_Wherein Captain Galligasken has a few Words to say about Lee's
Surrender, and demonstrates, to his own and his Reader's entire
Satisfaction, that the illustrious Soldier is not an accidental
Hero._
If Grant had been the "butcher" which the rebels declared him to be,
if he had been less magnanimous than he was, he would have compelled
rather than "asked" the surrender of Lee's broken army. The Confederate
general knew that he was surrounded, and that he was utterly incapable
of fighting another general battle. Grant addressed the following
letter to him from Farmville:--
"April 7, 1865.
"GENERAL: The result 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 States army known as the army of
Northern Virginia.
U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant General_."
Lee replied, in a note of the same date, that, though he did not
entertain the opinion expressed by Grant of the hopelessness of further
resistance, he reciprocated the desire to avoid the useless effusion
of blood, and asked what terms would be offered on condition of the
surrender of his army. Pollard makes Lee say that he was not _entirely_
of Grant's opinion of the hopelessness of further resistance. Pollard
admires and glorifies Lee, and aims to soften the affectation of
his letter, wherein he ignores the fact that his men were utterly
demoralized, starved, unarmed, and unable either to fight or to run.
That ridiculous Virginian pride which had sacrificed thousands of lives
after the cause of the South was known to be hopeless, was still in the
ascendency.
On the 8th Sheridan captured twenty-five guns, four trains of cars with
supplies, and a hospital train. Grant replied to Lee's disingenuous
note, and, pleading in the interests of peace and humanity, dealing
gently with the pride of the fallen Virginian, offered the most
liberal terms. Peace being his chief desire, he insisted only on one
condition--that the officers and men of the rebel army should, by the
surrender, be disqualified for taking up arms again until properly
exchanged. He proposed a meeting, to interchange views and regulate
terms, thus magnanimously taking upon himself the initiative in what
must be so disagreeable to the rebel general.
Lee promptly replied that he had not proposed to surrender--only to
ask the terms of Grant's proposition. "To be frank, I do not think
the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army," he
writes. How a Virginian gentleman, wedded to truth and honor, could
make such a statement as this, passes the belief of one who was brought
up to be faithful to the homely New England virtues. If the emergency
had not arisen, then, in the surrender, Lee was a traitor to the South,
as from the beginning he had been to the national government. But he
condescends to meet Grant. The lieutenant general declines to see Lee
to make a treaty of peace, but he explains that peace will come when
the South lays down its arms. On the 9th the rebels made a desperate
effort to break through the cavalry which surrounded them, and force
a way out of the net into which they had fallen. They were signally
defeated, and held in their position. This was the last struggle, and
the enemy was in the last corner of the "last ditch." A white flag soon
appears in front of the Confederate line. Lee has come to his senses at
last, and asks for an interview to arrange the terms of surrender. The
emergency has actually arisen at last.
The meeting took place in the house of Mr. Wilmer McLean. It was a
grand occasion, worthy the pen of the historian or the pencil of the
artist. The grand army of Northern Virginia had been "hammered" till
there was almost nothing left of it. Grant had stuck to it from the
Rapidan, thirteen months before, until only its shadow was now left,
and even that was dissolving before its conqueror.
Lee appeared dressed "more gayly" than usual, wearing the elegant
sword presented to him by his friends, strictly observing all the
requirements of courtesy. He was formal, precise, and still dignified,
notwithstanding the humiliating task he was called upon to perform.
Grant wore his ordinary uniform, but carried no sword. The terms of
the surrender were agreed upon, and signed by both parties. The rebels
were to be paroled, after marching out and stacking their arms. The
officers were to retain their side arms, private horses, and baggage.
Each officer and man was to be allowed to return to his home, not to be
disturbed by United States authority so long as he observed his parole,
and obeyed the laws in force where he resided.
The rebel general acknowledged the magnanimity of his conqueror in
giving him and his army such exceedingly favorable terms--terms which
finally saved all included in their provisions from the penalty
of treason. Even my friend Pollard begins to see that Grant is a
noble-minded, magnanimous man, and praises his conduct without stint
or measure. On the 12th the army of Northern Virginia appeared for
the last time on the stage as a body. They formed their last parade,
stacked their arms, and parked their artillery, to be taken possession
of by the Union troops. Grant was not present at this ceremonial, for
he was not a man to indulge in any exultation over his fallen foe, and
his delicacy was duly appreciated by the rebels. Pollard's testimony,
at this point, indicates a just apprehension of the illustrious
soldier; a candid recognition of those traits of character which I have
tried to exhibit throughout my work; and I cannot do better than quote
his words.
