While Lee's messenger was making his way toward the Union lines,
Grant was riding rapidly to the front where his forces had foiled the
Confederate cavalry. For more than a week he had been constantly in the
saddle, moving from one point on his lines to another and begrudging
even the time for food and sleep in his efforts to hasten the pursuit.
But the tremendous physical and mental strain to which he had subjected
himself had already begun to tell upon him, and he had passed the
previous night under a surgeon's care endeavoring to put himself in fit
condition for the final struggle which Lee's refusal to surrender led
him to expect. The dawn of April 9th, however, found him suffering with
a raging headache, and well-nigh exhausted after his sleepless night he
rode forward feeling more like going to the hospital than taking active
command in the field. He had already advanced some distance and was
within two or three miles of Appomattox Court House, when an officer
overtook him and handed him these lines from Lee:
"Apr. 9, 1865.
"General:
"I received your note of this morning on the picket line whither I had
come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in
your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army.
I now ask an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your
letter of yesterday for that purpose.
"R. E. Lee,
"General."
The moment Grant's eyes rested on these words his headache disappeared,
and instantly writing the following reply, he put spurs to his horse and
galloped on:
"Apr. 9, 1865.
"Your note of this date is but this moment (11:50 A. M.) received in
consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburg Road to
the Farmville and Lynchburg Road. I am at this writing about four miles
west of Walker's Church and will push forward to the front for the
purpose of meeting you. Notice sent to me on this road where you wish
the interview to take place will meet me.
"U. S. Grant,
"Lt. General."
The troops under Sheridan were drawn up in line of battle when Grant
arrived on the scene and his officers, highly excited at the favorable
opportunity for attacking the Confederates, urged him to allow no
cessation of hostilities until the surrender was actually made. But
Grant would not listen to anything of this sort, and directing that he
be at once conducted to General Lee, followed an orderly who led him
toward a comfortable two-story, brick dwelling in Appomattox village
owned by a Mr. McLean who had placed it at the disposal of the
Confederate commander.
Mounting the broad piazza steps, Grant entered the house, followed by
his principal generals and the members of his staff, and was ushered
into a room at the left of the hall, where Lee, accompanied by only one
officer, awaited him.
As the two commanders shook hands the Union officers passed toward the
rear of the room and remained standing apart. Then Lee motioned Grant
to a chair placed beside a small marble-topped table, at the same time
seating himself near another table close at hand. Neither man exhibited
the slightest embarrassment and Grant, recalling that they had served
together during the Mexican War, reminded Lee of this fact, saying that
he remembered him very distinctly as General Scott's Chief of Staff but
did not suppose that an older and superior officer would remember him.
But Lee did remember him and in a few minutes he was chatting quietly
with his former comrade about the Mexican campaign and old army days.
It would be impossible to imagine a greater contrast than that afforded
by the two men as they thus sat conversing. Lee wore a spotless gray
uniform, long cavalry boots, spurs and gauntlets, and carried the
beautiful sword given to him by Virginia, presenting altogether a most
impressive appearance; and his tall, splendidly proportioned figure and
grave dignified bearing heightened the effect. His well-trimmed hair and
beard were almost snow white, adding distinction to his calm, handsome
face without suggesting age, and his clear eyes and complexion and erect
carriage were remarkable for a man of fifty-eight. Grant was barely
forty-three, and his hair and beard were brown with a touch of gray,
but his face was worn and haggard from recent illness, and his thickset
figure and drooping shoulders were those of a man well advanced in
years. For uniform he wore the blouse of a private, to which the
shoulder straps of a lieutenant-general had been stitched; his trousers
were tucked into top boots worn without spurs; he carried no sword and
from head to foot he was splashed with mud.
He, himself, was conscious of the strange contrast between his
appearance and that of his faultlessly attired opponent, for he
apologized for his unkempt condition, explaining that he had come
straight from active duty in the field, and then as the conversation
regarding Mexico continued he grew so pleasantly interested that the
object of the meeting almost passed from his mind, and it was Lee who
first recalled it to his attention.
He then called for pencil and paper, and without having previously
mapped out any phrases in his mind, he began to draft an informal letter
to Lee, outlining the terms of surrender. Nothing could have been more
clear and simple than the agreement which he drafted, nor could the
document have been more free from anything tending to humiliate or
offend his adversary. It provided merely for the stacking of guns, the
parking of cannon and the proper enrollment of the Confederate troops,
all of whom were to remain unmolested as long as they obeyed the laws
and did not again take up arms against the Government, and it concluded
with the statement that the side arms of the officers were not to be
surrendered and that all such officers who owned their own horses should
be permitted to retain them.
Lee watched the writing of this letter in silence, and when Grant handed
it to him he read it slowly, merely remarking as he returned it that the
provision allowing the officers to keep their horses would have a happy
effect, but that in the Confederate army the cavalry and artillerymen
likewise owned their own horses. That hint was quite sufficient for
Grant, who immediately agreed to make the concession apply to all the
soldiers, whether officers or privates, observing as he again handed the
paper to Lee that his men would probably find their horses useful in the
spring ploughing when they returned to their farms. Lee responded that
the concession would prove most gratifying to his soldiers, and, turning
to his secretary, dictated a short, simple reply to his opponent,
accepting his conditions.
While these letters were being copied in ink, Grant introduced his
officers to Lee and strove to make the situation as easy as possible
for him. Indeed, throughout the whole interview he displayed the most
admirable spirit, tactfully conceding all that his adversary might
reasonably have asked, thus saving him from the embarrassment of making
any request and generally exhibiting a delicate courtesy and generosity
which astonished those who judged him merely by his rough exterior. But
Grant, though uncouth in appearance and unpolished in manners, was a
gentleman in the best sense of the word, and he rose to the occasion
with an ease and grace that left nothing to be desired.
As soon as the letters were signed the Confederate commander shook his
late opponent's hand and turned to leave the room. The Union officers
followed him to the door as he departed but tactfully refrained from
accompanying him further and attended only by his secretary, he passed
down the broad steps of the piazza, gravely saluted the group of
officers gathered there who respectfully rose at his approach, mounted
his old favorite "Traveller" and rode slowly toward his own lines.
By this time the news of the surrender had reached the Union army and
cannon began booming a salute in honor of the joyful tidings. But
Grant instantly stopped this and ordered that there should be no
demonstrations or exultation of any kind which would offend Lee's men.
In the same generous spirit he kept his men strictly within their own
lines when the Confederates stacked their guns and no one, except the
officers assigned to receive the arms, was permitted to witness this
final act of surrender[1]. He likewise declined to visit Richmond lest
his presence should be regarded as the triumphal entry of a conqueror
or smack of exulting over his fallen foes, and with fully a million
bayonets behind him ready to win him further glory, his foremost thought
was to end the war without the loss of another life. With this idea, on
the morning after the surrender, he sought another interview with Lee.
[1]Since the first edition of this volume was published the writer
has been furnished, through the courtesy of Mr. Jefferson K. Cole of
Massachusetts, with documentary proof that the formal surrender of
what remained of Lee's infantry was made in the presence of the First
Division of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac, General Joshua
L. Chamberlain commanding. Therefore, although it is true that Grant
avoided all humiliation of the Confederates, it is evident that a small
portion of his troops did witness the final act of surrender, and the
statement in the text should be accordingly amended.