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President Lincoln sailed back to Washington 150 years ago today. He had hoped to be on hand for the surrender of General Lee's army, but the demands of his cabinet members led him to conclude that his "vacation" must be ended.
Meanwhile the remains of the Army of Northern Virginia continued west, departing Farmville and heading for Appomattox Station. While on the march Lee received a reply to his vague response to General Grant's request for a surrender.
Quote:
"April 8th, 1865.
General R.E. Lee, Commanding C.S.A.:
Your note of last evening in reply to mine of the same date, asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply I would say that, peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon,--namely, that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received.
U.S. Grant, Lieutenant-General"
And once more Lee was coy with his reply, one which annoyingly insisted that he was not considering the surrender of his army, but rather thinking about peace, as if one could be had without the other.
Quote:
"April 8th, 1865.
General: I received at a late hour your note of to-day. In mine of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army, but, as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia; but as far as your proposal may affect the Confederate States forces under my command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 A.M. tomorrow on the old state road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two armies.
R.E. Lee, General."
Grant replied that he had no authority to negotiate a general peace, that was the government's prerogative, he could only accept the surrender of Lee's army.
While this dance between the commanders took place, the retreat continued. The armies were in such close proximity that fighting was continuous along the march with General Longstreet's men beating back his pursuers, but losing more guns and men as a consequence. Lee's army arrived at Appomattox Station that evening and discovered that the supply train which had been sent to meet them there, had been captured by General Sheridan's cavalry. Worse, reports came in indicating that the Federal cavalry was there in strength, to the west and to the south, blocking all movement unless Lee opted to march north.
Lee called in Longstreet and General Gordon, and in an act out of character, asked for their advice. The decision which was reached was for one more effort in the morning. Gordon would attack the enemy cavalry with his Corps in an attempt to open a corridor through which the retreat might continue. Gordon pointed out that the best that they could hope for was no longer a march to join forces with General Johnston in North Carolina, but rather a drive into the mountains to the west where eventually, hopefully, they might be able to make their way south with whatever was left of the army, and add it to Johnston's force.
Fifteen miles to the east, Grant was going to bed that night with a severe headache that had begun at sunset. The remedies of the day were applied but did not help, nor did the good news from Sheridan, who reported the capture of the wagon train and the blocking position of his cavalry. "I do not believe that Lee intends to surrender until compelled to do so" his report concluded.
Grant discussed Lee's latest reply with his adjutant General Rawlins. Rawlins was outraged by Lee's ambiguous messages and argued that Grant should no longer reply but just apply maximum force to destroy Lee's army. Grant tolerated, as he always had, Rawlins passionate fury, and countered that he was confident that if the meeting with Lee did take place tomorrow, it was certain to end with Lee's surrender. "It all means the same thing" he explained.
Grant retired for the night with the headache still pounding.
The magnificent fighting force that had been the Army of Northern Virginia was down to around 20,000 men, of whom only 12,500 could be viewed as effectives. The rest were survivors of the destroyed divisions and Corps, cavalrymen who no longer had horses, artillerymen who no longer had cannons, teamsters who no longer had wagons, staff officers for staffs which no longer existed, and infantry who no longer had rifles or equipment of any kind.
General Gordon's Corps contained just over 2000 men, but 150 years ago this morning they prepared for a desperate attack on the Federal cavalry which was blocking them to the west and south. At sunrise they formed up facing those Union troopers who were occupying a small hill to their front. For the last time east of the Appalachians, the famed rebel yell sounded and Gordon's men surged forward.
For a moment it was like old times, the men in grey swarmed into the defending horsemen and drove them fleeing down the other side of the hill, capturing two of their artillery pieces in the process. The charging Confederates topped the hill and their hearts sank. Down below in the valley, in a line two miles wide, were the infantry Corps of Generals Ord and Griffin. Behind them approaching in the distance was a third Corps. Gordon could do nothing but fall back and dig in for a defense. He sent a message to General Lee explaining the situation and stating that he could not hold unless he got help from General Longstreet's Corps.
With Longstreet already engaged in fending off the two Corps which were nipping at his rear, Lee read Gordon's message and recognized that the long dreaded moment was at last upon him. "There is nothing left me to do but go and see General Grant" Lee told his staff, "and I would rather die a thousand deaths."
