Aftermath

CSS Shenandoah

After the major Confederate armies under Lee and Johnston surrendered in April, 1865, the other Southern forces still remaining in arms gradually followed suit. President Jefferson Davis was captured on May 10, and held prisoner for two years before being released without trial. The Battle of Palmito Ranch on May 13 was likely the last land battle. In it a Union regiment in Texas was defeated by Confederates who had not yet surrendered. The very last Confederate surrender was of the CSS Shenandoah. She was a commerce raider cruising in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and it took her a long time to hear of the Confederacy's demise. She was on her way to try a raid on San Francisco when she captured a vessel that had certain news of the country's fall. Her captain sailed her around the world to Liverpool, England, where he surrendered the Shenandoah to a Royal Navy captain on November 6, 1865.

Although the aftermath of the Civil War played out for many years through the Reconstruction era, this is where our 150^th anniversary account must come to an end. Thank you to all the thousands who have read this blog over the years! The site will stay online for the foreseeable future, as a resource for any who may be interested.

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Lincoln Assassinated

With the Civil War quickly winding down to a close in April, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln began to look ahead towards reconstructing the south and bringing the country back together. On April 11, he gave a speech from the balcony of the White House in celebration of the recent victories by the Union armies. He spoke in support of voting rights for the former slaves, and in supporting the loyal government that had been from in Louisiana. It would be the last public speech he would ever give, and there was a man in the crowd who would make it so – John Wilkes Booth.

Read the rest of this post on Discerning History. 

Lee's Surrender at Appomattox

The reconstructed McClean House, where the negotiations took place

With his army out of supplies and hemmed in by the Federals on every side, Robert E. Lee realized that it was hopeless to continue to resist the Federals. He therefore, with the agreement of most of his officers, wrote to Ulysses S. Grant to ask for terms. As he rode off to meet Grant, Longstreet shouted after him, “General, if he does not give us good terms, come back and let us fight it out!” Grand and Lee met at the house of Wilmer McLean. McLean had lived on the battlefield of Manassas, one of the war's first battles, and had moved to Appomattox to escape the fighting. Now it could be said that the war began in his backyard and ended in his parlor.

Lee arrived at the house first, wearing an exquisite uniform. When Grant appeared he wore a old uniform covered in mud from riding, with little significance of rank. He had not had the opportunity to change before the conference. The two men had met during the Mexican-American War, and Grant mentioned it briefly before Lee brought the meeting onto topic. Grant offered him the same terms as he had a few days earlier, when he suggested that Lee surrender. They were that all the Confederate officers and men be paroled and sent home, not to fight again without being exchanged. Their supplies and weapons would be turned over to the Federals, excepting only the officers' sidearms and the horses that men had brought with them to the war. These were good terms, far better than the unconditional surrender that Grant was famous for offering on other occasions, and Lee happily accepted. Grant wrote of the meeting:

I said to Lee that I hoped and believed this would be the close of the war; that it was most important that the men should go home and go to work, and the government would not throw any obstacles in the way. Lee answered that it would have a most happy effect, and accepted the terms.

As Grant and Lee rode away some Federal soldiers began too cheer at their victory, but Grant forbade it.  “The Confederates were now our countrymen,” he wrote, “and we did not want to exult over their downfall.” Word spread quickly of the agreement, and before long the McLean House was ransacked by soldiers hoping for a souvenir from the momentous occasion. The armies intermingled, adversaries talking, and old friends from the Mexican War meeting again, and reminiscing about old times. 

The parlor in which the generals met

28,000 Confederates surrendered at Appomattox, a sad remnant of the once great Army of Northern Virginia. Although many thousands of Confederates remained in arms, in armies across the south, Lee's surrender was the deathnell of the Confederacy. Their greatest general and army had fallen, and most in the south saw the war would soon be over. 

