The government was established for a week at
Danville, Virginia, where the various departments were opened, and routine business taken up.
The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia necessitated retirement to
Greensboro, North Carolina.
The surrender of this hitherto invincible army came with the paralyzing shock of a sudden earthquake, stoutly denied by many as a thing impossible, but
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repeated dispatches at last left no room for doubt of the awful disaster.
Then came the breaking of some of the bonds which held the government together, and some who had followed to this point, seeing that they could be of no real service, and might be an incumbrance, sought the
President to express their profound grief, and seek his advice for their own actions.
These he received with his quiet dignity, advised them with warm friendship, and set them free to private life and duties.
Then I saw for the first time the man. His record as soldier, legislator, and ruler of what was for four years a powerful nation, is a part of the history of the country, North and South, and need not be touched on here.
At
Greensboro, under his orders through
Colonel William Preston Johnston, A. D. C., I made up a team of wagons, with supplies and ambulances for baggage, and after a short stay, took the road for
Charlotte, N. C., where Cabinet meetings were held, and communication kept up with
Johnston's army and others, still in the field.
When the truce between
Johnston and
Sherman expired, the line of march was taken up for
Abbeville, S. C., and finally to
Washington.
Ga., where the closing scenes of the Confederate Government came on 4th May, 1865, with the winding up of the last remaining department—that of the Treasury.
Courage, fortitude, and all hope had not, however, left the head of the government, for the intention was to reach the TransMissis-sippi Department,
via Florida and
Cuba, and carry on the war for independence until the great river could be crossed again.