It was 8:30 am.
Longstreet concurred with the decision to surrender, but artillery chief Porter Alexander argued against it. Instead he favored the army scattering and taking to the hills to the west, breaking up into small guerrilla bands which could hold out for years and extend the war indefinitely. Lee, in one of his finest hours, made it very clear that he would have no part in such an action. He pointed out that the sort of partisan warfare which Alexander was advocating would be conducted by men not under military discipline, who would murder the enemy, but also have to murder their own countrymen who did not support them. Lee argued that this course would mean the war coming to many places it otherwise had not, and would not, touch, and that the enemy would be forced by the rebel tactics to retaliate against civilians. To Lee this was simply murder, not war, and it contradicted the gentleman's code which he had always followed.
So it was to be a surrender. The first item of business was getting a message to General Grant, advising him of the situation and arranging a meeting. He had this morning received a reply from Grant who had intelligently decided to ignore the vagueness of Lee's previous notes, and spell out the conditions for an acceptable surrender. Grant had made it simple and generous. All he would require would be the paroles of all of the officers and men, and the yielding of all war equipment. Today's reply from Lee was not ambiguous, he wished to meet with Grant to arrange for the surrender under the conditions spelled out in Grant's latest message.
After sending that, Lee then took the time to dress himself in his finest new uniform, including his dress sword which he only wore for ceremonial purposes. He thought it likely that he would become Grant's prisoner that day, and wanted to make the best possible appearance. Then Lee mounted Traveler and headed for Appomattox Court House. As he passed Longstreet's men, they noted the formal uniform and dress sword, and knew by that what their commander's intentions were. Under a flag of truce Lee rode out to a point halfway between the lines where he was met by a Union officer.
There followed a three hour wait, filled with confusion and the near resumption of the fighting. General Meade, who had been sick with a fever all week and ridden in an ambulance during the pursuit, had no official word from Grant that any sort of truce or surrender was in the works. As such he sent a messenger to Lee informing him that the attacks would continue. Lee stood his ground and sent another note to Grant requesting a truce. Meanwhile the Union troops advanced. Lee, in a show of the same stubborn pride which got Bishop Polk killed, waited until the blue line was 100 yards away, then turned his horse and rode slowly back to Longstreet's lines.
Meade relented before fighting commenced again, offering Lee a one hour truce while waiting to hear from Grant. The latter, still suffering from his severe headache, had ridden over to Sheridan's front to look in on progress there. On the way back a messenger with Lee's latest note intercepted him. Grant wrote that the moment he read Lee's message, his headache vanished completely. Grant sent a reply explaining where he was and asking Lee to find a home where they could meet in Appomattox Court House.
At 1 pm Lee was escorted into the home of Wilbur McLean, selected by one of Grant's staff members. McLean had lived on a farm on what became the Bull Run battlefield, and after shellfire had damaged his residence, he relocated to Appomattox in order to escape the war. Now it had caught up with him again.
At 1:30 a disheveled and mud splashed Grant arrived and entered. After shaking hands with Lee, Grant started making small talk about the Mexican War before Lee brought them back to the matter at hand, asking for Grant's terms. Grant explained that they would be essentially what he had outlined in his earlier message to Lee. Arms and war material to be delivered and stacked, officers and men to be paroled until properly exchanged, and spotting Lee's expensive ceremonial sword, Grant added that officers may retain their sidearms and horses. Lee agreed and Grant set to putting the terms in writing. It was then copied by Grant's full blooded Seneca Indian aid, General Ely Parker, who had the best penmanship of anyone on the staff. Parker had been a pre war attorney and engineer.
When handed the completed agreement, Lee made a show of slowly taking out his reading glasses, polishing them, and then perusing the paper. He commented on how generous the terms were and asked a favor. Lee explained that in the rebel army, the cavalrymen and artillerymen owned their own horses. Would they be allowed to take them home? Grant said that he would not rewrite the agreement, but would instruct his officers to allow anyone claiming ownership of a horse, to take it with him when he left. Lee expressed his gratitude and the formal signing took place.