Union troops in front of Appomattox Court House

Battle of Appomattox Court House

When Grant broke his lines around Petersburg on April 2nd and Lee put his army into retreat, his plan was to keep ahead of the Federals and join Joseph Johnston's army in North Carolina. He was very low on supplies, so he would have to resupply his army along the way. He pushed his men hard to make it to the supplies that were supposed to be waiting for him at Amelia Court House. When he arrived there on April 4th, his exhausted men having marched day and night, he found that ammunition had been sent from Richmond instead of food. The little that had been traveled by wagons had been captured by Phil Sheridan's cavalry which had been hard on the Confederate heels. The rebels couldn't eat gunpowder, so Lee had to halt his army for a day to forage for what supplies they could find in the countryside, allowing Grant to catch up. Lee continued to push his army forward, but his prospects grew darker and darker. The Federal cavalry was pressing at the army's heels, but Lee did not have the time or strength to halt to beat them back.

Ewell, who was captured at Sailor's Creek

On April 6th disaster struck in what is called the Battle of Sailor's Creek. Some Confederates were delayed in their march by having to fend of the pursuing Federals, and so a gap developed in the Confederate column. Eventually the corps of Anderson and Ewell were separated and brought to bay. Surrounded by Grant's army, their men were either captured or scattered. When he saw the broken remnants of Anderson's corps fleeing the field, Lee exclaimed, “My God, has the army dissolved?” “No General,” Major General William Mahone replied, “here are troops ready to do their duty.” Lee had to keep moving.

The rebels were headed for Appomattox Station, where they could get the supplies they desperately needed. But on April 8th Union cavalry arrived there first, and captured the food, foiling Lee's plans. The day before Grant had sent him a message suggesting he surrender. Lee refused, still hoping that he could reach Lynchburg, where more supplies waited.

Gordon

On the morning of April 9th, 150 years ago today, the Confederate army was near the small crossroads of Appomattox Court House. The Union army was converging on them, but at the moment only Sheridan's cavalry stood in their way. John Gordon's Second Corps attacked the Federals and drove several lines back. But as they reached the top of the hill on which Sheridan's man had been placed, they saw before them two Federal corps in line of battle. Gordon, his men halted, told a staff officer:

Tell General Lee I have fought my corps to a frazzle, and I fear I can do nothing unless I am heavily supported by Longstreet's corps.

When Lee received this message, he said:

Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths.

Out of food, exhausted from the long, hard marches, much of the army missing, and surrounded by Union forces, Lee decided with the agreement of most of his officers that it was time to surrender. Grant agreed to meet with him to discuss the terms.

Appomattox

Breakthrough at Petersburg

Entrenchments at Petersburg

When Ulysses S. Grant received news of Phil Sheridan's victory at Five Forks the previous day, he immediately gave orders for a general attack to be made on Lee's lines at Petersburg. This opportunity coincided with a major attack Grant had been planning for some time. For months the Confederates had been stretched thinner and thinner, and now they must surely be planning to evacuate the position, since Sheridan could cut off their lines of communication. Grant wanted to strike and destroy Lee before he escaped.

Horatio Wright

The assault was preceded by an artillery barrage which began at 10 pm on April 1st, and continued for some four hours. Not longer after, in the early morning of April 2, the Union infantry attacked. The attack was begun by Horatio Wright's VI Corps, which was facing some of A. P. Hill's about in the center of the battle lines. Wright had carefully chosen the point to attack, on the far left of his position, where the lines were close together and these were few obstacles in between. He had a vast superiority of numbers, and was able to bring 14,000 troops to bear on a mile long line held by only 2,000 Confederates. However, the southerner's works were high and strong, and they had well sited cannon posted along the line.

