THE END OF THE STRUGGLE.
While the negotiations stated in the foregoing chapter were being
had between Generals Johnston and Sherman Lieutenant General Hardee,
who had been left at Smithfield in command of the Confederate army,
commenced his move northward through Raleigh. The enemy, becoming
active, moved also; but they did not come in sight until we were
passing Durham Station, where we left the line of the railroad,
marching in the direction of Chapel Hill. The enemy appeared in our
rear and vigorously cannonaded the army as they passed, the cavalry
bringing up the rear. First Lieut. H. L. Preston, of Company E, and
First Lieut. Jo Massengale, of Company B, Fourth Tennessee, were left
at Durham Station with their companies; and upon the enemy’s advance
guard coming up, they had quite a fight, in which both lieutenants,
as well as some of their men, were wounded. This was the fourth time
that the gallant officer Preston was wounded in action. Upon reaching
Chapel Hill, Col. Baxter Smith’s brigade was left there on outpost
duty, the remainder of the army passing on. We remained at Chapel
Hill two days or more, our headquarters being at a line of fence
inclosing the college campus, and picketed the roads leading toward
Raleigh, N. C.
The chaplains of the army were good men, and we could not have
well done without their services. But I think they were generally
“free lances” in the army, and were permitted to go and come _ad
libitum_--at least ours was. One morning our chaplain came into the
camp after a visit to the town of Chapel Hill, and told among the
soldiers that General Lee had surrendered his army to General Grant
at Appomattox. Of course a matter of such importance was quickly
circulated through the camp. When Colonel Smith heard it, he sent a
guard down and had the chaplain arrested and brought to his quarters.
Upon being asked why he was telling so improbable a tale among the
soldiers, he replied that he was only telling what he had heard fully
discussed and told by the citizens he had met. The Colonel told him
to consider himself under arrest and to take a seat.
Hardly fifteen minutes had elapsed before one of the pickets
brought in a man, saying that he had been arrested while trying
to get through the picket stand to go home, as he said that he had
surrendered. Telling pretty much the tale that the chaplain had,
he drew from his pocket a paper, which he handed to Colonel Smith,
reciting the fact of his surrender under General Lee. It was a _bona
fide_ army parole, with all the earmarks upon it, leaving no doubt
of the fact in the mind. He stated further that he had learned that
an armistice was pending between the armies of General Johnston and
Sherman looking to a surrender, and that we would be notified soon.
The man under arrest was told to go his way; and then, turning to
the chaplain, Colonel Smith remarked: “I reckon you, too, have gained
your case without introducing a witness. You, too, can go your way.”
The same day we were notified of the pending armistice, and to come
to a point beyond Ruffin’s Bridge, at a crossroad, to go into camp
awaiting further orders. It would be impossible to describe the
surprise created from the highest ranking officer to the humblest
private by this news. They were dazed, and had never thought of a
surrender. It is surprising, too, that they had not; for they were
too intelligent not to know of the disastrous condition of affairs,
and that they were fighting a force numerically larger than their
own by at least ten to one. Had they not concluded that all left
to them was to remain to the end and to let consequences take care
of themselves--in other words, that honor dictated that there was
nothing for them to do but, if need be, to die with the harness on?
We at once marched to the designated encampment, going through Chapel
Hill, crossing Ruffin’s Bridge, and going into camp some twelve miles
beyond it. We remained here, I suppose, ten days awaiting the return
of the Johnston-Sherman capitulation. In the meantime the men took
time to reflect, and had about settled down to the conclusion, after
weighing all the facts, that this was about as favorable as they
could expect, especially the second clause heretofore quoted--that
they were to march home with their army accouterments, deposit them
in their respective State Capitols, return to their homes, and obey
the laws of the State and Federal authority. There was some show
of recognition in this--that they were not to be considered as
subjugated subjects, and were to return as veteran soldiers to their
homes and families that many of them had not seen for four years.