Grant had included in the terms for paroling Lee's soldiers, these words:
"This done each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority as long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside. "
It was a defacto granting of blanket pardons for Lee and all of his men. That Grant had the authority to make a treaty of surrender with Lee there was no doubt. That he had the authority to pardon the entire army is questionable, but there it was. Grant would stand by his agreement. In later weeks when there was talk of arresting Lee, Grant strongly opposed the idea, and his stature carried the day.
Lee was introduced to Grant's staff members before departing. He did a double take when meeting Parker, but then coolly remarked "I'm glad there is one real American here." Parker replied "We are all Americans."
In a final bit of business Lee mentioned that he was unable to feed his troops. Grant issued orders for 25,000 rations to be sent over that evening.
Just before 4 pm Lee departed, receiving a formal salute from the officers gathered outside the house. He mounted his horse and began the sad journey back to his men. Grant left a few minutes later, heading back to his headquarters. While on the road, one staffer asked if the general didn't think that he ought to share the news with Washington. It had slipped Grant's mind. He immediately paused, dismounted and sat on a rock beside the road, writing in his dispatch book.
This was a moment where Grant could have given himself a p.r. boost by sending a message with a jaunty or gallant phrase, as Sherman had with his Savannah/Christmas gift message. That would have been entirely out of character for Grant the minimalist, and he instead made the most momentous announcement of the war in his typical no frills style.
Quote:
Headq’rs Armies of the United States, April 9 – 4:30 P.M.
To Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
General Lee surrendered the army of Northern Virginia this afternoon upon the terms proposed by myself. The accompanying additional correspondence will show the conditions fully.
U. S. GRANT, Lieut. General.
Lee rode back through Longstreet's lines, struggling to keep his composure, looking straight ahead but betrayed by the tears running from his eyes. The men pledged their enduring fidelity, promised to keep fighting if Lee would but give the word, told Lee that they still loved him as well as ever, all while shedding tears of their own. Lee then retired to his tent where his staff felt it was best to leave him alone.
When word of the surrender spread through the Northern Army, the celebrations began. Soon guns were booming in salute. Grant ordered a stop to this, he did not want his men gloating. "The war is over" Grant explained "the rebels are our countrymen again."
Was the war over? It was and it wasn't. For a great many Southerners, Lee was the Confederacy. He had achieved a God like status in which all of the hopes for an independent nation had been embodied. If Lee had given up, then the cause was truly lost.
Other were of a more die hard mindset, none more so than President Davis who was in Danville still making plans for continuing the war. The rebels had three major armies remaining in the field, General Johnston's in North Carolina, General Taylor's command in Alabama, and Kirby Smithdom west of the Mississippi River. None posed a credible threat to the forces arrayed against them, but any and all could break up and form partisan groups, Lee's nightmare, Lincoln's as well.
As sad as this day was for the Army of Northern Virginia, there had been a moment of comic relief. Generals Sheridan and Custer, two men very much responsible for cutting off Lee's escape, were both determined to get in on the glory today. After Lee had sent word to Gordon requesting that a truce prevail while he was conferring with General Grant, Gordon kept his men in place but offered no hostile action. Sheridan dispatched Custer under a flag of truce to demand their surrender. Gordon replied that surrender was a question reserved for General Lee and his instructions were to observe a truce until he heard further. Custer, unaware yet of the truce, demanded instant surrender or a resumption of the attack. Gordon kept his nerve and stated he would continue to observe the truce until otherwise ordered, unless attacked, in which case he would fight.
Frustrated on this front, Sheridan then sent Custer on the same mission to Longstreet. After receiving the same threat from Custer, Longstreet got to his feet and started issuing orders. "Have General Pickett come up on my left, and Anderson on my right" and he ordered the men present with him into battle formation. Rebuffed by this apparent willingness to fight, Custer changed his tune and announced that maybe they had best wait until they had heard from Grant. He rode off frustrated.
Once he was out of earshot, Longstreet and his staff burst into laughter, knowing, as Custer did not, that Pickett's and Anderson's forces no longer existed.
