neighborhood. He said that when he came along past home, he found that he was the only man of the regiment remaining with Lee's army, so he just dropped out, and now wanted to surrender himself. I told him to stay there and he would not be molested. Sheridan was ahead; Grant and Meade were south of Lee and behind him. Lee's force had melted away until only 25,000 men were left, and of these only about 8,000 had any arms or ammunition. Hordes of gaunt, ragged men, without guns in their hands, or anything to eat, filled the roads. Yet the army kept its invincible faith in Lee. On the night of April 8th the shattered army slept on the ground, under the clear stars, in the fields around Appomattox. As the hungry men lay in the army's last bivouac they could hear the muffled sounds of the foe's maneuvers all around them. Now and then from somewhere in the distance came the sharp rattle of gunfire-sudden bursts, over in a minute. If there ever are ghosts in this world they must have haunted that poor little beaten army on the last night of its existence the ghosts of its superb battle days, and of the years when it had fought so long and so valiantly. The ghosts of Fredericksburg; of Chancellorsville; of the sunlit heights of Gettysburg, where the ardent Southern guns blazed among the Pennsylvania hills; of the fierce, bloody duels in the Wilderness. Then the daylight came, sifting through the April green of the Virginia woods and filling the valleys with its quiet presence. All around there was the movement of vast hosts, and artillery rumbling into position. But the Army of Northern Virginia did not move. The stricken lion lay dying. § 6 "Where's General Lee?" Grant asked of an orderly who stood waiting in the road. Lee Surrenders 351 The orderly pointed to a brick house set in a flower garden. "Over there," he said. Grant turned around to his staff. "Well, let's go over and see him." Lee, and Colonel Marshall of his staff, had been there for about an hour, chatting pleasantly with Colonel Babcock, one of Grant's aides, while they waited for the general-in-chief to appear. The Union generals arrive; they fill the little room. Grant shakes hands with Lee, and introduces him around: "General Lee, this is General Sheridan, and General Rawlins, and Colonel Badeau, and Colonel Parker-" Lee bows slightly as each name is pronounced. He looks keenly at Colonel Parker for an instant, and then turns a sharp glance on him again. Parker is a full-blooded Indian; Lee evidently thinks him a negro. "General Grant, and gentlemen," Lee says, "this is Colonel Marshall, of my staff”—and Marshall, standing by the mantel, bows coolly. They all sit down. The Union staff officers whisper among themselves. They are saying to one another how large and impressive Lee is; they thought he was a smaller man. Grant is dusty, and rather frowzy in appearance. As he glances at Lee's splendid new uniform he apologizes awkwardly for his looks. He did not have time, he says, to change his clothes. "This is a pretty country," Sheridan remarks, but nobody pays much attention to him, for Grant and Lee are talking about their days in Mexico. A little desultory conversation -strained undoubtedly-and then Lee says, "General, I have come to meet you in accordance with my letter to you this morning, to treat about the surrender of my army, and I think the best way would be for you to put your terms in writing." Grant thinks so, too. There is a pause while Grant writes his terms out with a pencil on a piece of paper. Remarkably magnanimous terms they are. The men shall be allowed to depart for their homes after signing a parole not to fight for the Confederacy any more. They are not to be molested as long as they obey the law. Only public property is to be taken by the victors; the officers may carry their sidearms and personal baggage. Lee reads the paper. "General," he says, "our cavalrymen furnish their own horses; they are not government horses; some of them may be, but of course you will find them outany property that is public property, you will ascertain that, but it is nearly all private property, and these men will want to plow ground and plant corn." Grant answers that the United States does not need the horses of small farmers, and that any man who claims to own a horse or mule can take it away with him. "That will have a very happy effect," Lee remarks. Lee rises to go. He says that his army is in a very bad condition for want of food and forage-the men have been existing on parched corn for three days-and that he would have to ask for rations. Grant inquires if twenty-five thousand rations would be enough, and Lee replies: "Plenty; plenty; an abundance." He and Colonel Marshall bow and ride away. The army of Northern Virginia is no more. Next day cheering, boisterous crowds will be surging through the streets of the Northern cities, while the bells ring, the cannons boom, and "The Star-Spangled Banner" will be throbbing and blaring in the air. The name of Grant will be on every man's tongue. §7 The paroles had to be printed on a slow army printing press. It took all of the next day, while the Gray and Blue fraternized. Meade met. Lee riding pensively. "Don't you know me, General Lee?" he said. "I'm George Meade." |