At 4:40 two Union cannon fired, signalling the beginning of the attack. The Federal troops moved forward, preceded by pioneers to clear away the wooden obstructions in front of the Confederate lines.  The Confederate pickets were driven back, but they alerted the main line of the attack, and soon the Yankees began to receive a heavy and well-directed fire. The first Federal over the wall was Captain Charles Gould of the 5th Vermont. He ran down the path made by the Confederate pickets, followed by three men with the rest not far behind, and crossed the ditch on a plank bridge the Confederate had placed there. Gould quickly climbed over the wall and gained the parapet, but the rebels on the other side were ready for him. He was immediately cut three times by bayonets and swords, and one southerner pointed a rifle directly at him and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired. He was pulled back over the parapet by Corporal Henry Rector, and before long more Union troops arrived and secured the position.

All along the line Federals climbed up the works, capturing them with quick hand-to-hand fighting. Breaches formed in the Confederate position and soon it fell entirely into Federal hands. The 2nd Rhode Island captured six Confederate cannon, and then quickly turned them on their former owners to drive back a counter attack.

A. P. Hill

After this initial success, Wright's troops continued to push forward in ragged order, capturing the Southside Railroad a mile in the rear. This would not be a temporary success, like Gordon had won at Fort Steadman. Instead it was a major breakthrough. A. P. Hill, the Confederate corps commander, worked to organize a resistance to meet this major reverse. He was riding through the woods towards Harry Heth's headquarters, accompanied by only one staff officer. The Confederate officers encountered two Union stragglers of the 138th Pennsylvania, Corp. John Mauk and Private David Wolford. Hill demanded their surrender, but instead Mauk fired, killing Hill. He was one of the highest ranking Confederate killed during the war.

The attacks

Wright reorganized his corps, and began widening the gap formed in the Confederate line, with support from Gibbon's XXIV Corps. At 6:00 Humphreys' II Corps on the left attack, and also made progress. Many Confederates resisted just to buy time, hoping that reinforcements would arrive. Fort Gregg was stoutly defended, and the attackers got stuck in the ditch, which was filled with mud and water. However, after several attacks, Union soldiers were able to work their way around to the fort's rear, drive off the few defenders placed there, and gain entrance into the fort.

Dead Confederate at Petersburg

Robert E. Lee realized that he could not maintain his lines, and that Richmond and Petersburg must fall. He telegraphed the Secretary of War:

I see no prospect of doing more than holding our position here until night. I am not certain I can do that. If I can I shall withdraw to-night north of the Appomattox, and, if possible, it will be better to withdraw the whole line to-night from James River. I advise that all preparations be made for leaving Richmond tonight.

During the day of heavy fighting along the entire line, Grant's army lost about 4,000 men, the Confederates about 5,000 men, mostly captured.Lee's men began evacuating the lines which they still retained at 8:00 pm. The government abandoned Richmond that night, taking with them what papers they could. The retreating soldiers set fire to the warehouses, and other structures of military use. The fire spread out of control, and much of the city burnt to the ground.

Richmond burning

That night Grant wrote to his wife:

I am now writing from far inside of what was the rebel fortifications this morning but what are ours now. They are exceedingly strong and I wonder at the sucsess [sic] of our troops carrying them by storm. But they did it and without any great loss. Altogether this has been one of the greatest victories of the war.

Early the next morning, Union troops found that Lee had abandoned his lines. He had set off towards Appomattox. The last stage of the American Civil War had begun.

The ruins of Richmond after the fire

Battle of Five Forks

Map of the campaign

In the spring of 1865, Phil Sheridan's army from the Shenandoah Valley rode to join Grant around Petersburg. With the addition of this cavalry, Grant had a large force available for maneuver. Sheridan attempted to flank Lee by moving with a force of infantry and cavalry around Lee's right, heading for the South Side Railroad. Lee responded by sending 12,000 men of George Pickett's division and cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee. On March 31st they met at Dinwiddie Court House. The Union advance was temporarily stopped, and Pickett and Lee fell back to Five Forks, an important intersection, which they were ordered to hold at all hazards.

