[
725]
to retain them for private purposes only.
Thus, in the first days of May, all of the Confederate forces east of the
Mississippi River had been surrendered.
Although since the loss of
Vicksburg, and with it the
Confederate control of the
Mississippi River, what was known as the Trans-
Mississippi, had been to a great extent isolated, and but little able to contribute effectively to the
Confederate cause, yet men remembered that it was a country of vast resources; and a general notion had long prevailed at
Richmond that in the last extremity of fortune the
Confederacy might here find a refuge.
Even after the sum of disasters just narrated, it was hoped that the Trans-
Mississippi would hold out, and the struggle be protracted until
European interference might possibly occur to the relief of the
Southern people; for throughout the war they had persisted in the belief that
England and
France had withheld recognition of the
Confederacy only on the assumption that it would certainly accomplish its independence without involving them, and the conclusion was fair that on the failure of this assumption they would not hesitate to act.
In a
general order of
Gen. Kirby Smith, issued at
Shreveport, on the news of the surrender of
Lee, he declared to the
Confederate troops of the Trans-
Mississippi that if they held out, they would speedily and surely receive the aid of nations who already deeply sympathized with them.
He added: “The great resources of the department, its vast extent, the numbers, discipline, and the efficiency of the army, will secure to our country terms that a proud people can with honour accept, and may, under the providence of God, be the means of checking the triumph of our enemy, and securing the final success of our cause.”
But the last hope of the
Confederacy was quickly to expire.
To the lively and sanguine address of
Gen. Smith there was but little response in the public mind.
When the full extent of the disasters east of the
Mississippi River was known; when the news came that a force of the enemy under
Sheridan, had been put in motion for
Texas; and when in the face of these announcements it was perceived that nothing but straggling reinforcements could be expected from the other side of the
Mississippi, the consequence was that such demoralization ensued in
Gen. Smith's army, and extended to the people of
Texas, that; that commander concluded to negotiate terms of surrender.
On the 26th 1May, and before the arrival of
Sheridan's forces, he surrendered what remained of his command to
Gen. Canby.
The last action of the war had been a skirmish near
Brazos,
