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.

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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

Vicksburg and Port Hudson Surrender

Vicksburg

150 years ago today, as the Confederates were retreating after their defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Mississippi, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrendered. The Union had been attempting to capture the town for many months, and it had been under siege since May 18. U. S. Grant had made two frontal attacks on the strong fortifications soon after the siege began, but the Confederates beat them both back with heavy losses.

Abandoning charges on the works, the Federals began a conventional siege. As Grant said, “I now determined upon a regular siege—to “out-camp the enemy,” as it were, and to incur no more losses.” The Yankees dug their entrenchments closer and closer to the Confederate works spread out along the bluffs along the Mississippi River. The rebels were completely surrounded, and they could expect no supplies to arrive. Their stores were very low. They had a good amount of ammunition, but not enough food. They soldiers and civilians ate anything they could find. Mules, cats and dogs began to disappear, some men even tried to eat their leather shoes. But it wasn't enough. Before long the symptoms of malnutrition and starvation began to show themselves. By the end of June half of the Confederate soldiers were unfit for duty. One southerner wrote:

It seems wonderful that human endurance could withstand the accumulated horrors of the situation. Living on this slender allowance, fighting all day in the hot summer's sun, and at night, with pick-axe and spade, repairing the destroyed portions of the line, it passed all comprehension how men endured the trying ordeal.

The Union didn't sit passively waiting for the Confederates to surrender. They dug mines to try to blow up the Confederate works. They also kept up a bombardment on the town from their entrenchments as well as the gunboats in the river. Their shelling of the town destroyed many buildings, forcing civilians to take refuge in caves dug into the bluffs.

The Confederate government did all it could to relieve Vicksburg. Kirby Smith in the Trans-Mississippi was ordered to try to strike Grant's supply lines. One reason behind Lee's invasion that would culminate in the Battle of Gettysburg was the hope that it might convince the Federals to abandon the siege. Joseph E. Johnston was given the responsibility to try to raise the siege by force. He was forming an army that was to try to strike Grant's rear. But he believed that his forces were weak. He suggested that Pemberton try to break out and abandon the city so that they could unite their armies. But with the strong works encircling Vicksburg, that would be impossible. The Confederate government ordered Johnston to try to relieve the town no matter the odds. James Seddon, Secretary of War, wrote him:

Vicksburg must not be lost without a desperate struggle. The interest and honor of the Confederacy forbid it. I rely on you still to avert the loss. If better resources do not offer, you must hazard attack. It may be made in concert with the garrison, if practicable, but otherwise, without-by day or night, as you think best.

But Johnston disobeyed these orders, and made no serious attempt to relieve the city before the end came.

On July 3rd, his men starving, too weak to try a breakout and with no hope of relief, Pemberton sent a message to Grant asking for terms of surrender. Grant replied, as he had at Fort Donelson, that he would accept only unconditional surrender. But Pemberton refused. The Confederates had cracked the code used by the Federal troops to send messages between the gunboats and the land forces. They had read their messages that said that they would have to parole all the Confederate troops because they didn't have the transportation to take them north. Grant relented, and the surrender was finalized on July 4th, independence day. During the siege the Federals had 4,835, the Confederates 3,202, as well as 29,495 captured.

Port Hudson

As the Confederate troops were turning over their arms, many miles away Robert E. Lee's troops were retreating after having been defeated at the battle of Gettysburg. Some would say that this double defeat was the turning point of the war for. Five days later Port Hudson would fall, the Confederates were almost out of ammunition and supplies and the commander realized that if Vicksburg could not be saved, he was doomed. At one blow, the last great strongholds on the Mississippi River fell, and the greatest invasion of the north was defeated. The Confederacy's cause was beginning to appear truly dismal.

Fall of Munfordville

The Confederates in Kentucky, having begun a siege of Munfordville, again requested the Federals surrender. Union commander Colonel John T. Wilder did not now what to do. With three regiments he was facing an entire Confederate army. So he did something that might seem strange today, but he asked Confederate Major General Simon B. Buckner for advice. Buckner said that he could not advise him what to do, but he could show him around the Confederate works. This did the trick. Wilder, after viewing Confederate attack preparation, had no doubt that an attack would mean certain defeat for him, so he surrendered his garrison of over 4,000 men 150 years ago today.