"Indeed, this Federal commander had, in the closing scenes of the
contest, behaved with a magnanimity and decorum that must ever be
remembered to his credit, even by those who disputed his reputation in
other respects, and denied his claims to great generalship. He had,
with remarkable facility, accorded honorable and liberal terms to the
vanquished army. He did nothing to dramatize the surrender; he made
no triumphal entry into Richmond; he avoided all those displays of
triumph so dear to the Northern heart; he spared everything that might
wound the feelings or imply the humiliation of a vanquished foe. There
were no indecent exultations, no 'sensations,' no shows; he received
the surrender of his adversary with every courteous recognition due
an honorable enemy, and conducted the closing scenes with as much
simplicity as possible."
Seven thousand five hundred rebels only appeared as the wreck of the
army of Northern Virginia, though eighteen thousand "stragglers,"
hammered out of the line by Grant's persistent pounding, came forward
and claimed the benefit of the surrender. After my courteous friend,
the author of The Lost Cause, has so kindly furnished me with material
for this biography, it pains me to be compelled to raise any further
objections to his veracity; but his arithmetic is sadly at fault. He
struggles earnestly to convey the impression that Grant, from the
Rapidan to Appomattox, was fighting a mere handful of men, which the
Union army outnumbered in the ratio of three or four to one; and some
of Grant's Northern enemies, or lukewarm friends, have been too willing
to use his figures. Pollard says Lee had thirty-three thousand, at both
Richmond and Petersburg, in the first months of 1865. He mentions
twenty-five thousand five hundred at the surrender, acknowledges that
five thousand were taken prisoners in the "shameful misfortune" at Five
Forks, and permits us to imply that about the same number were captured
at Sailor's Creek,--thus making up thirty-five thousand five hundred,
without counting the killed and wounded, though he says of Fort Gregg,
that only thirty of two hundred and fifty composing the garrison
survived the defence. Long before the fortunes of the day became
desperate in the extreme, Pollard groans over heavy losses and numerous
stragglers. Undoubtedly the national army did outnumber the rebels.
Either General Lee was no general, and was the stupidest fanatic that
even the Southern Confederacy contained, or he had at least fifty
thousand men under his command, which was by recognized military rules,
a fair proportion, fighting behind elaborate fortifications, to the
force of the national army. Thirty-three thousand men could not have
held his lines twenty-four hours. In my humble opinion, he had from
seventy-five to a hundred thousand men. I should cease to respect
him as a rebel if he had not, for it would have been inhumanity and
butchery for him to stand out with a less number.
Grant immediately sent the main body of the army to Burkville. Sherman
received the news of Lee's surrender, and Johnston proposed a meeting
to arrange terms for a capitulation. They were drawn up, but sent to
the capital for approval. The lieutenant general went immediately to
Washington. His mission in the field was ended. His name was on every
tongue as the greatest of conquerors. He had given the finishing
stroke to the greatest rebellion the world had ever seen. All over the
nation the people were rejoicing. Cannon thundered forth the joy of the
country, and the old flag was spread to the breeze, tenfold more dear
now that it waved again over a united nation.
Grant went on his way quietly to the national capital, with no pomp and
parade to announce the progress of the conqueror. He did not even go
to Richmond on his way--the city which had been a stumbling-block in
the path of the Union armies, now fallen by the might of his genius and
his persistency. So quietly did he travel, that it was hardly known he
had arrived. He hastened to the War Department, where the indefatigable
Stanton heartily congratulated him. The lieutenant general still meant
business, though it was now the details of peace instead of those
of war. On the morning of the assassination of President Lincoln he
attended a cabinet meeting. He suggested to the government that as the
war was practically ended, the enormous expenses of the army should be
immediately reduced. All drafting and recruiting in the loyal states
were suspended, and large reductions were proposed.
It was announced that Grant would attend the theatre in the evening
with the president; but having arrived on the day before, he was
anxious to see his family, and started for Trenton. Probably the
dagger which Booth flourished was intended for the lieutenant general;
but Providence had other work for him to do, and he was miraculously
spared. On receiving the tidings of the assassination, he returned
instantly to Washington, and attended the funeral of his steadfast
friend and supporter.