During this interval the Third Arkansas and the Eighth and Eleventh
Texas Regiments, whose homes were west of the Mississippi River,
marched off home, saying that they were going to join Gen. Kirby
Smith’s army and fight it out over there. No discipline or restraint
could be imposed at this time. They tried to persuade the Fourth
Tennessee to go with them on account of the ties of true comradeship
that had existed between them so long and during such trying scenes
as they had shared together. A few did go; but better counsels
prevailed, and the body of them remained, leaving Colonel Smith
in command of a brigade of 250 men of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry,
besides about twenty of the relieved commissioned officers from the
infantry who were reporting to him.
The time was spent in social visitation among the troops, the
exchanging of addresses, and dreaming of home. We were invited to
a dinner at General Bate’s headquarters, near by; but his negro
servant, Ben, got drunk that day, and, unfortunately, we did not get
as much dinner as we expected. The pine woods of North Carolina were
flooded with old applejack, and the soldiers, of course, got their
full supply of it. While we were at General Bate’s headquarters an
officer was seen at a distance in a field drilling his command as if
the war had just started. Some one asked: “Who is that fool officer?”
The reply came back that it was Gen. John C. Brown drilling his
command.
This dream of home and loved ones was cut short one night when
a mounted man inquired for Colonel Smith’s headquarters. He was
properly directed, and on coming up presented an order. Upon stirring
up the fire to see, I read: “The armistice is over. You will take
your brigade and go to or near Ruffin’s Bridge and place your pickets
covering the roads leading toward Raleigh.” The company commanders
were ordered to arouse the men, mount, and be ready to move out,
as we had to go on picket duty. Of course many questions were asked
as to what was up now. No answer could be made except that the
order said that the armistice was at an end. In fact, before the
Johnston-Sherman agreement could be acted upon, Mr. Lincoln had been
assassinated by Booth. The Northern press, as well as the entire
North, was asserting that the killing had been instigated by Southern
citizens. There was a perfect storm of rage and frenzy, such, as
has been said, that if an individual had expressed himself to the
contrary he would have been torn to pieces by the wild and excited
mob. Of course the treaty had been rejected, and hence the order
to go on picket duty again. Silently and without saying a word, the
250 men of the Fourth Tennessee Regiment, all that was left of the
brigade, moved out to the post of duty. They would have been taken
for a funeral procession. These men had passed through hundreds of
battles and skirmishes where blood had been drawn, and many of them
had more than one battle scar upon their persons; but this was the
grandest and noblest act of their soldier lives--still faithfully
pursuing the line of duty when their star of hope had set forever.
I remember that it was a bright moonlight night, and the shimmering
light through the dense foliage of the forest of tall pines through
which we were passing gave the scene a graveyard appearance. Nothing
was lacking save the lonesome call of the whippoorwill or the
mournful wailing of the night owl to have completed the picture. We
reached the place to which we had been ordered. After the placing of
the pickets, a courier came to headquarters with an order for Colonel
Smith to repair to his former camp, as another armistice had been
agreed upon.
On the 26th day of April, 1865, General Johnston surrendered his army
of about 20,000 to General Sherman. General Johnston had issued the
following, which was read to the different commands:
Terms of a military convention entered into the 26th day of
April, 1865, at Bennett’s house, near Durham Station, N. C.,
between Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate
army, and Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, commanding the United
States army in North Carolina:
1. All acts of war on the part of the troops under General
Johnston’s command to cease from this date.
2. All arms and public property to be deposited at
Greensboro and delivered to an ordnance officer of the
United States.
3. Rolls of all officers and men to be made in duplicate,
one copy to be retained by the commander of troops and
the other to be given to an officer to be designated by
General Sherman, each officer and man to give his individual
obligation in writing not to take up arms against the
government of the United States until properly released from
this obligation.
4. The side arms of officers and their private horses and
baggage to be retained by them.
5. This being done, all the officers and men will be
permitted to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by
the United States authorities so long as they observe these
obligations and the laws in force where they may reside.
JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON,
_Commanding Confederates_.
W. T. SHERMAN,
_Commanding United States Forces_.