Buckner

Siege of Munfordville

Wilder

150 years ago today the Confederate armies of Bragg and Smith were embarking on an invasion of Kentucky, pursued by Don Carlos Buell's Union army. Today Bragg turned his forces toward Munford, a station of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad where the railroad crossed the Green River. He decided to attack this station, which was held by Union troops, because of an injudicious move by one his his subordinates, who had moved without authorization on the heavily fortified Union stronghold. He had asked Colonel J. T. Wilder of Indiana, who was commanding the fort to surrender. Wilder refused, and beat back a Confederate attack with heavy losses. To avoid discouraging his men with what looked like a defeat Bragg delayed the strategic course of the invasion to attack Munfordville with his whole army. Wilder again refused the demand of surrender, and Bragg, after again failing to capture the city with a direct attack, began a regular siege.

Fort Pulaski Captured

150 years ago today, Fort Pulaski, near Savannah, Georgia, surrendered to the Federals. Fort Pulaski was built by the United States before the war to defend the seacoast. It was begun in 1830, and finished fifteen years later. It was named after Casimir Pulaski, who had come over to America from Poland to fight in the Revolution. He served gallantly as a cavalry officer, dieing in the Battle of Savannah, and was granted honorary American citizenship. It was occupied by the Confederates, and for a time Robert E. Lee oversaw the the work on its improvement when he was in command of the southern defenses. It was thought to be impregnable, and the Joseph Totten, US army engineer, said "you might as well bombard the Rocky Mountains." The Federals determined to attack it none the less, as part of their efforts to recapture and close Southern blockade running ports, and to provide a base for the blockading squadron. The Northern advance began in earnest on November 24th, 1861. They began a regular siege of Pulaski, completely surrounding it, building batteries, and preparing a 10,000 man force to storm the walls if necessary.

On the morning of April 10th, 150 years ago yesterday, David Hunter, Union commander, sent a message to the fort's commander, Colonel Olmstead, requesting his surrender. Olmstead replied, “I am here to defend the fort, not to surrender it.” The Federal bombardment opened at 8:00, focusing their fire on the southeast corner, and the Confederate batteries replied. The bombardment continued throughout the day. The Federal fire was from rifled guns and mortars. Rifled guns, with their longer range and greater accuracy, were a rather new innovation in siege warfare. The fire from these guns were very effective. By nightfall a breach was beginning in the wall, and many of the Confederate guns were damaged.

The firing was resumed at 7:00 on the morning of April 11th, 150 years ago today. Olmstead rose the white flag over the fort at 2 PM. A large breach had been made in the walls, exposing the powder magazine. If the battle had continued much longer, the Union shots would have hit the magazine, resulting in a catastrophic explosion, probably demolishing the fort.

The Federals had built splinter-proof shelters which worked very well. Although the Confederate fire was fairly accurate, they only inflicted 1 killed and a handful wounded. The Confederates casualties were not very high either, but all of the approximately 400 men of the garrison of the fort were surrendered, as well has many guns.

The mortars were found to be not useful in destroying the structure of the fort, although they could be effective in destroying the troop's morale. Only 10% of the mortar shots hit the fort. The rifled guns however were very satisfactory. It was found that they could easily destroy a brick fort at 2,500 yards. The success of the rifled artillery was very surprising to the commanders on both sides. The Federals had spent many months in preparations that were completely unnecessary, and the Confederates expected that the fort could hold out until they ran out of provisions.

Union general David Hunter said,

"The result of this bombardment must cause, I am convinced, a change in the construction of fortifications as radical as that forshadowed in naval architecture by the conflict between the Monitor and Merrimac. No works of stone or brick can resist the impact of rifled artillery of heavy caliber."

As Hunter, guess, rifled artillery would revolutionize fort design. After the Civil War, forts were no longer built of brick, instead earthworks were used.