Pickett

Sheridan planned to attack the next morning, but reinforcements were slow in coming, and his troops were prepared to advance until 4:00 pm on April 1st. This delay worked greatly to the advantage of the Union. Pickett and Fitz Lee, thinking that Sheridan would make no attack that day, left the front lines to go to a shad bake. When the Confederates were struck by three Yankee divisions, they were without a commanding officer. Even as the battle began to rage, it took the Confederate generals a long time to join the army. They received reports of the fighting, but an acoustic shadow silenced the roar of battle. Since they couldn't hear the fighting, they believed for a time that the reports they received were not urgent.

Nevertheless, Federal attack soon faltered. The plan had been to strike the rebel flank, but the Northerners had been incorrectly positioned and instead were taking fire in their own flank. The plan was turning out to be a failure. Seeing this, Sheridan rode to the front of his lines and shouted,

Where's my battle flag? Come on, men! Go at 'em with a will. Move on at a clean jump or you'll not catch one of them! They're all getting ready to run now, and if you don't get on to them in five minutes they'll every one get away from you.

His encouragement worked. The Federals resumed their advance, and with their general at their head charged, drove the Confederates back. The rebels formed a new line, and Pickett finally joined his army. However, the Union momentum continued, and they captured the Five Forks intersection, continuing to drive the southerners back. Sheridan scored a complete victory, capturing thousands of prisoners and several stands of colors.

Sheridan

More importantly, the Southside railroad was threatened. Lee knew he needed to retreat. Between Five Forks and Fort Stedman he had lost one quarter of his army. He planned to hold out for a few more days so as to give the authorities in Richmond time to move the capitol, but the situation was far worse than he realized.

Battle of Fort Stedman

Gordon

With things deteriorating across the Confederacy, the situation was looking bleak for Robert E. Lee at Petersburg. He had only 50,000 men to hold the many miles of entrenchments defending Richmond, and he was facing Grant, who had 125,000. On March 6, he told John B. Gordon, one of his corps commanders, “there seemed to be but one thing that we could do—fight. To stand still was death. It could only be death if we fought and failed.” Gordon finalized plans on March 23 for a surprise attack against a portion of the Union line, specifically Fort Stedman. He hoped that even if the attack did not break the siege, it would at least foil whatever plans Grant might be making. With Lee's approval, the attack was scheduled for March 25.

Fort Stedman, at which the attack was directed, was chosen because it was one of the points where Union and Confederate lines were the closest. There were also less wooden obstacles in front of it, and there was a Federal supply depot one mile behind it. Gordon's plan was to capture Fort Stedman and then have troops move north and south to roll up the Union line, preparing the way for a heavy column to exploit the breach and head for Grant's main headquarters at City Point. Half of Lee's infantry were on hand to either make the attack or follow up on it. Although the men involved may not have known it at the time, this would be Lee's last great attack.

Fort Stedman today. Source. 

The Confederates advanced at 4:15 am on March 25th, 150 years ago today. The first troops charged with unloaded muskets. Their duty was to get into the fort as quickly as possible, without stopping to fire. Captain J. P. Carson led one of the forlorn hopes – the troops at the very front of the attack. After the war he wrote his account of the attack:

The command was to advance at the sound of the bugle. It came at last. In an instant we were over the works and heading for the fort with all the speed we could command. We had hoped to reach there undiscovered, but twenty-five yards had not been passed before the fort opened upon us. I do not even now understand it. We were not visible and made no noise, but they knew we were coming and our direction. By the flash of those guns two hundred yards ahead of us darkness disappeared. It was at quick succeeding intervals as light as day. We soon got beneath their line of fire at the foot of the hill. I don't think we had up to this time lost a man. We were still going on the run as hard as we could when we crossed the branch and started up the hill. How we got past the first line of obstructions I could never remember. I was very fleet of foot, but when I reached the line Bob was there ahead of me. I saw him for an instant in the flash of the cannon tearing down and dragging aside the wire and logs. He was very strong, and had broken the wire when I got up. We went through the gap together. How the others crossed I do not know. The next minute we struck the middle line of brush, climbing and rolling over it into the open ground beyond. There the wind from the cannon and flying shot was so strong that we could not keep our hats on, while the frightful roar of the guns drowned every other sound. We went the rest of the way with hats and guns in hand until we struck the last line of obstructions. The men seized the rails with the strength of desperation, dragging them out of the ground and rushing through the gap. The next instant we came into the fire of the smaller guns. Here we hurried forward at full speed. It was every man for himself. Not only were we exposed to the musketry fire, but we had risen to the line of fire from the artillery.

