The Annals of the Civil War Written by Leading Participants North and South
Alexander Kelly McClure, Ed.

Since writing the foregoing the Philadelphia weekly times, of July 7th, has been put in my hands, which contains what I suppose to be the whole of General Wilson's letter. Much of it appears to be an account of military orders and of military operations with which he was connected, and about which I have no personal knowledge. What I wrote above had only reference to the portion of his letter which was then before me (the first two paragraphs of it), and has no reference to what he afterward says about military operations His paper is long and I have not leisure now to review it fully. I will say, however, that he is in error as to many of his statements of facts, and as to many of his conclusions in that part of his letter which was not before me when I wrote the foregoing pages. For instance: “He says that after he was advised by General Sherman of the armistice which was entered into between him and General Johnston, and that one of its provisions was, that neither party should make any change of troops during the continuance of the armistice,” he proceeds with this further statement: “Having heard from citizens, however, that Davis, instead of observing the armistice, was making his way toward the south with an escort, I took possession of the railroads and sent scouts in all directions in order that I might receive timely notice of his movements.” He then confesses to having violated the terms of the armistice, but excuses himself by saying that he had heard from citizens that Mr. Davis was violating it by going south with an escort. He says the first he heard of the armistice was from Generals Cobb and Smith, at Macon, Georgia, on the 20th day of April. That after that he was advised of its existence by General Sherman, and that it was “intended to apply to my [General Wilson's] command.” He also says that in a short time he was informed by General Sherman, by telegram, of the termination of hostilities, and surrender of General Johnston, on the 27th of April. Now the armistice was agreed to on the 18th of April, and on the 24th of April General Sherman notified General Johnston it would terminate in forty-eight hours, leaving the parties bound by its terms until the 26th of April. Mr. Davis was at Charlotte when the treaty and armistice was agreed to. He remained there under the terms of the armistice until the notice of its termination was given by General Sherman, and until the expiration of the forty-eight hours, when it was finally terminated, and did not leave there until he learned of the surrender of General Johnston, which took place on the 27th of April.

General Wilson says: “The first direct information of Mr. Davis' movements reached me on the 23d of April, from a citizen, ”