no photographer was present at
Appomattox, that supreme moment in our national history, when
Americans met for the last time as foes on the field.
Nothing but fanciful sketches exist of the scene inside the McLean home.
But here is a photograph that shows most of the
Union officers present at the conference.
Nine of the twelve men standing above stood also at the signing of
Lee's surrender, a few days later.
The scene is
City Point, in March, 1865.
Grant is surrounded by a group of the officers who had served him so faithfully.
At the surrender, it was
Colonel T. S. Bowers (Third from left) upon whom
Grant called to make a copy of the terms of surrender in ink.
Colonel E. S. Parker, the full-blooded Indian on
Grant's staff, an excellent penman, wrote out the final copy.
Nineteen years later,
General Horace Porter recorded with pride that he loaned
General Lee a pencil to make a correction in the terms.
Colonels William Duff and
J. D. Webster, and
General M. R. Patrick, are the three men who were not present at the interview.
All of the remaining-officers were formally presented to
Lee.
General Seth Williams had been
Lee's adjutant when the latter was superintendent at
West Point some years before the war. In the lower photograph
General Grant stands between
General Rawlins and
Colonel Bowers.
The veins standing out on the back of his hand are plainly visible.
No one but he could have told how calmly the blood coursed through them during the four tremendous years.