Fort Stedman during the war

I do not know exactly how we got through it all, but in a minute more we were in the moat and in two feet of water. The fort had been struck just about the middle. Immediately the infantry ran out upon the works and began to fire straight down upon us. Lieutenant [John T.] Gay, [Fourth Georgia] of La Grange, [GA] fell at this moment mortally wounded, and would have drowned had we not lifted him back upon the bank, where he died. We were in the dark, while the men above were faintly outlined against the gray sky. I called to the men to shoot every Yankee who showed himself. They began firing at once, and in an instant almost the works were cleared. It was but thirteen feet up, and my men were sharpshooters. When the enemy found that it was death to show themselves, they thrust their guns over and discharged them downward. It was a critical moment; we could neither advance nor retreat. I heard simultaneous inquiries from along the line as to what must be done and one or two more suggestions to fall back. Just at this moment with the utmost coolness word was quietly passed along from right to left that a low place had been found. I heard the intelligence coming before the man next to me repeated it. Returning the command, "By the right flank, march," we filed along until the place was reached and then scrambled into the fort. Forming my line, I struck the forces within at right angles, and in a minute more they surrendered. The fort was commanded by General McLaughlin, and over five hundred men surrendered with him.

The Confederates had achieved a near-complete surprise, and were able to quickly seize the fort. Three more batteries were seized, leaving 1,000 feet of the Union line in the hands of Gordon's men. However, the attack began to stall. The Federals put up a good defense on northern and southern flanks of the breakthrough, and the Confederates, confused by the web of trenches and under heavy Union artillery fire, could not make any further advances. The Federal generals quickly brought up troops to seal the gap in the line, and then systematically advanced to eliminate the pocket.

By the time the Confederate attack was completely repulsed, they had suffered about 4,000 casualties - 600 killed, 2,400 wounded and 1,000 captured. They had inflicted 1,044 casualties on the Federals - 72 killed 450 wounded and 522 captured. Although this was a great effort on the on the southerners' part, it was not an important event for the Federals. Lincoln was in town visiting the army, and a grand review had been scheduled. Although the review was delayed during the attack, it went off that afternoon, as if nothing had happened.

Battle of Bentonville – Union Victory

Sherman

In heavy fighting at Bentonville on March 19th, Johnston's army had won good success, driving back several of Henry Slocum's divisions. But many Federals held firm, and ultimately the Confederates were unable to break the line. The next day was mostly a stalemate. Johnston would not attack again, and remained in a V-shaped line with both flanks anchored on a creek. He reported that he remained on the field so that he could remove his wounded, but he may have also hoped that the Federals would attack him, giving him a better chance for victory. Slocum was heavily reinforced by Sherman, but he too did not attack. There was little more than sporadic fighting throughout the day.