Sherman's arrangement with Johnston was promptly disapproved by the
government, and Grant went to Raleigh to smooth the way with his
veteran friend to close up this unpleasant business. The surrender was
received on the same terms that had been granted to Lee, and on this
basis all the remaining armies of the Rebellion laid down their arms.
Towards the last of May there was a grand review in Washington, which
occupied two days. The brave veterans marched before the chief officers
of the government and of the army; then doffed their blue uniform,
and became private citizens. This was the last act in the drama of
the Great Rebellion, exhibiting the crowning glory of our republic in
the facility with which legions of armed men lay aside their military
character, and resort to the peaceful occupations of the country.
The war was ended! The thought thrilled the people even more than the
fact of hostilities had in the beginning. The reflection was all the
more thrilling because the strife had ended in victory. It makes us
shudder to think of the condition of the country if it had ended in
defeat, if the unconquerable spirit of the North would ever have let
it end in such a calamity. The nation realized the blessing which was
born of the triumph of the national arms. I can conceive of such a
thing as the continuance of the war until both North and South were
ruined--until the nation crumbled to pieces by the weight of its own
miseries.
From such a fate I honestly, candidly, and conscientiously believe
Grant saved his country. There was no other man in all the land to
accomplish the work which he performed. There was not another general
who had the genius, the moral and mental attributes, for the stupendous
task. I earnestly and gratefully recognize the inestimable value of
the services even of those who failed to achieve what was expected and
required of them. Those gallant men who successively commanded the army
of the Potomac lacked some essential requisite in the sum total of
character which the emergency demanded. Grant possessed them all, in
such singular harmony that he alone could direct the army in the path
to victory. All others failed; he alone succeeded.
It is hardly necessary to analyze the means by which he succeeded in
his gigantic enterprise. Others turned back from the goal when their
strategy failed, when the rules of warfare failed in their application.
Grant used his strategy and his tactics to the utmost, and passed
them for all they were worth. When they were no longer available, he
"hammered" the enemy. When the old rules failed, he made new ones. He
was an art and a science unto himself.
I say Grant was the only man who could conquer the Rebellion; the only
one who had the elements of success in him. I, Bernard Galligasken, say
this, and I speak advisedly, knowing what I say. During the war, men
went from the ranks up to generals of division in a couple of years. If
any one had any military talent, he went up like a rocket, and, alas!
he often went down like one, when he had soared to the ethereal regions
whose air he could not breathe and live. Almost all who were heroes
in the first year of the war were laid on the shelf before it was half
finished. Corporals became colonels, and major generals disappeared
from the scene of strife. If there was a skilful and patriotic man
in the army, he was raised up; if there was an unskilful one, he was
pulled down, whatever height he had attained. The need of the nation
was desperate, and it could court or flatter no man who was not
successful. For three long years the army was hungry for a competent
leader, but found him not. The government longed for a mighty man, and
was always ready to give him all the honors and all the power it had,
without asking his politics, his religion, his antecedents, or even his
nationality. There was a chance for any man who had the needed ability;
the army, the people, the government, were ready to take him, when he
won his laurel, elevate him to the highest position, go down on their
knees before him, obey him, trust him, follow him. The path that Grant
trod was open to every soldier, and, indeed, to every civilian.
Where are McClellan, Fremont, Buell, Rosecrans, Pope, Hooker, Burnside?
I believe that the country owes them all a debt of gratitude for
what they did in the war, and ought to forgive them for what they
did not do. All of them were placed in positions to achieve the high
eminence which Grant reached. It is no discredit to them that they did
not succeed in them. I am not willing to believe that it was their
fault that they failed, even while each of them may justly be held
responsible for his own mistakes. I only wish to show that each of them
had, if not a fair chance, at least the same chance that Grant had;
certainly none of them was more maligned, none of them more savagely
treated by politicians and evil advisers in Washington. If some of them
were not trusted as long as Grant, it was only because they did not
exhibit abilities which gave the same promise of ultimate success.