As a consolation, Custer was on hand for the surrender signing, and came away with a valuable memento when Sheridan purchased the table Grant used to write out the terms, and had it sent to Custer's wife, Libby, along with a note which stated that no man had done more than Custer in bringing about this day of victory.
I can only imagine what thoughts went through the men in the armies when they heard the news. Sadness of a "lost cause" on the part of Confederates, I suppose, but also sadness on both sides for all the friends and kin who were lost. All across the North and Midwest, and in some places in the South although most southerners were probably too poor to bring bodies home from battlefields and erect monuments, markers like the one below filled country/small town cemeteries. They're still there, silently marking the cost of the greatest tragedy in our national history.
The news of General Lee's surrender spread throughout Washington 150 years ago this morning, triggering a huge all day celebration in the streets. A 500 gun salute was fired from the surrounding forts, normal work was ignored, the party was on. Crowds surged to the White House and called for the president to come out and speak. Lincoln disappointed them somewhat by declining to address them that evening, but promised to have some remarks the next night. He then requested that the assembled bands play "Dixie", explaining that he had always liked the song and now considered it fairly captured.
For the President Davis and his cabinet in Danville, it was of course the opposite. At first they refused to believe the news, thinking that perhaps it was General Fitzhugh Lee who had surrendered his cavalry and rumors had turned it into a complete surrender of General Lee's army. It was sometime in the late afternoon that they received confirmation that the Army of Northern Virginia was no more.
They realized that the Federal cavalry was now free to come after them, so the latest capitol would have to be abandoned and the government shifted further south to Greensborough, N.C.
At Petersburg a depressed but still stoic Robert E. Lee, no longer General Lee, wrote out his formal farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia.
Quote:
Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia
Appomattox Courthouse, April 10, 1865
General Order No. 9
Robert E. Lee
After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.
I need not tell the survivors of so many hard fought battles who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them, but feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss which would have attended the continuation of the contest, I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen. You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God may extend to you His blessing and protection. With an increasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.
General Grant came calling on Lee and the two met and had a discussion of the possibility of Lee using his position as commander of all Confederate armies, to surrender them all. Lee declined, pointing out that this was a decision reserved for Jefferson Davis.
This was also a day for fraternization and reunion, as former friends from the pre war army days met and rehashed the battles they had fought over the last four years. Many of the Federal officers wanted to meet Lee, and used whatever excuse they could think of to request an interview with him. Lee received all of them with polite but icy formality, the meetings lasting but a few moments.
To the south, the business of war resumed as General Sherman began his advance from Goldsboro toward the Raleigh, the state capitol, defended by General Johnston's army. Neither Sherman nor Johnston were anticipating any more battles. The latter had concluded some time back that the war was lost and saw nothing productive coming from any more fighting. Johnston wanted to surrender, but he was not hemmed in like Lee's army had been, at least not yet, and Johnston was aware that Davis expected him to continue the fight.
The Crowds Call For A Victory Speech From Lincoln...Artist Sketch
Mobile was evacuated 150 years ago today. General Canby's 45,000 man army had taken the two forts guarding the city and the 4000 defenders no longer had the means to stop the Federal advance. Canby would enter and occupy Mobile tomorrow.
In Washington, as promised, President Lincoln delivered an address to crowds. They were expecting a victory speech, one with an emphasis on the glory of the Union victory, the nobility of the accomplishment, the heroism of those who fought.
Instead, in the last speech the president was to deliver, he focused on post war problems and reconstruction. He began with thanks to General Grant and the Army of the Potomac, but then quickly the tone became somber.
Quote:
By these recent successes the re-inauguration of the national authority -- reconstruction -- which has had a large share of thought from the first, is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a case of a war between independent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat with. No one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man. We simply must begin with, and mould from, disorganized and discordant elements. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment that we, the loyal people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, manner, and means of reconstruction.
What followed was a lengthy explanation of what was being attempted in Louisiana with regard to restoring that state to the union. While it had always been the Radical Republican position that the Confederate states had never legally left the union, that stance was coming back to haunt them in that they were now in no rush to restore political power to the same men who had made the rebellion. Lincoln had also promoted that position and now he tried to find a way around it. His solution was a call for everyone to be practical minded about it rather than concerned with legalities and language.