Mower

On the 21st Johnston still remained in position, but that day the Federals did attack. Joseph Mower received permission to take his division on a reconnaissance around the Confederate left flank. He took this as an authorization for an attack, and struck nearly in the Confederate rear. That area of the Confederate line was very lightly defended – only a few pickets stood between Mower's men and Johnston's only line of retreat. Confederate General Wade Hampton found one brigade, a battery and a handful of Texas cavalry, and threw them in front of the advancing Federals. They charged and were able to stop the Yankees a few hundred yards from the road. When Sherman heard of Mower's attack, he ordered him back to the main Union line. He later realized this was a mistake, and wrote in his memoirs:

I think I made a mistake there, and should rapidly have followed Mower's lead with the whole of the right wing, which would have brought on a general battle, and it could not have resulted otherwise than successfully to us, by reason of our vastly superior numbers; but at the moment ... I preferred to make junction with Generals Terry and Schofield, before engaging Johnston's army, the strength of which was utterly unknown.

Johnston, having narrowly escaped complete disaster, retreated from the field that night and burned the bridge behind him. He had lost about 2,600 men, 240 killed, 1700 wounded and 675 captured. The Federals lost 194 killed, 1,112 wounded and 221 captured for a total of 1,527. This was one of the last major battles of the Civil War, and the very last that could be claimed as a Confederate victory. Soon after Johnston wrote to Lee, "I can do no more than annoy [Sherman]. I respectfully suggest that it is no longer a question whether you leave present position; you have only to decide where to meet Sherman.” The end was near, and many of the Confederates saw it coming.

Johnston

Battle of Bentonville – Confederate Attack

Map of the battle

As Joseph E. Johnston made plans to fight the Union army of William Techumseh Sherman advancing north through North Carolina, he decided to make a stand at Bentonville some 50 miles south of Raleigh. Johnston had less than 22,000 men to face Sherman's 60,000. Confederate maps showed that the two roads on which the Union wings were marching were twelve miles apart at that point, giving a good opportunity to defeat one without having to fight the other.

Slocum

The battle began on March 19, 150 years ago today, when the Federal left wing under Henry Slocum encountered the rebels entrenched at Bentonville. At first, he believed he was facing only light resistance, as the Confederate position had a river at its back. But when one division failed to dislodge the Confederates, he deployed his men into a defensive position and prepared for a more serious fight. At 3 pm, with more Confederates having arrived on the field, Johnston attacked. The charge was a glorious sight. Colonel Charles Broadfoot of North Carolina wrote:

Several officers led the charge on horseback across an open field in full view, with colors flying and line of battle in ... perfect order ... and followed by a battery which dashed at full gallop, wheeled, unlimbered and opened fire. It looked like a picture and at our distance was truly beautiful. It was gallantly done, but it was a painful sight to see how close their battle flags were together, regiments being scarcely larger than companies and a division not much larger than a regiment should be.

Striking Slocum's left flank, the Confederates drove them back in confusion. More Confederates under D. H. Hill continued the attack, and began to roll up the Union line. However James Morgan's division, which comprised the Union right, held firm, and beat off repeated attacks. As night fell, the attacks continued, but were equally unsuccessful. Around midnight the Confederates fell back to their lines and began digging entrenchments. They had won a victory, but had failed to completely break Slocum's line.

The Harper House, around which much of the fighting took place

Battle of Averasboro

After capturing Columbia on February 17, South Carolina, William Tecumseh Sherman continued his march into North Carolina, heading towards Richmond to join the army of Ulysses S. Grant. Two armies were also ordered to join Sherman at Goldsboro, NC, with John Schofield coming from Wilmington and Jacob Cox from New Berne. On February 23, Joseph E. Johnston was appointed to lead the Confederate resistance. He was able to create the Army of the South from remnants of the Army of Tennessee, along with reinforcements from neighboring states.

Hardee

Sherman's army was moving north towards Goldsboro in two columns, the right under Oliver Otis Howard, the left under Henry Slocum. Johnston send his corps under William Hardee to delay Slocum, while the two Federal columns were separated, and hopefully unable to support one another. On the afternoon of March 15^th the Federals found Hardee deployed near Averasborough. The next day they attacked, and drove back several Confederate lines, but were not able to gain a complete victory. That night Hardee fell back, having held up the Federal advance for two days. The Federals lost around 700 men, the Confederates about 850.