Grant was no accidental hero. I have followed him through the struggles
of his brilliant career, and I declare upon my sacred honor as a
soldier and an historian, that never a success did he win which he did
not work for. Behold him at Donelson, threading his way, in the cold
blasts of that bitter storm, among his weary, freezing soldiers, day
after day and night after night, wresting victory from the opposing
elements! Could it have been an accident that he won that brilliant
victory, after the herculean labor he personally performed, after
the severe sufferings which he personally endured, after the savage
fighting in which he personally engaged? Was it an accident, that, in
the midst of disaster, he gave the startling order to charge upon the
enemy's strong works, and made fighting men out of soldiers demoralized
and defeated? Behold him in the Vicksburg campaign, standing up by the
might of his potent will, and against the advice of all his trusted
generals, cutting loose from his supplies, and fighting battle after
battle, till the foe was driven within his stronghold! Was this success
an accident? See him sleeping on the ground with his faithful soldiers,
with no covering but the stars; see him marching by day and watching
by night, attending to the minutest details of the commissary and the
quartermaster! Every success was wrung from opposing elements, and
carried through over the most stupendous obstacle. See him, partially
disabled, with his head pillowed upon a stump, in the pelting rain,
after the hard-fought day at Shiloh, exhausted by his superhuman
labors, stealing an hour of rest to keep him alive for the duties of
another day--see him, and declare that accidental heroes are not made
after this fashion! Go with him, crippled in body, and worn out with
suffering on a sick bed, to the gloom of defeat and starvation at
Chattanooga! Follow him as he moves about on his crutches through the
streets of that beleaguered town, bringing light out of darkness, joy
and victory out of misery and disaster. Not thus do accidental heroes
soar to sublime heights.
Accidental fortune is not thus constant. To the hero crowned with
success, as Grant is, only a lofty patriotism, a sublime devotion to
his country, and a splendid genius, can be constant. These desert him
never. These triumph over all obstacles, bearing their possessor to the
loftiest pinnacle of fame, and, better still, to the highest place in
the regards of a free and intelligent people, as they have borne Grant.
No accident, no combination of accidents, could have lifted him up, or
sustained him a single year.
In the selection of his subordinates Grant won half his success.
Cool, unbiassed judgment did its perfect work for him. His singleness
of purpose freed him from bias. He raised men up, or he threw them
down, only in the interests of the hallowed cause to which he gave
his whole mind and heart. No man ever lived, or ever will live, who
more entirely sunk himself in the work he had engaged to do. If any
high officer stood in the way of the success of the Union arms, he
was removed; for Grant always knew his man. He was wholly free from
personal prejudice and partiality. He elevated no man who was not fit
to be elevated. Of the prominent officers who stood the test of the
war, every one was either raised up by Grant, or stood approved by him.
Sherman and Sheridan were his _protégés_; Thomas owed his position as
an independent commander to him; Meade and Schofield have to thank him
for the high places they hold to-day. He selected them for the great
work they did; and while they, in a sense, built him up, he afforded
them the opportunity to which their ability entitled them. In building
up himself, he built them up; in saving the nation, they saved each
other, and won imperishable renown.
"The soldiers and sailors are not all for a sham hero, a creature
of fortuitous circumstances," said a noted political general at a
convention of which Wade Hampton and Forrest, ex-rebel generals, were
members, to say nothing of the Northern traitors who had stabbed
the government in the back during the whole course of the war. He
alluded to Grant, the nominee of the national party of the Union--our
Standard-Bearer in the contest which is to complete the victory won
on the Southern battle-fields. This same political general was a
brave man--as brave as any negro private whom his fellow-member in
the convention butchered at Fort Pillow; but he was the marplot of
Grant's Vicksburg campaign. Scores of brave men were slaughtered at
Champion's Hill by his criminal delay to obey his superior's orders. At
Shiloh, Sherman fought his division for him, because he did not know
how himself. The key to this sneer about the "creature of fortuitous
circumstances" is found in the fact that Grant removed from command the
author of the phrase at Vicksburg, for publishing a stupid, ridiculous,
and sensational order, wherein he arrogated to himself the principal
glory of the fighting at Vicksburg, whereas he was notoriously
dilatory, lax, and incompetent in the discharge of his duties. If
the Lord, in his infinite wisdom, permitted any "sham heroes" to be
inflicted upon our war-stricken nation, the author of this sentence was
the principal of them. It was Grant's chief glory that he conquered
in spite of such malignant obstacles in his path. But our glorious
Standard-Bearer needs no defence at my hands, and I humbly apologize
for bringing this viper of the New York Convention into my story.