Random Facts About What Final Hours Of Civil War Actually Like (14 items)

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  (#1) 'The Beginning Of The End Was Now At Hand'

  For four years, Union and Confederate troops had clashed on the field. But by April 1865, as General Robert E. Lee's close confidant James Longstreet said, "The beginning of the end was now at hand."

  On April 7, 1865, Lee's closest military officers confronted him. According to General Long:

  Perceiving the difficulties that surrounded the army, and believing its extraction hopeless, a number of the principal officers, from a feeling of affection and sympathy for the commander-in-chief, and with a wish to lighten his responsibility and soften the pain of defeat, volunteered to inform him that, in their opinion, the struggle had reached a point where further resistance was hopeless, and that the contest should be terminated and negotiations opened for a surrender of the army.

  Longstreet disagreed, instead urging the Confederates to fight on.
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  (#2) 'He Knew Their Devotion To The Cause And Their Devotion To Him, But He Was Not Ready To Consider The Necessity For Surrender'

  Confederate General John Brown Gordon recalled "the Army of Northern Virginia had become the mere skeleton of its former self" by April 1865.

  But Lee refused to give up. According to Gordon, "General Lee was riding everywhere and watching everything, encouraging his brave men by his calm and cheerful bearing. He was often exposed to great danger from shells and bullets."

  When Lee's officers suggested surrender, the general said, "We had, I was satisfied, sacred principles to maintain and rights to defend, for which we were in duty bound to do our best, even if we perished in the endeavor."

  Gordon later explained, "He knew their devotion to the cause and their devotion to him, but he was not ready to consider the necessity for surrender."
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  (#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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  (#4) 'The Results Of The Last Week Must Convince You Of The Hopelessness Of Further Resistance'

  In his April 7 note to Lee, Grant wrote:

  The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.

  Lee wrote back saying he disagreed with Grant on "the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia."
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  (#5) 'They Were Ready To Move Without Rations And Travel Without Rest Until The End'

  According to Grant, "Lee's army was rapidly crumbling."

  By contrast, Union soldiers saw victory in their sights. In the words of Grant:

  [Union] troops moved with alacrity and without any straggling. They began to see the end of what they had been fighting four years for. Nothing seemed to fatigue them. They were ready to move without rations and travel without rest until the end. Straggling had entirely ceased, and every man was now a rival for the front. The [division] marched about as rapidly as the cavalry could.

  The Union soldiers had a major tactical advantage. Under General Philip Sheridan, they were able to cut off Lee's army from provisions and surround them.
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  (#6) 'I Have Cut Across The Enemy At Appomattox Station, And Captured Three Of The Trains'

  On the morning of April 9, 1865, Union officer Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain received a note from Sheridan: "I have cut across the enemy at Appomattox Station, and captured three of his trains. If you can possibly push your [division] up here tonight, we will have great results in the morning."

  Sheridan had captured Confederate wagon trains carrying supplies - along with 6,000 Confederate prisoners. 

  Just the night before, Lee wrote to Grant: 

  I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army, but, as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to that end.

  But by dawn, everything had changed.
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  (#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.
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  (#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."
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  (#9) 'There Is Nothing Left Me To Do But To Go And See General Grant, And I Would Rather Die A Thousand Deaths'

  Lee's army was cut off from supplies. The Union forces surrounded them. Rather than fight to the end, Lee waved the flag of truce. 

  But now Lee would have to meet with Grant to discuss the terms of surrender. Standing on the field, Lee lamented, "There is nothing left me to do but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths."
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  (#10) 'I Must Have Contrasted Very Strangely With A Man So Handsomely Dressed, Six Feet High And Of Faultless Form'

  On April 9, 1865, Grant didn't dress for the end of the Civil War. "When I had left camp that morning I had not expected so soon the result that was then taking place, and consequently was in rough garb," Grant explained.

  But when news reached the general that his rival, Lee, had waved the white flag, Grant was ready. 

  Some of his Union troops wondered if the white flag was real. According to Grant, "They were very much excited, and expressed their view that this was all a ruse employed to enable the Confederates to get away."

  But just hours later, Grant and Lee met in the McLean house outside Appomattox. "General Lee was dressed in a full uniform which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value," Grant recalled. "In my rough traveling suit... I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet high and of faultless form."
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  (#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."
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  (#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.
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  (#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.
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  (#14) 'The Confederates Were Now Our Prisoners, And We Did Not Want To Exult Over Their Downfall'

  When Lee rode off to tell his army that the conflict was over, Grant sent a telegraph to Washington. "General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia this afternoon on terms proposed by myself," it read.

  "When news of the surrender first reached our lines our men commenced firing a salute of a hundred [arms] in honor of the victory," Grant later wrote in his memoir. "I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. The Confederates were now our prisoners, and we did not want to exult over their downfall."

  Although skirmishes continued for several weeks, the conflict had officially ended with the defeat of the Confederacy. Grant informed his officers, "The war is over. The Rebels are our countrymen again."

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