The Battle of Wyse Fork

After the fall of Fort Fisher in January and Wilmington, North Carolina a few weeks later, the Federal troops there under Maj. Gen. John Schofield, were ordered to move inland to meet up with William Sherman's army on it's march north. Also ordered to join with Sherman was Maj. Gen. Jacob Cox's army in New Berne, north of Wilmington. The Confederates under Braxton Bragg and D. H. Hill, both natives of North Carolina, blocked Cox's path at Kinston.

Bragg

When the Federals approached on March 7, Bragg went on the offensive. One brigade under Robert Hoke hit the Union left flank. D. H. Hill tried to lead the North Carolina Junior Reserves into the fight, but they were too panicked to attack, so he advanced with other veteran units. As the Union troops were being pushed back, Bragg called off the attack to deal with false reports of a threat to his line. In the mean time, but Federals sealed the gap in their line. Skirmishing continued over the next few days, to little result. The Confederates tried another flank attack on the 10th, but the Federals had strongly reinforced the position and were able to drive off the rebels. With more Union divisions arriving, Bragg decided to fall back, clearing the way for Cox's advance. The Federals had lost about 1,100 men, the Confederate, 1,500.

Schofield

Battle of Natural Bridge

Monument on the battlefield

One southern state that saw very little fighting in the Civil War was Florida. Sparsely populated and mostly a peninsula, it contained few military targets or roads leading to targets. There were a few battles in the state, one of which, the Battle of Natural Bridge, took place 150 years ago today. This conflict took place because of an expedition by John Newton, the Union's Department commander. He landed near St. Marks on March 4th, and planned to destroy the Confederate force in the area and then march on Tallahassee, the state capitol.

Newton

The southern troops under William Miller were defending the crossings of the St. Marks River. They destroyed one bridge and held on Newport Bridge on March 5th, so Newton sent his men up stream to Natural Bridge, which was as yet undefended. The rebels realized what was happening, and a race was one. They arrived at the bridge first, and held it throughout the day on March 6th. Newton's troops tried to drive the Confederates away, but they held firm behind their breastworks and drove the Yankees back with heavy fire. In the evening the Federals retired. This was one of the last Confederate victories during the war, and it was key in making Tallahassee the only state capitol to remain in Confederate hands at the war's close.

Reenactment of the battle. Source.

Battle of Waynesboro

Custer

In February, 1865, Union Major General Philip Sheridan began moving up Shenadoah Valley towards Staunton, Virginia. Opposing him were the Confederate troops under Jubal Early, who had had badly defeated the year before at the Battle of Cedar Creek. 150 years ago today Sheridan's lead division of cavalry, 2,500 men under Brig. Gen. George Custer, approached Early just outside Waynesboro. The Confederates had a little more than 1,000 men behind earthworks which covered their entire front. Custer sent his first brigade around the Confederates left flank, while his second made a diversion in the front.

The Federals horse artillery came into action at around 3:30 pm, and several minutes later the rebels were shocked by the flank attack. They were thrown into a panic, and fled after a feeble resistance. Jedediah Hotchkiss, a Confederate staff officer, called it “one of the most terrible panics and stampedes I have ever seen. There was a perfect rout along the road up the mountain, and the enemy ... dashed rapidly forward into the swarm of flying men, wagons, &c....” Many Confederates were captured and the rest were widely scattered. The Army of the Valley no longer existed as an organized force, and Early himself escaped with only a handful of staff. He returned to Lee at Richmond having lost an entire corps of the army since he had left the year before. Although Lee valued Early's skills as a general, he had no choice but to remove him from command. It says much to the character of both men, that after the war Jubal Early was one of Lee's staunchest defenders, even though he had removed him from command.