Quote:
We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of their proper relation with the Union; and that the sole object of the government, civil and military, in regard to those States is to again get them into that proper practical relation. I believe it is not only possible, but in fact, easier to do this, without deciding, or even considering, whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had ever been abroad.
The crowd became bored and impatient, thinking Lincoln would eventually get to a celebratory point, but he never did, closing the speech with more details about the Louisiana experiment. The audience went away greatly disappointed, they had come to party, not get lectured on sticky governmental details. One in the audience was less disappointed than outraged. Lincoln had called for extending the franchise to blacks who had served in the Federal army, and the "more intelligent ones" as well. When he heard the part about negro suffrage, the actor John Wilkes Booth said "I'll put him through. That is the last speech he will make."
A month shy of his 27th birthday, Booth was the junior member of a famed acting family. His father Junius Brutus Booth had been celebrated as one of the great actors of the British stage, his brother Edwin Booth was viewed as America's finest living actor. John Wilkes was more of the Errol Flynn of his day, handsome and athletic, he thrilled audiences when the scenes called for either action or romance. The acrobatic Booth looked good in a staged sword fight or seduction scene, but was considered fairly ordinary as an actor otherwise.
A hardcore southern sympathizer from Maryland, Booth had expected his state to secede. That it did not failed to alter Booth's loyalties. For months he had been part of a conspiracy plan to kidnap Lincoln, spirit him south to Richmond and allow the Confederacy to extract concessions by ransoming him back. All of those schemes had failed for various reasons, but it was not until this day that Booth crossed the line and determined to murder the president. He would quickly expand his plan to cutting off the heads of the entire government, killing not only the president, but VP Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State Seward as well.
In Greensboro, NC, President Davis's government on wheels arrived to an unenthusiastic welcome. In Danville he had been cheered, but now with the surrender of General Lee's army, the townspeople feared that sheltering Davis would bring on reprisals from the pursuing Yankees when they arrived. Davis actually had difficulty finding anyone willing to give up their home to be used as the government house or residence for the fugitive president. Greensboro would be the fourth capitol of the Confederacy, the third in the last nine days.
As was aptly pointed out elsewhere in the "blogosphere" Obama elected not to remark on this 150th Anniversary despite it's importance to his country and in particular his minority group.
I think the civilized handling of the Appomattox surrender bespeaks well the tradition of the English-speaking countries to end hard-fought wars in a civilized manner. Other examples are the War of 1812, the Revolutionary War and the U.S. and British acceptance of German and Japanese surrenders. No bacchanalian celebrations. No massacres.
Grant's depression the next day was from sorrow at having to best a military colleague from West Point. Well bespeaks a country trying to unify.
General Canby's victorious troops entered and occupied Mobile 150 years ago today. To the NE, General Selby's huge cavalry army did the same to the original capitol of the Confederacy, Montgomery, Alabama. This was also the capture of the eighth state capitol among the eleven states in rebellion.
The ninth was very close to capitulation as General Sherman's army neared Raleigh, it would fall the next day leaving Austin, Texas and Tallahassee, Florida as the only seats of state government not under Union control. Those two cities were undisturbed not as a consequence of their defensive capabilities, rather because they were too remote from the center of matters to offer any strategic value.
At Appomattox the formal surrender ceremony was staged. General Grant had selected General Joshua Chamberlain to preside for the North, General Gordon appeared on behalf of General Lee. The Union troops lined the road through which the defeated rebels would pass to stack their arms and battle flags before starting their journeys home.
In his memoirs, Chamberlain left behind a vivid description of the events, one which was to become famous, so much so that when Gordon wrote his memoirs, rather than trying to compete with Chamberlain's description, he simply presented it in his book as well.
Chamberlain had observed the sorrowful, depressed attitudes of Lee's veterans and made the on the spot decision to salute their dignity. He gave the command for his men to "carry arms", the traditional soldier's salute.
Quote:
"When General Gordon came opposite me I had the bugle blown and the entire line came to 'attention,' preparatory to executing this movement of the manual successively and by regiments as Gordon's columns should pass before our front, each in turn.
