in chief to surrender, Grant sent Lee a note.
"A flag of truce appeared under torchlight in front of Mahone's line bearing a note to General Lee," recalled Longstreet.
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The American Civil War is the result of many social factors, among which slavery is the main cause, the expansion of territory is the inducement, and the idea of state supremacy is the accelerator. Throughout the history of the United States, the Civil War was the bloodiest war in the history of the United States. Although people have known the causes and conflicts of this war, some important details of the end of the war are rarely known.
The random tool shares 14 details about the final hours of the Civil War that you must be interested in. Welcome to share this tool with other friends.
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