Early later in life

Fall of Columbia

Sherman and his staff

Upon the completion of Sherman's march to the sea, Ulysses Grant planned to embark that Union army on ships and take them from Georgia up to Virginia, to deal with the army of Robert E. Lee, the last major Confederate force. But Sherman had a different idea. He got Grant's approval of a plan to march to Virginia overland through North and South Carolina and destroying along the way anything of use to the Confederacy, like he had done to Georgia. In January Sherman set out with over 60,000 men. There were few Confederates to resist him – the remnants of the Army of the Tennessee were down below 10,000 men.

The first major target on Sherman's path was Columbia, the capitol of South Carolina. This was a particularly important goal for the Federals, as South Carolina had been the first state to secede from the Union. In their path were around 1,200 Confederates under Lafayette McLaws. His men were guarding the crossing of the Salkehatchie River, but Sherman's men just built a bridge and outflanked the rebel force.

Columbia burning

On February 17, Columbia surrendered to Sherman's advancing men, and the Confederate cavalry abandoned the city. That night chaos broke out among the freed slaves and Union soldiers and freed prisoners, fueled with plentiful supplies of alcohol. A hard wind was blowing, and when fires broke out much of the city was destroyed. It is unlikely that these were lit under orders of the Federal high command, but Sherman certainly was not sorry it happened. The next day the Union troops destroyed anything left in the city of military value.

Ruins of Columbia

The Hampton Roads Peace Conference

Francis Blair

As the bloody Civil War raged on into 1865, nearly everyone on both sides longed for peace. There were some who believed that peace could be reached through negotiation, without one side winning a complete victory. One of these was Fancis Preston Blair, a northern politician and journalist who had close personal relations with many in the Confederate government. With Lincoln's permission, he traveled to Richmond in January, 1865 to propose a peace conference. Jefferson Davis was interested, if only to harden the Confederacy's resolve by showing that a negotiated peace was not possible. However, a major issue soon surface. Davis wrote to Lincoln that he was ready to receive a c omission “with a view to secure peace to the two countries.” Lincoln told Blair that he would receive any agent that Jefferson Davis “may informally send to me with a view to securing peace to the people of our one common country.” For Davis, the Confederacy's independence was non-negotiable, but Lincoln would only consider a proposal that resulted in a unified country.

Alexander Stephens

Blair, with help from Grant, was able to smooth over this difference, and a Peace Conference met. It was held on February 3^rd, 150 years today, on the Union steamer River Queen off Fort Monroe, Virginia. Representing the Union was Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward. From the Confederacy was vice-president Andrew Stephens, who had broken with Davis and pushed for a speedy peace, Senator Robert Hunter of Virginia and John Campbell, former US Supreme Court Justice and Confederate Assistant Secretary of War.

John Campbell

Stephens opened the meeting by discussing the French invasion of Mexico. One of Blair's suggestions was the country could be reunified if the Civil War was halted with an armistice, and north and south united in sending an expedition to repel Napoleon III's invasion of Mexico. Lincoln, however, quickly cut him off, and turned to the question of sovereignty. Would there be one country or two? It was instantly apparent that the conference was useless. As John Campbell wrote, “We learned in five minutes that [Blair's] assurances to Mr. Davis were a delusion, and that union was the condition of peace.” Neither side would yield upon this crucial point.

Seward

The conference continued some time longer, with a discussion of slavery, a proposal from Lincoln to compensate to the south for their slaves, and whether if the southern states immediately surrendered they could reject the 13^th Amendment. The one result of the convention was that Lincoln promised to recommend that Grant reopen prisoner exchanges.

The River Queen

The main product of the meeting was propaganda material for both sides. Jefferson Davis could tell the South that he had tried his best to arrange a peace with the North, but they only terms they offered was absolute surrender. The Confederacy's only hope was to fight to the end. Abraham Lincoln could say that the south still remained unwilling to compromise on their independence, and the Yankee troops needed to fight the war to the finishing, reaping the complete fruits of victory with the abolition of slavery.

Lincoln on the River Queen several weeks later