casioned us much embarrassment, and the hope was indulged, that relieved of this burden the army could make good its escape. 'Yes,' said the General, 'perhaps we could, but I have had a conference with these gentlemen around me and they agree that the time has come for a capitulation.' 'Well, sir,' I said, 'I can only speak for myself; to me any other fate is preferable.' 'Such is my individual way of thinking,' interrupted the General.

"But,' I immediately added, of course, General, it is different with you. You have to think of these brave men and decide not only for yourself but for them.'

"Yes,' he replied, 'it would be useless, and therefore cruel, to provoke the further effusion of blood, and I have arranged to meet General Grant with a view to surrender and wish you to accompany me.'

"Shortly after this the General, accompanied by Colonel Marshall and myself, started back in the direction from which he had come, to meet General Grant as had been arranged.

"We continued some distance without meeting any one after passing our lines, but finally came upon a staff officer, sent by General Grant's order to say to General Lee that he had been prevented from meeting him at that point and to request that he would meet him upon the other road. General Lee then retraced his steps, and, proceeding toward our front in the direction of Appomattox Court House, dismounted at a convenient place to await General Grant's communication. Very soon a Federal officer, accompanied by one of General Gordon's staff, rode up to where General Lee was seated in a small orchard on the roadside. This proved to be General Forsythe, of General Sheridan's staff, who was sent by General Sheridan to say that, as he had doubt as to his authority to recognize the informal truce which had been agreed upon between General

1865.]

WHAT LEE SAID, AND HOW HE APPEARED.

503 Gordon and himself, he desired to communicate with General Meade on the subject, and wished permission to pass through our lines as the shortest route. I was assigned to the duty of escorting General Forsythe through our lines and back. This was scarcely accomplished, when General Babcock rode up and announced to General Lee that General Grant was prepared to meet him at the front.

"I shrank from this interview, and while I could not then, and cannot now, justify my conduct, I availed myself of the excuse of having taken the two rides through the extent of our lines and to those of the enemy, already mentioned, and did not accompany my chief in this trying ordeal.

"The scene witnessed upon the return of General Lee was one certain to impress itself indelibly upon the memory; it can be vividly recalled now after the lapse of many years, but no description can do it justice. The men crowded around him, eager to shake him by the hand; eyes that had been so often illumined with the fire of patriotism and true courage, that had so often glared with defiance in the heat and fury of battle, and so often kindled with enthusiasm and pride in the hour of success, moistened now; cheeks bronzed by exposure in many campaigns and withal begrimed with powder and dust, now blanched from deep emotion and suffered the silent tear; tongues that had so often carried dismay to the hearts of the enemy in that indescribable cheer which accompanied "the charge.' or that had so often made the air to resound with the pæan of victory, refused utterance now; brave hearts failed that had never quailed in the presence of an enemy; but the firm and silent pressure of the hand told most eloquently of souls filled with admiration, love and tender sympathy for their beloved chief. He essayed to thank them, but too full a heart paralyzed his speech; he soon sought a short respite from these

trying scenes and retired to his private quarters, that he might, in solitude and quiet, commune with his own brave heart and be still. Thus terminated the career of the Army of Northern Virginia-an army that was never vanquished, but that, in obedience to the orders of its trusted commander, who was himself yielding obedience to the dictates of a pure and lofty sense of duty to his men and those dependent on them, laid down its arms and furled the standards never lowered in defeat,"

The men of the two armies at once mingled together, and the starving Confederates found their late antagonists hospitable friends.

The Confederates were paroled and went to their homes, many of them making their poor tables glad by the abundance of Union rations, while the Union army turned its face northward, and a few months later its members had laid aside their arms and uniforms, and were mingling with their neighbors in the ordinary occupations of life-valiant soldiers in war, good citizens in peace.

Thus practically ended the great Rebellion-a rebellion that our incongruous system of government was certain to entail upon the country, sooner or later. It involved terrible trials and sacrifices, but we must remember that,

With the close of the war the dawn of a new and better era burst upon our country. We emerged from the conflict triumphant not only, but we had shown vitality and resources that amazed the world, while they surprised ourselves. The blot upon our escutcheon had been expunged, and we stood before the world in the sublime majesty of a nation free in fact, as well as in theory. True, we yet bear the marks and scars of the

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FRUITS OF THE UNION VICTORY.

505

gigantic struggle through which we have passed, but with a people reunited and animated by that indomitable spirit which hitherto has enabled them to accomplish so much, they will march on, in the course of empire, until our continent shall be covered with towns and cities, and peace and good will shall dwell in all our borders.

NOTES.

NOTE I.

Letter from McD. Van Wagoner, Esq., in relation to statement on page 240.

GENERAL GATES:

KINGSTON, Sept. 3d, 1879.

Dear Sir :-As a member of one of the companies of the Harris Light Cavalry, and a participant in the fight of Brandy Station, and that of Rappahannock Station, in 1862, allow me to say I think you do injustice to General Kilpatrick in your criticism (on pages 240 and 241 of your history) of that gentleman's action.

An attempt was made to give the rebels a check, near Rappahannock Station, and Judson Kilpatrick, then Lieutenant-Colonel of the Harris Light Cavalry, was selected for that duty.

A portion of the regiment (Harris Light) was formed on a fine level piece of ground a few hundred yards from the brow of a hill, up which the enemy were expected to come in full force during their advance. There couldn't have been found a finer place for manœuvring cavalry, but as the rebels came up with a cloud of skirmishers, the dust which filled the air made their numbers look much larger than they really were, and the Harris Light being green, as it were, never having participated in a charge, or even seen one, when ordered by Kilpatrick to charge, didn't move forward immediately, and almost the next instant a column of rebel cavalry being seen coming on a gallop close to them, they broke and ran;