Chapter 21: closing events of the War.--assassination of the President.
- Flight of the Confederate troops from Richmond and Petersburg, 552. -- Lee hotly pursued, 553. -- his skillful retreat, 554. -- he is ordered to surrender, but refuses to acknowledge that all is lost, 555. -- his chances for escape diminishing, 556. -- Lee again attempts to break through the National lines, 557. -- he fails, and Capitulates, 558. -- terms of capitulation -- Lee's farewell address to his troops, 559, 560. -- surrender of Lee's Army -- torpedo fishing in the James River, 561. -- the President in Richmond, 562. -- rejoicings in Washington City, 563. -- murder of the President, 564. -- minute account of the assassination plot, 565, 566. -- effects of the President's death, 567. -- a testimonial of reverence for Mr. Lincoln from 40,000 French Democrats, 568. -- attempt to murder the Secretary of State, and others, 569. -- inauguration of a new President, 570. -- Sherman moves against Johnston, 571. -- Peace commissioners in Sherman's Camp, 572. -- meeting of Sherman and Johnston. 573. -- Agreement between Sherman and Johnston, 574. -- surrender of Johnston's Army, 575. -- surrender of other Confederate forces, 576. -- flight of Jefferson Davis and his “Cabinet,” 577. -- capture of Davis -- his disguise as a woman, 578. -- hostilities continued in Texas, 579. -- the last battle of the War, 580. -- end of the Civil War, 581. -- the return of the Union soldiers to their homes, 582. -- the National Army in 1865, 583. -- the Navy, its strength and services, 584, 585. -- the author's visit to the Army of the James, 586. -- facilities given to the author by the Government, 587. -- visit to Richmond and Petersburg, 588.
While the Confederates were leaving Richmond with great noise, those holding the lines before Petersburg were stealing away so silently, that they did not awaken even the suspicions of the Union pickets only a few yards distant from the works; and when, at dawn, the abandonment of the Confederate intrenchments was discovered, their late occupants were miles away to the westward, seeking to join the column hurrying from Richmond, in a flight for safety. The fugitive “Government” had then reached Danville with its archives and gold, whither Lee hoped to conduct his army, and was now straining every nerve to do so. When Grant was informed of the evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg, and the direction of Lee's retreat, he pushed forward his columns with all possible energy to intercept the march of his adversary. The appointed place of concentration of Lee's troops, in their retreat, was Amelia Court-House, on the south side of the Appomattox River, where the forces would reach the Danville railway, and thereafter use it in their flight. Lee, therefore, simultaneously with the sending of his dispatch to Richmond, saying it must be evacuated that night, ordered commissary and quartermasters' stores to be forwarded from Danville to Amelia Court-House. They were promptly sent; but when, on Sunday afternoon, the loaded trains reached their destination, the officer in charge received orders from the Confederate authorities at Richmond to push on to that city, the object being to use the trains for the transportation of the “Government” and its effects. The stupid officer obeyed, but took with him all the supplies that were to be left at Amelia Court-House for the use of Lee's army on its retreat, and these were among the things destroyed by the conflagration. When Lee arrived at the Court-House
April 4, 1865. |