Supplemental terms of the same date, signed by these officers, recite
among other things: “Section F. Private horses and other private
property of both officers and men to be retained by them.” General
Johnston immediately after this issued his farewell address to his
army, as follows:
General Orders, No. 22.
_Comrades_: In terminating our official relations I
earnestly exhort you to observe faithfully the terms of
pacification agreed upon and to discharge the obligations of
good and peaceful citizens as well as you have performed the
duties of thorough soldiers in the field. By such a course
you will best secure the comfort of your family and kindred
and restore tranquillity to our country. You will return
to your homes with the admiration of our people won by the
courage and noble devotion you have displayed in this long
war. I shall always remember with pride the loyal support
and generous confidence you have given me. I now part with
you with deep regret and bid you farewell with a feeling
of cordial friendship and with earnest wishes that you may
hereafter have all the prosperity and happiness to be found
in the world.
JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, _General Official_;
KIMLOCK FALCONER, _A. A. G._
The Confederate infantry received their parole at Greensboro, N. C.,
May 1, 1865. In order to expedite the printing and issuing of the
paroles, the Confederate cavalry, under General Wheeler, was sent
to Charlotte, N. C., where they received their paroles, dated May 3,
1865. General Wheeler issued the following farewell address to his
cavalry corps:
Headquarters Cavalry Corps, April 28, 1865.
_Gallant Comrades_: You have fought your fight; your task
is done. During a four years’ fight for liberty you have
exhibited courage, fortitude, and devotion; you are the
victors of more than two hundred strongly contested fields;
you have participated in more than a thousand conflicts
of arms; you are heroes, victors, and patriots; the bones
of your comrades mark the battle fields upon the soil
of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia; you have done
all that human exertion could accomplish. In bidding you
adieu I desire to tender to you my thanks for your gallantry
in battle and your devotion at all times to the holy cause
you have done so much to maintain. I desire also to express
my gratification for the kind feeling you have seen fit to
extend toward myself, and to evoke upon you the blessings
of your Heavenly Father, to whom we must always look for
support in the hour of distress.
JOE WHEELER, _Major General_.
After this the troops scattered to their homes. The First Tennessee
Cavalry Regiment, the Ninth Battalion of Tennessee, and a greater
part of the Fourth Tennessee left in a body, as they resided in
Middle Tennessee. We were provided with some rations; but after
traveling some distance, we found that it would be necessary to
forage upon the country. For the purpose of lightening the burden
upon an almost impoverished people, we separated, the First Regiment
and the Ninth Battalion taking the road to the right, crossing
the East Tennessee Railroad at Strawberry Plains, and the Fourth
Tennessee crossing at Sweetwater. At these places on the railroad
the commands were halted, and an order was presented from General
Stoneman (with headquarters at Knoxville) to dismount the men, take
their horses, and ship the men by rail to their homes. Of course
a protest was made against this proceeding, as it was expressly
provided for by the terms of the articles of the surrender that the
horses were the private property of the men and they were allowed
to keep them. Forty years after this unwarranted proceeding the
Congress of the United States passed an act to pay these soldiers
for their horses and equipment--to wit: One hundred and twenty-five
dollars for the horse and ten dollars for the saddle and bridle. This
act was limited to soldiers that were paroled at the surrender of
the Confederate army, and, in case of death, to their widows. Where
there was no widow, the children were to receive the benefit. The
act provided also that the taking must have been done by the United
States soldiers. Many have availed themselves of this long-deferred
justice, and in many cases it has benefited them and their families
immensely.
About the 20th of May, 1865, the Middle Tennessee soldiers reached
Nashville to proceed to their homes. It was a sad home-coming with
many of them: to desolated homes, a war-swept country, families
suffering for the necessities of life, and, worst of all, with a
disreputable militia lording it over a helpless people, with the
Freedman’s Bureau playing an important part in the dirty work--in
fact, it was their coöperator in chief. Many revolting acts could be
told of its reign in Tennessee and throughout the South after the war.