"The General was riding in advance of his troops, his chin drooped to his breast, downhearted and dejected in appearance almost beyond description. At the sound of that machine like snap of arms, however, General Gordon started, caught in a moment its significance, and instantly assumed the finest attitude of a soldier. He wheeled his horse facing me, touching him gently with the spur, so that the animal slightly reared, and as he wheeled, horse and rider made one motion, the horse's head swung down with a graceful bow, and General Gordon dropped his swordpoint to his toe in salutation.
"By word of mouth General Gordon sent back orders to the rear that his own troops take the same position of the manual in the march past as did our line. That was done, and a truly imposing sight was the mutual salutation and farewell.
"At a distance of possibly twelve feet from our line, the Confederates halted and turned face towards us. Their lines were formed with the greatest care, with every officer in his appointed position, and thereupon began the formality of surrender.
The ceremony was then carried out with great dignity and in near silence. Tears streamed down rebel faces as unit by unit they surrendered the battle flags they had done so much to honor over the last four years. Knowing what the same action would have meant to them, there were tears on many Federal faces as well.
In the late afternoon it was over. The Union soldiers returned to their camps and in small groups or as individuals, the Confederates began making their way back to their homes, each man left to accomplish this on his own.
150 years ago today General Sherman's army bloodlessly entered and occupied Raliegh, N.C.
North Carolina's governor, Zebulon Vance, had been an opponent of secession and the war, but despite this had done his duty to the Confederacy, raising more troops (200,000) and losing more lives (41,000) than any state save Virginia. Now he recognized that the cause was lost and with Sherman approaching the capitol, Vance decided to try and make a separate peace for his state. He dispatched two emissaries, William Graham and David Swain, to meet Sherman and attempt to negotiate a peace. After a few false starts and stops when General Wade Hampton intercepted them and denounced them as traitors, they finally made contact with General Kilpatrick's cavalry and were escorted to see Sherman.
While Sherman was taken with the idea of receiving the surrender of a state, he explained to the peace commissioners that General Johnston's army was still under the control of the Confederate government, not North Carolina, and thus no surrender of the state could be contemplated until that army had surrendered. Sherman sent the ambassadors on their way promising to see them in Raleigh tomorrow. Kilpatrick escorted them back and added a series of threats as to what would happen to the city if any resistance was met.
Sherman's force arrived at 7:30 in the morning and the general made himself at home in the governor's mansion which became his headquarters. He issued strict orders against pillage and looting, but by now his soldiers had long since caught on that these sorts of orders were meant to provide Sherman with cover for any atrocities, and only rarely was there punishment for the bummers being bummers. They went about their plunder activities less openly, but hardly deterred.
In Greensboro there was a three way conference between President Davis, General Johnston and General Beauregard. The long standing hostility of these soldiers for the rebel president, and his for them, was just under the surface. Johnston and Beauregard were realists who recognized that the war was over, the Confederacy failed. Davis refused to entertain such thoughts and insisted that "Within two or three weeks we will have a large army in the field.." This would be achieved by finding and forcing the deserters back into the army. The generals believed that Davis had lost himself in some fantasy land. Even if such men could be found, what sort of fighting force would they have, composed as it was of men who had already abandoned the cause and had been forced back at gunpoint?
The generals left in a depressed state, knowing that Davis intended to fight to the last. That his cabinet was now residing and meeting in a railroad car apparently was not a large enough hint that the game was up.
150 years ago today General Sherman's army bloodlessly entered and occupied Raliegh, N.C.
North Carolina's governor, Zebulon Vance, had been an opponent of secession and the war, but despite this had done his duty to the Confederacy, raising more troops (200,000) and losing more lives (41,000) than any state save Virginia.
Worthy of note is that Virginia and North Carolina were among the later states to secede. Virginia seceded April 19, 1861 and North Carolina about a month later.
One of my pet theories is that if Virginia hadn't gone out Lincoln might have used siege rather than warfare against the "cotton states" since those states were deeply impoverished, in debt and had almost medieval economies. With Virginia and North Carolina out, he had little choice but to fight to hold the Union together.
Also, your post illustrates that these later-seceding states put more effort into the war. In other words the original states, led by Jefferson Davis talked a good game. Georgia of course did suffer for its mistake.
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