Although Savannah would not fall until many months later when Sherman captured it at the conclusion of the March to the Sea, the capture of Fort Pulaski made the harbor useless to the Confederacy. The South had lost the use of an important port for blockade running, and the North had gained a base to continuing their blockade of the rest of the forts.

Battle of Fort Donelson - Surrender

Today Confederates were in a bad position in Fort Donelson. The day before they had launched an attack that was temporarily successful, giving them an opportunity to escape, but at the critical moment they fell back to their former positions. General Buckner summarized their position in this way:

I regarded the position of the army as desperate, and that an attempt to extricate it by another battle, in the suffering and exhausted condition of the troops, was almost hopeless. The troops had been worn down with watching, with labor, with fighting. Many of them were frosted by the intensity of the cold; all of them were suffering and exhausted by their incessant labors. There had been no regular issue of rations for a number of days and scarcely any means of cooking. Their ammunition was nearly expended. We were completely invested by a force fully four times the strength of our own. In their exhausted condition they could not have made a march. An attempt to make a sortie would have been resisted by a superior force of fresh troops, and that attempt would have been the signal for the fall of the water batteries and the presence of the enemy’s gunboats sweeping with the fire at close range the positions of our troops, who would thus have been assailed on their front, rear, and right flank at the same instant. The result would have been a virtual massacre of the troops, more disheartening in its effects than a surrender.

In a council of war it was agreed to surrender the next morning. Floyd turned over the command to Pillow. He believed he would be punished by the North for his conduct while Secretary of War, and wanted to try to make his escape. Pillow feared being captured as well, so he turned over the command to Buckner. Buckner saw it as his duty to share the fate of his troops, so he accepted the command, and next morning opened negotiations to surrender.

The Hotel where the negotiations took place

Pillow escaped in a small boat during the night, and Floyd departed with two regiments the next morning on the only available boat. Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, the cavalry commander, was very angry. He said he could not and would not surrender, and said, “I did not come here to surrender my command.” He was given permission to attempt to cut his way out. He was successful, Grant having not entirely occupied his former position. He wrote in his report,

I moved out by the road we had gone out the morning before. When about a mile out crossed a deep slough from the river, saddle-skirt deep, and filed into the road to Cumberland Iron Works. ... Over 500 cavalry ... passed, a company of artillery horses ... followed, and a number of men from different regiments, passing over hard-frozen ground. More than two hours had been occupied in passing. Not a gun had been fired at us. Not an enemy had been seen or heard. The enemy could not have reinvested their former position without traveling a considerable distance and camped upon the dead and dying, as there had been great slaughter upon that portion of the field, and I am clearly of the opinion that two-thirds of our army could have marched out without loss, and that, had we continued the fight the next day, we should have gained a glorious victory, as our troops were in fine spirits, believing we had whipped them, and the roads through which we came were open as late as 8 o’clock Sunday morning, as many of my men, who came out afterwards, report.

Forrest escaping Donelson

When Grant received Buckner's request for terms of surrender, Smith said, "I'll make no terms with Rebels with arms in their hands—my terms are unconditional and immediate surrender." Grant agreed, calling for "unconditional and immediate surrender." Buckner protested, but accepted none the less. Between 12,000 and 15,000 troops were captured with their supplies, along with almost 50 cannon.

Surrendered troops in Donelson

This had been a bloody battle for both sides. The North suffered 507 killed, 1,976 wounded and 208 missing, the South 327 killed and 1,127 wounded. This, along with the Battle of Fort Henry, was the first real victory the North had gained. Church bells were rung throughout the North, and Grant became a hero. He had captured more enemy troops than all previous American generals combined, and he was nicknamed "Unconditional Surrender" Grant because of his initials, U.S. The battle also opened the way for the invasion of the South, and took away thousands of troops that the Confederacy desperately needed to fight this invasion. This battle was lost primarily because of the incompetence and cowardice of the commanding generals, two of which fled to avoid sharing the fate of their men, life as a prisoner of war.