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[61] way toward the now famous field of Appomattox. We marched all day of the 8th of April, and slept in bivouac not more than three or four miles from Appomattox, where the demand was made again, and was acceded to, and the Confederacy of the South went down in defeat, but with glory. We arrived on the field of Appomattox about 9 o'clock on the 9th day of April, the day of capitulation. The negotiations lasted during that day. The general order from General Lee was read to the army on the 10th of April. This is as I remember it. General Lee published his last order to his soldiers on that day. I sat down and copied it on a piece of Confederate paper, using a bass-drum head for a desk, the best I could do. I carried this copy to General Lee, and asked him to sign it for me. He signed it, and I have it now. It is the best authority, along with my parole, that I can produce why, after that day, I no longer raised a soldier's hand for the South. There were tears in his eyes when he signed it for me, and when I turned to walk away there were tears in my own eyes too. He was in all respects the greatest man that ever lived, and as an humble soldier of the South, I thank Heaven that I had the honor of following him.
Richmond, VA. 1892.
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